'"Come in!" said a quiet, low voice.'
- Pg 73, Come To The Circus, by Enid Blyton
The line, in a children's book, immediately created a sense of foreboding in me. It (the feeling) made no sense. This was an innocent children's book. Enid Blyton was the staple of my childhood vicarious adventures. I loved the naughty, intrepid, fun loving kids. But my first reaction was one of dread. Thats what this world has come to....lost innocence. As a mother of a young daughter, I am constantly worried that my child is going to grow up in a world that has no place for the innocents. Our children are barely innocent anymore. Every day in the media you hear about unspeakable acts on innocent children, while a strangled justice system runs circles around itself and the perpetrators run bold and free. From a young age, you are told to beware of strangers, strange things and strange places. And never ever to accept anything from anyone. Forget strangers, today most crimes are committed by known people. In this dreadful scenario, where is the space to let a child's natural curosity grow? A child's development is expansive...it needs space. But for security reasons, we are constantly shrinking this allowable space for them. And even then the worry doesn't go away. So much so that an innocent statement in a much-loved book starts to take on sinister tones. What world are we bringing our children into?
This may of course also be a parent's heightened need to keep their child secure. It reminds me of Marlin, the dad fish in the movie 'Finding Nemo'. There is a dialogue between him and Dory, his travel companion. Marlin promised his son that he would never let anything happen to him (Nemo). Dory says, thats a funny thing to promise...because then Nothing would ever happen to him! As a parent, this is the fine line to walk. A very very fine line.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Jan 22 - Line for the day
'The room we have rented looks gorgeous, all red velvet drapes and deco accents, like something out of an Erte drawing.'
- Pg 102, Pick me Up, by Zoe Rice
So the last 'e' in 'Erte' has an accent on it. I'm not sure how to reproduce that here...or even if I want to take the time and effort to figure out. Something about the world of art always makes me feel that its so pretentious. Really, all those squiggly lines or dabs of color actually mean something? I mean I get nice photos of stuff, landscapes, babies, stuff in action. I don't get random swirls of colors...most of the times. I don't get why a painting should cost more than how much it would take to sustain a community of people. I don't get why knowing how different brush strokes, artist names, schools of work, time periods etc. should be quintessential to be considered a connoisseur. So some people call differentiate one stroke of brush from the other...good for them. What I don't understand is why if I can't differentiate it, I'm not worthy of art. If true art is something that makes people think, see things in a different way, open their eyes, appreciate something ... how does it matter if I can name fifteen gazillion masters of art or not. To someone red velvet is art...to another its garish. I've really lost track of my rant here! All I know is that the world of art is much larger than a few people who are pretentious about it. And I don't care if what I like is a masterpiece or worth less than the medium its made on. The fact is I like it. And red velvet ain't really my cup of tea. Having said that..I'm off to google Erte drawing and how to get an accent in blogger text!
- Pg 102, Pick me Up, by Zoe Rice
So the last 'e' in 'Erte' has an accent on it. I'm not sure how to reproduce that here...or even if I want to take the time and effort to figure out. Something about the world of art always makes me feel that its so pretentious. Really, all those squiggly lines or dabs of color actually mean something? I mean I get nice photos of stuff, landscapes, babies, stuff in action. I don't get random swirls of colors...most of the times. I don't get why a painting should cost more than how much it would take to sustain a community of people. I don't get why knowing how different brush strokes, artist names, schools of work, time periods etc. should be quintessential to be considered a connoisseur. So some people call differentiate one stroke of brush from the other...good for them. What I don't understand is why if I can't differentiate it, I'm not worthy of art. If true art is something that makes people think, see things in a different way, open their eyes, appreciate something ... how does it matter if I can name fifteen gazillion masters of art or not. To someone red velvet is art...to another its garish. I've really lost track of my rant here! All I know is that the world of art is much larger than a few people who are pretentious about it. And I don't care if what I like is a masterpiece or worth less than the medium its made on. The fact is I like it. And red velvet ain't really my cup of tea. Having said that..I'm off to google Erte drawing and how to get an accent in blogger text!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Jan 20 - Line for the day
'Sure, the presents you've stacked up for baby are perfectly safe and appropriatefor his or her play, but there is a good chance that the gifts you are giving to other family members aren't.
