I love the rain. It is truly the most beautiful and sublime act of nature (if we ignore its
capacity for destruction).
Some of my most vivid sensations are of the rain; I love
the smell that emanates from dry earth, when the first drops of rain fall on it…
the feel of wet grass after a sudden shower…
the sound of the rain, pitter-patter on the ground…
the sight of rain drops trickling from the roof and car windows…
cupping my hands to form a pool of rain, and wiping my face with the water…
turning my face towards the sky, and feeling the drops fall on my face…
the freshness in the atmosphere and the earth after the rains…
fresh silvery green color of trees, dewy drops on leaves and flowers, puddles on the
ground that go splash…
A lot many of my fond memories of life are also of the rains
I remember going to school on a Thursday many many years ago… it had been pouring
non-stop for many days and I was waiting for the school bus at a bus stop which was
about 5 minutes walking distance away from my home. The bus failed to turn up, and
someone then came and told me that there wasn’t any school that day (some election
crap ); so I started walking back home in my school uniform. It was pouring cats
and dogs, and there was water on the road a little above my ankles - I was so
exhilarated with the feel and sound of the rain, (and the thought that I didn’t have to go to school ;)) that I closed the umbrella, started singing my favorite songs and splashing around in the water, while walking back home - the people on the road must have thought that I was mad but I had not a care in the world
Another very beautiful memory of the rain was when I went to Bombay/Mumbai once,
during the monsoon season. I went to the Juhu beach, and as soon as I stepped into the water, it started raining like crazy… and soon, there we all were, being showered with cold water from the sky, whilst being waist-deep in the warm water of the sea, and having the tide throw us around in the water… heavenly :).
Again, today (my college days),I sensed that it would rain .It seems that he universe conspires to do things in your favour ....my cycle was punctured and I had an amazing opportunity to walk in the rain , was having fun holding on to an umbrella and walking in the middle of the road , freaking out as usual…but the best part was the BONUS….it was a Hail Storm and my first experience of it in my college …Magica!!!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
“Oh well that’s me”
I have been wondering lately about this thing we call “personality”. A term which we so often use to describe ourselves and other people. Charming, cool, hard working, clever, generous, powerful, lazy, are among many of the words we employ to explain how we see ourselves and others. But the word personality is also often used as a screen behind which we hide or defend the way we are. I have so often heard people say “Oh well that’s me,” when you ask why they’re angry or unpunctual or generally when they behave like boors. “That’s me.” Nice way to fob off further inquiry or to resist change of any sort, especially when accompanied by a particular tone of voice which puts a stop to any sort of investigation.
In a way it seems that one’s personality is indeed built around the natural essence of an individual and that it is what lends colour to our lives together: the fact that we are so different from each other and in a sense irreplaceable, although the difference is more like the form, the pattern or colour which is capable of turning the same lump of clay into so many different objects. But then, as much as one’s personality reflects one’s inner essence it is also a reaction to the environment, an accumulation of learned characteristics, often an outcome of our defences and our struggle against all that disturbs us about life.
So you have people who appear mean or cruel, or seem to be always in a rage, or come across as arrogant. They are often that way because the circumstances of their lives probably persuaded them early on in life that the only way to cope, or to survive as the case may be, was to develop characteristics which would help them “protect themselves” their personal identity being a major part of the “self”.
The trouble is we don’t realise, that what we project to others or what we see in each other are really surface characteristics and we start to identify ourselves and others with the labels which sum up these traits. Cool, hep, quick, smart, rebellious, crazy, dreamy. When it comes ourselves we take pride in the labels we apply to ourselves. When it comes to others however, we are likely to damn them so that cool becomes cold, hep becomes superficial, quick can be seen as cunning and so on. In either case, we pick out aspects of our own and other people’s personalities which we isolate and use to describe the whole person.
To use the concept of personality to freeze our self image and that of the others is to turn ourselves and each other into cardboard figures and deny ourselves access to the natural richness which accompanies a fluid personality. An idea, in this way, limits us and renders us incapable of the magical transformations which define life itself. If you are one of those who no longer knows how to define him/herself, who finds it difficult to say with any degree of firmness that you are “this” or “that” kind of person, I imagine you’ve made a start and are on the way to climbing out of the cardboard cut-out in which you’ve lived so far and on the way to becoming a real human being.
In a way it seems that one’s personality is indeed built around the natural essence of an individual and that it is what lends colour to our lives together: the fact that we are so different from each other and in a sense irreplaceable, although the difference is more like the form, the pattern or colour which is capable of turning the same lump of clay into so many different objects. But then, as much as one’s personality reflects one’s inner essence it is also a reaction to the environment, an accumulation of learned characteristics, often an outcome of our defences and our struggle against all that disturbs us about life.
So you have people who appear mean or cruel, or seem to be always in a rage, or come across as arrogant. They are often that way because the circumstances of their lives probably persuaded them early on in life that the only way to cope, or to survive as the case may be, was to develop characteristics which would help them “protect themselves” their personal identity being a major part of the “self”.
The trouble is we don’t realise, that what we project to others or what we see in each other are really surface characteristics and we start to identify ourselves and others with the labels which sum up these traits. Cool, hep, quick, smart, rebellious, crazy, dreamy. When it comes ourselves we take pride in the labels we apply to ourselves. When it comes to others however, we are likely to damn them so that cool becomes cold, hep becomes superficial, quick can be seen as cunning and so on. In either case, we pick out aspects of our own and other people’s personalities which we isolate and use to describe the whole person.
To use the concept of personality to freeze our self image and that of the others is to turn ourselves and each other into cardboard figures and deny ourselves access to the natural richness which accompanies a fluid personality. An idea, in this way, limits us and renders us incapable of the magical transformations which define life itself. If you are one of those who no longer knows how to define him/herself, who finds it difficult to say with any degree of firmness that you are “this” or “that” kind of person, I imagine you’ve made a start and are on the way to climbing out of the cardboard cut-out in which you’ve lived so far and on the way to becoming a real human being.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
defining "defining moments "
I am a strong believer in defining moments.now i dont know the significance of a defining moment or the deeper meaning behind it but i believe that defining moments happen.
To me a defining moment is one which you wont ever forget. Its something that will shape you as a person and will shape the way you lead your life. It may have a small affect (so much so that you dont recognise it) or it may have a powerful affect. A defining moment can occur when you meet someone for the very first time... When you say goodbye to someone.... when you figure something out.. when you see something special... when you feel something special... It could be anything.
Maybe at first you dont recognise your defining moments. Maybe one day you look back and you can see all the moments that you still remember (when you're 85 or something) and realise that they defined you.
To me a defining moment is one which you wont ever forget. Its something that will shape you as a person and will shape the way you lead your life. It may have a small affect (so much so that you dont recognise it) or it may have a powerful affect. A defining moment can occur when you meet someone for the very first time... When you say goodbye to someone.... when you figure something out.. when you see something special... when you feel something special... It could be anything.
Maybe at first you dont recognise your defining moments. Maybe one day you look back and you can see all the moments that you still remember (when you're 85 or something) and realise that they defined you.
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