In one the episodes of a famous serial of yesteryears, ‘I Love Lucy’, Keith comes home to find Lucy crawling around the living room looking for something. When he asks Lucy what she was doing, she informs him that she was looking for her earrings. When asked where she had lost her earrings in the living room, she replies, “No, I lost them in the bedroom, but the light is so much better out here !”

Similarly, for most of the CEOs, the “light is better” in places like, finance, marketing, strategic planning; away from the “low light” area of behavioural self-examination.

Even the progressive executives end up staying in “living room” by adopting management fads and leadership trends in search of painless remedies for their ills. While some of the remedies work for a while, the eventually leave them exposed to the very basic issues that caused the problem in the very first place.

Irony of the fact is that most of the executives are intuitive enough to understand all this. And many struggle to do anything substantive about it. Instead, they get overly involved in the details of their business, distracting themselves unconsciously from their personal leadership issues, often to the point of creating complexity where it should not exist. Struggling heads may disagree, giving a barrage of reasons which are mostly only symptoms of their trouble.

But the bottom line is - Being a CEO or heading a group is a tough challenge but not a complicated one !

What you have read above is a just a part of a very interesting book called “Five Temptations of a CEO” by Patrick Lencioni I read recently. Some very interesting insights, hence am tempted to share the same with all of you. In subsequent blog(s), I will write a gist of what I have read along with my own interpretations. And will simultaneously try to do justice to what has been written in this interesting book. A tough task, nevertheless worth putting in an effort.

Goodbye

When we met,
Wish you hadn’t nourished me with your smiles,
your mischievous banter
and
your sloppy kisses

Wish you hadn’t gone
And leaving me
to suffer
in this unending desert of silence.

When we parted
oh how strangely did we part
Not a word !
Not a tear !!
Not a sigh !!!!

My heart and my soul were aflame
Burning me inside
The Beast in me
did try taking over,
screaming….
stop her, possess her, make her yours
But the educated, cultured coward smiled
and
waved Goodbye !

I really appreciate the varied response from all those who have posted their comments on the paragrapgh from Nietzche. The idea itself being so diametrically opposite to what I have been writing....somehow gave an inkling that I might get extreme responses from some of you....and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed reading all of them. Instead of replying back on the posts....I will respond to each one here, on the main page itself, as per the sequence of their posts.

DIVA :

Though I am with you on some of your comments but on others I differ, which I would be enunciating in this post later as well as in replies to others.

Your comments are also a bag of contradictions in itself. You negate as well as support Nietzche's statement when you state that the irony lies in the fact that though the sanctity lies in the origin of love....but it is a self perpetuating beast !

Also you end your post implying what an old saying states 'Man looks at love as a means to sex, while the woman looks at sex as a means to love !' Personally I don't believe in this statement. Sex, though a bilogical need, is referred to as 'making love' when it becomes one of the components of Love....By the way, a person like you who loves to base her statements on hard facts...this myth would be broken if you read the article 'Gender Myths' with stats in the October 26, 2008 issue of The Week.

COMMONMAN :

Purity and sanctity of love...though I believe in....but how long are we able to sustain the same ??? Being human has its fallacies....Doesn't our love get clouded with our other emotions and wants ??!!! Infact, I have raised this issue in one of my couplets (posted on May 12, 2008 as Love - II) where I explore my weakness as a human being....where my love is being influenced by my desire for the person I love....and end the couplet by asking myself 'whether I will be able to achieve my perfect love' ?

I would be commenting on the rest at the end of the post collectively.

ABYSS:

Now thats what I call a very craftily drafted cynical, subtly implicating comment ! And I like it !!!!!

As I have said earlier, one of the reasons why I put this translation was to see for myself how varied the reactions would be ! Your subtle insinuation takes the cherry !

First and foremost, I have just copied this statement from a translation and its not my own translation ! At the very outset, I have stated :

QUOTE

I came across a short note on Love by him, which gives a totally, diametrically opposite view on love than what I have been penning down.

Somehow, I found the very thinking process interesting.

UNQUOTE

I have made it very clear that his thinking is diamterically opposite to what I have been writing and what I believe in (except a very few). So me taking the ownership does not arise....even if you indirectly imply I think on same lines (not similar). No I don't agree on most of what he has written except a few....but even in those instances, I don't hold his views as I don't equate love to some states which people usually do refer to ! Would elaborate more on this later in this post.

