A Luminous Life...

Some of you might have come across the tipping story of the world’s richest man who astonished a waiter with his reply. It is said that when Bill Gates tipped the waiter who served him in a restaurant with a 5$, the waiter had a strange feeling in his face. After Gates realized and asked what happened, the Waiter said, “I'm just amazed because on the same table your son gave a tip Of 500$, and you his father, the richest man in the world gave only 5$.” Gate’s reply to this, which goes, "He is the son of the world's richest man, but I am the son of a wood cutter. Never forget your past!" forms the essence of roots that I wish to talk about. I found this story inspirational. It is hard to remain grounded after we become somebody. When a little achievement, some wealth and fame greet you, it is easy to leave behind your roots as though it has nothing to do with your life. Not to talk of becoming very powerful, extraordinary people, but even in our ordinary circums...

Sometimes you question life but the answers never come. It is simple when you are a child. Full of life, full of dreams, and you’re content...really happy too! Scraped knees hurt only for a while…You hurt but you forget, and you’re back to smiling, back to living….you seize life effortlessly, and you just get on with it. Childhood’s so precious don’t you think? But we never realize. When we are small we never realize that life is too short and every moment counts…everything feels like an illusion, a magical world but it’s only because we just know how to live it to the full when we are children… SOMEDAY, everything changes. You are older and the picture is different. You are happy and you are sad! Happiness fleets and the pain lingers… The past never changes, and each time you resolve to make every minute count, something happens that you don’t understand. You lose people. People, you thought would be around all your life…those, you joked with, talked with...

Many of us dream to travel the world when we grow up. To see what life looks like beyond the figments of our imagination. To see a new place, explore and experience. Practically speaking, it is impossible to go around the world in a lifetime. For most of us, this dream remains only a dream because as we grow older, we also find that our priorities change. The little of the world we have seen beyond our homes remain only the few places we have ventured out to, for studies, work, or health care and hardly leisure. Afterwards, travelling becomes a luxury that only rich people with time can afford. We could be fond of travelling, but even that becomes a not-good-enough-reason to pick a suitcase and go somewhere just like that. We are battling against time and money, priorities and families- the process which is likely to go on till we age and are no longer eager to see that new place anymore. This, however, does not necessarily mean that we cannot travel anymore in the positions we...

When health fails, everything else seems to deteriorate. But because it comes for free, we tend to take this most precious gift for granted. We do not often see how being healthy is essentially the first important step towards living a dream. It is actually the only thing that gives sense to any ordinary day. Without health, we are reduced to nothing but a mere weak mortal, who can really do nothing much. Even with brilliant thoughts and ideas brewing inside the mind, we cannot put them to use. Henri Frederic Amiel has said, “ To feel keenly the poetry of a morning's roses, one has to have just escaped from the claws of this vulture which we call sickness.” True indeed, we cannot wholly enjoy the beauty of nature when in sickness just as we cannot fully share the simple joys of living with others. It becomes a strain to talk or even listen when you are sick. Even the most exciting plans take a backseat, because then, you also realize that without that vigour and energy, all...

My brother once jokingly remarked that even if Mom planted something upside down, it would still grow. We used to laugh over it, but it is true that my Mom’s love for plants and flowers is enormous, that it seems magical to see anything and everything grow at the touch of her hands. If we couldn’t find her anywhere else, we always knew where to get her. She would be in the kitchen garden, lovingly tending to vegetable plants or totally engrossing herself in the numerous flower pots at home. Sometimes, one of my siblings would say, she loves her garden more than she loves us. That, of course isn’t true because we also know deep down that her love for plants is just one of the many manifestations of her love for us. She has always led the exemplary life even if it means we, her children are still short of the rich values she taught us through her simple ways. But, because of her, we are what we are today. I am glad that at least we have learnt not to waste our food because she has...

I sat with my colleagues talking how quickly time flies. They agree that when we were younger, time seems to move slower- so leisurely lingering that sometimes it felt like it wasn’t even moving. That we couldn’t wait for our summer breaks or weekends to crawl up so we could holiday and play all along. Those days, everything seemed permanent. Like school would forever go on and we would be excitingly terrified of exams every semester. Like college days would last and the friends we made through high school and university would always remain. Those days it felt like even the precious passing moments were never fleeting. That, from our own little closets, we viewed life differently, although with passion, zeal, hope and dreams. With anticipation for a good future. For a life that’s made of a decent job, home and comfort. Then, we thought we knew life. That we would have plenty of time to spare for all the people we’ve come to know, and mostly for those we love. Didn’t we also thin...

Suddenly you revive all the sweetness I'd forgotten;  long cherished dreams surfacing... the little gestures I stopped looking for.  You revive the long forgotten song in my heart, and I'd be a fool not to give it a try.

Few things in life are permanent. Like love that never fails when everything else does. Love, that can raise you up and lift your spirits when you feel like you are down the drains. It is the only permanent thing in this world that is quite enough to help you get through another day. Because love changes you in ways more than one and makes you want to be a better person. It gives you a chance to accommodate the needs and dreams of another person other than yourself, and allows you to extend greater kindness that you never knew you’re capable of. Love extracts from us, a will that is stronger than we can imagine; courage that lies buried inside of us until somebody special comes along and we are capable of daring and risking. Such power that it engulfs us with the passion to take the road less traveled, even if it means losing some less important trophies in life because the prize you’re holding on to, is worth much more than all other things. Such a little word used too often,...

Our lives are akin to books filled with episodes of experiences, which, they say come from lessons learnt along the way. For everybody across the world, a New Year marks the beginning of many things and events that goes around throughout the year. It is a time where we make up our minds and resolve to do, or not to do things. The dawn of a New Year is a special occasion for many people because it is also looked at as an opportunity to begin afresh, which is why making new year resolutions has also become a consistent tradition that continues to draw interest. The good thing about it is that resolutions only carry the finer things that we wish to add to our broken lives. In other words, no matter how badly broken we are, somewhere deep down, each one of us desire to become a person of worth. The New Year gives us this golden opportunity to mend our ways, even if it means we are trying to do it out of tradition.   Starting today, I believe we have set our goals, or at least ...