A NEW YEAR’S BEGINNING

(Never say “This can’t happen to me”, ‘coz Life has a funny way of proving us right. We begin the New Year with lots of positive energy and enthusiasm but as the year grows old we succumb to its everyday frustrations & squabbles. We fall prey to the constant depressions and the year we thought to be great, turns out a disaster. Truth is, at any given point of our lives, we are capable of making the required changes & live our lives to the fullest…a change in the day or month or even a year does not make a difference. But, man is so psychologically dependent on external factors that a move like this is justifiable in situations when we are trying to embark on a new beginning…when we are willing to accept change and also willing to make it. When we are willing to overlook the hurts & pains of all yesterdays and willing to face life with all its troubles. When minor wounds don’t matter and the biggest blows just test the level of our endurance….when death is nothing to be afraid of  and life, a dream to live……)

 

I stand in front of the mirror

And see what only I can see

Me, covered with bruises & burns

And wounds that were meant to be

I have been pushed & kicked…stoned & hurt

Yet I try to stand my way

As I support unsteadily my broken body

I know I will be okay

Those are the hurts I suffered for long

Those disappointments that left me sad

The pain that ripped open my heart

Those moments that brought out my bad

And although the moments of happiness are scarce

A smile gets inscribed on my lips

As I count the days of true love & care

They barely cover my fingertips

Our memory is such a fickle friend

It makes us remember the things we’d rather miss

It forces us to see our failings o many

The hell’s poison & the death’s kiss

Yet I am amazed, how I survived the past year

Where from the hell this strength I got?

Why didn’t my trust rot?

Why hope my heart does crave?

Why is it that I only emerged stronger?

How could I be so brave?

How could I have survived this longer?

On the night of the last day of the year

I came to terms with this life

The year that broke me down

The incidents that left me shaken

And the people who made me frown

The love that I lost & never regained

The relationships that I killed

The opportunities I let go off so easily

And never did as I willed

Acceptance is the first step towards freedom they say

As I accept my fate as it is

Forgiveness of thyself is the first right they say

As i forgive myself as it is

The more I accept; the more I forgive

I can see the wounds healing

The bruises slowly vanish away

The scars keep disappearing

My body is regaining its lost vigor

The burns get cold

My innocence takes a steady hold

And as the new year kicks in the trigger

With hope I stare right at the sun

With faith I leap off this train

Chuck all the old baggage of the past

I leave it behind with disdain

I know not what tears will the new year hold

How much more can I contain?

I know not how can my heart patch up

How much more my efforts shall go in vain?

Could I ever hope for true joy?

For someone to unconditionally love

For being the reason for someone’s smile

A relation formed in heavens above

For a day without tension

For dreams to become real

For helping hand to offer

A world so surreal

Yet I don’t have a choice

But to move on

To lead or to follow

Till my time comes

For a single purpose I will to live

To fall & falter

To stumble & to gather

For a single purpose I will to live

I stand in front of the  mirror again

With a clear face & strong body

Is this the person I once knew I think

Or was it else somebody?

And as the new year progresses

This body will get old to see

The strength will seem to be weak

A reflection of broken me

When the first bruise appears

And splits open my heart real bad

As I bleed like crazy

And the blood soaks my skin & bones

My vision turns sad n sad

In a not-so-distant future

When I shall stand like this

To welcome another year

I hope I will have fewer regrets

And few disappointments to bear

The tears would be of happiness

 Of a year that was well spent

Of so much promise for life to come

Of memories that came & went

So hit me life

With all that you have got

I will fight u

Till my last breath

In the setting sun

I will replenish

As with open arms

I welcome death

THE ELUSIVE MILESTONE

Dear Sachin,

In all my excitement, as I woke up on Friday, November 25th, all that I wanted was your 100th ton. Just like billions of others like me…

The way I saw you bat in the morning, not only re-affirmed my devotion for you but also took my breath away. The shots that you hit, the technique that you displayed was flawless and I couldn’t help but admire your genius. But the catch from Sammy, not only stunned Wankhede crowd but also shocked us mortals and we retreated back in our cocoon of everyday frustrations and happenings…

When I got back home later that night, I connected to mycrickethighlights.com, just to have a look at your entire innings and believe me, I was mesmerized. Those 94 runs were like 194 to me at that time. It didn’t matter that it was not converted into a century…It didn’t matter that we still have to wait for your 100th ton….All that mattered was your game….your un-tarnished, unbeatable natural flair….

