PAST AND PRESENT

Yesterday someone said , "Be happy in the present". It was a short message, but made my thoughts go rolling. We all tend to live in the past, we keep going back over and over again. Mostly talking about how good the earlier times were, the living conditions, the values of life, the prices, the music and even the weather.

All that one remembers is the good times we had.

We also wish for things that we could or should have done. I wish I had done that, or I wish I had not said that, or I wish the "guzra hua zamana" would come back. We seldom think or give value to the present, which is soon going to become the past. The same past which we will soon be lamenting. My all time favourite song in Hindi is "Aane wala pal jaane wala hai, ho sake to isme zindagi bita do, pal jo ye jaane wala hai." Its from an all time favourite movie too-Golmaal. The song very beautifully gives you the message of time- fleeting time. Time and tide wait for no man, its so true - it actually doesnt. We keep waiting for the right and opportune time to say something, do something. We just keep waiting - often "THAT"time never comes. Its perhaps correct to say that the Right time is NOW. What happens in the next moment, is not known to anyone.

Life needs to be lived and enjoyed, every moment of it. Each day brings us a new opportunity. A new reason to live, smile and go ahead and fulfil our dreams, and desires. Do that which one couldnt earlier. Go out in the world, get fresh air, breathe deeply - look at nature - its beautiful and it's free.

Even a dark gloomy day can become bright, if we look at it differently. A few days back, while looking out of the window, and seeing the dark clouds and gloomy grey colours of the sky outside my grand daughter Aaliya, who is four years old said, "Maybe the sun has come out, but is hiding behind the clouds." It was such a fresh way of looking at things. Even the darkest and gloomiest of days can turn around by our thoughts and new perspective.

Living and understanding today and now is important. Enjoy while one can.

Change is imperative, it happens all the time. In fact the only constant thing in our life is change!! It is for me to adapt to the changing times. Move on, with the times. Resurrect myself. Renew and understand the change. Instead of lamenting lost opportunities and lost times, making my today a moment worthy of being remembered tomorrow is how I would like to spend my today.

I share my thoughts, as sometimes simple thoughts do change a few perspectives.

I dont want to sound like a preacher, yet would like to say, go ahead and say what you wanted to say, do what you wanted to do. Live today, enjoy your present. Dont harp upon your past, nor keep waiting for the opportune time. The opportune time is NOW.

Remaining In Touch

Of late I have been receiving a lot of forwards in my mail. Somehow I feel that they seem quite pessimistic. They do not have a 'feel good feeling', which is quite alright, as the earlier forwards were usually too sugary and sweet and spoke of nothing but the goodness of everything. The earth, the moon and what have you.

Things seem to have gone around a full circle now, as it is the reversal of goodness. It seems as though we are either lamenting the past - how we were, or, thinking about the impending doomsday predicted, or some such other matter. Research is carried out on almost anything and everything that one can percieve of. These days it is not difficult to prove anything. All sorts of information, theory, statistics is available to prove whatever one wants to prove. If one wanted, I am quite sure it would not be difficult to prove that black was actually white and vice -versa.

The internet has opened a pandora's box and e - mails have actually made it much simpler for us to communicate with a whole lot of people at the same time by pressing a small key on the computer. It takes no effort, one does not have to exercise the brain, no thought process is involved, and yet, hey presto! off goes a whole lot of mail throughout the world propogating someone else's theory or thought. A friend, relative or acquaintance gets something in his or her mail box to know that they were remembered. I wonder if one really needs these reminders.

Speaking about myself, whenever I get a forward, I get the feeling of just being a name on a mailing list. I do not actually exist for the sender of the mail except as a statistic.

For me, a personal letter, even a simple one liner which is original and speaks of some thought having passed the sender of the mail is welcome. I went to boarding school at the age of five. I therefore communicated with my parents, my father mostly through regular weekly letters. (We had to write every week.) My father always wrote nice letters to me. He was infact a good writer. However, sometimes his letters were not hand written. He dictated the letters to his secretary, who would type it out and then dad would sign it after adding a few endearments. Yet, I always objected to these letters. I still remember, even as a small child, asking him to write the letters himself by hand. That seemed so much more personal. Dad always used to tell me that he himself had dictated the letter, so the same was personal, but that never convinced me, and my persistence with him continued.

Today, when I see the impersonal mail I receive, I wish that the art of writing personal letters should never die. Our time, thoughts and communication should remain with those whom we care for. Often it is not possible to remain in real 'touch' with our loved ones, as the world has become small. People have spread far and wide, and the only way to remain in touch is through mail. Let us therefore find real time once in a while to write heartfelt messages and get in 'touch' with each other.