Why should everyone read HARRY POTTER?

Remember those days of the new Potter Book(or movie) Release!!

Sleepless days and sleepless nights! Spoof versions of the story where probably you heard that Harry and Hermione got together and Ron was left alone. Or maybe that there are some explicit scenes in the book!Or even this ridiculous that Snape killed all-Dumbledore, Voldemort and Harry!

The excitement with which everyone waited. Discussions going on everywhere. Those days were awesome!

Now no more of Harry Potter trivia. No more of those Quidditch games on brooms or spell casting on friends and the effect on them!

But Harry Potter and his associates ( :D) continue to live in the hearts of all. Still reading the seven books again and again. Those endless hours of discussion when 2 fans come together, cribbing about the fact that the 7th movie ruined it all! No proper duel between Harry and Voldemort or Molly and Bellatrix :)

Now when I read those books again, I feel that Harry Potter has all those essential elements of life. It is probably the most  “Philosophically humorous  adventurous encaptivatingly light novel ” ever written. By far I have read many books. Many. But no book has the charm that Harry Potter created. Many authors have created a fantasy world, spiraling around intense and brilliant characters and an entwining plot. But Harry Potter has been the best in capturing the minds of people of all ages, sizes and , cultures. It is a book which every time read makes you feel WOW. Every time you read you find a new meaning. A new lesson. A New “fact” to brag about to other fans! :D

Now I think that Harry Potter has to be read atleast 3 times by any person.

1. The 1st time Harry Potter is read with a fascination- A ‘realistic fantasy’ so intricately woven by JK Rowling( Hats Off ma’am !! ) with excellent and ‘humanistic’ characters . Every animal, every plant, every human, every ghost, great hall, its stairs, common room, classes, DADA, Herbology, professors, Peaves, Filch, everything about it is incomparable and so perfectly crafted. You are blown by the adventures. You laugh until you fall off on your bed. You cry till your mother comes and asks you what happened and then after knowing the reason makes a face, calls you insane and leaves.:D

You are, in short, left encaptivated by the sheer brilliance of the plot.

2. The 2nd time you read it because you are not satisfied the first time. You want more if it. Since you already know the plot your attention goes to more subtle parts of it. More “facts”, more details. You start analyzing the characters and their characteristics. You are baffled by the genius of JKR. You wonder-“How could she have thought of such characters, such details.” WOW!

3. The 3rd time -you want to delve deeper into the secrets. You observe the philosophical angles. The brilliant lines of Dumbledore which you took as mere dialogues the 1st time. Now you take them as lessons for life.

“Curiosity is not a sin, Harry. However, from time to time, you should exercise caution“

“Do not pity the dead Harry, pity the living and for for all those who live without love.”

etc etc.

You realize that the whole book is full of these quotes and epic lines. Not only by Dumbledore or Voldemort-

“They never learn, such a pity”.

but by every character. Cleverly has JKR embellished the book with the most basic and the most important of such lessons WITHOUT making the book seem like a philosophy book!!

Some great funny parts like –

“Why were you lurking under our window?”
“Yes – yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our windows, boy?”
“Listening to the news,” said Harry in a resigned voice.
His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.
“Listening to the news! Again?”
“Well, it changes every day, you see,” said Harry.”

( Sorry but I couldn’t avoid mentioning this part! I could probably type the entire book here :D )

Obvious but so so so funny!

After reading 3 times, the effect is unstoppable. You don’t leave any opportunity to read the books.

So the point that I am making is that JKR- I Love You and respect you. And your books are E.P.I.C.

b l e e d

I am shallow.
Empty.

I bleed of rust.
I bleed of dried blood.

Acerbic.

I want myself.

Microcosm

We are mortals
Become moribund.
But lead exemplary life.

The “God” that lives
in the hearts of all
knew not then,
of the awe it created.
Else “it” too would have been
Mortal.
Living our or “its” creations
with an Ego.

We are the Fountainhead.
Bringing Sky to Earth.
In full humility to the expanse of
Nature, Life and Self.
Bowing to the resources.
Transforming into means
Re-inventing the resources.

Why deny ourselves the
Preponderance,
the Greatness of
what We Are.

Bow to ourselves
As we created us.
Into what God wanted to create
itself.

Venerate our evolution
to the epitome of the Universe.

the MICROCOSM.

satiate.

Calm.Serene
Sate.

  I yearn for more.

Calm? Serene?

I yearn for more.

Breathe.
Inhale
Ensnares
Hightens
Frees
Controls

I breathe
into trance

Sated.
Complete.
Filled
Calm.Serene.

To face the reality

The emptiness inside….

a Shallow Muse

The disparate liking
for the world around
knows no bound
born in ebullience
comes from a heart within
so pure so true
For mortals like me and
you….

Expound by me, On me, For me

Mind is tensed
Insides are crashing
Can’t contemplate
Just anticipate
How low..
low…

You miss my knowledge
Reason fails me
Logic fakes me
Incomprehensible
Non-adjustable

Try to catch you
You slip between my fingers
Try to hold you
You burn me

You are-
Ice on Fire
inextinguishable

Tried  making truce
Failed me
You nailed me

You are the hallows
of my mind
My own exquisite
creations
My mind’s
dark art…
On the display

You are inside me
Ensnared me
Captured me

I run free
You follow me
I run from myself
How long..
long..

