I wish I were..

Ever looked at someone and pondered, and thought that I wish I was like him? Or saw something, and said I wish it had belonged to me? Man is a self-centered individual guarded by avarice or cupidity nonetheless. There lies a thin line between your ambitions, your longings and envy, the menace of all ills. With the passing time, I have infallibly acceded to the tautology, “God has made you great, and you are the best as you are”. It doesn’t mean acceptance of mediocrity or a sense of complacency, but satisfaction, the antidote of jealousy.

Let me recount my childhood experiences. Whenever I saw a Barbie, all I said was, “I wish I were so pretty”. With each passing day, objects of envy changed. I had always longed for whatever I didn’t possess. I envied people who were better than I, but in a way I appreciated them. I always wanted to be the way they were. What started as objects changed my perspective of seeing life. Running after what I didn’t have took its toll on me, it was a cascade of wishes, one went, and another emerged. It was a cycle extended to infinity. But then time changed me.

Just to share, there is a story someone told me. A man was sitting under a tree, and a person came and told him not to vile away his time but work. It goes like this.

 Man: “May I know why?”

 Person: “If you work you’ll earn money.”

Man: “Then?”

 Person: “Then you’ll be rich famous and successful”.

Man: “Then?”

Person: “Then you can get married, have a family”.

Man: “Then?”

Person: “Then one day you can retire and relax”

Man: “I was relaxing already until you came and intervened.”

The short and simple moral goes like this. What you always want is what you already have. It’s just that you need to introspect, look inside yourself and find a hundred reasons to be happy for. God has made you a different individual, unique in all ways. And so, you are not an object of comparison. (As the cliché goes, “One can’t compare apples to oranges”) Just sit back and think that the things you envy were what you had never really wanted.  The glimmer or the glitter fades. It’s just the gold that remains with the tides of the time. Dream big, aspire for bigger, achieve the biggest, but don’t envy what you don’t have. May be it wasn’t meant for you.  Whenever you see someone, don’t envy his attire, his achievements, or his possessions.  If you anxiously want to be envious of something, envy their smile because it certainly means you’ve lost yours.

“There’s no bigger possession than you, yourself”.

Open your eyes...

It's been long since I've posted anything on this blog, not because I was addled what to write but because I was addled what not to write. Excess of everything is bad, the cliche stands true again. I'll write on everything in the most precise details, but you'll have to hold on. Too much of data leads to an overflow.

Life is one of the most complex plans, it's architect being god. It's given on lease, and you can do anything with it, as you please, when you please, how is please. (PS: i am not a promoter of fatalism). But as perennial  overlookers to life's best gift, we run a hare's chase, our ego being the forerunner, envy our fuel, and reputation being the ultimate destination . Lately, I have had many instances to substantiate the same. After being on a small getaway a midst the hills, these two little children transformed my outlook, and left me in profound introspection for the times to come.
These two children approached us selling berries, an exquisite fruit in the hills of Uttrakhand, cherished by humans and bears alike. Deciphering my words, they got those berries from deep within the woods, when you know a bear can come to you to snatch your life itself.  But when my eyes met theirs, I saw a gleam unmatchable, something never seen in our fast and furious lives. For a mere ten bucks, they took danger as an adventure, threat as a thrill and berries their profession. Deep within, they accepted simplicity as life. For them life isn't a top notch college, a highly paying job or an ever increasing bank balance. For them it's the thrill of going hunting together, getting some bucks for well, a satiated life above all. They teach us lessons even big spiritual gurus can't, which can't be parts of consecrated management or self improvement texts.
For them a couple of extra bucks means loads of happiness, for us these bucks mean a 'load', in the literal sense. For them holding hands means compassion, for us it's a gesture in meetings and conferences. For them running means adventure and thrill, for us it's anxiety.
The meaning of words and gestures is contrasting, within a distance of miles.
Just to sum up, There exists a life beyond a 9 to 5 job, a life beyond the limitless desires, a life beyond our wit's end. For whenever you say, "I wish", just think, there exists a life, deep inside the woods, where two children sell berries.  

A new beginning

Baffled by absolute wonder
My thoughts run asunder
From a sapling so tender
I suffer from a blunder

I am aware of the premonition
Life so mixed with facts and fiction
I hold on to the lost
A vision blurred by frost

Worn out by efforts persistent
For possibilities largely distant
I walk along the road infinite
With destination out of sight

I delve in moments of the past
With memories that shall forever last
It wasn't that bad, I know
As smoothly it could ever flow

For all in this world is transient
For the cowards and the valiant
I resolve to sail through
As steps on the morning dew

Who says that life terminates
It's from loss that it germinates
For what a caterpillar calls an end
Is what a butterfly takes as a friend!

Stillness and Serenity

Who knows what future has in store

And who would like to know

It’s all that’s now which we can adore

When stuck in an inferno

Everything happens for a reason

Destined with precision

Don’t try to a fatalist

No point being a defeatist

When all the doors are shut

And you are in a rut

That you can find a way

And scrap off your dismay

Perseverance and patience can do

To bid your pain adieu

Embrace things as they emerge

To satiate your urge

It takes a thought to falter

But a will to alter

It endows you nectar

To drive you out of the Sepulcher

Sometimes it’s plausible to sit back

Delve in stillness of the black

It’s not that you’ll lose

For then, you’ll find the better you.

I am a Book

For all those inquisitive in knowing why i write, it's just when my brain is tormented by a deluge of thoughts, that I hold a pen and paper and start transforming these thoughts to words. I have always had this penchant for books, and I can safely say that I've spent the maximum time of my life engrossed in them, like many others. They are something who has actually served that platitude, "books are our best friends". I know I'm naive to write about how great they are, but I can only thank them for what they've always meant to me and hope that they do it till my last breath. They've made up a large part of me, and so I thought to write about them someday. But this time unlike always, I write from the perspective of a book.

And here it goes,

For some, I'm a tightly bound collection of pages, for some I'm an object of reverence, for some I'm the number of topics you have to mug up days before exams, for some I'm their solace, their object of adulation, an object to love. I'm the brainchild of the diligence of some individual(s) who invested his precious time, and valuable energy in me. I was a well thought over, highly researched fruit, which is now cherished by a bunch of people, who get hold of me, all with a different set of feelings. I'm seen on their bookshelves, their machines, their beds, their hands, sitting placid, but brimming with ideas and concepts the author endowed me with. I made one promise to serve them for life, I live unto it. No matter how old I go, my pages go worn out and pale, I still occupy museums and certainly the hearts of many.

Yes, I serve the didactic purpose spreading the pearls of bountiful knowledge. I am their companion, or so called burden in their exams. But more than that, I'm a clearly expressed experience of someone, who wanted to make it available to others so that they benefit from me. I'm a journey, which makes you flow in the realm of thoughts. But the journey isn't a smooth ride. I make them smile, make them cry, frustrate them, fascinate them, and captivate their thoughts for a lifetime. I have taught those facts, sentiments and everything abstruse this world has to offer.

Pen marks and tear drops are an unwarranted part of me, but as I say "anything for you Sir!" I am an object of discussion or critique for many. But I occupy the shelves of all sacrosanct places, held with utter respect by one and all. I'm part of libraries being objects of choice. It's not that I am bereft of competition. There are many others like me who wait to lure the readers. However, i am helpless; I stare at them and can just hope that their hands hold my pages. It's not that I'm being self-centered, but yeah "Selfishness is a virtue" 

All I can say is that I was once made (what a great day it must have been), and I'm here to stay!