On reading

I am surprised that i have begun reading 'Doctors' by Eric Sehgal after finishing 'Tess of the Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy. Not that i don't read, i describe myself as an avid reader... but that over the years, my interests have changed. In the last five years, i would have read only 4 novels... and it is surprising that in the last one month, i have finished one novel and moved onto a another one! But i do, actively read articles from magazines and online news... because its faster to finish with.

As a child and a teen, when i would read a novel, i would read it continuously for endless hours till i reached the last page. But with the growing years, added responsibilities and lack of time, that hobby took a backseat. And now, with some encouragement and recommendation (of novels) by 'R', i guess, i am back to my old self... looking for the next opportunity to slip into the world of the 'current novel'.

I notice the ebb and flow of my life... as in... how easy and natural it was as a child, and how, now i had to make a conscious effort to flip through the few first pages of a new story.

On a different note - Today i was surfing as usual on the internet and came across a few blogs that were very original, creative and at its best. In the past, i used to think, if i were God, how i would feel at the state of the current world - probably due to the bleak image that news media always projects on human behaviour! With a few clicks, i realized, how very common people are doing so much good work inspiring others to indulge in creative work - open to sharing their vision of how the world looks to them - be it through photographs or narrating humourous anecdotes or sharing their favourite recipes.

Now, i feel God must feel 'happy' and 'proud'... atleast some of his creations are making the right choices in life!

Finding Neverland

Nothing happens unless first we dream. -Carl Sandburg

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. - Gloria Steinem

What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake

Want some help unlocking your imagination? Watch Finding Neverland! A story of the author of "Peter Pan", J M Barrie and his meeting of 4 young boys and their widowed mother. He meets his source of inspiration and the "muse". I don't know if i am getting carried away too often, these days, or its the effect of a really good movie, but i felt free and light. Soaring to a "neverland" of my imagination, at the door, i turn back... perhaps afraid of finding it or rather intimidated by what i will find in my fantasy world.

Some passing thoughts, i'd like to share as i was watching the movie - how quickly we judge someone's creativity or work! These story tellers and creative people work for hours on their muse, and we, without a second thought, ridicule and criticize. We are oblivious to their earnestness, their hope that their work would please us. We are blind to all the effort that went behind this presentation in our reasoning to be brutally honest with our review.

Barrie : Did you like it?
Peter : It was magical. Thank you.

Yes, Peter's response is mine too, for the cast, the screenplay, the direction, all the technical aspects and every small effort that went into the making of this movie.

As i was watching the movie, in a flash, it came... the thought that, Kate Winslet would be my perfect ideal to play Jane of "Jane Eyre" in a movie. I can imagine her as Jane, just the way she would look, her talk, the vulnerable yet steely young woman.

And for all those who feel the desire to write, but face a block, i leave you with -

Barrie: Write about your family, Write about the talking Whale.
Peter: What Whale?
Barrie: The one that is trapped in your imagination, desperate to get out.

When will i cross over to my neverland and come back to write all about it? :)

Business of Life

An incident set me thinking... "What if i had behaved like that, how would someone remember me?" We forget in the hustle and bustle of life that who we choose to be, by how we choose to act is a demonstration of our innermost values. It is symbolic of our personal growth.

Have you ever cared to think how another person - be it your friend, relative, family, boss, colleague or just another someone would remember you? You are creating memories everyday by your actions. Of the brief days of our earthly existence, its only our memory that will live on, in the hearts of people who knew us and loved us.

If you honour that mysterious power that gave you life and life to all the others, you would pause and think before mistreating someone. This is undeniably a sacred truth.

A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter or someone in service, is a rude person. We should continuously strive to be someone nicer and cultivate kindness as an integral part of our life. All our education, travels and good deeds are obliterated, if at our core, we choose to remain bitter and crude. A weak man shows strength by being rude. If we have a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others, we will always be good mannered. Unfortunately not many people are mature enough to take into consideration how their actions and comments can affect another person.

Whoever one is, and wherever one is, one is always in the wrong if one is rude. ~Maurice Baring

I also beleive that by choosing to overlook wrongdoing, we only give evil room to grow. A person who is rude all the time hates their very self because they have unresolved issues. It's as though they were never loved. The little that i know of God, this universe, this timeless life, i know from my heart, that every being receives love... then how can one say, i don't know what love is? It is our thoughtless and selfish actions that drives away love. In my opinion, it would be worthless to live a hundred years and still not know how to behave kindly... all our so called worldly endeavors is lost in eternal doom.

“The challenge is
to be strong, but not rude;
be kind, but not weak;
be bold, but not bully;
be thoughtful, but not lazy;
be humble, but not timid;
be proud, but not arrogant;
have humor, but without folly.”
Jim Rohn

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are.

Make a difference in this world by being your best. Be a light unto the world! as 'R' says. :)

Ada Monroe & Inman

"Dear Mr. Inman, I began by counting the days, then the months. I don't count on anything anymore except the hope that you will return, and the silent fear that in the years since we saw each other, this war, this awful war, will have changed us both beyond all reckoning."

The war was to be over in a month... he had promised to return within 30 days.

"My love for Linton is like the foliage in the wood. Time will change it... I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath, a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nellie, I AM Heathcliff! He's always, always on my mind. Not as a pleasure any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as part of my own being."- Ada was reading from Wuthering Heights to Ruby.

I am not a big fan of Wuthering Heights, because my first love is 'Mr. Rochester' from "Jane Eyre". Reading it at the age of 14, has left an indelible impression on my heart. I have not liked any other character that much i think.... no name that comes to mind instantly.

