Story of love

Lying in the grass
Heads touching, our fingers entwined
The chirping birds flitting against the afternoon sky
And as the sun shines playfully through the leaves
Love creeps in ever slowly

Rocking chair for two
Creaking lazily against the verandah floor
The silence disturbs the waves breaking ashore
Sighs of comfort with your head upon my shoulder
Love is home

Bench by a hillside road
Old with years, as the Evening mist engulfs the chill
Intermittent words punctuated by comforting silences
Fingers find fingers; the head still the shoulder
Love stands through time.

Wabi Sabi and I

I strove hard
to rid myself of them;
My Imperfections!

Twisting, turning
brute force even, they stayed;
My Imperfections!

Faces changed & Years forgotten
Memories  faded, they persisted;
My Imperfections!

Their Mystery remained
Even lost meaning, while I accepted;
My Imperfections!

Behold! I understand now
You were to fall in love; with
My Imperfections!

Lessons from a Teacher

Walked into the usual haircut spot
regular guy wasn't there;
I mixed up his weekly day off

Saw a new face scissors et all,
still very out of place;
tentative of things around, almost his own self too

Never been worried 'oer the outcome,
hairstyle is but Maya;
monthly speck in a transitory consciousness

Even though today was irritable,
Frowning impatient worried even;
The inner voice rebuked at self perspective lost (Maya and all that etc)

Calm restored Mind pleased at self control,
Behold - anger irritability impatience now directed at new face;
Ruining it slowness agonizing unfit for the job!

Moments pass staring at new face mirrored,
Diligent earnest concerned snipping;
Eager to please even

Snip by snip hair fall,
Snip by snip pity humility tears rise;
Wailing heart rebuking its pettiness

New face tried,
Intent to give his best careful meticulous;
My disapproving frown irrespective

Unloving was my heart drowned in illusion,
of some imagined end state or idealist comparison;
Ingrate haughty blind
to sincerity
to acceptance
to being human

Slowly I smiled,
no longer the result concerned;
Overwhelmed with the life lesson learnt

Teachers day once again!

Our second Self

When asked what was most important in the world, a philosopher responded that it is 'normality, common sense and reason'.

Relationships, I believe, drive us as a society. And it starts from the fundamental relationship between a man and a woman - whether as lovers looking to settle into 'holy matrimony' or even as a married couple looking to settle into 'love of my life'.

The complexities that entail this equation have intrigued even philosophers and saints, let alone worldly men - a testimony that its something so integral to our very existence that though one may avoid it but can't possibly ignore it while undergoing a wholesome human experience.

As I look around, I see each one of us grappling with the intricacies that love & its myriad facets bring. Happiness and misery alike, both springing forth equally. Almost as if as a collective consciousness we have failed to make sense of this one emotion; let alone master it despite centuries.
I am no expert, and definitely not an enlightened soul to offer a golden rule; but I do wonder if it is Love in itself that has us twisted in knots, or just our misguided (plausible) interpretations that takes our minds on a roller coaster one moment to the next.
Below, I attempt to make some sense of it, with a lot of help from many others who have walked this path before me.

Most parts of our daily existence tend to be ordinary, even unexciting. Keeping our heads down, steadily striving day to day, can be tiring; even fatiguing. Entertaining ourselves to rejuvenate our minds, parties, hobbies, friends - all can be dulling, not to mention empty after a while. And then at some point, Love/ relationship happens.

Irrespective how Love finds us, with falling in love, days and nights change. Life is filled with drama and excitement. You are the lead character in a fairytale that was just waiting to happen.
Time passes, pages turn, and before long the person in the mirror is asking 'what just happened! This was meant to be more exciting. Where did those days go.'

And thereby hangs a tale..... a repetitive one at that!

Losing oneself in the excitement of love is risky. Once that changes its nature, the great passion it once inspired will seem nothing more than an illusion.

If we attempt to seek the love that was thus, we lose ourselves once again. Love then, is nothing more than escapism. What one is doing is retreating into a dream world, believing an illusion to be real. And time & again feeling nothing but emptiness. If you try to use love as an escape, the euphoria is unlikely to last for long. If anything, you may find yourself with even more problems along with a great deal of sadness and pain.

Love isn't just Romance, though the latter is surely a significant part. Love to be fulfilling, is definitely a whole lot more than just that.
On the same lines, Romance isn't love, its infatuation - attraction thats destined to pass.
Love in the ordinary sense involves attachment. And with attachment comes the pain of change, separation and loss. As our minds and bodies change, so does the mix in our relationship. If the coming together was based on pure attraction, it was destined to fade away anyways - as is the inherent nature of attraction. If it was more than only attraction, as is probably the case, why then must we confine the health of a relationship only within this one aspect?
There is a time for everything in life, and a place for everything to be in your life. That is the way of reason, that is the way of balance - nature's eternal law. And a healthy mix of everything is as much an antidote to boredom as probably anything else.

For if a soulmate is someone who satisfies all our needs all the time, and our biggest need is for change, can a soulmate then, ever exist for us?

Love, when tempered by wisdom and free of unhealthy attachment, can be a key to fulfillment. Love, that is based on true friendship - a stirring of generosity, kind words, mutual support and consistent effort -- it makes the highs and lows worth the ride.
Incomprehensible it may seem - Love without attachment. Some degree of attachment is inevitable in an intimate connection, it isn't necessarily unwholesome attachment. Through this attachment, you learn about non-attachment - not clinging.

