Category: Quotes

APWC: Moving Waters

“High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water.”
― Mark Twain

Betaab

“You never really know what’s coming. A small wave, or maybe a big one. All you can really do is hope that when it comes, you can surf over it, instead of drown in its monstrosity.”
― Alysha Speer

Lidder“Human nature is like water. It takes the shape of its container.” ― Wallace Stevens

Manali2“It is life, I think, to watch the water. A man can learn so many things.” ― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

Double“They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.” ― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

Fountain“I want to be like water. I want to slip through your fingers but hold up a ship.” – Michelle Williams

Song

“Be fluid. Be like water. Flow around the obstacles.” Master Choa Kok Sui

Linked to Nancy’s A Photo a Week Challenge: Moving Waters

 

 

Bringing Mythology to Life

Growing up on the banks of the mighty and holy river Ganga, I was fascinated by the mythological story of Ganga’s descent to earth. I never tired of hearing and cannot resist sharing it – the abridged version.

In times more ancient than ancient times, there lived a King called Bhagiratha. His kinsmen had sinned (I shall spare you that story – for now) and were doomed to spent their afterlife trapped on earth with no scope for rebirth or moksha. Pained by their plight Bhagiratha quite literally moved heaven and earth and after a lot of hardships and penance (which involved the cooperation and blessings of both Brahma and Mahesh)  brought Ganga to the earth to wash away the sins of his forefathers.

But that is just for context.

In April 2017 we have found out own real live Lady Bhagiratha – 51-year-old Gouri, a daily wage laborer from Sirsi in Karnataka, a southern State of India.

To supplement her meager income as a laborer, Gouri she also maintained a kitchen garden of sorts comprising of banana, areca and coconut trees. But arranging for water for them was a major issue. She needed to urgently find a solution. Which she did in her own unique (and possibly inimitable) style.

Problem: No water

Solution:  Dig a well.

Problem: No money to hire somebody to dig it.

Solution: DIY

Problem: Nil

She dug every day for 5-6 hours, over and above her job as a laborer. Despite suffering intense body ache and exhaustion, she dug for three months and ended up with a 60 foot deep well. In the final stages, she enlisted the help of three other women to clear the heap of mud that had accumulated.

Today she has ample water for her life giving trees, has earned the respect of thousands and is an inspiration for women world over.

She has effectively proved that where there’s a will there’s a way well.

Hats off to her grit, determination and spirit.

This is my submission for the monthly We Are the World Blogfest which seeks to promote positive news.

Do share your views, opinions, suggestions and positive news.

Thank you for reading and have a super weekend.

“Some women choose to follow men, and some women choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you that it doesn’t love you anymore.” ― Lady Gaga

Stop crying over your obstacles, it’s time to demolish them, one shovelful at a time…

Bushy Greens

Suntree“I don’t see myself as extremely handsome. I just figure I can charm you into liking me.” Wesley Snipes

For Becca’s Sunday Trees – 284

 

The Magic of Life

Isn’t life the most magical of all things? Don’t you wonder how a very few basic atoms (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur) can create life in it’s myriad and varied forms?

Moreover, it never fails to amaze (and inspire) me when I witness life thriving in the most unexpected of places.

Concrete.jpg

“There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Leonard Cohen.

life

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” ― Shel Silverstein

For the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge – Magic

Go on have a magical weekend, week, month, year, decade, century… 🙂

3-Day Quote Challenge #3

On the final day of the 3-day quote challenge (the other two are here and here) I bring you some of my favorite humor quotes. They never fail to tickle my funny bone 😀

I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know. Mark Twain

 Anyone who isn’t confused doesn’t really understand the situation. Edward R. Murrow

I have had my results for a long time: but I do not yet know how I am to arrive at them. Karl Friedrich Gauss

He is one of those people who would be enormously improved by death. Saki

I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. Jerome K Jerome

I don’t like money actually, but it quiets the nerves. Joe E Lewis

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. Don Marquis

By the time we’ve made it, we’ve had it. Malcolm Forbes

My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of the pessimists. Jean Rostand

