Soulmate-finding

To me, the entire concept of finding one’s soul mate seems like a game. It’s as though a hundred million people are left loose in a gigantic playground. Each one is given a little piece, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle piece, which is the half of a small puzzle. The aim of the game is to find the matching other half.

The game begins.

Some people frantically run around, linking up with one person after another, trying to match their piece. Some wait, hoping that the matching ‘other’ will find them instead. Some think that the piece being carried by somebody else would match theirs, but then realize that it doesn’t. They continue searching. Others go a step further, trying to ‘fix’ their two pieces together by turning them around in every possible way, and when they find that they can’t ‘fix’ them together, they are devastated, and don’t feel like playing anymore for the next five years.

A few lucky ones find their matching halves very early in the game, but then they never do get to play much of it. Nevertheless, for many they are the role models; the ones that inspire the others to continue playing and searching.

Well, we keeping playing, hoping to ‘click'.

And if we don’t, we simply learn to play.

Or we learn to wait.

Or we understand that we secretly don't want to find the matching partner because running around is much more fun.

(This is just Level 1 of the game. Level 2 is harder, because once the pieces fit, they start changing in shape. Is it possible for them to still match after they change? Don't ask me... I don't know!)

;-)

Buddist meditation chant

The river is flowing,
flowing and growing,
The river is flowing,
down to the Sea

Flow river carry me,
Your child i will always be,
Flow river carry me
down to the Sea


This chant was taught to me by a very special teacher at school. Thanks for coming into my life in those early years, Ms. D.

The sun on my eyelashes

Have you ever noticed the sunlight falling on your eyelashes?

I was sitting in the garden this afternoon, the sun shining on my face. My eyes were half closed, and I could see the blur of green beyond. Then, through half closed eyes, I began to focus on my eyelashes.

They suddenly seemed so long when I looked at them like that. And there was the refracting sunlight on them. Jewels of colour, sparkling from within. The colours were fluid, sometimes forming spots, sometimes in streaks, and occasionally in kaleidoscopic patterns.

The 'nothing' around us is filled with so much beauty we fail to see!

Colourful buildings

I went to a collegue (and friend)'s house this evening. The terrace of her apartment building offers a fascinating view. On one side is a sea of other apartment buildings. On the other side is the runway of the old airport, stretches of green and a lake. And somewhere up in front, these two contrasts meet, balancing each other out.

When one looks only at the buildings, it's hard to believe one is in Bangalore. Yet, this landscape is very different from that of a city like say, Mumbai. After looking in that direction for sometime, the colours of the buildings started appearing very prominent. They created a palette of pastel shades, with strong accents of the blue water tanks dotting almost every terrace.

How interesting a collection in this colour story would be.

I'm in love with the colours of this country.

The kid on the bus

On the way back home this evening, I happened to sit opposite a three-year old boy holding a pink balloon. He was with his mother, who looked no older than a elderly girl, and another girl-woman who accompanied them.

The journey back home being a rather long one, I decided to amuse myself, and began playing with the little boy. He insisted on my playing 'Catch' with him, using the balloon as the object to catch. Finally, what began as an simple game between the two of us, grew into something that involved half the population on the bus, as the boy deliberately threw the balloon in a new direction each time it was his turn. When I decided enough was enough, I kept the balloon with me. Then, to avoid dealing with a possible tantrum, we invented this game called 'Give me 5'. The game was basically... nothing. You just had to exchange high fives, and to bring in some variety, you could alternate hands, change directions and so on.

Finally, when we arrived at the stop they were to get off at, the cute kid said bye with a five.

Not a bad ride home.

A hoop that never ends

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends.

These lines from the song 'Colours of the Wind' mean so much. I remember listening to this song as a child, rather taken by the concept of a 'colour-filled wind'.

Trees

I'm blessed with a beautiful tree just outside my bedroom window. It's tall and strong, and despite the proximity of houses on either side of it, it is magnificent in size. I take it as Nature's reminder of the Life Energy running through every living being.

I took a walk in the unexplored by-lanes of a busy road the other day. I was amazed at how little I had seen, despite having lived not too far away from this place for years. There are extremely tall trees here, and walking in their shelter was a quietening and humbling experience. There was a soothing comfort about their presence, as though they protectively enveloped all beneath them.