BOOKS AND BANGALORE

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

That's All We Know

Internet does keep most of us in a hopeful mood. If we want to know about something we know what to do right, "Google it!" is what we advise each other in such circumstances. I often grumble "Why can't you just tell me!!!'' when I hear something like that from my friends, but I do agree it is the best and the easiest choice we have. Surprisingly this is what I was greeted with on my laptop screen a few days ago.

Picture Courtesy

This was more like a Catch-44! The immediate question in my mind was what next, rather where next. Glitches apart, isn’t this robot or whatever it looks like impressively innovative. Look at the falling nuts and bolts, the helplessness depicted is absolutely hilarious yet technical.

What made me think was the last line highlighted in grey “That’s all we know”, now imagine something or someone on whom you are entirely dependent on telling you this when you need them the most! The problem at times is that we are never prepared for the unexpected and that is what makes us vulnerable to whatever little difficulty life throws at us. We panic, lose our cool and give up. The best of our things may go kaput, the best of our ideas may not work or the best of our friends may throw their hands up. It can happen, there are possibilities.

What can happen how, where and why we really do not know, because “That’s all we know” We are indeed very little and imperfect when we think of our power in this world. All we can do is what Google suggested me here” Please try again…” Well for me it did work after 30 seconds;-) My suggestion when you face something like this, remember what Sue Monk Kidd says in her book ‘The Secret Life of Bees’-


"There is nothing perfect...only life."

-R.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

A Perfect Fairy Tale


Picture Courtesy
Dad: He took her hand, and he kissed it. Then he swooped her up onto his horse. And the beautiful princess and the handsome prince rode off to his castle...where they lived happily ever after...
Sam: Do fairy tales come true, Dad?.
Dad: Well, no. But dreams come true.
Sam: Do you have a dream?
Dad: Yeah. My dream is that you'II grow up and go to college and then maybe someday you'II build your own castle.
Sam: Where do princesses go to college?
Dad: They go...where the princes go. They go to Princeton.But, Sam, you know, fairy tales aren't just about finding handsome princes.They're about fulfilling your dreams...and about standing up for what you believe in. As I always say, never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.
If you have watched the movie 'A Cinderella Story', this father daughter conversation in one of the first few scenes may seem familiar. When I watched it I could not help but smile because this is what precisely I have been hearing from my Dad all through my life. Some fathers are typical, aren't they? They want their daughter not to be any prince's princess but they want them to be their own queen, strong and independent. Nothing else makes them proud.
Very long ago when I was in class three I had played the role of Cinderella in a drama during the annual school day function. The flowing cloud blue dress and the dark blue tiptoeing shoes are etched in my memory forever. The movie stirred those good and naive times of childhood. What I remember even more is the excitement with which Dad and Mom were running around the whole town for a week or so in a search for the perfect attire. And when I was on the stage wearing what they had brought me their happiness knew no bounds.Isn't it wonderful, the smile on the face of someone to whom you mean the world, especially when you are the reason behind it?
Fulfilling your dreams and standing for what you believe in is worth more than any crown which can make you a princess is what I have always been told, just like Sam. If you know what you want to be and where you want your life to go there is nothing like it, now that is exactly what I call a perfect fairy tale. I believe in it, do you?:-)

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Angry Bulls


Expecting life to treat you well because you’re a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you’re a vegetarian.


Even if a herd is behind,stay good:-)

Good night

-R.