Just Dream

I dream of a cold summer night

When the stars shall shine

Like your baby eyes

And hide behind

Those clouds

In spite

I dream of a warm winter day

When the sun shall burn

Like your silly love

And hide behind

Those hills

In sulk

I dream of the time in between

When you shall hold me

Under the white quilt

Near and forever

And whisper

"Just dream..."

-R-

Ps: Submitted for Poetry Potluck 36 at Jingle Poetry

The Best Gift

Impressive and innovative ad, isn't it?These days busyness and boredom are the two common but contradictory complaints in this world.Everything is all about time,it is either the lack or the excess of it.It flies past us like a silent jet and when people go in and out of our life we actually miss telling them how much they mean to us.Somewhere in between all this we fail to notice and miss those little moments of happiness with them.When we look back and try to collect those bundle of memories that they have given us everything for once feels  very wonderful and perfect.

If you notice if there is anything that many of us can let go easily today it is a relationship.It really doesn't matter compared to our other priorities.We find it very hard to get back,all we do is give a sigh and run forward.As we reach far over the years the bridge breaks down slowly and one day before we realize there is nothing that can help us cross back.There are many people out there amongst us with money,success,fame and all that they ever wanted.But there is nobody around them to share their joy.How fine is that?If life was only about chasing our dreams,isn't living a nightmare better?Aren't we creating islands for ourselves in the process?

"The best gift you can give a dear one is your time"

A passion to run our own lives is a normal human tendency,the intensity varies with different individuals but one thing which is essential to everyone is a strong group of family and friends.When we are tossed of our boats it is this support system that saves us,they pat our back when we achieve something and keep us going.Despite all that they give us we find it hard to express what we feel for them.We take them for granted and acknowledge nothing or little.Why is that?

How many of us remember the first toy our parents brought us?How many of us remember the first story Grandma told us?How many of us remember the first walk with Grandpa?How many of us remember the first fight for a tricycle ride with our brother or sister?How many of us remember the boy or girl who sat next to us and shared our lunch box at school?How many of us remember the first poem our teacher taught us?Blame the time or call all this a way of life.We know not of what we have until we lose it and sadly through each phase of life we lose more than we gain.

All this is nothing to do with nostalgia or memories,it is about living while we grow up which somehow we forget.A small act of love and care can bring lots of magic around us,lets do that when we can.Fortunately God sends people to stay with us who ask for nothing more,the world will be filled of lonely fools if we lose them.We are drifting from each other already even though we have all the connectivity possible.

If you are missing someone really close to your heart like I did today,do not hesitate to tell them that you are no thing without them.Go give them a tight hug if possible.Let me know how you made them feel and how you feel after that.Live,love,laugh and most important of all 'RESPOND'.By the way I am feeling awesome!:-)

"A hug is a handshake from the heart"

-R.

Being Beautiful

 "The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion.But cosmetics are easier to buy." 

-Yves Saint-Laurent-

What a smart thought! Beauty and women are quite synonymous, aren't they? Most of us think beauty tips and beauty parlors, make ups and make overs are more of a feminine thing.Lets not forget that to be beautiful is  men's right too! Sadly they do not get, or more so they do not give themselves the attention that they deserve in this matter.My heartfelt concerns and empathies with them.The situation these days is changing, thanks to the awareness and exposure to the hundreds of products and services available.Everyone is ready to spend their time and money to appear their best today, men and women alike.Who does not desire to look beautiful but ever wondered who desires to be beautiful? Which of them is an easy task? These are some thoughts to ponder about.

There is no standard criterion which can define beauty.What looks stunning to me may appear terrible to you.It is rightly said that 'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'.On the contrary imagine this, what if the petals of a flower look exactly like its leaf, can we notice it easily? There is something about the flower that makes it look different and that is the reason why it catches our eye.But no one painted a color on it, no one asked it to bloom or no one helped it to spread its fragrance.Everything comes natural and by self to it.It may wither away some day but the joy it gives too us is meant to stay.John Keats was more right when he said 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever'.But being beautiful does not mean one should try hard to please another, it is in trying hard to satisfy oneself despite all adversities.The attention just follows.No amount of concealer or foundation can help here.So look at the mirror, stare at your eyes and catch your real beauty because nobody else can!

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." 

