New Hope

Dawn after a dark and long night
Bathing the cosmos in its light

Teeny drops of rain from the sky
Wetting the cracked earth so dry

Wispy rays of sunshine crack
Fighting thick clouds so black

A slender shoot springing up
Through the arid earth's cup

An innocent laugh on a child's face
At the end of a day of the rat race

A loved one giving a warm embrace
When stress gives you a wry face

Giving new hope for end of sorrow
For a better today and tomorrow

Choices

Recently I was discussing with my online friend about how the choices we take impact our lives. In an earlier post, I had talked about how destiny affects our lives.(http://wordswrite.blogspot.com/2009/03/stone-in-your-path.html). Destiny is perhaps the first thing that meets us on the path of life, and how we proceed depends on the choices we make. Destiny can provide you with an opportunity, its upto you to choose it or not ! Many times people simply blame destiny for the mess they are in. It is rightly quoted by J.K Rowling that "Destiny is a name often given in retrospect to choices that had dramatic consequences."
Sometimes we are faced with easy and obvious choices and many times there are difficult ones. You know that each alternative has its own pros and cons and perhaps life altering repercussions. You would also know that perhaps there is no "Ctrl Z" in life ! So there is no looking back. So how do you make a wise choice? Do you put yourself first or your friends and family ? Would you be willing to risk everything you have for something you have set your heart on? Would you be willing to take on a choice knowing very well that the path ahead would be a long and arduous one? It is important to remember not to stay away from Dharma or righteousness, truth and certain basic values you have set for yourself. It is also important to be true to yourself. There might be a situation where that would hurt another, but if you are not true to yourself, whatever choice you make is pointless. The following quote from the Harry Potter series says it all-"It is our own choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." (Dumbledore, vol. 2, p. 333)
Whenever I am overwhelmed with the choice I am about to take, or already taken, I fall back to my friend, the following poem by Robert Frost.

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

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 traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Reader's block

P.S(Prescript) - This is not a computer jargon.

I knew I perpetually suffered from the writer's block ( and this blog is a humble attempt to fight it a wee bit !! ) but I've been having this annoying reader's block for the past few months. I have been at a loss for words when asked the following questions- What are you reading currently or Whats the last book you have read !! And these questions are coming by regularly from people who know me as an enthusiastic reader. Of course, I certainly wouldn't call myself voracious, though my family and some friends think I am one.After having made a couple or more of visits to books fairs around the town I was thrilled to no end at the prospect of spending the next few months glued to those fresh smelling and crisp books. But all I have managed in the past 3-4 months is a few chapters of Anna Karenina ( a very ambitious project, especially during a reader's block ), 1 chapter of the Hungry Tide, about 50 pages of the Selfish Gene ( well, another heavy read and a scientific one to boot ), 75% of The Pilgrimage ( I religiously read this one during my bus commute to work till I reached the last few pages and I couldn't continue anymore !), a few comics here and there, essentially Tintin, Asterix and C&H. Of course I managed to read Adiga's The White Tiger, Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love and Souad's Burned Alive. (http://wordswrite.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-name-of-honour.html) But these were relatively easy reads. I forgot to mention that I made my friends get me the LOTR trilogy for my birthday. I did own the omnibus, but it was of rather small print for easy reading. And not to mention, humongous ! I was hoping that splitting that into 3 books would make the task easier but the pack is yet to see the light of the day ( quite literally ) !!
I googled for some remedies on how to overcome the reader's block and there were some popular suggestions like the following
1. Watch television
2. Read old favourites
3. Read comics
4. Read a little everyday ( bedtime tales ?? )
5. Give reading a break and you will get back to it soon
Lets hope one of these remedies work ! I am already on to reading comics and old favourites like children's classics. Nothing like a nostalgic trip back to childhood, even if it doesn't dissolve the block.

Beginner's Haiku

Haiku has been a fascinating form of poetry originated from Japan. It looks deceptively simple but conveys a whole lot. Haiku is defined as a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables.
I wrote a couple of them, though I am not sure I have strictly followed the rules of Haiku !

