When Hearts Embrace Hearts-19 | Look into the Eyes!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-19

Look into the Eyes!

Leo Tolstoy was taking a stroll through a worn out street in impoverished war-torn Russia. When he saw a poor beggar, frail and famished, limping, he felt sympathy for him. With the intention of helping, Tolstoy put his hands into his pocket, only to find it empty. With regret and guilt of helplessness, he just hugged the poor man close to his heart. And, kissing on his dirty, grime cheek said “Don’t be angry on me, my little brother, I have nothing to give you.” 

The beggar, raising his exhausted head, with a satisfying look replied, “Oh, you called me your little brother. That’s enough for me. That’s more than enough!” And his dried eyes started welling up and it poured tears.

Love is the bridge that connects hearts. It’s the only link that can keep you attached to everything in the world. Bible does talk about ‘love that pours like rain and spreads like sunshine’. Love, that expects nothing in return like the rain which moistens the parched earth! Sometimes, our loved ones may let down us even with showering heart full of love. Despite it, the love remains buried inside without any interlude! 

When Prophet Muhammad came to know about the marriage of Jabir, one of his companions, he asked if he was willing to sell his camel. And at 40 dinars, it was bought. He paid him the price. And, also returned the camel! Prophet didn’t require the camel. But, Prophet knew that Jabir was in need of money. How? When you become so close to human beings, you know from their eyes their needs, their aspirations!

If one kills somebody unwarrantedly, it’s akin to killing the whole mankind, says the Quran. And it adds, if someone gives a life, it’s similar to giving life to mankind. Can we give life to someone? No. Never! What does it mean? It’s wiping someone’s tear. Showing concern and consoling a sad soul!

Remember, if I shed tears due to my own grief, its just water that flows! If it’s for someone else, it’s in fact a flow of good deeds!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-18 | Stranger!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-18

Stranger!

There is an earnest short story by Kahlil Jibran: A child sits crying on the shores of a river. Someone destroyed his playhouse. He keeps uttering, “I haven’t destroyed anyone’s playhouse. Then, why is mine destroyed?” 

It isn’t always necessary that we experience such incidents due to our bad acts. Maybe, we are victims of others’ evil deeds and bad motives. Yet, pardon their sightlessness, their ignorance!

What do we do, when our kids fall into a filthy drain? We lovingly and carefully pick them up. Aren’t those lucky who deal with mercy and magnificence with all human beings!

When someone asked Ramana Maharishi, “How should we deal with strangers?”

Maharishi replied, “There isn’t anyone stranger!”

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-17 | Baby Bird in Our Hands!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-17

Baby Bird in Our Hands!

Here is a Zen story of a mother with two daughters. One daughter is a flower seller, and the other one sells papad. Their mother loves them so much that she can’t imagine life without them. But, she is always filled with remorse for both of them. When it rains, mother cries. She cries for her daughter who sells papad, which can’t be properly dried in rainy season. And, when its sunshine, she again cries, thinking about the daughter who sells flower. The land gets parched and her flowering plants go dry. All the 12 months, the mother keeps crying in despair. The mother’s prayer is just sharing her woes. Indeed, how weary would be that prayers! What would she seek?

How much do we like people who visit us without any selfish mottos or demands? They don’t need anything. They just want to sit besides us. They just look forward for our love and concern. Is there any love greater than unconditional love? In such case, how much Almighty would keep them close to Him and listen to their chitchat, which got no particular demands? Those are truly blessed ones who love Him deeply and are content in their lives.

A kid holding and hiding a baby bird in his hands came to the Guru and asked, “Is the bird in my hands alive or dead?”

The Guru could sense the mischief in the question. The kid will just squeeze and kill the bird, if he replies alive and win the game. If he replies dead, he can just release the bird, which will fly away, and he would win. But the reply of the Guru failed him. “You can decide, if the bird wants to live or die.”

We are squeezing our short lives in hopelessness and discontent. Otherwise, the same lives are so brightening and perked up. Our prayers become just begging, when we dislike our lives and are discontented to the core. How weary would be that company in which one just talks continuously and other sits just listening! How true is what Helen Keller, who herself was blind and deaf said, “Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.” Aren’t there sounds, which we become deaf towards despite having sense of hearing? Sounds of happiness provided by life! The divine sounds of life’s happiness!

