As deep as the ocean

The war was not over. Every time I thought it is an end, a new war would start and how could I forget the wars may end but the warfighting oneself never ends. It is a constant battle with self, but either way, I win. It was the year 2050, with technology at its peak, inventions made impossible thoughts possible, but no technology could change what a human felt. The mind is as deep as the ocean.

I was sitting sun-kissed on the rock at the creek,  seawater brushing my foot. I was randomly looking at the children running around, few playing frisbees. There were also the AIs(Artificial intelligence robots) walking around, few cleaning the mess created by humans, few even taking care of children but beyond all, there was the nature, the beautiful never-ending sea. I saw the adults were gazing at the wide ocean, maybe lost in their own thoughts.

Suddenly, the water was gushing around me and I realized, a huge wave had knocked me into the sea. I was far from the rock and was going down deep into the sea. All I could see is the emptiness of the overfull sea and hear the noise of the silent sea. As I was going further down, flashes of my memories were jumbling in my head. I had this faint smile on my face, in the end, I am happy with who I had been all my life. I felt sand under my feet, all the thoughts swept away and left me blank, in the deep dark ocean.

At that very moment, I saw a girl, struggling to survive, fighting her way out. I know how to swim, I can save her! I swam to her, held her hand and swam my way to the bright light above, I felt the breeze and the chaos above. 

A sense of pride elated me, I saved a life. Or did she save me! She may say I saved her, but it was that one moment where she made me take a decision, from death to life. Yes, all it took was one decision from wrong to right, from war to peace, from unjust to just, from I to us and from death to life.

A hand from the boat grabbed my hand, the pride in me asked them to take the girl first. 

The AI lifeguard looked at me and said "Let go off the junk in the water, that girl is an AI, was also knocked out by the wave. It is a dead machine now, due to exposure to water, dump it in the water!

And I let go!

I was only Born free......

She let her long hair free in the  breeze, her eyes closed feeling the fresh air kissing her cheeks, her arms wide open embracing the world, the moist salty air caressing her body...... She opened her eyes, the birds flew into the unknown and here she laid chained, she wondered. Once in her life she dared to do the impossible, the impossible act she always fantasized , going to the unknown, feeling the unknown, seeing the unknown, most important as a Solo.
As she walked on the shore, breeze tousled her hair, water kissed her foot, she knew she was the happiest Soul. It took her 25 years to feel free, she questioned "What was Independence?" Was India's Independence which was a yearly celebration really meant Independence of Humans or was it just independence from Britishers.
Every aspect of life chained her , her religion, her society, her work, her family, her education, her self.
She was born Hindu. Hinduism has been called the "Oldest Religion" in the world and some practitioners refer to it as "Sanatan Dharama", "the eternal law" or the "eternal way" beyond human origins. It prescribes the "eternal" duties, such as honesty, mercy, purity, self-restraint, among others. According to Supreme Court of India, " Unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one Prophet, it does not worship any one God,it does not believe in any one philosophic concept,it does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances, in fact; it does not satisfy the traditional features of a religion or creed. It is a way of life and nothing more.
What being Hindu meant for her was visiting temples, worshipping idols, keeping fast, not listening against her religion. Where rich people could afford VVIP passes and get special darshans and helicopter approach and poors had to wait in queue. Rich people could donate and be called as big Bhakkts and poors at times not allowed in temple.
She was born a Girl. She could not go out alone at odd times, she could never be alone, she should not raise her voice, she was supposed to do household chores, she was supposed to cook and she was suppose to keep all happy. This meant behave like a girl. Orelse others will not respect her. To protect her Izzat was at times the sole goal.
She chose to do a Job, mandatory and which everyone does. Where was the Independence here. Adhere to the time, listen to seniors as they have right, no leaves when needed and all for Money. Money which gave happiness.
The chains grabbed her at every part of life. But this time she had broken the chains just like the birds and flew to the unknown, seeing the unseen, feeling the unfelt and doing the undone.
She was Free.

