Friday, August 24, 2007

What would life be without wishes? Its like the fragrance of a flower... not the real thing but enjoyed all the same.

Like some one said, you are never given a wish without being given the power to fulfill it. Hmm… well that’s not entirely true.. We do have dreams that sometimes never come true… that by the very nature of its elusiveness intrigues us and attracts us which we chase after like a mirage in the desert - to the point that we are totally obsessed with it and raise it to such heights that we convince ourselves that our happiness depends on the fulfillment of that one all consuming desire. Sometimes the desires remain unfulfilled, and we recollect it wistfully, dreaming of a life that could have been. Should we be fortunate enough to eat the fruits of the said desire…once fulfilled, it doesn’t take much time to relegate it to anonymity with hardly a moment of thought spent cheering or mourning. That’s life.

The lines of a ghazal comes to my mind…

Duniya jise kehte hai… jaadu ka khilona hai

Mil jaaye to mitti hai, kho jaaye to sona hai!

The world is a magical toy. What you get is dirt.. what you lose is gold!

We only need to look at our personal experiences to realize the wisdom of these words.

Those who have read “Gone with the wind” would draw a parallel in the story. Scarlet who is obsessively in love with Ashley (only because he loved another woman and thus became unattainable) discovers at the end that it was never Ashley that she loved or wanted or needed but Rhett whom she mocked and derided all the time.

Sometimes in retrospect we realize that receiving what you didn’t want or conversely not getting what you scrambled after, was a blessing in disguise.

How many would answer that truthfully?

Sometimes the fulfillment of a desire brings with it untold misery. Have you read the story of a “Monkey’s paw”? The “monkey’s paw” had the power to bring three wishes come true and a family of three is amused by the story. Ridiculing it they laugh and wish for a 1000 pounds and forget about it. The next day, the son who is working in a factory meets with an accident and perishes. The compensation his parents receive for the death? 1000 pounds. Well, guess it pays to be careful before you blow the lash off your palm with a wish or fall on your knees spotting a shooting star. Many a fulfilled wish brings with it many a regret.

Anyways, all that said and done, there are some times sweet little wishes or needs that entered the realms of our consciousness and quickly forgotton which comes true in mysterious ways… Beware all you skeptics, for here we are at the threshold of the mystic.

These sweet wishes that come true often go unnoticed in our busy life. Like, has it happened to you that you wanted to buy a book and with in days a friend drops in with a gift for you… precisely the book you wanted! Or you remembered an old school friend you lost touch with and within days she calls you up out of the blues!

Well, I have been thinking about buying a hair band to tie up my hair when I sleep. I normally don’t but now that my hair is long for the first time in my life, they get awfully tangled and I felt the need to do something about it. Meanwhile, my brother in law bought an Easter egg for his pretty neighbour but at the last minute chickened out. And left it behind when he left for his place of work. So post easter and post his departure we did the honors of breaking it open and out came goodies among which there lay … a blue hair band!

Sometimes, don’t miss the trees for the forest!!!


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