We so easily fall in love. Human beings are so impoverished of love that they might slip into anything that seems love to them. Then, why do we turn deaf to those great sounds of love? Why don’t we realize such love that is so much trustworthy? We need to find the roots of unhappiness in such inquisitive questions lying deep inside us. Prophet Muhammad prayed, “O God, Bestow me your love, the love of your loved ones and good deeds that leads us to your love.”

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-16 | Orbit of Love!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-16

Orbit of Love!

“O God! I am not seeking protection from dangers; my prayer is to keep my mind free of fear on the faces of lurking dangers,” wrote Tagore in his magnum opus, Gitanjali. 

Rabindranath Tagore is a soul who crossed an ocean of woes. He married Mrinalini Devi in 1902. Blessed with a kid next year, despair struck hard and the bliss vanished. The kid passed away. Next year, his father Devendranath Tagore too departed. He could only have 13 years of blissful married life, his wife died in 1915. His three brothers too left him very soon - Somendranath Tagore in 1922, Jyotirindranath Tagore in 1925 and Dwijendranath Tagore in 1926.

Losing his entire close ones within 20 years - abandoning him in a summer of solitude - imagine the deprived soul making a prayer to the Almighty. Even, at that moment, he praying, “O God! Make me free from fear!” He got no grouses.

When fear departs, inner-self fills up with quintessence.  How do we attain such purity and peace? Realization of a whirlwind of passionate experience that uproots all fears from mind will provide such erudition. Our inner-self reaches a spiritual bliss when we become conscious that there isn’t an addiction as strong as addiction to the Almighty.

Need is to realize that addictive love. In this short life, this realization prepares us to take on any challenge. In the rush of life, we, the unfortunate souls often forget to realize the One who gave us this life!

We fail to appreciate the One who designed us, moulded us, blessed us, consoled us, protected us, pardoned us, and passionately and constantly loved us.

When a Prophet during a phase of tribulation prayed, “I am persistently going through distress, yet You are most Merciful,” is that realization. It’s the hope that the One above us all will take care of us, when we lose the world below us.

The wandering mind gyrating around many distractions needs to be put back on an orbit of love. This pristine love can be attained only through fighting inner toxicity, varied hunger and thirst.

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-15 | Eternally yours!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-15

Eternally yours!

“Do you value my love?”

“What makes you think otherwise?”

“Nothing, I appreciate your love. Those we love intensely do appear in our dreams. You turn up every night and fill my dreams. Do I ever show up in your dreams?”

“Yes, you do come in my dreams!”

“Who do you think are the real lovers?” We, who dream or those who appear in our dreams!

“Those, who show up in our dreams, O my beloved, it’s like the sun. Look! The sun ascends and spreads its light over everything, kissing everywhere. It isn’t because we love the sun, but the sun loves us all.”

She adoringly beamed with a smile.

Isn’t there a love brighter than the sunlight which eternally encompasses us all? Is it because of our love for Him?

For a while, close your eyes, and ponder. Do we deserve His love so much?

How many persons we loved abandoned and left us! If our lover comes to know our secrets, would their love remain same?

Realize, He knows all secrets of us which remain concealed. He is witness to everything. Still, His love keeps getting brighter and brighter.

How detached we are from this realization! Yet the love of the Nourisher doesn’t diminish a bit. Yes, that love is what, we cherished till this moment in our short lifespan.

It’s His love which was bestowed and denied!

How true what Tagore told us!

“I always thought, something else should have happened in my life. But, who knows whether, I would regret thinking about it later. O my Lord! I longed for a thousand things from you. By turning down most of it, you have protected me.” 

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-14 | Scars stay, Kisses fade away!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-14

Scars stay, Kisses fade away!

He is a taxi driver in Delhi. Would be 50 plus! Gloomy eyes, but a pleasant and amusing guy to travel with! A poor man, who lost everything in 1984 anti-Sikh riots! During the journey, he recounted his poignant life story.

“I was 19 years old. All thirteen members in our house were butchered – grandparents, young ones and didn’t even spare the toddlers! I became abandoned in my home and my life.  Even now, I think of them all while driving my taxi. I was very close to my youngest sister. I get emotional when see little girls of her age. I can’t control my welling eyes when faces of my loved ones flash before me. I stop the vehicle, park it aside and cry my heart out. And, when feel a little better, wipe my tears and continue the journey...”

