When you believe!

There are moments in life when doubts hang like dark clouds and the hope seems to drain like water from the clouds. And in those moments, there is always something very apt that can pep our hearts up and make us realise that 'even this shall pass'. One of the loveliest songs by Whitney Houston comes to my mind. the lyrics are here to read:

Many nights we've prayed

With no proof anyone could hear

In our hearts a hopeful song

We barely understood

Now we are not afraid

Although we know there's much to fear

We were moving mountains long

Before we knew we could oh yes

there can be miracles when you believe

Though hope is frail it's hard to kill

Who knows what miracles you can achieve

When you believe somehow you will

You will when you believe

Oh yeah in this time of fear

When prayer so often proves in vain

Hope seems like the summer birds

Too swiftly flown away

Yet now i'm standing here

My heart so full i can't explain

Seeking faith and speaking words

I never thought i'll say

[repeat 1]

They don't always happen when you ask

And it's easy to give in to your fears

But when you're blinded by your pain

Can't see the way get through the rain

A small but still resilient voice

Says hope is very near oh

[repeat 1]

You will when you

You will when you believe

Just believe

I believe i believe

Just believe

You will when you believe 

JUST BELIEVE!!

 

He is on fifteen ....

He is fifteen, going on sixteen!

Those of you who have seen the movie ‘Sound of Music’ may recollect the song ‘ I am on sixteen, going on seventeen..’. I did, when my fifteen sent me the first poem written by him. Here is the poem:

Manzil jho thi utni paas

Ab door lagne lagi hae

Dil ki dhadkan se

Sitaron ki roshni ban gayi hae

Likh ke to bata nahi sakta

Uski kushboo thi kaisi

Shayad thi kisi apsara ki

Bag ki poolon jaisi

Khwaabon ke sunhere panno mein

Likha tha sirf uska naam

Manzil thi, voh thi mere jaan

Dhoondta rehta hoon

Mein uske koi nishan

Lekin sirf yaadein milti he

Uske jaise koi kahani.

In lafzon mein

Kabhi naa bata paaunga

Ki kitna mein use …

Bas ek aur baar

Dekhna chahunga.

All I can say is that it is wonderful to be sixteen. We have all been once and the butterflies of those days still dance in the gardens of our memories. Eons seem to have gone by, but then what is life without memories that are balm to the soul; that make you feel the wonder called love; recollect those gardens of yore when we roamed free like butterflies, without a worry, without anxieties, without a thought, without knowing what life held for us in store! Safe in the knowledge of the love of our parents, comforted by our surroundings, indulging the presence of like minded friends and living just that day!!

Oh, it is wonderful to be sixteen and I am happy to see my fifteen becoming sixteen!

Re-live Your Childhood!

If u don't act naughty while you are young, you won't have anything to smile about when you are older..

These are lines from an FB post of a friend of mine and actually I started to laugh, thinking of something that happened in my childhood.

There was this classmate and friend of mine in a small village called Veppanapally in Tamil Nadu. We were about 12 years old. He was so fond of a trick that used to set the whole street laugh their guts out. In those days, in the villages it was common sight to find donkeys lazing around, particularly near the garbage bins (you know those round shaped cement drums that forever over flew!). When ever he saw one fellow lying around, this great friend of mine used to sneak upon the donkey from behind, pounce on to his back, hold on to the ears of the hapless animal and kick him on the sides. The puzzled and frightened donkey then will run about the street braying like mad, with our ‘rodeo’ riding on him like a king! The whole street will come out and burst out laughing at the rodeo show!! At the most convenient bend of the street, the rodeo will jump off, hooting ‘ho, ho, ho!!’ and the donkey will run faster than ever dashing and bumping into everything on its way.

So one day when the show was over and my triumphant hero was coming back beaming from ear to ear. Someone stopped him and asked him, ‘one hell of a fellow you are. But why do you trouble the poor animal like this?’

My friend stopped and thought for a while. Then as would befit a simple, naughty 12 year old, he said, ‘actually, I enjoy the ride. That’s why!’

