Curiosity and Peace

If this Universe were a long beach, our Earth would be one small grain of sand on that huge beach. If the Earth were a long beach, I would be a smaller grain of sand on that. Then, what exactly am I? Am I a spiritual being in a human form or a human being on a spiritual path? Am i powerless in front of the vast Universe or do I have the power of million such Universes in me? Do the electrons which revolve in my atoms similar to the planets revolving in the solar system? Why is the solar system's functioning similar to that of an atom, that being a majuscule and this a minuscule. Are both of them possessing the same powers? Isn't it that solar system is made up of trillions of nothing but these atoms. If you wondered Who made the solar system, then in case we had to find out who made these tiny invisible atoms? Who made sound? And how can we hear it? Who made the Sun and gave light to it? Who made colors and gave us the power to differentiate to them? Who made water and gave it the power to quench our thirst? Who made you and why are you reading this? Who made me and why i am writing this? If I and you were made by God, then who made Him? If there was someone else who had made God, then who had made him? Or was everything made by itself? God, you , me , water, colors and music? But, everything has a creator, isnt it? Then who is it? Is it not that we are just a form of God? Is it not that God is everywhere - in you, me , the neighbours, students, teachers, ministers, police and even the terrorists? Then why is God killing himself? Why is God fighting with himself? Why is God criticizing himself? They say if you could shrink the lifetime of this Universe into one year, we would be in the last 30 seconds of the last day of the last month. Does that mean doomsday is nearby? Is death inevitable? But, I am still unclear about my identity, how can I die?

I get very curios about life but somewhere down the lane at the end of the day, it gives me peace. I find an event like the Mumbai terror attacks small in front of the extremely vast universe. I feel there is someone very powerful above all of us who is watching everything and will definitely do something about it. Everything is going on perfectly, it's a perfect script written by Him. Whether it was someone loosing his job or someone loosing his relative, everything is perfect, isnt it? No leaf of a tree can even move without His permission, then obviously everything is happening with His own will. If He doesnt have any objection, why should we? So let's just sit back and enjoy His movie.

Dancing on the Lonely Beach

Cool breeze and waving palm trees welcome me as I open my arms to embrace them. The whole universe seems to be right here, on this lonely beach. I wave my hands to the helicopter flying by and imagine how the beach would look from there - up above. The sea waves kissing the sand belt passionately on the lonely beach and the nature around enjoying their love. I jump with joy and move my body, swirling around in love with the scene. I run towards the waves as they recede, I run back when they proceed towards me. I run towards the palms and express my joy to them and they wave in response. I run along the long beach throwing my hands in the air as the waves come and wash my feet. I rotate, jump, run and bounce. I kick my feet into the sand making it fly, I collect some water in the cup of my hands and throw it high. It comes down crashing on my face and I smile. I see the horizon and my eyes glow up. I lay down in the lap of the beach. Sea waves come and kiss me and I feel shy. I surrender myself completely to them - the sea, beach, and the music. The music of my soul, music of the crashing waves, music of the embracing breeze, the music of my dance. I wish for my heart's desires and jump again with ecstasy. I dance as if no one were watching me. I dance on this lonely beach to my heart felt joy.

I call this a 'magic moment'. We all have magic moments in our life but we pretend as though it were a stranger to us. We experience pure love and the power of this universe at least once in a day and that is our magic moment. But, why do we ignore it? Why do we not realize the beauty of it?

The Great BOOT-POLISH Competition of 1958* - II

"FROM RAILWAY PLATFORM TO THE PATH OF GLORY"
The New York Times, 15th of September: He resides at the New York Railway platform, he earns his bread by polishing other's shoes all day but today he is on top of the world. Meet Sebastian, the winner of the Great BOOT-POLISH competition. Sebastian is the winner of 1,00,000 dollars and his happiness knows no bounds.....


Andrew was shattered, he was taken aback, 30 days of sheer hard work led him to absolutely nothing. He was totally unnoticed, someone who was worth nothing stole the show. After all, what was Sebastian? He wasn't even educated or had a proper schooling, then how could he win everything? How could Andrew loose to him? It was shameful...

But wasn't this quite obvious? A boot-polisher like Sebastian who is a professional at polishing shoes ought to win the competition, after all he was the best! But, was it fair that Andrew's hard work was not rewarded? Was it fair for Sebastian to win the fight when there were so many others who had worked so hard? Was it fair for the organizers to allow Sebastian to participate in the competition? You would not invite professional painters to a painting competition and then declare them as the winners leaving all others fooled!

