Where the mind is without fear.....

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action;
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

-- Rabindranath Tagore

Today, out of the blue, I recalled reciting this poem. Once upon a time, this was like a school prayer for me. It reminded me of the days when we used to stand in the hot sun during the school assembly, in our sky blue shirts and grey pinafores, with my hair either high up in a ponytail or plaited on both sides and our school principal Mr Suresh Mathur used to recite it and we used to repeat every line after him.

Today as I recalled the poem, the first few lines, made me feel as if I got out of a cage and a strong breeze was blowing, which just made me feel free. All disturbed thoughts of one’s mind completely evaporated and the mind became a comfortable blankness. It has a patriotic feel to it but also it makes an individual feel free from within.

How I wish I realised the meaning of what I used to recite during my school days and realised that those indeed were the days of absolute bliss and freedom.

The ‘Green Fields’ dream

I had the 'Green Fields' dream almost two years ago but I have never forgotten it. The dream proved to be a stress buster for me. I was reading my little nephew's blog on dreams, so I thought why not I too post something about my favourite dream. I don't know if I would have liked this dream if I had seen it during different circumstances. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose what exactly those circumstances are. Let's say, I had the dream during a rough patch in my life. And by God's grace, I used to have it often during that time.

It's a very simple dream. In the dream, I was running across green fields. I was running fast and I could feel the breeze blowing at my face. I was smiling and enjoying every minute of the soothing touch of wind on my face. I could see only greenery everywhere. The greenery had a strange cooling effect on me. I felt nothing in life could go wrong if I continued to run across the fields. Far ahead I could see a group of people sitting on the grass. I could not make out who they were. I ran towards them. Soon the faces appeared to be familiar. I could see friends and family, the ones who I want to see every day of my life. I ran and fell into the lap of my mother and she gently stroked my hair and face. Everyone was smiling, laughing and enjoying themselves. I didn't want to leave this place. I wanted to stay here forever.

The happy scenes around me and the vast green fields began to fade away. I opened my eyes; the time was 6:00 am. I really don't know how long this dream lasts. I always get the feeling I used to start dreaming of it the moment I shut my eyes and the dream used to end when the clock struck 6:00am. Strange, but true….

I had this dream many times and I always look forward to falling asleep into this dream again and again……

Lazy Sundays

Last Sunday, I realised the importance of lazy Sundays, especially after having to work for 5 days a week and spending time with friends on every possible day off that I got. Not that every month I get to freak out. Of course, I can say January was a blast but in between all of it, I began to really sense that I was getting stressed out.

The day started with a nice morning walk to the railway ticket counter to book my Tatkal tickets, got back home, did some random reading, went back to sleep, had lunch, did an errand for one of my friends, came back and slept yet again till I realised that I would be late for Church. But all that sleeping did a lot of good and I felt refreshed.

My roomie prepared mutton biriyani for dinner and it was yum! I felt so glad that I didn't have to do anything ''important" on a Sunday and could laze to the fullest.
So in a poetic mood,
I would like to conclude,
What a perfect way,
To end a lazy Sunday,
My tummy is full,
And mind content,
I doze off into the night,
Hopeful to open my eyes,
Only on another brand new Sunday.

Gorging at a chocalate cake......

Yesterday, my roommates got a homemade chocolate cake. Awesome was just not the word to describe it. As I was busy gorging at it, I closed my eyes for a few seconds and what I felt next could be what one could state as "close to heaven".

Never thought that chocolate could really make one forget, at least for a few seconds, and make one feel that the world is a nice place and every human being is an angel. No wonder I felt I was in heaven. The moment I finished my chocolate cake piece, I opened my eyes, and I felt myself shot back to reality!!

So the next time anyone says, "Hey, that chocolate cake was heavenly!", don’t be surprised, it is definitely a heavenly feeling.