Words of Music.

Theres a lot to say ....... that can never be said,
Ever restless thoughts gathered amongst moistening sheets and pillow covers,
Endless fears blinked back behind skilled eyes,
Fatigue and frustration ejected through calculated and cruel physical excursion,

A perpetual effort to locate the friendlier shades in a life too used to RED,
And hope swims like a deflating buoy with tides pushing it down again and again,
Screaming with each rise .......... No surrender!

The strange things battle does to ones persona .........
Theres no glamor to a battle gone too long ......
Eyes that have seen too much, Heart thats endured horrors beyond its share.........
So what makes it go on ???????
May be its what Kipling said .......
"If you can make your heart and nerve and sinew serve your turn long after they have gone
And so hold on, when theres nothing in you except the Will which says to them hold on!"

There aren't words that can narrate the realms of my sorrow tonight .....
May be music can ........

[Image Credit:: http://www.easyelements.com/image-files/music-brush-set-example-2.jpg]

Dm, Bm, Am ( 1 1 (1212121212) 1) (in a slow strum)
individual strings on Em .......
and Em.

As it is often said .... when words fail ....... music comes to aid.

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Eureka!

Long time ago when Archimedes was asked to identify a fake crown for the king, while taking a bath, he observed that the displacement of water from his tub was proportional to his body volume and thus figured out the way to solve the problem. He ran through the city, naked, shouting ...... EUREKA! I have found it!

Well I have had a sort of similar realization. And although I am not running through the city, naked or otherwise, it is Eureka!

I had a nightmare today......... not that the day was nightmare, the day has barely started, no I woke up sweating, with a racing heart. And as I sat in my bed, pondering .... on what might happen of the nightmare I just had, it dawned upon me. Here I was worried about something that was going to happen even before the day had started. What was wrong with me???

I mean sure, worries and problems on my mind led me to see that nightmare, but then as I cribbed about the state of my life, it dawned on me... Was I really expecting a day when there would be no problems, no worries??? Well, thats never gonna happen now is it?? And I tried to reason ...

The happiest days I remember, were not days when there were no problems, but days when I chose not to dwell upon them. I don't mean to suggest that one should not plan or face problems, but life will present them as and when it seems fit. As a person, you on your own accord doesn't have to pre-pone them....

Problems are going to be there, today, tomorrow and right until the day we die..... rather than worrying about all of it every day, you face what your 24 hours throw at you and try to end the day with a smile... Else all life will sail past you and in the end you will wonder... what went wrong.

So heres a new way to face problems, you need my attention, you come and attack me .... else I'm not gonna think of you...

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Babel

He needed to go there today...... something had happened ..... for as long as he could remember, he had always gone to the sea in moments of doubt, hesitation or when the world was too much to bear. When the shoulders drooped and the head hung low - he went to the sea ..... it never failed to pick up his spirits...... he needed the sea to do its magic again ......

The sea was good to him.... it was peaceful in its violence ........ appealing in its brutality ...... he could sit by the sea and watch the waves for hours together .... thinking everything .... or nothing ..... listen to the sound of crashing water ...... of long lost bird cries ....... observe ...... that crab on the rock ...... bracing itself just at the right moment ....... moving only when the waves rescinded ... its judgment perfect.... the uncanny rhythm of nature ..... that ship on the verge of blending into the horizon ... or watch the endless colors of the evening sky.....

[Image Credit:: http://static.flickr.com/27/58906439_b16c1a14ca_o.jpg]

He thought of Arwen ... the elf maiden .... and Aragon ... the reluctant heir ..... of the time when Aragon returned Arwen's gift of the eternity jewel ...... which Arwen insisted on him keeping .... "It is mine to give whom I wish!" ....... and then she asked ..... "Do you remember the time when we first met? " ....... Aragon says ..."Yes! I thought I had strayed into a dream ...."

" I pledged you my love then ......... And to that I owe ......... I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone!"

He sighed to himself ...... if only such people walked the earth in reality.....

He knew what was coming .... he knew he should face it ...... it was he himself who had provoked it ..... he chose to ..... He wondered what it was about the sea that inspired him.

The crashing waves seemed to answer ... and he explained himself .......

"Take perseverance from the sea ...... it knows ...... hitting the rocks does no good ...... the rocks stand ..... resolute ....... oblivious to its countless attacks .... it knows each attempt will hurt .... but it never gives up ...... a thousand years it may take ...... but even the mighty mountain is diminished and eroded into nothing, through years of persistant corrosion by the sea...

"Take courage from the hill ... resolve from its rock ...... no matter how many waves it has to face ..... it will stand ..... solid and unperturbed .... it may be its end ..... but for a thousand years ... it will stand and fight .... never leaving the battle ... never daunted to face the next wave ......

Take heart from nature ..... my dear ...... O destiny's child ........ rise ......... rise and fight ......... by the tenacity of the sea and the strength of every rock ...... rise and fight!!

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Words of gold!

Have you ever heard a song and felt it speak to you?? I am sure you have - one point or another... songs have amazing power to make your mood or to soothe you in a way - no friend can. And if the singer does justice to the lyrics..... its magic.

