There she was, sitting at the
edge of bench, swinging her legs and head bowed down. The same hairs dazzled
with the rays of sun and gently flutter as wind rhythmically blew. Her free
falling hair guarded the beautiful face but he knew that her eyes will be always
same; a big, beautiful and bright one which revealed all the emotions like a child.
Her eyes: mischievous yet innocent tricks she carried, beaming with the
unconditional happiness next and sometimes sunken with mysterious pain and sometimes
sparkling with the misty tears which she didn’t let to fall. The same eyes, he
had and has fallen in love over and over and haunted for years.
There she was, few walks away
from him wearing a comfortable red sweatshirt with a denim shorts and red
handbag which was patiently resting next to her, his lips quirk upward as he
knew she loved red. She would wear red clothes in confidence back then also.
From the books she carried to a nail she painted, all were red. He would look
at her in an amusement asked himself “Who would love red?” but she did, with a
passion.
‘Be a gentleman and stop
staring at her.’ He scolded himself in vain. Soon, a toddler ran towards her in
his tiny feet and she embraced him in a fierce hug, lifting him in the air and
planting a kiss on the right cheek. He could see that her eyes were different
now; a possessive yet compassionate with warmth in it and there was an
undeniable maturity in it. A man and a girl child holding his hand made way to
her completing the picture of a perfect and happy family. Whole scene made him
envious of well-built handsome man next to her. If only he had little courage
back then, he would be there standing with her with the kids instead of that
lucky man. He was coward; he has always been like that. Like always, he turned
to walk his path never daring to cross her.
“Tobden?” he froze as she
called his name with the same sweet voice. He turned and saw her full on smile
as she waved to him like an old friend.
“Hi” he walked towards Delkar
and her family. A little boy was messing her hair and a man smiled at him with a
courtesy.
“What are you doing here?”
Delkar asked him as child continued messing her hair. She grasped his little
hand and starting shaking lightly but unconsciously.
“I am recently transferred
here. I didn’t know you are working here.” He replied calmly with a dignified
composure hiding the reckless turmoil inside him.
“No, I don’t. Actually I came
here to visit my brother. Sorry! I forgot to introduce. This is my elder
brother and he stays here. These are my cute nephew and niece.” She touched the
chubby cheek of a girl while introducing.
Relieve washed his face as he
heard Delkar saying “Brother, this is Tobden, my classmate.” Somewhere deep down in his heart, a hope sparked and started flickering.
O! Winter,
An autumn is yet to go,
Yet I see nature embracing
you,
In the vanishing
greenery,
The dryness of the
earth,
And the clearness of
the sky.
O! Winter,
you are yet to come,
you are yet to come,
Yet announces your
arrival,
For the chill I feel
in my bone,
The snow in my heart,
And the warmth I seek
elsewhere.
Right after spoiling
the Term Test – II, I sneak out of the chaos and grabbed ‘The Art of Happiness-
A Handbook of Living’ by HH the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler which was lying
idly on the shelf after its arrival from Singapore. Thank you Ma’am Rima for
this wonderful book and other beautiful and cute stuffs ;) And thanks to Tenzin
Chophel for bridging between us.
After
spoiling series of exam, I was thoroughly frustrated, tired and honestly
unsatisfied with the direction of my academic performance was leading and overall
with my life. Like answers to my prayer,
solution to my problems, this book made me realize the meaning of the life and
illusion I was creating with my negative vibes giving birth to my own suffering
and unhappiness.
It is a beautiful
book perfectly blending the ‘the art of happiness’ with the spirituality and
the modern practices. Unlike other books, I didn’t feel the need to complete it
fast. I read, gasped and savour the line and took time in understanding what
every line means. That’s the reason why it took more than a week to complete
reading it.
“Are
you happy?” a simple question of Howard C. Cutler
made me think and reflect on myself.
I found myself asking
“Am I happy?” Honestly, deep down I wasn’t really happy as I have so many complain,
expectations, dissatisfaction, desires and all. As the book unfolded,
it explore, dissects the barrier to the happiness and I could relate with
content of book.
This book untangles
the complexities of life and gives us a recipe of how to be satisfied with life
and be happy. It talks about our right to happiness, sources of our happiness
and unhappiness. How being content with what we have can generate happiness and
comparing and complaining of what we don’t have with others is a source of
agony and unhappiness. It talks in depth and how to react or deal with the
varieties of feeling such as inner conflict, anger, pain, pleasure, compassion,
suffering and hatred, anxiety and in short about the life.
The essence of the
book is His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his interviews. His approach to the
life is very simple without any pretense. The compassion, tolerance, unbiased
nature and his way of viewing the life as it is very inspiring and deeply
moving. We might expect such a great
spiritual leader to know answers to all our questions but when he answered with
his laugh “I don’t know.” I laughed and my respect for him increased
exponentially.
This book is worth every seconds I spend reading. It will explore your inner self and will show you a path of
happiness. My favorite excerpts from the book are;
1 ~ One
morning after his public lecture the Dalai Lama was walking along an outside
patio on the way back to his hotel room, surrounded by his usual retinue.
Noticing one of the hotels housekeeping staff standing by the elevators, he
paused to ask her, "Where are you from?" For a moment she appeared
taken aback by this foreign-looking man in the maroon robes and seemed puzzled
by the deference of the entourage. Then she smiled and answered shyly,
"Mexico." He paused briefly to chat with her a few moments and then
walked on, leaving her with a look of excitement and pleasure on her face. The
next morning at the same time, she appeared at the same spot with another of
the housekeeping staff, and the two of them greeted him warmly as he got into
the elevator. The interaction was brief, but the two of them appeared flushed
with happiness as they returned to work. Every day after that, they were joined
by a few more of the housekeeping staff at the designated time and place, until
by the end of the week there were dozens of maids in their crisp gray-and-white
uniforms forming a receiving line that stretched along the length of the path
that led to the elevators.
2 ~ For
example, in my own case, I have lost my most respected tutor, my mother, and
also one of my brothers. When they passed away, of course, I felt very, very sad.
Then I constantly kept thinking that it’s no use to worry too much, and if I
really loved these people, then I must fulfill their wished with a calm mind.
So I try must best to do that. So I think if you’ve lost someone who is very
dear to you, that’s the proper way to approach it. You see, the best way to
keep a memory of that person, the best remembrance, is to see if you can carry
on the wishes of that person. - The Dalai Lama.
~ Yourpain is your own creation. If you refrain from reacting in a negative way, let
the slander pass by you as if it were a silent wind passing behind your ears,
you protect yourself from that feeling of hurt, that feeling of agony. So,
although you may not always be able to avoid difficult situations, you can
modify the extent to which you suffer by how you choose to respond to the
situation. – The Dalai Lama
~
When
life becomes too complicated and we feel overwhelmed, it’s often useful just to
stand back and remind ourselves of our overall purpose, our overall goal. When
faced with a feeling of stagnation and confusion, it may be helpful to take an
hour, an afternoon, or even several days to simply reflect on what it is that
will truly bring us happiness, and then reset our priorities on the basis of
that. This can put our life back in proper context, allow a fresh perspective,
and enable us to see which direction to take. – The Dalai Lama
