Lost Treasures

Lost Treasures

I can see the green trees outside the square wooden frame,

But my thoughts are a thousand miles and years away.

On a plain of hardened brown sand,

With spots of golden sunlight bouncing off a tiny stream at the edge of the forest;

A ray of light hits my eye and a bird glides past my window

Carrying in its tiny beak a broken twig,

A twig I’ve seen many a times nudged between the cracks of crumbling temples,

Holding tiny blue birds chirping and squawking for wriggling worms.

As I take the stairs two at a time I hear a familiar chirp.

The tree outside my window comes to view and I see a splash of blue amidst the green.

I stand, I gaze, at the tiny blue bird building its nest

I wish, I yearn for the silhouette of crumbling temples, the hardened brown soil of the Mexican Valley.

When will I ever see the ancient ruins of my favourite Aztec temple?

Or ever feel the rush of unearthing lost treasures…when???

Famine & Wastage...two ends of a spectrum!!

Recently I was reading an article by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon...couldn't call it an article actually...rather a plea for help to just about manage the famine in Somalia. I was moved to tears just reading the plight of fellow human beings in Africa. Sadly that's only one of half the spectrum...the other is the large percentage of food wastage across the world and especially in India. We are known for having a large population of which a good percentage of it can't even have a square meal a day and we also have large weddings, events and parties that waste a large quantity of food...where is the rational? What are we doing?

It can't all be blamed on the government... we all waste food if not on a daily basis then at least on a weekly basis and to imagine that this kid in the picture doesn't get that and in all likelihood won't survive until she can have a meal like that!! Where is our responsibility? 

Corporates all over the world talk about CSR initiatives...is doing our bit to eradicate famine a CSR initiative? It need not be anything big...it could just mean us having smaller parties, order just about enough food, maybe even request guests not to waste food thinking about the millions who don't have any. I might sound crazy for all you know, especially to those dedicated to Indian hospitality which means that a guest should have more than enough and in the process probably end up wasting a lot more. 

I didn't say that the government was completely exempt from blame either. Pakistan seems to be the only sub-continental country who has learned its lesson from its past. It's one-dish law for wedding ceremonies seems to be progress in the right direction with the Indian Government also recently waking up to about 20% food wastage in the country and with food grains rotting away in warehouses with no proper storage facilities. Our government is "studying" Pakistan's law but lets hope that that study doesn't take long enough for about another million lives to be lost around the world to famine...the other end of the of the spectrum. Remember...we have a responsibility to our planet and to our fellow beings.

The archaeologist of our Original selves...

Do you know that when we were teenagers or young adults :) our parents usually warn us about a gang of friends coz they thought that they brought out the worst in us? The very concept of being told what to do and who to join usually freaked me out and I was only too happy to go against their word. Why am I thinking about this when I'm nearing 30? This is why...I watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) yesterday and it dawned upon me as to why we all behave the way we do when we are with this "certain" gang of friends.

Our parents were completely wrong...our gang didn't bring out the worst in us but they just helped reveal to ourselves the true individual we are. The crazy, whacked out risk taker, the poetic day dreamer....whatever it maybe...our true friends actually brought out the best in us. ZNMD is not just a feel good movie but if we were to understand the subtexts in it, the silences in it and the craziness in it we would get to know what it really wants to convey. Each of us keep hiding our true selves and nature behind our mundane lives, while we are amongst people we don't want to displease, people with whom we want to keep up appearances. 

and then... In those instances, moments or journeys that we take with our gang...it's then that we realise "what the heck, where have I been all this while?"  

We re-discover ourselves...you could call it as treasures lost that have now been unearthed...it's amazing to have the people around us who give true meaning to the words "Joie de Vivre"...Kudos to my GANG...you've brought the best out in me...my laughter & my strength...you've pushed me beyond the boundaries that I'd drawn for myself...you've kicked me on my butt when I've been lazy or when I've been pretentious...tapped me on my head and said "Remember who you truly are!!" You guys helped unearthed the Original me....and continue to do so....this is for you...

Why do I feel compelled to write...

I haven't been writing in a very long time. Actually it's been years since I ever put my thoughts into words but of late the thought of me not writing at all has become a burden to me. It kept reminding me of the parable of the talent wherein I felt like the steward who wasted his one talent and buried it for safe keeping. Sigh...the purpose of this blog is not just to write a blog but to unburden me. So...if you are reading this don't expect any funny quips...I'm generally not the funny type :)

I hope to write about some things that inspire me, that move me, that make me think...and of course some poetic scribbles of my own. 

A tribute to the never ending phenomenon .... Harry Potter!!
The latest HP movie brought out an argument amongst literary critics...what is so great about HP. Harold Bloom criticised JKR stating that her writing was mindless and cheap, her writing did not inspire a higher thought. I beg to differ. Reading is not necessarily meant to inspire a higher thought process. It could just be for the pleasure of reading and understanding the creative process of the mind at which JKR excels beyond doubt. And whoever said that HP doesn't inspire higher thought has not been able to understand the subtext that runs throughout the entire series....the indomitable spirit of man (be it a muggle or wizard)...the importance of choices that we make which determine if we are good or bad...the constant struggle within every single person to resist or embrace evil when the going seems tough. I could go on and on about the numerous subtext that is present within the series but suffice it to state that its obvious to those who are presumptuous to say that their writing inspires higher thought.