Doodled and Quoted

Vulnerable!

We all are vulnerable
in the dark night
when the deep secrets
lash out shredded.

                               We all are vulnerable
                               when the cold breeze
                               echoes our fears
                              to our estranged people.

We all are vulnerable
with the sorrowful howl
realising what we possess
can be taken away.

                               We all are vulnerable
                                before the God
                               & honest prayers flogs
                               us to confess our sins.

चल

You're a Bird

You're a bird
not b'coz you don't have wings.
You're a bird
as you wish to fly.

You're a bird
not b'coz you have a journey to complete. You're a bird
as you have no destination.

You're a bird
not b'coz you don't build nests.
You're a bird
as you don't have a home.

You're a bird
not b'coz you don't look back.
You're a bird
as you see what lies ahead.

You're a bird
not b'coz you can't chirp.
You're a bird
as you can sing.

You're  a bird
not b'coz you don't migrate.
You're a bird
as you wander.

What I lost in the world, I found in the woods.

Walking along the curvy Mountain Road I noticed a soothing silence. As I turned right, I saw a Colony of large, huge giant- like structures. Green Manhattan- I wondered. A dense jungle of Pine coniferous trees standing gracefully with their impeccable cone like structures, their wrinkled trunks manifesting abstract patterns, thorny green leaves looking fresh after the rain and cuddling the newly born fruit. Some sang songs of joy, some danced in ecstasy and others let their hair fondled as the crisp fragrant breeze caressed through them. I got rid of my bag, stretched myself and sat on the edge of the road. This was that forget-everything-get-one-with-nature moment. I relaxed my back and head on a rock and the calmness around me forced me to close my eyes.
I knew that my tough trek up the hill has made me earn this moment. Next instance I wondered I work hard all day back home but am I this happy and more importantly will I ever be this happy. All our lives we have followed the Maslow's theory of hierarchical needs. But with every satisfied need we give birth to an unsatisfied want. And the storm sets in when we start chasing our  neverending wants. The game of possessing more and more has started and the imbalance between giving and taking is increasing. We commit sins and create religion confessing and asking for forgiveness and continuing committing sins thereafter. We judge we compete but we fear being judged and losing. We have created this game but have we the forgotten the rules?
I sighed! took a deep breath and the petrichor made me forget what I was thinking. I opened my eyes and saw the sun rays sprinkled in the woods and chasing the mist. Lamenting here will be no justice to this place, I thought. We can't resist the joyous feeling in the magnanimous abundant nature, can we? I felt lungs filled with pure oxygen, body drenched in cold breeze,  soul refreshed, thoughts washed and heart filled with gratitude. I stood up, smiled and silently thanked the trees for giving me what I lost.

Not Greed but Passion will get you what you want.
Not Possessions but Experiences will make you rich.
Not Religion but your Acts will set you free.

Wisdom Bites

Life of a Nomad Shepherd

The life of a mountain Shepherd is a battle of survival with gruelling everyday challenges. With extreme weather conditions and lack of necessities, nature has forced him to live a nomadic life. But this Shepherd has evolved over the years and learned to live and survive in the merciless mountains. This landless man spends his entire life with his herd of sheep which over the time becomes his family and the only possession. He cares, protects, feeds them all his life and the sheep in turn gives him enough to earn his livelihood. This barter system which unfolds into a relationship of love and sacrifice is a unique gift of nature and a selfless act of mankind.
The Shepherd takes up a multi dimensional role of a mother, father and a friend. He raises the lambs, takes the herd to graze, protects them from wild animals, toils hard to find water and shelter for them.
When the season changes and weather worsens, he takes the sheep thousands of miles across the landscapes and terrains to a safer place.

This perennial flow of love, concern and togetherness shows that a relationship can exist in the strangest form where no words are spoken and there are no expectations yet there is a sense of understanding and a rope of faith that binds them. This also shows that the survival of mankind depends on  essentially two things only- to love and be loved.
This illiterate poor Shepherd makes a life with what he is given and unknowingly throws a question at all of us. 

 

A kashmiri sheepman walks with his herd of sheep on the banks of river Sind in Sonamarg, Kashmir