Inkheart

It was 5th Grade.. "Ink Pen" was the new trend! All those who had a good hand- writing were allowed to write with an ink pen! Everyone tried their best to suit this category! And I was one of those many who , at the end of the year, got clearance for writing in Ink pen!! Cheap - thrills were a big deal back then!!

After 6 to 7 years, today, I sat writing with a pencil.. I made a tiny mistake while writing and immediately scratched it out.. After a dozens of mistakes, the paper looked terrible! "Ah! If only I had an eraser", I thought..

Back at school, life was easier.. All you had to do was make a mistake and erase it before people even knew you had made one! The eraser was an escape route to sophistication! Of course I didn't feel this way at the time.. All I felt was 'I'm gonna impress the teacher with my neatness'.. Now that I think over it, was I taught to be fake back in the 1st Grade? Mistakes were not allowed! I was supposed to be perfect! Mistakes by the pencil were cleared off by the eraser and the paper shined back brightly, neat and tidy!! And the best part was, I didn't have to own up for any of them because they "apparently" didn't exist!

The ink pen, on the other hand, wasn't so easy to deal with.. I couldn't get away with my mistakes anymore.. The write- ups started looking more like themselves.. Naive & Shabby!! Aah! I had to get scolded for every mistake that I made.. She now knew I was not really as impressive as I appeared to be! After a few days though, pen did bring out a different side in me. I didn't have to pretend anymore. Fine I made a mistake! Big Deal ! "Just don't repeat it again", I told myself! Who would have taught in school that pen would be a catalyst in changing one's way of thinking and bringing courage to own up, to say the least!

Reflecting over it after years, I guess, the pen did say, "Don't be fake people! Mistakes are a reality and sophistication just gives you momentary pleasure of having impressed others. Pen or pencil, your mind still knows you were wrong! At the end of the day, you are answerable to no one but your own self!! Choice lies with the individual, of course, but isn't it easier to choose a pen and be at peace with oneself rather than living in a mere illusion of having lived a 'perfect' life!"

Place Value..

It was a usual summer evening.. A cool late- evening breeze flowing by my window.. A mug of coffee in my hand, I was staring at the sky, birds chirping happily and trees dancing to their tune.. "We have a 5 room apartment and you are always found here, in this corner by the window!", I remembered my mom's words.. "Aah! mom", I always sighed.. "If only you could see this, the way I see it.. "

6 years ago, when I had first entered this "under-construction" structure, this window caught my eye.. the whole place was cement clad, dark, dingy, somber.. Only the window added life to that place.. In that chilly place, the window was my only bond with the outside world..

The window had been with me through thicks and thins.. It had been a friend I never had before.. It always knew my feelings and understood me so well.. It always knew what it had to show me..

Once I had a dispiriting day.. A mug of coffee in my hand, I went to the window. Staring out of it, opened a world outside of my own.. In that world, there was no place for my problems.. There were kids playing "catch - catch" and aunties gossiping.. While trying to guess what the aunties were into, I had forgotten my own problems.. But for the window, the room would still have been a room but not MY room..

First Love.. A feeling worth sharing with all around you.. But I chose to sit by the window and let the experience sink in me.. I chose to tell her.. Breeze and the smell of wet mud is what she had chosen to react with! Oh, how did she know me so well..

Anger, frustration, grief, distress.. All the feelings vanished when I sat by her. That cool air calmed my nerves and the solace took over me.. Tranquil is all I was left with when I sat there, staring at the blue sky..

As my mom saw it, it was just a corner of a huge home.. As I saw it, it was my teacher, my friend, my interface to the world..

Science Or Arts ?

When the world is advancing technologically, Scientifically!, Art is balderdash to many.. Knowing Science is a mark of respect but taking up Art is sign of a Loser! Here's a question.. Have you ever thought what an Art is and felt what it is like to be an artist?

Art is the irrationality par cognition! It is the abstract beyond the concrete, a sixth sense, a fourth dimension. An artist can make a whole new world for himself of his art. Art is a way of expressing everything that you feel and feel everything that is beyond expressions.. Art is beauty.. Art is the medium of conversation for an artist with his God..

