~ Reflections ~

After a long long time, I'll be doing something I've really wanted to do...  Did I have to make some alternate settlements... maybe... Will it live up to the hype of it all... can't say... Was it worth a try.. only time will tell... But there is something very clear in my mind... I am glad I'm trying it out.. Because clearly, this is something I've been wanting to do for a long time now...  

The mind is screaming... for some peace... Little does it realize that the screaming is what is causing all the chaos :D There are often times when I wish I could keep my buzzing brain on the side,  and enjoy some not-thinking time... As if I need to be short circuited to keep from going zzzzzzz !!! Afterall, the mind is its own master....

There are moments in our life when too much is happening...  when our mind is buzzing continuously... So much that it becomes difficult to snap out of it... And the people around, are not helping the situation... I often wish I could just bolt out.. Escape all the noise, to just be able to regain sanity & think ! Image credits:  Aykut Aydoğdu

There are a million thoughts running in my head right now...  But the mind appears to be calm.. radio silence...  Does that mean too much chaos results in peace???  Then why is there so much fuss around trying to focus our thoughts?  But in all the randomness, there is a pattern!!! 

Cool breeze... Calming silence... Background chorus of chirping birds.... Myriad thoughts... Wandering birds... spotted for the first time... Random thoughts... Circling the mind... I know this silence must end... But I think it is not just nature which needed this reset...

What would you do when you randomly decide to bunk office... not because of an urge to rest or complete some pending work... but simply to do what YOU feel like... In our races against time, to complete the chores at hand, be it home or office, we often sideline these random wishes... after all they seem to random and trivial to pay heed to... And even if we do succumb, we end up feeling guilty to have 'wasted' those precious hours on some of our whims instead completing the work at hand. But once in a while, it is important to let go off this obsession about 'constructive' utilization of time, and not measure everything under the parameter of productivity of work. We need to understand that such breaks of routine are required to keep the mind working and happy. So the next time you have an urge to watch a movie alone, or taste something haven't tasted in ages right in the middle of the day, don't try to push the urge in the background and succumb to...

Most of us are born hoarders.  We like to accumulate things, memories and thoughts.. more things, memories and more thoughts... Sometimes for that odd day where we might be left in the lurch.. sometimes for the bright day when we wish to celebrate..... or sometimes, just to relive what we've felt earlier... Whatever the excuse we might choose, the bottomline remains unchanged. So when I read this Article titles The Things One Leaves Behind by Sandip Roy , I was reminded once again how important it is to de-clutter, not just our cupboards and shelves but also our minds and bodies. We often harp so much on externalities that we miss what we actually Want and Need. So open your cupboards and minds (which are just like cupboards) , and spend sometime to get rid of what is truly unused or not needed, give it to someone who will find more utility...  Apply the same theory with the body and mind, and attempt to de-clutter, and get rid of unnecessary thoughts ...

Almost on a daily basis, the newspapers and online portals seem to carry news regarding rapes, acid attacks and other such hate crimes, driven not out of desperation but a vile sense of self accomplishment or fulfillment. Often I wonder if the society has just become more violent, or if the media is more receptive to such news, or if the person who has undergone the trauma have now started coming out in the open. Either ways, it is scary to think that we live in a world where such vile thoughts are so common place, and worse still, that such people continue with their lives while the ones who take these encounters head on and survive them are called 'victims'. I am not sure what needs to be done to make the society more live-able. One thing is for sure. It isn't the supposed 'victim' who needs to be treated but the mindset of those who do these things. Also, society at large needs to be made more accountable. Most of us seem to be happy living our cosy liv...

Though these lines were written ages ago, I am still waiting for a time when all of us truly imbibe these words, and are proud of the nation we are a part of. This is, actually, my anthem. Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high  Where knowledge is free  Where the world has not been broken up into fragments  By narrow domestic walls  Where words come out from the depth of truth  Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection  Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way  Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit  Where the mind is led forward by thee  Into ever-widening thought and action  Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. ~ Rabindranath Tagore

what would you do if a thought is just stuck in your head like a big black stain on a white bedspread the mindspace won't let it go, though the mind is trying the more the effort to let go, the more it seems to spread and become firm. I wonder... How I can destroy the thought without destroying the mind...

All of us talk about India being a progressive society. That we are catching up the "modern" world.  That women are now treated equally... or atleast will be. It is a good thought to pursue, since India is one of the few nations in the world where we have the existence of a matriarchal society, where the woman of the house has the right to property, money and business. Don't get me wrong, it is not about the money, but more a sense of power and rights, and the notional symbols attached to it by our society. Needless to say, in most cases, the woman is forced to fight for this right, despite being the care giver towards the later parts of life. And again, by woman, I don't necessarily mean daughter... it could well be the daughter-in-law who has been doing what it takes. But what good is all this power, when the same woman is beaten, raped in wide open streets, and then is told that she is at "fault" and is tainted... ironically due a crime committe...

Have you ever felt that you talk too much...  and sometimes, words just slip out.. that you've said things that could have been avoided,  even though what you said was true... How do you control that spontaneous response, and the regret later.... Dogs are better than human beings  because they know but do not tell.  ~ Emily Dickinson

that thought in my head... it doesn't seem to go.. when i should have said what i'd known... but couldn't seem to find the right moment to do.. now life has given me a moment's grace.. to say what i want to..  so i don't take it to my grave.. my mind is doing a somersault... 'coz i have time enough, just to mention 'em all... and that's what i deserve in the end... something i wanted to say, but was left stuck in my head.. PS: This is another masterpiece by MC Escher

Our mind is a funny thing.. Lapping everything up... But then, all it takes it the tide..  to change....   and  we start revealing some... concealing some... and then... sometimes things just show up.. on the shore... Photograph Source: Google Images

What do you find easiest to concentrate on.... some would say god... some would say themselves... but somehow, whenever I make an attempt to concentrate on something is precisely the moment when my mind begins to wander.... Maybe our subconscious loves playing the Devil's Advocate...  trying to challenge us to not let us do what we have set out to do :) Isn't that the case always... for everything.... I wonder how people concentrate on anything ;)