Message of Hope: Nick Vujicic in Qatar

Well....this post has been due since long. Sorry for the untimely delay, better late than never....

On February 10, 2011 I had the privilege of attending a program hosted by Hope Qatar where Nick Vujicic was the ambassador of the Message of Hope. Some of you might have heard of Nick and some might not. Who is Nick and what is so special about his message?

Nick is a motivational speaker....Oh, well, you might say, we have quite a lot of motivational speakers around, so what is so different about Nick? Well, Nick is a Motivational speaker, who will M.O.T.I.V.A.T.E you even without his speaking! That is what is special about Nick. Nick was born without his limbs. No hands and legs, only one foot beneath his abdomen. When you see him, you will wonder, how the hell does this man do anything???? Well, he does most of the things we do and even more. He types, he writes, he swims, he fishes, he does everything we normally do and even more, he motivates people.

He tells us to be thankful, to look at the bright side of life. Come on...isn't it going to be easy for us, who are blessed with all the limbs and good physique. We are not born with worries. Everyone has ups and downs in life, but it is not so bad, it will go and you will feel relief. So, a man born without limbs, loved and cared for by his family, ridiculed by many people, who even thought of committing suicide, but the thought of his parents and an encouraging word or two from a couple of people changed his mind. Decided to look at the brighter side of life and live each day without regrets. Live each day with a laugh and when you do have anything bothersome in your mind, just flip it and make it light....laugh at it...laugh with it....

There were some sentimental parts during his session, which made me feel how blessed we are to have our hands. We can hold the hands of our loved ones and hug them.....

Always thank God for giving us this life and for all the blessings. We are very fortunate compared to a multitude people.....cherish each blessing...move forward, live each day without regret.

Cheers.

Lightning and Tornado

Well, we don't usually have an idealistic life, do we? We have our ups and downs, the chaos, the order, etc. and on one such day, I came across this picture. (or rather I was searching for Lightning and Tornado images on google). Oh well, my mind was on turmoil, so wanted a display pic that would reflect my thoughts and a caption for that. This is how the pic n caption combo ended up and the question remains unanswered!

The little signs that ceased to exist
Creates a turmoil in my mind
Nurtures the Tornado
Wonder when the lightning will strike
And burn me from within
End up being ashes
Void of any colour or texture
In the end, am I to be blamed
Or was it just you?

Revisiting the Snow Queen

Rewind 3 years and I had created my own blog space and when I had to pick a name, I was adamant to name it "The Snow Queen". Fast forward, back to the present, a few weeks back, I was wondering why I had made that decision. The Snow Queen??? Why, how and when did it take a place in my heart and an integral part of my mind, that I always prefer to use Snow or Snow Q whenever I want to remain anonymous on the net?

It all began with my Korean and Japanese drama, anime and manga addiction. During the time, I was quite obsessed with them and it was also a stress reliever during exams at university and gave me a reason to stay up at night as well, of course the excuse is studying, but what happens is 5 minutes of studying and half an hour drama or anime or manga. Frankly speaking, I'm still obsessed with manga and anime, but I've lost my interest in dramas, they are too long and I don't have the patience to go on and on.

Well, when I think about it, Snow Queen wasn't an instant attraction. It came down in steps and the strong resemblance to my personality or what I thought was and is my personality. So, here goes for those who are curious.

My first anime crush was Yuki from Fruits Basket and in Japanese, Yuki means Snow. Oh well, you might wonder why no crushes on people but anime characters, well, isn't it obvious? People are never perfect, but the characters always are and people are too much trouble to be involved. Fair enough? So there Yuki lay buried in my heart. Then came Hana Kimi manga and well, the character Sano Izumi was perfect- athletic, cool, and believe me manga characters are picture perfect even though in black and white ! Another character buried deep in my heart. Then for the final call, came The Snow Queen itself, a Korean drama which revolved around two characters, a girl, who knew she wouldn't live for long and had closed her heart for anything and everything around her and could only be bitter about it and a guy, a mathematics genius, who had lost his one and only friend due to his competency and laid all the blame on himself and again closed his heart for anything and everything around him. They meet and melt each others hearts, but destiny had something else in store for them, but with molten hearts, she lived a short life and he lived with her memories. The prologue of the story had the fairytale The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson, where the Snow Queen takes Kei to her Ice palace in Lapland and his heart also freezes and is pursued by his friend Gerda to melt his heart.

The resemblance I thought was cold heart which could be molten with the right choice of people or circumstance around.

Yuki--> Snow --> Snow Queen
Sanau-->Sano-->Snow--> Snow Queen

Hmmm....my fantasies!

With frozen hearts, they thought they would just fade away
Until they met and their hearts began to melt
Alas! It was too late for one, 'coz her time had been ticking all the while
But the moments they spent together in his memory engraved!

