The first drops

There always are and will be things that we don't like -about places that we don't fancy... I happen to be in such a city right now. I don't like this place, its people, the weather and the all in all the whole package. Having said that I cant help but feel that no matter how dreary a place is, there are very places on Earth where a long awaited shower doesn't have a transforming effect.

And so it rained here for the very first time since I have arrived, the dust of the city that is so notorious has settled down as if it has been soothed and put to sleep. A gentle breeze blows and the noisy neighborhood seems spellbound by this sudden shower... After it ceased, I went up to the terrace with a cup of tea. Little drops of unsuspecting raindrops were still making their presence felt... They fall into my tea cup...raindrops mingled with the red amber colored liquid and it tastes like the elixir of life...

The sky is fast darkening with the cover of night enveloping him... A few playful bats flit about above my head (it is the 4th floor terrace), looking for fresh bugs after the sudden respite. Against the gray sky a lively lit up jet plane zooms by like a toy one...noiselessly. It looks like a futuristic taxi cab! Everyone seems to have fallen quiet too. Only the occasional cries of playing children reach me from the lanes below. And I wonder about this new found serenity in this place, there is almost a sense of inconspicuous beauty about this place today... this very place which seemed ugly and dull and harsh just the day before or in the morning itself... The grime and oil spills from vehicles have been washed off the street and swirling down with the rain water rushing along the storm drains, they reflect a myriad bouquet of colours.... liquid rainbows in the drain.

 

A few more tiny bats have joined the airborne acrobatics troop over my head.... I stayed a while longer, covered up against the chilly breeze, drawing warmth from my tea cup with my palms. An elderly couple walks down the now empty, lanes below. It is drizzling and she has lovingly shared her dupatta with her partner... they walk away quietly. Some moments are best shared in silence... As I sat there I realized that one cannot really call off a place as 'god forsaken' until you have seen it transform under a passionate outpour. I DO LOVE THE INDIAN MONSOON..... and its finally here!! ^_^

Lumps of Coal

Once in a while, it so happens that we stop and question all the things that are happening in our lives... and most of the times, it so happens that such times are bad times, times of trial and apparent misery. Great thinkers and philosophers have often said time and again, that everything happens for a reason and that if you look closely, there is a blessing disguised in every sorrow... 

Now, I can't possibly apply it to situations pertaining to great loss like death, but I certainly can relate it to lesser situations. Situations where I feel, things have gone wrong inspite of my giving it my best, doing it with the best of intentions. Situations where I feel I  had worked in vain, that it would have been better not to have tried at all or not to have had the desire to try even... But life really can't be like that, can it? What good are your dreams if you dare not take it out of its envelope of sleep and into the daylight of the waking world, what good are your resources if you do not put them to use.. what good is your time if you do not invest it in something?

The world is not perfect and so in an imperfect world, it is foolish to have the vision of the fruits of our labour precipitating perfectly. I find a grand revelation and a sense of solace in the words 'ichha matram avidya' - I have no idea of its exact origin but I read it in a spiritual text once. It means that to have a desire of things beyond your control is to live in darkness. It perfectly relates to the words of bhagwad gita which says 'karm karo phal ki chinta mat karo'. True enough, I cannot control the fruits of my action beyond ensuring that what I did was in the best of interests and completed with my best effort. Time and fate may mould even the best of my deeds into a bitter and sour fruit... 

The greatest ability of an individual then lies in the fact that he/she accepts it as being 'karm phal', the fruits of a past life or action which we cannot recall. When this acceptance is made out of love and a firm belief in God, one begins to see the good points hidden in even the messiest of situations, like one finds pieces of unpolished diamonds in lumps of coal... When we take out these pieces of experiences and polish them with the edge of our consciousness, there emerges pieces of valuable and precious jewels that shine brightly and light up our mind-scape...

---

Everything that happens, happens for a reason... and I believe something that I read once, that when you do not feel God walking beside you in trying times, it is because he is carrying you in his arms...