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. Margeret Mead

And some really foot in the mouth quotes 😉

There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. Thomas Watson (1874-1956), Chairman of IBM, in 1943

640K ought to be enough for anybody. Bill Gates in 1981

Rail travel at high speeds above 20 miles per hour is not possible, because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia. Dr. Dionysius Lardner (1793 – 1859)

I confess that in 1901, I said to my brother Orville that man would not fly for fifty years. Wilbur Wright (1908)

This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us. Western Union internal memo (1876)

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. Lord Kelvin (1895)

Radio has no future. Lord Kelvin (1897)

We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out. Decca Recording Company while declining to sign The Beatles (1963).

On an interesting related note, did you know :

George Orwell’s Animal Farm was initially rejected as “unconvincing”.

Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was rejected as “not funny on any intellectual level”

John le Carré‘s first spy novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, was passed from one publisher to another with the withering comment: “You’re welcome to le Carré – he hasn’t got any future.”

Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was questioned “First, we must ask, does it have to be a whale?”

Have a super week ahead and keep those fingers dancing 🙂

If you have any favorites quotes, do share them – thanks for visiting.

3-Day Quote Challenge #2

Here I am again with another bunch of quotes. I am participating in the Three day Three quote challenge albeit a revised version 😀 You can find Day 1 quotes (and rules) here. Please feel free to join the challenge – all are welcome 🙂

Today, I bring to you assorted quotes for the beleaguered writer 😀

Sometimes what seems like surrender isn’t surrender at all. It’s
about what’s going on in your own heart. About seeing clearly the way life is and accepting it and being true to it, whatever the pain, because the pain of not being true to it is far, far greater. Nicholas Evans

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Seneca

My whole career can be summed up with ‘Ignorance is bliss.’ When you do not know better, you do not really worry about failing. Jeff Foxworthy

Formatting is no substitute for writing. Leslie Lamport

God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style. He just keeps on trying other things. Pablo Picasso

I love my rejection slips. They show me I try.  Sylvia Plath

Dew knot trussed yore spell chequer two fined awl yore mistakes. Brendan Hills

This book fills a much-needed gap. Moses Hadas

I always wanted a happy ending… Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity. Gilda Radner

Don’t be afraid to take a big step. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps. David Lloyd George

Writing starts with living. LL Barkat

I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else. Pablo Picasso

The only kind of writing is rewriting. Ernest Hemingway

I’m not a writer. Ernest Hemingway was a writer. I just have a vivid imagination and type 90 WPM. Tiffany Madison

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. Stephen King

Never put off writing until you are better at it. Gary Henderson

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense. Tom Clancy (paraphrasing Mark Twain)

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. Jack London

I’m all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let’s start with typewriters – Frank Lloyd Wright

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. W.S. Maugham

I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite. GK Chesterton.

Hope you liked my collection – If you have any favorites, please don’t forget to share. Thanks for visiting and have a super weekend.

 

3 Day Quote Challenge #1

Hello everyone! I was happy to be surprised with an invitation to the 3-day Quote challenge by Renegade Expressions who posts some really cool photos.

Rules of the challenge:

  • Three quotes for three days.
  • Three nominees each day (no repetition).
  • Thank the person who nominated you.
  • Inform the nominees.

I love quotes and just three quotes is too much for my sensibilities. So I would like to tweak the rules (after all they are meant to be broken right?!) and go for a few assorted quotes on three topics. Also, it seems a bit unfair to restrict the challenge to just a few people – so anyone interested in quotes and the quote challenge?

Jump right in! 😉

“Run from what’s comfortable.
Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.
I have tried prudent planning long enough.
From now on I’ll be mad”. Rumi

“Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do.” Voltaire

“Even if a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous.” Chanakya

“If you cry because the sun has gone out of your life, your tears will prevent you from seeing the stars.” Rabindranath Tagore

He who has injured thee was either stronger or weaker than thee. If weaker, spare him; if stronger, spare thyself. William Shakespeare

 Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. Lord Buddha

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Gandhi

Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true. Swami Vivekananda

“The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. There was never a time when you and I and all the kings gathered here have not existed and nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist.” The Bhagvad Gita

I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance. Diogenes

“I have enjoyed greatly the second blooming… suddenly you find – at the age of 50, say – that a whole new life has opened before you.” Agatha Christie.

