శబ్ద స్పర్శ రూప రస గంధాలు

జీవితం పిలుస్తోంది.....ఎక్కడ దాగున్నావు నా ప్రియనేస్తం?

తన అందాన్నిబంథించమని, చిత్రపటాలలో, చరిత్రపుటలలో,

నీ కనుల సంకెళ్ళు మరి సిద్దమేనా ఓ నేస్తం?

ప్రభాత రాగాలు, పవన తానాలు, నదుల పల్లవులు,

నీకు కూడా వినాలనుంది కదూ నా నేస్తం?

చినుకు సవ్వడి చవి చూడడానికి చవులు చిగురించాయా నా నేస్తం?

గిరితరుల గాలి తాకిడి, చిటపట చిరు వాన తడి,

కోరుతావులే నీవు ఆడి ఆడి, అలసినాక అమ్మ ఒడి,

సెలవుపెట్టు ఒక రోజు నేస్తం, ఆగదులే బ్రతుకు బడి.

పాదమంతే రక్ష కలగిన తప్పునులే తప్పటడుగులు,

మితములో తృప్తించకున్న, తప్పవులే తప్పుటడుగులు,

రుచియన్నది నాలుకకు లేదు, మనస్సునందునే మర్మంబస్సలు.

పరిమళానికై ప్రాకులాడకు, దొరికేవన్నీ వాడి వీడులే,

విచ్చిన మనస్సే మల్లెలాయే, హెచ్చిన ఉషస్సే గంధమాయే,

అందుకే, నీరు పోద్దాం బ్రతుకు మొక్కకు నీతి జలధి నుండీ...తోడితోడి! 

Proust Questionnaire

Thoughts of all hues perch on our minds!

The following is a Confession album, veiled as a set of rules & principles which have inspired me and cease to vacate my mind, no matter how hard i plead. Though this would mean revealing my self and my modus operandi, I risk the venture in hope of gaining some clarity and corrections, if only someone cares to collaborate in making lives Colourful and Complete. So, here comes another heavy dose of fundas (am sure my friends are hesitant to convey this, so here i am to their rescue, saving some blushes). 

Everyone of us at some point of time would have planned becoming something higher, greater and stronger. The conscience in this case serves as a legislator but the bureaucracy is the mind's realm. As any enforcement agency, it too needs a set of rules and guidelines, popularly called ' The Constitution'. Here I go painting* my Moral Mural with the colours of Rules, Relaxations, Non-negotiables and Concessions.

• Frown only when you are sad, other times Be Happy.
• Appreciate Art. If you can’t, Acknowledge it. If you can’t either, Shut up.
• Do obsess on your six pack and smart looks, if you are a film star. Others, please work on something else. Photoshop works well in virtual world.
• Surround yourself with colourful things and people with colourful hearts. Most times they rub off.
• Don’t worry about the unfairness that's beyond you. Even God didn’t bother much when He granted the same life to Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Einstein and finally Me.
• Never say, “ I don’t have time”. Even great souls had 24 hours a day.
• Appreciate good work and effort. Others too like appreciation, just like you do.
• We appear a lot smarter when we shut our mouth. Lets be smart, at least once in a while.
• Never argue with people of rigid and preconceived notions. Its like teaching etiquette to a pig. It wastes your time and annoys the pig.
• Start with the assumption that everyone is good. Modify later as per YOUR observations.
• Be scientific in your approach. Ask questions and believe based on experience. But till then, assume all possibilities as equally probable. Science too is an Art, a bit organized though.
• Have strong faith in God, the story is ensured of a happy ending. Dear non-believers, you too need to believe because its a great survival tactic.
• Choose your friends and books carefully. A lot of what you become depends on them.
• Being both carefree and successful is a myth, unless you change the definitions.
• Everyone likes surprises, don’t be always at the receiving end.
• Being Kind, Honest, Humble, Just, Good, Brave, Knowledgeable - everything begins with YOU.
• People do not lack skill, they only lack opportunity. A train can run only on rails not on roads, however smooth they may be.
• Live by your rules. The moment we try appeasing others, we cease to be us.
• Be open to others views and experience. Its unwise to  learn everything in life through our own experience. So, you can preach even while you plan to practice.
• Do not make a list of every expense. Learn to spend wise.
• When you spend on your growth, its called investment not expenditure.
• Learn something new everyday, however small it may be. It keeps us enthusiastic about life. Never settle, keep looking.
• Time wasted is life wasted.Period.
• Don’t feign with loved ones and good friends. It pays and moreover they see through your antics  but may not speak.
• If someone doesn't care, probably they are expecting the same response. Do oblige.
• If Oil saved is Oil generated, isn't it valid for food too? Don't waste it.

