Monday, February 27, 2012

Reflection

Karan walked out of his home. He was truly shattered. He didn't see a purpose to his life. He believed in improving the quality of his life and the life of others around him but each day he slept with a heavy heart, believing tomorrow would be a better day! 

He saw abject poverty in the society; it troubled him. He couldn't live like the man next door, focusing on his career and building a better future for himself and the generation to come next by amassing wealth. He believed in a harmonious co-existence while all he saw everyday was - Men & women in a race nudging, trampling and shoving others. He questioned life; is procreation the essence of this journey? 



Deceit;Hatred;Revenge;Greed;Selfishness;Prejudice;Jealousy;Wrath;Distrust;Arrogance clouded the minds of individuals in pursuit of happiness.

He couldn’t convince himself to play in a society plagued with evil. He walked out.
He left everything behind, denouncing life in search of peace. It didn’t take him long to understand; no matter where he went, he had a journey to pursue – his own journey of life and he couldn’t abandon it.

He decided to seek wisdom. He chanced upon a saint in his tireless journey through the jungles and wild landscapes adorned just by nature devoid of human vices.

“What brings you here, my son?”
“I want to understand life. What is my purpose in life? Why should I struggle my way up through human vices? Why can’t we co-exist in harmony? Why this tough fight for nothing? If death is the final destination why live this journey of anguish?”
“And you thought you would find the answers here in the mountains?”
“Not really! I wanted to leave that world behind me. I didn’t want to corrupt my soul by living among them.”
“So, you left everything behind?”
“Yes! Everything”
“Look at that in the distance and tell me what you see”
Karan shaded his vision with his hands to get a clearer look of what the saint was pointing at.
“It is cruel. I see a man piercing through the skin of the animal’s leg.”
The saint signals and his disciple walks in. “What do you see at the distance?”
“Guru, mitran is nursing the injured animal”
“I didn’t know the animal was hurt; I am sorry” karan bows down.
The saint pats Karan's back and asks again, “My son, have you left everything behind when you came?”
“Yes!” Karan emphasizes throwing open his free hands.
“You brought yourself along my son”


“The world may not be an ideal place but it definitely is not a cruel place either. You saw what you chose to see my son. You were so focused on improving your life through imbibing good nature that you chose to see only the vices and you failed to see other side. The others in the world chose to make a fortune and that’s why they see only ways to make money. You only see what you wish to see my son.” 

“But, then…I saw apathy everywhere..even in those people who focused on their own fortunes. There is a struggle for everything out there…”

“Now, go back and see the world with the different eye. The world is a projection of your senses and where ever you go, you will only see your projections; you cannot run away from your own self my son. The change you wish to see is within you”

He continues saying, “Focus on the solution and not the problem. Yes, you can see poverty but when you open up, you will also see the other side of poverty. You will see men who erase their own poverty through the relentless efforts.”

“And the struggle?”

“It will continue, my son as the world is also the projection of other’s around you. Until a time comes when everyone understands the world is a projection of their own self and everyone crystallizes their thought, you will have to lead a life in the projection of a confused world.”

“But why? I don’t want to struggle..”

“You can’t leave yourself behind and before you are ready to do that you have some lessons to learn in the confused world…Focus on the solution and you can help the world with your clear projection that will lessen the burden”


The world isn't a cruel place. It just reflects us. I once put this up one as my Facebook status, "The entire Universe reflects, it is quite unfortunate that we look only at the mirror." Yes, we can see ourselves in things that surround us from the inanimate book on our shelves to the animate companion at our home.

It is our interpretation of the events unfolding that decides the consequence. One who chooses to see the good, only sees the good; one chooses to see the apathy;only sees the apathy.

In a study that was conducted, it was observed that people who considered themselves lucky were the ones who spotted Ads on a newspaper that gave away freebies while those who considered themselves unlucky never spotted or took longer time to spot the Ad. It was the same ad, in same print that was circulated to a group of people. Luck isn't an outside opportunity, it is an inside hope.

There is no solution in questioning, 'why the world is this way', instead raise the question, 'why am i this way' - The change you wish to see will come by!