Childhood

innocent mirth and glee
through twinkling eyes and sparkling cheeks
see a world of wonder

Storm

Dynamic wind and water
Waltzing across the ocean and land
With a roaring hunger

The simpler things that bring the greatest joy

Very often we miss the simpler things in life and the great joys they bring to us. We either take
them for granted or we overlook them in our quest to move at a faster pace in life ! When was the last time we enjoyed ( or even watched ) a sunset, listened to the melody of birds at sunrise or heard the clear laughter of a child? These are things that we encounter in our daily lives but we do not pause a moment to ponder over them. But it is these small simple things that fill your whole being and soul with joy and enthusiasm. Some of the small things that I enjoy doing everyday are - keeping food for the squirells and watching them eat, watch the squirells play, watching babies in the neighbourhood, fireworks in the sky, cows moving in the backyard ( I especially love to watch a little calf asleep ), the shine and glory of a full moon, trees swaying in the wind, the sound and smell of rain and I can go on and on. Sparrows used to be a great favourite but I do not sight them in the city anymore. The grilled or netted windows cannot limit the pleasure factor. These tiny activities also allow you to pause and reflect on the happenings of the day and provide the much needed break amidst a hectic task. So whenever you are bogged down by the daily dose of stress or the fast pace of life, take a few moments ( yes, just a few moments are enough to refresh and recharge you ) and open out your senses to the world around you.See, listen and smell to discover a world of beauty in the small things around us.

The stone in your path

Destiny is like the stone in your path of life. The stone can be a small pebble which you can
walk over easily or pocket it for future use. Or you could kick it away and meet it later in
the path. It could otherwise be a medium sized rock which you have to step over. Or you could
trip over this rock but continue with a little injury. The biggest challenge comes when there
is a huge boulder in the path and there is no way to proceed further. Some people step or turn
back at this stage and some keep trying to move the boulder and exhaust themselves in the
ordeal. some would try to climb over it and fall. The most arduous task would be carve out a new path to travel when faced with a boulder of this size. This is extremely challenging but is the best way forward. Turning back in life leads to nowhere and trying to move the boulder is like attempting to change the things which are not within one's control. The only way out when the boulder is too big to move or climb over is to realise that this path can be no longer continued and to work towards identifying or creating a new path. Life does not and cannot stop when one reaches a dead end ! As life goes on, the person also needs to move on and continue his journey. Initially the going will be tough since its a new path and you need to get familiar with the ways of it, and if there is no existing path it is even tougher since the path has to carved out as you proceed. But you also learn how to survive, how to keep moving, how to fight the risks and the dangers along the way and the next time you encounter a boulder, things seem much easier ! So, the best way out is to start digging and paving your way through the wonderful life gifted to you.

In the name of honour

I recently happened to read this book "Burned Alive" by Souad. Its claims to be a true story of a woman from Palestine who was burned by her family for the sake of honour! She miraculously escaped to tell this tale albeit anonymously. There have been various debates regarding the authenticity of this book and many believe it to be just a work of fiction. I am not going to debate if this is a piece of fition or a true story, but it is a horrifying account of one woman's escape from hell. In the village described by Souad, girls aren't supposed to step out alone, they should be accompanied by an elder and they should not make eye contact with any man, let alone talk. A girl's honour is of the highest importance to any family and they will kill the girl if there is a compromise of any kind. The honour is of so much importance that after a wedding, the whole village witnesses the proof of the bride's virginity. Also female infanticide is pretty common with mothers smothering the babies in sheepskin. Her sister is killed by her brother for reasons unknown to her. Souad is treated like a slave in her house and entrusted with all kinds of menial labour whereas her brother is brought up in the lap of luxury. She is also regularly flogged and tortured by her cruel father who finds faults even when a job is done properly. To escape this drudgery she dreams of getting married, but she cannot do so till her elder sister is married off. Souad soon falls in love with a neighbour, who has asked her hand in marriage, and also gets pregnant. So her family hatches a plot to eliminate her and redeem her. Her brother in law is entrusted with the task and he pours petrol over her and sets her on fire. When she is rescued and admitted to the hospital, she is denied treatment and left to die. She gives birth to her child under these horrifying circumstances and the child is sent to an orphanage. In fact her mother visits and offers her poison. she is rescued by a social worker and taken to Europe where she rebuilds her life fighting depression and anger. The description of her trauma and experience in the hospital as a neglected burns victim is mentally disturbing.
Now this seems horrifying and almost impossible to imagine but honour killings are prevalent in quite a few countries including India. In most of the cases, women who defy the norms of the community are attacked or even murdered. Sometimes couples are chased and killed for falling in love. The survivors have to live in hiding and fear all their lives. A google search of "honour killings" reveals many disturbing facts and figures. At least 5000 women are victims to this practice every year all over the world. In some places, even the law does not help in getting justice. As described by Souad, judges who sentence a person for honour killing are soon killed. And if any one person stands up for this crime, he/she is either disowned by the society or eliminated. In some cases, though the family members are helpless, they commit the crime in order to redeem their family's honour and position in the community. And sometimes even innocent women are killed since they are not given the benefit of doubt. This can just happen based on some loose talk in the town or someone misinterpreting a woman's actions.

While some parts of the world have progressed socially, such inhuman practices are wide-spread in some parts of the world and need to be eliminated to call ourselves a truly progressed society where women can walk with freedom and pride.