Rhyming through....

I remember the nursery rhyme,
“Row, row row your boat gently down the stream,
merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream”

When I used to recite that rhyme during my nascent ages, it used to sound good especially with the rhyming words. But now, I understand or rather perceive the philosophy that the rhyme proponents. And here it is as follows.

The act of rowing the boat can be compared to treading the path of life. And the path meets with a lot of trials, tribulations, pleasures, memorable incidents, pain and what not. But as we continue rowing/treading merrily, and as we encounter numerous incidents, what finally seems is that life is a dream. When we wake up to reality from imagination, we see something different from what we have dreamt. And so are some of our hopes, expectations and anxiety. What we get may not be what we have dreamt of.
And no matter what turns up, we need to go along the currents with merry because at the end of it, life is but a dream. And hence, I sing..

““Row, row row your boat gently down the stream,merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream”

Onomatopoeia

Learnt a new word today- 'Onomatopoeia'- this is a word or sometimes, grouping of words, which actually imitates the sound that it is describing. Therefore, it suggests the source. For example, 'buzz', 'smash','sizzle' etc.
Example of sentences:
The buzz of bees increased as he appraoched the beehive.
She squealed in astonishment.

Very Interesting. Learnt this from a mail that I got at work today.

English is definitely an interesting language!

Scintillating Lyrics

"veyilin veppam aanandham mazhaiyin saththam anandham -
ada mazhaiyil koodach chaayampogaa vaanavil anandham
vaazhvil nooraanandham vaazhvae paeraanandham pennae
narai ezhudhum suyasaridham adhil anbae anandham anandham "

What beautiful lines!!! Taken from the song "Pachai kiligal tholodu" from the movie "Indian", this song beautifully captures life's celebration and the reason to celebrate life.

I admire the sheer creativity and the imagination that has beautifully captivated the simple nuances of life adding colour and smiles.

The lines in 'bold' are absolutely wonderful!! I would love to translate these but I am afraid Iwould not be doing full justice to them.

Sensitized!!

Many a time, I wonder if we are indeed sensitive to the people around. Much has been ingrained in us about the concept of ‘Sensitivity’. And if you are working for an IT company and have to go onsite, chances are you might have to undergo a ‘cross-cultural’ sensitivity training. But deep down us, in our hearts, are we really sensitive to the people we move with? Do we understand the emotions of our colleagues, our friends, family, the grocer, the maid, the watchman?
The action could be as simple as mundane things. Don’t we see people buying food right in front of a street urchin pleading for money to buy his breakfast? Don’t we ignore the traffic policeman when he shows a stop sign thereby disrespecting his duty? Don’t we see situations where a new comer to a team is ignored while the rest of team goes out on a tea-break? There might be justifications for all these situations mentioned above. People might say begging should not be encouraged and hence it does not matter if the street urchin’s emotions are taken into account. A driver may say that the signal was green and turned red only after he crossed the stop line and hence ignored the traffic policeman. The team at work might say that one should be an extrovert and cannot expect people calling you for every tea-break. Oh yes, there are justifications for everything. But we are humans with a heart to feel and a mind to think. And when these synchronise, we step back in our tracks and look at the world around and realise how much we have been floating in our own internal world that we have forgotten to see how others feel.
Have’nt we seen people talking bombastically about their jobs when the person sitting right in front of them is fed with his work? A husband ignoring his wife’s yearning to spend with him during the week-end and going out with his friends, a friend belittling his/her friend’s passion, a boss asking the subordinate to work on a Saturday when the subordinate already has other plans for the week-end… the list can go forever.
Sensitivity is something that has to be a part of our actions- something that has to exist to make the place around beautiful and meaningful for the people around.

And when you start showing people you care, it certainly creates a wonderful feeling from within.

Just One More Time...

I sip my cup of coffee and look around. Everyone is engrossed in work or is glued to their systems. A few meetings seem to be happening in the conference rooms in front of me. One look at the world outside, and I am tempted to step out. The weather is beautiful. Jut perfect for a stroll outside. And just one look out of the window brings these dreams.
Just once- how many times have we wished for just one more chance? Or probably for just one more day for the same incident to reappear. A second chance to amend for deeds. One more opportunity to excel. One more moment of that look of kindness. One more day to complete pending work. One more rehearsal before the D-Day. A lot of one mores in our lives….
Time doesn’t seem enough with its 24 hours bestowed on us. We do not realise that we might yearn for another opportunity, which might never come our way. Is that why people say, “Do it right the first time”? Or probably here is an irony. The more we do things right, the more we yearn for one more opportunity. Like winning a competition. The more we win, the more we yearn for one more. The less we win, we still yearn for one more to give an opportunity to win. A neat paradox!
And our yearning for just one more continues…..

Distance

It is true that distance does make the heart fonder. When we are closer, we tend to take people for granted- whether it is to get work done, showing emotions, not doing something, having a lackadaisical attitude. And when we are away from the people whom we have taken for granted, we realise their importance, the role they play in our life. That is when we start introspecting and run a flash back of the days gone by. And then regret for actions done and not done slowly seeps in. Next starts the cycle of mending for deeds. Now all we would want to do would be to be there next to those very people at that moment.
Strange are the ways of life. One moment we might condemn the person. And another moment we yearn for them.

Emirates-Word Building

I was sitting at the airport waiting for the Emirates flight..and in the meantime decided to form as many words as possible from the word 'Emirates'..managed to form a 100 words including plurals. Here is a sample from that list.
stream,smear, steam,rates, irate,tease,mare, tame, tear,tier, tire,star,seem,seam,term,trim...
will post my list of 100 soon..