Sometimes we wonder whether we are true fans. We so desperately want you to hit that elusive ton, yet we do not realize that all this hype is just pointless… 

A person of your stature does not require reaffirmations from us to continue your natural game. For you, milestones have always been secondary to your passion for the game and a chance to serve your motherland. 

It is an undisputed fact that one fine day, you are definitely going to hit that ton and silence your critics and I realize, it really wouldn’t change anything… It won’t change you as a person, or it wouldn’t change our love for you….It would only just add yet another feather to your cap…

Sachin, isn’t our love for you kind of contradictory? We want you to keep on playing as you always do, yet we pressure you with our burden of expectations..

Because after all these years, the only thing we desire is to keep watching you play…whether you hit a 20, a 50, or a 100…..there is pleasure in every boundary you hit and your every six is like an burst of enthusiasm…

The respect that you command is so unparallel, that you are an object of fascination among many. We pray for you, we pray to you and we hold you so close to your hearts that our lives revolve around you..

I remember when you once said in an interview- “I hate losing and cricket being my first love, once I enter the ground it’s a different zone altogether and that hunger for winning is always there.” It not only explains your youthful desire to stick to your love for the game but also the attitude to better yourself with time. I just consider myself lucky to be born in era that serves as a witness to your life.

In hailing you as God, we do satisfy our inner urge to worship yet forget easily that on a basic level, you are human too. You aren’t a machine that we can control to our liking…You cannot hit a century in every match…You are very well going to be bowled out on ducks and failures will be in plenty always….And if it weren’t for those failures, those minor disappointments; we would never have understood our faith in you. What makes us worship you as God, is the likeness we observe in you as a human….something to which we can identify ourselves with and still the difference between us that is a result of  a divine character that you have unknowingly created for yourself.

Stupid news channel and newspaper editors don’t bother me anymore. I do not even consider them worthy enough to get angry on. 

As I spend yet another day going through all their baseless assumptions and accusations in all media (whether in print or audio-visual); I cannot help but feel a kind of hopeless pity on their tiny brains and even more non-existent heart. 

Their public disapproval of you, your genius, your perseverance, your strength just makes a mockery of the pure faith and devotion of billions of us worshipers all  over the world; becoz in this world of deceptions, such purity is an illusionary concept.

As I print these words out, they not only exude my love for you but also echo the sentiments of billions of other fans like me. Fans who, feel like breaking TV sets when you get out early; fans who skip food to get a glimpse of you; fans whose only source of real happiness comes from seeing you bat; fans who have cried rivers with happiness when you finally got your world cup dream…

On the day you hit your 100th ton; see how crazily this same media will carry you on their heads and show your entire lifetime on television…They shall proclaim it as history being created…..Stupid Morons!

What they will not realize is that history was indeed made, long time ago…one fine day in the past…when world came to a standstill, one fleeting moment on April 24th, 1973….

With Respect, Love & Devotion,

A fan you will never know about

THIS TOO SHALL PASS

(Sometimes, no, in fact at every turn life gets difficult and more difficult. You lose focus. You lose hope. You lose yourself. You start to doubt. Your vision clouds and you begin to think that you are good for nothing. You blame your destiny. You mar your luck. You feel helpless and lose self-confidence. You feel like quitting all and going back in a cocoon to shield yourself from the real world. What you do not understand is that you have the power within yourself to fight back. This is just a test. A test to test your inner strength. A test to make you more strong. A test to awaken the potential that even you do not know exists. Quit crying at this moment. It is just a tiny moment in eternity that will cease to exist soon. A change so minute, a difference so small but with implications which will re-shape your entire life….Find yourself….Find a friend…Find a love….In a world that changes shades in every instant you are just a minuscule part of some great plan….Tears that you are shedding now…will mean nothing tomorrow….Tomorrow you will get born in an new eternity….All was and always will be TEMPORARY)

On a lonely rainy night

As I lay on my bed

Thumbing through a copy

Of some book well-read

My thoughts wander towards you

How are you meant to be 

All smiles that you cover yourself with

For others to openly see

I see you from a distance

The false masks that you wear

You may fool others easily

But I am the one who cares

You need to forget these troubles

You need a helping hand

Someone to talk to secretly

Someone who could understand

I see through your charade

I see the inward hurt

I see those unshed tears

And not the mirage that you display overt

Come one, gimme one chance

Let me be the ONE for you

Let me soothe away your pain

I could be a best friend too

Unless you let me help you

How will bring you back?

