Observe and learn

Look around us - people, people of different sizes, colors - each a snow flake, every life with a different purpose.  One aspect of my job that I absolutely love, is the whole spectrum of human beings that I get to interact with  Unlike jobs where you generally cross paths with one section or class of people, I get to strike conversation with a diverse mix.Youngsters just in the throes of beginning a new job, homemakers, unemployed, successful businessmen, professionals ... the full array . Hi- fliers, vagrants, drifters, writers, poets, magicians, musicians, professional gamblers, priests, a convict  yes those too. Stories of love, betrayals,addictions, survival , separations and unions. Stories of courage, of hope, of despair and will to live.
People from diverse backgrounds, countries, ages , with stories that would put the soap operas to shame, yet they all share a common story of love, hope , struggle, grief. It doesn't matter who you  are, it doesn't matter what you do, we are all united in our humanity. Our emotions are the same, our expression of the same might be different.

I have learnt life doesn't stop till it actually does and you need money to pay the undertaker even after you die, yet wealth does not buy you health or a seemingly healthy body not a long life. I have learnt that your courage is tested till the end - loss of near and dear ones are blows that take time to recover. You  never recover, but you do learn to live without them - your spouse or children.

I have learnt smile and kindness are the universal language of love and friendship and  that a kind word, a genuine show of concern in dire times forges connections for life.

One of the most important lessons I have learnt is never ever judge - you don't know the story until it is told to you. Time and again I find myself unknowingly judging people, and time and again I have been proven wrong - absolutely wrong. Everybody has a story - and  in many ways we write our own stories -each one of us. Our stories develop and grow with every choice we make. All our decisions, everyday, every moment sculpt us to be the person we are today.

Wordy communication

I have been fascinated by communication - the art of connecting with other souls.The tools are different, but the most common one are words. Verbal or written.  Never ending chain of words - tumbling out of my mouth -  often  unnecessary  and lethal in destroying the music of silence. We are afraid of silence , we are afraid to listen to our thoughts, to just be. I love words, am enthralled by its beauty, humbled by its power and just about how much pleasure or pain it can give me.

There are words and then there is body language - your tone, your stance, your sheer attitude when you talk to others - all a composite part of communication. Why is it that the words that sound perfect in your head come out all distorted? Relationships are built on communication- expression of emotions, exchange of thoughts, yet it is always so difficult to get the message across. Maybe we are so consumed by emptying our thoughts, we forget the very purpose of words.

Maybe we hear what we want to hear - maybe our actions speak louder than the words,or just maybe the words just got lost trying to find the way to the listener.  I am fascinated by words, by the empty spaces, by the sheer impact of it triggering off hundreds of conflicting emotions.Words popping out of pages of novels- evocative and imaginative - words coming out of our mouths laced with emotions and tones, words bland and precise in instruction books, words singing and dancing with music creating a whole different dimension.

Words in languages unknown, words corrupted or mutated by modern lifestyle - depending on how you look at things, words pure and ancient or obsolete , whatever be the case, are powerless or powerful depending on how we project it.

Visual arts, music - silence all communicate - yet words with its flexibility, with its strength is still most powerful of all - for it is just a seed that gets meaning in your head and heart. 

Embrace the unknown

It takes a second of bad decision to get into an accident, a minute to digest the bad news of ill-health or just to comprehend that life will not be the same anymore  Unexpected setbacks are part of our lives. We plan, we organize and just when we think we have got it all figured out, life happens. It generally happens when are least prepared for it. But then isn't this what life is all about? The ups and downs, the unpredictability, the challenges, learning to just accept and go with the flow?

The beauty of life lies in the mystery of unknown. The unraveling of life, the unfolding events - every moment unknown and maybe the last.

 The more rigid we are with our plans and pre-conceived notions, the harder it is for us to spring back. Being flexible, and always respecting the presence of unknown is what prepares us when things go out of our control.

Flexibility and going with the flow, the magic potion for keeping your peace of mind. The more we try to control the events in our lives, the deeper we sink into misery. This in no way implies that we remain inactive, it just means that we change our goals, we change our paths with changing scenery.

In our society, compromise, generally implies that we have adulterated our dreams. Yet compromise is the first step towards leading a peaceful life. Maybe compromising suggests not having the faith in your dreams, maybe it reflects our cynicism with life, but without the middle way, without changing our perspectives we are only adjusting our sails to the winds.