Sunday, June 22, 2008

Children - Truly from Heaven

"Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven".

Starting as usual with an SQ ( "sutta" quote), which my blog has seen just too many, and all coming from one source...! Children - Truly from heaven (Starting with title, when I don't get the topic sentence! Ain't I honest? ? *Ahem Amen*! ;-)) I'm sometimes totally lost in the world of kids. Observing a child teaches me more about life than anything else. It's just not about the beauty. Its about the innocence, the touch, the expression, and an yearning to learn which takes a trip downhill, as and when people grow older, calling themselves mature and in some cases "just too busy", failing to do the most important gift granted by nature - To Observe. It is a child which wants to know "why" the sky is blue, the oceans are blue at some places and green in some places (questioning reflection), the trees are green(Chlorophyll ? ), the mountains are brown(In touch with Earth?) , and so on , as taught to them in their arts 'n' crafts classes. Do we ever question to why we are doing something, from generation to generation, without even knowing the cause ? And not to forget, the "so-called" superstitions.Some of the superstitions do have some logical explanations. It's about the majority of them, leading the track of stupidity.For instance - The Black Cat crossing the Road - Black Omen phenomenon! Once upon a time, a cat gets tired of walking on the same side of the road, and decides to take a drastic step, a probable risk for a cat, and crosses the road. And a "Mr.X" sees it, and the next minute, something bad happens to Mr.X. Why blame the cat? It would have happened, whether or not, the cat stayed on the same side of the road or crossed it. It's astonishing that the same countries which believe in destiny, fate and karma, believe in this weird theory! And target will always be on a "BLACK" cat!! If its really reasonable, even then, it should apply to all colours of cats. Did we ever stop to think of that? A child would always question this stupidity . Ever since a child utters the first syllable, which then develops slowly into words, proceeding to a jumbled sentence to a coherent sentence - all affirmatives, to which the parents have only awed expressions stuck on their faces, a look of wonder at the beauty of their language uttered by their children's lips. When the same sentence comes tagged with a question mark, the awed expression becomes all flawed...They end up doing what their parents(awed-struck ones again!!) did when they themselves ,while as kids, questioned stupidity. So on and so forth, where a child's observance and inquisitiveness is masked in the name of "security" and "care". It would be great to let kids loose and allow them to explore. Allow them to live their lives and not second-hand lives of their parents. All this is my opinion. An opinion of a 21 year old, living a life of unfulfilled dreams. Some dreams yet to be fulfilled. Dreams of making it big in a field I chose out of shear fantasy-Biotechnology (I still question that choice I made). Dreams of finding peace in a house at the hill top, undisturbed and existing in tranquility with nature. Dreams of starting a nursery school sometime in life (That's what this post is all about).Dreams of changing my environment.Dreams of putting a stop to the logically absurd beliefs engulfing humanity. Dreams of becoming a writer. Dreams of publishing a book.Dreams of cherishing every moment. Dreams of lovin my life.Dreams of living it !~!~!~!~!

Picture Courtesy : Cutie-Pie next door... :-) :-)




Friday, June 20, 2008

Pssssshhhh...It's story time...Just Listen !!!

The Story of the Pencil

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked : ' Are you writing a story about what we've done ? Is it a story about me? '
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson : ' I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I'm using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.'
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn't seem very special.
'But it's just like any other pencil I've ever seen!'
'That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on to them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.
'First quality : you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.
'Second quality : now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he's much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.
'Third quality : the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.
'Fourth quality : what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.
'Finally, the pencil's fifth quality : it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.

- As written by Paulo Coelho in his book
"Like the flowing river" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Applause* for this beautiful piece. Paulo Coelho, my all time favourite author, once again leaves me jaw-opened with this piece. I term his writing as "serene" and "pure". He is the writer, who taught me how to read signs, how to trust in life, and "maktub" - It's written - a belief in destiny and a greater belief in God. My thinking took on a new dimension and ever since I read this, I've been pestering every bookish person I meet to read this piece. The extent of truth portrayed with such an aura of simplicity still baffles me... I just thought I had to spread this message. Hence this post... :-) :-) A great excuse for contemplation... Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.
My favourites of Paulo's :
Maktub,it's written - "The Alchemist"
Love Simply Is - "The Witch of Porto Bello"
Good and Evil - " The Devil and Miss Prym"
Different=Mad? ! - "Veronica decides to Die"
Perrenial Thoughts - "Like a flowing river "

My Dad told me this, when we were into a politically non-conflicting religious discussion. I don't know who quoted this...