Its not just about a man.....each human being is a victim of his own fragile sensibilties and insecurities ! This beast raises its ugle head in the most unwarranted and unexpected places even in the most divine relationships such as that of a mother and child or a devotee and God !!

I strongly believe that Love is all-encompassing and self-effacing ! In such a state there is no such word as 'Sacrifice' !! This word 'Sacrifice' brings out sympathy and not empathy. Love is not Sympathy (pity) ! Love is more of participating / living with and in other person's feelings (empathy) and vice-versa. This, the 'sacrifice'-aspect, is the only thing I agree with him....BUT not the way he states or makes it look like !

Love is a union or a relationship of two aspects of human characters / characteristics (am discussing the human aspect for sake of simplicity, though love can be between any two forms but the same holds good for any form of love) - father/mother and child; lovers; siblings; friends; etc. etc. Love takes its own form and evolves. The sanctity at the origin is unable to sustain itself due to the frailty of sensibilities....which arise due to one's own individuality ! 'Love' that starts as self-effacing....becomes self-consuming ! A downward spiral. The word 'SACRIFICE' starts this downward spiral. This word 'sacrifice' itself signifies a vested interest - noble or otherwise. The best example for this would be love for a child by the mother. When the child is born....the mother forgets her own very existence and lives to nurture (which includes protecting) the new born ! Self-effacing and all encompassing !! But when the child grows up....the individual in the mother starts to assert itself somewhere down the line and states 'I have to accomodate my life according to my children, their likes and their schedules', 'sacrifice this interest for their well being', etc. etc. Self-effacing graduates subtly (in some cases overtly) to self-consuming !

Similarly between lovers - it will start in a manner where the love is the only thing worth its while.....one would do anything to have those specials moments with the love of your life....it slowly gradually becomes 'I manage it sometimes....you should try to accomodate things according to me too!'; 'I did this for you, what have you done for me in a similar situation ?'; etc. etc.

In both the relationships.....when the individual self starts to exert itself the fraility of sensibilities comes to the fore....and the self-effacing and all-encompassing love becomes self-consuming !

The same holds good for all forms of Love.

Blessed are those who are able to hold on to the Sanctity of Love that existed when thier Love blossomed for each other.....in whatever form and proportion.....over a period of time !!!!!

Am reading a very interesting book by one of the foremost thinkers of Nineteenth century - Nietzche. A very radical thinker who has written on nihilism, art, morality, religion, theory of knowledge and whatever interested him. I came across a short note on Love by him, which gives a totally, diametrically opposite view on love than what I have been penning down.

Somehow, I found the very thinking process interesting. Here goes :

‘Love – Look into it; woman’s love and sympathy – is there anything more egoistic ? – And if they sacrifice themselves, their honour, their reputation, to whom do they sacrifice themselves ? To the man ? Or is it not rather to an unbridled urge ? These desires are just as selfish even if they please others and implant gratitude –
To what extent this sort of hyperfetation of one valuation sanctify everything else !!’

Would ‘love’ to hear your views on the same.

Love, Lover and Quarrels - XIV

Day
and
Night
I
Yearn for Her Love.

Her sight
delights me
Her thoughts
light up my life
such
Intoxication
comes
only from Love !

Unlike fire,
without stoking
Her Love
Burns,
Rages.

What
Tenderness
has She brought
into
my Manliness !!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - XIII

Look Sweetheart,
if
you want to be angry
Let anger
be your
friend
and
lover
I cannot help you.

But,
do me a favour
Return
all My Company
and
pay me back
with Interest
all
the Caresses,
Hugs,
Kisses,
Laughters,
and
Smiles !!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - XII

When
I am with Her
Faults,
Shortcomings
I see Not !

When
I am
Not with Her,
Nothing else
but Her !!

This whirling,
swirling
river
of
Love
has
No Shores !!!!!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - XI

Back to my ongoing series.


Her Eyes
are
the lakes
of
Death
and
Life !

Those
very Eyes
Stoke
the Fire
of
Life
in Me !

One Look
and
I
want to
Drown
in them,
and
stay there
till eternity !

Uncountable times
have
I been salvaged
from
those very
deep lakes
Revived
only
to
Seek
and
Drown
in them again !!

Effort, Zeal, Learning and Intelligence

Just a few thoughts strung together.


Effort
- lack of it
creates
Wants
But
the Impossible
is overcome
by
Effort !

