Moving pictures

"Questions show the mind's range, and answers, its subtlety" ~ Joseph Joubert

These words came to life for me when I (finally!) watched "Harishchandrachi Factory" yesterday. What a beautifully crafted movie - so moving, and yet absolutely no trace of melodrama. Proof of the fact that one need not have slapstick comedy to induce laughter or shedding glycerine tears to induce empathy or emotion ...

Indeed, the mind is such a wonderful thing.. But what's more wonderful is to see that there are minds that are capable of making a direct connection to others, simply using (as Dadasaheb would have said) "halti chitra" (meaning, moving pictures).. There truly could not have been a better tribute to the great mind who started what later became the largest movie industry in the world !!

Needless to say, the pun "moving" in the title is intended.. :)

Flight of Fancy

Highway in the Sky

The clouds make shapes
In the vast blue sky
A dog there, maybe a boat
... They always seem so high

But today, it is different
As all art falls shy
It is a grand masterpiece -
A highway, in the sky

Colors of twilight's shadows
Vivid, bold, defiant
The sun, melting down
Shining, bright, silent

Over that endless road
My thoughts soar high
They're taking a leap
From the highway in the sky.

Color me red

... Because you make me feel like a queen

Knowing that I am no more than a normal person

... Because your love is unconditional

In every sense of the word

... Because no amount of "I love you"s can justify

What I feel each time I am with you

... And if I still believe in dreams,

It's only because you are a dream
That came true

~ !!! Anonymous !!! ~

Memory Mist

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
- Rabindranath Tagore

It's amazing how rains can make the most mundane moments so beautiful ..

Completely Magical

A splash of red
On the blue sky
Gray water beneath
Passing them by

Two souls meet, and
Set themselves free
Like two tiny waves
Blending in the sea

They stand there
In bold defiance
With no fear
Just content silence

The time then comes
For the trail to stop
The moon goes down
As the sun comes up

...

So many visions
In moments few
An incomplete dream
And yet.. so true


Some things are beautiful because they are incomplete..

Affinity

कुछ ऐसी एहतियात से निकला हैं चाँद फिर

जैसे अँधेरी रात में खिड़की पे आऊं तुम

क्या चाँद ऑर ज़मी में भी कोई खिचांव हैं?

~ गुलज़ार, रात पश्मीने की

The moon is looking exceptionally beautiful tonight..

Ever After

My very close friend Venky got married to his sweetheart a few days back in the most filmy style possible - the bhaag-kar-shaadi style! Not that they did not try the "correct" way, but when things didn't move even after trying for almost 5 years, I think it was fair enough to resort to some drama. When he was telling me all about it, he said something which rang a bell immediately..

".. It's true.. When your heart truly desires something, the whole world conspires so that you get it.. Sach hain yaar.. Sach hain.. "

When a perfectly practical and head-rules-heart person like Venky says this, you know that there are some things which logic should not bother to explain. More importantly, there are some things which have their flavor simply because they are not explained.

Venky always cheered me for believing in the existence of such magical moments. But I think he would agree that he had his doubts about the amount of "truth" in my collective beliefs. In times which were particularly challenging for me, he kept boosting my morale saying that ".. Arre don't give up, I keep your example in front of me and the fact that you believe in love even after experiencing what you have, my situation is much better and I can make it for sure.. ". As he said that, I always felt that, at some level, he must be thinking I am an emotional fool for still believing that I will find what most people call as "true love".

And now that he has experienced a bout of that magic in his own life, his strengthened belief makes me feel vindicated.. :) Today my belief feels more stronger than when I actually experienced it, because today it has inspired someone else to believe.

This is for you Venky and Nishi.. May the magic always dwell in your lives.. Amen! :)

Scentless

And she ran
Frantically
Looking for
Those violets..

Where did they go?
Did the storm
Blow them away
Into oblivion

No, she thought
That cannot be
They weren't real enough
For the storm
To touch them

Where did they go?
Did the harsh sun
Dry them up
Into rumples

No, she thought
That cannot be
They weren't real enough
For the sun
To see them

Then she saw them
Those violets
There they were

They swung with the spring wind
Intoxicated
Yet holding on tight
To the shrub
That bore them

Mist in my eyes..

“I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can be together all the time.”
~ Calvin & Hobbes

Innocent. Magical. Sublime. Is it a dream? Or is it the dream..?

Find your own dream

"When I was young- my parents told me what to do. When I grew up and got married, my husband told me what to do. And now, my children tell me what to do. I am tired of others dictating my life. For God's sake- it's MY life!!"

One of my aunts was particularly upset the other day as she blurted out all these words in one breath. I was sitting there silently, with my hand on her shoulder- trying to pacify her a bit. But I found words betraying me as I tried to string them in sentences. I just sat there with her and she tried to fight back sobs.

I tried to think of what she must be feeling. I am not yet in the second and third phase that my aunt talked about. But my parents never dictated my life as I grew up. They never forced me to wear a certain kind of clothes. They never stopped me from participating in extra-curricular activities thinking that my studies would suffer. They never inhibited me from making friends who were guys, out of the fear that I would elope with one of them. One of the biggest examples is the time when I decided to do my engineering from Nasik. Everyone, including my closest relatives, called me stupid and naive for choosing to take admission in a college in Nasik, in spite of having the necessary percentile and opportunity to join some prestigious colleges. But my Mom and Dad never questioned it. And the fact that I am doing quite well now- is my answer to all those people who did not believe in me back then, and my tribute to my parents who wholeheartedly supported my decision.