The list is volatile and never ending...the limiting point being my experience so far!

* I hold the copyright on most of the above listings (Ego is a perilous pest)!

Beauty or Pretty?

Whats in a name?

Disavowal: The following or in fact the entire blog is a part of the conversations that I have with the most intimate person i have come across; with whom i share and care, with whom i argue yet agree, whom i admire but not yet fully understood but sincerely wish would not desert me, come what may...and Who is that?.. its My-Self!

And Ohhh..the title, i have nothing against Loreal or Garnier!

Flashback begins

      ‘She had always been short and fat and slightly bent. Her face was a criss-cross of wrinkles running from everywhere to everywhere. No, we were certain she had always been as we had known her. Old, so terribly old that she could not have grown older, and had stayed at the same age for twenty years. She could never have been pretty; but she was always beautiful.’ “How can the author call his grandmother, a beauty?”, turning to the class after reading out from Kushwant Singh’s  ‘The portrait of a lady’, asked our English teacher in my 11^th standard.

         Honestly, i was unaware of the subtle difference and eagerly awaited the answer. I am happy that i hadn’t wandered in class that day. What came next was not a simple answer but a profound lesson.

Flashback ends.

Flash begins

       Today, after some sessions of post-mortem i came to believe in this. Being pretty is a chance but to be a beauty is a choice. As always, chance deserts us someday but choice stays on. If the former is being, the latter is becoming. The companions that each of these attributes bring along is also varied. One has pride, false friends, pomp and show in the entourage but the other has wisdom, truth and goodness as retinue showing up at the venue. Now I feel better poised to understand what Keats meant by 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever'. As an after thought, Creams might help us for a while to stay pretty but Dreams definitely would make us a beauty.

       Hollywood seems to have understood the difference. They made Beautiful mind and Pretty Woman (both are awesome ones!...movies, i mean!) but sadly the comprehension ceases there.
          “Beauty may or may not lie in the eyes of the beholder, but ugliness most certainly lay in the 

hearts of those who set the yardsticks of beauty”.


Flash continues...

Before memory fades...

Raring to Reclaim?

Foot prints of association on the sands of space erased by the waves of time. This is what flashed in my mind when i thought of acquaintances and associations, friends and frolic. I might sound like an eternal critic searching for a sour grape in the salad. But again, i am unwilling to fool myself to fancy.

One thought on human relations that impacted me to a great extent is that we may not walk through this path again and may not meet the people the way we had intended to meet or talk. This leaves us with options limited. The answer is to act NOW.

I am learning that if i appreciate someone, i have to let them know that i really appreciate them ASAP. If i admire someone, to let them know that they are being admired. To do good to the possible extent, to care for those who touched my core and all the while with a sense of urgency and empathy. Advance the appreciation and postpone the potshot but always be genuine. Hasn’t Kabir said, “Kaal Kare So Aaj Kar, Aaj Kare So Ub, Pal Mein Pralaya Hoyegi, Bahuri Karoge Kub”. Moreover, procrastination steals the  moment of its relevancy.

One my professors at IIT left me with this profound thought which on paraphrasing – ‘ I always have this clock ticking away in the back of my mind, reminding me of the  countdown.’ With this he set off my alarm and it has not stopped bothering me since!


"We don't get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we've all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it" - Steve Jobs

Flying Colours

Rendezvous with the Rainbow

నీరసించకు జనం నిన్ను నమ్మలేదని,

గడచి పోతుంది గ్రహణం తట్టుకోలేక సూర్యున్ని,

మంచితనానికి మహిన విలువ ఎప్పుడూ ఎనలేని,

విడువకు నీ సహనాన్ని, " ఇది నాది కాదని!"

మిణుగురు ధైర్యం చూడు, వొంటరిగా చీకటిని వోడిద్దామని,

క్రాంతి తనలోనే వుంటే తల వంచడం ఎందుకని?

బంగారపు ధగధగ తగ్గదు, మసక నా  కంటిదైతే,

నిండు వెన్నల నవ్వదూ? మబ్బు " నేను గెలిచానంటే!"

              

వాన నీరుని నింగి కన్నీరు అంటారు, ఆకాశ పరవశం అనుకోరు ఎందుకు?

