Celebrating Life

Every moment is precious and is worth celebrating. Smile, laugh, think, talk, observe, play, sing, dance and pursue a favorite hobby are the different ways in which we silently spread the joy that lies within us. The means may differ from one person to another but the ultimate goal, i think, is to keep our mind n heart at peace. For e.g., a potter finds pleasure in his work i.e. making the pots but a painter finds painting the pots pleasurable. But "Do what you love" is not always doable to earn a livelihood, so people go with "Love what you do" most of the times (I don't really know whether beggars on the streets love what they do for their livelihood). Due to many reasons like growing population and competition, lack of opportunity, we do not always get to end up in a profession of our interest. So, we compromise and find alternate ways to keep ourselves happy. For me, celebrating life implies being happy.

Talking about celebration, we can't ignore 'Festivals' that add a special flavor to the taste of our lives. Festivals are only a few occasions to share happiness. Each festival has its own significance. The most awaited festival of the year, Diwali, is just a few days away. The significance of this festival is to celebrate the victory of good over evil. On this occasion we get to hear different stories involving mythological characters, the moral of all the stories being "good wins over bad". For some the festival is about Goddess Lakshmi puja, for some it is about lighting diyas and playing crackers. For me, it is about finding the light in darkness.

Call me

I'm alone

I'm not a stone

I don't moan

nor do I groan

'Coz I have a phone

and its my own

It does ring

and sing tring-tring

as you dial my number

I'm sure, you are not a disturber

'Coz you are my friend

and the one upon whom I can depend.

If you find this funny, you are not the only one with that opinion. I too feel that its funny. :)

Courageous Courage

Story of a kid:

A kid, who is very reluctant, is forcefully sent to school. To him, home is the only secure place and parents are the only acquaintances. Everything else is strange and new. Out of the fear of unknown, he refuses to go to school. But, his parents know that the school is a secure place too and also that the kid needs to be educated. Though he never likes the idea of doing something different from his routine of staying n playing at home, he has to attend the classes everyday because of his parents' persuasion. Within few days, he gets used to it. Once he makes friends with the other kids, he doesn't want to miss the school even for one day. With lot of curiosity, he learns something new each day from his teachers, friends and books. By the time he finishes his class 10, he is not only fond of but also reluctant to leave the school. Its time for him to enter the not-so-welcoming place, called junior college, with goals set as high as sky. There the competition is huge, books are heavier and subjects are vast. Again, 'the fear of unknown' steps in. And the story goes on.

This fear of unknown walks in and out of his life too often. It doesn't make him a coward, rather it makes him stronger and wiser each day. It introduces him to 'Courage'. This keeps him going in tough times. It shows him the only way out of many dead-ends. It helps him not only in succeeding but also in standing up against the failures that pop-up out of nowhere. It expands his world. It gives him a lot of new experiences. It helps him to rediscover himself. In the end, it keeps him happy and contented.

blah blah blah

Every morning I wake up only to fall in love with myself once again. I have got nothing to think about, no tasks to complete, no deadlines to meet, no exams to write and absolutely nothing to do. With a lot of difficulty, I get out of my bed and with no interest in knowing what date and day it is, I take a look at the wall clock just to check how tight was my sleep last night. I look at myself in the mirror to see how beautiful I am, with that lazy look on my face, and also find that I haven't grown any older than the previous day. With a little effort, I walk into the balcony, yawning n stretching, to take a breath of the fresh air that makes every morning as special as I am to myself. But I find that the sun is up and I have missed the cool feel of the morning for the day. Walking back to my room, I look around at the things on my table n rack and remember the unforgettable days spent with friends. I might not meet or call my friends but they are always in my thoughts. These sweet memories filled with fun and laughter make me smile unknowingly. I feel that I'm fortunate in many ways. Listening to music n humming, I fresh up as slowly as I can. (Its great that my Maths teacher found the real me and called me "A slow coach" years ago. She also called me "Absent-minded professor". I liked all the names she gave me). When I was a kid, I have learnt that eat=chew+swallow. But now, I think I need to change it as, eat=feel the smell+let your taste buds speak+chew+swallow. Spending the remaining time in front of the TV or computer, occasionally reading a book or newspaper, swinging in the cane swing (and feel as if I'm flying), sitting on the couch and eventually falling asleep in it ends my day.

