~ Reflections ~

All of us love talking about the ideal... the epitome.... all of us have those images.. or should I say, Illusions... I wonder why we fail to see that the best in the world need not necessarily be the best for us....

Silences... the most versatile moments if I might say so... The happy ones.. the sad ones... The playful ones.. the ruthless ones... The meaningful ones... Some with none at all.... The ones that say it all... the ones that don't say a thing... Some meant to fill the spaces... Some meant to create them... As much as we claim to know a person..  I often wonder if it is ever possible to understand the silences that pass a conversation..... Hmmm.....

the speed of time..  the lethargy of the moment.. the clock ticking by...  yet the moment not letting go...

"Dhoop Ke Ujaale Si, Puns Ki Pyaale Si, Khushiyan Mile Humko.. Zyada Manga Hai Kahaan, Sarhadein Na Ho Jahaan, Duniya Mile Humko.. Par Khudha Kheir Kar, Uske Armaan Mein Kyun Bewaja Ho Koi Kurbaan.. Gujha Muskuratha Hai Kyun Waqth Se Pehle Kyun Chodd Chala Tera Ye Jahaan... Ek Lau Is Tharah Kyun Bhuji Mere Maula Ek Lau Zindagi Ki Maula.."

Moving on is simple, it's what you leave behind that makes it so difficult. Photograph: Ahmed Shajee Aijazi & Hamza Azeem - "Escaping Birth"

I was high (in the air.. what did you think ;)) when it all came to me.... Clouds are like dreams... we see them give shape of our thoughts.. And when dreams collide...  it rains !! Eureka!! which then either go down the drain (literally !!) or do something more constructive...

udaan bharne ki koshish sabhi karte hai kuch pankho ke saaath, aur kuch apne hauslo se par udne mae mazaa tabhi aata hai jab lage na darr, neechae aane se

Everytime I'm falling down all alone,  I fall to pieces...

So what are the different sources of energy that come to your mind...  Petrol , Gas , Nuclear Fission , Fusion , Photoelectric.... Here's a new source.. Words..  They can propel your thought.. Move you to action...  Make you realize your potential.. and if the push (read words) is strong enough, then ensure action :) They can hold your thoughts and build your potential... break the dam of patience and result in a flood...

Every thought, every emotion , every action has its own lifecycle... From the initial kisk.. to the euphoria & the heat to accomplish.. to the joy of fulfilment... to the satisfaction that the needful has been done... to the emptiness that nothing is left to do..  till we find something new again to kick start the whole process again :)

Borrowed from Pravs.. couldn't find anything more apt

I like keeping it simple... or atleast that' s what I've tried so far... Then why do I suddenly feel like I'm complicating it for myself...  Maybe because life became to mundane, and its time for some change...

"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." ~ Ayn Rand

"... the quality of men who are selected by these modern democratic methods of adult franchise gradually deteriorates because of lack of thinking and the noise of propaganda... He [the voter] reacts to sound and to the din, he reacts to repetition and he produces either a dictator or a dumb politician who is insensitive..." This is what Nehru had to say about the Indian Democratic System when the Indian system was being created....and to think the description is even more apt today, where we have politicians & citizens who lack the passion that existed in those days.. Jinhe Naaz hai Hind par wo Kahaa hai.. Kahaa hai kahaa hai kahaa hai  !!!

We are all like Sponges... soaking up what we see / hear and assimilate around us... but every sponge has its capacity to absorb.. So till we dry up or throw out some of the stuff we've got inside... we'll stop soaking it up... " Habit is a second nature which prevents us from knowing the first, of which it has neither the cruelties nor the enchantments.  " ~ Marcel Proust

Thought... rumination... Beauty... reflection... Feelings... emotion... Dreams.. ambition..

2 girls... nonchalantly chewing gum... casually dressed in jeans and t-shirt... could have been anyone... who's to tell the difference... the fact that it was the middle of the night (don't we all haunt the streets of Delhi at odd hours)..  or that they were with a pimp.. made me feel insecure... sad....

Here's my solution to Communal Riots & Religious strife... The government should give incentives for...  Intercaste / Inter-religion Marriage !!!! It will then become all in the family :D

Living in the fast paced lives that we do.. we have very few things in our live that we do outside of the circle of work...  So when we go out to watch movies, most of us go for sheer enjoyment... so the farther the movie from reality, the greater the chances of the crowd enjoying it.. Don't get me wrong, there are still few connoisseurs of good serious cinema which is closer to reality.. but the breed is fast depleting... N why not...  Blame it on our lifestyles !!!

I've been reading a collection of essay's by Arundhati Roy.. Some of the stuff she has to say makes a lot of sense.. here's a sample... "The nuclear bomb is the most anti-democratic, anti-national, anti-human, outright evil thing that man has ever made. If you are religious, then remember that this bomb is Man's challenge to God. It's worded quite simply: We have the power to destroy everything that You have created. If you're not (religious), then look at it this way. This world of ours is four thousand, six hundred million years old. It could end in an afternoon." For anyone who wants to atttempt reading them, here is one of them, titled "The End of Imagination", which featured both in Frontline &  Outlook .

