The Solitary Reaper sang of Loneliness!

  

Dear Mr William Wordsworth,

If you were alive today, I would present this letter to you in person. It concerns your timeless ballad, “The Solitary Reaper”. I gather that you created this classic wonder while observing a farm girl reaping  in the fields and singing a Gaelic song. 

The poem says that you were not able to decipher the content of her song because of the language but you could feel the ‘melancholic strain’ in the lyrics. 

In the course of your poem, you make guesses regarding her deep melancholy. 
Was she sad for old…far-off…unhappy things? Or was it for battles, familiar matters? Or perhaps for natural sorrow, loss or pain…?

But you overlooked one big reason for her sadness that was so evident – her solitude! In that big corn field, she was intimidated by her job of reaping, overwhelmed by the enveloping solitude, and helpless due to the lack of human companionship.

The highland lass was so alone… doing cutting and reaping, all by herself. I could not help suggesting Sir, that if you would have stopped and not ‘gently passed’ by her, she would have felt better in your company. But I think you have had your reasons.

  
Her melancholic song resonates even today everywhere…because most of us are solitary. We look for friends in the big virtual world but all is artificial there. The touch, feel and presence of family and friends cannot be compensated with messages, jokes and ‘connectivity’. 
In the real world, we are growing private, we have trust issues while making friends and we have embraced isolation rather than staying ‘in touch’ physically. We are afraid of going out in order to save ourselves from hurt. We are trapped trying to ‘touch’ others through mobile screens rather than fingers.

Even if we summon our courage and cry out, very few hear as everyone is looking and listening to their phones.

Alone we are “cutting and binding the grain”, and there is no one to listen to our “melancholy strain”. So guess, our plight is worst than the solitary reaper! She had you to applaud her Sir, we have no one.

If I were to meet you in person, I would urge you to write on “our solitary generation” too. But this time you would know the reason for the ‘melancholic strain’ in our lives. I really and truly wish you were here today to sing of our solitude.

I thank you profusely for this poem and applaud its relevance even in our world.

I beg to remain, Sir, your most humble and obedient admirer.
Images courtesy google

A Short Laughing Message for 2016

  
My Dear,

2015 slipped away like a fine muslin cloth! It is now time to bid Good Bye to the old year and welcome the brand New Year 2016. My first year of blogging has been incredibly delightful, all thanks to You! I have a world of good wishes for You but primarily, I wish You a year full of laughter. 😀

The Sanskrit book ‘Dasarupa’, a treatise on Dramaturgy, lists six types of laughter. They are:

1. Smita – A sweet faint Smile
2. Hasita – A smile slightly revealing tips of the teeth
3. Vihasita – Gentle laugh in which mouth opens a little
4. Upahasita – A little more pronounced laughter with some body movement
5. Apahasita – Booming laughter that brings tears to eyes
6. Atihasita – Doubling with uproarious laughter

I hope and pray that the New Year brings to you abundance of Joy every day – Smita with tea in the morning, Hasita in the breakfast hour, Vihasita during lunch, Upahasita post lunch, Apahasita in the coffee break and Atihasita during dinner time! Laughter, laughter and more laughter….:)

Stay blessed and healthy friends, see you in the New Year!

  
 

Trapped in the Forest

  

“Not knowing what to expect, he made his way into the dark of the forest.” His psychiatrist had advised him to visit this forest. Being close to nature helps, he had said.

As he entered, the queer forest disturbed him. He felt as if he was being watched. Everything seemed unnatural.

He cursed the psychiatrist and looked for an exit. His phone had been taken away near the entry so he was helpless. The hand map had no exit sign. He was trapped!! Luckily, he found an old dusty hut with tidbits.

As he fought for survival everyday, struggling to eat and live, his depression took a back seat.

Three months later, he suddenly found an exit route.

Outside, lights and cameras greeted him. All this while, he had been the star of a reality TV show. Viewers had feasted on his misery. All including the psychiatrist had benefited from this. He got a huge sum too.

But was he a victor or a victim?

(This flash fiction is a part of the wonderful ‘Mondays Finish The Story Challenge’ by Barbara Beacham. She provides us with a photo prompt, the first sentence, and approximately 150 words with which we are to use to write our story. To take up the challenge click here – MFtS)

The eye that can see right through you!

I see absolutely everything. Even you, dear reader, I see you as clearly as you see me. I am not just a usual picture prompt for a story idea. I am real!

Come, look deep into my eye, and you will know all about yourself. You will be able to see where and what went wrong or right in your life and more – the little secrets that you have been hiding deep within you.

You will see yourself in all your nakedness. Yes, it will take guts to see yourself in that ‘undiluted form of truth’…so different from what others or even you think of yourself!

For, I am the eye of conscience. Nothing can escape me! Not even a little detail.

To look or not to look, it’s always your choice. But believe me, your life will be much straighter if you dare to see!

This story is a part of the wonderful ‘Mondays Finish The Story Challenge’ by Barbara Beacham. She provides us with a photo prompt, the first sentence, and approximately 150 words with which we are to use to write our story. To take up the challenge click here – MFtS

A Drop of Tear!

