Happy Diwali

May you have a great prosperous year ahead...

Almost midnight now, and the silence has an eeriness to it...the silence ensuing the Festival of Lights, Diwali, arguably, the greatest of all Indian festivals. The firecrackers have been done with...there are a few "1,00,000 ki ladis" going off in the distance as the grand finale...each one seemingly trying to be the last of the night. The lights adorning each home will carry on blinking and flashing quietly until dawn...

Never a stickler for religious beliefs and customs, I've had the most memorable times in the past on Diwali...the crackers, sweets, diyas et al....there was a keenness in being part of the tradition and festivities. Not so much as i've grown older, it seems...the almost-family neighbors, the friends have moved on, the raucous get-togethers have become rare...perhaps next year i'l try to make it different.

You know I'm such a fool for you.
You got me wrapped around your finger...

Shock..Denial..Anger..Bargaining..Depression..Acceptance..

it ends at 86...

Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool

A note on an angel..

...she nestles in a La-Z-Boy, far too big for her diminutive frame...for a moment i thought she was a cushion on the recliner...


It was an extremely welcome shock when i heard about it....why o why, i used to wonder in my immature head, do you not settle down and begin to be happy for your own self?? Not denying that i was, perhaps, the greatest beneficiary of your affection and attention for a substantial period of time, but deep down i still wanted you to be self-indulgent.
I know now that you are different, there is contentment and satisfaction, there is a feeling of the terrible dark nights rolling over and giving way to brighter days....


She stares intently at them furry animals scampering across the plasma screen....the glee is evident. She is disturbed by a flurry of activity as people enter her domain calling out her name in delight...*a faint recognition of family...the box of goodies enough to get her smiling...she's all too happy to have some more folks dote on her...


She calls me out by name, catch-me-if-you-can she challenges...i pretend i won't budge, just to hear my name being called out repeatedly (trust me, she's incredibly cute when she does that...well there isn't anytime she isn't..)...she's persistent in her demand...i relent and run after her, deliberately slow in pursuit to prolong the game and keep her giggling throughout...


The independent streak is already noticeable, she takes it from her mum, i'd say :), she has her dinner without assistance or supervision...i'm (un)forcibly made to sit with her and partake of her meal...i realize i'm the storyteller for the rest of her dinner....i'm only too glad my dear Divya!


There is infinite fondness for you, Little One...

Tonight I can write the saddest lines...

*I post this for him...please get better...





Tonight I can write the saddest lines.

Write, for example, 'The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'

The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.

Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.

She loved me, sometimes I loved her too.
How could one not have loved her great still eyes.

Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

To hear the immense night, still more immense without her.
And the verse falls to the soul like dew to the pasture.

What does it matter that my love could not keep her.
The night is starry and she is not with me.

This is all. In the distance someone is singing. In the distance.
My soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

My sight tries to find her as though to bring her closer.
My heart looks for her, and she is not with me.

The same night whitening the same trees.
We, of that time, are no longer the same.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but how I loved her.
My voice tried to find the wind to touch her hearing.

Another's. She will be another's. As she was before my kisses.
Her voice, her bright body. Her infinite eyes.

I no longer love her, that's certain, but maybe I love her.
Love is so short, forgetting is so long.

Because through nights like this one I held her in my arms
my soul is not satisfied that it has lost her.

Though this be the last pain that she makes me suffer
and these the last verses that I write for her.


-Pablo Neruda

"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you."
Romans 1:17

06/10/08

We celebrated...