SHE

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

She came into being on a festival day. The first grand child, thus the happiness engulfed one and all. Travelling from one lap to the other, her eyes mesmerizing young and old....................
Unaware of the world outside, her sphere covered her school, home and the garden. As she grew she found that she had a mind of her own, no longer happy with the words of wisdom of her parents.
Rebellion worked within her self, being told that its the father who had the last word, to add to that she could do what she wanted, once she got married, ofcourse if her husband allowed her.
Marriage brought in "IN LAWS", the dutiful bride, loving wife, dotting mother, roles getting changed but what didnt change was the tremor within.

Well thats the story of many of us, what have we done to ourselves...............the questions are there but do we ever bother to find solutions........................

She did it, understanding that the anklets and the bracelets which were given as gifts from the men in her life- FATHER, HUSBAND, SON- were the bondages, trying to curb her power, not allowing any independent action.

She broke those chains and shackles, found her inner self. She started flourishing, happy with the knowledge that she could do what she wanted.
This tormented all those who had overpowered her till now, they knew that they could now never control her.
She stands up to anything and anyone who tries to put her down...........She is in all of of us, just look for her...............dont ever feel low.

MASKS THAT WE WEAR..............

Our suffering is caused by the mind----by a mind that insists on having preferences and won't allow others to be just as they are.

This is the reason that we always find everyone not true to themselves and to others. There is always a comparision going on in our minds about which one is better and why. We do this day in and day out, we never allow anybody to know our true self, we pretend to know what is being discussed, we show how comfortable we are with whatever is around us...................deep inside we would be screaming.



We all wear MASKS, different ones at different times. The happy mask at a party where we had to go, as it was a family gathering, the sad mask at some one's funeral, even though we were not very connected to the person, the genius mask at a presentation, the civil and very courteous mask at some official gathering, where you feel like punching the dodo who has been given the promotion, coz of his buttering and glib talk.

If only we would allow others to be themselves and in the process be ourselves, so much of happiness could be shared and felt, as well as seen. Miseries could be avoided, We could genuinely be happy or sad for others.

We are so busy running the rat race that we hardly have the time to see the world around us. The smile of a child, the scent of a flower, the touch of raindrops..............where are we running to................to hypocracy, which has been labelled as diplomacy in the finer circles!!!!!!!!

STOP. STOP before its too late, stop wearing masks, DON'T be afraid of being yourself...........we all have innate goodness in us that we can stop pretending to be some one who we are not.

Stand up, rise to the occassion, its not that bad as thought................we can do it..

Think whenever you are next going to wear a mask, to tell oneself that its all right to be your own self.

Long and winding road

If prayer is you talking to God, then intuition is God talking to you.
Sitting on the chair with a magazine in his hand, Prakash let his thoughts wander to the most trying time of his life. Coming from a low middle class family, he had seen his parents struggling hard to make both ends meet, but it had no actual effect on him.
Life for him at that time was a rosy picture, not understanding what the family was going through. he would be in his own dream world. Mind full of ideas, hands full with friends.............enjoying each and every moment. Life meant just fun and partying.
Failure in his exams, not just once but twice....had jolted him, the scorn of the family was intolerable. Being at home was torture, day in and day out hearing taunts was killing him and to top it all the comparison with the younger sister, who was the apple of every one's eye, was suffocating.
He ran away from home, whatever money he had with him,he found was sufficient for just two days...... In movies he had seen how people have made it with sheer hard work.
Well he found how hard it was....sitting on a bench at a local eating joint he saw a boy cleaning utensils.
Prakash had tears in his eyes, he missed his mom's food, his father's scoldings, his sister's fight. He wanted to go back home but his ego wasn't allowing him to do so.
Suddenly he found a girl, sitting besides him, smiling at him telling him that it was all right. He cried and cried till he had no more tears left.... She asked him what his problem was and he let out his pent up feelings, She just kept listening and in the end she just told him to follow his heart.

He suddenly woke up from his sleep and realized this could happen to him, it was just a dream..........but one which taught him to rise to the occassion. He went and hugged his parents and with full determination he started afresh.
Today while he was sipping his coffee he wondered, what a long and winding road he had taken but it was worth the while, his grand children were calling out to him.........
Prakash often thinks of the dream and the girl, she must have been an angel, who had showered love and affection on him..........

ITS IN YOUR HANDS...............

She walks upto me and gives me a card which says, " world's greatest teacher." I look a little confused as I am not abe to understand why, what did I do to earn it. Reading my mind she stood there with a smile, enlightens me and tells me that when I had visited her class for a substitution period I had, it seems made a very big impact on her, changed the way she used to think about herself.
She had never felt that she could do anything that she wanted......and lo n behold a word made the difference........from impossible to 'I' 'M' POSSIBLE.
That was a learning for me and a turning point in my life, as I felt that I have a wonderful gift of WORDS.....
That day and today I really am very careful what I say to anyone......I know I can make a difference.
The careless became "cared less" and useless became "used less."
If you have read my blog, its my request to all of you, especially teachers and parents, you can really make or break a person, its all in your hands..........
There are many such instances in our lives where we have been instrumental in shaping the minds of others. If in any way you have been nasty to some one and you have realized it, remember its never too late you can still reach out and change it.

REFLECTION

She walked across the garden, deep in thought, not looking where she was going.
She didnt see the roses that had bloomed, didnt see the setting sun. She didnt wave to the bystanders at the shop, sitting at the foot of the hill.
Didnt hear the humming of the bees, didnt feel the gentle breeze.
Her wandering thoughts and feet took her to untrodden places, a tired sigh escaped her lips. So lost in her grief , she felt a small hand reach out, offering a half eaten apple......and then she looked around and saw herself standing at the verge of a pond.........saw her own reflection in it...........she was the child who having recently lost her mother.................... found herself again in that reflection.............