A Missed Turn

We were driving at a very average speed, but we missed that turn we were looking for. Maybe we were too indulged in talking or just did not notice a small signboard that said “turn right”. She was in no hurry as usual, but me being time crazy as usual, just lost it. We had to reach there on time. People were waiting for us and I never get late. I hate waiting for others and make sure they don’t wait for me.  Ever since I remember, I have never been late for anything. And unlike others, once or twice when I did get late, I was never offered any concessions. So I have always made it a point that I make it on time, even if it meant reaching there an hour early. Without a map or GPS it was hard to drive on as I was not sure if it was the right road anymore. But she has this knack of sensing things. Although the most logical option was to take a U turn, I agreed with her. We kept moving forward. Finally another turn came and this time we took it. We reached an hour late. But people there said it was good we dint take that turn (the one we missed) as it was a bad road and we would have been stuck there.

So all this time I was cribbing on why we missed that turn, and suddenly it was good to have missed that turn.  Can life offer such concessions?...

A moment in time!!

What r you looking at?

You….

Why?

Just like that…I love you and when I look at you I love the way you look back…

Hmmm

I was just thinking the other day…what will I do if you don’t look at me like that someday. It defines me now. It helps me remember who I am. What if you look at me someday as if I was a stranger?  What if?

Don’t say that, I will never look at you like that…I just cannot anymore…it’s a habit now.

I am hungry, let’s go out and eat something.

What do you want to eat?

Whatever you like…

How about pizzas?

Okies!!

OUT IN THE OPEN

There is regret. Always there is regret.
But it is better that our lives unloose,
As two tall ships, wind-mastered, wet with light,
Break from an estuary, with their courses set,
And waving part, and waving drop from sight.
-- Philip Larkin

Until you return home your lives floated evenly down a current determined by the lay of the land and the banks constraining it. Suddenly the river ends and you find yourselves in an estuary. You still feel the tug of the flow that until recently sufficed to keep you moving. But now there are winds and tides to reckon with. Neighbours who speak in foreign tongues jostle you. You find friends and form flotillas. You learn how to hoist your sail, how to navigate, how to drop anchor. Slowly you earn your sea-legs. In the harbour are some grizzled sailors who bark advice at you. But you pay them little heed. You listen more keenly to the tales of voyagers from distant lands who speak of the fabulous Indies, of the Roaring Forties that you may have to brave, of the icebergs that may sink the best of you. You can feel the daily pull of the tides, and the salt smell of the sea is inescapable. 

When you leave, the harbour-master will give you a cachet of competence, but in the open sea it is your own true strength that will matter. Most of you will quickly fall into trade routes and head for well-known destinations. Some will explore a little but stay in sight of land. A few of you, more brave, will chart your own routes. There is so much out there! – not just the shores to the west where the streets are paved with gold, but high in the frozen north there's Greenland where I hear the sun never sets, and deep down under there's Tierra del Fuego where, I've been told, the Earth suddenly ends. 

So you must break free of this estuary now. Remember it with affection, come back once in a while (we'll bring out our best rum), but don't spend the rest of your lives at its edge. Bon voyage, my friend! May you sail true.

Create Nurture and Destroy

Create Nurture and Destroy, that’s what is in God’s hands. I was walking alone along the coast of Mumbai on Marine Drive and this thought crossed my mind. They call it the queen’s neckless….for which a lot was destroyed. Anyways...I was walking along the harbor and just letting the wind blow my face. I think even for Mumbai this is the only place they get fresh air…I was there to get some fresh perspective.  I was troubled by the problem of free will. Was I walking out of my free will or was I walking because I was made to? I felt good and refreshed alright but I could just sit and enjoy the same feeling. Life always poses a choice. But are those really choices or just another way to signal that its not in your control. One has to decide the consequence one is ok with, and go ahead with the choice. But then the intermediate choices mixed up with situations can deter one from the consequences expected.

Life is too complex for just one choice to decide on the consequence. It’s the small choices that count.

One has to decide every day and every moment. Funny thing is, if one needs to change the result, one can just deter on one small choice….the larger picture changes. I come back to free again. Where there is a will there is a way. But is will an illusion? Is it just as one says..a variable in the equation of situations that one creates or get created…. God Creates, Nurthures and Destroys…situations, that’s it.