Unless you trust me

How will I get you on track?

Just stretch your hand forward

I am here to hold it for you

To guide you in this darkness

That has appeared out of blue

The light is within you

Just let me show you the way

The strength that has never left you

The power that’s never away

You are sitting in a corner

When your world is actually round

It all exists in your head

You just need to unbound

I know you have gone through a lot

A lot you sadness you have seen

I know its not easy to get back on your feet

And be as you have always been

I know the world is bad

And it will always drag you back

Throw curses at you at every turn

And let insults stack

I know you hate god at the moment

‘coz your life seems a joke

But, there is still so much more to you

That you are not trying to awoke

I know how it feels like

When life kills you every time

Treats you like an outcast

Treats you like some slime

Don’t listen to the people who taunt you

I know right now they are on top

But someday you’ll show them

That you aren’t some flop

All faith you have abandoned

All hope you have cast

But trust me, the possibilities of finding happiness

Are still so very vast

You think yourself as stupid

‘coz that’s what they make you think

They are pushing you over the edge

Driving you to the brink

But I pity those people

For what they are

I pity their shallow minds

That they have long ago barred

I pity they do not recognize

For what you really are

Naah, I don’t despise them

But, their rules I do mar

NO, you don’t have to be like them

Even now, you are so great

The ideals that you still follow

With not even an ounce of hate

Just have some bit of patience

Some memory to which you can cling

Some joy that fills your heart

A spark or some zing

OR just

Find a heart

One true heart

That will only beat for you

A friend so dear

A companion near

Who shines like morning dew

Find a love

One true love

That will always stand by your side

Your own person

Just one person

With whom your destiny is tied

You need just one person

Just one reason in your life

Just one memory to cope

For all innocence to survive

Come, look through my eyes

Tell me what you see

Yes, that wonderful person is YOU

It’s what you mean to me

Yes, just get up

And stare; blatantly at the world

Show them you can fight back

And make your flag unfurl

The candle flickers brightly

Just before it forever ends

The temptation to quit is high

At the time when trouble transcends

From the night the day is born

From the day, the night does spring

Every end carries the seed

Of the dawn of a new beginning

‘Coz all that’s always left behind

Are shadows of broken glass

No matter what this moment holds for you

Eventually this too shall pass…

The little girl and God

The little girl was sad. She was growing up and she began realizing how bad the world was. How deceitful were the people. Even close ones were suddenly strangers. Her own people paraded with masks of greed and deception. Relationships, as she knew, were in mess. Just a couple of good people in her life remained. Only them, could she trust. But the world didn’t like it. The rest of them, so wanted her to be like them. They were snatching her away and she wanted to hold on to the few good ones that remained. Thus, began a struggle. A constant vigilance. A never-ending battle to maintain sanity. To maintain relationships. To maintain life.

Anybody can exist. But, the little girl wanted to live….

The little girl folded her hands and looked up to the sky. She knew, God, today was going to answer her questions. She believed in him. She didn’t seek easy solutions to her problems. She just wanted answers to her questions and a little strength to face the world.

The early morning sun had scattered its reddish hue over the sky. The wispy white clouds looked like cotton engravings over a masterpiece. God wasn’t flesh and blood. God was a presence. God was a voice. God was a power reflected in nature’s painting.

The little girl asked God, “What is the difference between relation and relationships?”

God replied, “Relations are mandatory. As soon as you are born, you get related to so many people by default. And you carry these relations all your life. Relationships are different. You develop them. They are entirely your choice. They are the ones that keep relations alive. They are the ones that transform relations from being an obligation to being an asset. Not relations in life convert to relationships. But that doesn’t mean you have to distance yourself away from all. Value your relationships and keep those relations close. You never know, which relation might turn into a beautiful relationship.”

The little girl pondered. The mystery had slowly started unraveling itself. She asked again, “What is pure love? What boundaries does it have?”