-Khalil Gibran-

One impressing thing about it is that the more one tries to fake it, the more dirty it looks.Some people just lack the whole idea and intention of 'BEING BEAUTIFUL', they make a mess of every fine thing that is gifted to them.If only they understand that there is more to beauty than looks, symmetry, weight or height! This does not mean one should not worry about his or her semblance or health, it is our duty to pamper and please our body and mind.But beauty is neither skin deep nor bone deep.To appreciate our strengths, to understand our weaknesses and to leave no stone unturned to better ourselves is a beauty of the highest order.Nobody can steal or spoil it.If we have it there is nothing that can stop us.

Beauty is both inside and outside us,more in the latter.It is in loving and respecting every living being and thing around us.It is in finding everything beautiful in something which the rest of the world finds ugly.It is in willing to learn from the best and to share with the helpless.It is in the demeanor which we show when we face the worst of possibilities.It is in creating a personality of our own.It is in more than being for oneself.Beauty can be called real only when it is remembered by the world even after it fades away.Real beauty is not permanent, it is persistent and lingers beyond memories.

"Beauty is an experience,nothing else.It is not a fixed pattern or an arrangement of features.It is something felt,a glow or a communicated sense of fineness."
-D. H. Lawrence-

Here is my poem which sums up what real beauty means to me:

Life Is Beautiful


A seagull's passion for our hopes to fly

A spider's will for our minds to try

A gazzle's strength for our feet to run

A firefly's light for our hearts to burn

A dolphin's dash for our dreams to dive

A bee's might for our souls to strive

An eagle's vision for our eyes to see

One life to learn all these 

Is 'the' real beauty if you ask me.


-R-

PS1:'You're beautiful'

PS2: This post is written as a part of 

-R.

Mango Bites

Image courtesy-Sweetsweetmangos

Hmm...yummy sight!With the start of summer my mother starts showing her obsession with this edible gold.Today she dragged me out of the house despite the rains, guess why? Only because she had run out of mangoes to eat and well we had to go get them even if the sky fell down.Believe me when I say she can eat the tangiest of the lot!Every night after dinner she is seen relishing on the 'Goratu' [mango seed] like she has never seen a mango before, this is her favorite part of eating the fruit.Her mango eating policy is 'A mango should not be cut or peeled, bite the skin with your teeth, nibble the pulp, let the juice flow down your throat and lick the seed clean with your tongue!'.

I wish I had inherited those taste buds, not that I do not like eating them that way.My favorite is the raw 'Tothapuri'.Give me some salt, some chilly powder and some coconut oil along with it and I will be grateful to you for life!The small wild ones which I used to collect with my Grandma during childhood are also irresistible.I do not know what they are called though.All I know is that the 'Sasive', a special dish my Havyaka folks make with it always does taste awesome.

If there is anything that brings some relief to almost all of us during this season it is the king of fruits.Can you imagine one summer without a mango, impossible right?:-)Ever wondered what makes the fruit so special?Here are some interesting facts:

• Mango is the most popular fruit of the world.
• Mango is the National Fruit of India.
• India is the largest exporter of mangoes.
• Mangoes are more than fruits.Every part of the mango tree is of some or the other use.They are considered sacred and have a high medicinal value.
• Dussheri, Mulgoa, Sindhoora, Rasberi, Jehangir, Alphonso,Neelum, Badami, Mallika, Amrapali, Himsagar, Langda, Safeda...a hundred like these are the varieties found here in India.The names are weirdly classy, aren't they?

I could go on but I have a mango waiting for me;-)To know more visit:

• Freshmangoes
• National Fruit of India
• Mango-Wikipedia

If an apple a day keeps a doctor away,a mango a day keeps sunshine with hay.Make use of it.Let me know which one is your favorite by the way:-)

Good night world.

PS: This is my 150th post on A Canary's Diary:-) 

-R.

Nale Raje Goli Baje

If you are thinking of asking me what made me make this batter wait till you reach the end of this delicious post.Today my mother taught me how to make Goli Baje,a special dish of our native place South Canara.It is a popular evening snack found in every other house over there.I have some silly but fond associations with this mouth watering stuff.*'Nale raje, goli baje' is a colloquial rhyme which me and my brother tell to till this day before a holiday.Also every time it rains, it is understood at home that this shall be our demand.