Week-end Arrives!!

The sun shines brightly piercing through the venetian planks draped across the windows of my cubicle. Outside is bright and full of life. The occasional clicks and taps on keyboards from neighboruing cubicles are heard. Low whispers, loud voices, the a/c humming gently....
It's a friday evening..time to rejoice!!!! time to celebrate the arrival of the week-end!! time to pack up for the day and let loose!!!

Happy week-end!!!
:)

Are We Schizophrenic?

A daughter at home, a boss at work, an employee to the organization, a good Samaritan to the society… these different facets of the same personality makes me think if we are all schizophrenic?
We wear different attitudes, emotions, and feelings depending on the scenario we are in. Are we the same person to two vastly different people? We would be extremely polite, lovable, caring to a kid but would we be the same to a boss who is domineering and vastly ambitious? Doesn’t our personality take a 360 degree turn immediately? So what is reality? This is the same question that Aparna Sen raises in the movie “15 Park Avenue”. She raises this question through Shabana Azmi who asks the doctor as to whose reality is true?

Schizophrenics do have a reality of their own which we are unable to envision or feel. Does that make their visions unreal?
Extrapolating the same logic to this topic of discussion, we see reality as we perceive. The same person who appears to be domineering, impatient and ambitious might cast a totally different picture to someone else. To that someone else, this person might appear to be a good listener, encouraging and a good motivator. So, what is real?
Wikipedia defines Schizophrenia as follows: “Schizophrenia is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental disorder characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality and by significant social or occupational dysfunction.”Notice the phrase “impairments in the perception or expression of reality”. When we face attitudinal changes with respect to the same person would that qualify as “impairment in perception”?A good example to elucidate here would be that of the roles that a movie star portrays. He may become a super hit by playing a good samaritan who rescues women in despair, who rebels against the constitutional system to create laws of his own which he determines to be of social good. And here, we create an image of this movie star in our minds.The next release of this same person could be a movie where he plays a comedian unmindful of the petty nuisances he creates to people around only with the intent of creating ripples of laughter.
Our earlier image is replaced with this.So what is reality? Is this an impairment in perception? What about social and occupational dysfunction exhibited here? Social dysfunction could be the roles that are portrayed that are socially different – one of a good samaritan and the other being that of a careless joker because of the change in the expectations of the film goers.

I end this with irony lingering in your minds.What is your alter ego at work place saying today?

Innocence

She was innocent and believed that there was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow- until she grew up and realized that the rainbow was a mere scientific and natural phenomenon. It no more fantasized her.

He truly believed that Santa Claus would gift him something every Christmas and tried his best not make a noise when he went to bed on Christmas night –until he realized that Santa was just fiction. He no longer waited for gifts to shower on Christmas.

Magic shows thrilled him. He used to sit on the front row and watch magicians weave the spell and throw up pigeons in the air, create showers of coins, vanish and appear – until he realized it was illusory. Magicians no longer interested him.

She always made a wish by placing an eyelash on her fist – until she realized she was just being kiddish. She no longer cared about secret wishes and eyelashes sticking to the corner of her eyes.

Every year, she would sit by her Mom’s side as her mother diligently drew small feet on the floor on Krishna Jayanti with the hopes that Lord Krishna would sneak into their house that night. She would keep her eyes open and remain alert to any sounds during the night –until she realized that this was tradition and one’s beliefs. This festival remained just a ritual every year.

Innocence, was truly blissful.

Lettering My Thoughts

I wipe a thick layer of dust from my post box. It has been lying that way for the past 9 years. Bright and sparkling, it had remained a loyal carrier of all my letters, cards…and now, time and technology seemed to have taken a toll. It’s been quite sometime since I received a hand written letter. With a flurry of e-mails flooding my inbox, the inlands and postcards have been forgotten.
I remember how eagerly I used to wait for the postman to deliver my letters, especially during summer vacations when my cousins and friends could find time to write. And of course during brithdays and festivals, the postbox used to be filled with bright coloured greeting cards. Ad then came the era of sending letters with scented paper, pens, musical cards, handmade cards…It used be so thrilling to read a handwritten letter.
Yes, e-mails have certainly made it easier for us to get in touch with a lot of old friends and to remain in constant touch. But somehow, the magic of a personal touch does not exist. Birthdays are celebrated through virtual wishes these days. The joy one receives when he/she gets a card from a friend is beyond words. There were times when I used to decorate letters with colour pens, sparkles etc. Cards were also made with glitters, flowers, stickers..
We used to have courses on the ‘Art of Letter Writing’. The art seems to be vanishing soon. My postbox seems to be leading an insipid life these days having been filled with premium receipts, mobile bills, credit card statements, notices et al.
It waits..patiently for that day..for one single handwritten letter to breathe in a whiff of fresh air…

Metrics..Do We Know Them?

Two months of the year already have rolled by. It’s the first of March. Are we still sticking to the resolutions that we have made? Have we moved on? Have we learnt something?
Yesterday, during one of our team sessions, our Manager asked a very thought provoking question- “How do you know that you have grown over the last year?”. That indeed set me thinking. Do we measure ourselves by the goals we have set? Do we analyse how differently we have reacted to the same kind of situations in two years? Do we measure our levels of satisfaction? Do we see growth as maturity of the state of mind?
Lots of questions, lots of thinking to be done. But I should say this would definitely act as a compass to the direction we are moving on. Submerged in the hustle bustle of the daily routine, do we stop for a moment to reflect back on the path that we have tread?