TIMES CHANGE !!

Change. It’s the nature’s nature. Whether we welcome it or are just ignorant about it, change does happen. It, I believe, is the fundamental law of nature and the sustenance of life. Well, just to explain my point a bit more, just imagine…..what we all are doing in this world!! Of course we are living our lives. But, to ‘live a life’ we need some basic requirements. Roti, kapda aur makaan, it might sound clichéd, but it is. And the entire world just revolves around this. I came across a beautiful concept of life on the website of a snack brand. It goes like this: Every crime that is done on this earth is just because of hunger. So pacify hunger and stop crime. Unusual, but true to the core. Just think, we are always striving to get better- getting better education, better living condition, better ethics… Doing in a better manner means changing the way it existed before. For example, History lessons in our education system-teach us how the world changed in due course. Science-teaches us the conditions that existed before and how these were changed by some new inventions, discoveries, technologies, whatever. Every aspect…..you just pick up one…..is a study of changes that happened and changes that are yet to be made. So, as I said earlier, Change IS the fundamental law of nature. It’s the basic property. And hence, we have no choice but to accept it.

Well, I always believe in the fourth dimension and very much agree with the dynamism associated with it. Now, a question might arise that nothing is static (as everything changes), so why do I have to agree with the dynamism? Whether I agree or not, the dynamism will still be there. Why do I have to state it loud? The reason is, the dynamism I am referring to is just not ‘change’. It’s the dynamism of the change. That is, the rate at which the change occurs. And that is why I believe in the dynamism of the 4^th dimension. This dynamism has been a sort of obsession for me since my childhood. I mean, I keep on wandering what exactly keeps on happening. How would we be able to find out correctly the quantities associated with it? And if ever we find out a way, a method, to calculate the numbers associated or the calculations that are to be done will it be 100% correct? I mean, we may feel that the way we are approaching is correct, but still there might be something, hidden or unraveled, that actually will be leading us in a wrong direction even without our knowledge. Well, thoughts like this always kept me puzzled. Genesis is believed to be the greatest puzzle till date. But what concerns me is the puzzle that existed before genesis. Genesis was just a change made.

For getting some diet for my odd inquisitiveness, I relied upon books. But gradually the puzzles increased in numbers. Some got solved but the solutions were over ruled by the number of questions. So I decided to take a break…..to just live my life…..and forget about the oddities for a span of time. But, life is all about oddities. The beautifulness of life is the oddities wrapped. Life teaches more than books. Actually to state otherwise, books are the portrayal of life itself. Hence, reading bountiful books would be a feast for my inquisitive mind (odd inquisitiveness- as stated by some)…..I thought so. But, I tell you, books are a real epidemic…..once you fall in for them, you just can’t get out. It spreads and spreads and spreads. It happened with me too. I just fell in for them and they became an addiction. Well, don’t think I am talking about my textbooks only….. I am referring to the solution corner of the puzzles. Book is just a synonymic term which encompasses everything, textbooks, media, any source of knowledge…..  The more I wanted to know about the dynamic nature of the 4^th dimension, the more mysterious it became. But that’s the way it is expected to be. Despite of knowing all these, our heart never stops trying. It’s the basic human nature after all. Our brain wants more. It just wants to know more and more…..actually it wants to know everything about everything in this universe and beyond…..This never stops. You feed the mind with a new stuff, it will desire for knowing even more. It wants to know the dynamism of its own self because it loves change…..And Times Change.

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

Life, happiness and dreams

"Happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance. It is not something that money can buy or power command. It does not depend on outside events, but rather how we interpret them. Happiness, in fact, is a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated, and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any of us can come to being happy." 

--Mihaly Csikszentmihayli 

Yeah,its completely true to the tee. I have seen people measuring the level of happiness they are feeling. But I wonder, can happiness be quantitative!? I mean if you are happy, you are just happy and nothing. No other issue, stands between you and your happiness. If you are happy now, forget everything and just be happy. Why mix feelings? Just live the moment. I may seem preachy, but I am telling it out of my own experience.....whenever I am happy and I just stay happy, I feel really happy and everything turns happy and the moment turns out only for me. But, if I try to just give a thought that now I am happy.....as times change....will the moment change for me in the near future.....and guess what? It actually changes.....not because it was destined to, but I made the moment change just because of my thoughts. You see, thoughts really change your life. It makes you happy if you want yourself to be. Oh, I have been blabbering about being happy, happy moments and all happy things. I can't stop myself because the occasion is itself very happy for me. And to add on it has been made precious by my both my parents and friends, people who care for me and are really precious for me. Life is full of such short and sweet moments. We just need to find them and live them to the full. What happens next will be taken care when the appropriate time comes.

Dreams sometimes may make you happy and sometimes may not. But, as I have said before, it all depends on you how you perceive things. Life without a dream is not life at all. We should hold fast to dreams,for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams go, life is a barren field frozen with snow. Dreams are eternal, dreams are divine. Live your dreams because life is all about living, short and sweet moments.. of your dreams and celebrating every good thing, however small it may be. After all, its just one life to live....and we must live fully!

