*From & To Sathish* - Thread 4 - Page 55

Prayer, especially when praying for your loved ones takes on a beautiful meaning. At some point in our life, we consciously pray for the safety and well being of those we care about and also life in general, and you realize an awakening, a sense of peace and harmony with the universe. Many believe in God but not in religion. Many believe in a higher power but not in temples and forms. Many believe but don't have the time to go to a temple and pray. So, I take the liberty to pray for all of you and send you my best wishes.

Lost in Translation and Transition

Familiar words to most for most of us have said one thing and felt one thing and felt one thing and said something else and then have gone " But, wait, that is not what I meant or not what I wanted to say".

A few days back, a co-artiste handed me his wedding invitation and looking at the venue which was in Kochi, I smiled " bro, too far away and also I will be busy working".

After lunch, we chatted as we waited for our shots and he smiled ( I think it was a smile) and said; " Sir, this is the last time you will see me as a bachelor".

I stared at him, looked away and slowly gathered my thoughts and returned to face him " Bro, It will be better than a bachelor life and you will see that life takes on a new meaning with a loved one by your side. But, you will have to work for it, sacrifice a bit for it and not think of your own needs at all times."

He looked at me " sir, we are very happy. We have been seeing each other for the past ten months and hardly ever get into an argument. we do but rarely and just over silly and simple stuff".

I smiled as memories flooded me and with experience in my words, I spoke " Bro, most couples think that dating, long walks and tender kisses on the beach, valentine gifts, dinners, movies are all what it is about. But, they forget that it is shortlived and that each of them goes back to their homes and haunts.

Marriage is not like that for everything comes under one roof and for life, hopefully."

He shrugged silently and then it hit him and he scrambled to attention as I had long ago and had whispered to myself " Achtung, Achtung Spitfire".

One person, same person, day in and day out, compromises, sacrifices, more or less same food, same small or loud talks, same deaf and dumb and mute button pressed soul.

He looked at me with new comprehension and then deflated and I patted his shoulder " now think of the poor soul who is going to be living with you for she too will feel the same way and exactly the same way but more, much more".

Man, Woman, Manny, Womanny Man-womanly ( i am screwed) and yet to be discovered human forms aside, one does wonder about the whole man and woman concept that Mother Nature has thrown up and commanded: " go forth and procreate".

Procreation, biological needs and wants aside, life does become more beautiful and takes on a newer and higher meaning when love, real love is thrown into the mix.

I could go on and expand but I will not, at least not now and will instead leave you with this song from Bryan Adams

To really love a woman

To understand her you gotta know her deep inside

Hear every thought see every dream

And give her wings when she wants to fly

Then when you find yourself lyin' helpless in her arms

You know ya really love a woman

When you love a woman you tell her that she's really wanted

When you love a woman you tell her that she's the one

'Cause she needs somebody to tell her that it's gonna last forever

So tell me have you ever really

Really really ever loved a woman?

To really love a woman

Let her hold you

'Til ya know how she needs to be touched

You've gotta breathe her really taste her

'Til you can feel her in your blood

And when you can see your unborn children in her eyes

You know ya really love a woman

When you love a woman

You tell her that she's really wanted

When you love a woman you tell her that she's the one

'Cause she needs somebody to tell her that you'll always be together

So tell me have you ever really

Really really ever loved a woman?

Good morning

I have been having a lot of problems as to posting new stuff. I think this new look of India forums is putting up a lot of hurdles when it comes to posting stuff.

Jannal Oram 293-1

“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Bernard M. Baruch

Raman kept staring at the mobile phone through which the voice of Assistant commissioner Damodaran had just spoken to all of them and also through which finally a small ray of hope had come through. A bright smile lit up his face which for everyone around him seemed as if a super bolt of lightning had flashed across dark stormy clouds.

'Finally, a bit of good news and some hope for all of us'.

Jeeva looked at him and then looked at all of the others and saw the same wish reflected in all of their eyes and she asked Raman ' Baby, can we all come along with you to the hospital in the morning?" and he nodded and whispered ' okay'.

Shaktivel gently steered the conversation away and asked his son about Delhi and Poornima's father, to which Raman replied ' Good guy. Great soldier but poor temperament. Maybe, I am judging him harshly which I should not be doing for he must be under tremendous pain and pressure of losing his only child.'

Valliammai shook her head ' I know you better Raman and your judgement is rarely wrong and I also know very well that you do not jump to conclusions or form an opinion with just one meeting.'

Jannal Oram 293-2

Brigadier Sooryanarayanan heard all that was spoken clearly and a bit embarrassed that Corporal Rajeev Bhandari had heard it too, looked away and confessed ' maybe I did treat him harshly. But, it was because of him and his friend that my daughter is dead and don't I have the right to be angry and upset.'

Corporal Rajeev Bhandari shifted his feet and found an interesting spot on the ceiling to focus on which made Brigadier Sooryanarayanan furious and he roared ' you have my permission corporal and so speak freely and what is on your mind.'

Corporal Rajeev tentatively looked at his old lion of a boss and spoke his mind ' sir, we lost three of our men, our best men in this unit in that secret mission near the border.'

Good morning. I wish you a great day.

2, 5 = 8 words in that two simple little lines. Today, the same 8 words come in all shapes, pictures, gods, gurus and hearts and come as 2 or as 8. But they come, and most of them come because the sender thinks you are worth the time and effort.

