Earth Prayers, Thich Nhat Hanh

Do not say that I’ll depart tomorrow
because even today I still arrive.

Look at me: I arrive in every second
to be a bud on a spring branch,
to be a tiny bird whose wings are still fragile,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
in order to fear and to hope,
the rhythm of my heart is the birth and
death of all that are alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing in the
surface of the river.
I am also the bird which, when spring comes,
arrives in time to eat the mayfly.

I am a frog swimming happily in the
clear water of a pond.
I am also the grass-snake who,
approaching in silence,
feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
I am also the merchant of arms, selling deadly
weapons to Uganda.

I am the 12-year-old girl, refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean after
being raped by a sea pirate.
I am also the pirate, my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo, with
plenty of power in my hand.
I am also the man who has to pay his
“debt of blood” to my people,
dying slowly in a forced labor camp.

My joy is like spring, so warm it makes
flowers bloom in all walks of life.
My pain is like a river of tears, so full it
fills up all the four oceans.

Please call me by my correct names,
so that I can hear all my cries and my laughs at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are but one.

Please call me by my correct names,
so I can become awake,
and so that the door of my heart be left open,
the door of compassion.

Have you ever...

Have u ever been in that situation when everything that could possibly go wrong does indeed go wrong? To see your dreams shattered in front of your very own eyes…like a piece of fragile glass??? It could be anything -the loss of a loved one, heartbreak, financial loss, failure in exams, not getting into the career u dreamt of right from the time you were a child…perhaps the list is endless…

What does one do then? Filled with anger, sadness and regret…u try to deny those feelings, think it’s a nightmare but it doesn’t go away – it is as real as the blood that spills out when u cut your hand… then u blame yourself, you are filled with guilt and remorse…u think if only u had the power to turn back the hands of time…u would have done it differently…u look to the heavens and ask God why did he do this to you??? But there never comes an answer…you are only met by silence…no answers does He give. Then you plead, ask for that one chance…but you well know that your chance has already passed …there are no second chances…what’s been done cannot be undone…then all u can do is wait….Time heals all they say…but do u really have the time to wait that long? And then again does time really heal all the wounds… or does it just make us insensitive to the pain…till u feel it no longer because you have become numb…but the scars persist and its bleeds each time u touch it???
But this moment does pass…salvation does come… in its own time…life goes on and you pick up the pieces...and move on…

Maybe that’s why they call it life….it comes with its ups and downs, sometimes you ride on the crest of the waves and sometimes you end up on the trough…and you find … new strength within yourself…and if u never were in that situation maybe you would never realise how strong you really are…you stand up again, smile and accept all that life has thrown your way…you are bruised but not broken, and a silent, soothing voice inside of you softly says ‘this too shall pass’ …and you know that those around you will help you get through it…

The raindrop

With advent of monsoon, the summer stalls
And from the Heavens, a Raindrop falls

What rapture it brings, the Heavenly Grace
As I rush out to feel those pearls, brush against my face
The surge, that passion, wild and free
Pray, tell me my Beloved....
Doth time stand still, as I dance here with Thee?!

She dances in the Heavens now
Alas! Why did she ever leave...
'Tween Heaven and Earth, if 'twere a tug of war O Lord
Could I win her back with one final heave?

As I stand here cold, wet and melancholy
My entire being yearns, for Her it calls...
And then with the Rain, a Teardrop Falls......

The Beer Prayer

Our Lager

Which art in barrels

Hallowed by thy drink,

Thy will be drunk,

(I will be drunk)

At home as it is in the pub.

Give us this day our foamy head,

And forgive us our spillages,

As we forgive those who spill against us.

And lead us not to incarceration,

But deliver us from hangovers.

For thine is The beer,

The bitter and the The lager.

- Barmen 

LONG LIVE THE THANNI THAMBIS INTERNATIONAL!!!

yeM Bee yAy!!!!

While the 3 letters MBA can be an acronym for many different things, one of the best I have heard is 'Main Bhi Aaya' meaning one has followed the crowd (The other great one being a string of invectives which cannot be put here as adults may be reading this).

What I refer to is the mass exodus of humans every year to the temples of learning called B- School (business school for the uninitiated). This is, perhaps, the largest exodus of its kind, second only to that of the wilderbeasts in the Masai Mara region of Africa. The journey is fraught with peril and out of the thousands that embark on it, only a handful reach their destination.

The lions, crocodiles, hyenas and vultures wait patiently, fully aware that many a wilderbeast will succumb to the gargantuan task. Now who would let go of easy pickings?

The human exodus is no different, for they face a similar fate as the wilderbeasts - only the predators change. In this case, they are named math, logic and verbal ability. Seemingly innocuous, but extremely lethal, traps are sprung at every turn. A keen eye, great speed and accuracy are the only tools one can hope to wield against the monsters. For the few that survive, thousands perish. And those who make it, feast on the ambrosia of a brilliant career and drink the nectar of fat pay-checks.

As all cycles in nature, spring comes again, and like the wilderbeasts, a new exodus to B-schools begins.

My time has come to undertake the journey... and I hope for a safe crossing.

Rationalization of Guilty Pleasures!

Ever since I can remember, concepts of right and wrong, virtue and sin have always been drilled into my head. Perhaps a part of it (and a large one at that) is being born in into a certain religion, which has its unique set of do's and dont's.  I never had anything against any religion - never did and never will. But more often than not 'guilty pleasures' are equated to 'sin'. But as time passes me by, and the bones in my body make stranger sounds than my coffee machine, I wonder about Heaven and Hell.  

Chances are I wont make it to Heaven as by no stretch of imagination have I lived a pious and moral life. So then Hell it is - where one is to be damned for the rest of eternity (at least thats the definition). Blood-curdling. This, by implication, means that all that I like would be denied to me... Hence, I figure, why not make the most of the limited time on Earth and indulge in those guilty pleasures a little more?

One more whisky please...Hic...