Fair or unfair, one thing was sure - Andrew was cheated, by himself! Yes, he cheated himself by participating in this mega trick. He cheated himself by not realizing his value. He cheated himself by getting carried away. He cheated himself by his haste for making it BIG. He cheated himself by ignoring the universal truth

The truth that his destiny was inscribed to his fortune before his birth and he couldn't change it, in fact, no one could. His path was laid and he had to walk it, there was no looking back neither any alternate ways. He had to find that path, he had to hunt for it and then explore it's true potential. Wasn't it true what Shakespeare had said about us? This world is a stage and we all are actors. Our roles have been pre-defined, we need to realize it and play our parts. And this was where Andrew cheated himself, by not playing his part, by not realizing his role and it's purpose.

What role will you play in this world or Will you cheat yourself?

THE END

* - This is purely a work of fiction, any resemblance to similar stories, old or new is purely coincidental. No part of this maybe copied or reproduced without the permission from the blogger.

The Great BOOT-POLISH competition of 1958*

Old and withered black shoes in the left hand and Shoe Polish in the right hand, thousands of people waited for the event to begin. No, it was not an exchange offer for shoes but it was the Great BOOT-POLISH competition of 1958. Since there were more rivals coming up in the market, one of the leading shoe polish brands had a new concept of marketing. "Polish your shoe and win huge money" - were the slogans being announced all over the city of New York. A grand advertising campaign and innovative marketing techniques played their tricks on the people. 14th of September saw a huge crowd assemble at the Times Square and the purpose - polishing their shoes!

People do anything for money - believe me, absolutely anything. An insignificant action which only school children and white collar workers would do everyday was made so attractive and exciting that more than a quarter of new york people were there ignoring every other important thing in their life. And no points for guessing that the mid week of September, 1958 shattered all the records for polish equipment sales. Something which would cost around less than 100 could give a chance to win 1,00,000! So, why not try?

They were all there - from rich businessmen to the hot dog vendor next street. From blacks to whites, children to adults, engineers to doctors and wonder who else. And there were some with black marks on their cheeks signifying the amount of practice they had done at home, one of them being Andrew. 1 lakh wasn't a small amount that time, though it may sound peanuts for us today.

Doing his honors in microbiology, Andrew was one of those smart, intelligent and ambitious guys, who had a very clear goal in life and dedicated his blood to it. He knew he would make it BIG one day and he was desperately desperate for that day. If the desperate desperation were to take a human form desperately, it would be Andrew. Immensely desperate for success and recognition, he would go through every little opportunity that comes by his way to make it BIG. Little did he knew that everything in this Universe had a time frame. If he had to be successful and popular, it would take time, but as i said, he was desperately desperate for it NOW!

Winning the great BOOT-POLISH competition was not normal, his photograph would be on the front page of every newspaper, his video holding the winning trophy would be on every other channel, he would win 1,00,000 with which he could start his own enterprise. Dreaming all these, he set out to participate in this grand marketing trick. One whole month of research and hard work followed. What would happen if a shoe made of leather and a paste made of wax meet? How can this chemical reaction be enhanced to make the shoe shine better?

"Hey, I am not that bad at chemistry....equally good at it. Probably I can combine my biology also to pursue my future in Bio-Chemistry", he thought. Now this was the most disturbing thing about Andrew, his timidity. For every new opportunity he would discover, he would get more confused about his career. And this confusion would never end. More the opportunities, more the confusion. He would think he is fit enough for every other talent out there and he would end up being a jack of all trades, master of none. He knew he had to master only one talent if he wished to make it BIG, but this awareness was of no help. He continued to be confused in life and washed his hands with whichever river came by his way.

"I have been sent to this world to fulfill a unique job, I have a fixed destiny, all i need to do is find the secret path to it and unlock the mystery", he pondered. His insecurity that he may die without letting the world know him made him timid. His fear that he may die a normal death without becoming popular, without achieving his goal, without accomplishing his dreams, worsened the situation and he ended up in polishing his shoes 10 times every day for 30 long days just in case he wins this great competition and all his dreams would come true. There is nothing wrong in expecting good results, especially if you have worked so hard and hey, who doesn't want recognition in life? Even you do....but would it be OK to polish my shoe on the street in front of thousands for that recognition? Well, there is no right or wrong answer for this but it all depends on the perspective. Perspective of the individual about good and bad, about right and wrong, about BIG and small, about success and failure, about being popular or unpopular.

