My BIRTHDAY!

I with my mother on my 3rd birthday!

Birthdays have always been great days for me. The cake, the candle, the gifts, the new dress, all the attention that one gets. It is indeed a good day! I never grew up enough to look at birthday's as just another day!
Being born on the same day as Adolf Hitler does have its importance too. Everyone compares me with Hitler and I do not appear as big a tyrant as he was!
As one more day of my life goes away, I realise that every moment of my life needs to be cherished. When one is working and one is young, then the evening shadows don't seem so long. One is in too much of a rush to wind up for the day and await the onset of another busy day. It 's only when one is at leisure and one's time is one's own to spend as one wants to, that the real value of time is understood and appreciated. I wish all young people would stop for a moment to enjoy the sweet voice, words and expressions of their children. When one is running from one pillar to another post, those sweet words are often hushed up, as one does not have the patience to sit and hear baby talk. How futile is this busy- busy world, one can understand very late in life. That is the reason why kids have grand parents - they have all the time in the world , and all the patience in the world for their beautiful grand children.
I know, no amount of my repeating this will really be understood by the younger generation. It has always been like this. It is repeated in every era and age. Youth does not listen to age old wisdom. Each one learns from their own experience.
Live life fully. Enjoy today. Be patient, love your family. Spend time with them. Devote your time and energy to your children. Once they grow up they will not need you.
My little grandkids spent a lot of time making beautiful cards and gifts for me. They did it by themselves with imagination, dedication and so much love for me! I was enthralled by their cards!
Then after my birthday dinner last night, the hotel management took a group photo and gave it to us immediately. My little, not yet three year old grand daughter, took one look at the photo and said, "My family"!
She refused to part with the photo and kept it in her hand till she fell asleep.

My birthday 2011.

Those magical words, said by my little grand daughter, will remain etched in my mind forever. They made me feel extremely loved. Totally, truly loved!

BEAUTY

Cinderella's castle

Beauty they say is skin deep. I say beauty is within. It has nothing to do with what your appearance is like. You may look beautiful, gorgeous, attractive and what not to people who look at you. How beautiful you are depends upon the substance that is within. No amount of beautification, make up, artistry, can cover the hatred, deceit, greed and ugliness that often lies within the inner self of a person.

I write this as, I appear to have suddenly discovered an inner eye, with which I am able to see the world as it really is.

I have started seeing people and my own self as I am. Did I truly decide to get surrounded by all this? Where did my beautiful world vanish? Why have I got clear eyes to see all those warts, corns, potholes and blemishes? My vision has also shown me that we are the ones who create our own world. We make it beautiful or ugly, as we want it to be. We reap as we sow. In my own life and time I did think that I was sowing seeds of happiness and contentment. Somehow, I did not see the littering that I was causing in my path of progress. I was responsible for turning my world into this mass of imperfection.

Can I ever turn the clock back? Can I help my world become beautiful once again? Can I do something, to change my world back to its tranquil, beautiful, comfortable shape?

I wonder!