When the thorns of memory pierce our hearts, that’s what we can also do – cry, wipe the tears, and move on. There are issues we can’t cope up with. The baggage of such sorrows, we carry throughout our lives. Like the loss of our loved ones! Can’t help it! Just cry, wipe your tears and carry on the journey. 

“The waterwheel accepts water and turns and gives it away, weeping!” Rumi says.

We refer to sorrows as ordeals. Is it fine to be referred so? In fact, it is a test or examination rather than ordeal. Examinations are where we try to pour out how much we have learnt. Isn’t it same with sorrows too? We have gathered so much knowledge, memorized so much, ingrained about faith and belief. The test to see how much all of these helps one to cope up with the situation. An examination to realize how much knowledge gained from books could be of real help in life. One learns to endure by tolerating so much. One learns to stop crying by crying incessantly. Almighty loves those who hold back their tears when they go through heartbreaking experiences. Glittering outfits and heavens of garden are the incentives, says the Scripture.

Grief-stricken and pained minds are like views on a misty morning. Once the mist evaporates, the views become clear. Experiences that make us cry keeps haunting us. As human beings, it’s a natural phenomenon. 

We shouldn’t delay wiping the tears. Distresses inflicted aren’t disaster, but breaking hearts over it, is disastrous! 

Forgot all that moments of happiness and exhilaration! Life keeps seeking its strength from the tears and sorrows that it experienced. Look carefully! The scars of wounds are still there. The kisses have all vanished!  

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-13 | Winged Bird, Deep-rooted Mountain!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-13

Winged Bird, Deep-rooted Mountain!

A migratory bird flying through various countries and continents landed on a mountain peak. The mountain asked the bird, “Which places did you visit?” Spelling out names of the places it visited, in a jest, it looked at the mountain and said, “What’s the use of telling you the name of the places?  You have no idea about these places, I visited. You got only height, but can’t fly.”

In all humility, the mountain replied, “I know details of all the places in the world heard through millions of birds who have been coming and resting on my peak since centuries. It’s true that I haven’t visited those places. But, my friends have visited. When God gave you wings, He gave me solid foundation.”  

Before the bird could complete, “what’s the use...” an eagle came down and snatched the bird and flew away. The bird with wings had no roots!

It’s a childhood story that unravels so many lessons of life!

A renowned Malayalam poet Thunjath Ezhuthachan once wrote that the worms inside the fig think that they thrive in heavenly bliss. The state of most of human beings are like those worms inside the ripen fig which may drop anytime. They find cosiness in the momentary delights and fantasies of the mortal body, which may perish anytime. And, they neglect the soul and eventually lose it. Those who tether their souls with failsafe Power are the blessed ones. They become winged birds and deep-rooted mountains!

The faith in the Almighty is like standing tall and upright on strong roots with humility. The Creator shouldn’t be perceived or reminisced as the One who caters to our insignificant and small needs. He is the Root! He is the Fact! Those who stand with Him will not lose their footing, says Scripture. They are similar to mountains that know their strength!

Such life needs to be sustained invariably. A spiritual relationship should be established with that Super Power that remains constant irrespective of happiness or grief! If one sustains such a bond, the tales they pen won’t go in vain! As a matter of fact, life is nothing but a collection of tales!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-12 | Let’s Polish it with Gold!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-12

Let’s Polish it with Gold!

Ten year old girl! Her father is dead. Her mother started to work as a maid to support the family. Unfortunately, she met with an accident and got bedridden. The onus fell on the tiny shoulders of this small girl to take care of the family. She quickly learnt to cook food. A tiny hut thatched with abandoned plastic sheets became roof over their heads in a dump yard. A media person, through some means came to know about this girl, reached the hut and started covering it. While shooting the poignant scenes of the ten-year old cooking, nursing her bed-ridden mother, and sending her younger siblings to schools, he asked her, “Where do you get the courage to do all these at such a young age?”

In an innocuous way, the ten-year replied, “We don’t have anyone else. So I have to do it.”

That’s all. She didn’t wait for anybody. She realized the power inside her. Faced and confronted the treacherous outside world with guts and determination. These words are imperceptible advice to all those who take cover under the blankets of despair with broken heart while facing a minor trouble.