The more I see my grandparents and parents, more I feel that it is important to live in the present, for the present. But the more we live just for the present, more complicated our future seems to be getting.  

Ever watered plants in the summer heat...  Not only is it a satisfying experience (because the plants suddenly seem alive ! ), the smell of wet mud is intoxicating. It somehow isn't important whether the plants thanked me in words.. what I gave led to the satisfaction, that of good use, and that's all that matters.

Ayn Rand's world of perfect competition is one in which I'd love to live in.... where everything is as per my capability and capacity, the fruit I get it what I've earnt..  and I have no family to satisfy... and I have absolute health... no worry of diseases (I'm not talking about a diseased thought though)..

We all have the tendency to blame our parentage for most things.. for our habits, opinions, things we do wrong... We do learn quite a lot from our parents, but then blaming it all on them, and simply passing the buck (for not doing something the right way) is just escapism.. Its about time (considering we've spent about a quater of a century on this planet) that we stake claim to our actions and doings.

Here's my friend's status message... liked it a lot... Main logon se mulaqaton ke lamhe yaad rakhti hoon, Main baatein bhool bhi jaon, toh lehje yaad rakhti hoon, Sar-e-mehfil nigahein mujh pe jin logon ki parti hai, Nigahon ke hawale se main chehre yaad rakhti hoon, Zara sa hut ke chalti hoon zamane ki riwayat se, Ke jin pe bhoj main daloon woh kandhe yaad rakhti hoon!

The fastest judgements we make are about others. And the ones we accept the slowest are about ourselves. So by the time we realise the judgement is right, more often than not, we've already made the mistake again. No wonder they say that History repeats itself :) :)

We are all like onions... We need to peel the layers, to finally reach the core... But we weep so much in the process, that we give up midway...

The basis of everything in life seems to be Exchange... A favour for another.. some help for some more... Give and take...  Maybe I'm stupid... to think that its not about what you give or take.. its just what you wish to do... unconditional.. without compulsion or guilt...

There is something about the human touch that's reassuring.. Maybe because that's our first tryst with reality.. the touch of our parents..Or our first understanding of support... holding your finger I walk.. So whenever I'm afraid.. I need assure.. I try to reach out.. for that warm touch....

Recently discovered TS Eliot... Awesome stuff... found it difficult to pick the part I like the best... But couldn't resist giving a glimpse... Enjoy !!! Extract from Burnt Norton ~ T S Eliot At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity, Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards, Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point, There would be no dance, and there is only the dance. I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where. And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.

Life is a funny thing... atleast most of the times.. We get what we don't want, Not what we expect.. Love the ideal, Miss the real... See what we want to, And ignore what we have... And then, on one of those depressing nights, regret doing it all..

We all see good times... and witness some bad times too... As long as we are not the subject of all this emotional seesaw, we seem to handle it well... But unfortunately, the true test, which most of us fail, is the way we handle it all... It's not about whether those tears finally trickle down your cheek after you reach the finish line.. or that you simply shrug your shoulders without any change... It's about how you were through the race, if you can call it that..  whether you can be happy, with others, even though the fruit is still forbidden... and face it all without finding faults.. My only conclusion is this.. Adversity shows us the worst.. only to bring out the best.. if we really try :)

Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. ~ Tennyson

We like walls.. barriers.. boundaries... Not for others benefit , but our own.. Not that anyone would cross them.. But so that our thoughts don't cross them... And then we open a small window.. For those special few... Without realising, that the window will open you to all...

We all work.. and like to be rewarded when we feel we've done something worthy of appraisal. But what happens when you see the same reward being given to a mediocre performance and one which was par excellence. I guess we all need to learn to refuse... not just what we don't deserve.. but also when mediocrity is rewarded in the same breath and with equal gaiety as good work.

I actually got inspired by a blog-post I read.. so here's an attempt at a different form of expression... just humour me.. Beauty... seen through other's eyes.. Vision.. seen through my own... Wind.. blowing in my face.. Rain.. beating against it... Things... with names.. Relationships.. without... Secrets.. bottled up inside.. Truth.. staring at me.. Structured thoughts... randomly expressed.. My life.. an oxymoron...

Conversations.. atleast the long ones... always leave me with the longing for more... Needless to say that the realisation of how few of them I've had in the past really gives me a sinking feeling.. of how it will be in the future, when all of us will get busier, trying to fight our way to our professional goals... It all sounds good in books and movies that relationships are a thing of the heart, and they are never lost... blah blah blah... but in reality, it is essential to keep in touch... So here's to all my friends... I hope we all stay in touch... "Someone remembers, someone cares; Your name is whispered in someone’s prayers."

There is some kind of jinx... I'm not a celebration kind of person... I don't attach too much importance to birthdays etc.... I guess this is life's way of teaching me a lesson... The one time I really felt like celebrating... when I thought I had finally earnt it.. I am unable to... I deserve it !!! Damn !!!

We all give importance to different things in life... And for me, time is the essence... I dont mind reaching early.. but i detest being late... So now, when I am on the other side, makiing people wait for me.. I really don't know what to do/say to make it better...