Children

This is one of Kahlil Gibran's from his noted work "The Prophet". The words make so much sense and were written at a time when probably these thoughts were considered radical. Many nations still have not progressed to a mental level where they can let their children be; with their own thoughts, dreams, notions, emotions and act on them without the iron clad ruling of the head of the family. Still many a children bend to the will of the family head, lest it be seen that in following their hearts' desires they are being termed ungrateful and disrespectful. The fact that each has his own destiny, his own path and his own life to lead is not a welcome prospect in many a families worldwide.

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,

which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them,

but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children

as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might

that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies,

so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Courage?

I was reading KPR's post on courage, and I just had to pen some thoughts down.There is an interesting way that people have...one of my professors brought it to my notice when I was doing my masters...He said, people already set a standard for you...for your self esteem and worth...if you go to someone and say, "I dont know anything, I am not good"...they will immediately say, "Come on, you aren't too bad, hang in there..!" And if you go tell them, "Hey, I am good, I am really good at this"...they will immediately retort with..."Come on down, ever heard of modesty?"

So basically people all around us have already decided, without knowing us, how confident we should or should not be...and you know what?This has nothing to do with us,it actually has everything to do with their self esteem.If they see someone happy and confident, it just shows them that they are not as confident, and as a defense, they pull the other person down. Their encouragement also has nothing to do with us, its just their way of showing how good they are, how much they care...it makes them feel better about themselves.

So now, here are a bunch of people who are actually trying to make something of themselves...and if they are really good, you would think the world would give them a break right?WRONG...the world will only give a break to people who know how to show the right amount of weakness, so that they can make others feel stronger and therefore get something for themselves.We seem to have gone terribly wrong somewhere when we need to use negative emotions and feelings to prove we are worthy.

It takes real courage to stand and say I AM good.But to get to this point also,one needs to fight all the devils inside, all the doubts and questions people have put into our minds since we were born...we end up eternally asking ourselves, am I worthy of anything?

The world has so many explanations for suffering...there are religions that have told us that its our karma...I am sure karma has a part to play in all this, but we aren't doing much to fight back also are we?We just end up accepting labels people give us and living with it...isn't it time for some serious introspection and to make up our minds that we will feel good about ourselves?

Ashwini

Immortal Love and Timeless Classics

Does love have to be doomed to be deemed immortal? You can decide if this is a pertinent question or not. Lets take a look at some of the love stories that definitely make the Eternal Romance/Timeless Classics list and take it from there shall we.

Close your eyes and think of 'aeonian romance' and list out the stories/movies that come up in your mind. This is the list my mind bore from this exercise:

• A walk to remember
• Love Story
• Titanic
• Romeo and Juliet
• Tristan and Isolde
• Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
• The Notebook

More than half the list is tragic. One would also probably include Wuthering Heights (though not my kind of romance), Casablanca, Cleopatra and Antony, Gone with the wind, Orpheus and Eurydice, Lancelot and Guinevere etc etc.......Even Bella had to die in order to be with Edward forever (thou its a happy ending of sorts but its still tech dead)

So what is it about heartwrenching tragedies that make love iconic and etch a place in our hearts, the likes of which cannot be competed by stories with more warmer, happier notes.

"Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic" once quipped Oscar Wilde. Why?

Is it because true love, often perceived as something so pure and rare, is infact too good to exist? Or is it because the shocks caused by such tragedies leave a more sizeable impression in our minds and hearts that they remain for a longer time than happier memories (something akin to us humans remembering the bad more than the good)?

Whatever be the reason, be it in words or on celluloid, an enduring tale of love lost always, always, has struck a more lasting chord in our hearts and our history.

- KPR

Courage and Miscellaneous Things!

It was just a day like any other. I checked into my tweet deck to send few tweets and read some as well. For some X reason I visited the website of one of the writers that I happen to follow on twitter - Caroline Smailes. I have visited her site numerous times to read specific posts and leave 'pick me' comments but never took the time to leisurely look around and that’s just what I did on that day. Look around. That’s where I found it and it hit home; hit hard I must say and since then I have spent serious time in self-contemplation.

She talks about how a reference to someone as a ‘nearly woman’ got her into facing her now or never moment. Well what that Richard and Judy show did to her, her blog did to me. It pierced right into my mind, like I was shot or something. Lord! I was that 'nearly woman' wasn't I? Yes, yes, no point in denying now; it’s me alright. On hindsight, it is clear to me that all my life, I have been someone who has ‘nearly’ done something, ‘nearly’ achieved something, ‘nearly’ loved someone, ‘nearly’ experienced something and the like.

Look at my resume; it is an assortment of Bachelors in Computers, an MBA, and another Masters in Financial Economics, scholarships galore showing maybe I was somewhat good with multiple things. Traditional Indian heritage and upbringing ensured I was trained in classical dance and music. I seemed to like talking enough to be a decent orator through collage and put a few gold on the wall. I dabble in a bit of writing on this blog. To my eyes today, I look like a poor imitation of a Jack of All and definitely Master of none. But what really was my passion? What was my dream? The one thing I have been really passionate about all along (it should have been obvious to me long before now) was a good story. Writing was therapeutic, it was a hobby and though I haven’t openly admitted it, it was a dream too.

Every step in my life was a challenge. Nothing came easy, nothing landed on my lap and I for one was never ever lucky. But that did not stop me. I have fought every step of the way, fought for an education, fought for my right to live and fought for my family. People who are familiar with my story know all this and some. I truly believed that “Courage is not always a loud shout or roar, but a quiet voice at the end of the day saying I'll try again tomorrow” and try try and try is all I did. So you can ask now, is this self wallowing? No!

It’s me questioning myself, that, if indeed courage meant to keep on trying and never giving up, and I seemed to have done it determined to live and do something, then why was I not showing the same courage to make my dreams come true? What kept me at bay? What made me a ‘nearly’ person?

The roller coaster ride of life teaches us not to be afraid of facing challenges but I think I am afraid of failing myself and failing my dreams. After doing everything I can to stay afloat in this world, taking a shot at my dreams is the one thing where I lack self confidence. I determinedly never write about serious stuff or things that mean more than they should (reason why my blog is just about the frivolous). Inspite of all the stories and stars in my eyes, I just dare not share them. My heartfelt admiration, to Caroline and others who had the courage to live their dream. Now it’s my turn to decide, will I try to give my dreams a chance or remain as someone who ‘nearly’ tried?

“If you want it to happen, you must make it happen. If you let it happen, you won’t like what happened” 

- KPR