Monday, August 20, 2012

Wait Makes the Arrival Sweeter


Every single day I have waited for it, thinking this would be the day when it actually arrives. But hours melted into days and days into months and yet no trace of it. My desire to watch it, transformed into urge which gave birth to desperation and I soon reached the stage of hopelessness. But it was not under my control so I had to resign. I stopped looking for it, a little annoyed and a little angry within my heart at its treachery. Why did it make me believe in the first place that it would follow me wherever I go and in which ever state I be. It was supposed to be my dear friend in thick and thin and it has been so since the time I felt the unusual bond with it. I know it may seem illogical for a reasoning mind but I prefer to have faith on this saying more than on any sort of reason - 'Mano to bhagwaan nahin to pathar'.

No I am not talking about any God here, this time it is my one and only beloved rain. Not just rain, everything that comes with it - the dark clouds, the cool breeze, the threatening lightening and the deafening thundering because they set the stage perfectly for the magnum opus. Everything amuses me, humbles me, brings out the appreciation for the divine creation of a perfect being. Since the time I remember having developed this strange association with seemingly inanimate phenomenon, it has never let me down. My happiness has always been reflected back by its jubilantly dancing raindrops and my sorrows have been drowned in its uninterrupted downpour, on not one but almost all the instances. There was no reason to believe otherwise but the fact that we were pals extraordinaire.

But since I left my abode of last seven years, there was not even a trickle of water from the heavens high above us. It felt as if I am left abandoned by my companion to face the vicissitudes of life all alone. Life has not been the same because the feeling of being watched over by someone, the assurance that someone would mend anything for me, is priceless. Well, some things cannot be forced to happen just because an individual feels so strongly about it.

Anyway, months passed hopelessly and very unpretentiously there it was one day thundering, roaring, raring to go in all its regality and affluence, not with a single element missing. The spectacle was one that I had never witnessed before, completely out of this world. It soaked everything from dusty green leaves which were now fluttering and displaying their shiny green colours, the parched ground, the thirsty fauna, the withering flora, to my melancholy heart. It compensated much more than what I had hoped for. Because this time, it brought the realization that sometimes the wait makes the arrival of a dear one even more special and significant. Once the feeling of granted starts seeping in, the fun of appreciating the other and the uniqueness itself start getting compromised.

I think I needed this message at this time. How wonderfully a simple natural process never fails to bring home a subtle point which feels so appropriate at any given time. I know someone high above is really watching over me and would not abandon me because His messages have been loud and clear to me always.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Creative Story Telling


On request of my children that I should create a new story every time, I try to spin stories on the fly and I keep adding some twists to simple plots as I narrate.

Here are a couple of stories with very simple plots but which amused the narrator and the audience nonetheless.

Pea and Potato 

Once upon a time, there was a pea and there was a potato. One day they started arguing. Pea said, "Potato, I am the prettiest vegetable in the whole world. You are so brown, so ugly and so boring." Potato said, "Pea I may not be the prettiest vegetable but everybody loves to eat me." And they kept on fighting and fighting. One elderly Banyan tree was watching their argument and suggested that they should ask some children because children are the most unbiased creatures in the whole world and will give the correct verdict.
Thankfully they both agreed to listen to this suggestion and went to a group of children in the park. They requested the children to decide about their dispute. The children first listened to each side's reasoning patiently and then started a brainstorming session amongst themselves. It seemed like a very difficult task to decide anything on this issue. There was no one right answer. But kids are kids and they find the way out when they set their minds to it.

After a short while, they appeared in front of the pea and the potato and told them that we all like the dishes made from both of them together like samosa, poha, aloo-matar curry and many more, so considering this, you both are very special and you both need to work in complete harmony to make delicious dishes for all of us. Pea and Potato both were satisfied and also realized that it is not important to be superior to others, what is more important is to be able to work in unison with others.

 Who Should Be The King Of The Jungle


Once upon a time in a jungle, a Donkey was lazing around in a pumpkin patch when he started thinking about his family, his friends, his acquaintances and his enemies too. Gradually his mind wandered into a territory where he started questioning things. One such question made him really furious and excited at the same time. He could not find any valid reason for the Lion to be the king of the jungle and not a Donkey. So in order to understand the reason, he thought of fixing up a meeting with the King of the jungle - the Lion, directly. In order to do that he very intelligently thought of first calling him up. He made a phone call to the Lion and first enquired about his health and then asked him if he could come over to meet. The Donkey very frankly told the Lion that he is coming to meet him, so the Lion should not even attempt making him the meal. He mentioned that this is a very important matter and this cannot be discussed if he is afraid of losing his life while talking to the King. The Lion assured the donkey that he is already full after having eaten a full Zebra just in the breakfast so the Donkey can come over fearlessly.

