WHEN YOU LOOK LEFT & RIGHT FOR HAPPINESS

We often hear people say ‘you made my day’ or ‘meeting you was so much fun’ and similar such statements which denotes that we as human beings attach happiness to situations, people and activity. It might be true that meeting friends and loved ones makes one feel happy or an instance makes us feel ecstatic, but seldom do we realize that this happiness is momentary and the source of this feeling does not lie in us. The source of this happiness is external and hence the feeling is momentary.

Opinion on this varies but, the truth is, that happiness lies within us. In our heart, mind and the environment WE create.

The rain this year created havoc in our lives. The overcast sky, the glistening raindrops, smell of the rain and the cool breeze would soothe ruffled nerves and give joy to some. On the other hand, some found the rain depressing and gloomy. This is a perfect example of how we perceive our external environment differently and associate the feeling of joy and sorrow with it.

When bogged down by daily chores and stuck in the rut of life we tend to let the circumstances and situations overpower us. Our happiness and sadness at that point is not governed by us, it is dictated by the situation.

It’s important that we step aside and adopt an inside out approach. Delve deep within us and find the resolve to be happy. Create an environment for happiness not just for us but for everyone around us. Only if you are a happy person will you be able to share happiness.

If you are a negative person who cribs and complains, you are unconsciously creating a similar environment around you which reflects the same. This is when you start depending on external sources for happiness. Sources that will give you joy, which unfortunately is short lived.

With the break of dawn you wake up, consume fresh air and soak up the sun. You reconvene with yourself and connect with nature. Sync up your mind and soul and make a simple resolve. Open your eyes look at the beauty around you. Be thankful for what you have. Offer gratitude for what you are blessed with, seek forgiveness for the wrong you have done (Am sure there will be coz you are after all human) and acquire strength to do the right thing and make your environment happy and peaceful.

I am by no means trying to preach. Neither am I saying that you should become religious. What I write above are not pearls of wisdom, but often while walking on the road of life we tend to forget the simple meaning of introspection. We are so busy running that we forget to pause, breathe and take a sip of water to rejuvenate.

Introspection and looking for peace and happiness within oneself is the ‘pause’ we all know that we need to take but for some strange reason we don’t. We spend most of our lives looking at what others have done and seldom look at what can I do to restore happiness & peace  for myself.

 At the end of the day, happiness is infectious. You tend to spread it only if you have it. So smile J J

THE DOUBLE EDGED SWORD

People often say that actions speak louder than words and undermine the power of words. They can create and devastate. They can touch you with joy and drown you sorrow and pain.

There are people in this world who are gifted with a blessed tongue. When they speak they shower pearls and flowers. Their words are like manna dew, they sooth the ruffled nerves, fulfill the latent desires of love, care and affection. Everyone loves to be loved and showered with affection and care. These are basic needs of a human being, sometimes kind words and phrases and sentence can show that love and give that warmth.  Selection and usage of words is an art. An art which cannot be acquired, it has to be by birth. It’s debatable to question the authenticity of the words. Despite their genuineness, they have the power to influence.

Sometimes it’s strange and scary to see what these words can do. They can make you fall in love, seethe with anger, make you green with jealousy. In a way it can transport you to a make believe world which is diverged from reality. They have a mystical way of painting a picture without a canvass or paints. Create a world which in reality might not exist. It’s a drug that can a give u a high and transport you to a world you dreamt of.

Now let’s flip the coin, words can rip you, make you bleed and cause pain that no medicine can cure. Words can cause wounds. Harsh and mean words have the power to break relationships.  A person with a pure heart and honorable intentions if chooses words rashly can witness unfavorable repercussions. Harsh words are often a result of anger and are not measured and calculated. Here too words can cause untold misery just like they created a garden of love. A person might not mean a word of what he says but the listener understands what is spoke and not what is unsaid. Words used in anger might carry no meaning but by their sheer intensity can create havoc.

In a nutshell, the character of words is questionable. The mastery with which it is crafted can never give you an idea of what the intent is, thereby questioning its honesty. Words shape opinions sometimes true and sometimes false ones. Words give pain as well as joy. They have the ability to make you experience the extremes. Words at the same time can very well create a make believe world of anguish or ecstasy. In all scenarios, actions might speak louder than words but words have the power to move to create ripples.

Thoughts in Dhanaulti

It took me eight hours to reach heaven. The land which spoke volumes about purity and tranquility was symbolic of the peace we seldom find in the hustle bustle of city life.

