Mystery

Life is a series of untold and inexperienced mysteries. Wait for the inevitable and let miracles happen. Allow it to take it's time!

Draw away the curtains and let no one know,

Bring in some light but let the darkness prevail.

Cut open the rare but let the commonality reign,

Kill the lie but wait for the truth to show up.

Uncover the greatest mysteries but do not let them reconcile,

Be forewarned of the inevitable and keep a secret eye.

Solve the illusion but let the dilution spread,

Kick open the covers but let it remain underneath.

Breathe breathe till the last hour remains,

Do not hurry for the lucrative needs to be hidden.

Face it only when it's time to explore,

Keep belying till the lie is white.

Wait wait to cease that moment,

Hold on till it can no longer be behold.

Right then release and let it glow like fire,

Burn it then and burn till it gulps the mad world,

Let it be lightened and let them evolve,

For now they have to look higher and higher.

Another Life

The famous American stand-up comedian Dennis Miller once said, “Born again?! No, I'm not. Excuse me for getting it right the first time.” What if you get another life, would you really want it? Some may be overwhelmed with the idea that they would get another chance to live right from the start and lead a "perfect" life. But then trying to be perfect would often stop us from trying something new, anticipating the chances of failure. We were told as a kid not to pull everything out of the jar at once and try little by little. After all we can't have it all. I think "Best", "Perfect" and "Great" are illusions, there are no right parameters to judge them. Moreover what seems great to others may not be great for you. Success that doesn't thrill you is only a success to the world. Why live a life defined by someone else, when each one of us is so different from another? Why let ourselves be judged by another when they don't really know who we are? It is only I who knows me better than anyone else and it is only when I am fully conscious can I identify my real potentials. Having the right life doesn't mean to live a life that seems right to the world but to be comfortable with what we have. I think the right life is when we are happy and have no regrets. When we realize that we are what we are because of the mistakes we made and learnt from them, can we be grateful. The right choices that came after lot of wisdom and these self learning can actually help us appreciate what we have. Nothing is perfect, nothing needs to be. Being born again therefore is not the right option but loving what we have and accepting what life has to give us each time is. Life is to be accepted, celebrated and lived to the fullest extent. I can best explain it in the lines below.

She balances both grotesque and grace,

And pulls me up to an uneven place.

Where I know not what is right,

Yet obliged to take up my flight.

She shows me light,

But that’s not bright.

There are shades, I vaguely realize,

There’s hope too but in disguise.

To pull her cover,

She takes my labour.

Demands concentration and needs patience

For she hears and bears but is in silence.

She blooms like a flower post some winter,

But again she withers, grows fainter.

Well that’s not the end,

For she tries again.

And this time round she succeeds,

She satisfies and meets my needs.

To conclude she is hard but sweet,

Sharp but smooth, like a knife.

She is pleasant, she is life.

Like a flickering candle she may glow with difficulty,

Like a struggling player she may win with penalty.

But looking deep I realise,

There is light in this life.

Call it a Day!

Prelude

The stars have buried their heads.

The moon has gone away.

And the faint sun finds its way,

Far at some corner silence weeps,

As the birds have stolen all the sleeps.

The morning's melody begins,

In my city the day begins!

Epilogue

The sun has set,

The crowd has left.

But there is still a pleasant tomorrow,

A way to home, smoky and narrow.

Time to leave and find way back,

Time to walk, past the dark.

A good try to call it a day,

A good reason to smile with gay.

The last lamp down the street,

Says the path ahead is sweet.

The last raindrop sings with joy,

To give you dear, a reason to enjoy!

The Art of Choosing What to Listen

People say listening is a good exercise. Sure it is, it makes you think, gives a vent to your imagination, improves creativity and opens new doors. In fact we can only talk if we listen and we cannot write without listening either. Listening helps us in better elucidations, it brings up the pent up feelings and often lets us know who we are and what to do with our skills. If we allow ourselves to listen, we allow ourselves to grow, to improve and to innovate. So, it is important that we listen more than we talk and important that we let the knowledge flow in for it to flow out.

I wonder therefore how important and urgent it is to decide what to listen. Since listening is an ability that allows us to learn, it is also something which deeply influences us. So, the right learning can come from the right listening and hence it is required for us to meticulously judge what we must allow ourselves to listen. There are a lot of things happening around us every day and a lot of people talking all the time. We need to select whom to be with and whom to listen to. Some people are sadists and gloomy, they infect us with sorrows. Whether or not we are aware of it we keep falling prey to such negativity when we are surrounded by such people. It is true that we tend to be like the company we have. Same with what we chose to listen. There are people who belittle us, who keep telling us that certain things are not achievable. They are short-sighted, meek, afraid to grow, reluctant to accept change and spend their whole lives in their comfort zones, terrified to explore possibilities because they fear to fail. Such people can only denigrate our confidence and create self doubt. If we need to grow we need to figure out who to be with and what to learn. I am not saying that only being in the right company can help, it is about finding positivity. Reading a good book is like listening to the author speaking to you through his writings. Watching a motivational video or speech is like learning about new dimensions. I believe setting the right environment actually helps us grow. So, it is essential that we create a healthy atmosphere to exchange rational thoughts, views and ideas that bring positivity.

