Little things matter 🌼
In a golden cage
Little hummingbird
Lived
With clipped wings
And fettered by its owner
Voiceless
Hopeless
Until she saw him
Fluttering around the cage
Trying to break the chains
Sharing the nectar
A beautiful reminder
Of love, hope and life.
-JMJ
Once full of life,
It gave lives to many,
Sunshine was its friend,
Who used to put happiness on its face,
And breeze its companion,
With whom it loved to dance.
Then the time changed,
Starting to change its colour,
Was the first sign of ageing,
Now the sunshine was nomore tender,
And the breeze transformed into storm.
Disgraced and battered,
It fell on the ground,
Lying there,
It was stepped by many,
But it took that chance to leave an imprint,
On their path forever.
-JMJ
My 7 year old daughter told me a story recently. She is really good in making up stories and comes up with something new very often. Now this one was about a turtle which couldn’t swim. The story goes like this…..
Once, there lived a turtle on a rock near to the pond. He used to cry everyday looking at the water. One day, a crow saw him crying and asked the reason. He said that he is a turtle but cannot swim. This makes him sad and that is why he is crying. Then the crow said, “I can only teach you fly, sorry.” After saying that the crow flew away.
After a few days, one of the fishes in the pond saw him crying. Fish asked him about the reason for being so sad. He said, “I’m a turtle but I cannot swim.” Fish said, “You cannot swim because you are not trying enough. You just sit on the rock and cry all day. That is not going to make you swim. You need to try harder.” Listening to that, he became sadder and started to cry louder.
Then, one day, he saw a happy tortoise walking slowly near the pond nibbling flowers and leaves. At that moment, he realised that he couldn’t swim because he was not a turtle, he was a tortoise!
The story is short and simple. But, it has a huge lesson to give us. It’s about self awareness. We will be crying all our lives thinking about all the things that we cannot do or we don’t have if we don’t know exactly who we are just like that tortoise who thought it was a turtle. With self awareness, we learn our own strengths and weaknesses which in turn helps in our own development.
This story, also teaches us that unless we help ourselves no-one can help us in understanding the real us. Our family, friends, neighbours and colleagues can only give their own views and perceptions about us which may not be true. The act of gaining self awareness may take time and energy as you will have to go through a lot of reflection and introspection but it is worth it for all good reasons.
I don’t know how a 7 year old can come up with something like this, but, she surprises me everyday. And I’m, just a proud mom.
-JMJ
Wanderer, what do you seek?
Walking alone all your life,
Is it the purpose behind your existence?
Is it the truth which is buried in the dark?
Or,that intense love that lives forever?
Wanderer, what do you seek?
While you roam from one place to another,
With blind eyes and closed heart,
Your purpose was right in front of you,
All the way along.
Wanderer, what do you seek?
Are you running from all the lies that trouble you?
The truth can never be tampered or hidden forever,
And when the time arrives, it will be in plain sight,
Staring right on your face.
Wanderer, what do you seek?
Is that the love that you have always longed for?
The love that makes you to cross the oceans and boundaries,
It's in your heart and it always has been,
That love is unconditional and no one can take it from you.
So wanderer tell me, what do you seek now?
-JMJ
Light was her companion,
Shadows her playmates,
Born with a heart of gold,
The kid was always full of hope.
Taking her little fingers out,
She made shapes of butterfly and goat,
Laughing at all her creations,
She never thought that she would face a retaliation.
Growing up she made jokes on all the shadow creatures that she made,
Making stories for her play,
She directed them how to move,
And was proud to write their screenplays.
Situations changed,
The kid grew up to become a fine young woman,
She never remembered her little friends,
And forgot about all the plays that she made for them.
Now,the light she loved became dimmer day by day,
Atlast,to find herself all alone in a dark way,
Scared to death,
She tried to find back her shadow friends.
All in a vain,
Not knowing about the darkness that she was in,
"Where are you all? I'm afraid, please come back", she screamed,
But, things were going to unfold in a way that she never would have thought or could have dreamed.
In darkness, her friends started to show their true colours,
Even her own shadow disappeared leaving her distressed,
All other ones played a different game with her,
This time, they wrote a screenplay for her.
-JMJ
Do you see me?
Standing on the side,
Without any movements.
May be I'm just a pole,
With a bulb on my head.
With no special traits to attract,
But to just give all the light that I can.
When you struggle in darkness,
To show you the way,to avoid any harm.
So the next time you pass by,
At the very least, can you acknowledge my existence?
Do you see me now?
-JMJ
If you think I’m dead, look closely…
I may look dead from outside,
But I’m still alive with my kindness,
Giving them a chance of survival and hope,
About tomorrow, about spring,
About the prosperous future.
– JMJ
It's all over me and inside me,
From the uppermost layers of dead cells of my skin,
To the innermost dark caves of my soul,
From birth to till this age,
All those fingerprints had made me,
And moulded me.
The tapping hands on my back when I was born to make me breath,
The soothing ones when I cried,
The loving touch of my mother and father,
And the caring ones of my beloved grandparents.
The naughty ones of my little brother who pulled my hair during fights,
Teachers who gave their blessings on my head,
The friends who loved to hold my hands and hug,
And the family next-door who gave me food when my parents were not at home.
The touch of a person who I loved the most,
The words of the same which made prints on my heart and soul,
The people who disgraced me for who I'm,
The hands which tore me inside out.
The little fingers which aroused all my motherly instincts,
To love and to care without any conditions,
To be strong against all the evils when it's needed,
To find happiness and be hopeful about the future.
The person who left me hanging on the thread,
The people who ruined everything what was left,
The hands which shattered everything one after another,
To destroy my life and to crush my spirit.
All those fingerprints in my life,
Taught me how to be a human,
To be brave and vulnerable at the same time,
To be positive when I find negativity all outside,
To smile and be kind to someone who is being unkind.
-JMJ
Sitting on the fence – Pigeon
I wonder what this pigeon might be thinking about!
Is it from where to find the grains today?
Or would it be about to be able to reach the sun if it flies high enough?
Possibilities are endless.
Sitting on the fence – Me
I wonder what shall I make for dinner tonight?
Will my daughter enjoy a cauliflower curry today or the brinjal one?
Or shall I just go for a parcel from KFC to go back to sleep and end this confusion?
As I said earlier, possibilities are endless.
-JMJ
The bare trees stand at winter nights,
With fragile bodies and no blankets of leaves to cover,
Keeping their heads up and hopes high,
Waiting for a good time to come.
And you shower all your light,
That you received as a gift from someone,
Because you know what darkness means,
So,you just reflect the kindness over them.
-JMJ
A Life's Journey 