These are just a few of my favorite quotes. Hope you liked and if you have any favorite quote please do share – thanks for inviting, visiting and sharing 🙂

 

Weather Woes

But first some good news! After days of patiently putting up with my rants about the weather you certainly deserve it 🙂 I am pleased to report that finally the weather has take a turn for the better. Believe it or not, on Monday, the temperatures plummeted from a sizzling day temperatures of 47 0 C to a pleasant evening at 27 0 C.

A thunderstorm accompanied by a shower overcame the sun (for the moment at least) and brought cheer right back into our lives. Even the staid seasoned trees look positively thrilled – clean green and fresh. I cant help but be infected by their silent but all pervading joie-de-vivre.

On the flip side, several flights were delayed or cancelled. But the respite couldn’t have come at a more timely juncture. Things were quite awful in most parts of the country and temperatures at the India-Pakistan border were higher by 10 degrees or more. Actually am not sure there has been any relief for the army jawans who patrol the borders in the most unbelievable heat and dust of the Thar desert. According to newspaper reports, they were able to roast papad by just placing it on the hot sand and cook rice by just keeping it out in the sun for 3 hours.

And then there was this tragic incident. A villager, while entertaining guests, forgot about his camel left out in the heat with his legs tied. When he remembered and went out to release it the camel turned violent. He picked him by the neck and threw him down, he then chewed off his master’s head. The camel went berserk and 25 men struggled for over 6 hours to bring it back under control. Poor camel – the heat must have literally fried his brains (my sympathies and condolences to the villager’s family).

That’s all on the weather front for now at least – for this isn’t the end of summer. So as they say cheer up the worst is yet to come. And memes like this are bound to crop up (again and again) before the mangoes bid their final adieu for the season.

IMG-20160521-WA0011(1)

But let us make hay while the sun shines – oops wrong quote ;). Make every dull day count 😀

And now on to Moonshine – Chapter 61 and Calvin. All those rooting for Hobbes raise your hands 😀

Quotes for the day

“Pray don’t talk to me about the weather, Mr. Worthing. Whenever people talk to me about the weather, I always feel quite certain that they mean something else. And that makes me quite nervous.” ― Oscar Wilde

“Don’t knock the weather. If it didn’t change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn’t start a conversation.” ― Kim Hubbard

Before you go, do leave me a note, about the weather if nothing else (go ahead make me nervous)

Save

Haiku Season

It’s awfully hot (470 C/117 0 F with 60 % humidity) and there’s no sign (or hope) of any let up. I wonder how long people (and the birds and animals) can keep up in the face of this relentless blistering blazing sun. Something is surely going to give and soon. So far electricity is on our side (touch wood and fingers crossed) but with demands and loads soaring, a breakdown not only seems inevitable but imminent.

And somewhere I feel guilty – it wasn’t this bad just a few days ago. Methinks the sun got a bit cheesed off on my obvious partial and support for the amaltas and decided to show  who the boss actually was. As a result, despite me bragging that I wouldn’t miss the unfolding spectacle for anything, I am now ensconced in the darkest corner of my house, curtains tightly drawn to keep out the sun, light and view.

The irony of it didn’t escape me:

googling images
amaltas bloom
outside my window

The only good thing is that I managed to come up with a half way decent haiku! And get the stamp of approval from the reigning Haiku Queen herself (after a bit of rewriting of course).

Wondering who the Haiku Queen is?

She is none other than our very own smr. She won this year’s grand prize winner of the prestigious IAFOR Vladimir Devidé Haiku Award 2016 (no surprise for me – I always knew she was brilliant).

sunny afternoon
a shadow
on the mammogram
Suraja Roychowdhury, United States

Her submission was chosen as the best one out of a record 680 submissions from 60 different countries. My heartiest congratulations to her and best wishes for many more such finely crafted gems.