Zeal,
without
Intelligence
is like
the last straw on the camel’s back,
One extra step
can prove
to be
calamitous !

Learned
without
the ability to Communicate
are
like
Wine
without the ability to intoxicate
Or
Flowers
without fragrance !!

No Dam
can withstand
the Flow
of
Effort,
Zeal
and
Learning
with
Intelligence !!!!!

Happy Independence Day !

Today, being Independence Day, I am giving a break to my ongoing series of Love, Lover and Quarrels. Instead, a different set of thoughts to ponder on.


Sun gives us warmth,
Clouds the rains,
Mother Earth provides abundant life support system,
Our Nation (India) – Security and the Identity !
All go about their Duties
without expecting Rewards !!

The nation which gives us the very identity of ours – Indian, NRI, expat-Indian, foreign national of Indian origin, etc. etc., irrespective of wherever we go, whatever we do, what remains core to us is the word - Indian !


What have we done for this Motherland of ours ??


Imagine if each one of us puts in a gesture (however small or big is immaterial) towards the betterment of our motherland, it would result in a deluge of a billion plus improvements, both social and economic, that would drastically improve things in our motherland. Our selfless gestures would bring about betterments in not small steps but by Giant leaps !

Our energies should not only be utilised for our personal gains only, but a part should be utilised for the gains of the society (i.e. our country) at large. Else we are all as good as immobile inanimate objects in human form !!

DO always remember :

The People are the Fort of the Nation !
The Boundaries are not by what is drawn on the Map, but By the People !!!!!


Happy Independence Day !

Love, Lover and Quarrels - X

This is in continuation to what I had published yesterday. Combining these two sets of with the first set of couplets in this series forms the trinity.


I
feel
her embrace
in
her
mere glance !

Words,
become
inconsequential
when
her Eyes
speak volumes !

Her Looks,
alas,
are
the Source
as well
as the Bane
of all my ills !!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - IX

We
look
at each other
as
strangers.


And
when
I
don’t look at her,
Her looks
Smile.

the Hallmark
of Lovers !!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - VIII

I thought
I could hold back.
Control !
But, alas,
for My Love
when,
my heart went out,
Breaking
all bonds
I
too
went with it !!!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - VII

Yearning
- makes
my day
like a
year
for
my
love’s return.

Love, Lover and Quarrels - VI

Envy
and
Possessiveness
- Immortal Sins
beget
mortal problems.

With
Envy
and
Possessiveness
in one’s quiver,
who needs enemies !!!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - V

Shame !!???
When
what
I desire
and
what
I long for
is
what
my love does !
How can I understand
the meaning
of Shame ?

Love, Lover and Quarrels - IV

Aloof ?
How can I be ?

Cold ??
That too
When
at a
mere touch
my
heart melts ??!!!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - III

Separation
creates the desire to meet
And
yet
being with
me
is
even more difficult !

My presence
stresses you
as well as
my absence !
Sweetheart, can you ever be happy ?

Love, Lover and Quarrels - II

Something
lurks behind her smile
what ?
I know not !
Nor
I
want to know

What
I do know -
Her Smile
is
the medicine
of
all my ills !!

Love, Lover and Quarrels - I

This month being my birthday month....had taken a break from my musings.

Am back. Have been reading few books, which have resulted in me penning down some of my thoughts. Surprisingly, in these writings, I have not used the dark comparisons, that I am known for, to bring out the brighter side of life.

In this series, I would be posting various emotions felt and experienced by oneself and between the lovers - love, sharing of life in all its myriad forms and one of the most important ingredients - quarrels & banters between the lovers, all of which form the foundation, the pillars, the walls and the roof of the house called 'relationship of love' between the two people.

The first posting in this series - is the aftermath of a difference of opinion / altercation between two people who love each other.


As hard
as
you may,
Whatever
you try
to hide
Alas
Your
very eyes
Reveal all !!

In your
Silence,
You
are the
Epitome
of
Womanhood,
for
Your Eyes
Declare
and
Plead !

Make up -
when we do,
ironically,
the Loser Wins !!

Ode to Memory

For time being I am giving my sojourns on bike a rest....and will take it up later.

The seeds of this poem were sown during my college days - the 2nd year of Engineering. A friend of mine, Shailesh Kanchan, recited the first two lines - whether they were his own creation or he was reciting from his memory what he had read somewhere else....I do not know. But those lines remained engraved in my memory and what you are going to read is a result of introspection on those two lines.


