1 "WE ARE HAPPY"...the words to remember

Today I met them again…the elderly couple…yes the same couple who once asked me for a glass of water ….and showered upon me hundreds of blessings just for fetching them some water. I have met them many times and every time I feel a strange kind of happiness…

Since morning I have been haunted by the vicious thoughts….I am trying to search deep within me the way how I can lessen their suffering. I zoomed into my conscience and found no answer. It’s just the unease that has occupied me and does not allow me to think about anything else.

I was on my way to Library and saw a bullock cart advancing towards me. I could hardly subdue my gladness. Then I rushed towards them and asked them to stop. I went near them. I could feel the serenity in the voice of the old lady. She was happy to see me and then gently tapped me on my shoulder and touched my face. Her expressions were calm.Her silver hair was being straggled by wind. Every wrinkle of her face was portraying atrocity of the old age.

The old man was quiet for most of the time I stood near them. I asked him, “Bapu ji kidaan chalda?”(How is life going, Grand Pa?)

He didn’t say anything but managed to reply with his gestures…I got a little sad on seeing that. The glow I witnessed on his face last time was a little diminished this time. He had grown more feeble and could hardly manage to make the bullock cart move. 

I asked the old lady, "Bebe ji Ki haal hai?"(How are you granny?)She replied with much despair, “Puttar Gode nahin chalde hun bahut dard hundi hai.”(The pain in knee joints has grown severe, my child !)

I noticed she was losing “something” day by day. That “something” I may not be able to define consummately, but yes, that has to do something with energy, will to survive, urge to live…..

I said, “Hun tusi kamm ghatt karya karo te aaram zyada” (Now you must work less and rest more). Her answer was “Roti kithon khayiye?”(How do earn bread then?”)

I was like very much dismayed after hearing her those words.

They gather dry grass and sell in the market. That is how they make their living. Last time when I asked about their family, She replied, “Sade Bete vi ne, bahuyaan vi ne……par koi kise da nai…asi bojh ban gaye haan ohna te. Sada taan bas Oh hi hai. ” (We have sons, daughters-in-laws…but we have become burden to them. So now we have only one more member in our family other than two of us and that is THE ALMIGHTY”…..It’s only He whom we call our own!!!!!”)

Her answer almost set me still.

Their struggle to service the hardest phase of life is worth appreciation. I have learnt a good lesson from the Bebe Ji and the Bapu Ji…..The life has become more or less a test for them. I imagined...Had I been at their place, I would have never been able to sustain in such days.

To my utter surprise , she said, “WE ARE HAPPY ”…and gave me a contented smile. I can never forget that moment. Her those words are still echoing in my mind. Despite such back breaking hurdles, struggle to survive, she said, “We are happy”…This was something that my mind refused to believe. I could only say, “TUSI APNA DHYAN RAKHIYO”(Take care)…to conclude the conversation. She again touched my forehead and cheek softly with her rough hands. THEIR CART STARTED MOVING AND I STOOD STILL, WATCHING THEM MOVING AWAY…..

2 The Fern And The Bamboo

One day I decided to quit…..I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality…..I wanted to quit my life

 I went to woods to have a one last talk with God.

“God”, I asked ,”Can you give me one good reason not to quit?” His answer surprised me …..”Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?” “Yes”, I replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.

In the   second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again nothing came out of the bamboo seed. “But I didn’t quit on the bamboo”, He said.

In three years there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.

In year four, there was nothing from bamboo seed. “I would not quit”, He said.

“Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant”. But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over ten feet tall. IT HAD SPENT FIVE YEARS GROWING ROOTS. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.

“I WOULD NOT GIVE ANY OF MY CREATIONS A CHALLENGE THAT IT COULDNOT HANDLE” .!!!He asked me, “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots.”
"I would not quit on you"
"Don't compare yourself with others", He said.
 "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern."
 "Yet they both make the forest beautiful"
 "Your time will come."
 "You will rise high."
God said to me.
"How high should I rise?", I asked.
"How high will bamboo rise", He asked in turn.
"As high as it can?", I questioned."Yes", He said, "Give me the glory by rising as high as you can". I left the forest and brought back the story.