- Pg 523, What to Expect the first year, by Heidi Murkoff with Sharon Mazel
Okay, once you have a baby in the house, no one is going to give you gifts. All gifting is baby gifting. And those friends who are not very versed with parenting...you will get chocolates/sweets, or flowers...or both. Basically, the center of the world will be the baby. And most of the time you will be perfectly happy with it. But there are teeny tiny times when you'd like a gift that has nothing to do with kids, family or motherhood. Even if you are no longer sure what you need it for. Something to remind you of yourself BC (before child). Because once you are in AD (after delivery)...you are in a totally different stage of life, where you always tend to put yourself second (or third or last). And thats fine too. The key (as always) is in balance. Which is a great thing to say... and an insanely difficult thing to do.
- Pg 523, What to Expect the first year, by Heidi Murkoff with Sharon Mazel
Okay, once you have a baby in the house, no one is going to give you gifts. All gifting is baby gifting. And those friends who are not very versed with parenting...you will get chocolates/sweets, or flowers...or both. Basically, the center of the world will be the baby. And most of the time you will be perfectly happy with it. But there are teeny tiny times when you'd like a gift that has nothing to do with kids, family or motherhood. Even if you are no longer sure what you need it for. Something to remind you of yourself BC (before child). Because once you are in AD (after delivery)...you are in a totally different stage of life, where you always tend to put yourself second (or third or last). And thats fine too. The key (as always) is in balance. Which is a great thing to say... and an insanely difficult thing to do.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Jan 19 - Line for the day
"In the afternoon sun, the landscape seemed to need nothing more than a simple alchemy of light and air and water to burgeon green and ripe."
- Pg 57, Where On Earth Am I? Confusions of a Travelling Man, by Jug Suraiya
In truth this wasn't the first line I saw. It wasn't even the first book I picked. When random book openings (much like the book cricket we used to play at school) refused to yield a satisfactory line...I wrestled with my need to sticking to my own rule of randomness, and with the need to get a line that would get me writing. In frustration, I turned to my significant other to pick a book and then closed my eyes and opened a random page. Mission accomplished...with deviations!
But thats life. Someone who says I will be exactly this way for the rest of my life come what may...I wonder if is that really possible? In this world where we say the only thing constant is change...how can we map out our actions to the perfect T? But if we can't map out our actions..why plan at all? why save at all? why think about the future at all? Because if all we have is the present...why waste it on the future?
The line above...my eyes have skipped so many times over it without actually reading it...I've lost count. Every time I start to read it it goes...In the afternoon sun...landscape...alchemy of light...burgeon green and ripe. And then..Where on Earth am I? Confusions of a Travelling Man. And yes I do wonder..where on earth am I? forget earth...any metaphysical plane...where am I? where am I going? why am I here? Am I really here? Or is this a shadow of me from another plane? And how are my actions relevant in the larger scheme of things? What IS the larger scheme of things? What is 'things'?
???
???
???
- Pg 57, Where On Earth Am I? Confusions of a Travelling Man, by Jug Suraiya
In truth this wasn't the first line I saw. It wasn't even the first book I picked. When random book openings (much like the book cricket we used to play at school) refused to yield a satisfactory line...I wrestled with my need to sticking to my own rule of randomness, and with the need to get a line that would get me writing. In frustration, I turned to my significant other to pick a book and then closed my eyes and opened a random page. Mission accomplished...with deviations!
