Those Doleful Eyes…

                         Those were the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen in my life. Those eyes had no sparkle or a tinkle in them. They seemed like the still water of a dark lake. And the irony was that that they looked calm and miserable at the same time. The countenance on her face was very deplorable. A packet of ‘Parle G’ clutched in one hand and a few coins in other; she looked at me with hope. She must have been 6-8 years old. Her hair was cropped. She had worn a magenta coloured top and skirt which was frayed at several places. She looked fragile and lost. She advanced towards me with an expectation to get some alms in return; maybe a rupee or two. Usually I don’t give alms to children. Instead I give food to them. Since I didn’t have any food with me, I ignored her and continued listening to music as the train passed through Chembur station.

                        But something kept on bothering me. I realized that I was so lucky that my parents could provide me with everything that I needed. Because of my parents I had access to education and a plethora of opportunities whereas that little girl was helpless. She had no access to basic human needs. There are many children like her who are denied their childhood. They are made to beg. And I felt really bad about it. My eyes were almost moist. I succeeded in suppressing my break down which otherwise would have resulted in public humiliation. Yet, I couldn’t shake out that feeling.

                        So, I called that girl and gave her twenty rupees. Not that it would have helped her a lot but anyway I would have ended up spending it on some silly thing. And if that was making her happy I was ready to give it to her. She took the note from me and went and stood near the exit. As Kurla station approached, she got down. She came to the window where I was sitting and smiled at me. That was the most genuine and warm smile I had ever seen.  The train started to move ahead and she disappeared in the crowd on the platform. I looked out for her until she vanished out of my sight. And there I sat in the train, contemplating about children like her whose childhood was tormented.

Dream On...

“When you really want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

-The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

***

And I was scared when they questioned my dreams. I thought; maybe they were right. It’s just a dream after all. It won’t even come true. But who was I tricking. My goals where set and the target was locked. I had to achieve what I had dreamt of. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I would have to face those imbeciles who thought that I would never succeed. I’ve learnt that self deception and living in denial are the worst things you could do to yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will.

Don’t let the world tell you what you cannot do. Stand up for your ideas and for yourself. Do what you feel like. Breathe. Go for a walk. Write a poem. Tell a lie. Live your life. Go chase your dreams. There’s no point in living in an eternal penumbral shadow of other’s aspirations and expectations. If you can’t pick your own dreams and paths, then that life is of no use. You may feel scared, lost and blah! Everyone does. But at times, one has to take that leap of faith and just walk down the path. All you have to do is dedicate yourself completely to your dreams. Work towards them. Believe you deserve everything you dream about.

Don’t expect everyone to support you. Some will and some won’t. Remember, friends come and go. But hang on to those precious one’s who have stuck around. In the process of materializing your dreams, you will have to face failures. Make sure you take it positively. Don’t give up that easily. And the dreams might not necessarily be about career. Your dream might be to become a better person, exercising to be become healthy and fit, finish that half read novel, etc. Be unconventional be quirky, and be full of life. Be whatever you want to be. Just don’t forget to DREAM ON….

***

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

-         The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Digitised Generation Of Today

                       Yes, we belong to a generation of procrastinators where friends are the world and technology by far is the most awesome thing which has ever happened to mankind. Since the inception of human civilization, denizens have sought ways to confabulate. And thanks to the advent of modern technology, the world has come even closer. Internet has revolutionized the way we communicate. The 21^st century ‘iPad totting’ and ‘status updating’ man can be decorously titled as the most technologically advanced entity involved in the long process of ontogeny.

                        Little did the inventors of internet know that their invention would turn out to be the fundamental core of the digital world.  It now has become a well established dogma that every person must be up to date with the latest advancements in this sphere of life. And if you aren’t aware about the whereabouts then you definitely must be living under a rock! In today’s digitized generation your status quo is decided by how many likes you get for your Facebook profile picture and the random status updates. Facebook has become the pop culture phenomenon where people find solace in the virtual life rather than interacting with people in the actual living world. So, you want to be at the top of the social pyramid? It’s easy! Get an awesome *sorry for the redundant use of ‘awesome’. One of the side effects of belonging to the Facebook Age* profile picture and cool status updates. Next thing you know is that you’ll be the Queen Bee or the Czar of your school/college.

                        ‘Twitter’ is no longer a mere sound made by birds. It is now a micro blogging site where people update oh-so-uber-cool statuses. On Twitter, the eminent personalities connect to their fans over ‘tweets’. But it is also open to common masses where they happen to pass on information and try to build up their followers. Don’t be surprised if someone asks you to follow them because they are just asking you to follow them on ‘Twitter’ and not a cult or brethren. After all the number of followers gets you an instant access to the privileged class of ‘Twitterati’.

                        Blogs have become weapons of mass revolution. They are bringing about a bohemian upheaval. The ‘netizens’ supported Anna’s fight for the Lokpal Bill by continuously blogging about it. What seems to be the backbone of this digital generation is BlackBerry Messenger. It initially was meant for the ‘big corporate boys’ but now it has become a status symbol in the teenage world. So if you don’t have one, get one! And people will gladly welcome you in the addictive ‘BlackBerry Family’ by setting a status just for you. PING!!! The day is here when people go into depression because they don’t have a steady and speedy internet connection. All we can expect is not to turn into semi robots devoid of emotions. So better buck up and get set with your mouse-keyboard because this digital generation spares no one.

                       

                       

                        

The Labyrinth of Emotions

And here I am

Standing oblivious in a conundrum, lost!

Stuck in a dilemma; trying to find a way out of the Labyrinth of Emotions

Things around me suddenly become luminous

I thought that I found my ray of hope

That ray…which would guide me on the path of illumination

Drenched in this ray, the feeling of overcoming a plethoric herculean engulfed me

But life isn’t that easy

It was just an illusion

And I find myself again

In the labyrinth; lost…

Untitled...

                   I really don’t know why I’m writing this. And the title too might seem a little bit absurd…but I owe this one to a couple of people who have been the sunshine in my darkest hour and got me through the day. All of us at some point of time have tried hard to make it work…love, friendship and many other things. But what I thought was complicated and a rocket science seemed to be plain and straight logic which I call “The Quest of Nothingness”. You don’t have to do anything special with certain people. With them, it just clicks…for me, in the terms of friendship. You don’t have to be there all the time and take efforts. If that person is really your friend, they’ll continue to love you unconditionally despite of your flaws. They have seen your ugly side, the time when you were mad at them…but yet continued to be there for you.

                        With some people you have to put up a show. There’s nothing wrong in doing so because you’d rather have them as acquaintances. You are a mere stepping stone for some. If they don’t care enough about you; then it wasn’t ever worth taking all those efforts. Well! Life teaches one many lessons; especially lessons regarding people. We face the repercussions by making the same mistakes. We fall. We are broken and scarred. But we shall rise from the ashes just the way a phoenix does. There shall be light and we will be drenched in it…the light of hope, love, and faith…of our near ones which shall guide us on the right path.

                        It’s a rat race out there. But we do have some rats with us whom we call our friends…the true ones. Something’s are meant for you something’s aren’t. It’s hard to let go off things. There must be a reason behind for that entity not being in our life any longer. Don’t leave things on destiny. Yes, it does play an important role. But make it happen. Get inspired, inspire a few. Live each and every moment and don’t just exist. Eat, pray, love, live, dream, hope, faith, make a change, inspire, fail, get up again, make it happen, conquer. To wrap it up I would like to quote the following lines from John Mayer’s song “The Heart of Life” –

“You know, it’s nothing new bad news never had good timing.

Then, circle of your friends will defend the silver lining…”