The other submissions are pretty awesome too – if any of you enjoy haiku it is worth it to check out the link above. And if you like, you can read more of smr’s awesome haiku and even better tanka (and some pretty cool poems) at Allpoetry.com. Registration (though free) is mandatory.

On to Calvin now  – he is feeling pretty neglected I can tell especially what with Hobbes ragging him no end.

 

Quote for the day: “One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”  JW Goethe.

I know Moonshine does quite measure up to any of the above but still if you insist 😉 here is Chapter 60: Making Dreams Come True

As usual, I look forward to your comments and smileys 🙂

More Training

Good morning all! Here’s wishing you all a Happy International Happiness Day in advance (March 20th).

By the way, anyone training to be happy? Time to take out your happiness scales and rate yourselves. Hope you find remarkable improvement in happiness levels! Care to share your results? But even if there is no improvement, there’s no need to be unhappy. We can start all over again. And again and again – after all practice makes one perfect. J And to help you in this happy venture, log on to this site and download a free Happiness Guidebook.

And while you are at it, how about some more training? Apparently one can even train to be resilient. Apparently, the key to resilience or the capacity to bounce back from difficulties is, by changing our attitude towards things. Just as Shakespeare famously wrote, “Nothing is good or bad, only thinking makes it so.”

Or, as researchers like George Bonanno, a clinical psychologist, put it – “Perception – Do you conceptualize an event as traumatic, or as an opportunity to learn and grow? Events are not traumatic until we experience them as traumatic.” In this article, posted by Maria Konnikova, he speaks of a different term: PTE, or potentially traumatic event. He suggests that every frightening event, no matter how negative it might seem from the sidelines, has the potential to be traumatic or not to the person experiencing it.

Therefore, it is how one views an event makes it stressful or not. For instance, suppose I have a massive (or minor) argument with my husband (err well no need to suppose I guess!) I could fret and fume, expect and demand instant resolution of the conflict. Which of course could lead to amicable solution (in my dreams) or just escalate the conflict.

Or, I could utilize the unexpected (and much needed) bonus time to write Chapter 45 or browse through Calvin for a few laughs, or draw hope and succor from quotes on life in general or annoying ‘better’ halves, in particular. Psst – sometimes, I am tempted to provoke a confrontation just so that…hushhh (who knows he may just be reading this – well I live both in hope and dread)

Going back to the topic at hand, research has shown that people can be trained to think of and react to unpleasant events and situations in a less emotional way, or one that is less negative. And the good news is, training seems to have lasting effects.

On the flip side, the mind can also lead us to exaggerate or blow out of proportions the myriad events that occur in our humdrum lives. Often, an event is dissected, analyzed, hashed and rehashed ad nauseam until it becomes bigger than it really is. It works sort of like a bubble gum – diligently chewed upon until it spreads out thin and can be blown into a gigantic balloon. The bigger the better until it blows up right into our faces.

The ideal approach would probably be to chew on the event, absorb the juice and then spit out the tasteless pointless remnants.

Only when we acknowledge the addictive and pointless nature of this negative circle of thoughts and make a determined effort to put a full stop (or even a semi-colon) can we hope to emerge a better, stronger person to take on the challenges of life, heads on. It is a slow painstaking process, often one-step forward and two steps backwards. Nevertheless, it can be done.

Trust me – been there, done that (err… doing it)!

Happy training and wish you all tons and tons of happiness – not just on 20th March but ‘hamesha’

Just look at Calvin – even he knows how the mind can trick you, perhaps even kill you.

 

Thought for the day

“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.”
― Maya Angelou

“What’s the use of complaining about something you have no intentions of changing?”
― Mario L Castellanos

“If you can quit, quit. If you can’t quit, stop complaining – this is what you chose.”
― J.A. Konrath

“Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.”
― Randy Pausch

Have a super weekend people and catch you all on Monday – hopefully with loads for me to read 😉