Difficult times for a better you :)

Difficult times teach you a lot. Undoubtedly the hard way, but they do. This morning while sipping my cup of tea, I looked out from the balcony, relaxed and pondered if it did any good to me. It has changed me as a person for good I suppose,

• I have developed a strong immunity to difficult people in life. I just ignore. They are not worth giving any importance at all – even if it’s merely thinking about their piteous state.

• I have gradually conditioned my mind to absolve.

• I strongly believe in Murphy’s law “If anything can go wrong, it will”. So there’s no point in mulling and losing my sleep over things that I have no control whatsoever.

• Often there are unnecessary and useless issues that occupy my mind. I try to identify them early and weed them out at the right time.

• Last, but not the least – Adopted a simple “take it easy” style less burden and lots of fun in life.

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” - Marilyn Monroe 

Womanhood – An embodiment of courage & Strength

While, there are plenty of woman who inspire me with their strength and vigour to strive for excellence in life. There is this woman who has been a constant source of inspiration to me and my life. A pillar of strength & an emblem of divinity.

She was married at a very early age. Without any qualms she embraced her future life. Came to a distant place, far off from her parents to begin a new life with her husband.  There were ups and downs but she never raised any voice of concern. Never, a line of frown on her beautiful face. She always looked so content and at peace. Over a period of time, she had three sons. But, she longed for a girl child. Probably God listened to her prayers and she was blessed with a girl. She adored her, dressed her beautifully, and raised all her four children with equal love& care. She would wake up early to finish all the chores, made breakfast, packed lunch and sent her husband off to office & children to school. There wasn’t much house-help earlier so independently she would do it all. There was never a break from her usual life as such; except some visits to a nearby market, or a quick visit to neighbourhood, or they visiting her & a few festive occasions.

She shouldered her domestic responsibilities & there was never a word of complain ever! Silence was her strength perhaps. Endurance was something she had cultivated over time. One fine day her husband met with an accident early morning while he was heading towards his work place. A serious brain injury was detected, besides some minor injuries. Her children were all grown up and were in different cities pursuing their studies. She was alone, with her youngest little daughter. She did not want her children’s education to hamper in between, hence chose not to share the news with them. She mustered up all the courage & managed the hospital & home affair with such fineness.  Her husband slowly recovered.

Unfortunately, the brain injury did not heal completely and her husband had a paralysis attack the following year. God perhaps wanted to test her patience level further. He was bed ridden for a very long time. She religiously took care of all his needs. Cooked his meal as directed by the doctor, gave medicines on time, and took him to doctors & therapists for regular check-ups & special physio-therapies. This was all done, besides the routine house-hold chores. She never expressed her fatigue; never an iota of anger or frustration reflected on her calming face, despite the day long activities; nursing her own husband and attending the needs of her children.  

His health started deteriorating further year after year. Sometimes, the health graph would improve, while sometimes it would drastically fall. She cried sometimes in some corner but never surfaced it in front of her children. For all those painful years, she served him without any hint of discomfort. She never expressed any pain. And, then one day he went into coma & gradually passed away.  She accepted that as her fate and moved on. Her children did all that they could, was there through her thick and thin. It was their loss too; however they were all together to fight the tough time that the family went through. But the pain that this woman has gone throughout her life, her silent struggle, her patience; her ability to move on has always been an embodiment of courage & strength to me.

And, still she continues to wear a beautiful smile on her face.

(A true tale dedicated to Feminspiration)

Hold my hands…

When times are hard,
Just hold my hands,
When life is agonizing,
Come hold my hands…!
When I would fall weak,
Come hold my hands,
When i cry inconsolably,
Just hold my hands.
I need some strength, I need you,
When nothing would seem right,
Come hold my hands!

Holding hands firmly of your loved ones at the times of distress endows enormous strength. The Strength to overcome the tough times, strength to fight and win.

Something to think about?