Childhood is the most memorable part of life. And so, once in a while, take a little time out, laze around on a rocking chair and re-live your childhood. It actually does wonders to your mental health. If you do not believe me, all you have to do is just once give yourself about 15 minutes and see how your life transforms!

Just only one advice – do not try doing those 'naughty' things again. At our age people will think we are ‘nuts’ - not ‘naughty’!!!  

If you love me, let me know...

There were these lines in a song by Olivia Newton –John that made me wonder about love or should I say our concept of love (at least mine in any case!):

If you love me, let me know

If you don’t, let me go…

Do we really love the ones for whom we proclaim our love at the drop of a hat? Wife, children, friends, parents…… what an offensive thought!

But then this question continues to haunt me. As I keep thinking about this, I started to count the number of ‘bonds’ to which I have attached each of them in order to ‘prove’ that I love them and they love me. There were innumerable (unwritten) conditions that we both have to adjust to and accommodate as a test of ever lasting love.

It does not matter whether personal dreams and aspirations, not of the whimsical order, but some of the calling of the heart, are to be sacrificed. After all, what is love without sacrifice? The ‘suffering’ that may ensue is not a suffering. It is the reward for your love! And I demand it in the name of love!

When such thoughts were running wild on my mind, suddenly I was reminded of Khalil Gibran and the meaning of those two lines flashed like a million volt bulb!

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

If you love me, let me know

If you don’t, let me go……

The Sparrow Who Did Not Fly South!

This is one my most favourite stories, particularly with reference to the work place:

There was once this sparrow who decided not to fly south for the winters. Though all his clan left, he happily went about chirping in the frozen steppes. But then, it became bitterly cold and the snow made it difficult to find food. So one day, he decided to follow his instincts to the south.

As he soared up and above, his feathers became frosted and wings heavy. In spite of his best efforts, he found himself spiraling down and fell into the snow below.

As he lay freezing to his death, a cow passing by dropped her dung on him. The warm dung defrosted his wings and made him feel light. Happy to be alive, he put his head out and started singing.

Hearing a bird sing, a cat came from nowhere, found the chirping sparrow and promptly ate him up.

The morals of the story, I suppose, have universal appeal:

·        All those who ‘mess’ on you are not necessarily your enemy

·        All those who take you out of ‘mess’ are not necessarily your friends

·        If you are warm and happy in a pile of ‘mess’, it is better to keep your mouth shut!

The Mystery Called Life!

Quite some time ago, a friend of mine called and complained non-stop about his boss. ‘Rakshas hein rakshas, juice nikhal deta hein! (in Hindustani, a fiend who drinks your blood!). Kabhi kabhi man karta hein, bhag jaon yahan se (feel like running away from here!). Like in all such situations at work place, he also had a ‘friend’ to pour his heart out (apart from ‘tele’ friends like me). Since it was some time since we had spoken, I rang him up to say ‘hi!’ He almost broke down on the phone. Here is what he told me.

His sister was due to be married and everything had been arranged. As the marriage was to be solemnized in the groom’s city, a bus was arranged to convey the bride and family to that place. The joyous melee in the bus turned into a nightmare enroute. Driver lost control and banged into a huge tree. Apart from others, the bride got crushed between two seats. The rest was mayhem.

An sos was flashed for the treatment. Some help came from here and there. The ‘trusted’ friend of his office was no where to be seen. Considerable money was locked up as advances to the hotel, marriage hall, caterers, et al. He was in a spin.

And then the ‘rakshas’ appeared in the hospital. After confabulations with the doctors, he handed them a cheque sufficient to see her through o her health. As the dumbfounded friend kept looking on, the ‘rakshas’ wagged a finger at him before leaving and told him to rejoin duty the day she is stable!

‘Yaar, mein jaan bhi dei dun uske liye, tho bhi khum hoga (I can even give my life for him, friend). Bloody hell, to think that I was cursing him all the time those days!’