Cold Mountain is a love story that touched me deeply. There are very few films i like to watch twice, if i have a chance and this is one of them. It is as good as reading a book, no movie could come this close. It is a 2003 film based on Charles Frazier's novel, about how in the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart. The cinematography is just awesome. The scene i love the most is when Ada opens her window and stretches her hand out in the softly falling snow. Another one that came close is Inman walking home to Ada... passing through the snow on the mountains, one early morning, against a rising crimson sun. Hope in hopelessness...these scenic captured moments convey to me.

What made him come back from war? Inspite of all the danger lurking every minute and after coming so close to dying each time.

Her words : "I will not leave Cold Mountain. My last thread of courage is to wait... for you."

"If you are fighting, stop fighting.
If you are marching, stop marching.
Come back to me.
Come back to me is my request. "

"My love, where are you? With no hope of reaching you, i write to you as i always do. As i have always done."

Another scene that really moved me was when a young war widow, Sara who gives him shelter one night remembers and misses her husband so much that she painfully asks Inman : "Will you lie down beside me and not feel the need to go further?" He does as she requests and says gently, " I love someone very dearly. Try and sleep." I don't remember seeing such a scene in any movie or reading such a story in any book. The gentleman who conveys valiantly that he loves his woman, yet he does not flinch in lying beside her, because his conscience is clear, he is so certain that this woman, Sara is like a sister / daughter who needs some comfort, that's all. As long as a writer can even imagine such a thing, there is hope in this world. This is in stark contrast to Alec d'Urberville... of a Thomas Hardy classic. Well... those thoughts are reserved for another time.

As the story winds to an end, Ada says : "What we have lost will never be returned to us. The land will not heal. The heart will not heal. All we can do is try and make peace with the past and learn from it."

"There are days now when i manage not to think of you when the needs of the farm call with more urgency than my heart. This time of year, there is so much life everywhere... i find you in all of it, as if you were still walking home to me."

"If you could see us now, this easter day at 'Black-Cove', you would know, every step of your journey was worth it."

For lovers who love each other madly, a lifetime of togetherness or a few hours can seem too short but as fulfilling as a blessing. True love is rare... how many hearts can suffer for long or give up their lives for the sake of love? So, if you've been touched by love, don't ever let it go. It is a great blessing indeed to be a testimony of love.

A must see movie for any romantic at heart.... heartfully recommended. Signing off with my own personal quote : "Love is the only tangible thing in this intangible world."

Hail Technology for once!

New advances in technology surpasses human imagination of the last century... you can work from home, you can also work all day and night with the entire globle...! I think very soon, there will be pills to keep us awake forever to add to the productivity. To think of it, some partially destructive humans with high business acumen, will make of science a double edged sword because of insatiable greed. Ok...lets talk about the perks then for now...to make the matter at hand lighter :)

For the past two days, i have had my heart's content of talking to my sister and catching up like never before and the cherry on the cake was to have our Mom pulled in also, as in a conference call, though the three of us are in three different cities separated by miles and kilometers.

Quotes that seem to fit like hand in glove :

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
Arthur C. Clarke quotes (English Writer of science fiction, b.1917)

This is perhaps the most beautiful time in human history; it is really pregnant with all kinds of creative possibilities made possible by science and technology which now constitute the slave of man - if man is not enslaved by it. ~Jonas Salk

Oh, and by the way was wonderstruck by the Lincoln 2009 MKS ad, turn on a car with a button, instead of a key!

An aching crave

Below is a poem that i struggled with yet again to chaff into words. It speaks of how a heart could swell to a hard rock in the absence of someone dear.

In those prolonged hours, an emptiness makes its place in life. Love, i describe as a lamp needs to be fed with the oil of affection, else the zest for life dies gradually. As the wait seems longer, the heart is compared to a bird, whose wings have been clipped.....A silent prayer, then, is for that someone dear to water the desert, from an everlasting spring. Dear, the Sun of this universe, shine forth and remove all the clouds of sadness. That the core needs to soak in his embrace; That love is indeed a creeper and that tears are of no use, but it is the beloved's tenderness that lends essence.

R seemed to very much like the effort i put in and i am so glad. Read on, and see if you if you like it too...


Surges as a coarsen
crag, my heart
in your absence.

Sweet songs efface
from dearth of love;
Vaccum, void make abode.

Zeal relinquishes
for want of, the
oil of affection.

Transfigured to a
clipped-wing bird;
I am wayward, vagrant.

Flood this arid earth
with waters from your ever-flowing
spring of love.

Banish, dimiss the gloomy
clouds of my soul
with bursts of sunshine.

I am a stone,
a forlorn bosom
softened only by your grace.

My core imbues
in the embrace
of your care.

Not my tears, but
your tenderness, moistens
the creeper of my love.

All i desire

The following poem was written over a year ago, as a comment on "his" blog post...lightly inspired by Elizabeth Bishop's poem...seeking for the next post.

I am in need of words
Flapping like birds
On distant hills; rhyming out of
My husband's fingertips

Exhilarating, healing
Sketching a symphony
Of feeling on a
Canvas of thin air!

There is magic in his tone
Pure stream hushing, cooling
Joyful, light, true, strong
All I desire, now nd ever!

This is one i often quote to friends and family - "Better late than never!"

Cheerless noons

As barren as the trees
on today's chosen path
i feel a void.

Dry, brown and dead
chill leaves rustle
branches grope lifeless.

As each shriveled leaf
holds against cold winds
withered feelings stir.

The trees bare
of thought sing misery
in the sound of wind.

As seasons change
time seems to stumble
devoid of desire

The moon waxes, wanes
Sunlight on earth
warms yet burns.

Yet for some who wait
spring will come
blossoms will flower.

New Year

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~Benjamin Franklin

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. ~Hal Borland

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. ~Henry Ward Beecher

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Wish you a grand New Year! :)