దృష్టి లోపానికి కానరావు సృష్టిలోనే మందులు.

కొవ్వొత్తికి తెలుసు కరుగుతున్నా, తన క్రాంతి తరగదని,

గొంగలికి తెలుసు నేడు ప్రాకుతున్నా, రంగుల భవితకు ఇంకెంతో లేదని... 

On being a Cindrella man...

O ye! Owner of thy Kite

'మనకెందుకు ',' నాదికాదు ','రేపు చూద్దాం ', అనకు నేస్తం,

కాలం ఆగదు, బాథ్యత తరగదు, తాతకైన వాని మాతకైనా,

లొంగదు లంచానికి, వంగదు వారసత్వానికి, సమత్వం సమయం నైజం,
నేటి వాకిట పాడు సరిగమ, రేపు నిలచుట ఎంత నిజం?

కంటికందిన నింగితార చేతికందుట ఎంత కఠినం?
విజయగాథల తేనె మధురిమ విస్మరించుట ఎంత సులభం?

అలుపెరుగక జీవితం పరుగెడుతోంది శ్మసాన సంస్థాన ప్రవేశానికి,
వదిలిన బాణంలా తిరిగిరాదు ఈ దారి, చేయిదాటిన అవకాశానికి,

వాన సైతం కురుస్తుంది మబ్బుకు కలిగితే స్పందన,
కలల స్వర్గం ఇలన పొందుటకు కావాలిగా కాసింత ప్రేరణ.

Lead, kindly Light!

a LITTLE prayer...to THEE

అక్షర జ్ఞానంబు అంబరమని, ఆత్మ జ్ఞానంబు అందలమని,
అమ్మ అనగా అమ్రుతంబని, అఖండ భారతంబు ఆత్మీయనిలయమని,
సోదరభావంబే సంస్కారసారమని, సఛ్ఛీలమే షోడశ సంపదయని,
సంగ్రహించినాము స్వామీ నీ చెంత, సిద్ధింపుము దీక్ష ఒకింత.

మంచితనమే మన నిజ నైజమని, మితభాషే మణిమాణిక్యంబని, 
క్రమశిక్షనే కఠిన కవచమని, కృషితో కృప ఖాయమని,
విమర్శలతో క్రుంగవలదని, విశ్వాసమే విజయ తిలకమని, 
విద్యనేర్చినాము స్వామీ నీ చెంత, ఒసగుము వివేకము ఒకింత.

జీవన గతిగమ్యము శాసించు నిరంతర దిక్సూచికమవమని,  
క్లేశ దుర్లభమందున తోడు నిలచు వెలుగు సౌధమవమని, 
తెరచాప పయన గమనమును గమనించు పవనమవమని,
కోరుతున్నాము స్వామీ నీ చెంత, అనుగ్రహింపుము పలుకరింత... ఒకింత. 

The discovery of a Friend... an Experiment!

Absolute Delight...Always.

Aim: To discover a true friend amidst the multitude of acquaintances.

Motivation: “You are shaped by the company you keep; a piece of iron turns to rust if it joins with air and water. Iron glows and takes on useful shapes if it enjoys the company of fire” -Sathya Sai.

Theory:  Perceptions, as colours, are a result of a transitional phenomenon. A rain drop on its journey from skies to sands produces the rainbow which neither the oceans below nor the clouds above are capable of. Similarly, since we travel in the transient zones of a wandering mind and oscillate between the good, bad and the ugly we too generate thoughts and notions that distinguish us, program our paradigms, choose whom to be trusted and whom to avoid.

Apparatus: Light can penetrate darkness and not the other way round. You can create light not darkness, for darkness doesn’t exist on its own; it is merely the absence of light. Therefore, a healthy conscience with ample discrimination is recommended for realizing the results of this pseudo-technical venture.

Precautions:  It is a difficult art and the seasoned can falter too, as the experiences are random and guised beyond recognition and life is a game not played by the rule book.

Results: "Only those deserve the name of friends who help in uplifting life, cleansing the mind, elevating emotions and strengthening resolves. Those who drag you into pomp, pedantry, paltry entertainment and petty pranks are enemies not friends. Friends cannot be won by social status, financial squander mania, outer scintillations and verbal assertions. Look into the very soul, the inner motives, the deeper aspirations and achievements, and then, yield your loyalty to such" - Sathya Sai

Annexure:  Shakespeare’s thoughts in the voice of Lord Polonius.
                   (Hamlet- Act I, Scene III)

"... And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment...”