Todays blog is dedicated to an amazing poet - whose songs have so clearly spoken to me .... that I am amazed at how people can write such words. Listen to Atif Aslam sing .... 'Tere Bin ... ' or listen to Kay Kay sing "Bas Ek Pal ...." admire the voice - feel the music - listen - really listen and understand the lyrics ....... you can't write them unless you have been there before ..... for a new comer, Amitabh Verma's lyrics have knocked the socks off me.

Here is Tere Bin's lyrics ...

"

tere bin main yun kaise jiya
kaise jiya tere bin
tere bin main yun kaise jiya
kaise jiya tere bin
lekar yaad teri raaten meri kati - 2
mujhse baaten teri karti hai chaandani
tanha hai tujh bin raaten meri
din mere din ke jaise nahi
tanha badan tanha hai ruh nam meri aankhen rahe
aaja mere ab rubaru
jeena nahi bin tere
tere bin main yun kaise jiya
kaise jiya tere bin
tere bin main yun kaise jiya
kaise jiya tere bin

kabse aankhen meri raah mein tere bichhi - 2
bhule se hi kahi tu mil jaaye kabhi
bhule na mujhse baaten teri
bheegi hai har pal aankhen meri
kyun saans loon kyun main jiyu
jeena bura sa lage
kyun ho gaya tu bewafaaa mujhko bata de wajah
tere bin main yun kaise jiya
kaise jiya tere bin ...
tere bin main yun kaise jiya"

And here is Bas Ek Pal

" Bas ek pal mein- 3

Tu ek baar jo pyaar se mujhsko chuley tho har zakhm bhar jayegaa,
Zara ithzaa suun ke dewaane dilki mujhe aapne dilse lagaa...

Tere pyaar mein aise jiyain hum,
Jala hain yeh dil....yeh ankhen hue Nam - 2

Bas Ek Pal....... - 3

Hamare Khayalo mein Khwabaon mein yadhaon mein Bathaon mein rehthe ho tum,
Badaake mein yeh haath chuna jo chahuin tho pal bar mein hothe ho Gum.

Tere pyaar mein aise jiyain hum,
Jala hain yeh dil....yeh ankhen hue Nam - 2

Bas ek pal mein- 3

Sunaah hain Mohabbath ki Thakdeer mein, Likhein hain andherein Ghanee,
Thabi aaj Shayad Sitare Sabi zara saahi roshan hue...

Mere haath ki in Lakeeron mein likhe abhi aur kithne... sitam,
Khafaa Ho gayein hain kushi waqt sey ho rahein hain meherbaan Gam,

Tere pyaar mein aise jiyain hum,
Jala hain yeh dil....yeh ankhen hue Nam - 2

Bas Ek Pal....... - 6

Bas Ek Pal"
kaise jiya tere bin ...


Do concentrate on the part I have in Bold. They should speak for themselves ....... so heres me saluting those who have been there
before.... done that .....

Until the next post ..... Salam E' Ishq!! What say you??

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Of Fear!

Of the many people I have met, I have found very few - who could acknowledge the times when they felt fear. For some reason, people tend to believe that acknowledging fear makes them look weak. I tend to disagree.

First and foremost, 'Fear' is not always a bad thing. It serves a definite purpose. In the process of creating things and massaging our egos as the most intelligent species on the planet, humans often forget their biological origins. At the core - we are still animals, very smart - Yes! but still animals. So I give this example.

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Imagine a deer in an African forest sipping water from a pond. It will do so in very short bursts ... always alert ... twisting its ears this way and that .... listening for the slightest sound ... Oh yes - its afraid of a predator. But this very fear-driven vigilance can make the difference between life and death in the savanna. Fear! protects you from danger... The reflex reaction to an attack is to flee. Its nothing to be ashamed of - its nature's way of protection, its encoded into our genes.

Yet more often than not ... running away is not the best way to deal with danger. Often times - it is to meet danger head on .... Imagine a stag .. being attacked by a leopard ... you may call it stupid ... but wouldn't it be a sight to watch - if the stag instead of running away .. turned around and charged at the leopard itself ??? I bet you anything, it would be the last thing the leopard expects.

Oxford defines courage - as the ability to control fear. Socrates defined Courage - as the ability to do what you feel is right despite the consequences. They are about the most sensible definitions I have encountered.

And in the definition lies the mystery - Why is 'Courage' so rare? The reasons are not so apparent.... But courage demands an action - that is quite opposite to natural instinct. And if anything it is extremely difficult to make the body or the mind do anything against ingrained instinct. Imagine trying to train the stag to confront the Leopard and not run - and you begin to get an idea of how difficult it is.

Yet as with all things, Courage - can be harnessed with practice and patience. It is the knowledge that you can face the Leopard and yet be alive - that liberates the fear. The problem being ... you would actually have to face the Leopard first. And most people can't get past this first stage at all.

And if after doing all that work you find out ... there is no prize other than a narcissistic self glory .... the motivation to cultivate 'Courage' - really gets a setback. Courage can not be harnessed by desire of rewards or honors at the end... it has to be rooted in your moral convictions. In other words you got to be prepared to do the right thing, go through enormous difficulties and consequences, without expecting a reward or recognition.

So why do it? Cos in the end a Man is what he believes in - and if you forfeit your beliefs when times get difficult, you forfeit your self respect. Cos in the end, you will know what you did .... theres no need for awards or medals and recognition. You will know - what you faced and how you reacted - you will be a hero in your own mind. And theres nothing more important than how you perceive yourself.

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