A busy afternoon in Bangalore

Late night at work, an early morning flight, 2 hours of sleep, 3 hours of working from airport. A little unnerved because you’re out of your comfort zone. Out of the comfortable routine of a familiar place with familiar faces. The bustle of this city - the busy streets full of purposeful people - can get to you. They all seem to have a plan which they are either executing or are constantly aware of even when relaxing. You have none. You have nothing pertinent or of social relevance to be executed. Nothing major that the ecology should be made aware about. You just have this sweet desire to spend some time with her. Talk about sensible and nonsense simultaneously. May be you just have a small list - mostly with just one single item - in your head that you want to tick off before the day ends. Just one important thing that brings you here; despite brushing sides with several unconventional. There’s a natural hiccup in becoming a part of a conversation. And when you do, the ease or difficulty in relating to all of it. Your mind is still dominated by solid memories from the past even though there is a hint of deja-vu - a translucency - in what’s happening around. Choice has always been the real problem for one.

There is an external push - not a motivation, but a raw push - to have a plan, to be more ordered. There is this opportunity to tweak yourself a bit and relate to that talk. It calls for making yourself open to see the new, aware that the memories may still flow in any moment. You need to handle that. You need to be flexible to allow and appreciate the new, yet take part; stand guard. Pull the past appropriately so you don’t get lost or change completely in this new place. You have to contribute as quality is as much driven by the subject as by the object.

There is this newness you need to regard. There are boundaries you need to keep in mind. And then, there is this choice to engage. Requires subtle courage. And perhaps the conversation leads to a fresh dimension, a new beginning may be or existing one with a new flavor.

For now life seems with less regret for sure :-)

How about being silent for sometime ?

How about being silent for sometime ?

We are a larger democracy no doubt and often we are at our loudest during election time. No one seems to want to keep quiet, and everyone wants to have the last word. So there is a verbal barrage, with discretion and decency often thrown to the winds. Scandals and secrets galore do the rounds, making you wonder where they were hiding for so long. What starts as a campaign often results in the mean and nasty exchange of words. Every one is hell bent in finding arguments and counter arguments. Everyone is trying to put words in the mouth.

What if we consciously remain simply silent for a few hours every day? The noise within us would recede; our ears would keenly take in the rhythm of the noises naturally offered to us. The rustle of the curtains, the wail of a baby, delightful shrieks of children at play, the whistle of the pressure cooker, a gate opening far away, a car reversing, a mother calling out to her child, a door bell ringing, a door creaking, and so much more.

To remain silent requires will power and it will be a sort of mental exercise. Like walking, this can be practiced daily. The best part of it is that you dont need to step oiut of your house or run on a treadmill inside. As you strengthen your mind you’ll be surprised at how things around you change for the better. The clutter of thoughts waiting to be articulated, stops right in your brain. Edgar Allan Poe, in his writings expressed the two faces of silence. These are 'body and soul' and 'sea and shore'

In silence we streamline your thoughts, filtering out the unwanted and only expressing what is necessary. Every human torso is in a battle with itself. Tonnes of apprehensions and anxieties keeps making it's way. You inhibitions are always loud. While you incessantly try to keep solving the puzzle you always keep missing that one piece. The small piece which can make this looks simple and straight. The result of practicing silence would be obviously sensible, welcome and soothing. Stop for a moment, halt wherever you are and think about the profound voice of infinite urging us to seek solace in silence.

Solitude

We live in a very tense society. We are pulled apart constantly and we all need to learn how to pull ourselves together. I think that at least part of the answer lies in solitude. So cherish your solitude. "Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no when you don’t want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out what you’re doing here". Believe in kissing. Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.

A creation of importance can only be produced when its author isolates himself, it is a child of solitude. In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.

P.S - In cognizance with Eve Ensler