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

Feel privileged!!!

Sometimes things seem so beautiful and so astounding that we tend to forget the real object.I mean, how the real object must be feeling to be a piece of such adoration. Sometimes, though it may sound rather peculiar and surprising, the admiration that they get is not what they desire. It's sometimes painful for them but their painful situation becomes so breathtaking for us that they can hardly complain and we can hardly realize. Just take for example, the images given here.It's of the Niagara Falls when it froze. It's so wonderful that we forget the woe of the water which is dead frozen....which is inhibited of the flow!

But, despite all this life is for living such moments. If your woes and sorrows seem good to others, then you must feel desired and privileged. After all, life is a mixture of good and bad. If everything we desire gets fulfilled, then it's not a life worth living!

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

Words So True.....

What is the meaning of life? To be happy and useful.

# Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.
- Audre Lorde


# No one is in control of your happiness but you; therefore, you have the power to change anything about yourself or your life that you want to change.
- Barbara de Angelis


# Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
- Anais Nin


# We do not see things as they are. We see them as we are.
- Talmud


# Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life.
- Buddha


# We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving. And we all have some power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.
- Louisa May Alcott


# Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.
- Ralph Ellison

After 28 years

Saturday morning. It started like every normal Saturday morning usually starts. We had our end-sem lab quiz scheduled that day, it sounds important but could it be more important than the event that was scheduled for that day! Well the answer might be subjective but it is unquestionable at the same time. So, just like each lab class we ‘calmly’ went inside and almost all of us were trying to have premonitions, not about the quiz questions of course!!So, the lab ended at 12:30 for the 1st batch (I was in it) quiz takers and at 1:00 for the 2nd batch. And after the lab, we didn't have any classes, not by time table. It was because the day was more of a festival for the citizens of a country where cricket is an unequivocal religion. So, we all fastened our seat belts and got ready for the war to begin. I was getting flashbacks, or rather, flashes of the Ramayana.

The match began. Many boarders were enjoying the match in the dining hall of our hostel and it felt like a stadium but, I preferred watching it online. Whatever! The match went on and on and on. India’s innings started and started rather at a low note. Sachin’s wicket came as a heart choking situation and many were disheartened. Well, the match was full of nail biting moments. Sachin and Gambhir’s wickets were like ‘Nooooo…..that can’t be…..!’ moments. I started disliking the bowler. Anyways, I was watching the match alone in my room, so it was a bit of pressure to witness some worrisome situations. The last 6 overs to go! It was expected that Malinga was going to bowl the 48th and 50th overs-the 2 crucial overs for India. I was feeling that it was kind of a live or die moment. At last, at the end of 47th over, I thought, I can’t handle the pressure alone and went to a friend’s room (who was also witnessing the match online) for the last 3 overs. And, as expected Malinga bowled the 48th over but…..tchtchtch….what great strokes! My heart elated with each stroke. That was just wonderful, awesome! Starting of 49th over…..5 runs,12 balls and a great performance awaited. We were praying for a six but the first ball contributed for a single run. Next, 11 balls, 4 runs…..Dhoni on strike. The ball was bowled, Dhoni hit the ball…..and buffering stopped. We were sure that it must be a six or at least a four but for 5 seconds could not judge what it was exactly! I patted the laptop heavily as if it would listen to me and would show the consequence. That was funny but at that moment it was not! Finally, after 5 seconds we saw that it was a huge six and……..INDIA WON THE WORLD CUP 2011! I was spellbound. I did not know for a minute how am I supposed to react. I was just left in that moment. I did not want to come out of that. I was seeing my friends screaming and dancing with joy and I was just asking them,”Is it for real? ” Then, we saw Yuvraj and Harbhajan crying and then I realized, 'Yes. We actually have the cup now. We are the champions now!' A lot of thoughts and lots of feelings were streaming in but I was just confused what to do. Should I scream, should I laugh or should I cry. Anyways, we enjoyed the last moments of the world cup in the dining hall. Sachin being carried on the shoulders and India’s victory walk round the stadium was heart-elating. Sachin’s last ODI world cup in his hometown, in his ground with a victory, world cup victory, and his cherished dream of holding a world cup in his 21 years of carrier, that was one of the most glorious moments. But that was also sad. I was feeling as if this is the last world cup match for me. Anyway, we are the champions now and that’s the best thing. When the team was posing for a photo with the World Cup in their hands and a banner reading ‘Champions’ in front of them, I bet most Indians would have witnessed a ‘goose bumps moment’. Oh, that is just so good, it’s hard to come out of it.

All this glory, all this pomp is worth the win, a win after 28 years. But, what disturbs me is the amount of money. Yes. Many organizations-govt. and private have already announced and some are yet to announce huge prize money for the team members for their win. I agree that they are worth it and deserving. But, just think, gifting each player 1-2 crore rupees on one side and people of the same nation dying of hunger, committing suicides out of hunger on the other, where does this issue fit in? If one crore rupees have truly been invested for such a cause, how many lives could have been saved? How many people could have been benefited?