Think of science.. What are the different things that come to your mind? Biology? Physics? Chemistry? Thats it right? And what about Psychology? Or Yoga? Or Architecture or Drawing&Painting? All these are Arts.. But delve deeper into these topics.. Aren't all these a superlative form of all the sciences we have listed above? Psychology means study of human mind.. It starts with biology (study of human brain) at its base and goes ahead by studying the aspects of human mind that are unfathomable to science. Yoga is an art tailored scientifically to enrich not just the human body but also the mind. Architecture would be nothing without the laws of physics but just the laws of physics cannot give you your dream house without a touch of art to it! What exactly are you doing when you are painting? You are mixing a few colors to get the colour of your desire.. Mixing a few chemicals.. In fact that is how archaic painters came up with brilliant paintings.. By experimenting with different chemicals and coming up with variable shades! So art, in-fact, personifies science!

Art unifies sciences.. In most of the art forms, two or more sciences co-exist in harmony! They blend so well into each other that we cannot even differentiate.. Music is one such art form..It can heal an ailing body better than medicines say a few.. It creates chemical reactions in brain to soothe it , even sedate it more powerfully than many drugs. Also, it plays a major role in Acoustics (A branch of Science). Creating Musical instruments requires a strong base in physics. Instruments like Guitar, Veena , Santoor etc are based on principles of sound bridge by considering length, density and tensile strength of the material used for instruments.. Do all these sciences occur separately to us when we are in a concert?!

An artist is thus a scientist in the making only with a vision to see an extra dimension through art! He is a devotee in its truest form and Art is his sincere prayer to GOD. And, to me, It feels out of (this) world to be an artist!

Tree

It was around 1 p.m. .. A few of us were hanging out by a small ground .. We had driven for quite sometime and landed there after a lot of pondering over where we should hang out! Finally we found some shade under a tree.. It felt so relaxing.. Like a winter escape from the scorching sun! But more than the shade, its tranquility caught my eye.. COGNITION... Here is where it came into picture after ages..

As a kid, I remember having learnt (by-hearted!) advantages and disadvantages of different trees or even the tree in itself.. Neem is antiseptic.. Used to ward of mosquitoes.. Coconut has a fruit having multiple advantages.. Trees give us shade, oxygen, fuel.. etc etc.. But no one had ever thought over the deeper advantages of trees.. Or to be more clear, the teachings of a tree! Observe it for 10 mins and you have a lot to take away..

Standing tall in all weather conditions, it teaches us to be tolerant to all sorts of events in life.. Swaying happily with the wind but not giving in to the storms easily, it teaches us to be docile yet to be firm enough to stand by our own decisions, no matter how many people try to dissuade us. It gives shade to one and all.. Even the wood cutter who eventually cuts it! Does this not mean we should treat all alike and help them as much as we can.. Not caring about the returns.. When we pluck the leaves/ flowers/ fruits, it probably hurt and badly, but does it keep crying over it? No.. It gets over by replacing the lost stuff with as much as new stuff as it can.. Can we not learn to let go of our past and replace all the wrong doings with right ones ? Most importantly, it takes in our carbon dioxide and gives us oxygen.. We can take (sustain) the wrongs of people and yet spread some goodwill amongst them..

Sometimes I feel, its easier to talk to a tree than a human.. When I feel like just telling whatever I feel like and not expecting a reaction or a judgement in return.. It is just so much more understanding than humans! Something to think over!

Also, when I'm really stressed out or tired and want a relaxing nap, nothing like resting under a tree.. Its tranquil pulls your nerves down almost instantly and restores your energy level within no time.. A quick nap of 15 min has a power of 10 coffees I think! Can we not adopt this tranquility from them? Today, world is a mere sigma of rat races in different domains and chaos is all that we experience around us.. Can we not make a small effort to restore its tranquility?

A Tree has taught more to me than an educational institute ever could..