About Books

Quite many days ago, I had read a beautiful book in which the protagonist was a young girl who was additively in love with a man. Unfortunately the man was a pilot and died in a stray accident, an air crash. The girl went into deep depression and nobody and nothing could bring her back from the darkness of infinite sorrow. One day, a colleague of her dead fiancee came to meet the sorrow-stricken girl as a part of his duty towards his dead pal. He was shocked to see the condition of the girl. She just didn't want to come out of her pain and trauma and responded to nothing. He understood that it was his duty to revive in the girl, the zest for life. He tried hard, through conversation, through preaching but nothing worked, but in the company of her dead fiancee's friend, she started to talk and reminisce how she loved her boy friend and how she had dreamt and had loved to hope for live a life with him. One day, as they were alone and talking, this friend held the girl in his arms and the result was instinctive and strangely sad and passionate. They went into a frenzy of passionate love-making as though it was the only means of releasing pent up emotions for the girl and it did something to her.Though she was still madly in love with her dead man, it started a new beginning. The girl who had not responded to anything, started to have interest in life,though only in a flicker. No, what happened between both of them was not love, rather, quite far from love. It was mere impulse. But the girl who didn't respond to anything responded to physics.It was as if the desire to express fer great pain and also a way of communicating how much she had loved her fiancee. The colleague went away hoping that the girl will revive now and was happy that he had done his duty in whatever odd way it might have been. After a month, the girl found herself to be pregnant. She was in shock, didn't know what to do or how to handle the situation. She couldn't even gather courage to disclose this to her family. And the man whose child she was carrying had not tried to contact her even once after that physical escapade.She only waiting, and didn't know for what.In some way, she expected that life will not desert her now, and it will be given back to him, along with her deep love for her ex-lover. Surprisingly, despite every odd, the girl couldn't think of aborting the child, She felt connected to it in a strange way, beyond her understanding. May be the baby in her was a hope, to revive, to relive, to move ahead with the love in her heart for the dead boy friend. She didn't know how to explain it to her family and was scared. Each and every day was spent in apprehension. And it was all not in vain. The man who made love to her without any love,ant regard for the consequences, but only to bring the girl back ti the stream of life came back suddenly one day and asked her hand in marriage. They got married, with full knowledge that the dead man was still the love of the girl who was a dear friend of her husband.

It's a beautifully written book with beautifully written verses at the beginning of every chapter. It sends a message of undying love, of human integrity of greatness of heart, of immense love, of wonderful understanding of life. It also tells that there still are men in this world, who tell us that there are still good people in this world, who , after making a mistake, don't run away, they come back always, to make amends for their mistake. It is a story of being human, being weak, yet strong, to join hearts and worlds. Books can be beautiful. They give us strength to survive and be good, they teach us human goodness. I wish people had time to read books, they can change hearts and they certainly make the world better.

Life Divine

I was hurrying towards the garbage dump, close by, to dispose yesterday's waste, and she was standing outside her house. I had seen her when her tiny house was being built, close to the place where all the garbage of that area is dumped every day. I was morose because nothing bright or good was awaiting me , It was the same routine life of every day. But she was looking at me. I smiled at her on impulse and she returned back the smile warmly. After I had emptied the dustbin, I looked at her and casually asked if she had finished her work.She smiled broadly and told yes. I have seen her many times, cooking meals with her kitchen cum living room wide open, stirring something in a big pot, sometimes alone, and sometimes with her son loitering around. Sometimes she looks at me when I return from work.So, here was what is called human bonding, without even knowing the name of a person or his or her background. May be this is what we call love for fellow humans.

Most of us must have felt this in a crowded bus or train, this strange `affinity with the unknown people in the crowd. Sometimes we feel a kind of strange love and bonding with people around us without knowing them.Two days ago, I was sitting in a train, returning home. An elderly couple was sitting in front of me. The way they attended phone calls, and started worrying about some family problem and scarcity of water and other things, I felt as if I had always known them.

