You've got me!

In the midst of the 500 daily emails I share with a few selective friends, I had one of my creative bursts, and rhymed. As lame as it sounds, I just *had* to post:

Some just wait and wait,
While others look for an attractive bait,
But who wants other fish in the sea,
When you've got me! :-)

I made this up in 30 seconds & I thought it was pretty cool! I thought of appending to it, but I thought and thought for 30 more seconds, got annoyed and gave up. Yes, I still lack patience.

Salutation to the Dawn

It is 8:30a.m. and I can already say its been a beautiful day. I recently got convinced to sign up for the half-marathon happening in Feb and train with Asha for it. Had to report at Townlake at 6a for our first quality workout session. Sounds crazy to me too, but I succeeded. It was pitch dark when we started running, but after a few laps, I saw something beautiful . . . something so beautiful that it made every second of sleep lost worth it. I saw my first sunrise in Austin. The clouds lightened around the Austin downtown skyline as the sun pushed its way through. Mindblowing background. That scene kept bringing back this poem written by Kalidasa that my Dad used to talk about over and over. He wanted us kids to memorize it and now I see why! Pasting it for the benefit of bloggerkind! ;)

Listen to the salutation to the dawn,

Look to this day for it is life, the very life of life,

In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of our existence.

The bliss of growth, the splendour of beauty,

For yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is only a vision,

But today well spent makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well therefore to this day.

Such is the salutation to the dawn.

- Kalidasa

Dear Lord . . . Part 3

Recently, two dear friends of mine, met with an accident. There were a lot of after thoughts on how the turn should have been made and what speed they should have been at, but all I could think of was - Dear God, you have given us yet another reason to say thank you! Thank you for saving their lives. Thank you for not making one of them guilty of taking the others life. Thank you for no handicaps. Thank you for not having me explain the loss of a loved one to their mothers. I couldn't stop thanking and then I got thinking of the little things my Dad used to tell us to do. These are things which I many times questioned, argued and rebelled about. But now with ever passing experience, I question my questioning!

My Dad had told me to remember the Lords name each time I got into the car, maybe even bow down to the moorthy on your dashboard, maybe offer a flower to Him, do something to let him know that he must take care of you. He also quoted a family friend of ours several times who, every time he got into the car, said, "O Paarthasaarthi, be my Saarthi" (Oh charioteer of Arjuna, Krishna, be my charioteer today). Yes, I too laughed and found it silly when my Dad said that. But I wonder now, is it really that silly? The more I think about it the more I realize, it's not which God you pray to or what you say, its the faith you have! Faith brings miracles over and over and over. Again, I am not saying that doing all of this would have guaranteed my friends no accident, but this advice comes from a man who has driven across 3 countries for 40+ years accident-free (*touch wood*). He often says, by giving the Lord the reins of your vehicle, you start respecting it even more, which probably leads to a safer drive. Definitely something to think about.

He also suggested other little things like ringing the bell above the altar early in the morning to let the beautiful sound spread auspiciousness to the day, chanting "Narayan Narayan Narayan" when we see situations we can't help like the cattle crammed in the back of the truck getting transported to the slaughter house, remembering Him before your flight takes off and then thanking Him for the safe landing, lighting a lamp in the evening near the altar, offering the food you make to Him first etc. etc. Now the teenage me would probably have argued that God isn't going to bless the earth with his next avatar to kill the butchers and free the cattle and stop over my place for lunch on the way, but I think what my Dad was trying to get at was that it is the faith we put in these rituals that will bring miracles galore.

So even though all this still does not make complete sense to me today, I think I am slowly learning to stop questioning and start believing.

A day in the life of Areille!

(My first attempt at poetry ... )

It's time to get up, it's time to to run
It's time to face the morning sun

The birds chirp, music so sweet
I couldn't ask for a better greet

I get to work, relaxed and bright
and on the way, thank God for the beautiful sight

A few words with my sister, helps us both vent,
if it weren't for her, who would I torment?

Emails, issues, float around,
I feel blessed for the job I found

A moment of boredom and a mass email starts
no conclusions are made, but the chain lasts

I get out of work sharp at five
Want to go running before the stars arrive

The evening is quiet, sometimes a friendly chat
if gossips in the air, it is anything but that

Either a few giggles, or a few cries,
as the night arrives, so do the good byes

As I get ready to dive into slumber land
I thank the Lord for a life so grand

Spotless Love

I knew him from a very young age. But as was meant to be, one fine day, my desire to see him elevated.

I was 13 and oh-so-naive. He was a year older . . . dark, wavy-haired, medium built and had the most intense eyes. His one look undeniably sent shivers down my spine. I started loving my weekly two hour classical music lessons even more. I could watch him play the dholak for hours. The music, the look, the emotions, the age, the proximity, the hormones . . . I get goose bumps as I speak about it. Everytime our eyes met, I blushed. I couldn't take his stare for long; I was extremely shy, innocent, young and couldn't comprehend the rush. I watched him when I thought he wasn't looking and that's all I ever mustered up courage to do. So guileless & pure, not wanting anything more than a few glimpses of him. I spent many evenings scribbling his name alongside mine on the back of my notebooks. I wondered if he would love me back, but I had no intentions of finding out. I was happy the way things were. I wanted nothing more. Probably on some level, I feared 'something more' would ruin all that I was experiencing.

Oh, I wish my desires could be so simple again,
how I wish I could feel the same way again.