So, I'm neither bored nor busy.

Eng-Leash

I have come across a word "Phobophobia" today. I've learnt that it is a term given to refer the fear of phobias. For a while, I could do nothing but laugh at it. I don't know why it sounded funny to me. Its great that we have such a vast collection of words in English. Though my regular attempts to build my vocabulary never turned out successful, I adore the language and admire the inventors of words for their effort (I wish I could be one!). But, of what use is the vast language when only few of us are well acquainted with most of the words? And most of us are happy to use the few words that we know.

The purpose of a language, I think, is to communicate in a meaningful way that the others could understand. To express myself correctly, I should choose the right words. But, the purpose of communication is not served if the other person doesn't understand what I'm talking, even though I use the right words. Building vocabulary is important. Choosing the words that we use in an apt manner is important too.

When I started writing this one, I really didn't want to write anything about English. I only wanted to write it in good and decent English. Finally, I ended up writing something. :)

Lovely Morning

Waking up early (around 5.30 am) is a little difficult but the pleasure that we experience on such mornings is great.

Wake up early
It makes your day lovely
Shed off the laziness
Walk out of the drowsiness
At first you feel the mist
Then you get a twist
From the rising sun
And he is the one
Who made it heat up
As the whole world woke up
How beautiful is the dawn!
Now another day is born
Wake up early
It makes your day lovely

--Srisudha

P.S.: This is my first attempt.

A Sleepless Night

As the title indicates, I'm about write one of my wonderful experiences on a sleepless night. I go to bed early around 10.30 to 11.00 pm every night except on rare occasions. Now, here's one of those rare occasions. I took a nap from 10.00 pm to 11.00 pm just to stay awake at 12.00 am and welcome the day I've been waiting for. Its my birthday. As the clock ticked 12, my phone started buzzing with friends' calls and the message inbox is already full with their SMSes. I wished I could answer all of them at once. There was a huge competition among my friends to be the first to wish me on my b'day. I said to myself "What a nice bunch of friends I got! These people really make me feel special. They are all so sweet". Finally I've picked up the phone and as the lucky friend of mine was about to say something, my mother said "Wake up!". I've opened my eyes with a lot of difficulty and found that the time is 7.00 am and it is not my b'day. The short nap turned into a whole night's sleep.

The dream turned into a nightmare and it made my night sleepless.

Past.. Present.. but no future?

I have always wondered what the ancient people might have done for fun and recreation. They didn't have parks, TV shows, movies, books, games and sports. All they had was the beautiful, lovely and unpolluted nature. Land, ocean and time had no boundaries, people had pure minds and freedom to do anything they wished. Bird-songs and the exotic sound of jungle waterfalls were the only music. Every necessity lead to a new thought which in turn lead to an invention. It must have been so pleasant and welcoming. I wish I had lived in those lovely ancient times with little comfort.

Now, here we live with anything and everything at our doorstep just by the click of a mouse. Purity has totally become extinct. Despite many ways for fun and recreation, we still find the days boring. With unending busy lives that lead to nowhere, we still want something new everyday. The worst part is, we believe that our lives are much better than those of our ancestors and we want to give 'the best' to our next generations, so we try to improvise everything and leave the atmosphere more polluted each day. I don't completely mean that the advancement in technology is fatal. But its time we realize and make a compromise to our comforts in order to protect the earth and its atmosphere.

We have reached a point where we can't even stop this destruction even if we wished to. We can only forget this fact and stay happy as long as we live.

