[Reflections] Musings on the Wall 2011

Presenting a collection of some of my musings on Facebook in 2011. A metaphoric mural with the shades of my world within and without!

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Eyes that see beauty, ears that hear peace, tongues that speak kindness, legs that stand up with courage and arms that reach out with love - A wish for all humanity to be truly able.
" - December 4 at 12:10am

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Is the pressure of your burdens becoming unbearable? Is the heat of your problems scorching your very core? Do you find time taking a snail-back journey? Do you find yourself crying, "This is way beyond my calling"? Behold! 'Tis just a piece of carbon, getting a makeover; Know! 'Tis just for the diamond in you, to discover!" - November 8 at 10:29pm

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Most minds are trees that go skyward, sprouting branches, leaves and flowers and never looking back. Special is the one, like the banyan, going back again and again to where it came from - A symbol of daring to re-live the darkness of birth, honoring the past and always learning... to love and live." - October 9 at 11:23pm

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On a train by the window, there flashing past a young couple in conversation, here vanishing by an old man deep in thought, there an uncared dustbin, here a lush green tree - Hey life, how fleeting you are, leaving just the memory of the savored moment past. "
 - October 2 at 1:20am

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Purity of the snow flake, Passion of the candle flame, Poetry of the tear drop, Comfort of the prayer bead, Caress of the mountain breeze - Many languages of touch." 
- September 19 at 11:42pm

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As I placed Haiku's baby feet on mine and walked him around the room, a drop of precious memory trickled through me... Of me, doing the exact same action on my father's feet, as a little girl. Just realized then that no matter how zig-zag it seems, life comes around to a very neat circle in the end. Dot.
" - September 12 at 11:33pm

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Does it seem like a tunnel, a prison, a well, a forest - Those dark and dangerous places of the mind? A ray of light, a pinch of freedom, the last step, the first human - Just a vision of these to get out of those mazes of the mind!" - August 31 at 12:54am

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When the ape walked upright, there was a human; When the human walked ahead, there were new lands; When humanity walked together, there were revolutions; - A talk to take a walk, to dust one's head and best oneself." 
- August 23 at 11:43pm

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Should the tongue feel sad that the eyes can speak a million words in a moment? Should the eyes feel low that the mind can see beyond those walls? Should the mind feel glum that the soul is not scared of death? ..... Should one be jealous of another?
" - August 13 at 12:38am

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The breeze that hugs you tight when you're low on a high place; The waves that keep coming back to you again and again; The earth that holds you up whether you rise or fall; The flame that shows how you look up to the skies with unfaltering eyes - An ode to both the elements of nature and the nature of people!" - August 9 at 12:40am

"Why revenge and hatred? Is it easier to rage and ravage? Why keep proving that we have descended from the impulsive animals? Why not the thinking race that has conquered space and sea? Why an eye for an eye? Why not a mind's eye? Here's to a world that sees and survives!
" - July 15 at 12:03am

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People from high places; Families at airports; Moments of montage songs; Eyes of strangers; Lines from moving movies; Faces of faraway lands; - The splendid shades of humanity!
"- July 10 at 9:27am

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Distant lands, exotic foods, strange faces, difficult accents, reordered routines, unfamiliar dwellings - Journeying to know just a bit more about me and the third rock from the sun." - May 11 at 11:31pm

"Once swimming in a fluid world, now walking, running, climbing in a solid one; Once content with the rumbling gurgles, now wanting the latest tunes; Once a speck within me, now in a world of your own; - In awe of your journey, my son!
"- May 6 at 12:39am

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Just a combination of rhythmic words, Just a permutation of musical notes - Where from, that power ... to paint a smile, to wipe some tears, to raise sky high, to sow dreams and love? An ode to the waltz of lyrics and music!
"- April 26 at 12:27am

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Some are like the patient pasture, some are like the gentle breeze, some are like the bubbling brook, some are like the sparkling flame - Textures vary, flavors vary but this half of the world holds the rope and hope of life in them!
" - March 9 at 11:25pm

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When the fire of anger burns inside and hurting flames are waiting to scorch the person before, won't a cool breeze flow from the corners of the brain, whispering images, painting words of a past kindness?
" - February 17 at 11:16pm

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Nandini Karky
 was engrossed in watching a religious procession, today. Ladies decked in their best & men in silk dhotis as though welcoming their favorite son-in-law, an old man whose back was bent in a deep question mark, busy vendors, bustling priests and most of all, the god in question, in a florally decorated chariot, shining in his silence." - 
February 15 at 10:41am

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Heartfelt wishes to be all that you want to be and do all that you want to do, in an awesome 2011.
" - January 1 at 1:46am

[Lyrics] AskLaska: SetSquare-Stethoscope Heart-to-Heart

Perhaps, if all the words in all the love songs, written by earthlings, are placed one on top of the other, it will reach the beings on the earth-like planet, discovered some galaxies away! Love, a feeling, in spite of being probed by microscopes and telescopes, still seems to gift something fresh to the one who seeks truly. AskLaska, the latest love sensation from Nanban, a spell-binding case in point. Here's looking at it with my eyes...