What is nice about the dish is that one does not require exemplary culinary skills to make it.Believe me when I say it is as easy as eating it.These golden orange globules are crispy,crunchy and fluffy.In no time they melt in the mouth, one can actually lose count while eating them.Here is the recipe of how my mother makes it:

THE REQUIREMENTS:

• Maida/all purpose flour- a cup.
• Kadle hittu/besan/gram flour-a tea spoon.
• Sour curds-half a cup.
• Finely chopped green chillies-a tea spoon or as hot as you want it to be;-)
• Ginger-a tea spoon.
• Curry leaves-a few.
• Cumin seeds-a few.
• Asafoetidia-a pinch for digestion.
• Coconut pieces-a few, if you want them.
• Sugar-a sprinkle or as sweet as you want it to be;-)
• Salt-as essential.
• Oil-ahem...very essential!
• Time-a little.
• Appetite-a lot if you are successful in making them!

THE SIMPLE METHOD:

Step 1: Smile, be confident.

Step 2: Take a mixing bowl .Mix all the above ingredients except the oil:p.The batter should not be too thick or thin.Keep the consistency like that of an idli batter and make sure there are no lumps.

Step 3: Keep the batter aside for an hour or so and listen to your favorite music or read a book.

Step 4: Get back to the kitchen, heat the oil in a frying pan for now is the time for some power packed action.Use a spoon or use your hands to make these balls.Drop them in the oil carefully.I must say that initially it is hard to give them a spherical shape, amorphous forms do not affect its great taste though.Deep fry till they turn golden brown.

Step 5: Look at what you made with some self admiration and serve it to your courageous folks with pride.

THINGS TO NOTE:

• I somehow find the taste better if this batter is kept for fermentation for a longer duration.
• If you are a little hardworking, coconut chutney is THE combination with it.

Here is what I made this evening!

Slurp!Good night.

PS: *Nale raje-Tomorrow is a holiday:-)

-R.

Thursday Challenge #6-Pets

"If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

-James Herriot-

These photographs are of the pet cemetery at PFA situated in Kengeri, Bangalore.They were taken by a dear friend of mine way back in 2008.I have visited this place with him a couple of times and what touched me most were those words of grief and love on the tombstones.A strange serenity fills this place while many pets here are laid at rest.All the more it made me wonder how beautiful this world would have been if our pets had a lifespan longer than a human friend...

To know more about PFA and their work visit:

• People For Animals-Bangalore
• Deccan Herald-And Here The Pets Rest
• Manorama News-The Week-Good Mourning

To see more of pets, visit this week's TC here.

Have a good day.

-R.

Way Leads On To Way

Image Courtesy-Clipartoday

“No one else can ever make your choices for you.Your choices are yours alone.They are as much a part of you as every breath you will take,every moment of your life.”

-Dr.Shad Helmstetter-

Life is all about the choices we make, believe me each one of them counts.I am being given one right now and something inside me tells that this one is meant for me.I am making a decision which is going to stay with me forever.Having chosen a career where every little thought and move matters this was never easy.The last few months have been quite distressing but decisive.Long hours of studies, innumerable entrance exams, cut throat competition, annoying counselling and admission procedures, unavoidable anxiety, sleepless nights and whimpering days-these and the worst of the worst were my only acquaintances.It was easy to give up, I detested to.There were times when I could do nothing but break down.I then kept reminding myself that no matter what, why and how it happens I always will want this for my own good.

Somehow in the process of learning medicine I have learnt the art of handling most of the crisis of life with the best of my capabilities, whether I fail or succeed comes secondary.I also am fortunate enough to have folks at home who let me take the wildest of risks.Something that surprises me is that I am almost nearing a quarter of my life and I still have not earned my first salary, this fact does not bother them and never will! No matter where I go I can always come back to them and this assurance keeps me going.I owe them myself for I am nothing without them.

I have always believed that there are no short cuts through life.You either go up or down.How much you believe in yourself when you are in the latter phase is the only thing that can carry you forward.But like many amongst us, raising above my level of comfort or crossing my boundaries has always been a problem.I feared change.But I have learnt my lessons the hard way and now there is no looking back.I have realized success is more than bringing my dreams to a realization.At the end of the day it is in being happy for the choice that  I have made, in the path that I have chosen.If life throws you a lemon and you do not know how to make a lemonade like how Joan Collins advises, what do you do then? I suggest by experience-salt it, dry it or make a pickle out of it but definitely do not let it rot!

