Victory gives you a trophy; failure gives you a chance to
fight for a still bigger one. Keep going. But never miss the beautiful scenes
of life on both sides of your path. As long as you enjoy the free bouquets of
nature around, life no longer gets defined in victory-defeat terms. It acquires
a larger dimension. It turns meaningful by itself. And joy and happiness turn
the natural, unconditional fruits of the path. Journey well. Never miss your
smile.
**
Well there never was a destination. The only destination has
been to move from a painful journey to a joyful one. It's a very subtle change
in gears: From the outer shadows--which are ever shifting and fleeting--to the
inner substance which is ever unperturbed and waiting for the journeyman to
come home at long last.
**
So much for the conceptualized set of sins and vices. We
have too hypothetical concepts to tame the basic instincts in humans. A vice is
not a vice everywhere. A so called 'vice' with larger motivation loses its dark
shades. Without a supportive chorus in the background, it again becomes a
loathsome act in abstract. But there is hardly anything in total abstractness,
except in the pages of books and the brains revising these for one-upmanship to
win a point. Reality is too muddled up. There is hardly any vice that goes
totally unjustified. And rarely a virtue that stands perfectly justified. Read
Dostoevsky's Gambler. It treats gambling as a viceful and then not so viceful
art driven by the pure psychosis of a helpless heart mad after the chancy
windfalls of win and loss and even beyond.
**
Now I understand why economically challenged households have
bigger treasure in the form of children. As Mr. Micawber says in David
Copperfield:
"In our children we live again, and that, under the
pressure of pecuniary difficulties, any accession to their number is doubly
welcome."
**
To lead a successful social life, invest in a few relations
wisely and with soft emotions. Work and behave with people in a manner as to
have two or three persons who will always have a room for you in their house,
half a dozen at least who will always have a chair for you at their dining
table, a few dozen who will always have softness for you in their hearts and a
few hundred who will surely smile at you as you pass them. This, dear readers,
is the hallmark of a peaceful, happy, mundane life of a common man. If the
ingredients of joy are so earthly, why aim for cosmic shots then to find
meaning in life?
**
While we fret, fume and get frustrated for the things that
we don't have, feeling wronged both by the system and destiny, there are people
we carry on uncomplaining, even though they have just a fraction of what we
have, but deserve 100 times more than us. Just give a careful look around. We
have many in our locality itself so there is no need to pack bags and search in
far of lands. Doesn't it makes you feel the luckiest of the lot. A sense of
gratitude needs this much of attention.
Many times we think we don't have enough for our talent. So
many times we crib about having less for what we do. But then there are the
lives who could have been better than any of us just that they were born in a
ditch and circumstances never allowed them to come out. I see scores of such
unsung heroes on a daily basis and find myself humbled and cut down to my real
size.
**
What are tough circumstances? They are just some sick
moments needing doctoring from you. Take the pulse of difficulties. Analyse
impartially like a doctor. Put up the diagnosis. Prescribe a solution and come
out hale and hearty.
**
Don't take life as a mystery. It's an open book. Each line
has just one message: The time you are allowing to slip away without
celebrating my existence (and your own -- both are same by the way) will never
come back. So celebrate life. Light new lamps of exuberance, fresh dreams,
undying enthusiasm, unrelenting creativity and many more. Happy Diwali
everyone!
**
A continuous run is no fun without rest, repose and pause.
Inviting you to slow down and have a bit of rest...fast mode has no meaning
without the slow mode. A run is fruitless without rest. In any case we have to
stop to reap the rewards of our running, huffing and puffing...
**
A little song book of eternal hope, love and loss. A cup of
tea brewed with night blooming jasmine flowers. A perfect date on partially
sunny warm day! Ordinary has the hallmark of perfection. What else one needs in
life?!
**
The potted rose has turned into a heavy bouquet of roses.
Giving its best shot at life! You no longer fear death once you have given your
best to life and blossom the potential mother nature has given you. Smile full
and sadness vanishes. Light fully and darkness turns on its heels. And what is
a flower? It's simply mother earth smiling as you carefully caress a bit of
soil with loving hands. We create blossoms with our emotions. The potential is
already there. What we need is a gentle emotion and a bit of smile to create
something that adds to mother earth's smile.
**
And
now dear earthlings, the winter softly coos: 'Dear, I'll cool down the burning
hot field of realities that tortures your soft feet!' Open up to the
invitation. Give mother nature a helping hand. She will put our house in order
far too soon than we believe. But we have to do our bit first. Please resolve
to plant a few trees and see them grow up strong with mandatory post-plantation
care.
