Rumi

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

As an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

From Essential Rumi

by Coleman Barks

Knock, And He'll open the door

Vanish, And He'll make you shine like the sun

Fall, And He'll raise you to the heavens

Become nothing, And He'll turn you into everything.

― Rumi

silence is the language of god,

all else is poor translation.

― Rumi

Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.

― Rumi

Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.

― Rumi

Losing Oneself..

Losing oneself is defined as 'Become deeply absorbed or involved in. This expression alludes to becoming so absorbed as to forget oneself'.

Recently, I came across an article in a regional newspaper, where the author, a lady, looked back on her past and rued.

It got me thinking.

Times have been innumerous, when I lost the sense of time and place , so engrossed I was with what I was doing.

Repeated calls by mom, unanswered , as I drown in the plight of poor Oliver Twist ..

The lost track of time while listening to Sanjeev Abhyankar rendering a splending Kalyan..

The most unladylike screaming and pumping of fists as the cricket match inched towards a nail biting finish..

Dinner time, long forgotten amongst the hours spent chatting with friends outside our school-gate, holding our bicycles by the handles and shifting weight from this leg to that to relieve the stiffness building up for standing too long..

Such were the pleasures of being a much doted upon girl of the family - a carefree girl, with no weight of responsibilities bearing on my shoulders.

My head used to be filled with things like school and studies, friends and picnics, songs and books..

Free abandon, recklessness came easily, well , I never noticed that it was there in first place..

So was I lost in these happy pursuits - ignorance was bliss in the truest sense!

And then, this girl grew up, got married, became a mother.

The girl who used to wake up from bed and walk straight to the table for breakfast now plans all three meals in her head as she brushes her teeth?

The girl whose weekends were one slumber fest to another now spends the good part of a weekend on household chores, to be ready for the working week?

The girl who spent late nights reading, talking or watching movies, now tucks in often while reading a bedtime a story to her little one?

Who would have known?

The old me is lost in myself, and I've become a new me..

Somehow, the free mind is reigned in..

Now between the notes of the favourite song in my ear, floats the sound of the hissing cooker ..'remember to turn off the heat after third..'

As the IPL match draws claps and cheers in the living room, I hover on the boundary of the kitchen - half mind tuned to the TV, half on the simmering sauce on stove..

As I skip a meal on a lazy day, to wolf down few more chapters of the un-put-downable book, the return of a hungry toddler from school looms large on mind..

Thus has become the way of life - measured, calculated, always planned and safe.

Noone asks you to be this way - but you just mould your life around these daily things.

I think about that girl I used to be, and the woman that I have become.

And I silently thank my parents and friends and teachers for giving me a childhood that I can very fondly look back upon - a place where I indeed lost myself and became a new me.

Food Blogs and Fund raisers..

I love reading about food. Thats how I got hooked to bloggers and blogging in first place.

The very first blog I read, was a food blog, One Hot Stove, by Nupur.

Its a delightful read, and I have been following it quite regularly.

Though primarily its a food blog, Nupur also posts on lot of other activities and awareness about food wastage, composting etc in some of her posts, not to forget updates of her mutt Dale, and a cute little recent addition - her lovely daughter Lila.

The last time I visited Nupur's blog, she had linked to Cooking with Siri , to share the fund raising appeal Siri has made to raise a donation to Vaidehi Ashram, a refuge looking after little girls in Hyderabad, India. Its an earnest appeal to raise funds for the food, clothing and education of these girls, and you can see for yourself the generous contributions being made from the blogging community world wide, predominantly the food bloggers' community, in the form of raffle prizes and donations.

Siri herself has visited the ashram a couple of times, and one can be assured that the donations will reach the cause - through safe hands. The appeal is open till 25th of Feb for you to buy a raffle ticket for some lovely prizes, and earn some good karma on the way!

Awesome..

Today is jackpot day or what!!!???

Another lovely blog I stumbled upon. What a brilliant idea for a blog ..1000 Awesome Things ..

just list all things awesome..

the posts can just keep flowing..

Simplicity is just so profound! ( if no-one's said this before, I call it first to be mine..)

What a truely awesome thing to do .. you will definitely have at least one awesome thing a day..

And even that is not there, well the day indeed is a bummer ..

Today's awesome things for me are - 2 posts back to back and a lovely blog to visit !!

PS: this stuff above is too short for a blog post, and too long for a tweet!

Keep Writing..

As I have said time and again on the blog, I love to read, I love to write. I want to write. I try to keep my self going on the writing front with different exercises. Some more successful than others. Or I just hunt around and find out how other people keep their creative juices flowing. And then try to bring that into practice.

The idea of being a writer, an author perhaps is very romantic. But it does not just happen. Many people who are successful writers have made it happen. Here is how.

The famous blogger turned bestseller of The Happiness Project has this to say about her writing practice.

How I wish these tips would work for me. A few would I guess ,

like #9 Have something to say!

That's very clever I think, what you want to say, you write. And there is always something you have to say. About a news article you read, about a film you watched, about the argument you had, about the new restaurant you tried, the new dish you cooked.

Or sometimes its just those really smart retorts you wished you should have given, but swallowed them up to avoid an argument blowing up into a fight!

Well, there you see, I already have skeletons of 5-10 posts ready. That's inspiring.

And, as I type this, another rule comes to my mind .. 'Think Loud! '

I have noticed this, say when I am reading a book - there is this parallel stream of thought running along in the mind, which is like a reviewer - a real time reviewer of the stuff you are reading - and you sometimes go 'Oh shut up you ( the other me that is) , let me ( the first me ) read!!' . These are the times when I wish I had a notebook handy, so that I can jot down these thoughts, and then flesh them out to make a writeable post. ( wait , didn't rule #5 say the same?)

May be I should try that.

PS: I have managed myself another post - yeeeee hay!