A tiny crevice is all you need to let in the glistening sun beams A tiny spark is all you need to grow wings and follow your dreams......
Category Archives: LIFE LESSONS
Fathomless life
Life is a
fathomless bridge
suspended on the
hinges of hope
gliding merrily
with the winds of time
‘To live’ is just as tricky
as walking a tightrope.
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Old & Broken : Weekly Photo Challenge – Broken
Weekly Photo Challenge- Broken
My walls have given away
My roof no longer stands
But don’t leave me here and stray
to other distant lands
I did once protect you
from the burning sun and rain
I took the biting cold too
to shield you from all pain
I am old and broken now
but only in my frame
If you look inside, you will see how
My love still stays the same
( P.S: Old age is inevitable . But today we live in a world where anything old is better done away with. Even old parents – Parents who have lived their entire lives shielding you from all troubles so that you are able to lead cushy,comfortable lives. But when they grow old and are unable to continue with their service, they are considered no different from an old house or piece of furniture and got rid off by dumping them in the streets …..)
Back to civilization !
After spending about two and a half months in a place devoid of any technology but infused with beautiful nature and clean mountain air…. I am back to civilization…. back to mobile phones, wi fi , and whatsapp….
I miss my walks, I miss the breeze, I miss the de-addiction. But I guess I will get used to it soon. It is raining here in Kerala so a respite from the sultry weather that greeted us yesterday on our arrival here. The consoling factor is that soon I will be back to the hills, albeit not so isolated or uninhabited, yet beautiful… so waiting for that..
I guess when you have been away for long , it takes time to get back to the grind. But the excitement of a new posting and a new place keeps me motivated. I know I have not so regular with my posts and with the packing and shifting going on, cannot promise you the same for a few days more…Nevertheless I am going to be more active and visible. I have been missing the posts of some good blogger friends for sometime now, hope to catch up on at least some of you now …
The stay in the hills of the far away east taught me a few things –
1. I have learnt to appreciate beauty in nature much more than I used to.
2.I have started taking photography a bit more seriously than I used to before and it had made me see this world of ours from a whole new perspective, and find beauty in everything.
3.I have realized that one doesn’t need phones and whats app to keep one busy, there is so much to do otherwise too…like writing…It is a passion you can carry around with you, anywhere and everywhere.
I guess I will wind up for now. Looking forward to reading more often from you all now…..
Peek-a-boo – Weekly Photo Challenge ( Forces of nature)
The Sweet, Sour & Spicy army wives
They are cool, they are classy
They are smart, they are sassy
They are friendly and fun
They are bold & beautiful women
Army wives are a class apart- the backbone of their family, a source of inspiration for friends, and motivational factor for the nation as a whole.
Once you are wedded to the olive green, you earn yourself a new extended family. And just like any other family this one also has all kinds of people, with vivid, unique and sometimes unbearable attributes. Being an army wife our encounters are almost often with other army wives, some of whom you remember your entire lives for the love and warmth they shower on you, right from your early ‘bride’ days, while there are others you never forget for completely different reasons….
Here is a list of the different ‘kinds’ of army wives one may bump into during the husband’s service years (you are free to add to this list in the commentbox !). :
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Mrs ‘Know-it-all’: This particular kind is generally found hovering around the young army wives, mostly newlywed, flaunting their military vocabulary and providing their (unwarranted!) expert advice with regard to army etiquettes and customs. The jumpy young brides keenly take notes only to be educated later by their better halves that their ‘supposed’ mentor was a ‘newlywed’ herself, her liaison with the army not being older than six months!
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Fairy Godmother: You have to set up your first kitchen, host your first housewarming party or perhaps make a choice of dress for the mess dinner tonight; Distraught, you have begun to fathom the end of the universe when, lo and behold, an angel walks in. She helps you solve your problems- be it shopping for the right utensils, getting your menu ready or dressing right for a mess party. This particular species of women seem to possess an inbuilt mechanism to sense a crisis (call it the sixth sense or telepathy!) making themselves available at all times of dire need. Generous by nature, they make your problems appear trivial or better still, evaporate with a swish of their wand (actually, with their brilliant presence of mind!). They come in all ages, though their numbers are dwindling owing to the increasing concept of personal space and self centeredness.
