I loved train rides as a child. The views, the open skies, the wind in my hair and the differences in terrain, people, customs, dialects and food would amaze me. To an eight year old, who's world was confined to roughly a ten square kilometre area in the city, train rides were portals to another world.
At nights i would sit up near the window and observe the black night and it's inhabitants.Electric wires running parallel to our train would run a marathon with us, going up and down, forming a crest at a transformer or a pole, and then descending into a gentle trough, then up again.... You could see blackened silhouettes of trees, poles and buildings passing by and the train lights reflecting on the ground whooshing past us. The moon was a co-passenger, tied to one of the bogeys with a really, really long piece of thread. The only thing constant were the stars and the soothing rhythm of the train chugging on slick rails. Rattle, rattle, rattle, rattle.
These sights, repetitive they might be, were an experience for young minds who look at the world with different eyes. Adult eyes don't see such things. Adult eyes only see things as they are.
Some years later, I became an adult and in the process of gaining the knowledge and capacities of a full grown mind, I lost my imagination and I had no way of finding it, till my daughter was born.
In her vivid imagination, there's little difference between the real and the imaginary. Bananas are telephones. Her toys have lives, preferences and names just like real people because her toys are real. Her cup of milk has chocolate islands. And Humpty Dumpty is someone to be scared of.
Everyday is a new discovery along with Anika. Everyday I look at things anew. It's like I'm living my life with Anika-colored-glasses so that everything looks new, possible, sparkly and good.
On your birthday, my darling little girl, I hope and pray that you never lose this capacity to imagine and believe. That you never fall prey to the obstinacy of a limited mind. That you always look and find wonder and ceaseless possibilities in the most mundane of things.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL! ππππ€
New short story on the blog, folks!
Immorality is not confined to a person or a place. Be it a temple a church, a mosque or any other place of worship, heinous and lesser crimes will be committed as long as man breathes.
This story is a satire on ritualism in religion and the obstinacy of human wickedness.
Please head to the blog to read, like, share ann comment.
Link in bio.
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#shortstory #creativewriting #fiction #ritualisn #flashfiction #ontheblog #ontheblogtoday #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #writersofig #writersofindia #igwriters #igwritersclub #writergirl #amwriting #bloggerstribe #bloggergirl #amateurwriter #fictionwriter #religion #humanity #immoral #rituals #evil #wicked #satire #funny #humour #comic #faith
And a prisoner of our own mind.
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True that.
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Yeah. We are.
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Unfortunately π
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Can we do anything about it?
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Nope. Not a thing. Just keep doing what you do, that’s all we can do
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Great Reminder Pradita.
Good to see you after sometime
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Thanks KJ. Yes, it’s been sometime. I’ve been busy with other things. How about you?
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I am good Pradita. Thank you
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Good to know that π
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Also of the expectations of our & others.π
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Oh, don’t even get me started on that but yes, you’re right.
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Yes.
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Well said
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Thank you π
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Welcome ππ·
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Very beautiful post………….
We can do what is in my hands. Perhaps that is why it is said in the Gita that you do not worry about the consequences only because it is not in your hands.The result is subject to destiny and we all are not born free, we are prisoners of destiny.
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Excellent explanation Sir. We can only try to make our lives what we’d like them to be. But the end result is never in our hands. Thank you for reading ππ
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How do you come up with such gems?
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You’re the archive person to ask me that. I ascribe it to experience. π
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How powerful! Freedom comes at a price and that’s the saddest part.
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That’s true. So does life, and its cost is our lifetime of hardships and sadness π¦
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Neither we are born free, nor can we live free. Very well said Pradita.
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Thanks a lot
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I like this one but I’m not sure I fully believe it. I think of destiny less like a destination (you will end up happy, you will have a lawyer, you will have an unhappy relationship) and more like a river we are floating down. Some places the current is strong and we only just work to stay afloat. Other times, we can affect our direction a little. We are definitely going downstream, but we can dodge rocks, find comfortable spots to rest, and avoid eddies that keep us going in circles. If we paddle more we will get used to it and get better at navigating the stream. If we say “what will happen is already determined” we will take whatever the river gives us – and sometimes that means we will be smashed on the rocks before we fully get started.
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Todd, thank you so much for discussing this at length. I really appreciate it.
You are right in certain ways and I too agree that there may be instances when we can affect the way our lives are turning out. But when I think of all those times when nothing seems to go the way I’d like it, or those instances when I have had to give up on things because there’s no way around it, I feel things are predetermined for us humans. Some of us end up doing things or being what they had never imagined themselves to be. It’s in such situations when ‘destiny’ feels like a solid thing steering us in whichever direction she wants.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that we should let it all go. Lord knows if our efforts mean anything at all at the end of our lives, but that’s all we can do – try. The rest isn’t in our hands.
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Definitely – there are some parts of our future we can’t escape. To use my river analogy, those things are reachable by branches we’ve already passed or on a different river entirely. The trick is telling those things that are difficult apart from those that are not attainable at all. Some of our best goals are those that, at first glance, seem unattainable but just required a whole lot of work.
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I agree with you. We’d have a lot less heartache and tears if we knew ‘the trick’ of differentiating between what’s difficult from what’s unattainable, but we’re only human π
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