“At first, it looked like an ordinary marble, but it was far from it.” The vagabond looked at it closely. He had not seen anything like it in the whole wide world. It looked so delicate and fragile on the ground.

The vagabond had returned home after years of travelling…wiser but poorer. He needed money and perhaps, he had hit the jackpot on finding the stone. He was sure that the beauty could fetch him big bucks! But what kind of treasure was it exactly?

A deep heart-breaking sigh startled him. It was coming from the stone and made him feel wretched. He closed his eyes and knew it in his heart. It was a huge tear drop of a heart broken person!

The vagabond did not have the heart to sell it…instead he went to the temple and placed it with the Gods.

This story is a part of the wonderful ‘Mondays Finish The Story Challenge’ by Barbara Beacham. She provides us with a photo prompt, the first sentence, and approximately 150 words with which we are to use to write our story. To take up the challenge click here: Mondays Finish the Story.

5 Most Powerful Thoughts of My Life

There are times when we are sad, depressed, dejected and morose for real or imaginary reasons. Sometimes life is so hard, so unjust, so evil…it is easy to fall prey to the sin of despair. But I have learnt with experience that at such trying times, it is our own thoughts that can either make or break us…they can make most lethal of enemies… Or they can be better than the best of friends. The choice is ours only.

So, here are my 5 favourite borrowed thoughts that I chant like mantra whenever faced with trying times or any grim reality. Hope it strikes a chord with you too:

• Be aware of me always, adore me, make every act an offering to me, and you shall come to me; this I (Krishna) promise, for you are dear to me – Krishna in Bhagwat Gita ( He is in happiness as well as in unhappiness. All is His doing, even the pain is sent to us with a good intent. So, why should we despair when He is taking care of us.)
• All power is within you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in that. Do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. Stand up and express the divinity within you – Swami Vivekananda (the most positive person ever!)
• Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think. ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself. ― Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. ( The quote is anonymous but Murakami has beautifully elaborated it.)
• It is great if you get what you want but in case, you don’t get what you want, then it is even better….because of the simple reason that what you are getting is God’s will. And there can be nothing greater than God’s will! – (The legendary poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s advice to his actor son Amitabh Bachchan holds so much truth and wisdom.)
• If you can dream—and not make dreams your master; If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
  If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same;
  If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken, Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
  Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
  (If by Rudyard Kipling is my favourite poem. I love the last line here, ‘to stoop and build’ whatever we have lost one more time and rise like a Phoenix from our ashes.)

Hope these 5 wonderful thoughts keep you and me positive under all circumstances and enable us to fight with problems. Amen!

image courtesy Google

Wait a Minute, Count Your Blessings!

I felt grateful today. And subsequently, on top of the world!

There was no particular reason to be happy actually I was quite morose. I just happened to remember the popular hymn, which we sang everyday in our school assembly...Count your blessings name them one by one.

But I did not want to count my blessings. I wanted to feel sorry for myself and indulge in self-pity. So, I started counting all the bad things that were happening to me. I wrote:
1. I don’t like the shape of my body after two pregnancies.
2. I am too busy with the household and kids to do whatever I want.
3. I want to go out but the climatic conditions are not suitable here.
4. I know people bitch about me behind my back.
5. All my dreams of making it big is shattered in this mundane existence.

There were many more bad things I wanted to write and write about. But somehow as I re-read the bad things. I thought those were just half-a-truth. There was something parallel attached to each one of it. So, I added a sentence to each:
1. I don’t like the shape of my body after two pregnancies. But I have two lovely kids who are the world to me.
2. I am too busy with the household and kids to do whatever I want. But they are the cutest responsibilities, I cannot miss on their childhood for anything.
3. I want to go out but the climatic conditions are not suitable here. That’s why we make the best of staying indoors and enjoy some cosy family time.
4. I know people bitch about me behind my back. I am happy because at least I am not forgotten.
5. All my dreams of making it big is shattered in this mundane existence. Well, at least I have dreams and it is never too late!

Now, the second five point draft was closer to the truth. I felt good. So, I actually started counting my blessings. They were endless…I could think, I could write, I could walk, I could eat, I could laugh, I had loved ones and friends, I was not poor, I could draw well, I could explore the world…the list was endless. And the biggest of all blessings was…I was alive and so were my hopes!

As I started contemplating on my blessings, I could not help praying and thanking god for all I had and even for those I did not have. Because I felt If God denied us something, it is for our own good.

All of us have big and small problems. But no problem comes without a solution, sooner or later. We need to adjust and focus on the blessings attached it. I am sure ..there is always a blessing, we just need to find it! And we need to be grateful. If we are blind, we need to be grateful that we have our two hands intact. And if we do not have limbs, we should be grateful to have a thinking mind.

I found out that gratitude is really…the magic feel good potion that nourishes us from within. So, rather than wasting time in feeling sorry for myself and cursing the world, I will count my blessings from now…

If you want to feel good, join!