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The ‘green eyed’ girl: This variety of women is found in abundance everywhere on earth so why should the army shy away! It is not very hard to identify this particular species of army wife if you happen to meet one. Most of them are found scrutinizing their counterparts, noticeably beset with envy. But more often than not, this variety is averse to giving compliments .When this ‘kind’ is at a friend’s place for dinner they inspect the entire house with a keen, albeit, malicious eye and are visibly uneasy when they notice the sumptuous menu at display.
So do not be surprised at the uncanny resemblance their home decor shares with yours or at similar choices in footwear or clothing (what coincidence!), instead take it as a compliment. 😉
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The Grumbling granny: There is no dearth of this breed in the army family. These ladies are easily recognised as belonging to this ‘kind’, by their characteristic puckered brow or a grimace. Whether it is the oily food at a social gathering, an ungracious host, a maid who never comes, the husband’s erratic schedule or an unfriendly workplace; this category of army wives has the weird ability to make a mountain out of a molehill. Needless to say, they are unhappy people who fret and fume about anything and everything in life, spreading their aura of negativity wherever they go.
So if you are the type of person who prefers to stay positive and satisfied with what life offers you, beware of the Grumbling granny!
5.The Master Chef: The liberal army rations enable one to experiment with a lot of ingredients and hence, most ladies in the army are good with baking and cookery in general (exceptions are always there!). The frequent parties, both at home and outside along with travel to far off places, help the ladies in the army to hone their culinary skills to perfection. But even among these reasonably good cooks, is present a superior breed of exceptional chefs, with extraordinary skills in preparing gastronomic delights that can give even a Michelin star Chef a run for his money. It is always a pleasure to meet such women and learn from them!
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The Gossip Queen: This species is not indigenous to the army, yet it has found its way into every nook and cranny of this noble institution. It is difficult not to stumble upon at least one of this kind in every peace station. The women belonging to this category of army wives are seldom interested in their own lives and usually spend their ‘not so precious’ time in discussing the private lives of other people. Their faces beam with excitement at the prospect of a scandal and their tongues never tire of peddling rumours. Although they have the knack to spice up an otherwise drab conversation, their petty talk and gossip mongering is best avoided. This breed of army wives are the most dangerous of them all as they enjoy the power to ruin lives and destroy relationships.
So my advice would be not to feed their greedy minds or indulge in any unfruitful dialogues with the likes of these.
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Mrs Artsy: Hand them a brush and a few bottles of paint and watch them transform a plain, boring wall into a masterpiece, a simple chiffon sari into a beautiful, trendy one or an old cushion cover into a gorgeous work of art! Meet Mrs Artsy with magic fingers that have the Midas touch. Their homes speak volumes about their artistic talent and they are an asset to the ‘ladies club’!
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The Buttering beauty: Never mind how you look, what you wear or how bad your food is, when the Buttering beauty is here. This category of people are extremely gifted with the power to fake a ‘wow!’ or an ‘aw’, following them with flattering statements about the way you dress, cook or speak, without an ounce of truth to it. You shall come across these Buttering beauties more frequently as your husband climbs up the hierarchy and you become what is referred to in army parlance as a ‘Senior lady’ !
You may graciously accept the compliments that come your way, but with a pinch of salt. Genuine compliments motivate but false flattery misleads one into believing things about one self that are not true, creating a false ‘self image’. Learn to differentiate between actual fans and buttering beauties!
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Mrs Green Fingers: A tiny patch of land outside the ground floor apartment or a small area in the terrace of their first floor home, space is never a constraint for Mrs Green fingers. She can work her magic anywhere, planting fresh herbs, vegetables and vibrant flowers that make even the dullest of places throb with freshness and beauty. A tiny kitchen garden, a garden patch or simple pots in the balcony, their enchanting fingers attract flora even the arid deserts of Rajasthan. Nurturing plants and taking care of them is an art in itself so kudos to these nature lovers for their invaluable contribution to the ecosystem!
10. The ‘Gazillion tasker’ : Though most wives in the army are good at juggling two or more responsibilities together, either by choice or by sheer lack of it, there is one particular breed of Army wives that are extraordinary in the way they handle the different priorities of life with unmatched flair . Such women never cease to amaze me as they go about their varied jobs, multitasking between their responsibilities as a wife , a mother, an entrepreneur, an artist and a zillion other activities with elan . Their energy serves as a true inspiration to a lot of women who strive to emulate them, albeit, not so successfully!
Apart from the above mentioned categories there are a few others too….like…. the ones that open up a blog and imagine they have become a writer! 😉
So which ‘kind’ are you?