I HOPE THE WORDS WILL HELP YOU SEE THAT GOD WILL NEVER QUIT ON YOU.
Never, Never, Never give up. Don’t  tell the God how big the problem is,tell the problem how GREAT GOD IS !!!!!                                                                                                                          

0 IMAGINATION

Are u in the habit of observing things?
Have u ever been to your garden? Of-course yes. But very honestly you should confess
that you seldom feel rejoiced being in the garden.....Let me take you to a new world.....THE WORLD OF
IMAGINATION.
Did you ever notice the climbs at the circumference of the garden.Two tendrils would seem like
two reptiles that are about to battle......The little area of Garden might be habitat to a million of
creatures,...for tiny insects,moving from one corner of the garden to other would be like hundred Kms are to us........every leaf might have felt the breeze......flowers might have competition among them, for blooming before one another.....Fruits might have felt the pain of separation from the beloved tree with whom they had spent a good period.......Birds might have thanked the Jasmine buds for the fragrance they spread.......Grass might have loved to taste the dew........How happy every leaf,branch,stem of the tree would have been when a new fruit had   appeared on the tree........It's like the arrival of new member in their family.......They might talk to each  other.......They might have their own ways of expression........They might feel the affliction when we pluck them......they might be distressed when some leaf or flower went dry........


I think your reaction would be a mix of ridicule and astonishment but great sculptures are nothing but conversations of artists.The greatness is not in the thing done.The greatness is in consciousness that makes u do that......Did you ever notice how austere and hardened  is the life of monks who live under vow.They envisage and design their lives in accordance with what they feel is perfect BUT we see this as the hardship.......All depends upon how we view things..........IMAGINATION IS ONLY THE POWER OF MIND.........
Crush all the materialistic bounds and view a thing as you wish to and not as shown by people.This will fetch you the confidence and if you confide in self ,you have won half the battle even before you have started.........And if you don't have this generous thing in you then you need to peep into yourself and decide what and how you wish to see...................

3 THE FOGGY ROAD..........

 Life bears an analogy to a foggy road. Only a small part is visible at a given time. Did u ever think, if not here where would u have been? Where did u get power to think from? Why do u get happy or cranky? Does the GOD exist? What’s the objective of being here?

Last night I read a shlok of chapter  V111 of the “Shrimad Bhagwat Gita” .Arjun said, “O Lord of celestials, abode of the universe, you are that which is existent ;that which is non-existent and also that which is beyond both…..I want to know who am I……I want to know you.”

These words of Arjun reminded me of my relentless quest once again.

Sometimes I just sit calm and think about my real identity…..Many thoughts visit me. You may find those weird. Sometimes I discern life as a digital signal.

The pulse is the duration of the ‘so-called life’.(I hope u wont consider me insane).Sometimes I see it as a journey where measuring entity is not distance but time……like I have travelled 21 years down the road. Sometimes it appears analogous to a stray boat in the ocean. Sometimes I call it an unsolved java program(which I don’t think I can ever solve ,even if the GOD grants me one more life).

But while attempting to think, I find myself distracted by worldly concerns like assignments, exams, meetings, people, meals, tasks, incidents …..and what not…..

And while being occupied with outer affairs we forget spirituality. Hence there is a big crack between the two worlds we live in with no way of bridging the gulf. We identify ourselves with the little part of the road that is visible……We identify ourselves with success and failure, miss and hit. We are happy one moment, dispirited the next. Yet somewhere deep in our hearts we know these trivial occurrences will not last longer. We have forgotten that life has a higher purpose.

There exists a world that is beyond that what is visible-THE INCORPOREAL WORLD.

