The simplest of people live the most complicated life!!

When you're refreshingly simple and straight-forward, most would fail to take it at face value. They'd either think you are faking it or have a hidden agenda somewhere. It doesn't necessarily make them wrong or bad people, it simply means they haven't met people like YOU yet . 

The world is mostly skewed, guile and duplicity being its common attributes. But should you let that pollute you? I don't think so. I think it's important you stay true to who you are. Though it may be a while, some would finally figure you out for who you truly are. And those are the people who would stay (and really matter). Some won't. Let them leave if they don't want to be there anymore. Never let even a moment's regret cloud over your shining face because of that. Continue loving without suspicion, giving without expectation, trusting without fear.

And yes,  forgive a lot.  Often times people who have hurt you don't even have a clue they've hurt you.  And other times, because they themselves have been hurt very bad. We're all part of a hurting world where most are trying to fight out their own battles and come to terms with a few things of their own. Hurting people hurt people. But I'm yet to meet a person who's completely evil...even if I have I wouldn't remember. 

Most importantly, forgive yourself. When you fail others (which you will), that doesn't mean that you are a bad person either. It simply means you don't do everything right always. Which is OK. Just get back up and try to do better the next time.

Anys, I guess I deviated.. :) This was about a world that doesn't welcome the "refreshingly uncomplicated"...

I believe in order to keep our innocence intact we just have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable sometimes, knowing hurt would come. But, heaven help, that should not make us bitter. Be wise, but never "too smart". Too many people live life too guarded and uptight and miss 'life' altogether! I wouldn't wanna be one of them... You would?? 

Listen to me.. will you.. please listen to me: You wouldn't moan the loss of those who didn't 'get' you, (would you? ) if you knew somehow you have created yourself a world full of people with hearts of gold? :)

Can't forget that face!!

Can humility bring you to tears?

Sometimes a face can teach you so much that it is quite a thing to marvel about.

Yesterday on my way to church, on the metro, I almost toppled over this man as the train ground to a halt. I gathered myself and looked up..and saw the most beautiful face that I had ever seen....

His stature said he was probably in his early 30s but his face had the innocence of a 10-year-old little boy..and the most beautiful features. I could tell from his cloak he was probably of Afgan origin... he wore pajama like article...(you probably call it a 'Pathani'..a Pathani suit?) long gray kurta and baggy trousers. A tall, tanned man. He had a smallish heart-shaped face..exactly that of a 10-year-old.. and lots of fluffy brown hair. Sharp dainty nose, arched eye brows that joined at the center and lips that were in perfect harmony with the exquisiteness of the rest of the features. But the best I haven't yet told you about! His blueish grey eyes. With hues of brown iris. But it was the look in those eyes that I was more taken with than their quintessential precision. It would be hard for me to describe what those eyes spoke of.. there was heartwarming innocence..there was playfulness of a child and the calm of the ocean hidden somewhere.. As our eyes barely met halfway, he quickly put them down.. a little shy..but clearly embarrassed (apologetic too perhaps!). I couldn't stop looking at him..and all along I wished he'd look up  so that I could behold that look in those eyes just one more time. But he never did.

 I wonder what were the stories behind that face.... It seemed like he was from the working class..which possibly explained his hurried way of looking down. And my heart broke...was he embarrassed because his social status did not match up to that of the rest of the people around him? Did he feel like he didn't belong there? Or did he dim it audacious to make eye contact with his fellow passenger who also happened to be a lady? Or was it the razzmatazz  of a big city?
'Oh dear! You don't need to be embarrassed! If only you knew what pleasure God took in you when he created you.'

Well.. I know you'd think I'm probably being a little dramatic here.. but come to think of it! Can a face touch the insides of you so deep that it can actually inspire you to become a better person?

Now, it has always been my conscious endeavor to never lose that little bit of humility and kindness from my face no matter where I went or what situations I was in... but humility could be so profound very little idea I had. The 'humility' that culminated from the innocence.. the simplicity.. the haplessness of that face.. The 'humility' that shone like diamond.

As I left the compartment of that train with that face etched in my mind.. I had only one thought running in my head.. "Oh my gosh! A humble face can do so much?? Strip you off your prejudices, your ignorances and teach you to be so much kinder?! Can it actually compel your insides to be moved to tears....?"

Reflective Sage or a Shakespearean Hero?

It's going to be three weeks now since I came here and Denmark has come to mean more than just a country to me...

There's something very 'real' about this place.. real in the sense that..as if it is standing tall silently in its deep, meditative disposition with all its rich cultural heritage and history (yet keeping pace with state-of-the-art features of any modern, cosmopolitan society) without any pompousness...or any bragging. It doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. It's just content within itself. Just standing there -monumental! ;  just looking laid-back...looking happy!