We people are a strange species, we humans. Only we are capable of loving our fellow human beings. Sometimes we are critical, sarcastic, selfish and expectant. But we are the same species , capable of immense love. We are the people who offer a helping hand to the suffering. It is just that sometimes we get busy with the external world too much and forget our divinity. We only need to go inward and find out our weaknesses, and strengthen ourselves to grow, to regain that innate divinity in all of us.

On being Human

The painting which was
In water colour, is now
Fading from the sides, from the corners,
It does not show now,
The shape of a small yet tender dream,
Or the soft outlines of a poem,
That had been born
In some weak, unmindful and distant moment,
And had brought in with it,
A gust of fresh wind,

The eyes sweep the sky,
In which swims the faint glimmer of the
dying sun, The wings of the
home-bound bird,
does not hold
any promise or possibility of a new birth,

An unending silence
Drapes the horizon,
The countless footsteps on the sand
In the beach
Were unrecognizable this morning,
Yet,
sustaining the prolonged cold nights
Under the trees,
On the roadside,
And inside the same familiar,
Yet alien walls,
is agonized and painfully unrecognizable,

To try to comprehend the chaos
Behind the silence,
And bear it upon the soul,
To meet the last hope and lust for life,
In the crossroads,
And stagger,
Surviving the tortuous existence
and labourious dragging ,
One of us does it, always.

Regeneration

The spring has started to sing through the leaves
and touches you,
don't know where,
You move with people you know, but
are strangers,
If only the earth that bears you
embraces your pain,
Pain of adolescence dreams,
pain that things would happen the way
they should not,
The happiness you deserve elopes every time
with a new companion
leaving you empty,
empty of the excitement that stirred in your blood
and propelled you to a valley, where
only convenience sat rooted,
ready to flirt with life,
but never with love.

Will the sooth of the breeze touch
your aloneness ever,
Will you raise your arms to catch
the dead leaves falling from the trees,
in ecstasy
Will ever the branches of the trees
sing for you only,
Will the blood in your veins turn warm
and a jubilation will sweep you
of your feet?

What will you do then?
Will you gather all the love in your palms and
play merry-go-round,
so that they will scatter all around and
fall some where,
And some more will
relay the song
your way and some loners will find
their soul mates
in the approaching summer

Marks and Education

It was a day the teachers and the parents were meeting in the school to share information about the progress and academic development of the children. One of the mothers went to the class teacher and showed her a copy( For God's sake, they are not copies, call them note books or exercise books). Her point was that the child had written whatever was corrected in the note-book by the teacher.Her argument was that even though it was a wrong answer and the the teacher had over-looked it( Don't blame it only on the teacher, they are always burdened with assignments)the child deserves to be awarded marks for that answer as it was the teacher's fault.Teachers are human beings and humans are fallible. Sometimes mistakes do happen when the classes are over crowed and there is little time to cope with the burden despite the best efforts of the teachers. And are the teachers the only people to be blamed? Don't the parents have any responsibility?They are educated enough to find out and correct if they find a mistake in a notebook. Or at least they can report it to the concerned teacher.What should be the solution in such a case? A parent has a right to complain, but the child should be given the benefit of doubt with the knowledge that the answer was wrong and the right answer is something else.

Sometimes I think that can't we ever go back to a state where parents taught their wards to respect the teachers and at least be polite to them. If there are orientation programmes for teachers, why can't the parents be oriented about their responsibility concerning their own children.Can't they be made aware of the fact that being well educated doesn't only mean to have 98% in examinations. Every child on this earth is an asset for the society and the parents. They should be taught to be achivers but the right way, with a very positive and polite way.

What an age we are living in! There was a time when parents reprimanded the students for securing less marks and the teachers fraternity was being held in high esteem.In the present scenario the teachers have to be friends and philosophers too.
Love begets love. And love begets learning too.

