Will you still be there...

The reality is harsh
Like the summer
And I'm parched
Won't you come
with your clouds
And drench my soul

And when the rain comes
Come away with me
To the land of green grass
And tiny white flowers

And if I fall hard
Won't you pick me up
And hold my hand forever

Who knows how far
you will come with me
Who knows how long
the rain will last for

So when the rain stops
Don't walk away
Stay with me lil longer
Like a rainbow

And when it's all over
The swooshing and the thunder
And the pretty rainbow fades away
Will you still be there?

To simpler times...

When the morning took its time to place dewdrops on each grass blade. When the children tumbled out of the bed with grins as big as their dreams and then soaked the dewdrops away under their naked feet.

When time was measured against the point where the sunshine reached on the wall. When the aangan hosted ladies full of laugh and gossip. When they oiled each others' hair and braided it pretty. When the meal was prepared with as much love as they had in their hearts.

When the day stretched lazily and merged with dusk as the cattle returned from their grazing and their bells jingled away. When the sublime priest washed and cleaned the small temple and the idol and children formed a queue to taste the prasad, being mesmerised by the fragrance that enveloped the temple.

When the night was signaled by lighting lamps and singing of the drunkards who returned from the town side.  When some of them got together around a campfire, with one dholak and hundreds of songs/nirguns/bhajans - kewadiya khol-a hey Ghanshyaam...

When the stars blanketed you as you went to sleep on the rooftop. The milky way, a lone aeroplane with its lights blinking away and the Eucalyptus trees swaying about, giving you the creeps, so you snuggled closer to your cousins, all sleeping in a line.

And you've lived! You've got more than you could have asked for. You may not have that much time or simplicity anymore, but you had it once and it cannot be taken away from your consciousness. And you know, you are blessed that way...

If you have to say goodbye

And if you have to say goodbye
Let it linger on your lips for a while
Don't go so abruptly
Leave some gentleness behind

For who knows which is the day
That doesn't get to meet the dusk
Who knows which is the night
That never gets to greet the dawn

So if you have to say goodbye
Let it take away some sorrow
Let it take away some pain

Say it with a smile
Say it with some loving words...

The Eternal Wait

"Do you realize how late you are? And do you have any idea, how much I waited for you.  Whenever I heard the swooshing of the wind, I turned around hoping it was the sound the wind made against your skirt. When the cows were returning home and their bells chimed, I desperately searched for you, hoping the sound came came from your anklets. And when this Yamuna, played with its waves creating ripples galore, I looked for the reflection of your smile in the water, but I found nothing."

"And Radha, when I was playing my flute and calling out to you, my heart ached with each note, hoping you will listen to the pain and come running, but you didn't!"

"But, Kanha, I came running to you as soon as I could finish my chores. I had so much work at home, I had to finish everything and only then was I allowed to come here."

"I don't know any of that. It was so painful, to wait for you. One day when I leave Gokul, you will know what waiting is"

And he did leave, one day, forever - never to come back again. And Radha wondered, what was her fault. Why was Kanha being so cruel to her. Why does she have to wait for eternity...

A New Beginning

Many a times, we think, this is it - I'm done with the past, I need to move on, I need to grow, and yet we cannot let go of what we feel so strongly about.

So how do you do it? You read, listen to music, meditate, spend some time with yourself and then voila, hopefully, you see that you are the biggest barrier yourself. You are resisting the change that needs to come. You are the only one holding yourself back.

And if you are at that stage, if you are ever at that stage, you will feel peace. You will know what I mean if you have been through unbearable pain, but once the pain is over, you have felt this peace. Maybe in the form of sunshine that streamed through your window, or on listening to a loved one's voice, or just generally, feeling new from within without any reason.

If you have been there, you know, that change is always good. It is all that ever was and perhaps all that ever will be true.

I don't know the truth. I don't know the formula for letting go. but I know this, that a time will come, when you will feel new, because it's in our very nature to be new - each and every day.

So hopefully, we all will get there someday...