Twenty- five Seven

Facing Reality

September 17, 2012

The Hand Above

He guides us
And pushes things along the way
Long forgotten tasks are brought to mind each day
He gently shows us how to go
About the task on hand

And even if we don’t know it
Shows us the way each day.

We may not think about Him
or remember him at all

dose globules de 1 gramme (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But He is there behind it
Standing firm and tall
Looking down His universe

Moving things in ways He knows
Will help us to face things every day.

He is there behind me
Supporting me and guiding me
To help face the reality
Staring me every day.

Today I went to my tailor who hadn’t kept my shirt ready. So I walked down the road. I came upon a Homeopathic pharmacy and walked in. I hope the new therapy works because I am changing into a monster I don’t want to be. I have tried medication, counselling, prayer, yoga, long walks, sleeping pills but nothing seems to work. I have visited astrologers and charlatans visited temples and laid bare my soul to strangers. I have tried it all but nothing fills the deep void in my heart. Nothing helps the pain which comes again and again.

My family thinks I’m being self indulgent – and perhaps they are right. I have everything one can ask for in generous measure too. I even have the luxury of hours of contemplation. So why am I so sad? When will my sorrow heal? When will my anger go? When will my life become my own again?

I do not want to be the person I am becoming – a self indulgent monster, a creature wallowing in self pity.

I should not forget my life is not my own to do as I please. I am not living in a bubble an isolated island where all that matters is ME and ME and ME and ME.
Fly lice and noodles

September 14, 2012

Last night we went to China Garden after a long, long time. And finally after a long, long time I had a great dinner.

Our guest that evening was a fine young lady who was spending a few hours with us before leaving for the airport. Luckily our regular waiter wasn’t around so we had the opportunity to try something without his recommendations well meaning though they may be.

I always wonder why I ask the waiter what is the best on the menu – obviously he doesn’t really know my likes or dislikes. I also now understand why my husband always asks for the same dish time after time. He knows what he wants and doesn’t want to deviate from the tried and tested. So in every Chinese restaurant that we visit any where in the world, he asks for Haka noodles and stir fried vegetables including restaurants in Beijing and Shanghai!

The restaurant was fairly empty when we arrived at 7.45 but filled up quite soon, a testament to its ever green appeal. My Lung Fung soup was served at just the right temperature and the bits of shitake mushrooms blended well with the chopped tofu, carrots and beans, a nutritous mix which prevented this soup from deteriorating into a mass of congealing corn flour.

Our guest ordered a stir fry of chicken and veg while we had the mock meat and haka noodles. Mock meat is found only at China Garden and is nearly always perfect to satisfy those cravings for real meat; stir fried with soya and green chili, it complemented my vegetarian FLY LICE.

We wound up with a slightly disappointing dessert of tinned lychees that were rubbery but all in all I was pleased. Finally a meal where China Garden lived up to its reputation – a place to go for the best Chinese meal in Mumbai.
Watch out for the expiry date

September 11, 2012

While shopping for groceries, medicines, cosmetics or any other consumable item, we always look out for the expiry date. Sometimes it is written in large bold letter while more often than not it is written in small, unidentifiable print. You have to turn the can around, squint a bit, hold it against the light and there you will find it written as unobtrusively as possible to avoid disfiguring the attractive packaging. So attracted are we by the outer packaging that we often forget to look for the expiry date and when the fruit begins to smell putrid or the medication is ineffective we wonder what went wrong. We just plain forgot to look for the expiry date.Everything comes with a shelf life – whether it is a man made product or a natural occurrence like sunshine or darkness at night. When the sun rises in the morning you know it will end just as you know that nightfall is limited till the next day break. We are not surprised when day follows night so why should we be surprised when things come to an end?

Unfortunately we imagine that things will last forever – especially those things that are nurtured by us. Our frail human egos have us mistakenly believe that what we have created is a masterpiece that will survive the ravages of time. So when they vanish either voluntarily or accidentally, it comes as a shock to us. But time, the proverbial healer makes us understand that what has changed has changed irrevocably and one should be gracious enough to accept change. After all everything comes with an expiry date : if we didn’t look carefully for the expiry date, it doesn’t mean that it won’t expire.

So even if you didn’t see it coming,
even if the end was truly shocking,
accidental or inadvertent,
nothing in this life is eternal
least of all a
relationship.

For relationships are
fleeting
transactional
and transient
with an expiry date
we fail to see.

That alone will explain one of life’s eternal questions – Why did this happen to me?

Facing Reality

Fly lice and noodles

Watch out for the expiry date