Memory - is like a small child
walking along the sea shore
You never know which small pebble
he may pick up and keep amongst his treasure trove

Pebble picked up
may be big, may be small,
Whether it’s dull or beautiful
it might not matter at all.

Whenever lonely I sit
and do I always ponder
Old forgotten escapades
come flashing by Oh how I do wonder ?

Tragic or joyous, bitter or sweet,
like its own baby – all of them it nurtures,
And with nostalgia, at its leisurely pace
it muses at all the events that had occurred.

From my past, I carry these colossal imprints on me,
like an impaired child I do wonder,
Whether the impairments are something to be ashamed off
Or will it prove to be Thor’s Thunder !


What we are when we grow up - our eventual character (despite enormous attempts by our parents, teachers, et al to ingrain the best in us), how we think and conduct ourselves, our thinking processes and the way we respond to a situation are a result of what we have experiences during our childhood and growing up years (what we also call our formative years). Some are voluntary actions and some involuntary as they have become a second nature to us - for they are deep seated in us. Such is the effect of memory in and on our lives !

(Unlike most of my poems / couplets, this is one of the very few, where the words rhyme.)

As per one's own comprehension and understanding....one perceives the Journey of life....and its path.

The more drunk in life one gets.....the lesser the number of walls....the greener the path ! (vice versa holds good too !!)

Rousseou had stated, 'Man is born free, but everywhere in society he is bound in fetters !'

But when one gets drunk in life....on life.....there are no walls !! and no fetters !!

Bike and Life - V

Pack and the Rat Race :

Another peculiar thing I realised was - it really did not matter much whether you were heading the pack or not depending upon your destination. This I realised when I was reaching Ma Foi office & I was still in the middle of another pack of vehicles which I was trying to head. When I turned to go towards the Ma Foi office, I noticed that I was the only one doing so in the entire pack. Also I inferred from my observations that only when I was travelling to some public place like cinema hall or a restaurant did I have a whole bunch of people also moving in with me. This taught me that if ones destination is unique - irrespective of the fact where you are on the pack you are a pioneer in that field. But even for that destination one has to travel the common path for some time. But if you are a generalist then you can never head a pack - there will always be someone ahead of you due to some or the other reason & someone ahead of him !!!!!

Bike and Life - IV

Riding in the Pack & Destination :

I was riding the bike after a long time. As a result I would love to ride it fast & always be ahead of the pack at every signal. What I found peculiar was that - I would start off at the middle of a pack of vehicles at a signal. Slowly I would work my way to the head of the pack. Then I would leave the Pack I was in far behind but would end up joining the pack in front right at the end. In order to be at the head of the pack - I would weave my way right to the front - and again I would find myself at the very end of the another pack of vehicles. It was then that I realised that that I was so caught up in my heading the pack that I was not evening enjoying the ride - instead it was becoming a very tiring and trying ride. For there was no end to my heading one pack......& then when I leave the pack I was heading.....I would realise that I was the fag end of another pack.....hence instead of getting into 'rat race' i should enjoy the ride and the path to my destination / goal !!!

Bike and Life - III

Chaos :

Initially coming from Calcutta where at least the traffic has some discipline if not much - the traffic in Chennai beat Calcutta traffic hands down in indiscipline. Everyone, right from the pedestrian to bicycle riders to the Lorry drivers - all of them would use the right most lane on the road. If one followed the traffic rules one would be slowed down tremendously. Even this chaos was predictable when observed minutely. Every vehicle felt that they were fastest on the road, hence would only drive in the right most lane. In their obsession for being on the right most lane of the road all these vehicles left the entire left side lanes totally free. I started using the left side lanes to travel. I ended up travelling without any hindrance at a comfortable pace right to my destination !!!!!

Bike and Life - II

Routing and Destination :

When I would start from our office, I would ask someone for the optimum way to go to Ma Foi. I would stick to the described route come what may. It sometimes caused a lot of discomfort. One day I got stuck in a traffic jam, losing patience, I detoured. (I have had this habit from childhood that I always keep my starting point & the end point in mind from a bird's eye view. Once I am able to perceive the picture, I keep in mind this picture while travelling to the destination.) Keeping in mind where I had to go, I kept taking lanes and bye lanes. After sometime I found myself very close the Ma Foi's office. From that day, whenever I have to go to a place, I have started with a new approach. Before I start, I evaluate all the alternative routes to the destination - I then choose the optimum route to the destination place based on certain parameters - keeping all the other alternatives open. If due to some unforeseen circumstance, I get stuck or I have to deviate from the chosen path, I evaluate the other alternatives under the light of current situation & take the best course of action as per my requirements. In the end, irrespective of the fact whether I rejoin the defined or chosen path or not, I reach my destination ! To reach a desired destination, there is just not one optimum path....it depends upon the situation a person is in, the need need of the hour and the approach a person has !!!!