My new journey is now about to begin.Standing at this milestone of life with all my heart and mind I am off for my Masters in a week or so and this entire feeling after all the hard work is weirdly amazing.I am ready to work to flourish and flare through it.At this moment I  am made to remember a poem which is one of my all time favorites.Six years back when I joined medicine it had kind of inspired me.What I like about it is the freedom of interpretation that it gives to a reader, one can take it the way he wants.There is madness and uncertainty in each line, very much like life! It tells us that way leads on to way and there is no end if you decide to begin, isn't that true? I am sharing it here with you, read it and keep yourself on the move.Make a difference, a good difference:-)

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveller,long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could 

To where it bent in the undergrowth; 

Then took the other, as just as fair, 

And having perhaps the better claim, 

Because it was grassy and wanted wear; 

Though as for that the passing there 

Had worn them really about the same, 

And both that morning equally lay 

In leaves no step had trodden black. 

Oh, I kept the first for another day! 

Yet knowing how way leads on to way, 

I doubted if I should ever come back. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh 

Somewhere ages and ages hence: 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- 

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost-

Need lots of blessings and wishes.

-R.

The Prayer

Image courtesy-The Hindu

Give Me Strength

This is my prayer to thee, my lord---strike,

Strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor

or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.

This poem is from Gitanjali,the Nobel Prize winning work of Rabindranath Tagore.I have fond memories of this poem for it was my school prayer.Every morning after the Sanskrit slokas we sang these lines in high school.Initially when this poem was introduced as our new English prayer,we used to blabber it off with not much of an interest.Each one of us gobbled up words and sang in our own rhythm.Our teachers taught us a nice tune thinking that some melody would do justice.The prayers then on sounded better,it took us some time to get in sync though.The best and the loudest line always was ‘Strike,strike at the root of penury in my heart’.Maybe the double effect of the word hammered our minds and made us pray so with all our hearts together.I can feel an intense and a strange strength in this prayer till this day,I am glad that I have not forgotten it.

Today May 7th, 2011 is the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore.Not many of us know that there is much more to him than our National Anthem and the Nobel Prize for Literature.If we can call someone ‘Master of all trades, Jack of none’,there can be no candidate for this title more apt than him.Rarely you may find someone as versatile as him.What makes him special is that his works have a universal appeal.His creativity crosses place and time.When you read his poems and stories,or see his paintings they feel afresh and take you to his time.My favorite is the Kabuliwala,every time I read the story it touches me a little more than before.He indeed is an inspiration to us Indians in many ways.Salutes to the legend par excellence and my many thanks to him for teaching me to pray:-)

Image coutesy-Livemint

"The butterfly counts not months,but moments,and has time enough"

-Rabindranath Tagore-

To read more visit:

• Rabindranath Tagore-Wikipedia
• Biography of Rabindranath Tagore- Official Website Of Nobel Prize
• The Complete Works Of Rabindranath Tagore-Website
• Kabuliwala

-R.

Thursday Challenge #5-Beautiful

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing" so said Mother Teresa.This wall hanging was at a restaurant in Gangtok, when my eyes fell on this I could not help but smile and click a picture of it.Isn't this thought beautiful?:-)

This week's TC entries are here.

Good day to everyone.

-R.

Bookworm Adventures

My best adventures are with books but the title of this post has nothing to do with this fact.It is the new fancy I have caught lately,a game by the same name.Computer games were never my cup of tea.I could tolerate only the Minesweeper till a few days ago.Recently I came across Lex,the tiny but smart bookworm of Bookworm Adventures and he was too friendly to resist.

Lex is quite a gentleman.The conversations he makes throughout the game impressed me a lot.There is a charming finesse in his choice of words.I can now spend hours building words and battling those monsters.When I am about to leave the game,it touches me when a teary eyed Lex says"Don't leave me!".Very juvenile I know but sometimes it is more fun to take a step backward and do things which you think are no more meant for you.

Apart from the time pass entertainment that he gives,there is something about Lex and his game that makes me think.Here is a list of some little lessons that I have learnt from him:

• Make the best use of everything that comes your way.
• Know your weaknesses more than your strengths.
• Keep your friends close,enemies closer.
• A simple word can sometime work wonders.
• Use your powers for the right cause,at the right time and in the right place.
• There is no unchangeable game plan,be flexible for some risks are meant to be taken.
• It is good to take breaks,do not forget to relax and refresh.
• Humor is the most useful weapon in the most impossible of situations.Laugh it off!
• Treasures are earned,nobody gifts them to you.
• Success is not the end,it is a step to the next.
• Fight till your heart bleeds the last drop of blood,never quit.
• Last but not the least,enjoy whatever you do!

Remember life is a simple but not an easy game,if you do not play you do not win;-)
Have a good day all of you:-)

-R.