As I sat with with my aunt that day- I recollected all this and felt fortunate to have been given the chance to prove that I can make my decisions. That has given me the confidence to find my own dreams and to see them come true. And I remembered something which my Dad has always said to me in different words over all these years... Don't live someone else's life and dreams. Go find your own.

Thank you Mom and Dad- you made me the confident person that I am today :)

The Key

I have a teacher, now more of a friend and guide, who has a simple philosophy he follows- trust people by default. There's a chance that your trust will be broken- but if it isn't broken- you've won that trust for a lifetime.

And over these years- I have tried to follow this rule as much as I could. And after the initial skepticism- I have realized that people are only as bad as we make them out to be.

I am not advocating that we keep our doors open and give an open invitation for someone to come and harm us or our house. No. That would be totally impractical. But hostility and suspicion need to be in control. In this world- when people don't trust even family and friends- trust is becoming more of a noun than a verb. We talk about it, write about it, debate about it- and finally forget about it. Do we really apply it?!

Yeah well- in my own ways- I know I do. And I won't deny that my trust has been broken- it has ( and I also admit that I have shouted and cried when that has happened :P). But that does not make me believe that everyone I meet will break my trust. I still believe that there are more good people in this world. And the rest aren't really bad- just disillusioned.. :)

It wouldn't hurt to remember that the best and most precious things in life are the ones which require you to trust- without any receipt that entitles you file a lawsuit if you do not get any returns on your trust. Because the best and most precious things in life are never about returns.

Trust is the key to most doors- open 'em now... :)

Believe in Yourself - Follow your Dreams...

I saw Jab We Met on Friday. Loved it. Because it is about all these things which I believe in..

... that dreams come true- you just need courage to believe in them enough to follow them...
... that when you truly wish for something dil se- you do get it...
... that when you are passionate about something- you do things which seem stupid and outrageous to others...
... that no one knows what might happen next- which is why one should live each moment to the fullest...

We have a photo frame in office. It has four lines inscribed on it:

Believe in miracles..
Believe in yourself..
Follow your heart..
Follow your dreams..

When I saw that movie- I remembered these lines and I remembered that frame. We don't see this frame all the time in front of us. In fact- most of the times- it needs to be kept face down because it does not have anything at the back which can help us put it up on a wall.

But we don't need to see it everyday to remember what it says. Because we have the essence of it in us now. And there have been numerous times when these lines have inspired us to keep going. These lines have encouraged us to stand by our beliefs. We recently won some recognition awards for our work- and I would like to believe that it is this same spirit of faith and belief in us which made us winners.

Ok-time out! So what's happening here? I started talking about a movie, then went on about a picture frame and some team awards.

Well.. I guess that's the irony of it :) The team went to see Jab We Met as a celebration for the awards- and the fact that the movie was all about those four inspiring lines in motion- made it all seem like a wonderful conspiracy...

I'll repeat my favorite thought from The Alchemist:

"When you really want something as you walk on the path that destiny has laid down for you- the whole world conspires so that you get it.."

You just need to experience it once to become a believer. I know I am.. :)

Are you? :)

Whirlwind of a thought

In most cases- an impulse is nothing but a thought or a wish that has been there in the mind for sometime- but found no exit.

Promising Hope

It is ironic that the word compromise contains the word promise! Maybe it is because a broken promise needs more alphabets to exist by itself- and that is when we get a compromise.

Nothing hurts more than being given hope and then it being taken away...

One of these days...

I hear the wave from afar
It comes crashing to the shore

I blindly run out to the beach
The wave is now within my reach

The same thrill again
As it was the first time

The same greeting again
As was given in the last sign

But wave does not stay for long
It retreats- and it feels so wrong...

Going back into the vast ocean
Where it came from

I want to dissolve in the wave
I plead- "Stay... That one moment- let me save..."

It looks at me and says- "Need to go now"
"I would be back- I can't say when or where or how"

I run after it- the wave turns back and stops me..
It makes the treacherous sand hold me in the sea...

It says- "You cannot come farther than these footsteps few-
Else, I can promise, that the ocean will claim you"

I say I want to be claimed- for that is better than this thirst
The wave says- "For a fulfilled dream- you would live through pain first"

But wait- my footsteps- they are washed away!
They will not be there- to be seen another day...

I shout after the wave- Where are the footprints that I made?
The wave says- "They are in me now- I took them-
from the place where they were laid"

The wave goes back and the sand slips away
I suddenly feel weightless- and the wave has its say...

"I would be back" is what I hear in my heart
Will it enough for all this time apart...?

On the shore- gazing at the the ocean- day and night I sit...
The wait is long and painful- but every bit worth it.

Over and over I hear it- as the wave solemnly says-
"You will be the ocean I return to- one of these days"


One day is gone today...

One day will come tomorrow...

Nomad

Main fiza hoon kaheen bhee thahartee naheen

Ruk bhee jaaoon kaheen par to rahtee naheen
Maine tinke uthaaye huen hain paron par
Aashiyaanaa naheen hain meraa...
- Gulzar

Everyone keeps windows open to let the wind come in- but no one gives her a home.

Incomplete

Kuchh tootein huen sheeshon mein hee ek chhotaa saa khwaab hain... Ab khwaab dekhaa hain to sheeshein to ghaav karenge hee :)

Resolution and Conviction

I learnt an important lesson today: resolutions root in conviction. And I will believe in my convictions and nothing is going to make me not believe any more.

Set them free...

A tear rolls down my cheek- and as I close my eyes- I say to myself- "Tomorrow...."

When the wind meets the horizon...

A path winding across the horizon
over mountains, across seas
through blue skies and gray
never ceasing, continuous.
My love for you.

- A J Miller