One of my senior colleagues was accused by some of her peers for not being such a good listener but I knew she was doing great and was one of the top performers in her team. Surprised I asked her if that allegation was even true. To that she smiled and said, "Oh dear! I am good at listening but it only depends on who is talking!” I agree that was a bold statement but then she is a strong lady already achieved more than her peers and doing a lot better to climb the ladders of her career. The entire day happens to be a cacophony of talks but if only we can trace the right ones, keep aside the gossips, follow our heart and chose what we want to listen, I believe the beautiful difference can be made.

Happy Hours

There was a time in my life when getting up every morning and trying to be happy was next to impossible. Everything around me seemed gloomy and I wasn't able to laugh so hard that it would hurt. I won't say that I was depressed, that would be a very serious term. I would rather say it was somewhere between unhappiness and depression. I would sit hours doing facebook looking at other people's achievements, photos, travelogues which would end up making me even more sad. Sometimes I would listen to music but would not prefer to sing along or get up and dance at a hip hop number. There were days when I saw old photos, re read chats but never typed those old friends a "Hi". I would go to office do my work, I won't say I did any fatal errors there but didn't actually enjoy it as much as I do now. All this made me a little gloomy and perhaps I was losing my confidence. One fine day I was browsing the Internet and saw some article about positive thinking. That actually made me realise that I did not feel happy and the very first step was to accept that feeling. And when I tried to analyse I realised there was no specific reason for me to behave like that. Sure my life wasn't perfect but it wasn't a failure either, I knew people with more troubles. That article on positive thinking that I had come across said that if you have food to eat, a roof above your head, a job to pay your bills and no fatal diseases that are incurable then you have all the reasons to be happy! I realised that my reason to be gloomy and upset was that I cared too much and took certain things seriously that should be ignored. That often left me stressed out, loosing enthusiasm and vigour.

So, the first thing I decided to do before it was too late was to remain active and pick up something nice that lifts my spirit and leaves me cheering. Moreover as boredom and idleness actually are the root cause of all human problems I decided to kill them forever. I took small steps at a time and started with making coffee in the morning. So, instead of getting up late and having my breakfast in front of the television without actually watching it, I watched the milk boil for me to add sugar and coffee. If my coffee was perfect then the very first task in the morning was perfect and if nothing else turned out to be right that day then at least I had my perfect morning coffee to think about. Small things do matter, that’s why it's essential to be a god of them. The next goal was to organise stuffs that not only made me happy after doing it but was kind of a stress buster. I started with my desktop, it had like 100 icons most of it unnecessary temporary files. I sat down and properly arranged them reducing it by one fourth. Sounds small but it was a clutter of years and gave me a sense of satisfaction. So, I was encouraged to do similar activities. I installed the softwares that I was planning to since a year. I had three pendrives, two of them 16gb and one 32 gb. All packed with stuffs that weren't copied to my laptop which had one drive completely empty! Sounds crazy isn't it, but happens right? So, I copied all of it to my laptop and made room for more data to come in. After all the whole world is about data, big data and information! I then realised I had some five watches and was using only two of them, reason being a damaged band or a battery drain out. So, I went to the service centre and got all of them repaired. It might sound silly to you but more choices mean more happiness. Next I heard about a charity program in the radio about donating unused clothes to the poor. I looked at my closet that had actually more number of unused stuffs than used ones. So, I pulled out all the clothes that I had either forgotten about or had no suitable place to wear. Believe me there was a plenty of it. I asked my friends and family to do the same. They enjoyed the activity too and we decided to go in person and gift it to the poor. And when that happened we actually realised why it is called "The joy of giving". It was their smiles that brought in the true happiness.

Now I read more and read till the end. I sing along when I listen to music. My personal blog is more active than it used to be those days. I am more regular in the Toastmaster speech club. I cook more often. I can now laugh at silly jokes and crack one myself too. I can now be happy and spread happiness because I find it in the simple pleasures of life.

Please like my page on facebook-"The Elucidations"

Trial and Error

I came across an amazing line in one of the young adult books of "John Green". It says, why is it named "trial and error" but not "trial and success"? Perhaps it's trial-error-try-it-again. I think the truth is that the probability of error is often more than success. A grand success is actually a sum total of endless failures and the lessons learnt from each of them. It's about failing and each time failing better than the previous one. True that the world actually belongs to people who don't give up, who try it just one more time when everyone else has given up. I have realized that success belongs to people who know how to smile at the face of disaster and who believe in rising from their ashes like a phoenix. 

Coming to motivation, I think we can be motivated only if we seek motivation and desire to be encouraged and prepared to learn. If we wish to get inspired it can happen anywhere and anytime, be it listening to an old friend talk about life or meeting a total stranger who seems to be happy and spreads happiness. It can be in the middle of a desert watching people work in spite of the scorching sun, watching someone climb the Everest yet again on television or seeing someone practice football drenched in rain. 

I think we learn only when we wish to learn and we succeed only when we are ready to face failures. Well it's always said, "Where there is a will, there is a way". True indeed!