But thats life. Someone who says I will be exactly this way for the rest of my life come what may...I wonder if is that really possible? In this world where we say the only thing constant is change...how can we map out our actions to the perfect T? But if we can't map out our actions..why plan at all? why save at all? why think about the future at all? Because if all we have is the present...why waste it on the future?
The line above...my eyes have skipped so many times over it without actually reading it...I've lost count. Every time I start to read it it goes...In the afternoon sun...landscape...alchemy of light...burgeon green and ripe. And then..Where on Earth am I? Confusions of a Travelling Man. And yes I do wonder..where on earth am I? forget earth...any metaphysical plane...where am I? where am I going? why am I here? Am I really here? Or is this a shadow of me from another plane? And how are my actions relevant in the larger scheme of things? What IS the larger scheme of things? What is 'things'?
???
???
???
Friday, January 18, 2013
Jan 18 - Line for the day
'It's a thrill to fulfil your own childhood dreams, but as you get older, you may find that enabling the dreams of others is even more fun.'
- Pg 117, Chapter 'Training a Jedi', The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
Wow...what a line. Something that completely resonates with where I am in life. This is where all my personal growth activities, my chosen career path, and my very being seems to be leading me. Interestingly, when I first read the line, I stopped at the first comma...and then after a slight pause of wondering whether to get on with the blog (its past midnight) or just read through, something made me read it to the end. And wow, it completely changed the way I read the line!
Story of my life I think. I reach a place where I hit a pause. In that pause, when I take the opportunity to refrain from immediate action and actually take a moment of nothingness, the ensuing future - usually never the way I envisaged it - turns out to be so much more richer and fulfilling that anything I could have dreamed up! I remember a point where I thought my life was so much in control, along the lines I had planned it..everything falling into place. And then everything fell out of place, and churned, and kept churning, and still keeps churning. And it continues to create dissonance in me, who likes everything planned and in its place. And yet, the experiences that I've had, have taught me so much more, about life and even more about myself.
I used to think two steps ahead of where I was. While writing, I would know how the sentence would end and the next one start. I still do that...hey its me :) But at the same time, I also recognise that sometimes I don't have the words. And its okay to not have words. Like when I started this One Line A Day exercise, I told myself no backspaces, no deletions...just type what comes to mind. And yet at the end of the last paragraph, I tried out at least 4 different sentences to follow that last sentence...before deleting all of them.
Maybe thats the grace. The grace you give yourself not to be perfect, but to be in the moment. And when I am out of the trap of being perfect, I can be with myself, or be with the person in front of me... completely and wholly. Not as a solution provider, but as a listener. Not to fix things, but to support, to listen, to give them space to let it all out. Because most of the time, we are not looking for solutions. We are just looking for someone who cares.
- Pg 117, Chapter 'Training a Jedi', The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
Wow...what a line. Something that completely resonates with where I am in life. This is where all my personal growth activities, my chosen career path, and my very being seems to be leading me. Interestingly, when I first read the line, I stopped at the first comma...and then after a slight pause of wondering whether to get on with the blog (its past midnight) or just read through, something made me read it to the end. And wow, it completely changed the way I read the line!
Story of my life I think. I reach a place where I hit a pause. In that pause, when I take the opportunity to refrain from immediate action and actually take a moment of nothingness, the ensuing future - usually never the way I envisaged it - turns out to be so much more richer and fulfilling that anything I could have dreamed up! I remember a point where I thought my life was so much in control, along the lines I had planned it..everything falling into place. And then everything fell out of place, and churned, and kept churning, and still keeps churning. And it continues to create dissonance in me, who likes everything planned and in its place. And yet, the experiences that I've had, have taught me so much more, about life and even more about myself.
I used to think two steps ahead of where I was. While writing, I would know how the sentence would end and the next one start. I still do that...hey its me :) But at the same time, I also recognise that sometimes I don't have the words. And its okay to not have words. Like when I started this One Line A Day exercise, I told myself no backspaces, no deletions...just type what comes to mind. And yet at the end of the last paragraph, I tried out at least 4 different sentences to follow that last sentence...before deleting all of them.
