In pursuit of wisdom

The book - Siddhartha, by Hermann Hesse is about a journey of a young boy in search of wisdom and how he learns through his experiences in life. While Siddhartha had set off from home to attain wisdom about life, he soon realised that wisdom is not something that could be passed down from the best of Gurus. When he did attain wisdom, it was only after experiencing the worldly pleasures of lust and materialism.

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO at Facebook in her book ‘Lean In’ describes how after almost 2 decades after her graduation from Harvard Business School, most of her male classmates were working in professional settings while a sizeable number of women were stay-at-home mothers or a part of part-time workforce. While I do acknowledge that societal expectations from women and support from their partners do play a very important role here, another way to look at it is that some people (men and women) do make these choices out of their free will. So, while every student does get imparted the same education, people choose different paths to attain wisdom – some make a choice to be outside the corporate workforce, while some choose to join back the workforce even after a long break. 

Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder iRelaunch, in her TED talk states examples of men and women who have joined the workforce after long career breaks. My interference is, that the career breaks helped them gained wisdom and discover a purpose for their existence, and once they chose to join back the workforce they discovered how they could use their skills to contribute towards making a better world.

Having been a part of the Corporate world with multiple breaks, I have experienced how working with different colleagues and different career-breaks have made me wiser. The journey towards wisdom goes through personal experiences, and knowledge just acts as a strong foundation to find the purpose in whatever we do.

Malleable Art

For the things that the common people like us don’t truly understand, Bollywood and television have guided us to the worlds unknown – fashion, acting, music, dance and arts that did existed beyond our imagination. They surprise us every time by breaking the rules set by itself and challenge us to think beyond what was made to consider as the acceptable ‘standard’.

We've seen music evolve through its various stages. Logic said - If you can hear a voice from the speakers in the theatre  someone’s gotta be singing it, and hence we see the actors sync their lips with the melodious voices. When the playback singers started getting recognition, we were opened up to the idea of songs expressing emotions while the actors did just their job of playing the role of the character which does whatever he’s supposed to do. With the introduction of the Sufi music, we did not flinch when male voices reflected the turmoil in a woman’s heart. And, in a recent movie, Barfi, we sang along with the songs that the actor couldn't have even sung with his speech impairment.

Dating a couple of decades back, dance meant synchronized movements of a dozen girls led by a leading actor. Later, we saw only the lead actors match their moves with the beats of the music. Now, we see dance performances, that, more than graceful moves demand for acrobatic agility. All credits to the ‘reality shows’ on the small screen, we now appreciate ‘dance’ that demands for a fancy theme, unthinkable props and acts that would qualify a gymnast to represent the country in the next Olympics.  

Art, as we see it, is open to interpretation, discussion, criticism and innovation. Engagement is all that art seeks. Therefore, it’s safe to say that there’s more in store for the enthusiasts and soon the unperturbed too, will see things around them that are vying to catch their attention.

Caught unaware

Instead of the railways department, his teenaged mind cursed God for parting his parents from him in a train accident. For this boy from Chennai, now, Delhi was home.

Being a regional head at one of the most reputed banks in India could fetch Mr. Nandan Kumar only power and envy. Love was something that resided at home. Turning an atheist decades ago did not stop him from believing that this God-sent creation would bring him back to life. That day, the post midnight stroll back home from the office turned around his life.

For the last three years, she had been her companion for his early morning walks. The incentive of spending time with her would make him wrap up work at office to get back home before dinner time.

He unlocked the door of his two bed-room flat in the plush high-rise building at Gurgaon. The welcome –back-home hug was missing. He sunk into the sofa and looked at their picture that adorned the wall in front. Over the years, this one foot tall Pomeranian had become more than just a pet. Her absence had taken away a chunk of his life. Fifteen days just didn’t seem enough to wipe away memories of a lifetime. He stood up to step closer to the picture. Tears rolled down his stolid face, as he realized that God had reminded him yet again that he was meant to lead his life in soliloquy.

