Youth

The rolling trophy, the title, the baton called 'Youth'

It's possession dependent

not on when the hair greys or the youthful glow fades

but on when the recesses of the mind no longer inhabit ideas

and the heart no longer inhabits passion.

Its our perspective that is broad enough to erase the mistakes of the past and start anew

We are the slayers of conventional beliefs

who build upon the sweat and toil of our predecessors.

Grateful we are for their sacrifices are the framework of our doings

Brimming with energy, excited by the possibilities of tomorrow

inspired by all those who seized opportunities, fueled by a zest for life,

that's how we live.

We hold no prophecy

But with certainty the day for our successors shall arrive

At its arrival some of our names and faces shall reside in the pages of history

some shall be washed away by the sands of time.

But our work shall be immortal,

and will be the foundation stones of that of our successors

In this relay race defined as the productive segment of life - 'Youth',

we can only hope to do our best

before we pass the baton.

The Solitary Voyage

It was a Tuesday afternoon and I was on a solitary voyage. After battling the ferocious winds and baring the sweltering heat I found myself feeling as though I was in paradise when I entered the well air conditioned metro station. I made my way to the platform and as I awaited the train's arrival I stared at the map of the metro routes, making sure I was on the right platform. Looking back at the experience in a metaphorical sense, I believe life is no different from this everyday experience.

In life there are rails, trains and destinations but there is no map. The rails take the form of options/opportunities, they branch out endlessly far more than we can imagine but they all have a destination. We take the train that we hope takes us to our desired destination, our decisions are fueled by faith and are hearts are pumping passion. The trains are the actions we take. In life there is no map, guided by the insatiable thirst to reach our destination we choose our train.

When I am seated in the train a lot of thoughts cross my mind but the music that I am usually listening to, drowns out these insignificant voices. But one particular thought that as made its way in this tapestry of random thoughts once or twice and broken into my concentration would be the fear of being on the wrong train. Then it immediately strikes me that even if that were the case, all it would take to get back in the right direction is a simple switch of trains.

In life many of us have experienced it, we taken the wrong train or en-route our journey we had a sudden change of mind. The aftermath of such a situation isn't pleasant but once you get back on your feet, things are usually fine. You get back on your feet by switching trains, exploring other opportunities, trying once again so as to get there. Even when it seems there isn't another way to get back on track, if you take a moment aside and contemplate patiently you'll realize a train heading to your destination is scheduled to arrive at the station you are waiting at.

After many a solitary voyage, this frequent voyage has become clockwork. After synchronizing my schedule with that of the well timed trains I have a perfectly timed out itinerary. I know exactly when I have to leave and when the train would arrive and how long it would take me to reach my destination. But if I am displaced from my timed out journey, the usually calm mood is replaced by a feeling of impatience and anxiety.

In contradiction, we can't always be sure when the train we wish to board in life will arrive. In fact most of the time we are not sure. Sometimes we miss the train we wished to take and are filled with despair. But we fail to realize that there always is another train headed towards that destination soon to arrive or there may even be a train following a simpler route to our destination soon to arrive. And that is the birthplace of the statement "there's always a next time."

Many board the train with me, many enter along the journey, many leave along the journey. They are all people I haven't met before and probably never will meet again. We share no words but at minimum we do share a fragment of our journey together. There are many who get off at the same station as me, but once those doors slide open and I welcome the heat, we are always headed in different directions.

The train you wish to take may have many passengers, but not all of them are headed for the same destination as you are. Feeling intimidated by them would be futile and pointless because ultimately even if they get off at the same station as you they are most likely to head towards a different destination. No matter how similar your aim or goal in life seems to another person's a few important differences definitely exist. So your so called competitors or rivals are just comrades with mutual interests. For this reason drowning yourself in jealousy or unhealthy competitiveness will get you no where.

I wrote this because I really enjoy my solitary voyage and I found something meaningful that I could relate it to. So that leaves me with the last and most important point:-

Buckle up and enjoy the journey. =D

The Power of Words

What is poetry

But a stringing of words

that puts on a different mask with every reader

What is a paragraph

But a stringing of sentences

that sometimes is the window into the writer's thoughts

What is a story

But a whole new world,

created by the words of the writer and perceived by the imagination of the reader

What are words spoken from the mouth

Soulless without the emotions of the heart

Some forms of word are the possessors of a one way ticket

Once departed they never return

Words, most target the mind

on the command of the commander

but when the words rebel and take a detour to the heart

The commander is only left with the options of rejoicing or regretting

Word in all their immortal forms

whether poems, paragraphs, stories or speech

Soulless or brimming with life

are the catalyst of thoughts

Words can make the strong stronger

and also the weak weaker

The commander can only control the words

not the perception of them

not the comprehension of them

not the reactions to them

But the commander's power adequate

for brighting faces and lightening hearts

and also avoiding the wrong words from transforming into swords

that pierce deep into susceptible hearts.

So does the commander plan to be reckless and send sword transformers without remorse but an after taste of regret

or be wise with his selection of troops and their dispatching ?

We are all commanders but the question is, are we all good commanders?

Time Trotter

For the first time, I have tried out poetry! Heres a poem I wrote. Do leave a comment ,I would love to know what you think.

The mind is nothing but a wanderer in time

Arriving at destinations past, present and future.

The past, my mind has been there several times

It's just as it had been,

just as I had seen.

Comprehension and the great healer time illuminates

the streets that were once dark.

The streets of joy remain bright.

Their paths familiar and easy to follow.

My desire is to stay yet my departure is inevitable.

The present, this is what I explore for the first time.

The roads wind and intertwine, signage of what to expect ahead is absent.

Venturing on these roads eventually leads me to the border line of the present and future.

As I look over to the future,

thick mist that lingers over the area obstructs my view.