Maybe thats the grace. The grace you give yourself not to be perfect, but to be in the moment. And when I am out of the trap of being perfect, I can be with myself, or be with the person in front of me... completely and wholly. Not as a solution provider, but as a listener. Not to fix things, but to support, to listen, to give them space to let it all out. Because most of the time, we are not looking for solutions. We are just looking for someone who cares.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Jan 17 - Line for the day
'He's going to die right here in the street ...'
- Page 171, The City of Joy, Dominique Lapierre
Wow..what a depressing line to pick up. Dying on the street sounds like such a lonely way to go. Public, but lonely. Or maybe thats just my fear of dying alone. Death comes to all...but to die alone freezes me up inside. Its probably selfish of me. Undoubtedly, death is probably harder on the living...or so I believe. And yet, dying alone must surely be the most tragic way to go.
...
...
...
Nothing else comes to mind. Just silence.
- Page 171, The City of Joy, Dominique Lapierre
Wow..what a depressing line to pick up. Dying on the street sounds like such a lonely way to go. Public, but lonely. Or maybe thats just my fear of dying alone. Death comes to all...but to die alone freezes me up inside. Its probably selfish of me. Undoubtedly, death is probably harder on the living...or so I believe. And yet, dying alone must surely be the most tragic way to go.
...
...
...
Nothing else comes to mind. Just silence.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Jan 16 - Line for the day
Today's line:
'He moved on to the sports pages, to find a photograph of an elegantly dressed Fred Perry ...'
- Pg 231, Only Time Will Tell, by Jeffrey Archer
The actual sentence is longer, but this part is what my eyes fell on. I wonder who Fred Perry is (no I haven't read this book yet.) Is it a character or an actual sportsperson? And why is he elegantly dressed in the sports pages? Sartorialism isn't what one expects from sports pages. You expect to see sweaty, dirty people in various poses of action, triumph or defeat. But hey, that prejudice isn't it. Undoubtedly, sports people have (or are supposed to have) physiques that should show the drape of the cloth beautifully. But is it just me who expects sports on the sports page, not fashion. Or is this just another instance of pigeon holing people based on perception.
For me, it is quite an eye opener. I consider myself fairly open minded. And yet, I'm pigeon holing people without even being aware of it, and then reacting from that position. And it probably is also my attitude about fashion. I don't understand it, I don't care about it. The only fashion I like watching are probably red carpet gowns. But the rest of fashion, bah...look at the models..none of that is ever going to fit me...so why bother. As for sports, well truth be told, I hardly read those newpaper pages anyway. Maybe today, I'll just pick up one for a change!
'He moved on to the sports pages, to find a photograph of an elegantly dressed Fred Perry ...'
- Pg 231, Only Time Will Tell, by Jeffrey Archer
The actual sentence is longer, but this part is what my eyes fell on. I wonder who Fred Perry is (no I haven't read this book yet.) Is it a character or an actual sportsperson? And why is he elegantly dressed in the sports pages? Sartorialism isn't what one expects from sports pages. You expect to see sweaty, dirty people in various poses of action, triumph or defeat. But hey, that prejudice isn't it. Undoubtedly, sports people have (or are supposed to have) physiques that should show the drape of the cloth beautifully. But is it just me who expects sports on the sports page, not fashion. Or is this just another instance of pigeon holing people based on perception.
For me, it is quite an eye opener. I consider myself fairly open minded. And yet, I'm pigeon holing people without even being aware of it, and then reacting from that position. And it probably is also my attitude about fashion. I don't understand it, I don't care about it. The only fashion I like watching are probably red carpet gowns. But the rest of fashion, bah...look at the models..none of that is ever going to fit me...so why bother. As for sports, well truth be told, I hardly read those newpaper pages anyway. Maybe today, I'll just pick up one for a change!
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