Works of Wonder

It doesn’t have a shape, or an odour, a touch that cannot be equaled – it is the elixir of life.

A pull that attempts to get virtually everything down to the earth  - it makes life simpler in ways that go unnoticed.  

A force that works opposite of the direction one moves in – this force of friction is what keeps man-made equipments and our life going.

Had these not existed, we would have been left tackling with the effects of the void.  Conspicuous usually in its absence, it’s courteous to at least acknowledge the imaginative powers of the creator to build things that are quintessential to our survival.   

I respect Him for being caring enough to create things that make life easy for us; ensuring that each of us get an equal opportunity of time; and for differentiating amongst us in allocation of natural resources, to add variety to learning and life.  

I bow to Him for granting each of us, an identity of our own, despite the similarity in our physical features; for giving us speech and a mind to voice opinions of our own.

I thank Him for being thoughtful enough to create infinite colours and sounds, and an eye to appreciate them; for ensuring we have enough variety of food - with different colours, shapes, sizes and structures, to cater to different taste buds. Hats off to Him for thinking ways to ensure we don’t skip a chance to fuel our body and mind.

We can modify its genetics.. or photoshop the original to perfection, but we’re still far from reaching the finesse of creating something as awesome as done by our creator. An artist does not work for recognition or applause, but it’s a delight to the spectator to appreciate a work of wonder. 

The cosmos and its creations

Lord Krishna in the Bhagwat Geeta says – “One should not mourn for a lost soul, because the soul is immortal”

I doubt if the statement, even if believed in its entirety, provides even an ounce of comfort to anyone who has suffered a loss. Unlike other living beings like plants, humans are selfish beings. They eat, pray, love only because it brings pleasure to them in one way or the other. For the same reason, individuals detest nature for amputating the blissful balance.

A person over his lifetime, with his deeds forms a mini world around himself. The departure of its soul destroys the whole institution in an instant. It’s difficult for humans to part with a relationship they've nourished for a long time.

It’s not the loss of the soul or the tangible substance that embodies it, that one grieves. One would like to believe that the soul that brought happiness to so many lives is still alive and would still be spreading cheer in some other world. It is the loss of the person from one’s mini world that brings grief. Time, they say, is the best healer. It might succeed in filling the void to some extent, but rubbing off the mark of the presence of the soul, removing the scar of its absence is beyond its capabilities.

In memory of my beloved Father

दिनकर  उजाला  देता  था,  देता  रहेगा 

रोज़  सूरज  की  तरह  रोशन  करता  था  यह  दिन  को 

हर कोशिश  से  दूर  करता  था  दुखियों  के  दर्द  को

कहाँ  छुप  गया ,  न  जाने  कहाँ  खो  गया 

बहुत  खूबसूरत  आत्मा  थी  दिनकर 

देह  छोड़कर  भी  कहीं  जगमगा  रहा  होगा 

वह  चंचलता , वह  हमदर्दी ,  वह  सरलता

वह  शुद्धता , वह  महनत  कहाँ  ढूंढोगे  दोस्तों

इस  देवता  को  देवों  ने  बुला  लिया  है 

पर  फिर  भी  दिनकर  न  रुका  है , न  रुकेगा 

वह  उजाला  देता  था ,  देता  रहेगा

नहीं  चाहा  अपने  लिए  कुछ  भी  कभी  भी 

नहीं  ली  पानी  की  एक  बूँद  भी  हमसे 

दिल  में  रहकर  हमारी  प्रेरणा  बनेगा 

और  उसका  श्रेय  भी  हमें  दे  जायेगा 

सूरज  की  मानिंद  चमकता  यह  दिनकर 

ताउम्र  दिलों  में  हमारी  दहकता  रहेगा 

उजाला  देता  था , देता  रहेगा

दिलों  में  सूरज  दहकता  दिनकर  था, दिनकर  हमारे  दिल  में  रहेगा 

(Composed by My Mummy)

Why we buy what we can wear !