Life is to live

To a person who knows the essence of it, life is beautiful. It is the best teacher. With bright and dark sides, it gives us an opportunity to discover the power within us. We must never lose the hope and believe that every failure, bad moment in turn leads to a happy ending. If you lose an opportunity, there would surely be a better one waiting for you. One only needs patience to wait for the right time and opportunity to come. You never know what is the 'right' time n opportunity so don't leave any stone unturned. Every adverse situation gives u something to learn. We grow not by the years that pass, we actually grow up by what we learn from our experiences. We should expect nothing and put in all the efforts, because that way, in the end, we find the fruit of it sweet.

Everyday in news we see that some young man or woman committed suicide either for love or for a failing in an exam or for other trivial reasons. This is foolishness. I think that they must have thought twice before doing that. If they had remembered that they can reach any heights only while we live, they wouldn't have done that to themselves. Life is to live and make the dreams come true. Everyone must have the courage to face the odds of life. Successful people are failures at some point of their life. Nobody would benefit from death. If committing suicide is the only solution to every problem, I'm afraid, nobody would be living today. Killing oneself is the worst act one could do. It is equivalent to accepting the defeat, it is nothing but showing the world how weak and incapable they are.

I wish and hope that every kid grows up with strength in mind and body, and with faith in heart that anything could be achieved. I wish that someday no one would commit suicide.

"All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark."-- Swami Vivekananda

Bored of Boredom

Boredom is a state of mind where one finds no interest in anything. Now that I've started it in a very boring manner, let me tell the possible reasons and causes for such a worst line. Knowing the definition of a word, using it and experiencing it, gives a lot to learn from the word. (I'm not going to write anything about building vocabulary here... Please go on and keep reading)

Here's a short story.

An ordinary person who has been leading a very busy life needs a break, so that he could get relaxed and then go on with it. He would have actually waited for it. How long should that break be, for him to get refreshed? It should be long enough because this guy has been working too hard. But if it is too long, it would obviously have adverse effects on him. If he is given a chance to take a break that is sufficient for him, he would do that aptly. Now, he isn't given a chance to make a choice. Rather, he is given lots n lots of free time. He spent most of the time lazing around, relaxing, having fun with family and friends, watching movies and finally ended up too bored. He has got nothing to do. He is bored to death and bored of boredom. He still has got many more weeks of holidays which are now of no use to him. What would he do now? (I can't answer this question.. I guess u know why :) )

After a very long time, finally, the time has come.. he should start working and stick to a hectic schedule now. The long vacation made him dumb. He actually waited for this day because he wanted to kill his boredom. But now when the day has arrived, he is totally incapable of getting back to work. Do we call this the incapability of the person or a mistake of his employer for giving him such a long vacation?

It could be both. But i would say it is the incapability of the person because if he would have spent his vacation wisely he wouldn't have had to face this. Of course, after working for a few days, he might get used to the work but the wasted time would never come back.

Moral: Whenever you are bored of boredom or bored to death, try to make good use of the time. Don't ask me how. Just do it :P

P.S.: If u are still reading this, thanks a lot for the patience.

The Magical 'Love'

I have heard most of the times that love is blind, it is magical, it can't be preplanned.. it just happens and it can't be defined. Why does it not happen to me? Am i the only one like this? Or am i just ignoring The Magic around me? Or am i confused with the word LOVE? Too many questions going through my mind.

I don't know how everyone feel about The Magical Love. But as far as i know, my parents, brother n all my friends love me and i love them all too. This love is different though. Being practical, how can something just happen without our knowledge.. be it love or anything else? How does the 'Love at first sight' thing happen? How can somebody distinguish between love and infatuation? I strongly believe that in reality, love just doesn't happen. If i had liked or loved somebody then i would have had my own reasons for the same. If i had known that person since a long time and now if i say I'm in love with this person, it means that I have planned my love.

According to me, each one of us look around to find 'The Right Partner' and once found we try to impress that person and check if he/she has the same kind of feelings for us. In fact, their opinions are strongly influenced by the kind of impression we give to them about us.

I wouldn't really understand what it is until i experience it. :)