First I was dying to finish my high school & start college,
And then I was dying to finish college and start working,
Then I was dying to marry & have children,
And then I was dying for my children,
to grow old enough, so i could go back to work,
but then i was dying to retire,
and now i am dying…
And suddenly i realized i forgot to live!

Please do not let this happen to you! Appreciate your current situation and enjoy each day!

To make money we lose our health,
and then to restore our health we lose our money….
We live as if we are never going to die,
and we die as if we never lived!

—- Says an Old friend

A forward email message says so…! If there were not these doses of motivation, am sure our life would have been even more stressful. They are kind of capsules for our cerebral health…! Read them or remember them and then move on brushing everything aside for a new day…a new ride …!!

The huge armed Gulmohr Tree

Come Spring,
the carroty floral buds,
blossomed and swayed,
as the breeze shook,
leaves fluttering,
in it’s full youth.
The huge armed Gulmohr tree,
rooted firm and deep.

Come autumn,
the twigs and boughs..
all dry and arid,
livid & dismayed,
the leaves shedding slowly,
lifeless, it stands bare.
The huge armed Gulmohr tree,
rooted firm and deep.

Our life is like a tree, goes through different seasons; yet survives, sustains and continues to inspire. I love Gulmohr trees,(Delonix Regia, an ornamental tree) i remember having it in our yards before. On opening the windows, the breeze would flow in through the trees and fill in our heart and soul with it’s purity!

Wishing you all a great morning!

Evening muse!

The lantern lit the dark street,
as the dusk slowly shadowed.
Birds rest as silent & meek,
in their nests, ready to feed.
Dreadful nights trailed behind,
in pursuit of crisp daylight!

Just a little…

…Patience is the key, I believe to a beautiful life! Sometimes, we become impatient, restless and need everything JUST NOW or NEVER. Solutions to our problems in life, quick fixing them, quick money, quick recovery, this and that…almost everything. How would life be otherwise? How would we know the value of happiness without undergoing some pain and hurt? If there’s a sunset, there’s a sunrise too. Times may change, circumstances may; but elements of nature can’t. God has ensured there’s a balance & am quite sure with a reason. Nothing is permanent, so are troubled times.

It’s about faith; it’s thy belief we hold on to,
It’s about strength, why we choose you,
Almighty You are, omnipresent by virtue,
we seek Your blessings & guidance,
…all through the journey of our life.
You are kind, You are forgiving,
In You we find solace – an instinct to happy living!

Just a little hope & patience required, isn’t?

Reading Mania?

I believe, reading a whole lot of books & journals stir up my imaginations. I begin to think hard, kindle my thoughts, collect and try to store them in some corner of my mind. Rethink, and in some sort of way try to connect. Actually; I feel I become more observant, acquiring diversified perspectives, evolving a sense of strange familiarity in & around.

Apparently, it gets difficult each time I finish a book and then rummage through the store to find the next pick. It’s fun. Recently, I finished reading The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards. A good read, about relationships, parenting, expectations, and disappointments, involved. Later, my greed did not subside, I wanted to read more. More & More. This time, I thought a lighter one. Hence, chose Have a little faith – A True story, by Mitch Albom. Albom’s prior bestseller, Tuesdays with Morrie surely was captivating.

Fall Morning

“As I look out of my bedroom window at another Fall (autumn) morning.
Sun is shining but the air quite chilly and trees so bare…
All there is left on them are the empty nests of the birds that once lived there,
they have seeked refuge on green pastures with warm air somewhere south,
the fallen leaves which have lost their green color have turned into yellow and orange,
Around the tree that once they flourished on, ending one cycle of life to begin another.” 

How does it feel, when early morning you stir up to find a sweet little email sent to you by a dear friend? Yes, I feel the same …lucky and highly elated. It becomes all the more special when it’s penned down keeping you in mind

(J) Thank you very much for the above few lines, it made my day reading them!  Even if it was an attempt, IT’S BEAUTIFUL…so true, inspiring and straight from the heart.