My journey ahead isn't that daunting,

for the blueprints of the future lay in my dreams.

As I nervously step over the borderline I realise

that what I saw in the present shall re-position itself as past

and what I am yet to see shall re-position itself as present.

The blueprints of the future lay in my dreams....

No more can I call them dreams

This step will make them reality.

Is it written in the stars?

The future is an untold and unwritten story but the tragedy is that the one who plays the storyteller or story-writer is usually oblivious of their role. Some storytellers/storywriters believe that their lives have been planned out and will be executed in accordance to that plan. People who possess these beliefs also possess an insatiable thirst for peeks into plan for the future. We try to decipher the codes written in the stars, scrawled on the lines of our palm thinking they'll tell us what the plan looks like.

Regarding all this I would like to pose a question to my readers: why do most future predicting methods give vague predictions? If the future is planned why can't precise events be predicted ? But there are occasions when the predictions(whether vague or precise) change their status to reality then I find myself questioning my initial skepticism about the whole thing. I have come up with certain theories as to why some predictions travel from the possibility realm to the reality realm. Firstly majority of the prevalent psychic practices give very vague predictions. And whether or not you are aware of it, when you hear predictions you always try to link it up to something that's going on in your life right now. Hence it's a matter of interpretation. Going on the fact that majority of predictions are never precise that means either our futures are not pre planned or the plan isn't encrypted in stars, our palms etc.

Personally I believe that our future is not pre planned, if it isn't pre planned that means our future is dependent on something else to occur. The fact that the future hasn't been planned in advance points out that we enter this equation somewhere. How do we enter this equation? By our actions, words, thoughts and ultimately beliefs. So another reason as to why predictions sometimes become realities is because of large amounts of belief invested in predictions.

I wouldn't denounce the psychic practices in the world because these predictions have manifested good things in the realities of believers by giving good predictions. So psychic practices of any kind have an irreplaceable place in the world's mentality and ultimately its future. Yet be careful when investing your belief because returns will be received when belief is invested in anything.

Basically I urge people to be cautious believers. I'd like to conclude by making a suggestion, let your mind sketch that desired future, let your creative juices make the sketch vibrant then finally let your open eyes see what they once saw when they were closed. You will soon come to realize that your dreams are nothing but your reality in the making.

A dash of Inspiration

Every once in a while I need a dash of inspiration to re-emerge from my mental lair of laziness and write a blogpost. This time that dash of inspiration came in the form of a good day. But sometimes a dash of inspiration isn't enough to keep me going like for instance now, as I write this I am listening to a song over and over again and thanks to which my fingers are still punching keys. As I think about all this I wonder what really is Inspiration? Does Inspiration take up an immortal form for each person or is our muse variable with time ? Inspiration comes in so many different forms, a song, a story etc so it can be said that a person's muse is generally variable, its not immortal for anyone because what inspires you today is not necessarily going to inspire you tomorrow. So far we can say that Inspiration is something which possesses no particular form that initiates or provokes an action of some sort. I believe Inspiration is responsible for the 'light bulb moments' of life but Inspiration just flicks the switch of the light bulb on, whether that light bulb flickers or gives a steady glow depends on something else. This has compelled me to believe that Inspiration doesn't work alone, I think it has a partner in crime , an accomplice that I call Motivation. For me the good day was the Inspiration to write this and the Motivation that keeps me going is the music I am listening to. Inspiration and Motivation work hand in hand. So is there a way that we can get inspired and motivated more often so that we are catapulted from our mental lairs of laziness in to doing some fun yet productive? The best answer I can give to that is be alert for things that inspire you Motivation will follow Inspiration so once your inspired you have got the ball rolling to do great things.

Indulging in the ultimate chocolate fantasy

It was a Sunday afternoon, I was hanging out at a mall with two friends of mine. A ritual always followed when we hang out - devouring every edible item within a close radius! Our previous picks were ice cream, pasta, magic corn but this time our pick was The Great Molten Chocolate Lava Cake. 'The Great' part was added by me to emphasize how great it was. The name lets your imagination run wild and you imagine a lip smacking desert. You'd be wrong if thats what you imagined because it was much more than that!

We took a seat at Chilli's. The ambience was incredible. There was music being played, soft but loud enough not to be drowned out by conversations. A basket ball match was being played on a t.v over head. The walls were adorned with pictures. We ordered the cake and an old fashioned chocolate shake. Later the cake arrived and our chatter was silenced. Mounted on a zig - zag pattern of chocolate sauce, there it stood, at the base was a chocolate cake with a core of steamy molten chocolate and on the cake, a scope of vanilla ice cream concealed by a layer of frozen chocolate over it! I am still debating in my head if it was a hallelujah moment or not.

The plan was simple - start at the bottom and work your way up the heavenly structure. We seized our spoons ready to attack. The clashes between the metal spoons and the plate resulted in several clanks followed by a chorus "MMMMMmmmmmm". As we cut through the cake the molten chocolate began spewing out. When the cake was in my mouth, my eyes closed, it felt like I was cut off from all my senses except taste for I was completely lost in the pleasure. I can literally taste the cake in my mouth as I describe it. They say looks maybe deceptive but not in this case. More clanks and more mmmmmmm's. Soon we had successfully dismantled and devoured the cake from its heavenly structure. There stood the scope of ice cream , solitary with its armor - the layer of frozen chocolate. It almost seemed as if the scope of ice cream had surrendered for its defeat was inevitable.

With my mighty spoon in hand, I cut through the layer of hard and frozen chocolate then more clanks and mmm's and we were done. Next on our list to devour was the old fashioned chocolate shake. That too was a truely chocolaty delight but the Molten Chocolate Lava Cake was a tough act to follow. It was the ultimate chocolate fantasy. I do hope this made my readers mouth watering-ly envious!