If this blank page could capture all that I think staring at it,
would I hit “save” or “delete” ?

If this blank page could capture all that I think staring at it,
would it a lovely note be?

If this blank page could capture all that I think staring at it,
would it be the writer, or me?

If this blank page could capture all that I think staring at it,
would that be something I’d show you?

If this blank page could capture all that I think staring at it…
would I even sit here thinking all I do?!!

- Madhuri

A lonely eve, a drifting mind,
Some of the shades
In me I find.

Colors, tints… so many hues
Gilded in gold,
Tinged with the blues
——————————————

Dusk, and my heart… fiery as the sky,
Awash with the colors
Of days gone by.

Now melting seamless into starry light,
The quiet calmness
Of the night.

- Madhuri

My latest – still on paper, just needing far fewer words! Still a writer, just a tad more illustrated :)

Still having fun…

How did we come to a state where we feel the need to ask “why” if somebody is happy?

Shouldn’t happiness just be the natural state of being?

If nothing is wrong… nothing out-of-place… what stops us from being happy on any day? Such magic fills our life. It is everywhere.

In the brightness of a sunny day, painted into the glory of a sunset sky that catches you by surprise when you walk out at the end of a long day at work, in the train that you are just in time for when you were in a rush.

In friends who love us for who we are, and sometimes in spite of who we are. In the fantastic people who people our lives, form our families and fill our being with joy.

In the surprise call from a person you have been thinking about, in the chance meetings that can change the course of your life, in that unexpected windfall just when you needed it, in the joke in your inbox when you are hassled at work, in the smile of a passerby on a grey day.

In every morning’s waking. In days that go well, and even those that don’t go so well but we find the strength to live through.  In the faith living strong in our heart. In the beliefs which drive us. In dreams which come true— one by one by one…

In the flight of a bird that catches our eye. In the inexplicable kindness of strangers. In sudden irrepressible laughter. In unbidden joy. In grace. And in the blessings we don’t even count.

Everywhere…in everything.

And yet we need reason to be happy! Shouldn’t we require reason instead for being unhappy?

Minds may be bought over,
hearts can only be won.

Minds are logical and sane,
hearts are free and wild.

Minds will mind the fire,
hearts light it!

        “…the projection of peoples’ dreams about themselves – strong, powerful, beautiful…” ~Pam Brown

kuch dard, kuch rahat
thode shikwe, thodi chahat

kuch sukoon, kuch intezaar
kahin jeet, toh kahin haar

kuch pyar, kuch dosti
thodi umang, thodi masti

kuch kisse, kuch yaadein
kayee sapne, kayee vaadein

kuch saansein, kuch dhadkan
ye dil… aur ye mann

kuch der, kuch dur
yun hi chalte…
zindagi

- Madhuri

“The journey is the reward” – Chinese Proverb

Be courteous, be patient, and always polite,
Don’t ever be loud, be gentle and quiet.
Do hold the door for those walking behind you,
And never, oh never, jump your place in a queue.

I listened, I learned and I did believe
“Manners make the person”… it’s the way to live.
———————————–

Yes. The world is full of courteous people, I see
Manners are very important, they all agree.
There are the “Sorry”s, the “May I”s and so many “Excuse Me”s,
Out pop the “Thank you”s, as pretty as you please.

But hey! what’s this? what am I missing?
Manners are just words, just a way of speaking?
So often a gap in what people say and they feel,
What they do, and they don’t… a different sentiment reveal.

So hard the gratitude, yet so prompt the “Thank You”.
A polite “excuse me”, even as they trample over you!
No real warmth, beneath many a smile
So many sweet words, underlined by guile.
———————————–

Manners are nice, but oh let’s not bother
If we can’t find it in us to really care about another.
Words are just words, manners an empty shell
What we think… we feel… we do, does the true story tell.

“Mind your manners” I was taught, and yet now find
What we should’ve been taught was “mind your mind”,
“Mind what you think”, and do “mind your heart”
Lest caring for people become a lost art.

- Madhuri

Our eyes face forward, our head doesn’t turn fully around, our legs and feet are hinged to move ahead – we cannot really look back, walk or run backwards without turning our back on what lies ahead. At best we can take a quick look over our shoulders, take a few unbalanced steps backwards.

And yet old times tug at our thoughts from behind. Peripheral vision gives us tantalizing glimpses of what lies at our back, just beyond our sight. Our heart yearns to pause a while, to stay with times that were happy, to hold on to a part of the past that we loved and do not want to walk away from.

The future beckons with promise. Even as the past tugs at emotion and resolution.

Life is such an irony…

A lovely day around a lovely thing… I love the very feel of the word Independence – freedom to do, to be. Surely the foundation of all happiness.

But then, I close my eyes and try to think of all that makes me happy— and the first things which strike me are all those which are vulnerable in dependence… strong in dependence; the first things are connections on which the core of my happiness depends… faith and affection, belief and support I revel in being dependent on.

Have we over extended the concept? … independence for the individual, freedom and space… a wonderful thing for sure — as long as we see where the wonderful stops. Because we don’t seem to be able to so easily…

We move towards smaller and smaller orbits… with our nuclear families, with our increasing comfort in digital relationships. We have a hundred friends on our Facebook wall – and so few that are a part of our day. We form connects and networks… forget how to form friendships. We are comfortable in depending on invisible “clouds”, yet increasingly uncomfortable in depending on, in trusting people.

I live in this culture of the ultimate freedom for the individual. Where you move out out of your parents house because you are an adult and should live alone; and then keep cats and dogs and all kinds of pets because it is so lonely to live alone. Where marrying for love is the norm – arranged marriages so absurd; but the love last just long enough to create a soaring rate of divorce. Where people smile and talk to strangers on the road every day, yet have to create family holidays to meet and talk to their family. Where it is all about the individual, and yet so blind to what makes a complete individual…

Let us be independent enough to enjoy all the great opportunities it offers. Let us be be global and connected and networked… enjoy the diversity of cultures and human beings in an increasingly flat world.

But never too independent… never too adult… to indulge in the sheer joy, the enduring strength of the human connections we are able to create.

May we be blessed always with the vulnerability of dependence.

Celebrate In-dependence!

- Madhuri

“The best thing to hold on to in life is each other” – Audrey Hepburn

(Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks, 2012)