Four Women and their personal lives

Mrs. Joshi – She worked with a bank and sought retirement to spend rest of her life with her husband at peace. Life is all topsy-turvy when her husband’s extra marital relationship comes into light, she moves out of the house disheartened and feeling deceived after 30 yrs long married life. Her husband makes every attempt to reconcile things but it’s too late and he passes away. Trouble lies, when later she digs into facts that the business has faced tremendous loss and there’s a daughter too out of his other wife, who after his death claims share in the property. Mrs. Joshi makes an effort to deal with the situation pretty gracefully.

Pooja – Faced a severe domestic violence in her newly wedded life. Has a husband who is a psychopath and loves to see the fear on his wife’s face. He waits for an opportunity to abuse her at the slightest fault. Once, the things go awry & Pooja is beaten up black and blue by her husband, she ends up lodging a police complaint. This results in her husband’s overnight jail trip, where he gets smacked by the officer too. Male ego, as they say decides to avenge his sufferings and he cheats her and her mother & confiscates their only ancestral property leaving Pooja and her mother helpless and at his mercy.  

Nanda Shinde – A simple middle class family, but Nanda is overtly concerned about her teenage daughter Geethi’s safety in this exceedingly wild environment. Once while commuting she encounters a young retarded orphan teenager who gets impregnated by a fraud. This leaves her extremely disturbed & concerned towards her own daughter. She tries every possible means to keep her daughter distant from any sort of trouble, but sadly she isn’t spared. Her innocent daughter is conspired against a plot by her college friends where she gets arrested by the policemen in a drugs affair. Looking at her family background she is set free but the guy who got her into this trouble is reprimanded by Geethi’s mom, Nanda also pursues her daughter to give a statement in the court against the college fellow. He gets sentenced, but because of his father’s strong connections he gets freed easily. He then targets Nanda by attacking Geethi, who is her weakness by all probability. He molests her and in turn dies accidently. Geethi is again in Police custody, as they think its she who killed him. Her family is struggling against all odds to prove their daughter’s innocence.

Bubbly Chadha – A happy go lucky girl, who is brave enough and has a solution for each problem. She is stuck in her middle-class life by availing all the possible luxuries through EMI’s. Has a loving husband though who tries his best to see his wife happy at whatever cost…

All the above four women commute by a local train, Ladies Special to their respective workplaces in Mumbai.  They chuckle; they bond and support each other in their own ways to combat life’s struggles.  I am not too much of a television person, and especially hate saas-bahu or crappy TV shows…! This is one soap that I kinda like it probably because it has bites of reality…! It somehow motivates me and reminds me of what Mahatma Gandhi  had quoted once, “ I complained that I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet”!!!

Life’s melancholy!

Life is undoubtedly not trouble-free, comfortable and all hunky-dory! There are numerous such moments when we encounter severe disappointments and setbacks during life’s voyage but does that mean we sit and cry over the spilt milk OR choose to stand up, shrug off the filth and move ahead. There are times when nothing seems to be going right, there are times when all the roads appear to be blocked and we stand there vulnerable & dejected. We complain, we writhe in pain, develop self-pity & keep searching for answers…”why me?”…  

Well…perhaps … it’s God’s own way to run us through testing times and make us stronger to deal with life’s entangling complexities. We still don’t give up because tough times do not last but tough people do….!

Quoted…

N – “I sleep to give rest to my body, I eat to survive and I drink to quench my thirst.”

“ I had no shoes and I complained till I saw a man who had no feet!”

” Be the change you want to see in the world! “

“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind!”

                                                                    – Mahatma Gandhi

 * Sorrow may endure for a night but if you hold on…joy will follow in the morning*

Hello world!

Finally I got my own space to express…to create “my” zone of pleasure. Hope to write something interesting everytime I post.