Human beings are the most complicated things that God ever made. Though HE is supposed to be in every thing, how He will manifest, what He is capable of doing and in whose heart you will find His reflection – well, that perhaps is the mystery called life!

St Francis of Assisi

Long ago when in college, I happened attend the college chapel on a Sunday. We had an elderly priest, who chose that day to speak about prayer.  What he said got embedded into our hearts for a very long time to come:

Actually it does not matter to which faith that we belong. What is important is to have faith. What is important is to believe that we can be instruments of God to spread the message of love, joy, peace and forgiveness.

After the service, the elderly priest went about distributing one of the most touching prayers that I have come across, to everyone in the congregation – Prayer of St Francis of Assisi.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

To be understood, as to understand;

To be loved, as to love.  

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Many, many years later, another apostle of love who walked the Earth during our lifetime, Mother Theresa, delivered the same prayer with a little variation while addressing the UN in 1985: 

Make us worthy Lord to serve our fellow men throughout the world,

Who live and die in poverty and hunger.

Give them through our hands, this day, their daily bread

And by our understanding love give peace and joy.

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace.

That where there is hatred I may bring love,

That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,

That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,

That where there is error I may bring truth,

That where there is doubt I may bring faith,

That where there is despair I may bring hope,

That where there are shadows I may bring light,

That where there is sadness I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,

To understand than to be understood,

To love than to be loved.

For it is by forgetting self that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,

it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Amen.

Great souls, I suppose, think alike!

What we find in our self is what we will find in others!

I was not feeling very well. So went to meet our doctor. While waiting in the clinic, I chanced upon a poster that most hospitals display. It was about a hospital in Dieunne (Dijon) run by Sisters of St Martha. The Sisters have been serving the sick from 1443 AD. Wow! What dedication, I said to myself and decided to check upon the same in the net. What I found on the net really set me thinking about life and faith.

Martha, along with her sister Mary and brother Lazarus lived in Bethany, a village about two miles from Jerusalem. Jesus was fond of the family and came to visit them thrice. The first time when Jesus arrived, Martha readily welcomed him in and immediately set about preparing food for Christ. To her dismay She found her sister Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to him, instead of helping her. So she complained to Jesus. Jesus smiled and said:

You worry about so many things while she is doing what one must!

Martha, realizing the true implication of what Jesus said, remained devoted to him. During his later visit, she even left the grieving household to listen to him. Later, she went to Avignon (Tarascon), where legend has it that she flayed a dragon and became the patron saint of hospitality.

In many ways Martha reflects the normal humans that we are, always worried about something or other. If the past does not worry us, then it is our future that bugs us. If it is not our wife, then it is the children. If it is not the boss, then it is some colleague. If it is not an enemy, then it is our friends. In the constant process of these worries, there is only one thing that we seem to forget – to have faith and to live today.

Faith is not about God. It is about one’s self. When we do not have faith in our self, how can we ever have faith in God?

What we find in our self is what we will find in others!

If we do not believe this all we have to do is look around.

There are millions of ‘faithful’ we see who go to their temples, masjids and churches without fail.

Just across the fence, we also see thousands of non-believers and atheists.

Both seem to have the same amount of joy and sorrow mixed in their cups.

Is there a case then to believe that there is a God for only those who believe? For the rest who do not, there is a NO-GOD?

Much after the great war, the story goes in Mahabharatha, Kunthi the mother of Pandavas, called the famous charioteer, Vidhur, and said:

Go to Dwaraka and ask Sri Krishna to come here. It has been a while since I have seen him.

So, Vidhur meets Sri Krishna, who readily accepts the invitation.

As the chariot rolled, Krishna noticed that Vidhur was rather silent and withdrawn. When queried, Vidhur simply replied:

Lord, you are omniscient and I need not elaborate.

My dear Vidhur, if there is something that you want to know, then you must ask!

So be it, Lord, then. You knew that brothers would kill brothers and millions would perish on the battlefield. You being the Lord God could have prevented this. All you had to do was to wish it that way and the Kaurava and Pandava clan would have lived happily ever after. Instead you let them kill each other. Why?