“Shopping is a sure shot way to conquer depression” They say.

Isn’t this an understatement! Whether I’m elated or in low spirits, shopping never ceases to spread its magic. What else would explain the assorted colours and designs of attires that command a respectable share of my wardrobe space.

I love browsing through artistic – antique and contemporary home furnishings.  I often stroll into book stores and don’t think twice before buying a book or two. I end up buying more than thrice of what my grocery list indicates. Despite being a compulsive shopper for all kinds of things available in the marketplace, why is it that apparels invariably capture a major share of my shopping bags! Well, not just clothes, anything that can be ‘worn’ falls into the same category – be it clothes, accessories, footwear, bags and even cosmetics. Why does this act of buying ‘satisfaction’ and ‘happiness’ result in purchase of stuff that is carried by my physical self?

Every piece of clothe or accessory that I adorn, gives me a different look, and can give me an ‘instant makeover’; the permutations renewing my old self. A pair of high heels that can make me three inches taller in a flash seems to carry a better proposition as compared to yogasanas that promise to increase my height and posture if practiced regularly for a year. Buying a dress that conceals the extra fat I have gained seems a better bargain than sweating out the extra kilos in the gym for two months. And, if the claim of two-tones-fairer-skin-in-one-week works for me, why bother getting into the schedule of applying home remedies that have to be repeated for over a month!

A new set of cushions too can give an instant makeover to the living room, then why is it bought less often than the things that are worn? Well, you can’t take your home everywhere you go! If it’s a change then it must show! Things that are worn ‘belong’ to you, and the pictures in your facebook profile can very well validate that, and reach a larger audience! What you wear is a reflection of your attitude, and what better way than ‘wearing’ your mood to let the world know of the various facets of your self.

Not surprisingly, one of my favourite buys is a T-shirt that reads ‘Shopping is better than Rehab’. After all, it lets me express my belief.

Celebrating the Teachers' Day

As I flipped though the newspaper on this lazy Sunday morning, a half a page advertisement caught my attention, and that is when I realized that today is Teacher’s Day. And, the subsequent pages too followed the trend with a quarter and half page announcements of the occasion by various political parties.

A half a page advertisement in the middle pull-out of the newspaper read

“Elementary Education is now a fundamental right of every child”

I saw three Passport sized leaders smiling straight at me, proud of announcing this ‘right to elementary education’. It struck to me, that had the Ministry of HRD invested the couple of lakhs of Rupees they had spent in this ad, to educate even a couple of students, they might have just got the credit of creating a new business leader, two decades down the line (if they are calculating the ROI)

I wondered who this advertisement was targeting at the first place. In all likelihood, the literate who are capable of reading the content of this advertisement must’ve passed the stage of elementary education. It does not even ask the readers to spread the message to those deprived of it. Does the government think that the illiterate, for whom, or for whose children this is apparently meant, would actually subscribe to an English daily? Why would they even consider investing on readable news when they can’t afford to satiate their hunger and at the first place, can’t read news! Maybe, it’s simply an act to have visibility. Who would not want to have one’s photograph published in the newspaper read by a million people, that too when the Ministry and not the individual pays for it!

A ‘Right’ has to be claimed, and the seeker cannot be deprived of it. But how would a prospective claimant know this at all, when the ‘rights of a citizen’ are taught not before a student reaches the sixth grade. Shouldn’t the government take responsibility and consider it their Duty to educate the illiterate and make elementary education accessible to everyone?

Only a student (learner) can understand the meaning of the guidance a teacher can bring into one’s life. Until the day we have 'enough' students (the 'enough' is for us to define), the celebration of the Teacher’s Day will remain as superficial as the piece of newspaper I hold in my hands... 

Road Ways …

 “The world outside is rash, be careful of those trying to push you, you’re good and have confidence in your abilities. Don’t give in” My driving school instructor prepared me, as a mother would warn her son/daughter on the day of joining college.

