Natural wisdom?

We all know the old adage - Life goes on. Nothing is constant on the axis of time. The dates change, the seasons change, ages change, perceptions change, appearances change, beliefs change. Like a river, in constant motion. Yet, the irony is that at times we feel stagnated.

Contentment. And stagnation. Two sides of the same coin. Perceptions by an optimist, and a realist, maybe?

In a world with multiple frames of reference, we find ourselves battling many assumptions, trying to find answers to questions difficult to frame.

As we move on in life, we meet new people who take us through. They say that there are some people whom you meet for a reason, some for a season and some for a lifetime. Everyone you meet doesnt stick around forever. And even if they do, equations change. When the river starts flowing, it starts out alone, pure, sparkling and clean. As it flows, it collects sand, stones, mud, weeds and proceeds, less clean, not sparkling, but not alone. In its journey to the sea, it encounters big rocks , ditches, where some of the weed may get caught and sand deposited. But it moves on, picking up new weeds along its way, and it will never be alone. Nature teaches us to move on.

To do or not to do..

This has been eating me up inside since the Carlton towers fire broke out last Tuesday. Life is so uncertain. Life is so fragile. Life is so tough. Sometimes you feel like you are walking on a proper bridge with fencing, suddenly the fence disappears, suddenly the bridge narrows, suddenly its a rope, suddenly life is a tight rope walk to a destination, a destination you yourself are not sure of.

Nothing is constant in this world but change.

Life is like moment of inertia. You're constantly trying to come back to a state of equilibrium, when all sorts of forces are trying to push you out of your state of equilibrium.

Life can't wait.. says Sunsilk. I agree. You don't postpone life. If you want to do something, do it, life's too volatile.

The enormity of the emotional trauma of the WTC tragedy comes flooding back now, when the Carlton towers fire itself led to 9 huge losses in 9 loving families.Thousands of people stared death in the face in those towers. None knew what was in store when they went to work that morning, least of all expect a plane to come crashing into their workplace. Lots of plans, lots of dreams were left unfulfilled. Lots of sentences incomplete, lots of words unsaid, lots of feelings untold. Lots of guilt, for no fault of anyone in those towers. One of those who perished in the Carlton has a 5 month pregnant wife. It sends shivers down my spine to even imagine what she must be going through.

Earthquakes. In Haiti. Now Chile. Lives,families, careers, dreams razed to the ground.

All said, its important to move on. Its difficult as hell, but its what is expected from us. God made some rules - like those of life, and death. Two gates everyone has to pass through. And we need to respect the path between the two gates. And walk with renewed hope and vigour when someone has passed through their second gate, not drag ourselves to our second gate, cos God has plans for us, and maybe they're good.

I pray for the families of all the deceased. I know how difficult the whole ordeal is.

There's a popular song whose lyrics are pretty intriguing.

Zindagi mein kabhi koi aaye na rabba,

Aaye toh phir kabhi jaaye na rabba,

Dene ho agar use baad me aasoon,

To pehle koi hasaaye na rabba.

Is this right? Do we seek to not feel happy today if we are sadness is on its way? Do we always anticipate sorrow, and spoil the happiness in front of us? Well, life is a sine curve. There are ups and downs. We need to accept it and go on.

In a nutshell.

Titanic

I just saw Titanic. One of the most classic movies I've seen. It's a movie that depresses, no doubt, and even more due to the overwhelming happiness hitherto. It's a movie that touches me. And the element of truth, its makes the emotions felt more real.

Destiny. Fate. Love.Jealousy.Possessiveness. Freedom.Change. Life. Death. Luck. Faith. Hope.Innocence. Purity. Loyalty. I saw them. I felt them. I lived them through the movie. Right from the time they showed the remains of the Titanic. The incident put a full stop to so many lives. Dreams were left unfulfilled. The hundreds who resigned to their fate, and stared death in the face sent a chill through my spine.

The Titanic reminds me of a swan. Calm and unruffled above the surface, paddling furiously underneath. So many hands went into getting the ship to sail. The way they've shot it is simply brilliant.

It also reminds me of 'Who moved my cheese?'. A book which tells you that change is constant, and adapting to it is the only way to survive. So many people who didn't know to swim would have faced their fear. And probably, survived, due to the basic human instinct to come up to the surface. The cold in the middle of the Atlantic, it must've been freezing. How the survivors braved the cold is simply unimaginable.

I am just bowled over by the Jack-Rose love story. Its simply amazing. The innocence, the purity, the sincerity, the trust.. I can go on and on. I believe in fate, to the extent that we are destined to meet certain people, and it happens no matter what.

The movie has really touched me. It has so many angles. So many morals. Prepare for the worst. Pride comes before a fall.

And the biggest moral : Live life in the moment. We don't know how many days we have left. Should make the most of the present. None of those 2000+ people would have dreamt that the maiden voyage of the great Titanic would be its last, and theirs too. We are all sailing in some ship, figuratively, and we don't know whether it will dock where it should. But we believe, and carry on. Hope takes us through. Faith keeps us going.

There's another school of thought on why the Titanic sank. Some other time, that. The movie's brilliant.

P.S. I'm watching the movie for the second time after 1997. I got a LOT more from it now, than I did then, as you can see. :)

The Small things

I am constantly amazed by the things in life that we are most attached to. They're not materialistic, though they're important too, but reassurances, small little tiny reassurances that keep us going.

This reminds me of something I once read :

Piglet sidled up behind Pooh.
"Pooh",he whispered.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing", said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you."

:) It always brings a smile on my face.

We need to feel like we belong. That we matter to the people who matter to us.

In life, the small things are the big things.

But then, everyone has their signature way of doing things. Of expressing their love, gratitude, affection.

"Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have".
:)

Scales.

Scales. Life is like a set of scales. Thats the theory I ve heard. There are times I believe in it and there are times I don't want to. Everything evens out. What goes around comes around. It's scary and maybe, its true.

It all starts off very very long back. When you laugh too much, your friends tell you -" You'll definitely cry later in the day". And it sticks. You anticipate sorrow when you've dwelled in happiness. So, either by co-incidence, or by the Placebo effect, once you've tuned your mind to believe it, it happens.

Power of the mind...

Mis(sed)-takes

Mistakes. Life is full of them.
A mistake is always the wrong fork in the road that's taken.
A mistake is the easy way out.
A mistake is the only way out that we see through windows of rage, frustration or fear.

There are mistakes I'm proud I've made. After all, a person who hasn't made mistakes hasn't done anything. An event less life, that. But then again, there are some that I'm not proud of. I cringe at their very thought. Mistakes made due to misunderstandings, mistakes made in anger, and worst of all, mistakes made on purpose.

When I read the newspapers, I see a whole lot of mistakes staring at my face.A student committed suicide because of low marks(!). A drunk driver knocks down 4 pedestrians. Well, it might have been his first, and maybe his last, big mistake. Do we forgive him?Do the bereaved families forgive him? Ramalingaraju.. he might have been a good man if you put the scam aside. But do we forgive him? A woman married to an alcoholic killed her 2 polio stricken daughters and committed suicide because she lost all hope. Should she be forgiven? There are some mistakes that don't give us another chance. Costly mistakes, these.

Here's a small poem I associate with making mistakes.

"There's a Hole in My Sidewalk" by Portia Nelson

I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost...I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V
I walk down another street.

Today, I believe making mistakes is not a bad thing. I learn from them, some the hard way. Taking responsibility for my mistakes makes me a better person. What is bad is when my mistakes hurt people. And those are mistakes I still want to be a missed take in the reel of life.

Blank...

'The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."

Never felt it more, as much as now.