Kahlil Gibran narrates a story:

A man got stuck on the terrace of a high rise building. Nobody walking on the streets could hear his cries for help. He had some coins in his pocket. He started throwing it down, thinking someone while picking it up may look upwards. But, nobody looked up. All of them picked the coins and walked away. He was left with no more coins. He saw a heap of small pebbles lying nearby. He started throwing it one after another. All those who got hit by the pebbles started looking up shouting angrily.

According to Gibran, people behave this way in life too. They enjoy the blessings. And grumble and grieve over sorrows.

That heart is fortunate which is capable to accept adverse experiences. In Japan, they follow a tradition. When utensils break, the broken area is fixed and polished with gold. The utensil now looks beautiful ever more. There are cracks in life too, and tattered conditions. We too have to to do the same without bewilderment.

Through faith, we need to gold polish self-confidence. There is an incident in the scripture about the loss of the son of Prophet, Jacob. “Let there be splendid patience. Lord is there to help me at this juncture.”

When he patiently waited with hope, he got back all those which he had lost. We too can redeem it. But, are we patient enough to wait long and endure it? Miracles will take place in this life itself!

Do you know the happiest moment a woman experience in her life? When she endures the most painful moment of her life! How true!  

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-11 | The Rocks of Memory!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-11

The Rocks of Memory!

An old volleyball star! She is 82 years now. During her college days, she met with an accident while in Delhi for a tournament. Her uterus got seriously damaged, and had to be surgically removed. How much that girl would have aggrieved? In a moment of agony, one of her aunt taunted and said, “Thank God! It’s good. At least now you won’t bring bad name to the family.” 

Even today, after sixty years, those words of her aunt haunt her. Her mind gets unsettled and she breaks down hysterically. 

Don’t actions of someone, words someone uttered, attitudes shown by somebody remain sore like unhealed wounds? Yes! Feel they don’t deserve forgiveness ever. But, forgiveness is something which boosts its value if granted to those who don’t deserve it. Hence, let’s pardon them, forget their mistakes, and only think about them. 

Paul Warfield Tibbet, a Brigadier General of United States Air Force, who flew the plane and switched on the button to drop the atom bombs over Hiroshima during World War II, wasn’t aware of the magnitude of the disaster. His superior ordered. And he just followed it. About 1.5 lakh people perished. As he came to know about the ramification of his action, he lost sleep. He attempted suicide by slicing his veins. He hit his own head with a hard metal.

Just think about those who afflicted distress upon us. They may be repenting their mistakes. Those small people wouldn’t have the courage or broad mind to come to you and seek your forgiveness. They may be waiting for us to say, “Its okay.”When one person pardons, two hearts attain peace. “You forgive those on earth, the One in the heavens will forgive you,” goes a Prophetic saying.

The house owner is sitting on his porch. Suddenly, a man enters the gate and spoils the flower pots crushing them under his feet. The plants are expensive. And, all of it stood bloomed with flowers. And, then this callous act...! The house owner couldn’t tolerate it. He ran towards him, hit him and tried to push him out of the gate. And then suddenly, he withdrew his hands. He didn’t do anything further. And it was the house owner who sought forgiveness from the man who destroyed his plants! The man was blind. He had accidentally entered the gate. Poor chap!

That night, the house owner told his children, “Never hurt anyone who destroys our garden. Sometimes, they may be blind” 

Yes, sometimes, those who spoil our happiness might be blind. They may have committed it naively. Let’s forgive their blindness! We have to live. If the rocks of memory get accumulated and jammed, life won’t flow smoothly!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-10 | No Game So Interesting!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-10

No Game So Interesting!

A mini story, just in four lines! 

‘My mother expired. I didn’t cry! 

I didn’t realize then what death meant. 

After decades, my father too died. Still, I didn’t cry! 

By then, I knew what death meant!’

The leech when it moves from one point to another, it spreads out and then shrinks its body.  Similarly, with death the soul abandons its nest and moves on through a newly opened door. The soul withdraws from all external sensory organs. It moves on to a new abode from the shell, devastated and now in shambles. When one realizes this transfer of soul from one abode to another, the fear about death disappears. When sure about a guest who is certain to come, instead of being fearful, one will be all set to receive it.

From the body of a person lying inside a secure ICU, who silently leaves the room? While surrounded by all near and dear ones, hoodwinking, who leaves all of them? Take care of him, says religion. Take care of whom? Of course not the mortal body - the origin of which is earth and finally decomposes and ends up as part of the same earth - but the soul which remains immortal!