This was the day that marked my presence among the millions who had graduated from being a pedestrian or a bike rider. My sturdy electric red companion would now let me choose the path and the pace at which I’d want to reach my destination.

With the controls in my hands (and feet), I cruised on the curved road.  The sense of freedom on my first day at the driving seat was interrupted by the red light.

“Be on your toes at the red lights” The words of wisdom from my instructor reverberated in my mind. A few seconds later, I understood why. While I chose to give some rest to the engine, the chauffeurs in other cars chose to keep the fuel burning. Their urge to display the maneuverability of the machines made them creep a few inches ahead in the 30 second halt period.

The moment the light turned green, the vehicles surged ahead to catch up for the thirty seconds loss (was time as precious for everyone on the road?) I happened to put my foot off the clutch too soon, and within microseconds I could hear honks from the queue of vehicles stuck behind mine. I rushed ahead to catch up with the others, trying to compete for ‘road space’.

As I moved ahead just within the speed limit, an Indica behind my car honked indicating, I should move to the left to give way for it to go ahead of me. I wondered why anyone would want to break the traffic rules. I moved left, making sure I don’t hurt my dear car. The taxi sped at double my speed and seconds later we were sharing the zebra crossing at the next traffic light. “What use was the honking !”  the thought crossed my mind.

I encountered traffic moving at a snail’s pace at a flyover. The car behind mine kept a distance of an inch so as to prevent a two wheeler creeping into the space. I was afraid, car might slide back, while shifting from speed zero to the first gear. I managed to pass the ten minutes test.  

The bus standing on my left taking a U- turn with me scared me with its gigantic size. I managed to escape the wrath of the road monster.

A hatchback with a red coloured ‘L’ was moving at a speed of 30kmph refused to give me way to the right, making my honking ineffectual, I comfortably turned my vehicle to the left and overtook it with double the speed. Oh ! The pleasure of outdistancing another ‘peer’ is indescribable !

Indeed, half an hour of ‘real’ driving on the roads is enough to make one learn its ways.

A Good Weakness

“How can you do this !!!! Come up with at least one weakness……”My mind scolded me for not remembering the strategic negative qualities I had thought of while preparing for the mock interviews. “Come on, everyone has some negative qualities” I could see the interviewer make the trap more inviting.

“Punctuality is very much a positive quality!!!” I remembered how my communications skills trainer reacted when I stated “being punctual” as my biggest negative quality. The teacher contested my view saying that punctuality is one of the most desired qualities in any profession. I tried convincing her about how being on time has always put me at a disadvantage.

Whenever my gang of friends plan to meet, an unsaid understanding perpetually delays the plan by at least an hour; while, on the other hand I make it a point to at least convey about my late arrival. On weddings, the bride and groom inevitably arrive late which postpones the post ceremony dinner by a couple of hours. I even end up hearing announcements at airports and railway stations apologising for the delays in departures.

“A quality which ends up underutilization of the most valuable non-renewable resource called time should come under the category of a weakness” I explained. The lady sitting on the opposite seat seemed only partially convinced.

As I did not want to take any chances for the only job I was convinced I’d love to do, I chose to look for the second worst weakness, which even sounds like a weakness. Taking a few seconds I picked another one which cleared the negativity screening test.  

“I tend to procrastinate, so I try to complete the task as soon as I get it”

 “Okay, so you postpone things !”

“Well, yes.. that’s why I start off as soon as possible” I explained.

“Any other?”

Since I had learnt to try and answer every question the interviewer asks, I strained my mind and said “I’m emotional”

“Tell me one more”

Probably the last one too wasn’t convincing enough a weakness.

“I can’t think of anything else” I gave up after straining my mind enough to search for good negative qualities.

The interviewer smiled, as did I, probably empathizing with me.

As I retrospectively analysed what I had spoken, I understood that knowing about weaknesses can empower us to harness them as strengths. I realized, a weakness shouldn’t stay for long, if it does, then the whole point of being cognizant of the flaw is nullified. I’ll make sure, till my next interview, I give a ‘revised’ list of weaknesses! (hopefully the number will be lesser)

The result is still awaited. I’m keen to see if my weaknesses are good enough to take up the work I desire..