The long and shapely oak trees, the chirping birds and the daunting hills all whispering in my ears, “This is my land and here you shall live the natural way. Come and experience simplicity in my lap”.

The trees overpowered the presence of mankind. The loud rustling of leaves dominated any other sound that you would want to hear. Amidst the noisy and rebellious wind the birds were chirping and were party to the dominance of nature.

It’s beautiful to see how nature in its purest and simplest form is like a child. Innocent and unblemished. Happy and rebellious wind is like a naughty child playing, chirping of the birds reminds me of the peels of laughter in childhood and the purity of the air is like the innocent and simple heart of a child.

I feel like a puppet in the lap of nature, the wind playing with my hair, and I somewhere begin to believe that nature has numerous untold tales hidden in the soil and the trunks. Tales of life the way God meant it to be.

Life was meant to be as simple as the luscious trees, happy like the chirping birds and carefree like the rustling leaves, but as we come down the ages, nature retained the meaning f its existence and with held the simplistic form but mankind fell in the rut of a commercial a life.

WHEN THE DREAMY EYED SPOKE…..

A sunny afternoon in Delhi. The market crammed with people, the atmosphere choked with the hustle bustle of a city life. A regular summer week day and suddenly change in scene: green grass, cool and clean breeze, dense woods, the sweet smell of rain and the purity of the rain drop glistening on a luscious leaf.

The people have disappeared, replaced by a happy and simple couple enjoying by the lake. The hustle bustle of the city has given way to the chirping of birds and the soft rustle of the leaves. A regular summer workday has been ridiculed and shunned in the face of a tranquil and content life wherein mankind blossoms in the lap of nature. The man sees his child grow, and the women experience again the innocence of childhood with her children.

A simpleton living, in the lap of nature, away from the capitalist realm of reality. A dreamy eyed man with his close knit family basking in the glory of a content and peaceful life. He looks at his children being nurtured and groomed by mother earth. The flora and fauna become their best friends, teaching them the naughtiest of pranks and sharing with them the deepest nuances of life.

The family earns enough to have a respectable life; they do not have ambitious dreams and unfulfilled wants. They have happily given up materialistic cravings for the love of nature. They live in their cocoon and let the universe be their guiding light.

On a sunny afternoon in Delhi, I a realist saw life from the eyes of a dreamer. For a minute I felt the cool breeze, for a second the chirping birds soothed my nerves. Life from the eyes of a dreamer has the power to make you smile and make you live that selfless life, even if it is make believe, yet it makes you experience existence which is naturally simple & beautiful.

UNLEASHING THE MIND BY THE BEACH

The sultry wind lazily circles around me. The sound of the waves overpowers the noises of the city. It seems to engulf the monotony of daily life to show its supremacy. The sand beneath my feet is soft and soothing. Sticking on my ankles the waves touch my skin and beckon me to play with them. They tempt me to let loose and enjoy the moment.

I am at the beach, lost in the expanse of water, earth and air. The sand beneath my feet, the moist breeze and the crashing waves have intoxicated me and taken me with them to unknown territories. The choppy waters make me think of younger days when life was a heady mix of freedom, rebellion, mischief and innocence. The waters recede and crash and the sound of waves fills the air.

The obedient sand has been forced to settle down in the face of the dominant waters. The beauty of it still lies in the soothing effect it has the impressions it creates despite them being removed by the waters again and again. The sand reminds me of womanhood. A perfect woman embodies the spirit of the sand. Calm in the face of turmoil, persistent and doesn’t give up in adversity. She always lends her comfort to those who need it and finally is brave enough to move on and fearless enough to create impression again and again knowing that they won’t stay long and the tide of life will wash them away.

The air that encircles me brings with itself various aromas of life. The stench of fish speaks of the rustic yet natural life in the territory.

Far away I see the fisherman, the bhel puri walla, the chuski walla, the kids making houses of sand, the couple walking hand in hand. I see life in its various forms that whisper in my ears the mysteries and realities of life. The fisherman’s existence signifies that the key lies in finding ways to sustain and survive. The children building sand homes remind me of how we never seize to give up, the chuskti walla is silently saying that while you are alive enjoy every moment and the bhelpuri walla urges me to..spice up my life make it worth living.