The fragrance of the blooming flower, which enchants today won’t be so intense tomorrow. In a couple of days, it withers and drops. Sometime later, the plant also wilts. ‘Everything on this earth is ephemeral! And if you get attached to something transient, you will end up in despair,’ says the scripture in short. It’s sensible to watch life from a distance like we look at the paintings in an art gallery! You won’t be disappointed while watching it as well as leaving it.

Till the last breath, life should be lived joyfully. And the final breath should also be inhaled with joy. Every moment of our lives should be treasured. It’s true that everyone will taste death, but how many do relish life? Asks Khalil Gibran. There is a book titled “Is there Life before Death?” If the life hereafter has to be meaningful, the life before death has to be lived rewardingly. When the vacation is over the stay over also ends. Will have to return to their original abode! Death is such a certainty.

As Michael Naeemi puts, “When one leads a conscious life, there is no game as interesting as life.”

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-9 | Can't hold the horses

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-9

Can't hold the horses!

After playing for a while, it’s natural for kids to get fed up with any fancy toy. Mind sets sight on another. Old ones become unexciting, when one gets a new one. Fantasies keep scuttling from one to another. Even exhilarating landscapes or a beauty spot, if frequently visited loses its appeal. It isn’t our fault. It’s the veracity of us being human. The mind slithers with adding and subtracting one with another. Hands burn in the process of scampering, seeking pleasures! 

The biggest threat to a thief is the dog inside the compound of a house. Placating the dog is the only way he could accomplish his task. And, he throws a piece of poisoned meat. Instead of realizing its duty, the dog goes for the meat which ends in a disaster. It’s an example given by Narayana Guru about human beings getting euphoric about deceptive spectacles that loses their footing and ends up in danger.

Man was created from earth. We possess all the characteristics of earth. Its summer sometimes, winter after a while, spring, autumn, high and low tides! Incredible seasonal alterations! With decadent thoughts, how quick the mind gets polluted. They are successful who protects their souls from pollution despite cravings, says Quran.

The mind jumps into filth quickly and effortlessly. And, it’s quite cumbersome to get out of it. As Tagore said, ‘You have to just jump to drown and go down.  However, you should know swimming to get to the shore.’ 

Like the stone thrown upwards starts to descend as soon as it loses velocity, the mind engulfed in fantasies and caprices retreats once it loses charm. The magnitude of liability would have increased by the time one realizes that sins are in fact losses in life. We don’t need more losses in this short life. There are forbidden fruits that attract. There are a few which constantly tries to pull you towards it. Nevertheless, far you throw it, it falls near you. Mind is yet again in the hunt for it. Still, I don’t require it! 

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-8 | Like Snakes Shed Skin!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-8

Like Snakes Shed Skin!

“Animals and plants are better than human beings.”

“Why so?”

‘They don’t defy God. And never deviate from divine laws like human beings do.’

It’s true. But, I don’t want to be born so. I like the life of an intelligent and conscious human being, who accepts his transgressions when he commits it, his mind grieves and regrets his wrongdoings.

Life is the interval between tasks completed and some which one wish to accomplish, but couldn't. In most of the paths treaded, wandered away. Despite realizing the mistake, continued on same path for a while. Erred as a human being and leaned towards evil. Repentance is the decision, to take fresh steps without further slip-offs. It’s like reassessing and redefining one’s next moves like an experience of a snake shedding its skin. A few moments conversing with the Creator, weeping, bowing head down with quivering heart, and finally taking some fresh decisions. That few lonely moments would be the best gift one can reward one-self.

Every morning, after getting up from sleep, prostrating before God, the great sage Abdul Khader Gilani used to pray, “O my Lord! I shall not forget you anymore. For once, could you just have a glance of this slave of yours? That one flicker of a glance is enough for me to contented one whole lifetime.” 

Devotedly, evoke His holy names. Mountains of sins, you committed will vanish. Like ‘an ember of fire burns down a mountain of cotton’, said the great saint Ramakrishna Paramahansa.

These deceptive sights will all cease to exist. Losing all near and dear ones, one will become alone. Instantly after death, elements that constitute this body will decompose, and disintegrate. Remember, each moment of this life is recorded. What would be the reaction, if you realize someone recording you using a mobile phone while you are speaking? Your attitude and opinions will start to change, consciously! That’s how it is!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-7 | River flowing Directionless!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-7

River flowing Directionless!