At the appointed time, the Donkey reached Lion's den. Without wasting any time, he expressed his feelings to the lion and why he should not be the king of the jungle. He further asked, "Lion ji, just tell me, why do you think you are the king? What exceptional quality do you have which makes you superior to other animals and especially us donkeys? "
Lion replied, "We have a ferocious roar and all the animals shiver at the sound of our roar".
Donkey had his reply ready, "Why, we have an equally fearful braying too - Dhanchoon, dhannchoo. Haven't you heard animals complaining about it so much and haven't you seen animals running away from us when we start braying? "

Lion was speechless, so he suggested that we should call a meeting of all the animals of the jungle and then let them decide who should be the King of the jungle. The condition is, this meeting is compulsory for every single inhabitant of the jungle.

So on the designated date and time, all animals reached the meeting venue. The Donkey explained the issue to all the animals and then the animals started discussing the problem and what could be the possible solution.

………..
Now after this, I asked the kids to pretend to be a particular animal of their choice and decide who should be the king of the Jungle. Two in-house thinkers chose to be a rabbit and a giraffe and gave some very interesting answers and equally interesting reasoning.

Happy story ending to you too :)
Please do share the solutions suggested by your little ones here. 

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I yearn...

  1. I yearn for that one day!!!

When nothing is expected of me,

When nothing is due from me,

The one day of eternal peace.


I yearn for that one day,

When clock does not tick as warning signal,

When the day does not break

with mind running through list of 'to do' things,

When night does not fall

with a fresh list for the next day.


I yearn for that one day,

When I get a cup of steaming tea in my hand

When seeing the overcast sky -

my heart starts jumping with elation and

not my legs running to grab the drying laundry


When I look back,

Those were the times

Those were the years

That was the phase

When I was with my mother !!!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Simple theory or theory made simpler ???

It is the same day today and since morning I am mechanically doing the daily chores but I can feel my mind wandering down the memory lanes some 18 years back. Yes, its been 18 years since my life changed which I had never anticipated. This was the day 18 years back when I lost him. Now after having spent as many years without him as with him, why do I still feel some strange pain in my heart, why does my heart long for something and I don't even know what it longs for. He was part of my life and I was part of his. Though life is on a smooth ride yet some unfilled void makes its presence felt whenever it finds me in seclusion. In such rare moments it always succeeds in overpowering me and making me feel incomplete and alone but I am aware of it approaching me today and I want to handle it my way this time. I know it better this time, I have some answers ready and I am well equipped to confront it now.


Over these years I have slowly tried to understand the 'why' and 'how' behind the events that happen in our lives and the most plausible explanation which made sense and brought peace to me is that - I am here to perform a specific role on the world stage with a particular cloak on, just as we watch shows in theater where actors come and perform their parts. My role spans over some acts and in some of those acts he was with me. But his role ended after some scenes and he departed from the stage to take on another character. However, I continue to be on the stage because my current role is not over yet. He may come disguised as somebody else in the acts that are being enacted right now but I am sure I will not be able to recognize him if he does so because the costume designer is a perfectionist and it may require extraordinary kind of sight to recognize the individual inside the external attire.


It is important for me to not wait for him in one of these acts or think of the scenes that we enacted together or miss him in the current scenes because doing so is totally futile. And letting my mind lose on this track will disturb my focus completely because I am expected to perform right now and in my distracted state of mind I may screw up some scenes or someone else's part. My objective is to enact the scenes to the best of my capability which can only be done if my whole being is involved in what I am doing.


This led me to another revelation that since we all are co-performers, to what extent should we get attached to our companions? Perhaps just to the minimal level as any set of stage performers do. There should always be camaraderie and goodwill among the ones working together in a particular activity but that is about it. Once that activity is executed the association also ends and if that is the case where does the expectations from others originate? So while we are together we can enjoy the togetherness but once that time is over, there should not be any baggage left of unfulfilled expectations or of remorse.


So after having analyzed and understood the functioning of this particular stage, should I just forget him? No, the best course is to just keep our together time in the storehouse of memories that I can carry with me wherever I go but I know it will be devoid of any sort of sadness from now on. I wish him luck for all the roles that he gets to play in future and hope to do justice to whatever comes to me.


Surprisingly this understanding has made me much more peaceful and focused because I can clearly see that after performing my specific role, I will be exiting the stage and wait backstage to either enter into another character or if the final act gets over, I will finally rest in my permanent abode - the house of our father - the God.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

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