The Herculean Task

“Which of these movies is of the shortest duration?” I asked as we browsed through the 500GB Hard Disk which contained the best movies of all times.

“Why do you ask?” My friend exclaimed in a partly bewildered and partly offended tone, maybe because I unknowingly disparaged the effort he had put in by sorting the movies by their themes into different folders. This way of zeroing in on a movie seemed absurd to him.

“ ’cause I just can’t sit at one place for more than an hour and a half. So, the shorter the movie, the higher the probability that I’ll complete watching it in one sitting! ”

“But, you do sit for hours together when you read books, don’t you! Then why can’t you sit still and watch a movie?” He asked as innocently as a seven year old would ask – “Why didn’t evaporation from the bucket of water I had kept outside lead to respite from the scorching heat?” Just like a primary school teacher, I didn’t have a convincing explanation to the question. “I don’t know” I accepted meekly, as silly explanations wouldn’t have worked here.

I pondered over the question till much after the discussion was over. With my snail paced reading speed, I actually spend at least a quarter of a day to finish reading a hundred pages. And, if I’m reading non-fiction which might not be as captivating, it might take twice the time to go through the content of half the size of the fictitious counterpart. The same time could be invested in at least thrice the number of movies that would produce better results in terms of the numbers.

The next time I picked up a book, I realised that the task of reading the entire book had always seemed gargantuan. The 228 paged book that I held in my hands looked intimidating. I did what I had been doing ever since I started reading books. I counted the number of pages taking into account that the page numbers started with 5, counted the number of sections and the count of the chapters. With every chapter that I finished reading, I had a silent moment of celebration and with each section that I covered my satisfaction level grew two fold. It was after the accomplishment of the task when I found the answer to the enigma. I realised that a gigantic task when broken down into small achievable milestones makes it much easier to accomplish. And it’s equally important to appreciate ourselves for the small successes that come our way, for they form the foundation for the bigger landmark.

Skipping the Retake

Two decades ago –

This was me. “Aditiiii !!!!!!” dad used to call me in an affectionate tone to attract my attention and I used to respond by looking at his face that hid behind the camera. “Click!” a flash would appear and each time my face would light up in amazement. This was in the era when digital cameras were not ubiquitous and owning a camera that could deliver coloured pictures was a luxury in itself. The photos would be developed only after the whole reel was exhausted and the average time taken to have a look at what was captured would be around four weeks. The only way one could ensure that the pictures are perfect would be to take multiple shots.

Present -

“Oh, Please take another click !!!”  I pleaded to my friend when a look at the embedded screen made me realize that despite the careful selection of my attire, the extra inch was still visible on scrutiny. I got myself clicked until I managed to get a shot which finally was able to deceive the shrewd eyes of the lens to my satisfaction.

As we grow older, at times the drive to modify things according to our preferences takes a toll on us. Technology becomes our accomplice saying that moulding the first draft to make it look perfect is perfectly acceptable. Innocence, the most important attribute of a child is best captured in the first shot itself and the essence of the picture would be lost if the child is made to pose the way the photographer wants. Likewise, sometimes the best output is obtained in the first take and over-analysis of details sucks out the spirit from an unpretentious task. Skipping the retake can actually help us get the best results, and that too in a single go.

It takes a lot of effort to become childlike again. To start with, I now try to restrain myself from peeping into the LCD screen of the camera after each shot to see how I looked. The single takes are still the ones that top the "Like it" count on my Facebook profile!

Khuda Hafiz ..

For a city which boasts of laying the foundation for the tallest building in the world, C-11 is just another three storeyed building in International City. For its occupants, it is a ‘museum’ of (at least) half-a-year-full of memories they’d cherish forever. As the cab distanced from the hostel, on its way to drop me at the airport, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic even before I departed the country.