While the beach is the supreme, the all powerful, the source of sustenance for all these life forms that live around it. The fisherman might die, the chuski walla might go away and the bhelpuri guy might shift base but the beach will always be there. The constant factor in the setting - the almighty!

Simple Pleasures post 3: THOSE PEELS OF LAUGHTER AND THE CRAZIEST THINGS YOU HAVE DONE

Simple pleasures lie in those beautiful moments we spend with people we connect with. The moments of mad laughter, the instances when you have done absolutely crazy stuff, the slow minutes when you lean on your friend’s shoulder and cry your heart out.
Am sure all of you have some dear one who is your best friend who has seen every facet of you. In the hustle bustle of our busy lives, its strangely peaceful to travel down memory lane and relive those moments when you bunked work to spend the day together or drank endlessly on a friday evening or just simply went for those long endless walks.

Those wonderful moments when you spend almost every waking hour with that one friend, talking about the vaguest thing that existed or was a figment of your imagination.

When we are living such moments we seldom realize that they will become an intrinsic part of our memory. It’s only when we have lived these moments do we see how beautiful they were and how it strengthened the most pure relationship that exists today i.e. friendship.

Moments when we haven’t cared about going back home on time or completing some pending chores or meeting professional commitments, moments of happiness, fun or emotional intimacy with our best friend are those beautiful glimpses of life that will always remain.

Today those friends might be beside you or might be far away but somewhere you always know that when you need them and reach out to them they will be right back in your life. Such is the power of those simple pleasures we experience which make strong bonds for life.

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1733337peaceful

Simple Pleasures Post 2: FLYING HIGH IN THE SKY

http://welovebirds.org/

Looking at the bright blue skies and somewhere far away I can hear birds chirping. Some of those wonderful creatures have perched themselves on the branches and some are flying carelessly enjoying the true bliss of freedom.

Looking at birds in the expanse can be one of the most enthralling experiences. They are the true personification of freedom. Sometimes perched and sometimes gliding, birds are the most elegant and vibrant creations of the Almighty. The hues celebrate color, their form is symbolic of variety and their life is reflective of strong and firm self sustenance.

If we observe them carefully, they teach us the true meaning of persistence and survival. Flying miles for food, nurturing their young ones with utmost devotion and yet being truly free, are only some of the learning we can imbibe.

It’s truly amazing how much we can learn if we simply observe these speechless creatures. 

Just watching them flying high or perched on the trees, fills me with tranquility. The sense of respect and humility overpowers me and I realize that in the simple pleasure of observing simple creatures lies the true meaning of life.

Simple Pleasures Post 1: WHEN LIGHT FILLS UP LIFE

I can see my surroundings lit up. An ambience of joy is spreading cheer. In a distance I see children playing, and elders exchanging pleasantries. The torturous summer is bidding farewell and a refreshing chill in the air is welcoming the winters.

Yes my friends it’s close to the month of October and November and the spirit of festivity is spreading happiness. Some of you must have guessed by now what I am talking about. It is the time of Diwali that is lighting up the world. The warm festival celebrated by Indian in all parts of the globe.

The ritual of dipping diyas in water, filling them up with oil and lighting them to decorate our homes is the most delicate and intrinsic feature of the festival.

The fragrance of lit diyas is comforting and pious. The flickering wig is under cutting the darkness and filling our lives with light. It is illuminating our homes and welcoming positive energies in our lives. It’s this light that spreads equality and bridges divides between the haves and the have-nots. It spreads the same light that lights up a hut and a mansion. Suddenly in the dark skies all we see is a thousand of flickers that makes all look one.

A small and mostly a routine ritual in all Indian homes but it’s this simple pleasure of lighting up a diya that makes Diwali so special. Decorating our homes with ultimate authenticity and Indian taste that makes it look splendid. And spreading light by lighting up a small diya conveys the greatness that lies behind simple pleasures we all have in our lives.

Coming up next...series on simple pleasures of life....

Watch out for more. Till then happy reading

When silence speaks....

Its early morning, the rising sun beams takes away the chill from the air. Flowers are beginning to bloom and you can see the nature welcoming a beautiful and bright day. The silence of nature is speaking volumes about the beauty around. The bright leaves and the sun rays are spreading their charm.

That my friend; is the tale of silence which nature speaks and we often fail to hear. Stuck in the rut of city life where we wake up to the noise of the water pump and the honking of the horn on the road, our mind is too frantic to observe the silence of a morning. Running from pillar to post, completing chores we are always in a rush to accomplish things. The peace of the day ends before it begins.

