I love rains...

I love rains...and have enough reasons both logical and illogical for it. But as they say you don't need a reason to love....you just do it! My love for rains is long standing and deep seated...may be I am a sawan (Rain) baby has something to do with it...or maybe not.

The feel of that first drop of rain on your skin is inexplainable, it seems as if a message from above has touched you, something divine and beautiful. The smell of earth after the first shower is a blessing , it fills a place in your soul that seems to be awaiting it year long. The first walk in rain is unforgettable, when the drops make you smile and sometimes hide your tears. It is as if it brings out all your feelings in open. The brightness of the first thunderstorm lights up the world around , as if god is saying Smile - "I have not forgotten you". Rain is so positive, it cleans the debris, the mess and clears your vision. Only thing is that you have to allow the beauty of it to reach your heart and soul. Rain teaches you to love life, and love the fact that you are alive.

I would say a person who has never played in rain when a kid, had a dull childhood , one who never got his/her clothes dirty after splashing in puddles has missed something wonderful in life. When going to school if your uniform has never gotten wet - there is a memory missing in your collection. If you never sat in canteen or open in your college sipping tea when it was raining hard you wasted your college life. If you never arrived late at home rueing that it was raining but were actually having fun in rain - you missed out being young. If you have never walked in rain holding hands with your loved one - take a look at your love life again. I have some very beautiful memories of rain each year of my life and hope to keep adding to my collection.  

Rain touches you at every age , open yourself to it and it will change your outlook towards life. But then it takes courage to go out in the rain as it washes away the masks you hide behind, ye sabke bas ki baat nai. Rain comes to clean the earth and your soul. Allow it do its work. You would feel lighter and better and happier. Enjoy rain,  it is wonderful to smile when it rains coz then you are smiling with god afterall rain is a gift from above, cherish it.

The practical people who keep warning me about storms, dreary days, logged roads, traffic jams - I am sorry but your words do not sway my feelings - I simply love rains and the changes it brings in my world every year. You be happy in your pessimist world , I am deep in my rainy duniya.And my wait for the year ends, monsoon has arrived.

Read the following quote - "Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain". So -  Dance coz Life is worth it.

Criticise - you have nothing better to do

We all are surrounded by people who have nothing better to do except criticise the efforts of others or belittle their work or even show a disdain for anything and everything. They have only one goal in life - find out mistakes in anything you see. Remember the puzzle we use to play when kids - find out ten mistakes in the below picture. The critics never grow out of that phase in life. They are never a part of any  creative process because their minds, energy and efforts go into pointing the mistakes in others work. Imagine somebody who never puts in his/her soul into creating something but would very easily find time to look for loopholes. I really pity this set. How miserable this lot would be because there is nothing that is their own, they are always looking for negatives in everything, they are always putting others down, are rarely liked by anyone. What a pathetic existence! Poor them.

Amazingly these people always claim they can do it better, then why not do it! The other person even if made mistakes , had the courage to do the task. This is what the pathetic critic lacks - the courage to create , the conviction in his/her ability and above all their time that goes into creation. So they take the easy way out - Criticise other people. Attack befor they anyone questions you.

Isn't criticism a kind of mental torture , probably we humans are the most inhumane species on this earth. We always have scores of people who do their utmost to hurt others if not physically then mentally or emotionally. Ever heard of any other species attacking someone of their own just for the fun of it? You would not, this trait is entirely human. Only we hurt our own , only we put the fellow humans down, only we derive happiness in others sadness. This is ironical that we have lost so much humanity in the process of being civilised/sophisticated.

These critics hurt the new creators with their pathetic comments, snides remarks and rude gestures. In the process they affect the entire chain of creation. There is a set that says take criticism positively. I am fine with it as long as the critic is genuine about the mistakes as well as the appreciation. As long as the critic himself/ herself has been a creator. As long as the main motive of the critic is to help improve the creation and not put the creator down. In absence of these the critic is an undesirable component in the chain of creation.

