A POETRY, A LOVE AFFAIR.

Last night, while swimming through the ocean of thoughts, I happen to come across this poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost which was followed by a flash of memory of a faded forgotten crush that i had for the poet.

vinithra's photography. Woods, German Outland.

In early days when i used to read poetry, mostly cos' of the school coursework, very few poets connected to me heart with their emotions and expressions. 

Walt Whitman, Robert Browning, Milton, Coleridge had my respect, whereas Rabindranath Tagore is my Inspiration big-time.

Keats and Wordsworth are my favourites, especially Wordsworth as i connected well with him everytime I go through his flow of feelings, like the feel you get with your twin sibling. A Brotherly icon to look upto and follow.

And then, the One. William Shakespeare. I usually talk against Shakespeare, give a "no-big-deal" attitude over his sonnets, disagree with the personality analysis results of being similar to his mind. All this while, I would secretly read, admire, and dream about his words and verses, and I know for sure that I would fall for him if he is present in this lifetime.

Coming back to the point, Robert Frost. The only poem I had read of his was "The road not taken". Simple and beautiful. A small time crush. So when the memories rode by, I had a sudden intent to revive the lost love for the poem. 

However, Evolution is marked by Changes, changes the way you wanted to be into the way you actually are. 

It is more like, I used to love red color when I was a kid and now I prefer black and blue.

A Difference between a childhood crush and a true love.

I couldn't relive, more so unable to revive. But I did enjoy the read after years, a new sketch of the song.

All the same, Tagore remains my Inspiration, Wordsworth my all time favourite and Shakespeare, a love affair. :-)

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 marked 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. 

Robert Frost

A Broken Feather, And With it I would Write a Love Song.

Scuba Diving!

If I hadn't gotten  myself into certain commitments, who knows, I might have gone exploring the lost sunken worlds in oceans, and measuring the depths of Blue Universe. Commitments, something which we tend to avoid at all costs, for the Fear of responsibilities. Though unknowingly, we tend to drag many to ourselves.

I remember this girl from my school. Her entire Life then revolved around a single word, Dance. But her life didn't quite turn out the way which many, almost all of them who knew her back then, had envisioned.

Life keeps changing. Unpredictable moments come and go by. Diverted journeys. Lost people. Misleading views. Confusing mirages. 

One of the favourite conversations that i pick up with people is getting them to casually talk about their forgotten lives. It is something which i could share in common with anybody in the world. A Broken wing.

Their indefinite love for the same would be much evident in the way they start expressing themselves. Some sort of Trance. But before they finish talking about it, they fear of regret and losing the cool would cloud their minds.

Bird-Watch, NL.

Well, all of us have some regret, And it is certainly not the mistake of ourselves or any of the decisions we made.

It is actually Human Nature. 

I'm unsure of terming it with an apt word. (Suggestions welcome.) We could for now describe as Curiosity coupled with a positive imagination. Confused right? 

Here is the thing. We are never wholly satisfied with our present, and we try to ponder over our past as to where we had taken the turn that landed us here, And analyse the alternate turns and the differences it would have made.

Funnily, Our optimistic mind comes into action, imagining the best situation, probably with a high presence of the one or few things amiss the current reality.

Sometimes, I find myself regretting on Life. And Sometimes, Letting things happen in the "destined" way without much concern on practicality. But then, I suppose, Whatever happens, We must be self-forgiving, patient, and Strong to keep walking on.

As for the girl, I am unaware of her inner feelings, though she has managed to survive the broken dream, lost love and a regretful decision. And the best thing, she still wears the million dollar smile on her face.

Now that's what I would call INSPIRING!

Long way to go. Inner Joy helps.

Find Happiness and Joy in everyday Life, Cos' this Life is also a "Positive Dream", the dream of the Turn we really took.

WE RESPECT. WE SHARE. WE LOVE. No Give and Takes.

Well, this post may stand to justify my obsession with solitude/space, the attitude which many have felt in me as "THE ATTITUDE" which shouts "Leave me alone, I am not wasting my time with you".

May not justify, but at the same time that's how i am.

Everyone are self-centered in one way or the other, working or living for something in their life. The thing for which they want to dedicate every grey cell, every tick and tock of the clock. It is the way they express their love to life. Be it music, writing or any other hobby, sleeping, travelling, friends, Love, Family, Personal whims, Freedom, Self, Anything be it.

And that way is something that distinguishes one from the other, giving the person an unique identity and a profound love for Life. 

One of the reasons why we are much concerned about our passions and don't sacrifice for anything, It is not just intrusion of our space, but an act of stealing or in worst case, burying alive our identities, in the name of affection or call it whatsoever.

Simple try. Just imagine your most priced thing in your life, A Person or a possession, or a Feeling, or your career, something for which you have a respect for your own life. And Imagine someone offering something that will change your life in a good way though at the compensation of your possession.