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are" - Anais Nin

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

55 Fiction: The price you pay



In love with her new iPad, she stayed away from the world that loved her. ‘Rituuu’, her brother called out, tapping her right shoulder and snatching it from the left. “Taaang”! Ritu blurts in anger as it falls.

Image Courtesy:Google


“An object is valued more than your brother!” sighs her mother, “because it has a price tag.”

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

In the cradle of Nature


The best memories of my childhood are those I spent living with my grandparents. We had an independent house with lots of free space around, which meant children could run around and come back home dirty. It's indeed a blessing to have had a childhood amongst shades of green, especially having been brought up in a city that was opening up to the concept of apartments. Summer holidays were truly special as all my cousins would camp at our home. Thanks to IndiBlogger and Kissan for providing me an opportunity to relive those memories through this post for the contest.

Image Courtesy:IndiBlogger
My Grandma loved her coconut and mango trees for the yield they never failed to produce year after year. My uncle loved gardening and we had over hundred different flowering and non-flowering pots in our garden.  Our home was a place adorned with plants that made it a heaven to be in – cool & green. As a child growing up in an environment like that, it was quite natural that I became a plant lover too. I still quite vividly remember spending my weekends with my Uncle, nurturing the plants. Every Sunday, we would get more new plants to our garden and add manure to the old ones. This inspired a young child that I was then, to start my own terrace garden that I can be proud of.  I had a rose plant, jasmine that my Grandma loved; tomato, chilies and a few crotons.  I used to talk to the plants like they were my best buddies and play games with them. I even remember injecting a few plants when they went dry! Ah, now to think of it – I feel silly but how passionate I was about them then.  There used to be a huge tree that stood tall in front of our house; it flowers during spring/summer. My first poem was written after watching the tree being soaked in rain – that was when I was about 6-7 years old.

My First Poem after the rain:

Rain drop hit you
Dust on your leaves gone
You look fresh and green
Rain is beautiful and nice
Tiny drops fall from your leaf
Feel happy to see you clean

Even today, I love staring at trees and green landscapes. It is no wonder, my favorite color till date remains Green.

Summer holidays meant Fun, Mischief and totally oblivious of things around. We were six of us who turned the house upside down and am grateful today to have Grandparents like mine who never raised their voice against us.

We had two huge Mango trees, twelve Coconut trees, few Banana and one each of Gooseberry (amla), Papaya, Sweet Lime, Jambul (Jamun), and Custard Apple. 

Image Courtesy:Google

Our afternoons were spent in plucking mangoes, amla and jamun from the trees when everyone was fast asleep. We preferred the mangoes from our neighbor’s house more than our own. Isn’t that natural? I was the only girl among the boys – it was a different experience too. They did the plucking while I kept an eye on the surrounding. My job was to cut the mangoes and serve them with chili powder and salt, which I had to sneak out from the kitchen. I truly relish those days! Days when we harvest the mangoes from the tree used to be another defining event in our household. My Grandma would efficiently pack them to ripe – one of the trees used to yield sweet mangoes.
The tomatoes that I had on my terrace yielded one fine day. Whenever I saw a plant yield fruit, my joy knew no bounds; I get very excited. Even today, when my rose plant flowers, I get very excited. My Grandma made tomato ketchup from the yield – yes and she always said the tomatoes were so good that they tasted like Real Kissan . The ketchup wouldn’t last a day as my brother just loves his ketchup on everything. At times, when the yield was low, she made this really yummy tomato chutney! Food made out of fresh farm produce is simply irresistible and the magic of Grandma’s touch made them all the more tempting.

Today, that house has been converted into an apartment and yes we lost all our trees. It hurt me badly and I was still young then and we moved into an apartment that didn’t have space to even have a few pots.  My dad was against the idea of placing a pot inside the house and I always longed for a time when I would get back my garden.

First Chilli on my plant
My gifted rose plant
My Dream Garden
        
Dream Garden Image Src:Google      


I still don’t have one but I dream of having my own small garden. One day – I surely will and would like to spend some good time gardening and unwind in their company. I just go crazy at the idea of a plant yielding fruits – it makes me wonder about the creation of life. I have a couple of pots at home and still continue to converse with them. 

This post is an entry for the "The Kissan 100% Real Blogger Contest"