Old and withered black shoes in the left hand and Shoe Polish in the right hand, even he set out to be a part of this great historic competition and to make a difference, to be on the front page of the newspaper next day, to be on the television screens of lakhs of people on the same day. He was supremely confident about his victory, after all he has worked extremely hard and he has wished for this from the bottom of his heart truly and Paulo Coelho says "When you wish for something truly, the whole universe conspires for you to achieve it". He could sense that universe at Times Square on that day. They all were there, thousands of participants, only to lose so that Andrew could have won. They were all there, from rich businessmen to the hot dog vendor next street, from blacks to whites, children to adults, engineers to doctors, to conspire for Andrew's victory.

The press could witness a mad crowd that day, busy making a leather piece shine to excellence. Within a few minutes, it would end and the jury would walk through thousands of shoes to pick only one, the one which would shine bright and sparkle! Andrew could recollect each and every moment he had gone through the whole of previous month for this one day, for this one moment, for his one shoe to be picked up. He could recollect how the "Polish your shoe and win huge money" marketing slogan caught his attention. As his memories rewinded, the judge forwarded to look at more shoes, to pick up a shoe which was extremely striking, sparkling and shining. He went ahead in search of that X factor. He examined each shoe thoroughly, hand picked a few and tested their genuineness. The crowd would surround the judge(and even fall on him), they would move along with him shoe by shoe. Photographers were busy clicking pics of thousands of them. They appeared as though Edison's thousand attempts of inventing the bulb were on display. Some were dim, some too glary while some never lit. As the judge approached Andrew's shoes, his eyes twinkled, he could see them - dark like the night and bright like the stars.......

......................to be continued

* - This is purely a work of fiction, any resemblance to similar stories, old or new is purely coincidental. No part of this maybe copied or reproduced without the permission from the blogger.

Sweet and Pure Honey

Honey Bee is one of those flying insects which many of us do not like. It has been very unfriendly with man but there is something in it which is truly inspirational for life. Look at the way a honey bee does its job. It goes through hundreds of flowers, picks up the best from each and gathers them to make honey. It goes carefully through each flower examining it and receives only the nectar from it neglecting the rest. It collects nectar from every flower and hence we get the opportunity to taste something like honey, pure and natural sweet!

Using this simple technique the honey bee carries a message for everyone - if you want to make your life as sweet as honey, gather the good from everyone. Good thoughts, good memories, good experiences, good lessons from the flowers in your life - your friends and family. Seek for the good in everyone and your life too shall be sweet and pure like the honey. Remember, Good in Good out.

Want to be successful?? You need to fail then...

It's a full moon night and i am walking lonely near the lake, completely unknown of my destination, wandering all over the place and enjoying the scenic beauty. Questions arise in my mind as to what i want to be and what i want to achieve. "Success" is the first obvious reply to come from the inside. Success in achieving my goal, in pursuing my dreams and following my purpose. But then, I think all these thoughts are too heavy for the bright moonlit night. Why not forget the world and just enjoy it.

I stare at the silver moon for a long time and it's crystal reflection in the lake. They don't seem to leave each other. The brighter the moon gets, the brighter is the reflection. The moment the moon hides itself behind a cloud, so does the reflection. I wished for only the moon, then why do i get this unwanted reflection?? It was then that i realized the laws of nature. The laws which bind this entire Universe, no one can escape from them, not even the law creator himself, then what am I after all?

And hence, i had no other choice but to accept the reflection. I spent some time standing near the lake under a huge tree with my eyes stuck to the bright full moon reflection on the crystal waters. There was mist all over and the surroundings were filled with silver light from the moon. Very soon i realized that the reflection was in fact more beautiful than the original celestial ball.

The moon was too high in the sky to touch but i had this reflection which i could touch, feel and play with. I left the lake to become still and the waves to settle so that i could see the reflection clearly. And there it was - the most beautiful sight i could have ever seen, the full crystal clear moon surrounded by millions of twinkling stars. Absolutely wonderful and mystical, as if I were just dreaming. Then i lifted my face to see the beautiful painting. I wished if I were the moon, soaring up in the sky in the company of millions of bright sparkling stars.

That was the night i realized the laws of nature - if you want the moon, accept it's reflection. If you want SUCCESS, accept FAILURE because failure is nothing but success' own reflection. Treat both of them as if they were same. Failure is nothing but the beginning of success. Stare at your failures and learn from them and then lift your face to see the success you achieved from your failure. If you want to have stars around you, if you want to make great friends, you need to accept enemies. Treat your friends and enemies equally. And then life becomes more beautiful than ever. So remember, Want to be successful, You need to fail then...