Rose tinted glasses

"Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you."
-Kahlil Gibran

The other day I had taken the bus to get to the market, having finished all my jobs, sat down near a window. A couple of stops later, an elderly woman got onto the bus and was carrying bags, which did not seem too heavy but, considering her frail frame it looked like a load to her , She selected the empty seat next to me and with a wide smile settled herself.
The conductor came along and they seemed to know each other" probably", I thought" she travels this way often"
The woman was a very friendly person and in an instant we were chatting about the rush and the recent happenings, from one thing it moved on to another, and in a flash there she was pouring her life before me, I was a little wary "Was she genuine" and I did my best to dismiss such wild thoughts about an innocent woman..
She told me about her husband, who was home , her child, an adopted boy whom the parents doted on, and "Now" she said, "He detests us both,"
The adopted son was apparently working and doing extremely well for himself and supporting himself and a family of two kids and a wife who was working as well, it was a very sad woman talking,
She even told me," that life is hell for the two of us, the moment he gets home, we scamper into the bedroom and leave him alone with the family,"
The heavy traffic gave us a lot of time to chat and learn a lot from this woman,
She said, "Never ever let things get you down, I take the kids along with their maid to the nearby park and see that they are spruced up by the evening, I would never let His bad behaviour affect my relationship with the children, "
I was nearing my stop and she was going ahead, She told me one important thing,
"Listen, I kind of opened my heart to you, like I known you since ages, maybe God has sent an angel to unburden my heart, I cannot talk to anyone, But there is only one thing, you can learn from this, Try never to depend on your children, learn to live the way you can afford, my husband and me are both pensioners and this is the secret to my happiness, we live life the way we can, that is why you can see me beaming ..God Bless you "
I felt myself choking and looked at her happy face .. waved a goodbye to her and there she was straightening her saree pallav ... getting ready to get off at her stop...

Happiness is what you make of it

If you want to be happy, be. ~Leo Tolstoy

Must tell you about a family that lives on the streets. It is quite a familiar sight here. During the day the pavement is teeming with pedestrians and vendors. Once dusk settles, the pavement becomes home to this couple who have grown old here.

The woman is a complete homemaker trying her best to make ends meet. They are parents to a little boy around five/six years and he is blissfully unaware of the hardships his parents have to go through. The place outside turns into a mobile home, complete with a counter and water bottles. The lady of the "House" cooking and to add to the picture perfect look they have even adopted a little pup who keeps the little boy amused. My mind always races to the age old question: What is it that motivates people who live from hand to mouth? And if I may add she seems content; I see her chatting happily with her husband and the little boy swinging on his dads arms. It is so humbling to know that these people are happy with the little things they have. The boy's hand-me-downs even in terms of his boyish toys, a broken fire engine and an old aeroplane. He loves his little car, the dog runs along faster than the car and the boyrolls with laughter.

Come morning and the whole mobile home is packed and put away, till the evening that is. The lady has gone with her child to school and probably the man on his job. The place outside now belongs to the shop keepers, pedestrians and vendors...till dusk returns...

All creatures great and small !!!!

I am extremely fortunate to be living in a peaceful environment where my window overlooks a beautiful tree laden with golden flowers and a peaceful existence .... of all creatures great and small !!!

the parrot silently plucking the flowers side by side with the noisy crows.... and the tiny Coppersmith
trying hard to rise above the cacophony...

Many a time I have watched the sunrise and it is with eagerness .... waiting for the wonderful creatures to start their day, ..the parrots are Keen eyed and to get a shot of them is extremely difficult as they eye the camera with suspicion...



During the nesting months of the crows, there was activity galore, each crow trying very hard to build his room with a view... in fact I have noticed that they are they only ones who can "View" from their nest, they build it well hidden behind the thick foliage and it is the little ones, with their very hungry caws, that give their nest away.... Watching these wonderful creatures just makes one marvel... of their in built mechanism ... defence, hunger, protection and of course like us humans suspicion ... we too tend to suspect any stranger with a good intention ...

The experience we can gain from these little creatures, who have no avarice, they do not know if tomorrow is their's ...neither do we... we must try and emulate their ways, the way they live simple and their needs equal to their wants....