A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles - Marianne Williamson

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

With love and originality

Pora kar saku jo woh khab dhondta hoon,
apna keh saku jise woh mehtab dhondta hoon,
kate jinki bahon mein umra woh panah dhondta hoon,
tode jinki agosh mein dum wo yaar dhondta hoon,
ji saku jise umra bhar - woh lamha dhondta hoon,
jag uthe jine ki umang jis se - aapki akhon mein woh pyar dhondta hoon

ATL

Pleasure turns to the pain
lessons learned from the strain
questions burned in my brain..
about whether love is humane
in its touch.
these thoughts are like salmon swimming upstream
in the tears of your deceit.
fighting the current hurt that kills more than is created by the chaos
of our intertwined emotions.
chaotic because the anchor of Error's arrow has been plucked
from the vessel of my undying infatuation
separation not as simple as the distance between us
my mind no longer possessed by demons
that have been the overseers of my enslavement to your lies
the seeds of these lies rooted so deeply
they have cracked the foundation of what we once shared
allowing the faith in us i had sealed inside
to gush out like a river
ripping the image of our future together from my thoughts
as violently and as brutally as if it were a child
being taken from its mothers arms
I'm left surrounded in darkness
but i refuse to be swallowed by it
my loneliness like the night air
invisible to the eye
obvious to the touch
it is cold comfortableness
yet if i could do it all over again
id do it in the same skin I'm in
to lay down and let love die
just stay down and let love lie?
no, no..not i
id stay around and let love fly
even though i have seen its darkest form
deceit
nothing else could taste this warm
or feel this sweet...

Arziyan

We all wish something really impossible at least once in our lives. Maybe to bring back a friend, maybe to take away some pain, maybe to take us to a certain moment in past, maybe a certain moment in future, maybe a moment that maybe will never be. I have wished many such moments and the funny thing is most of them have been granted. So today I once again am asking for a moment, which I know cant come true right now, but someday...it will.

I want to ride my dug-dug (ma enfield) down a long and lonesome highway all by myself. With music blasting in my ears, the same track that's playing right now. The same track as the title of this post. With the clouds blessing me with their presence and the rain drops pouring down on me, reassuring me that I am still alive and I still have long miles to go. Sweet smell of the wet earth tempting me to stop and take a bite. The green grass dancing to the tunes and the birds smiling at me as I share their freedom. I want to stop by at the highway chai stall and enjoy the cutting and bhajiyas. Stopping just long enough before getting back on the road on my way to nowhere, at a timeless pace. With nowhere to go, without worries of arriving late. I can experience the entire trip in my head and I hope it isn't long before this dream come true too...Insha'Allah.

Into the valley of death

I came across this poem while watching the movie "Blind side". Based on a true life story, the movie is brilliant. Makes me wonder why we never studies poems like this one during our school days?

The Charge Of The Light Brigade

by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Memorializing Events in the Battle of Balaclava, October 25, 1854
Written 1854

Half a league half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred:
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd ?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do & die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd & thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack & Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke,
Shatter'd & sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse & hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honour the charge they made!
Honour the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Unapologetically funny

Is it that as we grow up we lose our sense of humor or are we simply denying ourselves the pleasure to laugh at the reflection in the mirror?

Lately I have realized that most people who love to poke fun at others can’t really laugh at themselves. No one wants to be the object of a friendly verbal bashing anymore. Yeah I know, when it comes from me it can hardly be called “friendly” at times, but if you just enjoyed the joke and laughed it off you would realize that there was no offense meant in it.

But when people can’t take jokes pointed at them they just go ahead and point fingers at others. This makes me want to poke more fun at them. Just to drive home the point that if you think you are funny, then learn to laugh at yourself. You can’t always have a laugh at others expense. It simple, you give some you get some. We all know - life is a zero sum game after all.

Well the other thing is ever time you don’t need to come up with the last punch. Accept it at times you will be punched down, and when you know you can’t fight it – just stay down and let the contender enjoy it. Everybody’s got to lose some matches sooner or later. It’s really shameful when one stops being a “man” (man = someone with principles and values, gender neutral) and takes a shot below the belt just for the sake of bringing the opponent down. Yeah probably you might convince others that you won, but the question is whether you will ever be able to convince yourself?

Now coming to the title, I intend to be what it says. I will poke fun at friends and acquaintances as and when an opportunity knocks and definitely won’t be sorry for it. But yes when you get back at me with a funny one, rest assured I shall laugh with you if not louder than you. Because all that matters is we all get a laugh out of it.

Hmm…this one is after a very long time.