God smiled and said, “There is nothing in the world called pure love, ‘coz love itself symbolizes purity. Love is a power even greater than me. Love is magic. There are no boundaries, no limitations. Simply becoz it doesn’t follow any constraints. Love is freedom. Love is understanding. If you love someone deeply, nothing remains between the two of you. Becoz your souls unite to form a single one. You may live separately physically but your heart beats to the same rhythm. Love is, when you realize, that you both are living the same life without any hidden motives.”

“Yes thats how it is”, the little girl thought. Then she suddenly remembered the cause of her anger. The very cause of the struggle she was facing. She asked with sudden agitation, “Is that so? Then- Why are people so bad? Why my own people act so weirdly? Why can’t they think beyond normal things? Why do they have to be so negative? Why do they keep pointing fingers? Why can’t they understand the purity of love? Why do they think its tainted? Why???”

God chuckled at the little girl’s innocence. She had a lot to learn. She had a long life ahead and he wanted her to be strong for further battles. He knew she had that strength in her. It reflected in her character. He knew she was a fighter.

After her sudden outburst, the little girl felt a sense of calm around her. She relaxed and waited patiently for God to reply.

God answered, “Not all people can think beyond the obvious. Not all of them are good. And you can’t please everyone. Love is a complicated thing. Its not easy. There will be many more people in life who see it as a tainted thing. Purity is a concept accessible only to a few. Fingers will point and tongues will wag. But believe in yourself, believe in love. There is nothing greater than it. Whatever you do but at the end of the day if you think the connection still remains, the attachment still lingers then worry not. Whatever the other people may try to do, your love, your faith will endure everything. It doesn’t need hands to fight back or a mouth to curse back. Silence is its most profound weapon.

It may take long. But one day, you’ll reach the beyond and then these petty things, these annoying people won’t matter much. ‘coz love will fill the space and purity will engulf everything around you. Have patience. The day is not far. With love that you have inside you; here is your heaven on earth……”

The little girl closed her eyes and absorbed God’s words. They were her hope. She smiled softly to herself and placed one hand on her beating heart and felt the presence of a soul inside her. A soul that she shared with a person separated by a physical distance of thousand miles but a love that encompassed all boundaries…………..

PA’S PRINCESS

(Each one of us, has a special person in our lives that we hail as a father-figure. He can literally be our Dad, or an older brother or an uncle or a friend or just about anybody who has made us what we are today. A person, who has not only supported us throughout our life, but taught us it’s important lessons, gave us all the time in the world and never complained. Someone, who has loved has unconditionally, truly, with so much affection that it can never be measured. Some relationships go beyond the extent of words in their meaning and so beautifully become our very reason for living.

This poem, is dedicated, to that person in my life, who has made me what I am today….who has loved me as his own daughter, as his own kid, as his own life…..To my darling Mamoo….my Pa….)

I live in a dreamy fairytale

In a distant fantasy land

And feel the purest of pure love

Where all sorrow, is banned

He holds my hand

& guides me forward

And not for a moment

does he let me stray

He corrects my stumbles

& soothes my bruises

And stands by me day by day

Although he never taught me

how to walk

Yet he could hear the sound of my feet

And even from that great distance

He knew, one day, we would meet

He smiles softly at my chattering

And never for once, gets bored

He puts with my silly tantrums

Oh, he has always been the person I adored

Although he never heard my baby gibberish

or even my first word

But in that land far away

My life, he anchored.