[Image composed from multiple sources]

அஸ்க் லஸ்கா ஏமோ ஏமோ - ஐ
அஸ்த் அஸ்த் லைபே -
அஹாவா போலிங்கோ சிந்தா சிந்தா
இஷ்க் இஷ்க் மைலே - லவ்
இஷ்ட பிரேம பியாரோ பியாரோ - ஒரு
காதல் உந்தன் மேலே

In these few words, the elation of being in love, that binds human race as one, is experienced. Here is love, the ultimate unifier, as spoken in various corners of the world! In spite of being unseen strangers, these words hold hands with the music and walk like a couple, smiling at each other. Although this is undoubtedly, the most unique dimension of this song, something else beyond these lines seem to call out to me, joyfully... 

Lines below, talk of love in the language of engineering. Here is an intelligent engineer, whose love for a girl, is spoken with the implicit love for his education. 

முக்கோணங்கள் படிப்பேன்/ உன் மூக்கின் மேலே
(Triangles, I study on your nose)
விட்டம் மட்டம் படிப்பேன்/ உன் நெஞ்சின் மேலே
(Width and depth I understand, from your heart)
மெல்லிடையோடு வளைகோடு / நான் ஆய்கிறேன்!
(Curve line, I explore on your waistline)

The girl is second to none either, which she proves with her apt reply. Ah, the incomparable delight I feel, to see women portrayed intelligently in our movies!

ப்ளாட்டோவின் மகனாய் உன் வேடமா?
ஆராய்ச்சி நடத்த நான் கூடமா?
(Is Plato's son, your disguise?
And me, your research lab?)

At the same time, the charming doctor reveals how perfect she is to love this genius of an engineer, by the equivalent passion for her education. In her 'therapeutic' words... 

பாழும் நோயில் விழுந்தாய்/ உன் கண்ணில் கண்டேன்
(See you fall into the depths of illness)
நாளும் உண்ணும் மருந்தாய் / என் முத்தம் தந்தேன்
(Prescribed my kisses as your medicine)
உன் நெஞ்சில் நாடிமானி வைக்க/ காதல் காதல் என்றே கேட்க..
(As I place my stethoscope on your heart, it's 'love love', I hear!)

All this leaves me wistfully wondering, how many love what they are doing, and when they do... how magical would love and life be!

[Movies] A Separation / Iranian 2011

Once again, I am jolted from my months-long literary slumber by a magical journey. Here you are, on a theatre seat one moment and vanishing into thin air, the next. It is very rare that you take the entire theatre with you, and in perfect 'zen' silence, that too. That is to be seen to be heard! Introducing 'A Separation' at the International Film Festival, in Chennai.

From the word go, one feels pulled into a mesmerizing painting and one is the artist, the colors and the subject, all rolled into a perfect whole that one forgets what one is. Each actor, acted not, but lived. Each emotion was not out there, it was within. Every element of the movie had one unifying element - economy. Not a single scene, a single word, a single expression was unnecessary. Sculpting precisely, ego, honesty, loyalty, love, as real as it can be!

Ever thought about what would you do if you had to choose between a dying old man and an unborn child? A moral dilemma indeed, specially to those concerned. Many philosophers theorize about man's morality. One such theory describes it as stages with the first layer akin to the simple reasoning of a child who thinks "it's all right to do anything as long as one doesn't get caught". The next one being the phase when we do things "to keep the others around pleased or things that are right according to law". Then again, the final level, the highest and most difficult level founded on the "universal principles of an ideal humanity". This movie touches on every one of these layers and from multiple angles. Life as it is, seems to be the most interesting story of all.

Into the homes, in the streets, you walk following an enigmatic stranger - the story. You see unfolding the multiple realities of every character - their faith, their conflict, their honor, their life, in fine detail. Not all that different from you and me. In all, a perfectly woven persian carpet, magically flying you through the hills and vales of the human mind!