A head of a state visited a psychiatry facility. He went around with a senior official enquiring about its functioning. While visiting cells, he came across a man who was hitting his head on the iron bars and wailing loudly. The Head realized that the man might have lost his mind and filled with excruciating pain. He enquired the reason of his misery. The officer said, “He has been here for a long period. He loved a woman, but couldn’t marry her. That mentally shattered him and he couldn’t cope up with the loss.”

In the next cell, a man was howling abuses loudly. There was an image of a woman on the wall. He was shouting at her. “What’s his story?” the Head asked. 

“He married a woman loved by someone else, and their married life was never peaceful and pleasant. Due to remorse and regret, his mental state got disturbed,” the officer explained.

How true! So many reasons for the mind to be upset! Dangling to the wings of despair, the mind breaks down into bits and pieces. Despite all material possessions, lack of peace makes this short life go topsy-turvy. 

One seeks happiness in someone else. Desires all pleasures from that person! And, the other person? He is also edgy. He seeks the same from someone else. And in this process of feeling unsatisfied in one’s own condition, and looking for comfort in others, fritters away the good moments of life. It reminds about the journey of the first couple on earth defying and deviating, seeking what's forbidden, which costs them the heavenly life. Consequently, their generations on earth too lose happiness of life. 

Mind is like wasp burrows, says Narayana Guru. The wasps co-exist peacefully in their nests without stinging each other or quarrelling. If someone disturbs it, it will attack in groups. Similarly, if mind is content, with what lawfully belongs to them, it will find peace. And, if it deviates towards other’s domain, it loses its balance. It revolts collectively and collapses. Deviant relationships and expectations are like rivers flowing in the wrong direction. No idea where it would flow. When asked what is poison? Rumi replied, “Unlawful desires.”

One thinks that many personalities reside in one person and at various points, try to become a different personality. Sometimes, we travel on the horses of cardinal senses directionless. At times, we overcome all such cravings. At a point, our inner self is at peace. At another moment, it’s on massive turmoil. If we don’t control our desires, it will take control of our lives.

When Hearts Embrace Hearts - 6 | Self-Addressed Letters

When Hearts Embrace Hearts - 6

Self-Addressed Letters

A story heard in childhood:

A milkman, who had to cross a river to reach the town, would always add water from the river in his milk can. He had many customers and his profits swelled. He had a daughter. He acquired and saved all the wealth for her wedding. And her marriage came close. He left to the town with all his earnings. And, bought costliest silk dresses and the latest and expensive gold ornaments, and left to his village.

It started drizzling when he reached the river bank. Without wasting time, he loaded all the goods into his boat and started rowing.  When he reached the middle of the river, the rain and wind intensified. He couldn’t row due to the wind and the flow of river, and eventually the boat capsized. The waves took away all expensive belongings he had bought with his lifelong savings.

The harms that we afflict are the self-addressed letters we sent. It will be promptly delivered. What one can do is – Go to those affected by our actions and cry before them. Seek their forgiveness! We would have forgotten the harm we did. They wouldn’t have forgotten. Recall everything and seek forgiveness!

There is an African Proverb - “The Axe Forgets, The Tree Remembers.”

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-5 | Dampness for Earth, Love for Human!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-5

Dampness for Earth, 

Love for Human!

A sparsely populated hamlet! There lives a writer in a tiny house atop a hillock. He stays there only during holidays. After spending a long vacation there, he is returning. A poor old lady known to the writer lives in a small hut down in the valley. When he went to her hut and bode her farewell, her face suddenly wilted. She told him, “Whenever I see the lighted lantern in the veranda of your house on the hillock, it gave me a feeling of assurance. I never felt lonely, with a light burning for me!”

His eyes welled up. Before bidding farewell and leaving, that noble man appointed a person to light a lantern in his house daily for that old woman.

Every person seeks such a light to avoid solitude. We wait for a person at every stage of our life. One who could surprise with love without any reason. One who could accept us as we are! There are some people like the confession box, who unconditionally forgives, knows everything and could say anything and everything to. Don’t need many of them. One such person is enough. Life won’t be dry and wry. Quran in ninety sixth verse of Chapter Maryam gives good news of such love for the noble persons.