Become a creator , then move up the ladder to become a critic . But do it only to improve others. Else keep your mouth shut.

A Touch

A touch says I care

A touch says I am there

A touch says beware

A touch says Smile for me

A touch says I'm concerned

A touch says I love

A touch says ... a lot

That's why they say when the words are not enough a touch says it all.

Touch - the first feeling we experience, the touch of a mother. And nothing can replace it when it comes to care. A baby freely touches and expresses what he/she can't speak. Surprisingly everybody understands because touch is the language of feelings which is universal. It says so much with just touching hands, putting hand on head - for blessings, a hand on the shoulder - to show solidarity, a hand on the arm - to warn, it is wonderful how it says it all.

Strangely when we grow up we unlearn this language and become shy especially when we feel vulnerable. So what could have been said with a little touch gets lost in the web of words and silences. We become so concerned about how it would look that we lose the freedom of touch with ourselves and our loved ones.  Can you think of words to replace a hug of a friend when you are sad, a kiss from your mom that says i love you, a little slap of your sibling that says I miss you, the touch on your head by your father to convey he protects you, holding hands with your loved one that says ... it all. With near and dear ones touch is a great way to communicate as nobody understands it except the ones using it. There is a little secrecy in the whole language. Hence lead the way and say it all

Next time you are confused what to say - use the language of touch. It is really simple but it expresses it all.

P.S : I am talking about positive touch here and not touching that has become a great social evil.

Enjoy the perfection of imperfection!

Lately I have been irritated with the set of people called the perfectionists. A set of people who want perfection in everything in life.....a dish, a dress, an occasion, a friend, a goal and so on. There are some people who are permanent members of this group and then there are some who become temporary members like me. Do ask how? You see off late I have trying to write an article and have ended up discarding it every time coz something seems missing. Now the fact that I have not been able to complete the article is making me go crazy. I fail to understand how can those perfectionists go through the ordeal of not creating anything for long or discarding everything they create in pursuit of perfection.

Yesterday I remembered something one of my mentors once said to me " Rachita - A start is perfection itself". She was concerned about the maddening pace I was working to achieve perfection in an assigned task. Of all the things I learnt from her , this was the best. Start because it means you are on the road to creation and would ultimately meet success or maybe even perfection. But wouldn't perfection be monotonous - you can't improve perfection or say what is a perfect creation for you should be perfect for everyone else??? Sounds confusing...let's unravel - God created this world - a perfect place to live with imperfect beings, us - this makes us all unique. Had we all been perfect , it would kill individuality in this world. So to be imperfect is to be individual. And I would rather be ME and unique than be perfect and a part of a monotonous race of human beings.

Each one of us is imperfect and together we complete the perfect puzzle called life. Perfection is a journey to enjoy life and not a destination for which you strive and struggle and make each moment of your life a waiting period. For that ultimate perfection you may be missing on the memorable moments of closeness with family, friends, nature, feelings, God and even yourself. So take mercy on yourself and strive to be YOU and you would find perfection in life . In terms of feelings and relations. For me perfection means up and downs of life - it's not boring , it  doesn't go through same machinations everyday, it has smiles and tears, love and fights, friends and foes. And above all it has creation in abundance.

So I say - Embrace the imperfection...and Enjoy the perfection of imperfection!

There are times I do not like what I write when I read it again and times when I get surprised that it was me who wrote it. But then this is my creation and maynot be perfect but this is ME.

Was she ready to fly?

Open sky, opportunities abound and a new life,

Everybody who loved her on first sight;

But nobody really had any idea

If she was ready to fly?

Leaving her nest & her beloved sights,

The siblings, friends and foes;

little things that made her loving world,

But was she ready to fly?

Thrown out of her comfort zone,

her toys and belongings left behind;

this new place had tastes of its own,

But was she ready to try?

Down and lost she looked around,

& found a friend in the new town;

to start her journey - confident again,

Oh, she was ready to try.

Smiling now she entered her new life,

Holding his hand, taking small flights;

This is why - she tried the new skies,

with him she was ready to fly...!