Throughout our stay, we had been finding ways to keep in touch with our loved ones bypassing the expensive international calling rates via phone, craving for home cooked food, surviving on low budget and cribbing about little time for lengthy assignments. Despite all this, the sadness of leaving the place far surpassed the excitement to go back home. It felt as if I was just leaving behind a joint family of 120 plus members to come back to stay with a nuclear one. (Even when quite a few had left before I did, there was an ‘informed delusion’ that C11 is where they belonged to and they’d come back)

Over the past few days, as my coming back to the 'first home' sunk in, I realized that I did not have to break the bond with my new found giant joint family at all. In fact, the members just dispersed across the globe to realize their dreams and I can be sure that I’d find a few of them in any part of the world I go. The past one year increased the size of my family multi-fold and made the world my new home :)

The Different Panes

The water on the windscreen considerably decreased the visibility of the road in front and increased the time to reach my destination. I tried to look through window panes I was surrounded with, attempting to appreciate the green view outside the glass – a rare phenomenon in the desert.

While I looked at the pane in front of me to get a glimpse of the view, I noticed that the water trickled down slowly from the side pane, and sometimes when the speed of the vehicle increased, the rain drops deviated from their defined path taking circuitous routes to reach the end of the glass pane.

To get a clear view of the outside, I tried my luck with the window pane in front. My attention got stuck on the separation itself, shifting my focus to the different behaviour shown by the raindrops on the adjacent screens. The drops falling on the windscreen seemed to defy the law of gravity and trailed upwards at different angles as if they were alive. Each time the wiper moved to clear the screen of the water trails, the speed of the movement suddenly increased as if retaliating against the force and at the same time redirecting the negative energy to move upwards. The wind was hitting the screen so hard that it pushed the water streams further up.

The raindrops in this case seemed similar to different situations in our lives. The drops that fell on the glass had exactly the same composition till the tiniest level; still they behaved differently when they fell on different screens. The rain drops being the different situations in our life, we, the drivers of our lives have the power to direct them to fall on the optimistic screen. When we subject the situations to the positive screen, even the hurdles imposed by the wiper and the wind motivate us to move up in life.

While, many rain drops still fell on the side panes, it was the glass in the front that gave me a beautiful view of the outside.

The missing link

“Come in !!!!” came a faint voice from inside after 8 seconds of door banging. Sameer barged into the room.

“Where’s Simran?” He chose to acknowledge Divya’s presence in the room since he thought she might give a clue that could help him find her.

“Shouldn’t that be my question!!! If YOU are here looking for her then where the hell is she!!!”

With the end of graduation round the corner, Sameer wanted to stretch time to the maximum to be with his friend. The only activities for which Sameer and Simran occupied their respective rooms of their co-ed hostel were either to retire to bed or to take a shower. Simran was probably the only person who Sameer got close to since the past one decade. The divorce of his parents had left an ineffaceable impression on his mind regarding all relationships being superficial and money being the only entity that brought people together. After his parents parted ways, his father took the responsibility of the child. Even though his father attempted to balance work schedules with his love for his son, there was a missing link that kept Sameer away from him. Sameer felt that he was provided with all the material pleasures he could ask for but never received the emotional support from his parent.

The relationship he shared with Simran surpassed rational reasoning. It was the innocence and simplicity of Simran that attracted him to her despite his apprehension of getting hurt. It was too early to conclude though, that he had any romantic attachment with her. Simran was probably the only bond between his father and him, that too because she insisted on an introduction with an intention to rebuild the bond between the two. Sameer found it difficult to refuse to whatever she asked for. He didn’t even question her for her intentions, for the reasons behind her actions went far beyond his comprehension.

“A girl and a guy can never be just friends!” Simran’s parents used to say. She had to fight her way through to get admission into the coveted university where the only concern of her conservative parents was a common hostel for the girls and boys. She liked Sameer for the possessive yet selfless attitude he displayed for the people he cared for.