An Obsession, A Fascination

Quite often, there might be somethings that we could get obsessed with. No matter how much you want to let it go, you can't, you just keep returning to it. There could be something intriguing about it, which is difficult to explain and something magical that draws you towards it. For some this obsession can be temporary while for others, they tend to be obsessed with the same thing their whole life.

Temporary obsession, though prominent among a lot of people, is hardly noticeable, as people get off their obsession quite fast. Can this be called a fascination? I'm not sure...... Temporary obsession for songs, artifacts, hobbies, etc....I seem to be quite obsessed with a lot of things lately that I find it hard to keep a track of myself. But then, you've only got one life to live, so why not diversify your obsession ;) ?

So It Seems

As darkness engulfs me....

And loneliness haunts me.....

No one to open up my mind to....

No one to listen to my heart....

When I seem to be forgotten....

When I'm almost fading away....

Nevertheless a kindled hope....

May be that you do care....

Alas! Shattered hope.....

Broken dreams....

'Coz mostly it seems

Like you never cared!

The King and His Wives

Once upon a time there was a rich King who had four wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to the finest of delicacies. He gave her nothing but the best. He also loved the 3rd wife very much and was always showing her off to neighboring kingdoms. However, he feared that one day she would leave him for another. He also loved his 2nd wife. She was his confidant, and was always kind, considerate and patient with him. Whenever the King faced a problem, he could confide in her, and she would help him get through the difficult times.

The King’s 1st wife was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and kingdom. However, he did not love the first wife. Although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her! One day, the King fell ill and he knew his time was short. He thought of his luxurious life and wondered, “I ! now have four wives with me, but when I die, I’ll be all alone.”Thus, he asked the 4th wife, “I have loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?”

“No way!”, replied the 4th wife, and she walked away without another word. Her answer cut like a sharp knife right into his heart.

The sad King then asked the 3rd wife, “I have loved you all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?” “No!”, replied the 3rd wife. “Life is too good! When you die, I’m going to remarry!” His heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, “I have always turned to you for help and you’ve always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?” “I’m sorry, I can’t help you out this time!”, replied the 2nd wife. “At the very most, I can only send you to your grave.” Her answer came like a bolt of lightning, and the King was devastated.

Then a voice called out: “I’ll leave with you and follow you no matter where you go.” The King looked up, and there was his first wife. She was so skinny as she suffered from malnutrition and neglect. Greatly grieved, the King said, “I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!”

In truth, we all have 4 wives in our lives: Our 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it will leave us when we die.

Our 3rd wife is our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, it will all go to others.

Our 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for us, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

And our 1st wife is our Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world. However, our Soul is the only thing that will follow us wherever we go.

The Cold Stone

Up the hill, behind the tree, a cold and lonely stone.

Felt the warmth when the sun shone

Glowed remarkably with a gesture

Nudging the whole of green pasture

It came in the blink of an eye

A moment's ecstasy, a year's fallacy,

The gesture that melted the ice within

Disappeared before being seen.

The cold and lonely stone, lay there in wait

For the warmth that it longed to embrace

To defy the the ice, to melt the heart,

For the sun to shine on it always

An Illusion

"An illusion in this virtual realm!!!" This is how I like to express myself in any social networking site or here out on my blog!

Thatz what I am, right? What I write here, what I do here could just be a plain lie and can be deleted in an instant.

But then, what are we in reality? In this tech savvy world, when we rarely mingle with "real" people, we find solace in the virtual realm. But, do they really see what they are supposed to see? Could this virtual world be a substitute for our reality? The direct conversation, when the eyes see your thoughts even before you express them, can the virtual realm substitute them?

In the end, I am just an illusion out here. I don't write what I want to say, I don't say what I feel and you don't read my thoughts either.......

If I did disappear from the virtual realm, no one would realize it and well, I bet not many can find another way of contacting me....."Blink once I could disappear"

What the Little Boy Lost

Today its a story for us......>>>>May be a reality for SOME ONE ELSE. A message from a forward email....

I was walking around in a Big Bazar store making shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.

The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll. Then the little boy turned to me and asked: ''Uncle, are you sure I don't have enough money?''

I counted his cash and replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear.'' The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to. 'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much . I wanted to Gift her for her BIRTHDAY.

I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.' His eyes were so sad while sa ying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister..''

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.' Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so my sister won't forget me.' 'I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly..

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''

'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his with out him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!'

Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give It to my sister. He heard me!'' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.'

I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local

news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the news paper that the young woman had passed away.. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever..

The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

Please DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE.

The value of a man or woman resides in what he or she gives, not in what they are capable of receiving

Changing Seasons of Life

The onset of winter and winter is almost gone....the beginning of a new year and a month is almost over.....a beginning of a new phase in life and it keeps rolling...with all the ups and downs.....with a wish that it will not end.....the onset of the new season in my life......

It is quite surprizing to see where life takes us. To places we've never dreamt of, with people we've never thought about, at times that are the most unexpected!!! And if you are a person who likes changes.....it is always welcome!