It was not that in earlier days all the teachers were Godly characters, but people realized that good values such as respecting the elders and teachers should be inculcated in the innocent minds so that they follow the same culture when they grow up. Out society, our value system, out interaction with our fellow human beings has been completely changed with time. With the sociocultural transformation many bad things have emerged to the surface with the good aspects. Parents choose to have one or two children and become obsessed with their academic growth. They forget that God has made this world with so many colours, and varieties. Then how can all the children of the world perform the same way. This kind of expectation puts tremendous stress on children. With proper attitude and understanding, children can achieve in so many ways and so many fields. Parents should try to understand the aptitude and capability of their children instead of trying to make them only engineers,doctors or managers in multinational companies. And it is a terrible truth that today's children are more demanding in their attitude towards parents rather than giving.Along with marks children should be helped in becoming good human beings. So, instead of confronting teacher, parents should try to help their children in acquiring good values and help them in their academics either directly or just keeping watch on how they study and how much effort they can carry on their shoulders. Besides that, what is most important is that they should allow them to chose a vocation they would love to follow and excel in.Then only a new society can be built, a free and liberal society, where children are free to fly on the wings of their dreams instead of feeling suffocated.

Life should be struggle

We all have seen that most of the people around us, avoid the humps on the road and take the side road meant for walking. I am almost sure that people take it for granted and they even pay least attention to the humps or worry about their necessity. I am not talking about only this issue, if it is an issue at all. It is all about the responsibility of a good citizen to obey the rule of the roads, but generally speaking, people always take the easy way. They don't want to take pain. They always choose convenience over hardship. People in our country often run away from difficult situations, because that way they are safe. We often never look into ourselves to know what we are, we always worry about what others will think about them, whether they will be criticized or condemned by the society if they try to do something different and new.Almost ninety percent of people choose an easy life. But if we analyze and see, the people who have done something in life, something outstanding, have never chosen the easy way. Our ex-President and eminent scientist Dr. Kalam sacrificed his personal happiness for his mission. He could have chosen a family life too. But he made the uncountable people and students his family. This is only one instance, There will be many more. Happiness and success don't really go together.
It is also true that greatness will not come to us even if we are born with a silver spoon in our mouth or we have all the money in the world. We have to struggle and chose to work seriously towards something we love to do . Some vocation we can make our avocation is the best way to find fulfillment in life. We may look back to history and be proud of the glorious achievements of people who are no more, but we will have to look ahead and act accordingly in the present scenario. Our students are brilliant and they are scattered around the world, India is developing in every field. Our scientists are innovating things and leading the force of researchers in various fields. So, if we talk about revolution or change we will have to do the good work ourselves and it cannot be done by simply living a life. We will have to bring about new ideas and new thoughts, work on them and change the scenario in an unbelievable way. Otherwise we will be just ordinary people living lives sans any substance. If our heart and intellect recognize something to be true, we should put all our energy into it and move ahead. And novelties always face resentment, but every time someone tries something new, he or she has to face the challenge with determination and a heart of still or there will be nothing new emerging in this world.

Born out of books

It was a girl who picked up books when sisters
went about believing in the world,
The real world that gives a life of
shocks, happiness, problems, stress, joy,
and normalcy.
The words in the books taught different things,
That women are not born as women,they are made,
The already very old, tottering world turns them
into subdued beings, the second sex,
A gender with less rights, more of doings,
Doings without expectations,
doings without love and always killed by lust,
Books taught that
sacrificing happiness was not all about
being a goddess,that certain things were
wrong,yet
people called them right,
And what was right was always despised, ignored,burnt,
destroyed,subdued or killed,
not only the body, but the soul and heart.

When she sought love from the world,
There were no men,
There were only people who didn't know
about love,
but knew very well what they wanted from women,
And took it, used it and called life
a life.

The books written by men, and more of women,
made a woman aware of truths,
The truths entered into her and
tore her apart,
She searched for love,wanted to trust
to the core of her being,
Kept searching,and ended her journey
still carrying the search in her heart.