“I had asked her to meet me at 10 at the Chimney Food Joint… I was just 5 minutes late… it’s been two hours and I’ve no clue where she’s disappeared. I looked for her everywhere… she’s nowhere to be found… she’s not reachable on her mobile either!!... ” Divya calmed him down and told probably he should pick his bike and look for her somewhere outside the campus.

With not many options in front, so he chose to act upon the suggestion. He rushed towards his room to pick the keys of his bike. He banged the door open and his face turned to stone when he saw Simran with his father in the room. His expressionless eyes met those of his father, who stood five feet away from him. Seconds later his face changed colour and he hugged his father without saying a word. Simran stood there watching them not knowing whether to cry or smile. “Thanks Simran” Sameer said, still in his dad’s arms “This is the best graduation present I could’ve got.”

Magic

They sat in the dark at 4 AM looking at the vast sea in-front of them. After an hour of playing the blame game, silence prevailed. The only sound that endured was that made by the waves hitting the shore and moving back as though attempting to make amends for the ‘mistake’.

This wasn’t the first event of silence that they had come upon. In 21 years of togetherness, they had encountered numerous moments of silence – holding hands and walking speechless along the Juhu beach, having candle light dinners on the ‘monthly’ anniversaries (the date Vishal asked her out), without exchange of a word. Silence occurred when Prerna was out working at the call centre in Sydney while Vishal would be turning sides on the double bed at midnight. The opportunity of Vishal’s career growth led them to shift to Sydney when Prerna could not manage to get a better job than an overnight call centre. It offering attractive remunerations was more of an incentive to take it up.

Today, they were engulfed in silence again. But this silence was different. It was an uneasy silence that happened face to face for the first time. None of the two wanted to break it, even though the noise of it breaking would’ve helped calm down the upheaval in their relationship.

It had been different when they met two decades ago. Although they used to work in adjacent cubicles in the office, these two fresh graduates, like the others in the company preferred to talk while staring at the desktop. Their friendship bloomed into love. They had come a long way from the tube-lighted cubicles of their office to the candle-light dinners on weekends to the moonlit evenings.

It was Day 5 of the realization that something had started disrupting the magic that had existed for almost two decades. The visit to the marriage counsellor did not help much. It worsened the situation by making them feel that both of them were mentally ill. They decided to sort it by themselves and reason why they had stuck with each other for so long when they weren’t happy with each other anymore.

Another hour of silence was broken by Prerna’s sweet voice singing “Every night in my dreams...” Vishal held his mobile with the flickering lights and chose not to turn off the alarm. This was the voice he still wanted to hear every morning before opening his eyes. She looked at his face, while a tear rolled down his right cheek. Her lips touched the tear without a sound. The first kiss that had brought them closer years ago managed to restore the magic yet again.

“Black and White” the colour !

Till now we (his friends) had been the only subjects for RG (as we call him) to practice his photography skills with his Nikon D90 SLR Camera. A recent trip to Musandam – the Norway of Arabia, gave my friend an opportunity to experiment with capturing nature and move forward on the path from being an amateur to a professional. As the rest of us were enjoying the wind, the sun and the sceneries, RG was using permutations of aperture and shutter speed to best capture the scenic beauties into a frame.

While most of the pictures we reviewed from the digital camera were breath-taking, I realised that the ones is black and white were incredible!

This made me wonder, technology has advanced making things go from black and white to colour. But, what is it that makes the black and white ones not lose their charm, and at times be more appealing.

While searching for the answer, I came up with a couple of theories.

Black and White has just two colours – Black, and White. The rest are merely the shades of them. With the abundance of choices around us, we have started to appreciate simplicity in things around us. Keeping things simple can make us recognize the worth of the beauty that lies outside the ornamentation.

When we see things in black and white we do not see the imperfections that lie in colour. We learn to appreciate the object itself and not get disturbed by the blemishes.

Putting the coloured details out of focus and concentrating light on simplicity can make life more beautiful. Let’s try Black and White the colour in our lives - and we may unravel many more beauties that lie beyond colour.