"For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary... For those who do not believe in God, no explanation is possible...! " [I again go :O :O :O Whoa!! :P ;-) ]


P.S : There was no "This story is from Paulo's Book" and people who have read it already can skip it if you like, at the top, because, I knew quite well that people who have already read it, won't mind reading it fully, a second(nth?) time. . . ;-) :-) :-) Bliss ? ? Of course it is... !~!

- s()MS!e

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Kutty Kutty things - back with a Bang!!!

Saturday, the fourteenth. A day which reminded me for the umpteenth time about my future, my career, my fear and losing everyone near and dear... Mom asked me to wash some kitchen-use,extremely dirty and "odourish" towels. As I was scrubbing away, testing the make of the Rin Soap with a "dress" (net cover),and taking the privilege of being subjected to a daily chore, which happens once in a blue,green,orange,black moon.. ;) I had all the water in the universe at my command..I rotate the knob of a tap, and there comes pouring down, the elixir of life (Reminded of a class 11 lesson in English Prose..*thinks hard,but calls it quits, coming back to the subject ;) * ) Amidst the scrub and whenever I'm tired, a mere rub, I was suddenly reminded of my "Malgudi Days"...Days at St.John's. The most closest experience to a college life, learn t at school..Now things are in reverse..My college is now worse than school(Pet name - Jail"BIRD")... *ponders about God's plan* A lot of memories at school. But the only one related to a "scrub-rub" is something which ironically happens almost only on school working Saturdays or Sundays..The"white-shoe-wash-episode" :) We (me and bro) had to do this because of a "terror" sir who messed big time in his pathetic "tanglish"... one example is, he comes every Friday afternoon. Points out at any face in his Karma that day and says these words.."Sunday "CARE-CUT" don't FORGOT" [ He meant to say, Sunday Haircut,don't Forget]. These words are always accompanied by the wag of his fat forefinger, with his brows and mustache in stiff competition to who can screw up better.Now back to the Scrub. Whenever this episode happens, its always my bro first and me next.Initially, my bro took over. Or someday s, Dad took over and did 2 pairs, mine and my bro's. I still remember, the first time I was to wash my shoes. It was a great feeling of pride to me. I put my heart and soul into scrubbing all the dirt away. I always used to scowl in the end, to why that it always remained blue unlike the "angelic white" appearance of the shoes show cased on Ads. And only after that did I realize the importance of "Cherry Blossom" which soon flipped to "Kiwi" because of the cute Ads on the idiot box. As soon as the drying period was over, on Sunday night,in the last minute, my bro and me would start painting our darlings white,making them shift from Rapunzel (With lace) to Snow White(Without Lace) ;-). It is a bliss to think of all that now. To think of those times, when every breath I took added meaning to my Life. Every moment was a surprise. I wish these days last forever, for real rather than a mere memory. Life is a surprise gift. Wrapped in a useless, least attractive package, with scratches and patch-ups. But within, there is a real testimony to the existence of "GOD" [Capital G for respect, O,D,in caps for complete FAITH]. Such is the beauty of life. L-I-F-E i-S b-E-a-U-t-I-f-U-L ..... ;-) :-)
My favourite Poet again. (Namba Thala ilamaya? ;-) )

"I can summarize LIFE in just three words... "IT GOES ON " ! ! !
-Robert Frost
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P.S.
This post,as usual is unplanned and written out of sheer instincts. Half way through I realized it sort of had a connection to one of the most beautiful movies I've ever seen. Actually two movies.
1.Children of Heaven
2.Life is Beautiful

For those still reading this post, If you really came till here -Thank you.
If you really think this post was worth your time, then check out the movies. They are worth more than anything else worth being worth of :P :) :) ;)
Well, For those who have read the post, till here, as well as seen the movies, Thank you again.
And drop a comment... :-)
-soms!e ...
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Stumped!

This happens whenever I take a train from Chennai to Bangalore (Ahem..read as whenever I travel alone!). After taking consecutive modes of ...