You are unnatural
You are false

One day
the Ice will separate
from its flames
The Flames will
light in everyone’s hearts.
The Ice will
cool the over-burnt hearts.

You are inside me
will always be.
You are my black-out
Full of myriad hues.

The difference now is
The colours are separate.

“MODERN: [adj.] WESTERN ?”

 How does our youth perceive it?

Modernisation and westernisation-these two terms seem like synonyms to most of us. Being western is being modern or being modern is being western. But wait and think. Do both really mean the same?

Jawaharlal Nehru introduced the concept of modernisation with a different meaning and in the recent years the meaning has completely changed. According to Pt.Nehru modernisation meant adopting the successful methods of foreign countries in terms of technology, administration and to certain terms, even lifestyle. And, I must say we have been very successful when it comes to technology and lifestyle.

With this came an entirely new concept MODERNIZATION being equivalent to WESTERNIZATION.

The above concept has gripped the nation’s most important age group-“youth”. Due to this concept Indian Youth, today is the group which is focused by everyone with the need that they need to be directed towards the right path and awaken from their slumber!!

For today’s youth, modernisation means aping the western culture and, out rightly terming our culture and values as “old fashioned”. This concept definitely helped India in creating an awareness and broad-mindedness towards issues like dowry, biasness against girl child, superstitions etc. Also this has helped us reduce certain taboos in our society like sex education, HIV-AIDS, sexual harassment. Now-a-days, people are becoming comfortable relating to issues of adolescence, transgender etc. People now know how to voice their ideas which they were earlier afraid to do.

But  this concept has also  made us vulgar, outrageous, rude, insensitive and stupid. Young girls now think that wearing short clothes is a sense of being modern. Well, it does show that you are trending with the latest fashion but definitely it is not a sign of modernity! According to youth(well, I am terming it generally. Not everyone is like this, of course!), being modern is how you look from outside not how you are from inside. For example, People wear fashionable clothes but still have this point of view that if a guy and a girl are good friends they are committed!!(This recently happened with a friend of mine).

 If saying the f**k word makes you look cool or smoking, drinking, going to pubs or listening to English music and condemning Indian classical music  or making a girlfriend/boyfriend is “the in-thing and hip” then in my opinion no one could be a bigger fool or naive person than you( I might be exaggerating!).

Adopting fashion or culture from outside is good but along with it why are unable to adopt the other good qualities? Why have we started shunning our own culture?

The western people (at least the authorities) have a sense of self-discipline. They know how important their natural resources are for them. Their administration, law and order, infrastructure, use and application of available resources especially human resource and intelligence are what we should also learn.

Not only the elders but the young generation alike are also aware in the western countries. Most of the youngsters there become independent as soon as they enter their teenage. They earn their own money at a young age. They decide and start working on their goals and aspirations from that time (At least 50% of them must be doing so). They also become successful in their endeavours however small their ideas are. In our country, our parents take care of us till the time we start earning or maybe even after that if we are unable to earn. In western countries the children become successful in whatever they do without their parents support. Then, in our country we should be even more successful as our parents will support us [Only if you are successful in convincing them to do so!;)]. Going to a mall and spending excessively on clothes and accessories is good but saving some money and donating it to a charity won’t do you any harm!

What I am trying to say is that, if we can adopt extravagant things, then we must learn the good things too. Every culture has some pros and cons. We must learn to strike a balance between both. Modernity must be reflected in our thoughts.

Fortunately some people have started realizing the fact

“Chhapo magar dimaag lagakar i.e., high living and high thinking”

I know that not all of you must be agreeing with my thoughts. I am happy if you are actually not the way how it’s mentioned here. If you are striking a balance between both cultures then OUR COUNTRY NEEDS MODERN PEOPLE LIKE YOU!

.still.

still…

keep your head and heart still.

Don’t let it mix with others…

Stir it in your own style

Uninfluenced by others.

Untouched by others.

Stillness is needed.

Few minutes with yourself

Head is still

Heart is still

Life is to be still.

You wish for that stillness to continue.

To engulf

To enrich
To enlighten you

You feel the thought

You feel the soul

You feel what is really you.

Then starts a sudden turmoil.

The stillness disappears.

Chaos

 everywhere.

Mind

Heart

Everything aches

U wonder-“where is the stillness gone”

“was it just an illusion or a real jewel to be adorned”

The Process has just begun.

It can’t be aborted.

It will annihilate everything

Annul your notions.

For the “absolut” stillness to begin.

Turmoil is just one phase.

It will surely end.

By keeping your mind really

still.

Life is chaotic

Take a break

Let the meaning soak into you.

Of your life and
let truth embrace you.

Sshh…

Be very quiet

Be very still.

