Reflections
Thursday, June 28, 2007
On the Nature of Love
The night is black and the forest has no end;
a million people thread it in a million ways.
We have trysts to keep in the darkness, but where
or with whom - of that we are unaware.
But we have this faith - that a lifetime's bliss
will appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips.
Scents, touches, sounds, snatches of songs
brush us, pass us, give us delightful shocks.
Then peradventure there's a flash of lightning:
whomever I see that instant I fall in love with.
I call that person and cry: `This life is blest!
for your sake such miles have I traversed!'
All those others who came close and moved off
in the darkness - I don't know if they exist or not.
We have trysts to keep in the darkness, but where
or with whom - of that we are unaware.
But we have this faith - that a lifetime's bliss
will appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips.
Scents, touches, sounds, snatches of songs
brush us, pass us, give us delightful shocks.
Then peradventure there's a flash of lightning:
whomever I see that instant I fall in love with.
I call that person and cry: `This life is blest!
for your sake such miles have I traversed!'
All those others who came close and moved off
in the darkness - I don't know if they exist or not.
- Rabindranath Tagore
Read this poem, this morning at 7:00 AM, when it was blissfully raining outside. A poignant strain, a few rain droplets, this poem by Tagore is enough to make you realize how much his poetry means, how saccharine, divine and true his words are....
Don't ask me why I am so much into posting poetry, related to love. 'Tis just that things are working that way...Stumbled into this poem of his, when I was browsing through my copy of "The great works of Rabindranath Tagore"...Fell in love with it...Since there are a few people, who according to me, appreciate this theme, I thought I could type it out here :)
P.S : Don't know why..Typing out this poem, with the same poignant strain ringing in my ears, gives me so much happiness :) Life's beautiful....
Friday, June 15, 2007
When I go alone at night
HEN I go alone at night to my love-tryst, birds do not sing, the wind does not stir, the houses on both sides of the street stand silent. - It is my own anklets that grow loud at every step and I am ashamed.
-
- When I sit on my balcony and listen for his footsteps, leaves do not rustle on the trees, and the water is still in the river like the sword on the knees of a sentry fallen asleep.
- It is my own heart that beats wildly -- I do not know how to quiet it.
-
- When my love comes and sits by my side, when my body trembles and my eyelids droop, the night darkens, the wind blows out the lamp, and the clouds draw veils over the stars.
- It is the jewel at my own breast that shines and gives light. I do not know how to hide it.
One among the many poems, that make me want to fall in love :)
Friday, May 4, 2007
Contentment
Observe....Look at the picture carefully...A Family on the bed, with absolutely no place to sleep. But still some space for the cat and the dog has been made....There is a hole in the roof, from which droplets of water enter into the room, almost about to make the entire bed damp...But look at the smiles on their faces ... Makes you want to smile too :)The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems,
but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect....
but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect....
Attaining satisfaction and contentment is not that easy.....
Monday, April 23, 2007
Secular Nationalism ??
Do ignore the tangible spelling error in the last line :P
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Best of R.K.Laxman
Received this mail as a forward from one of my friends. Those were a few entertaining cartoons by the skilled cartoonist R.K. Laxman in Times of India
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The Story of the Pencil
This story (Should I call it a story ?) is actually one of my favourite stories, one among those pieces of writing, that I hold close to my heart. This is taken from Paulo Coelho's "Like the Flowing River", one of the best books I've ever read.
The Story of the Pencil :
A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter.
At one point, he asked:
‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
‘I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’
‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace
with the world.
'First quality: You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.
Second quality: Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.
Third Quality : The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.
Fourth Quality : What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.
Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: It always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.’
~ Like the Flowing River, Paulo Coelho
The Story of the Pencil :
A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter.
At one point, he asked:
‘Are you writing a story about what we’ve done? Is it a story about me?’
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
‘I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve ever seen!’
‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace
with the world.
'First quality: You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.
Second quality: Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he’s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.
Third Quality : The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.
Fourth Quality : What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.
Finally, the pencil’s fifth quality: It always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.’
~ Like the Flowing River, Paulo Coelho
Sunday, March 25, 2007
24 Interludes of Life
1. Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth even that fades
away. Go for someone who makes you smile.
2. There are moments in life when you really miss someone that you want to
pick them up from your dreams and hug them. Hope you dream of that someone.
3. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want
to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things
you want in life.
4. May you have...Enough happiness to make you sweet
Enough trials to make you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human
Enough hope to make you happy
And enough money to keep you comfortable.