But what is it that we are missing out on? Is a question we seldom ask ourselves.
We are missing out on the most precious moments in life which are best lived in peace and tranquility. We are missing out on the feeling of peace and contentment which the silence of nature and the beauty of a morning give us. Lazing in the sun on a sunny winter morning, sitting in the garden during a summer sun rise, are moments in life when we pause and look around. We see that nature speaks and laughs and emits noises which are like music to our ears and a balm for our ruffled nerves.

It is important that we break away from the clutter and soothe our nerves. While this might sound too philosophical, but this is exactly what yoga does. Relaxing your body and sensitizing your senses can be done best in an environment which promises peace and tranquility.
Highest sense of awareness, concentration and introspection need the serenity of nature.

The silence of nature speaks a thousand words that have a calming effect. Some say, it’s therapeutic, I say it’s the simple joy of life in the lap of nature.

MAN AND THE LEAF

The wind was furious and the rain gods were pelting down mercilessly. The flora and fauna we all know for its tranquility, was livid. The harmless leaf, struggled to cling on to the branch. The petite leaf had the courage to fight the threatening feats of nature. Hanging in there, facing the brunt, determined to fight all odds. The gust of wind was harsh and tore the leaf away from the branch, and it landed in the water.

Now the leaf has given up and is married to the motion of the water. It goes where the water flows. Lifeless, listless it just flows with the silent and calm water. The serenity is indicative of the eerie silence before a storm.

Somewhere nature and mankind converge. Nature has its own nuances which indicate a freakish similarity in the way we all live today. There is a hardened corporate world where we struggle everyday to maintain our sanity and stand by what we believe. We struggle everyday to reason out the rationale of our activities only to realize that sometimes you cannot overpower the system you operate in. The system has been built over the years by thoroughbred professionals and cannot be overthrown overnight.

This holds true for all walks of life. When we are young, energetic and raw, we enter the so called hardened corporate world with Utopian views and an opinionated personality. We come without any baggage and are daring enough to stand up for what we believe is right irrespective of business dynamics and strategic repercussions. As we get entrenched in the system, we become like the leaf struggling to hold on to the branch i.e. our beliefs. In this quest to prove ourselves and our grit at times we get overthrown by the sheer might of the system we operate in.

This is when we join the mainstream, the tranquil waters. We become so mechanized that we lose sight of what we really want and what we believe in. We become like thousand leaves flowing in the water, aimlessly.

Getting engulfed by the system is only natural. It is a reality no one can fight. But unlike the helpless nature, mankind has been gifted with the power of comprehension. This is where the difference emerges. While the leaf has no choice but to flow in the water, we have been gifted with the intellect to break away from the clutter.

We might not be able to change the system, but always have the choice to stay out of it and carve our niche. We allow the mainstream to paint us all in one color and equate us all. We get so stuck in the rut that we forget that each one of us has a special talent and is uniquely gifted. Lucky are the ones who can identify this gift in them.

Man vis a vis nature has the power to choose and tread his own path and do what he truly believes in. And that is when the universe begins to conspire to convert dreams into reality.

When religion is called faith

It’s a hot September afternoon. Razia is sweeping the floor in the house. I look at her and wonder to myself, a woman who works so diligently to earn two square meals and raise her family does not compromise on her faith and values and observes fasts for thirty days every year.

Munni is in the kitchen washing utensils, refuses the cookies my mom offers her. “I cannot eat this, am only having fruits for nine days”, Values and belief again is predominant.

I am sitting in the drawing room; I look at Razia, Munni and the news channel. Three parallel realities in our country depicting simplicity, faith and how the modern day literate and reasonable Indian is robbing the country of its innocence, purity and faith.

One fasts before Eid and the other one before Dussera. Both follow their own faith the culmination of which is in celebration, happiness and offerings to the almighty who is the ultimate entity controlling our lives. I speak to both and they tell me how they plan to celebrate the occasion with everyone in the colony – with friends & families. Friends – people who are not chosen on the basis of religion and clan. People who we connect with and include in our circle of happiness.

Razia & Munni – living in a slum in Lucknow, have not had the luxury of being literate. They did not read history books that talk about different religions and clans. They are simple, honest people who have a belief, a faith which the news channel calls religion.