I don't know about most of you out there, but i wont do it. Cos' i have already buried most of my dreams and wishes on the account of "betterment of life" words of "wisdom" "offered" by many, who have gone in my life yet the burials are engraved with my past dreams. 

Ya, those double quotes ("") for words denote sarcasm.

Life is short, Don't ask me how much, but it is better to live tomorrow with a fresh feel, than regretting about the today's undone stuff. 

And I treat others the same way. If they have a private world and they intend to block it from trespassers, I don't think that it's a good idea to jump over the fence and tread on their property just for the sake of the thrill of it or the curiosity. 

Respect one's identity. 

Share your own interests. Work together. 

Give space. Value Privacy/Secrecy.

Love exists, Not in the big words or the overrated ideals, But in every small expression we show.

ME BEHIND A BOOK - LIVING A DREAM - INSPIRED BY ELIZABETH GILBERT.

     When i was doing my usual browsing, i came across this site.

     My goal was to publish something (anything, anywhere) before I died. I collected only massive piles of rejection notes for years. I cannot explain exactly why I had the confidence to be sending off my short stories at the age of 19 to, say, The New Yorker, or why it did not destroy me when I was inevitably rejected. I sort of figured I’d be rejected. But I also thought: “Hey – somebody has to write all those stories: why not me?” I didn’t love being rejected, but my expectations were low and my patience was high. 

     It has never been easy for me to understand why people work so hard to create something beautiful, but then refuse to share it with anyone, for fear of criticism. Wasn’t that the point of the creation – to communicate something to the world? So PUT IT OUT THERE. 

     As for discipline – it’s important, but sort of over-rated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such a failure. I’m washed-up.” The other thing to realize is that all writers think they suck. When I was writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, I had just as a strong a mantra of THIS SUCKS ringing through my head as anyone does when they write anything. But I had a clarion moment of truth during the process of that book. One day, when I was agonizing over how utterly bad my writing felt, I realized: “That’s actually not my problem.” 

     The point I realized was this – I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I only promised the universe that I would write. So I put my head down and sweated through it, as per my vows.

Courtesy: www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm 

I recommend you to read the complete page. Who knows, you might add to your favourites too.

     You would have probably guessed by now the voice behind the lines, none other than the author of the life book "Eat, Pray, Love", Elizabeth Gilbert. 

     

     Though i couldn't and i don't call myself as a writer, I have always been fond of writing, felt a relief and solace in writing down and considered my journal as my soulmate that neither criticises back nor weigh the worth of my words. 

     Also, even after choosing to walk on the path of bytes, codes and BUGS (technically), i have this dream, a focussed fixed and realistic one, of writing a book. It may not be the bestseller or a booker-prize winner, but it will do a good read and atleast a handfull of hearts would enjoy it.

     I feel so lucky to have stumbled by her site. Her thoughts on writing gives me a real push behind me, urging me to keep walking and working on my writing intentions. More than just reading the article, i rather could hear her talking to me through it. 

     I had confided to very few about my dream of BOOK-Marking, for which i had received some sarcastic stares and sweet but not-so-serious pats-on-my-back, more than real motivations.

     But you know what, Sometimes you do get signs from some force in this universe that would indicate that you are walking in the right path and remind you of your forgotten wishes and lost hopes. (Call this destiny, philosophy or unfounded belief) 

     I should say that the minute i read her words, i added her to the golden list, the second name of the list, a list which i would hold close to heart till my passion for life gets lost in the dreary desert of life with troubled sands. The first name being my aunt's, who, without having read even a single story or scribbling in my journal, gifts me with notebooks.

     I can't wait to read her book "Eat, Pray, Love" before i watch the movie. No e-books, No borrowing. Wanna buy and feel the hard-cover and read.

     Sharpening my pencil and turning to the white page that has been waiting to carry a small part of my dreams, i continue my unstoppable and lovable journey.

     Gimme a hi-5 if there is anyone out there who is waiting for a star to cross the window to make a wish of writing a plot, be it fiction, non-fiction, romance or a bed-time story. :-)

                                           

I ROCK! YOU ROCK! HE ROCKS! SHE ROCKS! LET"S SCALE HEIGHTS WITH OUR WINGS!

"Look here she is. You should learn to be like her. Ask her how she studied and what she does in her free-time."

Two of my aunts, along with my mom, were pointing out to me and telling a kid cousin of mine.

     I was standing there and was

- Proud. Happy. Cool. Confident. King. Wow.

     Err. Wait. This was not the feel. Let's rewind a bit.

     I was standing there and was, well looking totally blank, with only one thing running on my mind, "Oh God, Not this. :-("

     The scenario took me some years backward, where i had been at similar scenes, but not as the indexed-model.

     Let me tell you a short story about a kid girl, who just had her knowledge of understanding things illuminated.