5. When one door of happiness closes, another opens. But we often took so
long at the closed door, that we don't see the one which has been opened for
us.
6. The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch, swing with,
never saying a word and then walk away feeling like that was the best
conversation you've had.
7. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's
also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.
8. Always put yourself in other's shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it
probably does hurt the person too.
9. A careless word may kindle a strife;
A cruel word may wreck a life
A timely word may level stress
A lovely word may heal and bless.
10. The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves
and not to twist them with our own image, otherwise we love only the
reflection of ourselves we find in them.
11. The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything, they
just make the most of everything that comes along the way.
12. Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right
one so that when we finally meet the right person, we should know how to be
grateful for that gift.
13. It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone
and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
14. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have
searched and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the
importance of people who have touched their lives.
15. Love is when you take away the feeling, the passion, the romance and
find out you still care for that person.
16. A sad thing about life is that when you meet someone who means a lot to
you only to find out in the end that it was never bound to be and you just
have to let go.
17. Love starts with a smile, develops with a kiss and ends with a tear.
18. Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been
disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed,
need to love those who still love, even though they've been hurt before.
19. It hurts to love someone, and not to be loved in return but what is most
painful is to love someone and never finds the courage to let the person
know how you feel.
20. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You can't
go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
21. Never say goodbye when you still want to try;
Never give up when you still feel you can take it;
Never say you don't love that person anymore when you can't let go.
22. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you
back. Don't expect love in return, just wait for it to grow in their hearts
but if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.
23. There are things you love to hear but you would never hear it from the
person whom you would like to hear it from, but don't be deaf to hear it
from the person who says it with his heart.
24. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life to the fullest so that when you die, you're smiling and
everyone around you is crying . . .
A Couple of lines that seemed very poignant the very first time I listened this
[Lord don't move that mountain (Pursuit of Happyness)] song :
"Lord don't move that mountain
But give me the strength to climb
Lord don't take away the stumbling blocks
But lead me all around"
We never pray that way, do we ? - Mull over it
away. Go for someone who makes you smile.
2. There are moments in life when you really miss someone that you want to
pick them up from your dreams and hug them. Hope you dream of that someone.
3. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go, be what you want
to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things
you want in life.
4. May you have...Enough happiness to make you sweet
Enough trials to make you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human
Enough hope to make you happy
And enough money to keep you comfortable.
5. When one door of happiness closes, another opens. But we often took so
long at the closed door, that we don't see the one which has been opened for
us.
6. The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch, swing with,
never saying a word and then walk away feeling like that was the best
conversation you've had.
7. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's
also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.
8. Always put yourself in other's shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it
probably does hurt the person too.
9. A careless word may kindle a strife;
A cruel word may wreck a life
A timely word may level stress
A lovely word may heal and bless.
10. The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves
and not to twist them with our own image, otherwise we love only the
reflection of ourselves we find in them.
11. The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything, they
just make the most of everything that comes along the way.
12. Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right
one so that when we finally meet the right person, we should know how to be
grateful for that gift.
13. It takes a minute to have a crush on someone, an hour to like someone
and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
14. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have
searched and those who have tried. For only they can appreciate the
importance of people who have touched their lives.
15. Love is when you take away the feeling, the passion, the romance and
find out you still care for that person.
16. A sad thing about life is that when you meet someone who means a lot to
you only to find out in the end that it was never bound to be and you just
have to let go.
17. Love starts with a smile, develops with a kiss and ends with a tear.
18. Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been
disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed,
need to love those who still love, even though they've been hurt before.
19. It hurts to love someone, and not to be loved in return but what is most
painful is to love someone and never finds the courage to let the person
know how you feel.
20. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You can't
go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
21. Never say goodbye when you still want to try;
Never give up when you still feel you can take it;
Never say you don't love that person anymore when you can't let go.
22. Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you
back. Don't expect love in return, just wait for it to grow in their hearts
but if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.
23. There are things you love to hear but you would never hear it from the
person whom you would like to hear it from, but don't be deaf to hear it
from the person who says it with his heart.
24. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life to the fullest so that when you die, you're smiling and
everyone around you is crying . . .
A Couple of lines that seemed very poignant the very first time I listened this
[Lord don't move that mountain (Pursuit of Happyness)] song :
"Lord don't move that mountain
But give me the strength to climb
Lord don't take away the stumbling blocks
But lead me all around"
We never pray that way, do we ? - Mull over it