Husband strayed into an illicit relationship. On deathbed after getting fatally injured in an accident, he revealed about that relationship to his beloved wife. “Won’t you forgive me?” He asked. She wept. Keeping her hand on his forehead, she said, “Whom can I forgive other than you?” That ever-burning light on the hillock is the heart of that innocent wife. Some wonderful souls are like, the kittens even if thrown and abandoned comes back and expresses love by rubbing its furry body looking for a cozy corner.

Affection is like an elixir for life. Shelter, clothes and food aren’t enough. Unconditional love is also required. If we don’t get good food, we will eat whatever comes our way. If pure love is denied, one will savour whatever love comes its way. Nobody should go through such a phase. That’s it. 

Rumi says: “Earth should be dampen, the sky bluish, the ocean calm, the wind soft, the flower fragrant and human being loved”

Love, keep loving, love till it prevails!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-4 | Memories!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-4

Memories!

A sage with one of his disciple is taking a stroll through the village. They see a crowd gathered near a small hut. There is commotion. Someone has died there. They enquired. The head of the family has expired. The loud cries coming out were painful and excruciating.

“O Sage! Why is God so cruel to human being?”

“What cruelty? Is someone’s death a cruelty? If nobody dies, what would happen to the world?”

“Had this person died after accomplishing all his obligations and attaining old age, their loved ones wouldn’t have to go through this painful ordeal?”

“The tasks that remain to be completed are in people’s thoughts. What Almighty intended is already complete.”

“O Sage! Isn’t the sudden death of someone like snatching away life mercilessly from this world?”

Never, even after death, they continue to remain in this world. In the lives of their loved ones, they will carry on as usual. It isn’t a likely possibility for everyone. Those who could bequeath good memories during the lifespan bestowed to them can only continue so in this world. Like the leaves shed by the trees become manure and nourishes and helps the forests to sustain. 

Utmost, the feast on this earth ends more or less in thirty thousand days. 

What’s the finest gift one can give somebody? Memories! Isn’t it? 

And, the most terrible gift! It’s memories again!  

Only memories stay back.

Seconds will vanish from the clocks of age! Dates will disappear from the calendars of life! The enchanting images from mind’s album will also fade away! The memories one bequeaths shall become part of us as salt melts in the sea. Prophet Abraham prayed and wished that coming generations should speak well about him. That’s what should be left behind. Hence, every moment on this earth becomes valuable and significant. Who knows about the final moment with the loved ones!

Their exist someone for each person! Someone like an anchor! Someone who won’t go away! Someone who would appear as memories and kiss heart! We should also try to remain inside someone. We would all end up as some tales for others to recount at the end of this rat race!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-3 ||| Feathers will wear away!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-3

Feathers will wear away!

Long ago, a group went to study the functioning of a reputed television manufacturing company. An establishment with a big factory! And, the factory was just a place where all parts were assembled. The various parts were manufactured by small-scale industrial units based in villages surrounding it. The circuit board was handled by housewives of a village. Their job was just to acid wash the painted boards and dry it. They had no clue about other functions of the product or the factory. And, when all the parts manufactured at various places were assembled inside the factory, the television became a reality!

Just think about our position. We hardly know anything about the universe and our own lives. We have a partial view of it. Look at a tree, and only one dimension of it is visible to us. The other facets remain hidden from our eyes. Some aspects of our lives are very vivid and some remains completely out of bound. Even our knowledge about those aspects we know is partial. Low creatures, who aren’t even aware when they shall return, a lifetime literally inside intensive care unit! Unpredictable, any moment!

We got some obligations to carry out. Just accomplish it. And get back to the actual Owner. Actions aren’t enough! Good actions are required. The time and space between life and death is meant for it, says a Holy Book.

Birds need feathers to fly. Once birds die, feathers start to wear away. The obligation of feathers end once birds stops flying. Whatever we possess in our lives are like the feathers. It helps us accomplish the obligations, Almighty has assigned us. Wealth, health, fortune and time – all of these will wear out. And, we shall return.

In front of us lies what the Scripture told, the Messenger conveyed and the Guide showed. We ourselves have to walk our way. Our success is our responsibility. Death is the full stop, before which we got to accomplish everything. When one looks through the keyhole, the vision is skewed and not whole. One gets to have the complete and perfect view when the door is opened. 

Life is the keyhole! And, death the door! 

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-2 | Thanks, My Sunshine! My Shade!

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-2

Thanks, My Sunshine! My Shade!