     Though she excelled well in academics and learnt and performed various arts, and however talented and top favourited, she was constantly put under comparisons and degrading comments by few people close to her. "You should be like A (Why names, when they are not the main characters)", "Learn from B", "You should follow the steps of C" and many such lines are what she heard on a daily basis.

     Did she mind? Nah, Not much. All she made out from the repeated lines was that she was no good when compared to A, B and C. And moreover, she was too young to recognize and be aware of the ill-effects of such comments that were gonna make a bigger impact in future.

     The worst turn that could happen then was her being sent to a new place and admitted in a new school and asked to reside with A, B and C.

     And to top it all, it was the start of her teenage, the age when the personality and character of a person goes through tests and modulations and changes.

     Well, nothing bad or seriously hard did happen, but then she had been already inflicted with the worse.

     Whatever that had happened, however silly it had been, whoever had done it for fun and wherever it had gotten into, she took the wrong side of things, felt depressed and dejected, made things worse for herself and ended up killing every single remaining spirit within her and never once let the frustrations out.

     

     All she felt for herself were low self-esteem, isolation and abstraction and depression.

     All she had for others were ego, jealousy and hatred. She felt her own self into pieces.

     Well, she went through a tough time and through a series of realizations and acceptance, before she became a much better person.

     Back to the starting point,

I don't understand why many parents and many others want their children to be a photocopy of some other successful person, without having even a glance at the uniqueness and potential both as a person living a wonder and as an artist with a different love and choice for colors making a masterpiece.

     They may not know the real impact of "comparisons" nor they would accept the existence of such an issue. 

     There is neither a solution to the wide-spread abstract issue, nor do i possess a power with which i could swish my wand and change the mentality of the people inflicting innocent kids or the negativity of the affected kids.

     Well, my aunt asked me to talk and "advise" my kid cousin. So they asked and so will they get.

     I called the kid aside and told her that she is an equally good person as me or anyone else and asked her to have a dream and work hard for it in her own way and feel the pleasure. After-all it is not the destination that gives meaning to life, but the journey that adds the color and flavour to life.

     Now for the suggestion. . . No, advice. . Rather, a request. . Or further more, An order . . Nah, Let's term it as a MISSION!

     You may not be the causal factor of such an issue, as i feel my readers are people who value individuality, but you can very well have a good hand in the effect of it.

     If you witness such a scene where you see a kid being degraded or criticised, Just tell the kid how much the world needs her own unique light by her own ways.

     You may also talk to the seniors about it, not letting themselves and others influence their wonderful kids.

     Well, As you would have easily guessed, it is obvious that the little girl in the story above is ME.

I narrated as third person, cos'. . No, Not cos' wanting to jump from behind you and shout "Boo! It's me!" and giving you a surprise. . . i could relate the character only to the person whom i had been before, not who am i now. I won't say that i had been a mess before, i would rather say that i am now a better person and will be a much better person.

I will pen down later about me becoming the architect, building myself at every step. But for now,

     Let's develop the positivity in air and pass it on to the world by joining hands!

                                   

 

SOUL-STIRRED. . !

    There are seven Wonders in this world and many hundreds that have a place in the Hall of fame. Yet, Being in this world for two decades, i haven't made it to even one.

    However, i have been to places that are not globally famous and may not be a wonderland.. But what matters is the good feel you get on being at such places, accompanied by the pride of being one of the luckiest people on earth to have been there and to be able to admire the awesomeness of the thing.

   It is about one such place which i am gonna pen down further.

Location::Chennai, TamilNadu, India.

   The place, humble as well as discreet, is located in the heavy-traffic area of Porur-Guindy road, In Memory of the soldiers of the Second World War.

    I went there along with my friend at around 6p.m., the same time when we learnt that the visiting time closes by 5p.m.  But the caretaker was sweet to let the two excited kids standing at his doorstep in.. Goodness do comes with the atmosphere i suppose.. :-)

     We started to walk around the place and within seconds, we were filled with total love and respect for the place and we could sense presence of every element - Silence, Beauty, Respect, Honour, Patriotism and Pride.

     As we were seeing the inscriptions, we were filled with both shock and awe on looking at the names listed in early twenties.

"Young blood, Charged up..

Set out with arms in hand,

Stood against the enemy forces in land.. "

     I had read such lines in my prose in schooling days, without the knowledge of existence of such hearts then and now the examples staring at me now.

       Years have passed and are passing by, yet people are seen to engage themselves in many activities that range from mortal quest for material treasures to the noble intent of helping fellow people. But these hearts belong to a completely different hub. Just the sole Responsibility that was born from the pure love for their land in mind, Yet made their lives reach the level of immortality.

      All these years of having successful family members and powerful icons as role models, i can feel the real inspiration this time from those who are not my role-models or whom i had known as a person.

    With the beauty of place and the respect for the souls impressed in mind, we left the place INSPIRED!

Dream. Live. Cherish.