Literature Gathering-poem read out

Hi,
I dont know why I should not have written this post long time back (1 year ago) , anyways, I wanted to share on my blog about something, which is more like an honor for me. It was the time when one of my English poems (Words of Pearl) whose theme was based on Persian culture was read in a literature gathering in Edmonton, Canada at University of Edmonton, by one of my friends Mahdi, who is a member of the literature gathering. He printed out copies of my poem (with my picture :)) and read it out. I mention that it was more an honor because in that gathering, students generally read out poetries of great poets like Farough and Hafez!



(Picture sent by Mahdi! Thanks again!)

There is no pain without a gain

There is no gain without pain as goes a saying, but I say further that it’s also the other way around:
“There is no pain without a gain.”

Truly, every pain and sour experience is not something totally a loss. It gives you gain, see if you may. Behind those misty dark webs of pain and distress and losses, your soul opens up to a new awakening and renewed strength and fortitude.
You enrich your wisdom and perseverance levels.

And even still, do you want to not say that “There is no pain without a gain?” Think about it…

RAINBOW HO !

Well, the weather here in Cincinnati has been unpredictable and weird since I have been here and witnessed it myself, but the month of April has been the most unpredictable with record breaking( I presume so) rains. Is this really Spring, one wonders. Some days back, I had been reading a news article which mentioned how this kind of unpredictable rainy and cold weather spawns depression in people and sets the mood off. In fact, I was sweetly surprised to read how one woman wrote that she has been listening to sunshine songs on her i-pod, trying to be close to warmth and sunshine. But I am inclined to think that she would have run out of charge, a lot of times, in her i-pod!
Because, the sun and shine are too bent upon playing hide and seek here. May has started, but there are still rainy days with bare sunshine.
Some days back, I was on my way to Dollar Store, near Mt. Airy in Cincy. My friend and I were seated in the car and cursing the weather and talking about the thunderstorms and warnings of tornado, which were being forecasted. A weather report actually stated that April 2011 here had only 2 days of minimal sunshine with almost 28 days of rough rainy weather. News of several tornadoes which wreaked havoc in many states like North Carolina and others was really saddening and it seemed like everything is so dull and without any warmth or color.

A Bollywood number was playing on the music player in the car and the red traffic lights were on. We stopped at the signal and I casually moved my head towards the right side to have a look outside. I was least interested in the outside. But to my amazement, I saw a real rainbow! brimming with colors of the spectrum. I even made a video of that lovely moment. It was the second rainbow in Cincy ( first one I missed witnessing because of my ill luck of going outside) and second one in my life (the first rainbow I ever saw was back in my terrace in my home in India, when I was very young). Anyhow, I asked my friend to see the rainbow but he could not shift his attention as he is very particular about a "Focused" driving :) Anyhow, he did see it at the next red signal and was filled with wonder too. Posting the video :



Somewhere, the pristine beauty and serenity touched my heart. Coincidentally, the Bollywood song which was playing for that timeframe actually translates to :
" You have been so kind and merciful
Thats why the story exists"

Somehow, the lines fitted so well to the occasion. Surely, God is kind and merciful and Nature never stops to reveal her beauty. The colors prevail in the end.

EVERYTHING IS PLANNED

Every being on the PLANet earth works according to a plan, that's what I have come to believe in.Well, most of us are working towards fulfillment of a plan consciously or if not so, are an inseparable entity in the whole plan of the planet earth and the life, unbeknownst to ourselves.
Picture this:

Plan for day,
Plan for the week,
Plan for the year,
Plan for five years ahead..!
Plan for life here
Plan for the hereafter..

It occurred to me in a flash, Even we were planned, isn't it..!! by our parents..( excluding those hapless children born out of unfavorable and forced circumstances)

Even God has a plan for us..!!
Everything is planned in this universe
Every thing works in a law and plan. EVERY THING..!! Believe it or not..!!


I wonder how planning is so imperative to the life of an individual.
As they say," If you are failing to plan, you are planning to fail."
True so, of late, I also embarked on the journey of making daily plans and prioritizing my tasks. For that, writing down to-do lists or using a calendar is the best thing I came upon.And I am happy I follow this process now quite properly and regularly and see most of my tasks now as a part of the universe, and not any burden hanging around. Make a plan today, no matter what it is, and pursue it with patience..! Pick up a notepad or any calendar or any good old thing you can lay your hands on and write down this very moment, what you want to do now. As it is said, writing down helps, it clears all the clutter in your mind.


Thank God, My blog post turned out exactly as I had planned..!! satisfying to the core!!

Dancing the dream

Currently reading the book:
Dancing the Dream,poems & Reflections
By
MICHAEL JACKSON

PUT OUT THE FIRE

It is 2:40 am in the night.I am walking on the Ludlow street and everything is silent. Darkness is resting upon the deserted roads.I stop walking and wait for the signal to turn to red from green, even though all street is deserted and i could have not cared about traffic rules, but after all it is USA and at this time of the night, I should be more careful.

Inside the paths of my mind , I feel lost and my soul is incomplete. My heart is on a fire insatiable and incomprehensible, burning away for unknown reasons.

Suddenly i hear a shrill sound and a fire engine flashes by in a hurry. I am careful to remain on the other side of the path.
The slender body of the engine goes away with glowing brilliant red and orange lights on it.I am still on the other side of the road, my feet frozen at the spot

A thought flashes in my mind. Somewhere, the firefighters shall be able to douse the fire where it occured, and rescue the people from the catastrophe.
But it is such a pity that the same fire engine cannot douse the flames rising in my heart and charring it away. I thus stand in wonderment.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Sometimes, it is so strange, that you have the solution-engine passing you by, when there is fire of questions and doubts in your mind, but sometimes, the solutions which work for one situation may not work for the other. Clearly, the fire in this heart cannot be extinguished by the enormous water tank of this big fire engine, but perhaps by something else.

Just then, I sat down on a bench close to the path and there was an endless flow of water, saline though. I realized i was crying endlessly to my hearts' desire. In some time, i felt mellowing of the fire in my heart as my eyes' engines emptied themselves in full fervor.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Many a times, the solution to a problem lies inside us. Just that we need to see it through egoless eyes.

MAZED MIND..

A voice banging in my head loudly and giving rise to these thoughts: Don't know why but since some months, my mind is in a maze, as if its not a human mind,but an animal's mind, emptied of all logic and sensibility in its entirety
. I don't mean in a pervert sense, but yes in a too impulsive and obsessive sense.
I am almost on the verge of giving up...

Giving up something , which agreed does not fulfills my heart desire and passion any longer, but surely it was something which I just cant shun away or discard right away, because it was won at too high a price, both in terms of money and time, labor and endeavor.



Another voice whispering:
Fight the convolutions of the mind and be strong..
I have to be strong...
I have to be strong...
There is a powerful force around me laden with positive energy , which is battling with negative energies emanating in my mind. I would like to call these negative energies to be clouds of confusions and convolutions..
The strong force girdling me is every time protecting me from downfall. Downfall of spirits and hope...And precluding my fall from grace..
Oh Lord, Grant me the grace to accept what I cannot and the courage to change what I
CAN...


Voices in a mind mazed...
voices rattling, some whispering..
but in the end if i hear with the heart of hope and the soul of silence, I can hear the wise voice...!! which is in form of whispers...!!!!!