Bike and Life - I

( The similarity between riding to a place on bike & life.

These thoughts have occurred to me while I was driving to Ma Foi Office on the bike. A parallel to our lives can drawn from riding the bike - signals as various times in our lives when the luck favoured us or made us wait till the opportune moment, other vehicles are like other people we come across in our lives who can be nobody and also high & mighty, etc. Just as we do in life, we can go through the routine of life without learning from our day-to-day experiences or we can learn from smallest of activities that we perform in our daily chores. What I found interesting was – learnings from driving bike that can serve in other domains of our lives. I am putting them all into one place – as a series of thoughts. These are some of my observations and their inferences.)


Riding :

While I was working in Chennai, I would start from our office (in Kottivakkam) to go to Ma Foi office (near Nungabakkam High Road) for some work. The traffic would be chaotic & the heat, with every passing moment unbearable. The signals would be sometimes favourable & sometimes not. The autos & the cyclist would be a menace & the buses and trucks always trying to push you aside with their size & might, through intimidation. If I would stick to my guns they would back off but would always curse. Their curses would not bother me for I would not understand their native tongue. If you know and believe in what you are doing, whether you understand the language of the detractors or not, just don’t bother ! Stick to your guns and continue till you reach a logical conclusion !!

Initially I did not know how to navigate in this traffic of Chennai, which was of the worst kind I had ever encountered. All the people warned me that never ever pick up any squabbles with the auto rickshaw drivers for most of them had some or the other criminal record. Also most of the autos were owned by policemen or politicians. Being new and raw to the system I took the advice seriously. But to my dismay I realised that I was being pushed around a lot. That's when I thought " I'd rather live few moments of dignity that a lifetime of humiliation". It is then that I decided to act in life as it suited me - in my own way.

It was triggered off one evening when there was a big traffic jam. I was standing at a signal on my bike. One auto rickshaw guy started trying to push his way through. In order to come in the front he started pushing my bike from behind. When I asked what he was trying to do, he very rudely asked me to get my antique piece out of way. Something snapped inside me. As the traffic was on a stand still without even thinking for a moment, I got down from the bike, went up to the auto. I asked the people in the auto to get down. Surprisingly they got down without a word of protest. With the auto driver in the auto I started rocking the auto violently as if I would throw it over. The auto driver was first shocked because he did not expect a formally dressed guy to be so overtly aggressive that too physically. He suddenly changed his entire approach & started apologising profusely and pleaded me to stop. I just told him politely not to push his luck all the time. I then went back & sat on my bike. One of the people sitting on a bike next to me told me that I was mad to do a thing like that even though the auto driver was wrong. But another guy with his wife & children adjacent to him said what I did was right & these bastards deserved such treatment. How easy it is to sit by the ring side & talk about right & wrong !!!!!

But what started on that evening has grown in proportions. I now don't let anyone push me around in the traffic as a result I am happy driving without being bullied !! The same holds good for me in life too. In other words - though I value advise from others, I stand up for what I feel is right without being intimidated ! The strength comes from the Belief !!

There was a very interesting comment on drunks. Practically everything written about drunks in that comment is true….but there is an exception to that line of thought !

All types of drunks build fortresses around themselves – except one ! The ones drunk in life !! The rest of the kinds of drunk build fortresses of limitations – power, lust, et al. But life, in its truest sense, is limitless, without any boundaries. Therefore, a person drunk in life is like free air…..unbound and unfettered ! And air can reach where even sunlight can not !!

We are what we believe. With deeper introspection, we can discover our ‘real’ identity – who we ‘actually’ are and not what we are ‘living as’ in our day-to-day lives. This dawn of real identity gives a feeling of exhilaration of freedom !! To realise this sense of freedom, it is also important to realise the limitations of the physical senses. To be free - allows us to 'truly and absolutely' share our own experiences (good or bad) with everyone and 'truly and absolutely' participate in others’ experiences (good or bad). All this requires us to discipline our thinking processes. Disciplining our thinking process....lets keep if for some other day.

