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Distant Dreams

He sighs as he sleeps. He smiles as he dreams. It is a recurring dream. Distant lands filled with numerous sand dunes, dotted with palm trees, and with excessive heat come to life. He, suddenly, sees a vision of an exceedingly beautiful woman moving about an oasis. He stumbles on to catch a close glimpse of the woman in white. He only perceives the silent, blue waters of the oasis and a few camels resting by it. The woman had disappeared from sight. The oppressive heat beat down on him. He takes some water in his hands and drinks it. His thirst being quenched, he wakes up. The vision in white, however, chases him in real life. He, now, looks at every woman to see a resemblance of his dream woman but is disappointed every time he fails to see her.

Evergreen Love

Love makes the world go around. Very true. We may sometimes label the roller coaster rides of some of the famous couples in the literary world, Romeo and Juliet (by William Shakespeare) and Oliver and Jennifer (Love Story by Erich Segal), as sentimental stuff. But then most of us inwardly love them. For, we too would perhaps want to experience a love like they did. We too crave love like theirs. We may want to look at love in more practical ways. For example, love between couples is needed for extending the human race. Still, love for love’s sake is the mantra for many of us who want to feel the warmth and tenderness of another being. Love, certainly, exceeds all our attempts at being pragmatic. All of us at some point in our lives dance along with it.

Happy Valentine’s Day in advance. May all forms of love that exist in this world prosper on this day and on all other days.

Valentine’s Day { Roses }

Let us celebrate Valentine’s Day with roses of different hues.

Roses inspire love. Let’s get inspired this season.

Love Quotes

Let us usher in the Valentine’s Day with some quotes by Pablo Neruda.

Magical Moments

Dreams engulf her. She had always wanted some magic to transport her to an idyllic land. She had always wanted to escape the mundane events that defined her life. She is in a circus setting witnessing the acrobats fly in the air, performing those gravity-defying stunts. It mesmerizes her. The joker, an indispensable part of a circus, continues his ridiculous banter. His act enthralls her. She feels light. Her mind is agog with these indistinct, yet believable dreams.

She travels to the land of fairies and angels. She seeks redemption from them for her overactive mind, which is always churning with nervous energy. She wants her mind to be quiet and to be mindful of the important things rather than be rambling for unattainable things.

She wakes up. Her dreams have calmed her.

Hope springs eternal in every heart

Hope is the last vestige of man in these uncertain times. Hoping for better times to come is the mantra. Hoping for the well being of our loved ones is the order of the day. Hoping that the situation will change for the better is the eternal wish.

Man even in dire circumstances looks at the brighter side of things. It’s a sense of optimism and hope that keeps them going. It’s a hope for good times to come. It is natural human tendency to try to rise above the trying times. It is basic human nature to work for the better. Wars, famines, disasters have not been able to dim the human spirit. It springs forth with new hope and eventually brings in new and happy beginnings. Unforeseen as the future lies, man’s unvanquished heart fights on. Because he knows there is light at the other side.

Emotions Evoked

The flurry of emotions that a book can evoke is immense. While reading “Normal People”, I was acutely reminded of the class divide that exists in our society; of the trials and tribulations that a quiet and introverted person has to go through to find his or her place in society. Orhan Pamuk’s book “The Museum of Innocence”, an eternal love story has the potential of evoking such loving thoughts for one’s beloved. “Where the Crawdads Sing” brings to the fore with such deftness the beauty of nature, in which the main protagonist, Kya finds her sustenance and protection in the abode of nature. Nature can surely provide and protect. Marjan Kamali in “The Stationery Shop of Tehran” weaves a tale of poignant young love which is forbidden but lasts a lifetime in the lover’s heart which testifies the truth that love is eternal and true. In her book “A Long Petal of the Sea”, Isabel Allende so beautifully writes about the effects of political upheavals on the lives of her characters, which is an apt description of the effects of war that definitely and certainly rewrites the destinies of the people involved in it. We simply cannot remain immune to their direct or indirect effect on our lives and the lives of the people we love.

Thoughts on the New Year

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It’s New Year. We are bitten by the festive fervor. We welcome the new year with open arms. We want it to be calm and happy. We want ‘hope’ to be the overwhelming feeling. We want to wish away all the feelings of pain and desperation. We want to reassure ourselves that this year and more years to come will leave us with wonderful memories. Memories we can fall back on and smile at when they invade our mind space during our leisure hours. We gear up to face new challenges and add beauty and prosperity to our lives. We look essentially to better our lives in the new year.

Winter is here

Woolens, snow, the stinging, biting cold that engulf our lives mark the arrival of winter. The fireplace in our homes burns bright and we huddle around it with the rendition of stories and small chit-chat to keep us happy and cozy. The first snowfall mesmerizes us but the blocking of our streets with continuous, heavy snowfall makes our lives miserable. We try to negotiate with the harsh winter conditions through our grit and by routing our lives around it. The busy streets wear an empty look throughout winter as we mostly stay indoors to beat the cold; though we venture out to warm up as the sunshine is up and going, although fleetingly. We drink loads of hot soup, tea, coffee, chocolate to keep our spirits up. Winter is the time when Christmas is celebrated with gaiety as the singing of Christmas carols lifts our spirits. It is also the time when we welcome the new year, hoping for a sweet, wonderful year ahead of us.

The Quest for the New

Scientific discoveries and inventions are a testimony to man’s quest for the new. To know the unknown has led mankind to a spate of new discoveries. Man’s quest to fly led to the invention of the airplane as also so many other inventions that heralded the advent of the modern age. We are now surrounded by electronic gadgets that have made life so much easier for us. If man searches for the new in the field of science, he is always in search of the new in all spheres of his life. He loves to fill his life with newfound music, books, and movies. He is excited at the prospect of forming new bonds and relationships with his fellow human beings. In the case of his old relationships, he always seeks ways to rejuvenate them by reigniting the passions and feelings which might have been eroded over time. He looks forward to visiting a new place, tasting local cuisines. On holidays, when a man is at leisure, he always looks for avenues to bring a newness to his life. Whether it is seeking a new city to live in, moving to a new job, buying a new car, or learning to play a new musical instrument, man is always in the quest for the new.