Wabi Sabi

Phases

They say the moon has its phases, every 30 days to be precise. But how many of us have noticed the phases of the Sun, everyday?

The lovely golden sun, rising in the morning, spreading its warm, joyous glow. Bringing life to nature, awaking every plant and seed, bird and being.

The ravenous, scorching hot sun in the afternoon. The one we look at with squinted eyes and a twitching face. The one whose burning heat we want to evade.

The pinkish orange evening sun. The one leaving cool in its wake. The one we romanticise. The one we want to picture. The sunsets we glorify and don’t want to miss. The one we write Poetry about.

And lest we talk about the night sky, the day wouldn’t end, right?? The sun sets so the day could meet the night. The ever-romantic moon, that illuminates itself on borrowed light. The night sets in for the dreamers, the over-thinkers and the lovers.

And before we know, a new phase starts. The night lifts up at the crack of dawn. The purple-pink glow at the horizon chases away the darkness. And the sun smiles down on us bearing the light of new life, new hopes and a new beginning.

The fun of being Different

How many times have I checked my urge to photograph something- something trivial, something so completely natural, you wouldn’t notice it on a normal day. A tiny twig, a feather resting in trampled dirt, a shadow or the eloping sun. Things that get sighted out of the blue to capture your attention, inspiring you to write something as beautiful as itself.

While waiting at the hospital today, I came across a green wall. Among all the other decorative plants, a single little leaflet stood out. I was drawn to it, time and again, as if it beckoned to me.

Other patients and their relatives, the brother and nurse from the ER, the passersby, I was aware of all of them and somehow it felt like they were waiting for that moment when I would turn to capture that beautiful little thing on my phone.

And yet, I turn. I focus on that little green thing as I wanted to. Deep in my heart, I so wanted to picture it.

Simply because, it stood out. As if it was telling me, it’s ok to be different. Actually, it’s great, it’s different. And.. it takes all you have to be proudly different!!

INVICTUS

Back in school, when I was a student, I loved singing competitions as equally as I detested recitations. For me, singing came from the heart. Whereas reciting poems was from the minds.. of other people. It didn’t make sense to be the person being lauded for delivering other people’s works. Poetry to me, was a tedious task..

As I grew, I made friends with poetic minds. I started reading their works. I started relating them and understanding why they wrote what they wrote. I tried to make an effort myself to turn my day to day experiences into words. Prose at first, couplets then verses. I even got them proof read!!

As I got interested in poetry, I started understanding how a poet’s mind works. How much effort he puts in to get those emotions into words on paper. What a legacy he leaves us by turning his pain into poetry!! Poems that are read, recited and glorified.

One such poem that helped me in troubled times, gave me strength and continues to be my mantra.. INVICTUS by William Ernest Henley!!

The nuances of Autumn!!

October and Autumn, the time for new beginnings. Of letting go the old and awaiting the new.

The trees shed the old leaves and go into hibernation, to restore themselves for new growth. They lay asleep in wait for the spring to awake them to new plumage.

The leaves go through seasons of change. The change etched in every hue they proudly turn into. The subtle transcendence of the colours from a bright green to a sunset orange to the red that reminds us of autumn, each phase resembling one in our own lives.

If only, humans were capable of embracing the changes as beautifully as the trees. Nature, has always had a way of bringing about change in our lives.

How it affects us depends on how positively we adapt to them. We all have an October waiting for us.