Be a part of THE HURRICANE.
Everything will be engulfed.
But its the eye which is still
And will make everything
still….

the Room

I am sitting in my room. My head feels heavy. No specific reason. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I think of what to do. I lie down on my bed. My mind is completely blank. No thoughts. Nothing. I drift off to sleep.

Silence.

I wake up. I find myself in a room. A square room. The room is empty. No furniture. No showpiece. Pure plain white. Absolute marble. I am barefoot. The floor is neither hot nor cold. I am wearing pure white overalls. My mind is blank. The room is white. I am not scared. Pin-drop silence prevails around me and I can hear myself breathe.  I wonder where I am. I start having illusions of faint colours. Maybe the whiteness is affecting my eyes. I shift in my place and look around the room. No doors, no windows. I move a step forward. It is so white with slight llusions of colours which I have started having. I take a deep breath. Move another step forward. I then start moving around the room. Feeling the walls. Looking for some sign. I stand at one corner of the room and move towards the middle of the room with graceful steps. I spread my arms and swirl in my place. I feel like dancing. I hear a sound. I listen quietly. No sound. Another trick of my mind. I stretch myself and start moving around the room. In a dancer’s manner. I do some random movements. Random movements. I start a random piece of classical dance with the tune in my head. The music is now heard clearly but at a distance. It becomes louder. The wall corners start to soften. They merge. The room starts becoming round. Stability figure. The floor feels comfortably warm. The music now becomes louder. I see myself wearing a classical dance costume. The room is now having different hues. A myriad of hues. The music is loud and clear.I do a complete dance piece. With graceful steps I move around. The exact pauses, the graceful mudras , accurate and energetic postures. It feel so elegant. I perform the steps that I have never done before. Never learnt before. I dance on a tune that I have never heard before. I feel the euphoria. Then suddenly I think, ” Is it true? Am I dreaming? How is it possible? This is false. I can’t do something that I have not done or heard or seen before. “

I stop. I just stand. I was back to how I woke up. All white. Square one. Silence. Breathing heavily. Only one difference, the whiteness is not pure. Some gray in it. I feel sad Everything got over so suddenly. It just seemed like a few minutes.

Euphoria was over.

The room becomes grayer. I feel even more sad. My clothes start becoming gray. The room becomes black. I was black.

No light. Pitch black. I am now scared. The blackness increases. Never have I seen such darkness in my life. I  take a step forward. I cry for help. I fall on the floor. I keep crying. I feel cold . The floor is cold. It seems like so long. My eyes get accustomed to the darkness. Nothing is visible but I stop crying. I stand up. I search the room for some source of light though I know there is none. I move in one direction. Hit myself with the wall. I bang the walls.Move all around the room. Shout loud hoping someone will hear. Search for light. Hope for light. I search for so long. It seems like hours have passed. Suddenly I see some light as if coming from beneath a door. I feel relieved and move towards it. I come to the point where the light is coming from. Search for a handle or a knob. It is just a wall. A plain wall. I bend down  to see from the gap of light. I try kicking the wall. Push it hard. I smile at my own comical attempts of breaking the wall but I still continue. It does not move even a bit. I try moving it 2-3 times again. No movement. But my fear is fading. I am still scared but have a certain hope. I keep up my confidence and faith. I take deep breaths. I keep pushing and kicking the wall.

Suddenly the wall vanishes. It is so bright. The light blinds me. It is as if time has slowed down.

I see light rays rushing into the room and mixing with black. It is like paints mixing with water. Vivid patterns of black and white engross into the each other. Flowing into each other. The black turns gray as more light was flows in. Finally the room fills with light.

My mind fills with light. Every cell in my body enlightens. It is floating. Anti-Gravity. The room vanishes. I am free.

I am in the middle of a place. People all around me. Running, talking, laughing, happy, sad, all doing some thing or the other work. Responsibilities obligations. Fulfillment . Everyone is unique in their way. Nature, character, physical, emotional….

But one thing is common to all. They are all in ” the room”. They are going through the phases of white, hues, gray and black. Some are in the white. Some are bathing in colours. Some are trapped in the black. Some are banging the walls in the white room. Some are banging the walls in  black room.

I move forward on the road. The road I have chosen. Hopefully I’ll find someone ahead or after me soon.

I wake up. I open my eyes. Back to reality. Or is it one? Whatever it is I am back to it. An escape from it helps me move on with my work in it. I hope I’ll be free from this ” room” in ” it”. Someday…..

You Alone Can

Life is random
a pattern unsolved,
You alone can unravel
its mysteries that evolve.

A help from here,
A help from there,
will leave you debted
to people and their vows
forever. In care
of those whom you seek for support.
You will always remain their whore,
to be used, to be thrown
into an abyss unknown.

How can you trust others
that they will be there
when you need them to be?
When your own shadow leaves you
as night falls unseen!

You are born alone.
You die alone.
Its only you who can make
your own destiny.
Life is what you make of it.
Successful and satisfied
or
Sad and eerie.

Gear up your spirits,
Give them a new high.
Get ready to fight
for what is yours, right!!

You alone can win this world
with all your might.
As you are the sole stakeholder
of your own life.