HILLS ARE ALIVE








I am a firm believer in ‘Planning’. Paradoxically, I am, also, a firm believer in ‘throwing all my plans out of the window’… Shall I call it ‘Letting go’?

Goals and directions are extremely important in life. I agree. Therefore, before, setting out on any adventure or a journey, I need to know where I am headed and which road I should take… Yes, who should accompany me and what I should carry along. But, then, there are those unexpected winds which may disrupt my plans… or, who knows, may end up bringing to me some ‘windfalls’… Some ‘Manna from heaven’… Yes, who knows?

The results are out, and many are clueless about what to take up… Which direction they should take. Yes, like the advice in the ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, I, too, often, keep advising them, “Sweethearts, if you do not know where you are going, any road will take you there’.

Means, you better be clear about where you are going… and how, with whom, with what… Yes, you better plan. Else. Yes, else, your will land up ‘anywhere’… not ‘nowhere’. You will land somewhere…

That 'somewhere', sometimes – dare I say 'always' – is such an amazing place to land at?

I am serious, Sir.

Plans are important in life. But, if we are not wise enough to know what ‘letting go’ is…. When to let plans be… (‘Plan ‘B’?)… Yes, if we are not prepared to accept and embrace that which is unknown, we will have difficulty enjoying life’s surprises…





Last two months I completely involved with our Summer programme of Personality Development. We – little kids, young ones and many adults – worked on a new book by the title ‘I AM GOOD, THE WORLD IS GOOD’.  We planned for our annual Certification programme and the book release, which was to be held on 7th June. We planned meticulously… and, everything went off well. ‘A grand success’… That’s how it was described. But, I kept telling everyone… “Be ready to go with the flow… to throw all your plans out of the window… “Life is what happens to us, while we are busy making our ‘other’ plans’

Let go. But, not before you set your goals and prepare your plans. Be totally involved. But, learn to be detached, too… These are ‘life events’… Not ‘Life’ itself…

Enjoy the moment, enjoy the first rainfall… even the thunder and lightning, however fierce they may seem and sound.

Last night, my wife and I were returning from a visit to my doctor. While we were in the taxi, it started pouring heavily with sky exploding with thunder and lightning. When our taxi landed inside our housing colony, we witnessed the hysteria… little ones, young ones and many adults were out in the open, absolutely experiencing the rain, light and sound… So happy they seemed!

Was it not  Life? Was it not happiness?And, is it not how it should be?

Today, in my morning class, Angad, one of my students, was describing to us his own experience last night. He and his family had been for a wedding party… The food counters were laid out in the open. It seems, it was a chaos… A nightmare for the hosts!

But, for our Angad? He said with excitement, “Sir, I left the food alone, went out and danced my blazer and leather shoes on.”


THE HILLS ARE ALIVE
Julie Andrews
The hills are alive with the sound of music

With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds

that rise from the lake to the trees
My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies
from a church on a breeze
To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over
stones on its way
To sing…





In Life, we shall continue to ‘propose’, and God will continue to ‘dispose’…  I think, that’s how it should be. 

Let’s plan our open-air party, darling… But, God may surprise us with some rain, light and sound… That’s His way of teaching us to celebrate, you see…

So, let’s not complain to Him saying, “God you are spoiling our party’!


GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Rekha Srikar Shenoy

Videos: TED x TALKS/KTrW/YOUTUBE/MITHALIA PALKAR

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...