Heart - III

If the guardians
of the
prison
of love
and
All the forces
of love
that
influence me,
Exists
within
the confines
of
my own mind
and heart !!

How
can I
ever be
satiated ?
content ?
liberated ??!!!

After I had posted Heart - I & II....I received few mails (infact good many !) enquiring about my well being....and advising me on numerous issues.....including matters pertaining to heart, heartache, heart burn and heart break !

I am touched....by everyone's concern.

One of the truest depictions of what I am has been mentioned in poem Drunks !

But, all these mails inspired me to write Heart - III....without those mails....it might never have come into existence. Thank you all....and pls keep writing your views and comments on the blog site too.

Heart - II

The one curse
increasing
all that harms me
The rogue (enemy)
who
has harmed me for long
resides
constantly in my heart !

How then
and
how else
can
I face
You – my love ??
That too
fearlessly ??!!

Heart - I

The heart
which gives us pleasure
Is also
the boat of suffering

Pampering one's heart
and
pampering
one's enemy
are two equal actions !

Cycle of Love - II

Heart,
The lord of heaven of love
Dwells
in the bliss of meditation
meditating on the beauty of love
When struck,
by the impermanence
of this physical world
Falls !
falls like a river over a cliff !


All the loves
and lovers
Meet
with
the time of death
like
open butter-lamps
in a windstorm !


In part two, I have delved on the realisation regarding the limitations and impermanence of the physical aspect of love.....when this dawns on oneself....does one be able to transcend the physical boundaries that we draw and the limitations we thrust on ourselves - by the world as we realise and live in.....and when one is able to do that......does one realise the perfect love !!!

Cycle of Love - Part I

After happiness comes misery
After misery comes happiness
This world of Love
constantly rotates
between
these two poles.

When
one is on the peak of love
becomes captured also
by the noose of
lust
(alas many a times
akin to the death knell)
like an elephant
tied to the chain

Everything
in the realm of love
eventually
burns
in the flames of impermanence
A fire
blazing in the forest
consumes
trees
as well as
the flowers !


I have thought something more on this.....hence have mentioned as Part I. The next part of it, I will put into words tomorrow.

Love & Poison

Realistically,
sensual indulgence (love)
And poison are the same;
In the Beginning,
both give pleasure when consumed
In the End,
both produce unbearable suffering.

Both represent
the darkness of confusion,
And the effects of both
are equally difficult
to counteract
& to turn away.

On analysing the nature of both
Poison
poisons us in this life time
But
Love
poisons us to eternity !!


In this short poem, I have used negativity, parallel and the difference with posion, to illustrate the impact of love.

Mother and Mothers Day !!

At the very onset I would like to clarify that the thoughts I am expressing now are not a part of moral policing or saffron brigade. They are just few random thoughts that are my very own….which others may or may not agree to. Each person to his or her own perception and thinking process.

The other day – for a whole day there were programmes on TV and everywhere - celebrating the Mother’s Day.

First it amused me…..and then I was saddened.

I was saddened because I was reminded of very simply but very profound statement from one of my friends. We were discussing how her children, who are very young, even at that tender age, take her for granted…..which she takes lying down. A woman who has travelled all over the world, worked at some of the most prestigious institutions, a hard core professional, in front of whom who even her husband would think twice before making an unwarranted statement….lets her children get away with it ! I told her once that she should try and set examples once in a while so that the children don’t take her for granted. To which she replied, ‘Father can shrug away his responsibility by saying that he has to go out and earn a livelihood for the family. Raise his hand on them in the name of discipline. But I have carried them in my womb for nine months. They have come into this world by our choice and not theirs ! If they do not have a person, that is me - their mother, with whom they can do what they want and get away with it….then who will they do it with ? It’s because they feel safe and secure that this is one place we can be ourselves. If that translates to being taken for granted….then so be it ! ’

Coming from a woman with such a strong personality…..seemed odd. Later on when I realised the meaning of what had been stated as ‘a matter of fact simple statement’….I was amazed and dumbfounded ! And the less said the better about its implication ! What a profound statement with such a deep meaning and said in such a simple manner ! I felt twice blessed when I realised the implied meaning ! Thousands of years of thought processes…..refined through the ages….has been ingrained in every drop of our blood.…and that very being spoke through the cloak of our westernised education and upbringing. I could not help but marvel at this positive aspect our culture, irrespective of religion, cast or creed !