Every relationship can be way for two people to grow. Each is a mirror for the other, reflecting any character flaws that need modification, any residue of possessiveness, anger, or self-preoccupation. Modifying not to compromise, but to complement. To be more able; to grow and to expand oneself.
For however much you try, you can never run away from yourself. If you remain weak, suffering will find you wherever you go. You will never find happiness if you don't change yourself from within. Happiness is not something that someone else, like a lover, for instance can give you.

If the above be true, and happiness is ultimately independent of our relationship - does it really matter if it is with X or Y; or even if it continues to exist in the first place?
It does matter. For Love can be the path to enlightenment. Just don't expect romantic love to do it for you.

A healthy relationship is one in which two people encourage each other to reach their respective goals while sharing each others hopes and dreams. A relationship should be a source of inspiration, invigoration and hope. It is a force that helps you expand your life and bring forth your innate potential with freshness and dynamic vitality.

If your relationship is healthy, and the love is based on serene wisdom, then through that relationship you can develop as a person. Such a relationship serves to strengthen, elevate and enrich the inner realm of your life. Ultimately, the kind of relationships you form are a reflection of your own state of life, and vice versa.

The truth is, ideal love is fostered only between two sincere, mature and independent people.

As Richard Bach put it
"A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out & we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we're pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we're safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we're two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we've found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life."

How fortunate then, it is to find a soulmate!

Streets of life

People never fail to delight us.
Whether it is the good in their hearts, or the evil that lurks beneath; the consistency in their ways, or metamorphosis into just someone new.. they never fail to bring a smile. If only, we learn to have faith & allow ourselves to be pleasantly surprised.

Walking down the paths of our lives, now meandering, now seemingly straight, we touch a ton of souls.
Some of them we run into by chance, again and again; and discover that this is the only connection we have with them.
Others, we seem to run away from, inexplicably; only to find our most cherished relationships evolving from these.

Quite often, as if to merely strike a balance, life makes us walk towards those we least want to.. and find ourselves extending a touch of comfort. Other days, it makes us walk away from those we just can't seem to live without.

One way or another, my existence has been nomadic. Even if my physical being was firmly rooted in one place, I have felt a longing to move.I believe I have, what is a gypsy heart.

Ever yearning to move, to experience; to expand my world and envelope it all. For as long as I can remember, I have needed to embrace the world, to feel its vibrant pulse; to relate, and to belong. And as many times, I have felt the pain of having to let someone move away.. or rather move on with their journeys.

With time, or age, a deeper understanding gained root. Or maybe it was just me making peace with the ebb and flow of relationships -- if life is a journey, it is naive for me to assume, even want, to be a destination for someone.

Like the highways of the world, there would be people whose journeys will join mine somewhere in between; others maybe at the very end. There would be those who started out together, almost as one, only to diverge into a different sunset; others that were lost once, maybe never to meet again.

But the ones that make it most beautiful, are the ones that go away, but keep it in their hearts to cross paths again. Not because of destiny, nor necessity.. but simply because something tells them its worth it!!

Not so long ago, one such soul reached out..
and Yes, I was delighted :)

The pin that didn't fall

Fingers slip out of the holes
And the ball hits the creaking wood, rolling, spinning, turning,
hurtling onto the target


With a crack of a sound rams headlong
Bringing them down in a tumbling mass of pins
All 8 of them; save 1


Twist of fate or plain lucky;
Stronger and hopeful, or praying and waiting;
Different from the world or simply lonely!


How does, the lone standing one feel?
I wonder...

An evening in time

Glancing to my side
you beside;
Sitting bunched with your arms clasped around your legs,
your face lightly resting on your knees
Half closed eyes giving a peek into their shine;
Half open lips hiding the world behind

The now-and-then flickering of the evening fire
caressing your soft skin in an uneven gold
And stray strands on your cheek dancing with abandon to the tunes of the summer breeze
Rhythmic murmur of the dark waters
occasionally drowned to sweet sighs

Few words of conversation;
Punctuated with animated silences
Singing notes, of soft strumming;
aimless music as a background score

Half empty glasses
carelessly put down in the river bed sands
Coming alive now and then
with moving apparitions of people walking by;
unseen & unheard
quietly creeping away

Giving way to the glistening stars that shine as smiling witnesses
One evening
Two souls
Million notes
Infinite moments
No thoughts
And a few steps away
A tent for two...

A Love for Life!

What if our lives' were to be a book? An unedited, unabridged version of our entire existence. Raw and detailed in its narrative, nothing censored, nothing 'adapted to capture the readers' attention'.
And then if this book was to be made available for free?

I wonder who would be the one's to pick it up? And then, who would be the one's who last the entire read? And what can this possibly tell us about them, and their own journeys'?

However there is something else that I wonder about even more, maybe even worry a little.
There are no pure tragedies, and there aren't enough comedies. Each story, each book is a mix. A rich tapestry of interwoven themes, of lives entwining with each other like the meandering bylanes of an ancient tradition. Colours and shades, sounds and silences, laughter and wails, they all blend in an almost inseparable theme.
And that is really the story of each one of us. Each one so unique, and yet so similar.
When your book is done, what would it read like? Would it be an edge of the seat thriller, or maybe an out and out romance where nothing is impossible. Would it come across as a tearjerker, or would it be surprising how you even made it home eventually. Would there be heroes; villains even, and a few motley fellows thrown in for good measure?
Would it make for a great read or just another has-been-wanted-to-be?
In moments of peace I wonder what will my book read like?
Will it redefine normal, or be a piece quite normally defined?
And in my heart I know, that no matter what it is to the world- to me it simply has to be 'Whoa what a ride!!'