He puts that sound in my laughter

He lights my face with a smile

He covers me with a blanket of happiness

And brightens me up in a while

Although he hasn’t always been a part of my joy

or a witness to all my mirth

But even in that physical distance

We got connected at birth

He wipes my tears with an instant ease

He drives my sorrow away

No worry, no tensions can touch me at all

He protects me night & day

Although he can’t shield me from all misfortune

Or see my tearful face

Far away, in his heart, he knows

All sadness in my life, can he erase

So, this person that I truly miss

who always listens to my blah blah

An image of a big hug & sweet sweet kiss

Is my darling Pa

He taught me whats right & wrong

And still teaches me  the lessons of life

How never to lose my self-respect

How to be cheerful & rife

His gifts are not material

They are the stepping stones of success

How to practice self-control

And live life with finesse

His lessons are inspiring

He taught me how a young woman should be

And though sometimes I missed the point

He explained that ‘patience’ is the key

He always made me realize

that helping people is fun

Never to think ill of others

And never from problems, to run

He made me face my fears

And stood strongly by my side

Yet he let me learn my own lessons too

And saw that I surely tried

I listen in wonder to his achievements

I am proud of all that he did

He has always been my hero

And I, that awe-struck kid

You might have such a person in your life

It may be your Dad or some other

A favorite sweet uncle or an older brother

A father figure that makes your life

And fills it with love & care

A man who carries you forward

And drives away all despair

I love you Pa for what you are

I am your number one fan

I always want to be your little kid

You are my superman

And I want to live in your great big arms

Where I know I’ll be safe forever

I’ll be showered by all sweet things in life

And feel lonely, never

Not all people become parents

Just because they have given birth

Pure affection has no boundaries

Some people are more precious than their worth

A solemn circle, this love

Connects people in mysterious ways

And forms lifetime relationships

Sprinkled with never-ending joyous days

So, I thank you for what you are for me

You are my beating heart

And even being on the opposite sides of the world

We could never be apart

I cannot touch but I can feel you

I can hear your comforting voice

I would run up to you and give you a hug

If  only I had the choice

One day, when you’ll be frail & old

I will take care of you as mine

I’ll sit by your bedside & love you so

And tell you all his fine

Then, I’ll be there for you

as you have always been

A friend, philosopher & guide all the way

Though you remained unseen

Hey Pa, stay with me forever

We have lost too many years, so to say

And though we can’t bring them back

Now, you cannot go away

Although you never witnessed my milestones

Or  figured in my childhood

Now you are a part of me

And this is just as good

So, I look at you & proudly say-

I am Pa’s princess & his girl

Who will grow up to be his constant support

And his shining pearl…..

HEROES ARE PEOPLE TOO

(Michael Jackson’s death on June 25th, 2009 came as a shock to people all over the world. Never had I thought, that the person whose tunes I grew up on, can die someday, so suddenly, so unexpectedly. I thought him as timeless, as eternal, as interminable….. So did his millions of fans all over the world.

His death, makes us think…..that in reality, death is not partial even to one so famous. All people those we worship in life, be them ordinary ones or even great celebrities, all; all of them are mere mortals. And one day, like us, they will die too.

Yet what will be different about their death is that, they will still continue to live; in our hearts, in our soul, in their talents, their work and in all those people whose lives they have touched.

And this will inspire us that we can be like them too…..

To, Michael Jackson, a person who was our idol, our hero; I dedicate this poem, straight from the heart……….)

We look up to them & are in awe

For they are something different & nice

We love them with all our heart & soul

And follow their all advice

Yet sometimes we are confused

as to what is false & what is really true

How easily do we forget that-

Heroes are people too!

Their successes are our own

Their wins fill us with joy

They are revered as they are

Whether aggressive, sweet or coy

Their downfall is a wound

That never heals in us

Their failures a bad dream

That makes us badly cuss

Its as if our life is attached

To their very existence

No reason justifies our love for them

Be it logic or great distance

Yet sometimes we hate them

Why; we don’t have a clue

How easily do we forget that-

Heroes are people too!

For us, they are an open book

We expect they have nothing to hide

For us, we want them to move ahead

Leaving their personal life aside

When they give us happiness

We lift them up & worship them so

And their mistakes give us sorrow

Its like being struck by a blow

We pry in to what they are

We discuss their all affairs

But we still love their mannerisms

Those high-fi graces and airs

Yet sometimes, they seem so plastic

Like some entity new

How easily do we forget that-

Heroes are people too!

Their illnesses is a cause of concern

They begin residing in our prayer

One so talented should have a long life

Eternal should be the person so rare

And when they die, their death is a shock

Ordinary, what their life seems

For we thought them to be invincible

The rulers of our dreams

But they are mere mortals

Who live like us & die

But between their life & death

Give such a good try

That their ordinary life

Is much more than what ours is

Talents they learn to put to use

Thats what makes them a whiz

And so even when death takes them away

They still live within our heart

They house a particular corner in our mind

And never do they depart

So what they inspire us to do is that

We can be immortal too

They live their life with just a little difference

Otherwise, Heroes are people too!