Not once did they say “All Muslims celebrate Eid and greet each other” or “Dussera is a Hindu festival”. If the simple and the innocent have not drawn lines in their mind then why have the seasoned and mature Indians complicated ethnicity?

We all have beliefs in life and know that there is some power that is omnipresent and ruling lives & destinies. To give a name to this faith and make it into a human form is a choice that we make. Christ, Ram, Mohammad, Guru Nanak – are the choices we have made to give our faith a name & a human form.

And in the race of making these choices we forget the core. The choices we make become more important and powerful than the faith that binds us all. In the name of religion we still, after 62 years of so called independence, divide & rule.

THE ROMAN GOD - JANUS

She looked like a harmless feather quilt but was rebel in the garb of innocence. Her frame was petite yet had some cosmic strength. She would never express through words yet would give it all away through her eyes.

Her mind could not be controlled by the stipulations of sensibility & rationale. She was the dreamer who only knew how to dream. A rebel who stood for what she believed was true. A doer who looked for no reason or logic for actions. She had a sensitive heart which would go by instincts.

Scene 2: Same body but a different soul. Crisp white impeccable shirt, clean slim trousers, high arrogant heals; she walks with poise, measures her words and makes all possible logical sense. She makes power point presentation to explain the rationale. She markets her proposal with utmost confidence and calculations intact. Organized &
methodical she weighs every word she says. Is out there to be respected & not loved.

Life is full of dichotomies and paradoxes.

It’s one body with two souls. She lives two lives everyday. The careless dreamer at times gets over shadowed by the practicality of reality. When she stumbles against the harsh truths of life that revolve around the humdrum of a regular sane life, the bird inside feels caged.

But there are times when the dreamer feels emancipated and breaks free from the shackles of convention and flies high. Above all mediocrity she elevates her soul to fly high trying to touch the horizon.


The truth is that all of us have two faces. We are born dreamers and emancipated souls. Our core is pristine and innocent; reckless and carefree. As life goes by, our experiences, situations and circumstances unknowingly start molding us. A conventional mindset calls this the process of growing up / gaining maturity.

Materialistic necessities start defining our lives. These necessities sustain our life and hence we give in. We succumb to being the regular, the one who markets herself & her capabilities. The one who states action items and defines timelines. The one who on the 1st of every month realizes that this is what I have to do to sustain myself.

And the dreamer goes into oblivion, hides somewhere in the dark; silent, scared and wounded by the harsh realities and non acceptance.

Will the oblivion be for a lifetime or will there be resurgence? Only time will tell.

BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN THE REAL & THE VIRTUAL

We live in a world which is bursting at its seems with means of communication. We are constantly communicating with people across the globe. From strangers to kith & kin we are in touch with all. We truly belong to a connected world.

But in this era of convergence & communication there is a paradoxical dichotomy that is emerging. We might be communicating with one and all but we are connecting with them in the virtual world. We are connecting through a device could be a PC, handheld, Skype. We are creating a world wherein every connection we make is ‘make believe.’ We can only feel the presence of the other person while he / she is not present in person – in flesh & blood.

With technology engulfing our lives, are we responsible for creating a world full of loners? People who are connected through devices and gadgets are actually syncing up with people who are not physically present. The virtual world that is being created is giving way to erstwhile concept of meeting with people.

This dichotomy started with the evolution of the landline phone. As technology advanced it is steadily started creeping down our lives in the form of personal computers, mobile phones and the most recent video conferencing.

We are somewhere trivializing the relationships we build and the value we attach to them. With teenagers getting hooked to second life, gaming and online dating they are jeopardizing their self esteem and building an aura around them which is imaginary. It is these young impressionable minds that will never be able to come to terms with the truth about relationships and the experience of having one in the real world.

I am in no way against the use of technology, but somewhere I think it is adding to the loneliness of people. We are getting consumed by the virtual world that we create.
We are feeding on it and as a consequence moving away from reality.

As it is true for every virtue and sin committed in the world, every milestone in this world comes with its pros and cons associated with it. While extreme of anything is said to be bad, we need to strike a balance and derive an equitable co relation between connecting in the real and in the virtual world.

To simply put it, the use of technology where it is important, fruitful and helps us connect most effectively is progressive. At the same time one must not lose the gravity associated with the significance of relationships in the real world where meeting people face to face and in flesh and blood truly made man a social animal.