The final moments of Socrates! A set of disciples surrounded him with their ears all seeking his last few words. 

“O Sage, Do you have any debts to clear?” a disciple asked.

“Yes,” replied Socrates. He told them about a vow he had to fulfil!

“Any other debts?” asked another disciple.

Socrates closed his eyes and with a frail smile on his face just said, “There are enough debts, to all those human beings who made me Socrates. How am I going to repay all those?”

That great soul sobbed like a baby.

We too reached this position with the mercy of so many people, known and unknown. With the first touch of the doctor, midwife on birth, to the one known or unknown person who threw a fist of earth into our graves, when we departed, so many people’s love have embraced us all in our short journey called life. There isn’t enmity or hatred in the heart that hold gratitude to each smile and delight! Only love throbs. 

The whole of this life we owe others. For the love that flow non-stop from the Merciful One! For the unconditional affection our parents poured on us! For the feasts our close ones spread for us with warmth and fondness! For exposing us to the fountains of knowledge, by our beloved teachers! For the seeds of compassion sown by our companions!

The cup that we got may not be filled to the brim. But we can be grateful for having at least a cup in our hands. Grateful to the tears and delights that we experienced! O Creator! Thanks for the acceptances and rejections. 

Sugatha Kumari, a renowned poet wrote:

Gratitude for the sunshine in my way,

Gratitude for the burden on my shoulders,

Gratitude to the shade in my way,

Gratitude to the little cuckoo on the swaying branch,

Gratitude to the spiky ache in my way!

By lamenting, nothing changes and the lost won’t come back. This moment becomes contented when one is full of love and gratitude for everything that came by the way, and for all those one possess. A vertical line is enough to convert negative into positive. “Proclaim the blessings,” says Quran.

The clothe that one wear, the medicine that one take, the book that guides, the food that one consume, the vehicle that one rides upon, the technology that one uses to read this....! Efforts and contributions of many strangers are behind all these. Can’t we close our eyes for a moment and pray for them? Can’t we smile to the person next to us? Can’t we prostrate down in humility before the Almighty, who provided us all these? 

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-1 : Ignorance

When Hearts Embrace Hearts-1

Ignorance

The sage said, “In the pitch of darkness, someone fell into a ditch and held on to a branch of a tree. He held his grip very tightly till the crack of dawn fearing a deadly fall into the abyss below him, if he lost his control. Till the morning light appeared, scared and sweating, he spent the whole night without knowing that the ground was just a foot below his feet, had he just tried to touch it! When he saw the ground so close to his feet, he got down with a sigh of relief. Ignorance is nothing but the happiness and security which he lost the whole night scared and fretting for his precious life. This can affect us for a whole lifetime. Just keep your feet on the ground courageously. You may find your way out!”

Life becomes gloomy with fear when one misses the little peepholes of mercy that Lord has kept open. When all doors are closed, He keeps a window open. When young Abdullah died, who kept the aged Abdul Muttalib alive? Who gifted considerate Khadija, a lady with grit and courage? Who showered the rain of companionship without withering it away? In Chapter 93 of the Holy Quran, beloved Prophet is reminded about all these. Just try to recollect, aren’t there such Abdul Muttalib, Khadeeja and Aboobackers in our lives too? Yes, of course, they are there! Branches of trees to hold and fit for us to keep our feet grounded!

No ideology will suffice, if our inner selves are filled with despair, fear and regrets. We need to free ourselves from the thoughts that spread despair. We are always scared of tomorrow. Today is the same tomorrow that both you and I feared yesterday! Such tomorrows of fear will come and we will surely overcome it. 

Mind should be free of fear. It would have brought us many problems, just to prove our mettle and make us strong enough to overcome and resolve it. The One with us is Omnipotent. How easy it’s for Him to transform despairs into hopes. He needs not even seconds to convert teary and drained out eyes into glowing and invigorated ones.

There is a shepherd, walking on the hot sands of the desert, praying and chatting to his Creator. He himself explains it – “I am conversing with the One who created me and my sheep. He gave me eyes. He gave it vision. He made me see the world through it. He gave me hands to work. He made me realize the aroma of roses. In this wilderness, He is my Companion. In despairs and pains, my heart seeks Him alone.

We too need to seek the same ocean of mercy, same shores of fearlessness!

In the words of Indeevar: You, the Ocean! Me, the Thirst!