Wonder why?

I wonder why we are not taught to assume our rights.
I wonder why we are not taught to fight.
I wonder why we are not taught to have our own perceptions.
I wonder why we are not taught to think.
I wonder why we need to even be taught!
It just seems so basic so easy and yet so uncommon.

Return from the land of my rising sun

Back from the bay area. Was a hectic two week trip filled with loads of travel, friends and long drives. Finally had Vegan Japanese food and met up with heaps of friends from my past. I also realized that

• I am a straight line and black and white person:-)
• The US continues to be a land filled with constant fear of doing something wrong for me specially cos of my Indian ways.
• There is just so much beauty in catching the rising sun and having black morning coffee.
  
• The consumer market in the US is just too consumer friendly;-)
• Furniture around the world comes with the same set of choices!
• The Economic Crisis has a different feel in the bay area and we Indians are yet untarnished from its effect.
• I did not click any pictures this time.
  
• I always have a good time in SF

I did read the White Tiger on the plane and met interesting, new and refreshing people. My baggage did not make it and apparently it makes no difference to the airline world. I am not jet lagged but zoned out. My apartment is still a week away and it is frustrating!

The white wonder!

Its been a rather hectic week. Fast paced, interesting, tiring and surprising.The week also took me to the Taj- Yes a wonder that I had never managed to see, but had always passed by. A wonder that had eluded me for long, finally struck a connection.

I had always had dreams of how I would see the Taj ( I tend to imagine and dream most parts of life that have not happened:-) I had my own picture of what this monument would look like. I had assumed I wouldn't be fascinated by it and it would be an overrated piece of art. However,the moment that I just set my eyes on this structure has been etched in my mind and heart forever. I am not sure what it was but I just felt a strange connection, some new life took over as I walked closer to the symmetrical, white, fascinating wonder. I felt I have known the place from ever. It would be extremely hard for me to jot down my exact feelings. All I know is that:

Afloat on the sea, a white bird I am.
Standing amidst time, I shine on.
The brazen finger that carved eternity
would have gazed at the moon all night.
Triumphing his creation of the day,
perfection! Inlays that many a eyes delight.
I stand! Time shy's away.
Yet,I remember the elephant roar,
the constant hands,
the lashes of the rain.
Symbolic of love, I stand .
Witness to flawless expression.
That between any two or just, you and me.

I am sure I will go back there some day just to reassure myself.

Connections

Connections are interesting things. I sometimes feel connected with my past and sometimes so distant from my present.I often feel I can spend a life time in the past or in imagination. Maybe at the end, the present will just not have a context. Possibly it is because I live life at a slower pace and can only relish so many moments. Which is why I don't make time for newer experiences. Either ways I have met a zillion people, conversed, shared silences or just air with some. However there are a few of them that I have connected with. Often I do find people connecting, but it is rare that I connect back. I wish the "once a connection always a connection" theory worked. But connections do fade and new ones do get established.

I met someone today. We spent time looking at fish, a species I never connected with thus far. Was it the moment or the instance, but I did strangely stare/gaze into the eyes of the fish.I think it has made me want to connect with them forever. I am not sure why some connections strike me so intensely and some just pass by life unnoticed. But my life has surely become worth the past because of the intense ones. As a kid, a frog in my garden taught me how to lose my fear to discover. Walking past marine drive, it was a kid selling joy for a living, that taught me how to appreciate life. Gazing at the sea taught me how to stay calm, walks around the school grounds talking about bio-degradable plastic with a friend taught me a different way to perceive life. Every such connection has made me want to live a few moments beyond time and savor it over and over again.


I am sure there is a whole lot to be lived. But I am happy to see that there is enough to go back and relive as well. It kind of makes me happy that my life has been worthwhile.