Lolly-pop

Cherry flavored, mango flavored, strawberry flavored, chocolate flavored ,she loved lolly-pops. There were many temptations around but for her it was only the Lolly-pop which gave her joie de vivre. Even If she was lazy , sleepy, angry , or even indifferent, a lolly-pop would make her beatific. And that look on her face made me serene and exuberant. With nostalgia, I sat on my rocking chair with a cup of tea, gazing at the burnt black sky recalling my memories with my daughter 20 years back, when tiny raindrops fell on my bald head hinting at a storm.

I ran inside the house when I saw her sobbing. I was furious, the man she loved had betrayed her. I was helpless and she was vulnerable. All my efforts to make her happy were in vain. I knew a temporary remedy, the Lolly-pop. I kept 20 Lolly-pops of all flavours in her room. She was asleep, so I stood outside the door waiting for her to see the Lolly-pops. She woke up but with a poker face. And the next day, those Lolly-pops were mingling with rotten vegetables and other garbages in the dustbin. " I detest Lolly-pops Dad, am 20 year old and I am on diet, I avoid sweets ; I can not believe it,you are only intensifying my sorrow, I am not spending my vacation with you anymore, you suffocate me". 

Today I lament, I have not seen my daughter for past 12 years. Wiping the rolling tears on my cheeks, it was a pleasant sunny day, when the door bell rang.  A little girl  stood there eating a multi-coloured Lolly-pop along with my daughter. She is now married with a kid and we four plan to stay together. Her daughter loves Lolly-pop and we now walk hand-in-hand dancing to the tune of the joy of buying a Lolly-pop. 

Love never Ends

"Mesmerising " is what I thought in my mind when I saw her blue eyes, they were enchanting to say the least. My heart skipped a beat as our eyes met. Like an angel she vanished with a blink of an eye, I looked around in dismay.

That night was different with thoughts about her occupying my mind as I was lying on my bed dreaming about her.

Days passed by and I never saw her again until in a friends dinner party, those same blue eyes caught me and I could feel the distance between us reducing, I could smell her perfume now ;"Naina, Hi am Naina ".... for a moment I stood speechless but courageously said "Hi, am Ryan". We chatted for some time and I felt as if I already knew her.

Next day the door ball rang and it was Trisha my girlfriend. Trisha and I had a relationship of more than 6 years. I did love her but it was a simple, understandable relationship but with a monotonous life.

 Trisha still had new dreams about us but I was lost and dreaming of Naina now. Months passed but Naina never left my mind.

Just to make things worse, I had my school re-union and I saw Maira in a lovely black dress, she was my first love in school. My excitement rose as we laughed , cracked jokes and enjoyed each other’s company. It was simply nostalgic.

 That night was the toughest of all. I had Maira, Trisha and Naina, just to realise I was in love with all three. "Are you insane Ryan... this is not possible...." For days I kept brainstorming ,but my love was consistent for all... I wanted all but, choosing all three was also impossible. May be social obligations would make me chose Trisha. I realised I had to get over it, I had to find a solution.

Suddenly I saw a chaos on the road and I saw Trisha lying in blood, I took her in my arms, she had met with an accident. Maira and Naina were also there. With tears rolling, Trisha said " Thankyou for loving me Ryan, will you always love me?" In that tragic moment I had a flashback of my life with Trisha, no matter what she always loved me unconditionally, selflessly, it was not her fault. "Ofcourse my love, Trisha I love you like mad n will always will". Trisha faintly smiled and left me…..

Mind Game

Life is a game, a game of mind and heart. Each one of us either has Ego (Ahankaar), Lust (kam) , Attachment (Moh), Anger (khrodh) or Greed (Lobh) in us. To play the game fair, we need to learn to conquer these sins.

Often what we keep thinking may not be what we want to think. We think because we are scared to take a decision or we are scared for ourselves. There is nothing called right or wrong situation, we are responsible to take it in that direction!

