The beautiful and the secular

I begin with the beautiful aspect of last week. And it feels bizarre to say that that good, wholesome peaceful feeling in me and a lot of other Keralites, was created in the first place by a death.

And not just some usual death. Last week, one of Kerala's finest bi-lingual writer died.
Kamala Surayya. A strong woman, and the epitome for secularism. She was born into one of Kerala's most established families. One that was amongst the founders of a leading newspaper. She was born into an upper caste Hindu family and later on in life converted to Islam. That created a huge chaos back then in Kerala. She was under tremendous pressure from several to take back her decision and got infinite threat calls and all.

Anyway, that's not the point. The charm of all this was how gracefully her children accepted her decision. So there she was. A converted pious Muslim living under the same roof with Hindus. No ill-will, no bitterness.

And when she died. All her family, her Hindu children and her2 adopted Muslim sons. all of them together offering prayers together, shoulder-to-shoulder, praying for her.

Isn't it beautiful?

That this happened at the very time when there is so much fights happening in the name of religion?

So what if I'm Muslim and you happen to be a Hindu or Christian or Parsi or heathen or anything?

As long as we understand that beneath all this difference, we are all just the same. What matters?

So what if there are all those fanatics imagining themselves to be oh-so secular? We can show them the way and show them what true secularism is. Like this one incident.

All we have to do is put some effort into reaching out and being there for others. Don't bother what their race is, what their religion is or anything. Because in the end, nothing else matters, ya know?

Reaching out, with lots of hope for a much more happier,stronger,safer and secular India,
Raphael. I dont give a damn what god you believe in, I just love you all!

Entre nous

There comes a point in my life once in a while, when I doubt the things I'm passionate about, and sincerely care for. Like blogging.
You might have noticed that I haven't blogged for almost a month now. And you will DEFINITELY notice that this is a looooooong post,so either you bear with me or well, you always have the option of not reading. [oh,sad, poor me!]

And who would have thought I had end up NOT blogging with so much free time?! There was so much happening with me after all. Loneliness;
facing the imminent future;
understanding how much friends mean to me;
how much materialism counts in my life-but I can do without;
trying to detach myself from cluttered and complicated emotions;
trying to make sense of relationships- the conventional,traditional ones AND the unconventional, free-styled ones-the ones to which you can't give a name but are significant anyway.


So what happened to me? Guess all too much of me-time I got didn't exactly translate to constructive blogging or even make me a better person. hell, I don't even have much of a tolerance yet for things I don't like.

All that I did was waste my time, almost. Cos the one good thing I did do was start to take driving lessons. I feel sooooo goood abt it! Plus I watched a lot of good movies and dramas thanks to cable tv. yay!

RELATIONSHIPS

Anyways, I wanted to make sense of my myriad relationships. as in- family, friends, non-friends, everything. I have done a teeny post on how I wanted to trade some junk members in my family for friends instead. Seriously, am I supposed to really like you just because you happen to be my relation? No!

Just the same with friends, I can't exactly say how much I love one friend more than another because in one way or another they are all important to me.
This one brings wisdom and sense to my life[vi].
Then there's my singing/ harry potter maniac partner-[vai].
another darling brings out the nastiness in me to the surface-in a sane way, yep-that's my soul-sister-in-mean-thoughts [N].
Then there are the innocence, sweetness, feminity, freakiness elements.
And there's her, without whom I'm practically lost. She helps me with numbers,-if i'm more specific-money matters. cos trust me, I'm kinda bad with numbers.

Funny thing is- I'm in awe of numbers. They're fascinating and I love them-from a distance. The closer I get to them, the more mysterious and complicated they become to me.Just can't handle 'em!

Then there are these fascinating relationships totally based on one aspect of life alone. Sometimes it's music, it's movies, travel, my Korean-drama-obsession, people, books, etc.