About a Song

The morning was trying to arrive with
small fragments of hope,
and apprehensive expectations of joy,
When they vanished, little by little,
morning still came,
But it came with a stillness and a void.

It came and the garden was cleaned,
the plants were watered
The dead leaves were swept and gathered to be burnt.
There was no sun singing a song of a waiting day,
Birds continued with their incomprehensible chatter

Something started drying inside,
Without your intervention,
The agony was so hard to bear that
you went and turned it
into a love song
nevertheless, sans hope, nevertheless
without bright dreams.
Yet it was a rose or a hibiscus bud,
waiting to turn into flower.

THERE ARE GOOD DOCTORS

It’s okay, I suffered from some sort of depression. I had to go to a doctor. We chose a doctor too. I went to his house. It was quite a scene. The waiting room was full of patients. The verandas of adjacent houses were crowded with people. I had no prior appointment. I had to wait as the numbers were being called. A person accompanying a very young girl was helping her into the toilet. It’s not abnormal to see people shouting, crying, screaming, muttering or rambling. All were suffering from some kind of psychological disorder. There only I heard people talking about the doctor, a psychiatrist. And came to know that he does not take a single rupee for treatment and he sits there till he has checked all the patients. I was utterly surprised at this. The newspapers are full of stories about doctors who are responsible for the death of patients because the poor people could not pay them their fees, even in government hospitals. I entered inside. The first thing my eyes fell on was a beautiful painting of a woman. There was a bed for patients too. I really couldn’t believe that a doctor has kept two rooms in his house for the treatment of mentally ill patient, he spares his time for them, and doesn’t ask for a single pie. His only joy is his work, his desire to help people who need help, and also people who don’t have the capacity to pay the doctor. The patients who were waiting outside were talking about the doctor whom they considered God who never cares about money. I was astounded by the patience and love with which he investigated the cases. He sat there, writing prescriptions, advising the patience and often scolding them lovingly. Can anybody imagine that such doctors exist in a time when doctors have turned into vampires and sycophants who never care about a patient who cannot pays their fees. News channels and print media everyday report about doctors who have made it a trade and turned themselves into money-making machines. Innumerable people through out India die or suffer because they cannot afford the fees of the doctors. Do such people have the right to call themselves as doctors? They are insensitive Shylocks who wait for their extra pound of flesh because their greed and their wants are greater that human lives. Bur that day I felt humbled and thanked God when I saw a doctor treating people and reprimanding them with affection, treating them as his children and taking responsibilityfor them without any expectation from. He quoted from Engish novels and chanted poetry while writing prescriptions and pointed at the painting he had put up in his chamber. He was a philosopher in the guise of a doctor. May be he would be neglecting his family, may be neglecting his own health, but there was a joy of celebration on his face, the joy of giving and loving the larger humanity. God had given him an opportunity and he had made use of it. We are living in a time when no body cares about human values. People who swear that they would serve the people are later driven by greed and are transformed into blood-suckers. But looking at that man, I thanked God that still there are good people on this earth. The world is still made beautiful by the efforts of people who have compassion and love in their hearts and they never shirk from their responsibility ofspreading it. Such people make the world worth-living, they are the hope for the poor and the downtrodden.

After the rain

It was just after a good shower that I looked through the window.The world looks somewhat fresh and pristine after rain. The outside looked beautiful, as it looks after rain, especially if there are a lot of trees and greenery. Suddenly my eyes caught a sparrow. It was still drizzling, and it was unusual that instead of finding a shelter in some tree it was out in the open, getting wet. What was abnormal was that it's feathers were all ruffled up, as if it was very agitated. I wondered why. Then I noticed it. Under a bush, there were two tiny sparrows. They were really small, not yet ready to fly. How they came there was a surprise. It was the mother sparrow who was so worried about the safety of its young ones. It was a wonderful feeling to see the mother being so protective about its children. It was nothing extraordinary, yet it was so exciting to watch the scene.In today's life, we remain so preoccupied with our life that we forget to see the beautiful, tender miracles nature has bestowed the world with.