A KIND OF SELF-LOVE

( Sometimes, I guess, the love that we hold in our heart for ourselves encompasses all boundaries. It is really difficult to truly love someone unless we love ourselves completely. A self-love that teaches us to trust and to hope, of affection and care; teaches us all about joys and sorrows, about life and death and finally guides us to the final journey keeping the soul as our care-taker so that all that we know in end is a calm and tranquil peace! )

Do we need someone to love us so?

And share with us many a woe

Or we ourselves are the best solution?

Or a kind of retribution?

Our ears are our own

& will listen to everything

Echos of happiness

& sorrow they’ll bring

Our eyes will watch,

the life in stages

A beauty of  love,

that continues through ages

Our nose will smell,

the lover’s fragrance

Of  a certain time-

of lost remembrance

Our lips speak of a voice,

of better commitment

And a smile rests on them,

of some accomplishment

Our hands reach out,

to all the pain

Not letting the sacrifices,

to go in vain

Our feet tread,

new destinations

For a moment of solitude,

in long vacations

Our skin keeps feeling,

a mysterious touch

A deep affection,

without any boundaries as such

And lastly, a heart each of us does hold

That is filled with memories so ancient & old

That it continues to beat till the very end

And with the universe does it blend

Finally, we grieve and are left all alone,

To begin a journey of the unknown

What remains with us-

is this immortal soul

That even in incompleteness;

makes the life so whole….

A MAN CALLED FATHER

Call him FATHER or DAD or DADDY or PA or POPS or your OLD MAN… But never call him a DEVIL!!!

Recently, I read a Marathi essay on the topic “Father”… It brought tears to my eyes. I had never read something so beautiful yet so obvious before. The essay is what inspired this post.

We have always heard of “mother” being the most influential character in a person’s life but rarely do we attach an emotional importance with a father.

How often do we forget that our father is just as important in our life as our mother?

We come across countless quotes, poems, articles, odes, tributes, written for a mother. But when it comes to writing something for a father, the words always fall a little short.

While we do celebrate “Father’s day” with a lot of enthusiasm, we always envision a father being  a persona of support and strength. We never envision him as a deity of love as we do for a mother.

For us, our father is a machine. He is one who pays for our pocket-money, our schooling, for our clothes, trips, entertainment and anything else we have taken fancy of.  He is the one who never falls ill, instead pays for our medicines and hospital bills if something happens to us.

He provides for us, works himself to death so that we live a comfortable life; yet we think he does not have the right to get angry when we come home late at night.

When we are kids, most of us (if not all), have great respect for our fathers. As we grow older and the moment we step into our teenage years, our father suddenly changes into a monster who does not have any right to pry into our private life.

Either that, or we make fun of him. We get embarrassed to call him our Dad in front of our friends. In our teenage years, for us, he suddenly becomes an old man, a cartoon; instead of the superman we imagined him to be when we were kids.

We hardly ever understand what kind of a man he his. Beside being our Dad, we associate no personality with him. We forget even he has a personal life. Even he was a kid at some point of his life, even he was a teenager, even he was wild and un-ruly.

We begin seeing a father as a cruel, Hitler-type individual who curbs our freedom and burdens us with tons of rules, if we do something which he does not like.

What we fail to see is, the hurt in his eyes to see us going over the wrong way. What we fail to understand is, he considers our wrong-doings as his own personal failures. He may act strict. But deep down, his heart contains a love that is so vast, that it becomes inexpressible.

And we still fail to see him as a human-being, because the tears that he sheds are enclosed in his heart, the sorrow that he experiences is never allowed to reach towards you, the hurt that troubles him, he keeps it to himself.

A mother can cry her heart out and you know how much she loves you. But, a father has too keep his disappointments bottled up because he knows, he represents the strength of a house. And you……you just never know, of what stuff, this man is made up of……

How many of us, remember the father’s day or our father’s birthday or any other important day of his life???

How many of us bring him gifts because we really “feel” for him and not because its a tradition???

How many of us even try to do something for him just for the sake of it and not because we have to ask some favor from him???

We easily understand the importance of a mother. For us, she is an epitome of pure love, immense care and the most understanding person in our life. We think, that the presence of a father in our life is indispensable; so we take him for granted.