STAGNANT WATERS

The weather in the city is calm; the water in the lake is silent and motionless. The tranquility of the scene epitomizes perfection and divinity. It almost seems impossible and ‘make believe’. It is here that nature and human life converge. Life too has such instances where in the serenity of the situation almost seems too perfect to exist. There is beauty, happiness, satisfaction, what else does one really need? Man should be content with what he has because he has everything.

No. Here is where human life over rides nature. While nature does not have the power to think, man comprehends and craves for change. The stagnant waters of life denote lack of dynamism and change.

As weird as it may sound but it is true that man does not need perfection but still craves for it. For as soon as he gets it he realizes that this is the end of the road, there is no challenge and there is nothing ahead. All that is there is here and now. It is perfect but mundane, it is beautiful but boring, and there is happiness but no challenge.

Perfection becomes monotonous after a while. It marks the end of hope. Man needs imperfection to move ahead in life. If everything around us becomes prim and proper there will be no hope for betterment and hence no effort. This marks the end of productivity and improvement and undercuts change.

Often we hear people say, I want my life to be perfect and flawless. But when life does become perfect and flawless what then? What will you work towards? What will be your aim?

I do not say, that perfection is wrong or of no significance. It is the road ahead of perfection that does not seem to exist.

When you are faced with the perfection syndrome in your life and you have everything you have everything you aimed for. Now what?& what next? Where do you go and what do you do? The questions I pose to stagnant waters.

Gazing from the Hill Top

Standing on the hill top I view the vast expanse that lay ahead of me, dotted with high rising buildings and a few green trees strewn on the landscape. The cool evening wind caressing my cheeks and playing with my hair, soothing the ruffled nerves of an over worked mind.

As calm and peace wrapped its comforting arms around my brain, it tickled a thought existence and life. Running in this rat race called life, setting superficial goals, achievement of which gives us momentary pleasure and an instantaneous high that is what existence has dome down to. Mere breathing and chasing, stumbling, falling, rising running again. Sometimes we don’t even know what we are running after. The fog that envelopes life gets thicker and thicker till the time we stop and say, “I can see no more. The fog has clouded my vision. Is there a road ahead or a cliff, I fail to recognize. All I know is that I am running, chasing something. To put a name to it or describe it beyond my limited faculties of comprehension.”

So I go to the hill top and view the vast expanse of land that lay ahead of me, and look at life from the outside. My eyes rest upon the high rising buildings which signify success and mechanism at one level. Success accrued, courtesy capitalism which behind its façade stinks of degeneration. Vaguely reminds me of my chase.

The eye then turns to the green trees symbolic of nature withstanding the feats of man of making it a living hell for all that is natural and simple. Simplicity at the slaughter of intelligence and advancement. I hear the air whisper in my ears, all that is simple shall not last.

Then the shimmering lights on the streets and of the vehicles moving attract the eye. The vehicles slithering on the serpentine roads. Going to... Coming back from? I fail to fathom.

All and sundry and on the move going somewhere and chasing something. That which is static like the tree is at the altar of decadence.

From the hill top, where everything looked minute like drops in the ocean, I removed the chaff from the seed. Differentiated between living and existing. We are all mere pseudo existential puppets who are living without knowing what they are living for. Chasing without knowing what they are chasing. Going through stages of obscurity till it all becomes opaque and chokes us to death.

Nature is always the rescue to elucidate on the most absurd notions. After the long hours of a cold winter night where the dense fog rests heavy in the air, the dawn cuts the fog with the warmth of the sun to spread the light of life. Only then does the human eye witness the beauties of nature. Obscurity needs to be shattered after a point to see what lies ahead to add value and meaning to existence.

THE PARADISE OF IGNORANCE

When Eve ate the fateful apple it appeared to be a delicacy to her but when the wall of ignorance was shattered she realized that the delectable apple was nothing but a plot. The paradise was lost and repentance, animosity and bitterness replaced the bliss of ignorance.

It is a less realized truth, that ignorance is actually bliss. Ignorance creates a self satisfied realm where the ‘happily ever after’ syndrome seems real. The rosy dreamy eyed girl enjoys the wind caressing her face and believes that all her dreams of the knight in shining armor will come true. The make believe becomes a real-time faith. Ignorance enables us to accept theories at their face value. Appearance is the truest form of existence, the attractive apple which appeared to be sweet becomes actually sweet. Ignorance brings with it happiness and the tranquility of peace. Our belief in what is out there brings about a complacence which induces lethargy to question.