Some peculiar people exist on earth, they do appear to live amongst us, eat what we eat, dress up as we do, talk as we do but actually they have ascended much higher than us. They have distinctive vibrations. You feel immense pleasure when they are around; you feel the ecstasy when they talk to you; you feel charged when their lotus hands touch you…..Their presence makes the fragrance flow in air.

I can say in all my honesty that I have envisaged that delight……I can’t define in words what a positive and powerful aura that is!!!!!!!

They seldom notify the world about their divine experiences nor they are hypocrites…..They simply live in the lap of the LORD.

You believe or not, they do exist. I wish I could know the secret…..The unsolved mystery.

I seek apology for I could not render this piece of text an apt and satisfying conclusion because I am not one of those heavenly people or some saint or some glorified soul…..

FOR ME STILL THE ROAD IS FOGGY…..Wish to see beyond the fog. 

1 GOOD BYES ARE NOT THE END.......

"Only two weeks left! “  she said. I can still feel the shudder that went through my spine when I heard those suffocating words."Yes, only fifteen official working days!!!!! Then lectures,classrooms,teachers.....all will become a history", a friend of mine uttered.

In 2007, when I joined the engineering college, I never thought that even the thought of separation from this place will haunt me so viciously.

These people ,whom I call friends, have become indispensable for me. Here I learnt art to live; Here I discovered my capabilities; Here is situated my own little world; Here every decision I made on my own; Here I found those in whom I confide.......endless stories I have, to narrate that associate me with THE UNIVERSITY.

I can never forget those heaven- forsaken elevators, lip smacking mess meals......omg !!!, proxies, campus Nescafe point, freak outs.......etc etc

By now I have fully assimilated into its culture.

All the memories....good or bad, start getting jumbled like construction debris in my mind......whenever I think of departing. I know very well about nature's "DOCTRINE OF CHANGE”.

Life can't be stagnant and I am also not too weak to withstand the momentum of forces that are determined to push me away from this place.

Let's not be dismayed at good byes. A farewell is necessary before we can meet again. And meeting again after, after moments or lifetime, is certain for those who are friends indeed...........!!!!!!!!

Nothing makes the world so spacious as to have those loved ones at distance. No matter how far we will be, we will never allow the longitudes and latitudes separate our hearts.

No distance or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who realize each other's worth.

Good byes are not the end. They simply mean 'I WILL MISS YOU UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN'.I can unflinchingly say that whenever in future, I will be visited by those beautiful memories, everything will flash on my retina and will bring me a feeling of DEJA-VU!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are few lines 
Dedicated to all my friends:

ਦੋਸਤੋ ਕਬੂਲੋ ਸਾਡੇ ਰੋਂਦੇ ਨੈਣਾਂ ਦਾ ਸਲਾਮ

ਉਹ ਚਿਹਰੇ ਨਾ ਹੁਣ  ਰੋਜ਼ ਦੇਖੇ ਜਾ ਸਕਣਗੇ 

ਉਹ ਗੀਤ ਨਾ ਹੁਣ ਰੋਜ਼ ਸੁਣੇ ਜਾ ਸਕਣਗੇ 

ਕਿਵੇਂ  ਹਟਾਵਾਂ ਜ਼ੁਬਾਨ ਤੋਂ ਉਹ ਨਾਮ

ਦੋਸਤੋ ਕਬੂਲੋ ਸਾਡੇ ਰੋਂਦੇ ਨੈਣਾਂ ਦਾ ਸਲਾਮ

ਇਹ ਸਾਲ ਕੱਚੀਆਂ ਕੰਧਾਂ ਵਾਂਗ ਢਹਿ ਗਏ 

ਉਹ ਖੂਬਸੂਰਤ ਪਲ ਖੋਰੇ ਕਿਥੇ ਰਹਿ ਗਏ 

ਲੱਗਦਾ ਜਿਵੇਂ ਲੈ ਗਈ ਏ ਸ਼ਾਮ

ਦੋਸਤੋ ਕਬੂਲੋ ਸਾਡੇ ਰੋਂਦੇ ਨੈਣਾਂ ਦਾ ਸਲਾਮ

ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੀ ਇਕ ਝਲਕ ਹੋਂਸਲਾ ਵਧਾਵੇ 

ਉਹਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਦੋ ਬੋਲ ਟੁੱਟੇ ਤਾਰ ਮਿਲਾਵੇ 

ਉਹਨਾਂ ਯਾਰਾਂ ਦੀ ਯਾਰੀ ਤੋਂ ਮਹਿੰਗੀ ਨਾ ਜਾਨ

ਦੋਸਤੋ ਕਬੂਲੋ ਸਾਡੇ ਰੋਂਦੇ ਨੈਣਾਂ ਦਾ ਸਲਾਮ.......

2 POSCOO

POSCOO…

The word seems strange at the first sight. It’s not a panchtantra tale, new hardware device, celestial body, flora or fauna species, Chinese dish, newly invented chemical compound etc etc...

Okay! Guys and girls, I give you five seconds to guess 1.2.3.4.5, time up! I knew you won’t be able to crack the game. The word echoes in my brain almost every day. So I am tempted to share it with you.

So fasten up your seat belts and brace yourself   as you are going to experience the ride! So if you have in you to go beyond the horizon, dear, you are welcome to my world. POSCOO!, I am sure none of you have either read or heard this before. Well! It is the gargantuan imagination of a GH*(refer to the end) .

One day I and my friend (both GHs) were walking on one of the university lanes on a scorching day. She said,”What numbers can’t measure is the agony of GHs after joining the college”.It seems like endless journey to walk on foot from hostel to university gate”. Suddenly my nerves got impulse and I shouted, ”POSCOO”..She uttered “What?”

POSCOO is an abbreviation for POCKET SCOOTER. I have imagined it as a plastic box of 20X 20X20  cm3 and it would be based on foldable z-series CAMLESS engine(yet to be invented). Toroidal   CVT , centrifugal clutches will be its phenomenal components. POSCOO is going to  be much much advanced to notchback and hatchback sedans as it will run on solar power and have high charge density micro batteries to store energy to work in the absence of sunlight or it might be pneumatic(use compressed air as working fluid) or  might be based on fuel cell technology. Electronically assisted hydraulic power brakes would stop my POSCOO on a single push. Just a push of a button will convert a box into a scooter.

Girls’ hostels are closed before dusk. Every evening the melodious rhymes of the security guards:”Andar chalo! Jaldi karo! Time ho gya” simply leave us mesmerised...After college there is hardly an hour and a half left to manage outdoor affairs; that too on foot.

How astonishing it would have been if I had the POSCOO! Just Imagine.

I would have done everything like exploring every corner of the city, doing dare devil stunts, pasting tattoos on my POSCOO, getting the assignment xeroxed just before submission and ofcourse enjoying “gediyaan” around the gol market .I won’t agree, in this regard, to often quoted declaration of William James “The very fact that you have a dream or desire means you have corresponding capacity to realise it”. With little hope and much despair, my pen aches to write that no POSCOO is going to appear in the coming years. Still it is going to be a distant dream for me to marvel at the night panorama of university buildings. Why to magnify the pang and distress of GHs by thrashing out the term further. POSCOO is beyond our patience, sense and purse.

My parents say, ”Beta, be contented ”.But what to do? Mom gives me a cost effective solution. She says,”Get up early and go to play in university grounds. Why don’t you carry out the activities in the morning that guys do in the evening? Make your alliance in the hostel to have discussions, watch T.V., play indoor games, call each other by supernatural names, share things etc”. But something in me does not agree to her.

Come on, let’s fold hands and pray to the almighty for good fortune of GHs. I just imagine myself on POSCOO. Wow! How electrifying it feels. I wish my great great grand daughters enjoy the POSCOO ride.

FINGERS CROSSED!!

*GH A girl who resides in Hostel.