Do I have to give names to each and every relationship in my life? Is it necessary that I have to give expression to how I feel about people I love? Isn't it enough that we understand each other, we share something in common or maybe something in difference, and that we complement each other in the weirdest ways?

why should we go with the convention of giving words to every single emotion we feel? sometimes isn't it easy to just let things get tangled up and complicated? why handle things? whoever wanted us to handle things? maybe these things were supposed to remain like this, entangled in knots and knots of incomprehension!

but when you let things be the way they are, there's always the danger of relationships becoming static and un-living. which is why, it's always better that you reach out to people who are different from you,whom you can't understand- then there is always a challenge, every conversation is an excitement, every moment together is full of life.

related to this, I will quote part of a narration i heard on a korean drama. it goes like this,

"It's strange. Even a few days ago, the words 'I can't understand you' carried a negative meaning. But now holding her, whom i can't understand a bit, I find those words appealing. Because we can't understand, we can talk more.
Because we can't understand, all our senses stand on end.
Just because we understand, doesn't mean we love.
We learn one by one.



It has been too much for a post, so I'll save up the rest of my ideas for the next post. Yes everyone who might have noticed that I haven't been blogging in ages,

I'm back!

Let it rain on me!

It has been several posts since I posted a poem. This one given here was actually written during last year's summer rains. [Those were beautiful, by the way] The reason why I didn't post it all this time was because I thought it would make into the college mag. which is didn't.
:(
Well, so what? I have you people!

This one's dedicated to all those rain-lovers out there. I love you all so much!
This was written for my long-term best friend and published for my best friends.The Offbeats and the Smash.

btw-Hey, set the mood first by listening to some good music. imagine that wet, nice, comfy feeling rain brings [since not everyone gets a good rain in the summer]

if it were me, I'd listen to some jazz, piano stuff, ARR in the lonely spot to bring on the mood.



When it rains
When it rains
I'm hoping you are thinking of me
--------------(more than anything else)
-out on the road, or
by the window side,
or wherever else.
You watch the rain
coloring up the world around you_
The coolness, freshness
And that aroma of damp earth
the sensation rain evokes in you
the mood it sets,
and the magic and intimacy...
Do you think of me then?


When it rains,
I hope the feelings it stirs up in you
Are the same feelings (i hope) I cause in you.


Is my fragrance in the moist breeze?
--------------(which whips up memories long forgotten)
Do the drizzles that softly kiss your cheek
--------------(remind you of our walks in the rain?)
Those drops slipping down your arms to your hands (your hands...)
---------------do you find me in them?
When a wind blew off your umbrella
---------------did you remember the times I dragged you into the downpour??
Does the soft music of the monsoons
---------------echo with my voice


Guess I should just let go of it all.

Because,
Instead of you thinking of me (when it rains)
It's me thinking of you.
-Not the other way round
Which is actually what I want.


Now
Together
Only
In the lines of my poems.

And the distance between
filled by
rains,
the music we shared
and
those coffee cups.


Can you see me,
The way I see you
Standing there
Just beyond the shimmering veil
of falling rain drops.
With a small smile.
(Yes, even your smallest smile will do)

Moi very first blog-award!

This "My Choice Blogger Award" was awarded to me by e.t.
Pass this on to 3 bloggers whom I think deserve this award? now that's kinda difficult because there are more than 3 deserving bloggers I know out there.
[sigh]
And thi award goes tooooooooooooooooo...


Nishi!!!!!!!! just back from a major phase of life, facing it head-on with courage that shines through her blog. And her blogs always are radiant with wisdom, thoughtfulness and beauty of life.

J!!!- for his unique ideas and fantastic writings.

A.R Rahmaniac- because when it comes to music, I'm an AR Rahmaniac first, everything else comes next!

Hey everyone else, this list doesn't mean you people are not good enough according to me. No way! in fact, i had half an idea of squeezing all my favourite bloggers [mohua, thoughtful,blue, matangi,sally,jean,mag as different sets of my choice 3 bloggers along with the first list!] and given the way i am, i almost implemented that idea too!