Krishna smiled. Tell me Vidhur, what did the brothers ask me when they came to see me before the war?

Well, Duryodhana who came first asked for your army to fight on his side and Arjuna who came later asked for you to be his charioteer.

Did they get what they wanted?

Yes, my Lord. Duryodhana believed that he will win the war, with the army on his side. Arjuna believed that he will win the war with you on his side. Eventually, Arjuna won, for you the Lord God was with him.

Sri Krishna laughed. Vidhur you seem to have missed something.

Insightful and intelligent that Vidhur was, he understood. Yes, my Lord, none of the brothers believed that they could live together in peace. Though both of them came to you, all they believed was mutual destruction. That is what they got!

So, my dear Vidhur, it is not what I want that you will get. It is what you desire from the core of your heart that you will get. Have faith!

Have faith. What we find in our self is what we will find in others! 

The Sun will Shine!

 This is one of my favourites from Jim Reeves. Since the song says it all, there is nothing that I can add!

I had lived a life of sin in this world were living in
I had done forbidden things I shouldn't do
I ask a beggar along the way, & u can tell me where to stay
Where I'd find real happiness and love that's true

Across the bridge, there's no more sorrow
Across the bridge, theres' no more pain
The Sun will shine across the river
And you'll never be unhappy again

follow footsteps of the King and you'll hear the voices ring
They'll be singing out the glory of the Lamb
The river of Jordan will be near, the sound of trumpets you will hear
You'll behold the special place ever known to man

Across the bridge, there's no more sorrow
Across the bridge, theres' no more pain
The Sun will shine across the river
And you'll never be unhappy again

Across the bridge, there's no more sorrow
Across the bridge, theres' no more pain
The Sun will shine across the river
And you'll never be unhappy again

You will never be alone if you love!

There is a time for everything – to love, to give, to care, etc and a time to feel lonely, sick, desolate, etc also. If we carefully evaluate our day, we will know this is true. Then what make a happy man and a sad one?

Can you feel happy that you felt alone and sad as much as you felt wanted and loved? Someone told me that you have to be a philosopher to feel so. I do not know anything about philosophy. Therefore, I can not evaluate. However, there is something I can share in the form of a story:

A great king once felt extraordinarily lonely and desolate. He had a dozen doting queens, two dozen loving children, adoring citizens and a bunch of loyal ministers. Yet one day, he felt lonely and desolate.

As is customary, he called for the wisest among his ministers and confided in him how he felt. The minister thought long and hard about this and said:

O king, you are lonely because there is something that you are yet to achieve but can not figure out what. Otherwise, look at you. No man can ever boast of what you have.

The king was silent for sometime. Then he asked the minister to arrange the trial of one of the most notorious criminals in custody. The case was quite a complicated one and the cruelty supposedly exhibited by the criminal had shocked everyone’s conscience.

The minister thought the King wanted to meet out some extra-ordinary punishment and thereby jolt his lonely heart out of desolation.

So the trial commenced. As it concluded and time came for the King’s judgment, a strange silence fell on the crowd. The criminal in any case knew that he would be a dead man and so stood quietly awaiting the sentence. The king was in deep contemplation. At the end, the king said:

Bring forth the victim’s family. So they came forward.

Swear to me that by this man’s blood your child will come back to life.

The family stood puzzled and told him that it can never be. Their child was dead.

Then, swear to me that your child’s soul will rejoice when this man’s blood is spilt.

The family was not sure. No one had seen a dead soul rejoicing.

If this man’s blood is of no use to you then, why do you want him dead?

The family did not know what to say.

The king then asked the criminal:

If by your death you can not bring the child back, how then do you want to pay them back?

The criminal looked at the mother of the child and said:

I do not know. I have sinned and would like to pay them back by my labor, my king. I can not bring their child back. But I can work their field and season after season; can give them a good harvest.

So be it, then. Free this man so that he is a slave to the family to work on their land. As for the grieving mother, learn to forgive the sin this man committed. May be you will find the smile of your child in every harvest this man brings to your home!