Me, yes me, I am a sucker for wishes and also for wishing in return and I have continued on wishing well for it takes such little effort and hopefully pays back huge dividends. Dividends in the form of love and friendship.

Yup, you beautiful souls, a wish, a gentle smile of acceptance accompanied with a twinkle, sparkle in your eyes is all it takes to make someone's day a bit better, brighter and worth it to go on and on.

Ever since summer has entered our sticky, humid lives, my visits to the beach have become rather irregular and all the whatsapp messages from my beach friends have reached a huge crescendo and so I went armed with a bag full of marie biscuits.

Got you, fooled you. Biscuits and friends in one breath so obviously mean my four-legged and tail wagging dogs and puppies.

Since my wife to has fallen in love with dogs, I make up these stories to keep her entertained and tell her about my Puptel( airtel), dogapp( whatsapp), Pupbook ( facebook), pupmail( email) platforms and my interactions with my loyal species and this has miraculously raised the quality of the food she throws in my direction and also the frequency of it.

See, even away from the beach, my doggy pals watch over me and help me live a rather quiet life and importantly a peaceful one.

The magic mantra and the way to my wife's soul is through paws and tails.

Every day, I come back and show her pics of my interactions with a new dog or pup and magically, extra ghee goes into the dosas during breakfast and the food becomes tastier and which I chew and relish rather than swallow it down hurriedly with jugs of water and end up with a swollen, distended belly, seeing which my wife beams happily " Nalla saaptiyada".

It had been nearly three days since I went to meet my doggy pals and so yesterday, I filled the cotton bag with marie bikkis and trudged wearily to the beach.

"The summer has not been kind" complained many of the dogs and some of them muttered that a few new arrivals have been creating tensions in their established order of life.

Since, I know most of the people who frequent the beach, wishes of Hi,good morning, hello, vanakkam fill the air that I am in and as to the rest, well they give me a wide berth for I am usually surrounded by a minimum of ten to fifteen dogs and they too fill the air with subtle expressions of " Saniyan, saniyanunga. Beach has gone to dogs).

It used to be irksome, these all too clear signs of hate and contempt but like I said, used and not anymore. Nowadays, I don't react until I am provoked or spoken to directly and the usually all it takes is a quiet and hopefully understanding stare from my lovely brown loving eyes and the POI ( PERSON OF INTEREST) moves on or runs on.

My first memory of me wishing people and with Genuine and unbridled intent is way back in the mid 70's of the 20th century and that probably is a year or so after coming to now Chennai, then Madras. I think it was New year and 1974 had come along and armed dangerously with my new found mastery over a new language other than my parents and my native place which happened to be English, I went around wishing everyone tentatively a Happy new year.

Of course and obviously, I had no concept of what new year was or for that matter the concept of space and time for I was in Chennai and in a new time dimension.

Happy new year along with other wishes just came out as air, atoms of energy from my vocal cords and lungs, and had no real meaning but also no hidden meaning in it.

But now, they come with meaning, real meaning and as then with no hidden meaning and with a new found maturity and a new time dimension and space and which is running out.

I saw the man, an old man, bald man, slightly stooped with age and fatigue and wished " Good morning" and his feet screeched to a halt and he looked at me and asked " Do I know you" to which I replied " No, but I see you" and returned with a quip, a bit loaded and heavy reply " Oh, that kind of good morning is it".

Seeing my startled face, the grumpy man smiled and his face shone brightly and he continued " So many good mornings sir and only once in a while do i get to hear a real one like yours. Thank you and good morning to you too".

He walked on leaving me with my god wide open and leaving me with a new found purpose and that is to say, wish and accept more and more wishes and good mornings.

I give you my love and best wishes and hope and pray that you have a great weekend. Satish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iml8wEDxl60

14th February 1990: Voyager 1 creates the Pale Blue Dot photograph of Earth

“Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

Jannal Oram 293-3

Brigadier Sooryanarayanan mildly taken aback, snapped angrily ' What has that got to do with this situation Rajeev? I am talking about my child and you are talking about our men?'

Corporal Rajeev Bhandari pressed on boldly ' sir when our men died, who did you blame and what did you do afterwards?'

Brigadier Sooryanarayanan confused ' it was the Pakistani sponsored and trained terrorists who killed our men by blowing themselves up. Of course, they are to blame. what are you getting at Rajeev?'

' sir please bear with me for a second. so, you agree that the terrorists were to blame but who put our men behind enemy lines and who sent them into danger with full knowledge.'

Sooryanarayanan felt an arrow strike his soul and listened as the words came from corporal Rajeev ' sir, you are to blame then and the blame also has to be shared by our defense minister and ultimately falls fully on our prime minister for it was he who made the decision to send our team across the border.'

Brigadier Sooryanarayanan mumbled ' but, it was the terrorists, the suicide bombers and their vests and how can we be to blamed for their deaths.'

Corporal Rajeev Bhandari smiled ' in the same way that Raman or his friend is not responsible for the death of your child. They did not pull the trigger and they did not shoot down your daughter in cold blood and it was someone else and yet here you are putting all the blame on Raman, and aiming all your revenge on him.'

The blood drained from the Brigadier's face and seeing his reaction, Corporal Rajeev quickly saluted him and in a loud voice ' sir, permission to step outside.'

Brigadier nodded and sat alone with his pain and was soon joined by his tears and burying his face in his palms, he cried his soul out.