I am a Wild Poppy

Staring out of my bay window, I see a deceivingly hot, bright and a sunny day. When continuously stared at, the day left me reminiscing about the sunny summer days I lived in my childhood.

Summer vacation is the best part of any child’s life and I am no different. We've all waited for the months of April and May throughout our school lives. The feeling of getting back home after taking the last exam is inexplicable and out of this world. The idea of sleeping for hours together after the exams never really came in to existence. All that ran in one’s mind was to play play and play.

Hide and seek, Red Letter, Gold Spot, Kho kho, Pittu (seven stones), Lock and Key, Land or Water (Nadi Parvat), Dog in the Bone, running races, Lemon and Spoon, Color color etc. etc. are some of the games we all grew up playing. The only agenda in life then was to play.

The day used to start with a nice but hurried breakfast as all of us wanted to get to the playground as early as possible. Lunch used to be a forced act as all the parents screamed out to their kids until they were home. Afternoon was the time, where we (my brother and I) enjoyed a sumptuous meal with our favorite cartoon show being played on the Cartoon Network. However, Sunday was a day where we used to eagerly wait for “Derek Obrien” and all the whiz kids to take over the “Bournvita Quiz Contest” with their general knowledge. After a little rest, it used to be ice cream time. We used to wait for the ice cream cart vendor to make a grand entry by continuously ringing the bell and shouting “Ice Cream, Ice Cream”. The moment the bell started to ring, all of us used to break out of our homes just like the poppy seeds thrusting their way out when its flower blossoms. The Ice cream treat was followed by a series of never ending games till the dusk.

Although, every single day was the same, it never seemed mundane. It never felt monotonous. Every day was as promising as the previous one. Every night presented us with a good night’s sleep. The mind was far far away from any cruel realities of the world. Differences between two people were as big as a mole and lasted for as long as a blink of the eye. It was like living a fairy tale.

As I look beyond the window and stare in to the eyes of the life, I feel blessed to have experienced such a beautiful childhood. I feel blessed to be a part of that time where the idea of having a good time included playing in the sun, riding cycle on the streets, chasing each other, screaming away to glory etc. etc. I feel blessed to believe that life is much beyond being virtually connected.

Life is full of life. And I wish the fullness of life in everyone's life! :)

It's a Beautiful Day

It’s a beautiful day and I thank god for it with all eternity.

When I woke up this morning, it was dark, cloudy and viciously white all around. I thought “Arghhh, not again..!” I dreaded getting out of the bed. The thought of a whole gloomy day ahead of me was scary. But life, as we know it, is cruel enough to pull one out of the bed even on a cold dark day.

As I woke up and started doing the household chores, the sun shone through the thick black clouds and the skies appeared clear. I was happy and wished that it stayed like that for the rest of the day. Little I knew that the clouds and the Sun were up to a game of hide and seek. As the day is passing by, am seeing a little of sun, a little of clouds and a little of both together.

Isn’t this like a metaphor for what life is? It indeed is. We experience bright and sunny days where everything seems to be in our favor. We experience the dark and twisty days, where nothing is good enough. And then we live those days where we feel just okay. Happiness, Sadness and Satisfaction respectively describe the above mentioned days of our lives.

When we’re happy, we’re too busy to look around and pay our gratitude to the universe. When we’re sad, we’re blinded by the grief to feel any compassion towards anyone or anything. It is when we feel just okay, we ponder on the moments of joy and the moments of sorrow. And that is when everything around us gets a meaning. That is when we get the courage of solving the never ending jigsaw puzzle of LIFE.

There are thousands of philosophies that try to explain what life is. But ultimately everything boils down to just one philosophy – “Life is how you see it.”

When life throws lemons at you, make lemonade. When it offers you wine, relish it. And when it’s a dry day, enjoy the lemonade and wine moments :)

Belief is the keyword. When everything is black, one should believe that the darkness is not here to stay. When everything is white, one should believe that it will stay like that forever. When one starts believing the BELIEF, life goes on to a Grey mode. There is joy, there is sorrow and all in all there is a feeling of being content and satisfied. Being content is a feel good factor. A good feeling leads to a happy mind. A happy mind builds a happy soul. And a happy soul makes this world a better place to live in.

It’s a beautiful day. I thank the clouds for sparing us from the scorching heat and I thank the sun for throwing light and make us feel warm and happy.

It’s a beautiful life and I wish that the same beauty takes over everyone’s life.