An Oar of Optimism – Weekly Photo Challenge (afloat) part 2
Weekly photo challenge – 2 (afloat)
Over waters
both tumultuous
and placid
Braving weathers
calm and tempestuous
Fatigue ridden
yet sanguine
I row my boat
called Life
With an
Oar of optimism
striving to
stay afloat
in this brimming
sea of humanity .
To check out my first entry into the weekly photo challenge – Afloat please click HERE.
God
In times of despair
When darkness clouds my mind
Filling it with hopeless fear
A flicker of light I find
In moments of solitude
When bitterness overwhelms my heart
Enslaving my grit and fortitude
A prayer I say makes my loneliness depart
In times of fame and success galore
When my heart swells with pride
Yet my greedy self yearns for more
‘Stop’ says a voice somewhere deep inside
In times of love and happiness
when my haughty mind begins to ignore
my beautiful friends and loved ones
A nightmare reminds me of the solitude before
You have been in my journey
You have seen me through
You have guided me sternly
Yet I never saw you !
You were the light that I saw
You were the prayer that I said
You were the voice shouting no
You were the nightmare in my bed
You led me to my today
You lead me to my tomorrow
You cleared the thorns in my way
You remove me from sorrow
From Robot to human ! ( Technological De-addicition complete)
These days I am in a ‘technology de-addiction’ (don’t refer the lexicon, I just made it up !) mode , not so much by choice as by lack of it . The place I am in right now (and will continue to be for a month or more) as I have written before is a little far away from civilization ( alright, perhaps ‘little’ is an understatement. It is very far from anything close to civilization !).
There is no mobile connectivity, and even land phones are out most of the time, owing to the wind, rain and sometimes neither of these. My accessibility to the internet is restricted to weekends. Needless to say, I am unavailable on my Whatsapp account as well .
But that is what has made me experience this life, as it was before; before any of this had ever come to exist , a life as it was meant to be !
I have discovered that living without facebook or whatspp does not kill. I am living and I have never felt more alive before. Well, alright perhaps, that was a bit of exaggeration , but the essence is the same, I am definitely feeling more human these days ( though I am so addicited to these technological innovations now, that I cannot survive being human for too long! ).
So I await my robotic existence , where I type more than I talk, I see more than I listen and I chat with far away people more than I do with my own family members and emote more with emoticons than with my own face. Wow, what a life !
And here I am, breathing in fresh mountain air as I take my morning walks, feeling the breeze, watching the snow capped peaks, listening to the rustle of the leaves and the cawing the raven ; when I could have just slouched on my couch and exercised my fingers instead (typing on my phone I meant !).
I spend precious mornings and evenings painting flowers and butterflies with my little one, watching animated movies on the laptop together , dancing like crazy to rocking numbers , swinging together in the garden, playing with the little puppy we have got here, watching the bees and the ducks ….. when I could have just handed her a tablet and let her be !
I read more, I write more, I click more pictures and definitely appreciate nature more. I feel so much like a ‘human’ again…a ‘boring’ human who will be a complete and utter misfit in a techno-savvy world.
But am I happy…? Yes. Do I feel good and healthy? I feel refreshed and rejuvenated ! Am I exaggerating again? No, this is honest :P. So I guess, I needed this forced de-addicition to start seeing things as they were before , to start enjoying the simple pleasures of life we take so much for granted otherwise. I needed this, to realize the time I was giving away to these socio-technological innovations , for free. I needed this to let me know that I am supposed to control them and not vice versa.
Well, have I learnt my lessons? I think I have. I cannot and will not wean away completely from any of these , the internet in particular( for how else will I run my precious blog..?) , but I will not go back to being a robot again.
I want to stay human, for this is how God meant us to be !
Weekly Photo Challenge – Wall
I am the Wall , built by you
not of bricks, stones or hay
I am the Wall, built by you
made of hatred, prejudice and perceptions lay
I am the Wall, built by you
not to protect , nor shelter from sun or rain
I am the Wall , built by you
to divide lands and spread pain.
I am the Wall , built by you
not to strengthen or support your home
I am the Wall built by you
to weaken humanity, inviting a storm.
I am the Wall of narrow fragmentations
of caste and class , color and religion
I ruin lives , shatter nations
bring misery and despair beyond recognition
Destroy me today , bring me to the ground
Spread love , spread cheer
Let there be no boundaries around
Free this world from hatred and fear
The 'Pen'lightenment Of The Soul 