After the trial, the minister was puzzled and asked his king how the trial helped him overcome his loneliness. The king said:

Compassion, my dear minister, is the antidote for loneliness!

The 'Friendly Colleague'!

It was quite interesting. I mean the way two colleagues were vying with each other to have the boss’s complete attention. Competition in the office and professional jealousy is something that most of us live with everyday. Some of us cope with and some loose out. At the end of the day, however, one finds that the winner is actually equal to the loser (or vice versa).

There are reasons for saying so.

First, look at what every boss actually needs. He needs out put and achievement of goals. If one thinks that he became boss just to fulfill his personal needs, well, there are better myths to believe. He was an achiever and therefore he reached! He knows that you also want to reach and it is but natural that you have to achieve first.

Second, look at what you need. If you are looking for a life long friend by cozying up to your boss, well, it is better you give it a second thought. There are better avenues to make friends. Honestly, you are actually looking for becoming a boss your self. There is nothing wrong in that, by the way. Every reasonable man must want to grow. It is just that you got to work to become what you want to be!

So how do we balance these aspects. Simple –

First, be a professional in your field.

Second, be nice and courteous to your boss.

Third, remember, he wants results more than friendship.

Fourth and last, if it so happens that you do become friends, consolidate the relationship by all means (after all good friends are hard to come by!), but do not mix work with friendship!!  

Unknown, Unheard, Unsung!

Long time ago, a journalist who visited one of the forward and difficult frontiers concluded his article on the troops deployed there with these words:

“These are the real heroes – unknown, unheard, unsung!”

The debate is not about why the nation must remember its heroes. It is about character. Patriotism is also an attribute of character that reflects in the actions of a country. A few hundred thousand troops singing the glory of the nation does not make the nation patriotic. It is the billions of citizens’ faith in their own nation and their actions guided by such faith that makes the nation patriotic.

Many a times we discuss the actions of certain powers in the world stage and tend to brand them as ‘pushy’ ‘self centered’ or even ‘open display of their might’. If we sit down and analyse we will find that they are actually motivated not by the desire to bulldoze another country, but to uphold their national interest (sometimes, at all cost!). Patent actions such as these are actual display of ‘patriotism’ by a country. There will be costs to bear. But then, the nation does what it is convinced that it must do. Courage of conviction is not merely a praiseworthy attribute of an individual, it is the touch stone by which strong nations and weaklings are marked out. The size of the country actually has nothing to do with its courage of conviction. Even historically, it is David who fell Goliath!

Anyway, today’s scribble was to be about one of the most solemn tributes that has ever been paid to the Indian soldier in a battlefield that hardly few would know – battle of the Mishmi plains (Namti plain), 1962. The poem inscribed in the simple marble plaque was written by Bernard S Dougal, who was the Deputy Commissioner at that time. What a patriotic civil servant he must have been!

The sentinel hills

That around us stand
Bear witness that

We loved our land.

Amidst shattered rock

And flaming pines,
We fought and died

On Namti plains.

O Lohit, gently by us glide,
Pale stars above softly shine,

As we sleep here

In Sun and rain

        - Bernard S Dougal

Our salute to the gallant men of the Sikh, Dogra and Garwal platoons who defended the Lohit with their lives!

In case interested, for more details on the battle and monument, check out the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walong

http://bhavanajagat.com/tag/mishmi-tribes/

What do you do when you feel fed up and tired?

What do you do when you feel fed up and tired:

Just disappear from every thing, go some where alone and contemplate?

Put on some good music and dance?

Call up a friend and go out for dinner?

Pick up the tool box and get underneath you car?

Fix a drink and simply get drunk?

Shout, scream and throw tantrums at every thing that has bugged you that day?

Take it out on the loved ones at home, though they have done nothing to add to your woes?

Pull on your track suit and sweat it out in the gym?

Go with vengeance at everything that has challenged you and find solutions?

Aimlessly over work and become more confused and irritated?