Its said we come alone and we have to go alone, what is important is the phase in between. As an human, we need relations, someone for whom we care and someone who cares for us, someone to laugh and cry with and for...Its always for us to find out what is more relative!

There are words which are meaningful, there are words which are pointless and there are words which hurt. We need to choose. Human mind does make lot of mistakes, nothing is perfect.

Everything is correct, right, justified and good till it does not hurt someone! We give others the right to hurt us, the one who can not hurt others is always hurt, the one who can not leave others is always left and the one who can not kick others is always kicked! Life does not go the way we plan always, we need patience, perseverance and commitment to turn it back to what it was and what we want. Many things go wrong, meaning of life is always the same and so are the people, pain changes us, but it is important to think in the right direction.

Life is beautiful, we have make it!

When we become a Somebody, we should always remember and value the people who were with us when we were a Nobody, thats justice, and then we can go ahead in life!

Passion Vs necessity

"Life is beautiful" has always been a phrase I have loved. Sometimes I say to appreciate, sometimes to motivate, sometimes I ask myself. Answer is "yes" it is, the present is at tough just tough to give us a beautiful tommorrow.

Dreams are what we see, our inner self making us realise how important it is for us. But we dream , we get up and we let that go. But do we dream for a purpose?

I write a story today about Austin who dreams and dreams to become a painter , living on the edge, goes places to paint the real world... Thats the biggest passion he lives with, something when he is upset, makes him happy; when angry, soothes him; when happy, makes him sit on cloud 9.......

The Story goes like this :

"One day Austin goes to a forest, excited for a beautiful scenary, he keeps walking, further and further into the jungle, he reaches a cliff, starts with his masterpiece. As beyond the cliff is a view unaimaginable and aesthetic....He screams out of joy on the top of the cliff " This is all I want, nothing can be better than this, this is my best day"

The day passes, his masterpiece, gives him a new life, he is rejuvenated, painting is for his soul, wandering around places also his passion and yes he was doing it all... Few hours passes and he is hungry, to his vein its dusk and because of his excitement for his masterpiece he loses track of his way back to home..... He searches and searches a way to go out of the forest, to eat, drink, talk... But days pass, except his canvass and pair of brush and colours he has nothing.....

He forgets to paint! Austin who used to paint for hours and hours , doesnt paint for days. His passion was no more his passion, but getting back home for food, drink and people and the greatest of all "Life" was his primary intention......

A day arrives when his brush, colours, canvass become burden to carry and he leaves them on the way. Finally, Austin sees a patch of road at a distance, he runs , he runs, runs and runs and reaches the road... He kisses the road and thanks god for his life. Austin looks towards the sky speechless with tears rolling because of the fear of dying...He screams looking at the say " God! Thank you for this day, without you I could have not done this. This is the most beautiful day of my life"......

On his way back Ausitin realises he left his canvass, colours and brush (his soul mates). He is in remorse. "

So we understand sometimes a time comes when you have to even leave your passions to achieve something else which has been out in your basket by fate...

Money or memory

When I was a kid , I lived with this notion that Money can not buy happiness or Money can not buy everything.  But eventually , I realised that money can lead to both happiness and memories to a great extent. As per a recent survey in 2014 about Happiness Index, the most Growing Economies are not the most happiest countries.

I read somewhere :

"Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has. The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support…
The first time he said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed…
The first cry… the first steps… the first word… the first kiss… all of your child…
The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift someone gave you…
The first award… the first public appreciation… the first stage performance…
And the list is endless… Experiences, with timeless memory…"

The quantum spent may not be important so as to get imbedded in our memory.

But the grass is always green on the other side.

So when I asked my servant, she responded , " Money is the most important thing, memories ka mai kya karungi, I hardly have any good memories, money can only give me good memories, money can change my lifestyle and give my family happiness".

But when I asked a Rich friend, he responded, " Paise ka kya karna, memories are worth cherishing. With money, I have power but Power comes with great responsibilities. Paise kum ho par khush toh rehe pata. "