Or..  it's more like that folklore that always leaves a little mystique in you to keep you longing for more..a longing that you never really want to be fully satisfied and yet leave you never- just brew inside of you steadily and keep warming your heart.

Or it's come to mean more like that sentimental love affair that you develop with a Shakespearean hero who keeps you persuaded with his valorous persuasion and charm and never lets you fall out of love.. .. (Othello comes to mind...)

Or.. that sage king who has gone to many wars and come back home conqueror every single time.. He has nothing to prove to anyone. For his many conquests and his ancient wisdom speak for themselves with utmost pride.... and yet he looks at you with deep love..

It's inexpressible.. it's mystifying....

It's beautiful....it's mesmerizing !
It's Denmark...!!

'Empire State of Mind'...

Once I'm gone I know I am going to play 'Empire state of mind' over and over and reminisce with this place- Copenhagen- and  miss it like you miss an old lover (another city makes a place in my heart after my very own Bombay..). The times I spent here walking around the streets watching people..the chatting-with-beautiful-strangers..the walks to the metro station early morning everyday to get to my new workplace, under my pink umbrella in the rain. The elderly handsome colleague I'd developed a secret crush on. The young colleague Omar who became almost like my bestfriend-ish bud in no time and the afternoon luncheons with him at the office cafeteria. The elaborate Danish menu. The bus rides, the train rides. The missing-my-station-and-getting-off-a-station-later-and-then-missing-my-station-again and then going all the way back to the starting point..and then finally making it to work. These and so many other extraordinary experiences which cannot be summed up in just few mere words I am going to take back with me.

Memories going to sweep in like the beautiful maple leaves gently sweep over a pathway in autumn...and I'm going to find myself caught up right at the center of it all - in a reverie of emotions felt in the spheres of a dreamy reality long past..

I, by no means, mean to sound pensive. In fact, I want these memories to live on in my heart and fuel the anticipation for  creating many other beautiful ones as I travel ahead in this fascinating journey called 'life'.. 

It may seem a little funny ,though, that I should associate "Empire State of Mind" to Copenhagen considering the song actually pines away after NYC, (and considering there is actually another beautiful song already that titles 'Copenhagen'-by Tina Dickow). But I heard this song for the first time one late  evening, on the radio in this very city and the song had a beautiful haunting melody to it.. and it echoed just perfectly with my pondering heart.. in the silence of the night and stuck with me forever..

All that glitters is not 'Gold'...

Sometimes there are things we see and there are things we perceive and then we make our heart dearly hold onto that 'perception'. However, at a later time we realize that that image was only a figment of our imagination, an 'illusion' our mind created. At first, the let-down comes as a blow. You marvel "how could you have been so stupid?!!" But as the illusion comes to being unveiled, you revel! Because you realize it was actually God's way of making you a little wiser; a little more well-rounded person and  a lot more attractive individual. You realize the thing that you thought was 'real' at the time actually would've never been worth your time had you got to enjoy it. 

..and life goes on. Only, the going gets better the next time. and we learn one more lesson... and we collect little more wisdom...from the footprint of the time elapsed and that  little bit of heart invested. And we get a little more smart.. a little more sharp.

..and become a lot more 'attractive' individual! :)

Soaking up the Danish charm..

I'm in the land of the Danes.. so much to write.. but words elude me again... stray thoughts everywhere..

Where do I begin? Do I begin with telling you about the sweetest people that I've met in the world? (or this nostalgia that I am experiencing right now as 'King of Leons' croons away on the radio?) Or about their awe-inspiringly disciplined way of living it up? Or, the sincerity and dedication with which the Danes approach work? Or the passion with which they pursue everything - education.. career...a hobby.. governmental affairs.. staying informed about the world beyond their own little world?
Or, about "Law of Jante" that's been ingrained in their sociological outlook ever since Aksel Sandemose penned his novel 'A fugitive crosses his tracks' , which makes them endearingly humble and warm in spite of their over-accomplished, over-achieved lives?

Or do I wow you a little by talking about their Milan-like fashion sense?  

Or should I amuse a lot with the two stories that I've gathered from chatting up with those two  couples I met on a suburban train? 

What amazes you most about the youth here is that when you go beyond the blonde stereo-type and take a dive deeper, you realize that almost everyone of them is highly educated, well-cultured, and living with some sort of goal they are going after with unbridled zest underneath that calm-cool-collected demeanor.
There were these two extremely smart and beautiful young ladies, Mari and Karenlise, I bumped into in the street below my apartment on my very first day here while looking for direction to the supermarket. They did not look anything more than 24-25..but one of them was already a Psychologist and the other a doctor (Psychiatrist). I got chatted up as if they had known me since school. I learned one of them (the 'Psychologist') was not very happy with her current profile. She was made to work with criminals, in the 'behavioral' branch of Psychology, while she would have ideally liked to work in the 'cognitive' branch. The 'doc', on the other hand, seemed blissfully happy with her work. They took me to their apartment and handed me an adapter which I was desperately looking for to revive the dying battery of my mobile phone.