But as time passes by and man undergoes change, the blissful mist of ignorance is invaded with the sunlight of knowledge. The light of awareness and exposure caves in with breath taking speed and pierces the mist of ignorance. And before we know, our make believe world seems like a farce, we undercut everything that exists. Critique replaces acceptance. As the light of awareness spreads far and wide every human starts questioning relationships and the very essence of existence.

Its then that realization dawns upon us and we see that what appeared to be an exotic landscape in the mist of ignorance is nothing but a heap of scum in the light of awareness. A relationship which was built on assumptions was happy till the time man believed those assumptions to be real. The day he woke up to question them, the relationship broke and reality stared him in his face. The happiness that prevailed with ignorance gave way to misery brought about by rebellion. The day man stands up and questions the validity and the reason for existence that will be the day he will be able to distinguish between the seed and the chaff, the genuine and the farce. He will see that what he believed to be true was nothing but makes believe and the real is something which is shrouded in the oblivion.

In the present day awareness and exposure is rampant. Man’s mental faculties are exposed to knowledge. The power of knowledge has enabled man to use reason as a weapon to test the waters of existence. The age of ignorance where the prince and princess lived happily ever after has come to an end. The paradise has been lost and the age of reason prevails.

WHEN REALITY IS NOTHING BUT A MYTH

WHEN REALITY IS NOTHING BUT A MYTH

We all have our own realities, our realities which we create by using our faculties of imagination. A picture we paint with our favorite hues. With clear skies and white birds fluttering in the limitless expanse of blue and green fields teased by the warm air. We like to call it picture perfect i.e. a reality we like to dwell in and a world where we create life and position our soul. A pristine view where everything is monitored by us. The control of monitoring perfection lies in our hands because we have created this world with our hands and make it reside in our minds.

We live in this world much our lives. With every passing moment of our lives we try to fit all instances, big or small in this reality .We mould these instances according to the overall picture we have created.

Slowly and steadily, with every passing day of our existence, we start getting consumed by this image. This fictitious image which we call our own reality starts overpowering us. The balance of creation and the creator is altered. The creation by deriving all the power from the creator starts controlling the creator. It starts dominating the hand that painted it. The image dictates what is applicable to the painting and the creative freedom of the creator starts losing ground.

The reality which we created blinds us and separates us from the world outside. It becomes like the fortress where our soul resides as a hostage. We begin to believe what we have created and the world outside get blurred. We feel that our creation is the truest form of existence and the world outside is just a cosmic conspiracy.

A perfect example of inversed roles. The reality which was created as a figment of imagination supersedes the outside existent world. But then the storm strike, the calm tranquility of the picturesque reality is hit by the choppy waters of time. It lashes out the walls of the fortress and the water gushes in ands washes out every bit of the creation. The outside world reacts to make inroads into the fictitious reality and everything crumbles down like a pack of cards.

The rosy picture is spoilt and the soul that resided in the picture is left like a forlorn child after a war. The soul is left gaping wide at the havoc wrecked by the harsh world. And we are jolted with the fact that the reality which we created for ourselves was nothing but a make believe image. In the course of time the creator got so obsessed with his art work that he forgot that it is just a masterpiece and is not reality itself. It is just a depiction of the same.

Many a times in life we create numerous such images which we start believing in as realities of our existence. May be we are at odds with the world outside that instigates us to create these images and because they are opposed to what is existent, makes us have faith in them. But seldom do we realize that this act of creation is making us digress from the reality furthermore.

A concoction of the mind which we choose to call reality is nothing but a myth.

Meandering Between the Extremes

As the water cascades down in the beautiful woods and the permeated wind intoxicates his senses, the mind pauses and ponders..."What is existence if not the cascading waters"

As the water flows down the isle so does life flows down the everchanging expanse of life. Life is nothing but a flow. A flow which has no parameters and no extremes no boundaries and no limits. Often people digress and judge experiences in life but that is a microscopic view of life. Such people clearly have a blinkered and straight jacketed way of viewing life.

Existence is to be experienced and lived and not judged and analyzed by a third eye existence and life is lived like a flow of water it leaves no scope of judgement. There is nothing which is right or wrong if you look at it as a flow. A flow of experience which gurgles down the years like sparkling blue water sometimes appears black and dull in the darkness of the night and sometimes it glistens in the sunlight,such is life in its various shades and nothing is black or white everything is in "shades of grey"