Think of 2007 world cup. We, residents of a civilized nation turned into terrorists when Indian team failed miserably. We were in the verge of demolishing their houses; we burned down their dummies and what not. Let us forget the past. It was bitter. But shouldn’t we give it a thought? We are healthy minded people and have got the capacity to think and ponder over an issue. We are happy now as our team won the world cup. They are happy too. It’s our win, our country’s win. But, when the team lost in 2007, was it only their loss?! Were they feeling happy about it? We were feeling bad; but, at the same time we should have thought, what they were feeling at that moment. They were also depressed and we added on to it by burning down their dummies, by attacking their homes and by bad mouthing them. Is this what independence should look like? Definitely not. Now, we are raining gold on them. If a small, just a trifle amount could have been used otherwise, a lot of deaths could possibly have been done away with.

Anyways, it was Team India! The men in blue! And, tomorrow is Blue Day. Just hope, the glory remains with us forever.

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

Tamishra

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

Marichikaa ra swapna

[This is a short story written in Oriya.
To read it ,click on the images given below]

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

Reflection

Another morning heralds
And the sun sprangs out of the horizon
The darkness is nowhere to be seen
It lies there all within….

Hope fairy knocks the door
Wakes me up …
And drags me to the open moor
It lets me feel the breeze
As morning unfolds it crease

I see it has still followed me
“What do you want?”….
I wanted to ask… But
I saw it leap and sprang
With all joy and halcyon…
Can it feel….the mood I am in?
No,No…it can’t be….

The voices faded and it has to stop
I returned and went for the call
Day and night it seemed to me….
Long enough….and gloomy
Yet…it was not the way I thought
The sun just sensed it
And concealed it fiery wings

Perhaps just to hark me back
I walked past the moor
To the cosy filled door
As I turned back
I again saw it following
But this time it didn’t ‘sprang with joy’
It just stayed calm and …..
(I think it grieved)
But why is it so?
I didn’t know what to do
And what to say
But I remembered all the way
It danced with joy
Sometimes I marked it and
Sometimes I did ignore
But all the time it stayed with me
And reflected all that I seek
But how…how could it know everything?
I need to know
I have to enquire…
And then I called it upon
And asked,” Who you are?”
It stayed calm and looked at me
“Before I answer just close your eyes”
It spoke to me…..
“And said can you feel me all through the day”
“Yes, everytime”, I answered
It smiled and uttered,
“That am I….
You feel me every time,
Every time you are with yourself
Every time you are alone
Only I stay with you
And It’s only me who can reflect you….
Whatever you can call me
But the world names me truly as
A Shadow……".

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

YOU ARE A BLUE PEARL

Head understands head and heart understands heart. The nose can only smell; eyes can only see; ears can only hear. Similarly, the heart can only feel while the head can only think. We try to put the heart in the head and the head in the heart and it doesn’t seem to work.

Your heart feels something is beautiful, and can feel it. When head says something is beautiful, we cling on to the word; it’s there in the mind, but we might not feel when the heart says the same thing. We repeat the word ‘beautiful’ in the head but it doesn’t seem or feel beautiful the way it would have if it had come from the heart.

Let’s talk about love. It’s the same thing-you talk too much about love, the word ‘love’ gets stuck in the head, but somehow there’s no depth of feeling. That’s because it’s in the head, not in the heart. In silence, love emits, radiates. We experience ourselves in the things we love more. That is why, when we lose the things we love, we feel hurt; we feel unhappy.

Suppose you love your piano very much and you hear that something has happened to your piano, something gets cut-off in you. Or, if something happens to your car and your dog, you feel a loss. So, you are not just living in your body, but also in that of the objects or people you love. But if you can expand this existence even more to cover the entirety, you will know that there is no loss and you are total.

You are a blue pearl. Blue is beautiful; blue is something that is big, vast and infinite. All that is immense and infinite in creation and that which has depth expresses itself in blue.

The sky is blue, the ocean is blue. You are a blue pearl, in the sense that you can’t be measured. You are so deep in your being. Though you are in your body, nobody can measure your being. The being in you is not just the blue infinity; it’s a shining radiant infinity that is deep and immense. Blue pearl means that which is shining, that which is radiant, that which is infinite; yet. It seems to be so finite.

When we start listening to our heart, the we know that all is one; and one god is in all. See, in our body we have so many cells and each cell has got its own life. Many cells are being born every day, many cells are dying but they do not know you. You know if something is wrong with one particular cell; you can feel it. Similarly, though we are all made up of small units of life, there is one life that covers and governs all other lives.

We are all floating in an ocean of life; a big life. It is not just empty space all around us; it is lively big life. And in the big sea of life there, all shells are floating and each shell has got a little water in it which is not the water separate from the water in the sea.

So, we come out of our shells and experience, “I am not just in the body, but I am expanded all over; everywhere, it’s me there and it’s me here. I see myself in everybody”

That is the essence of life!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I read this article in "The Times Of India" of 20th April....its from the "The Art of living foundation"