The lovey-dovey couple on the train cozied up very affectionately on the seat right opposite me. They whispered; they kissed; they gazed; and they conversed a lot of words in Danish. (The guy was definitely hopelessly, affectionately 'in love'..and his object of affection just soaked in that devotion.) All the way I kept trying hard to focus on the book  I was on when I finally had to call on them upon realizing I was on the wrong train but to the right destination. Confused? Well..that was something extremely 'cute' I did!! Long story. I rather skip that bit for now. But  back to the 'luvvy-duvvy' couple... : they were an unusual combination of 'valor' and 'confection'. The guy had the looks of a sharp, etched-out, modern Roman soldier with blazing green-blue eyes and the girl, a fluffy barbie doll with pierced puppy nose; and a tattoo written in Hindi right across her inner arm that read "Pitaaji ki ladki", which, translated in English meant 'daddy's girl'. My amusement was plain but the intrigue was undeniable. I was later told her doting father looked that up on the internet and got it painted on her arm. Quite cool for a 'daddy' I thought.

And the other couple - a  rocker and his 'actor' girlfriend. The guy looked more Irish, even though Danish, and spoke with clear American accent, while the girl looked like an artsy-fartsy, intellectual, bespectacled, legally blonde who spoke English with a dash of Dane influence. She's only 20 (and 5'10!!) and on her way pursuing a 4 year degree in theaters to give her passion that 'schooled' edge. The guitarist, besides his gigs on the weekends, also works as a Project Manager with a web-media company and shortly to be interviewed by Microsoft. He spoke a lot -with every part of his body engaged, that typical American flamboyance. We three got absorbed in a long, interesting conversation that covered pretty much everything; right from the many cultural accentuations that exist in the first world countries to the myth about the Danes being possibly the tallest of all. From theaters to gigs. From lunatic clients (once my 26 years old Danish-Irish-Americanish fellow passenger rocker friend got accused of 'stealing a couch' by a client whom he had called up to work out a business plan with. No connection right? Yes, I was as amused as you are and so were the bemused couple.) to philosophies of life. One thing that stood out for me all through the conversation was that, even though we were individuals from two different continents with drastic socioeconomic, cultural differences running through our veins, we were all same on the inside, in essence we all felt the same and could relate at a very deep level. For one, we struck the same chords while talking about living with dreams in your eyes wide open...about not letting that fire within go dim, the fire that drives you on towards your desire, however big or small, to do something apart from the everyday, ordinary routine.
 

I didn't quite foreknow it was going to be this simple being in a foreign land, literally half way across the world, away from home, all by myself for the very first time in all of life.

Although it's been predominantly work all the way, I did manage to steal a few long walks and a visit to one of the snazzy clubs between work and sleep and an evening out with my Danish-American-Jamaican-Indian colleagues. Okay. That's a lot of information trying to get fit into a single description, but you get the drift! 

Everywhere I go people welcome me with the warmest smile. They fall short of nothing but warming my Indian heart and winning me over. Everyone is more than just formally-sweet and willing to help whenever I need direction to some place or lose my way back home- I even had a couple last night head one kilometer backward with me just to walk me up to my apartment. Both were Lawyers.

I should go now. It's past 2 in the afternoon,  I must catch up on that MIS report I left incomplete yesterday.

....and catch the 'Jazz Fest' in the evening, a few meters down the street, that's been going on for the last two weeks.. Looking forward to it!

A Love That None Can Match

Thank you mom...
For all those times I fail
to understand the deific,
unconditional love,
but you stay on
and love on me nonetheless..



Thank you...

For all those times you've stayed up,

on praying knees
while I was out there

clueless and juvenile...

 

Thank you...

For spoiling me silly everyday of my life

never really knowing
what a blessing it was

or what it cost.

 

I'll never know how it has been

the hardest endeavour
being a mother,

and how you have quietly tucked away

every ache and tear.. 

..maybe until one day I become one.

 

I don't know worthy if I'll ever be
to have been bestowed with this
transcendent love,

but I want you to know I try everyday..

 

taking my babysteps ( - the little girl that

never grew up..fluffy locks, orange jumper..

green tunic,white scarf.. and canvas Keds -

the way you remember me even to this day )

on that very under-accomplished path.

But  every night before turning in
I get on my knees and thank our God
for life's best gift He has given me in
my mother.
And I hold my breath and say the same prayer,
a thousandth time,
for her long and blessed life.

 

I love you mama! I am grateful to God for a mother that none can match.