Frankly, any of these and more could be done. A friend of mine once suggested that when ever faced with challenges, simply smile. Then you take down the issues one by one and prioritize them. Once you have done so, get on to them one by one.

In case your boss seems to have different priorities, settle with him first before you start.

There is simply no problem in this world that came without a solution. You simply have to have the patience to work the solution.  

Remember that God made the world only. Problems are made by man. They can be solved!     

What is Work?

What is work? Well, this appears to be a funny question in a world where we chase our CTC all the time. I have no answers. But, in case you have the time, please read on:

 On Work
 Kahlil Gibran

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons,
and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.

But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.

You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart,
even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection,
even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy,
even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead
are standing about you and watching.

Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, "He who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet."

But I say, not in sleep but in the overwakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.

Work is love made visible.

And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.

And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

Kalil Gibran - On Marriage & Children

There are great philosophers around the world who have given gems of thought on many things concerning our lives. My favorite is Kalil Gibran and his greatest gems are:

On Marriage
 Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

On Children
 Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

The Obvious Always Misses The Eye!

It appeared quite complicated and had bugged everyone in the establishment. Technical expertise was sought and detailed evaluation of every parameter was done. Short of replacing with a completely new one, every possible thing was changed. But it continued to persist, like what they say ‘an albatross around the neck’!

I am sorry. I don’t seem to have said what the issue was.

It was a bike that we had. Every time you started, an unusual sound of a vibration also started. Despite all the attempts described, the sound continued to the utter puzzlement of every one. So, one day, I decided that we must get to the bottom, come what may!

The bike was started and the sound also started. Switch off, I said, and start again. Well there it was. As I went around the bike wondering what it could be, something caught my eye.

Remove the number palate in the rear, I said. It was removed.

Start again!

The bike started and lo, behold, there was no vibrating sound.

Put it back, I said. And the sound came back!!

The rear right indicator was of metal casing and the way the number plate was placed, it grated against the indicator. The whole staff, including the qualified technician who was battling with the issue burst into laughter. The number plate was removed and re-fixed at a suitable place where it did not touch the indicator. The issue was over.

Did some one say “It is the obvious that always misses the eye?” 

To be Free!

It is actually difficult to say it in words. All that we keep searching for all the time is just to be free. Look around and you will know. We have tied our selves to so many things around us that some times one wonders whether we are free at all! Our job, our friends, our family, our dreams, our endeavors, our car, our money, our hobbies, our etc, our etc and our etc. Even Buddha who preached detachment died of his fondness for his meat. So was Alexander the Great, who died of his thirst for dominance of the orient. We all will, one day. But will we ever be free, in the real sense? In our life time, that is. To be free after you are dead actually has no meaning because you won’t know that you are free!

So, how do you become free when alive? MDQ, please! Am no great philosopher and therefore in any case can not give the answer. But I found the lyrics of a song from the movie, SHILOH, that I talked about in one of my prattling in this blog, some what close to an answer! Read on:   

I need to talk
I know it's late
There's something I've
Just got to say

We've been standing in the dark for so long
It's gonna break my heart to turn the light on

You are all I want
But all I want ain't what you need
If I can't be the one you want
Then all I want is to be free

Don't spare my heart
Please don't pretend
You know I'm right
This is the end
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/s/shiloh/all_i_want.html ]
It would hurt me less to just face the truth
That you don't really feel the way that I do

You are all I want
But all I want ain't what you need
If I can't be the one you want
Then all I want is to be free

Gotta get away
Gotta get away
Wanna stay
But I gotta get away

Not another day
Gotta make a change
Wanna stay
But I gotta get away, yeah yeah...

You are all I want
But all I want ain't what you need
If I can't be the one you want
Then all I want is to be free

Be free of your attachments. At least stop wanting from others. That way you will end up doing what you want and will be free from the anxiety of expecting something in return! That is what that mythological hero Krishna said:

“Karmanyevadisha ma  paleshu kadashana”

Life Is Larger Than You Think It Is!