But, in reality, we hardly ever understand his importance unless he goes away from us.

A person who has lost his/her father, really knows, what value this man had in our lives.

Simply because, it has always been the basic human tendency of appreciating the rare and ignoring the obvious.

A father is such an obvious element in our lives, that his sacrifices, his grief, his troubles, usually go unnoticed.

Most of times, we think, that what our father does for us, is his job, his duty, so there isn’t anything great about it. But, if  someone puts us in our father’s shoes and let us handle a wild and unruly kid like us, we will know, with what tremendous patience and grace, this man handled us. And he never asked for anything in return.

He will never ask for respect, or love, or care, or obedience. His feelings for us will be unconditional.

He will just ask for a little trust, a little trust in what he is doing for us; so that one day we ourselves turn into good responsible parents.

And he will be proud of us anyways. Each of us won’t become a big scientist, or a great artist, or an excellent singer. But, how much ever, ordinary we are, we will always be extra-ordinary in his life.

Even the smallest of our achievements is like a dream come true for him. An ‘B+’ grade, a 2 minute part in the school play, the first time you tried your hand at cooking by baking a burnt cake, the consolation prize in the local singing contest;……..for a father, this is what his life is made of….. memories of his kid’s happiness.

A father is an epitome of patience.

He patiently waits for the day, when his kids will acknowledge his presence in their lives.

Yet he expects nothing.

He is as unconditional as ever, even if we love him back or not!

“A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman, he turns her back again.”  -Enid Bagnold

For a girl, her father is usually her hero. He is someone she can look up to. She loves to be a “Daddy’s little girl” forever. She envisions him as her protector, someone who will shield her from all misfortunes and hardships. She knows the special bond that they share. She sees her father’s un-shed tears and hidden sorrows.

She looks up to her father and longs to find a life-partner who will be similar to her Dad, so that she knows, her kids get a good father.

For a father, his daughter is not only his precious little baby but also the pride of his life. She is someone, whom he knows, will never distance him from her life. She is someone who will trust him blindly. He appreciates the love she has for him, because he knows she can be his daughter as well as his son, when he wants so.

Her unquestionable faith in him gives him the strength to be a good father that he is.

Let us appreciate our father for what he has been to us.

For how much ever he opposes us or disapproves of our doings, he does so only because he truly loves us. Only because, he never wants us to go wrong but learn our lessons with dignity and be a responsible citizen of this world.

“A truly rich man is the one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.”

I HAVE / HAD A DREAM

All those who listen to Westlife might know of their popular song, “I have a dream….”

Sometimes I wonder whether life is really as positive and as colorful as described in the song. Do our beliefs really have the potential to conquer any damn thing in this world? Is life really as easy as this….that we get anything that we wish for….that all are dreams are born to be fulfilled….that all desires that originate in our hearts set to reach their destination…

I used to think, all dreams get fulfilled. But its not so. Some remain buried in the heart forever….not to be forgotten but to remind us that at some point of the time when we had the control of our life, we never took it. We let ourselves to be carried away with the flow and now we look back and regret that life is not what we wanted it to be!!!

What remains back are shadows of the past that keep on haunting…

If you have the strength to fight back, perhaps its never too late. Now may be the time to get up and set things right. What never manifested when there was a time for it, perhaps can return on different time-lines. There was afterall, never a WRONG time to do the RIGHT thing!

It’s how we feel within ourselves—-

I HAVE a dream   OR

I HAD a dream

A REASON FOR A SEASON

There are people,

who just walk away.

Leaving behind a single hope,

that they may come back.

To renew a forgotten relationship.

To rebuild a lost trust.

To re-enact every moment shared.

To recall every thing cared.

Times when they wiped

your every tear.

Times when they banished

your every fear.

Destiny might not re-acquaint us to them.

Fate might not bring them back.

But they have left footprints in your heart,

which will never fade…

They are making their presence felt,

through every CHANGE they brought in you.

People- who disappear suddenly

And your life NEVER remains the same…

Just let them go.

Your prayer has been answered.

There are many more races to run.

Your need has been met.

Your desire fulfilled.

And there might be others waiting to come.

Some people who come in life,

FOR a particular REASON

They love you, help you & care for you;

But last,

Only for a SEASON!!!