Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Unsuspected Moments in Life

It was one of the most ordinary moment in my life. In fact I wouldn't even have remembered it, ever, if not for the call that I made. I was busy at the computer, my fingers racing with each other over the alphabets. There was hot and sweet coffee standing beside the monitor, tempting me to taste one of the simplest pleasures of life. And my mobile phone kept buzzing with a sudden influx of messages from friends, who all happened to remember me at the same instance. And there I was, thinking Life cant get any better and preparing to write an amusing anecdote about reading newspapers......

Sometimes, everything before your eyes appear perfect. There is a bright shining sun in the sky, a kissing cool breeze, a soothing green expanse of Earth......all of them portraying a richness of life that you cannot but feel happy about. But something, somewhere is just not right...in the farthest and deepest corner of your cerebrum, a niggling thought makes its presence known. And that's when you realise, there are other people out there whose world may not be as perfect as yours. The moment of decision is on you...Are you going to find out what this thought is about and thus spoil the perfect moment or...? You lift the phone and dial the number reluctantly...

Life is not normal everyday stuff at the other end. The extreme sorrow and pain that only Death is capable of leaving behind is evident from the sounds. I'm not talking about the sobbing, neither am I referring to the noise usually associated with a death ceremony. Rather, it was the sound of quietness. A sound that comes when people realise nothing can be done. The fact has been accepted...Life has to go on...

"What happened? She died...It was an accident...How cruel? Can't God have been more kind?...Yes, she could have been more careful...Who is going to take care of the sweet kids that she has helped bring into this world?...Oh, My God, Can life get any more worse?..."

Typical reactions when Death creeps in a family (or bangs them on the head, as in this case) don't you agree? But why? No, am not questioning the Death as such, I have come to aceept that but the reactions after that? Why? How long will this pain last, stay alive? Life does proceed, and at an amazingly fast rate at that.

I have been a witness to Death once before in my life, at very close quarters. At that time, I did feel the pain, the helplessness of the people left behind...the seemingly totally hopeless situation that descended on the family. But today, I see the very same people going about their life as normally as anyone else does. I see them happy, I see them having fun and I think...So it didn't make any difference after all did it? Do not mistake me, am not saying all those reactions earlier were a sham...Yes, maybe the pain still lingers in their heart...But Life did return to normal didn't it?

So what do u actully miss when some one dies? I think its more of a case of the security that you associated with that person, the reassurance that all is well in your life, the collateral to share your pain, the immunity or shield against the bad things in life and finally the freedom that let you escape from realising the fickleness of Life.

Here is a poem on Death that I found on the Internet...I do not know the author but it did seem like a nice poem...

Friday, June 18, 2004

Why do people read newspapers?

Have you ever wondered why you should read newspaper? I have got .... (will continue later!)

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Keeping my fingers crossed!

What is the only haven for a person who doesn't have a computer/laptop to store all her files? Files starting from the unimportant (?!) forward images to very important (?!) project files? The only thing that could be done is store those files online..and hence I opened a few accounts with diff email services and even went so far as to maintain multiple copies of all my files just in case some server crashes!!

But with the birth of gmail (and thanks to my blogging habit!), I got a brand new gmail account with 1000 MB data space....I uploaded all my files immediately but hear this............Gmail is not opening in the Last few hours!! Am going mad..all my proj files are in there and if the server has crashed (as one stupid friend of mine suggested!) God save me!!

Another news is that Yahoo has upgraded its service and is now offering 100 MB free space!! Wow..when the cats are fighting, the mice can have a play..hehehehe!!!

Saturday, June 12, 2004

After a long time

After a long time, I have opened my blog entry to write something on my own. The reasons for staying away were many- am doing my summers, the company is keeping me busy..so on and so forth! But the past few days, I took a break from all of them and decided to do what I love doing the best- plant some saplings!

The joy that is born out of realising that you have facilitated the growth of a new life on this Earth is truly addictive. Just like how a mother would feel after she gives birth to her child, or how a potter would feel after he finishes moulding a pot, or maybe how a child would feel happy seeing the pride on his parents' face after he does something great... All these may seem very very inconsequential if you look at it from a bigger perpective but when you watch those trees grow and in turn give birth to many more, you feel a real sense of achievement.

But today, more than my mere involvement were called into action..but sadly I was helpless. One of the trees near my house had grown really tall and was producing seeds like crazy which fell all over our driveway and created a mess daily... the decision in the household was easy to make...cut the buggin tree!! And I had to watch it being axed down, an inch at a time....Each blow to the tree's trunk made me question my morals and ethics and reasoning.....!!

Why do ppl want just those trees and plants that bears beautiful flowers or give you tasty fruits? Why do ppl want just low maintainance plants in their life?
Aren't trees living things too? Shouldn't their life be respected too?

If they have life, are we right in eating them? What does Hindu Dharma and other religions preach? That you shall not cause harm to other living things right? Then how do we survive?!!!

I stood answerless long after the tree was cut and the wood was sawed completely........and realised these questions were not just about trees and plants but life in its entirety.....Are we right in doing the things that we do???????

Friday, June 11, 2004

Be a light unto yourself

When Buddha was on his death bed he noticed his young disciple Anan was weeping.

‘Why are you weeping, Anan?’ he asked.

‘Because the light of the world is about to be extinguished and we will be in darkness.’

The Buddha summoned up all his remaining energy and spoke what were to be his final words on earth:

‘Anan, Anan, be a light unto yourself.’”

Thursday, June 3, 2004

A Zen Poem

A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself over the edge.

The tiger sniffed at him from above. Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away the vine. The man then saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other.

How sweet it tasted.

Zen Poem