A friend of mine dropped in just to say hello. It has been some time since we met and so we exchanged notes. Through out the conversation I saw that he was on some thing that we are all concerned about. That some thing any amount of which does not seem enough – moolah, money! He told me that he was into stocks, real estate, net trade, etc, etc. I asked him how much did he make in a year. Five million rupees, he said. Wow!

So he must be having a real ball in life. Think of all those wonderful things you can do with money. Go places, see movies, vacation on exotic islands, buy things and pamper your family. When I said this, his expression changed.

‘Listen, pal, I put in over 18 hours a day, including weekends. Yes, I do give my wife a lot of money and fill my children’s pockets with green backs (so to say). They do have a nice time. But I must work to make sure they do’, he said.

Got a point, you need to sacrifice a bit for the family. But do you really think they enjoy the benefits of your labor with you not around?

Hmm, I don’t know what you are hinting at?

I am not hinting at anything, pal, I just asked.

He was silent for quite sometime, thinking. Then he pulled out his mobile, called his wife and told her that he is canceling his trips for the weekend. Is it okey if she could pack for the weekend, get the car serviced so that they could go to the hill station nearby where she always wanted to go? And yes, can he talk to sonu, their seven year old?

I could actually hear Sonu jumping with excitement. Really, papa, we drive down with you? Can I please take my teddy along? What shall I wear? OK, will tell my music teacher that I am off with papa, so no classes this weekend, if you please.

When the call was over, his eyes were glossy. He hugged me as he left saying, ‘may be I will start earning a little less and live today than to burn out for a future that I do not know yet’.

Believe me; I have also felt that way many a times. Don’t know how you feel?

Some times, small things in life are larger than they look. Life, after all, is larger than you think it is!      

There Is No Price for Love!

I happened to watch a movie named SHILOH today. The story is about a boy who does every thing that he could and beyond for a dog that he loves so much! A dialogue from a vet who attends to the dog touched my heart:

“Sometimes, the greatest test of love is in how much you are willing to fight for it!”

Lovely lines and the man who wrote the story and dialogues must have written them from his heart. Everyday we tell someone sometime that we love them. We also keep declaring our love for something or other at all times – I love honesty, truth, friendship, the poor and down trodden, etc, etc. But at the end of the day, we mostly end up just mouthing these words without doing at least our bit, when situations so demand. Perhaps what we lack is courage and conviction that we must actually do some thing about what we say we love. No one man can change the world. But what we can is to do something that we can, to stand for what we love in our own little ways. I came across this story in one of the mails that a friend sent:

An old farmer had a brood of puppies and decided to put them on sale. “50 cents, for the cuddly little pups!” said his board nailed on to the fence at his farm. The next day, he found a little boy, his face pressed on to the fence, eagerly listening to the yelps of the young ones inside the kennel.

‘Want to see?’ asked the farmer. The kid’s eyes widened with excitement and head nodded with expectation.

‘Come on Dolly’, said the farmer, opening the door of the kennel. Out came the mother followed by her brood, yelping jumping and rolling down the ramp. Real joyful bundles of fur!

The kid kept watching, his eyes wide with joy and excitement. After the five – six of them rolled down, there came a whimper and struggle. Another pup appeared at the ramp. The kid kept looking. This one was not sure how to place his legs and in the clumsy attempt that he made, lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thud.

‘Oh, poor darling’, said the farmer, helping the pup to stand on his legs. As he looked up, he saw the kid stretch his hands through the fence, beckoning the lame pup to come to him.

‘You wouldn’t want him’, exclaimed the old man, ‘he won’t be able to run like others!’

‘Neither can I’, said the kid pulling a sleeve of his pants revealing the artificial leg below. ‘I think we will make good company’!

The old man kept looking at the kid, his eyes misted. As he picked up the pup to give it to the kid, the kid stretched out his hand and said, ‘but I have only 30 cents?’

The old farmer gently pushed the kid’s hand back saying, “there is no money for love”    

There is NO PRICE TAG ON LOVE!