We belong to a culture where we celebrate the glory mother and motherhood in practically every gesture of ours…..and in every way of our lives. It’s just that we do not realise it. Birth – a mother gives; Mother Nature nourishes us with all our food requirements, mother earth gives us the support (I will support your body wherever you go and not give away. When you die, wherever you die – I will take you back into my fold !); the water that we are able to drink from lakes and rivers are all feminine form and addressed as mother (Maa Ganga)…..where as the sea or ocean where all the rivers finally lose their entity are addressed as males…..and one cannot survive drinking water from the seas or oceans ! Funnily, all mountains are addressed as males ! Cow, an animal whose milk has been nourishing mankind for ages has also been addressed as mother. For aeons, in our lexicon, anything that gives life or nurtures life is a feminine, mother form. That is why a mother has been given a stature higher than God !

Celebrating just one day in a year for Mother…..is demeaning not the Mother….but to our very own existence !

In this part of the world, Mother and motherhood is celebrated everyday in our lives….we only need to comprehend it and respect it.

One positive from this Mother’s day celebration is that the westerners have made me revisit my roots ! And realise what I have been missing in my life….the joys and happiness that you can experience in everyday life.

With changing times, what we should also learn is to not only comprehend and respect it…..but also let the wonderful mother realise every day that you are there in this world because of her. Express it and let her know - at different stages of your life, few things may seem important to you and might preoccupy your time…..but nonetheless……she is the world for you ! And live this thought up with at least one gesture towards her, whether small or big,…..one gesture - everyday !

I have not addressed the issues of atrocities perpeuated on women (especially mothers / parents have to go through at the hands of their children)….for I believe its a much more complex issue.....and that its better to focus on the positives when dealing with such issues (keeping the negatives in mind)….when these positives take root…..the evils will get uprooted on their own.

Womanhood - for another day.

Drunks !

There are good many drunks
roaming all around
You will find them
at every nook
and every corner
in the day
or at night
at every moment of your life



Some drunk in power
some in money
some in lust
some on intoxicants
And
a few
like me
are drunk in life !!

Some of my thoughts on the feedback I have received

Affection too has an element of vested interest...hence not perfect either !

When you are overcome by an emotion you spontaneously act/react....when happy....you laugh....and when sad...you cry. An emotion being felt in its truest sense cannot be expressed or quantified ! When you are able to express the feeling or emotion in words....you communicate the same to the concerned person......but also end up diluting it.

As I perceive, an emotion or feeling in its truest sense cannot be expressed or qantified. E.g. when you are really angry....you either hit out, walk away, cry, etc. At that moment you are unable to say anything....but react ! Similarly when happy.....you smiles, hug, bask in the warmth of the moment, etc. In other words, the moment you say 'I Love You !'....you have diluted the very essence of the feeling of love ! It has to be felt....experienced.....cherished. As I perceive, that is the truest form of Love !

When multiple emotions are felt at one go....it changes the very nature of the same....and love.... becomes a desire ! Alas, fragility of being a human !

More for some other day !

Thank you and please keep posting your feedbacks.

Love - II

Whenever my eyes see my beloved one
I look upon her
with integrity
and love
But
alas
also desire

Think,
in dependence
of all such emotions

Will
I ever attain
my perfect Love !

Love - I (Series of Poems & Couplets relating to Love)

Overpowered by love
and delusions (passion & desires)
We are materless,
powerless,
protectorless
and insecure.
Helplessly,
we go
from place to place
and life to life
In accordance
to our
delusions and wantings.


Love touches everything
and
he touched by it
knows
no peace
no joy
no solace
Complete
and
yet not complete !
Therefore,
it is said
that
everything Love
by nature
is a sweet suffering !!

Success & Failure

Civilisations, kingdoms, countries, stocks....all go through a cyclical phase of success and failure.

Failure follows success, beccause success breeds an implicit faith in the past and that becomes the main pillar of failure.

Complacency, laziness and arrogance are the other pillars of failure that success breeds.

Similarly Success follows Failure because failure engraves the implicit faith in bright future (the light at the end of the tunnel of struggle), which becomes the main plank from which the leap of success begins.

Perseverance, Diligence and (last but the most important of all) Humility are the pillars of success which are created by failure.