~ Tapestry of Living ~

~ Life Vignettes ~

Tapestry of living...

Sitting in the solitude of time, the lonely man looks intriguing to the eyes. His regular visits to the park on specific timelines sound like a prelude to the life he has lived. He has a specific set of tasks which he seeks to accomplish not before sitting on his favorite bench. Stashed with salt and pepper look visible via his beard and hair , his mysterious eyes look frowned with questionable existence - he wants his answers to the life's vignettes lived with aplomb and sarcastic parlance.

"Baba" as me and my children call him, the inquisitive glance sounds captivating when he looks at us.

Life throws challenges every now and then and some walk through whilst others get sidelined. The rigmarole of daily happenings can be gruesome for many like "Baba". His bets on life may have shattered his dreams of existence. Though able bodied, he just sits for a gravity of time and vanishes post dusk, to begin a new day.

His aura seems to be in shambles, so are his clothes but his disposition is catchy to the eye. What he does the whole day sitting in the bench could be an absorbing thought.

The perils of life might have taken him up, but he does have zeal to live it with dignity - not bowing for alms but brining his own food - both for stomach and thought!

Having courage to approach him seems to be distant as of time but who knows what befalls for the future, We, as all souls connected via strings of space and time can infer commonality at some point of existence.

Till then, let me observe my "Intriguing Man" and absorb his majestic living on the bench of his thoughts!

~The Blind with the Eyes~

~ Life Vignettes ~

~The Blind with the Eyes~

His grit was well entrenched in his actions of living a life of self respect and audition...

He stood to be a perfect example of showcase of ones self esteem against all odds and infirmities of body but certainly NOT Mind. "Ram Prakash" was his name to be and what I heard when he passed by whilst he uttered the Godly Name himself "Ram Ram"...

His lonely voice was well understood to showcase a life of uncertainty he has been living at this age.

As a perfect example of what life can offer during one's living,he uninterruptedly went passed by into the aisle of furniture shops serving common man's beverage - "Chai" to his solicited customers every day .

Though myself on a shopping spree near my home, I was dumbstruck at Ram Prakash's astuteness and self esteem of earning his living on his own terms and not succumbing to the fortitude of destiny!

Visual Impairment was not a impediment in his life's due course, he walked with almost perfection with the eyes!

Shouted one Shopkeeper who was well off with a huge showroom - with a sense of pride and ego in Punjabi "koi Idhiyan Aakhan koi lagwa Deyo" (Someone please have his eyes fixed) , the thought arose - what was the need of spelling these touchy words if you cannot do a bit of favor to his ongoing predicament.

He went off after giving the shopkeeper his daily cuppa and waited patiently on his next stoppage offering "Chai" to his customer ! The firmness in his stance and his astute character made me sit down and watch his demeanor with eclectic glance , he was my live role model who gave me a teaching to be on a continuous roller coaster tread called "Life" be whatever comes your way...

With dilapidation of his life came the happiness of still being worthy of a living at his own terms and not obliging to beggary which was the most easiest way out....

He became my life's another teaching and is now my role model to emulate how to life with humility against all of our egoistic aspirations and wants ...life could be defying at any time of your stay here. thanks and be pride-less for tomorrow could just be another day full of challenges which you have to obliterate !!!

~The Beggar HE was not ~

Passing by I observed a frail looking man with all of his qualifications to be a mendicant with a virtue of poverty – yes I say virtue of poverty for what he proved to me was his outright resistance to alms which are being offered in consonance with his decrepit situation!

Into his mid 40’s, the gentleman stood in front of a temple of worship – maybe his anger with God was the sole condition of his gesture – People passed by offering to give alms to this unique juxtaposition but to no avail, the “Beggar” was hell bent not to take goodies which people were offering him – to shed their inhibitions about GOD!

In India people visits temples of worship and do their share of humanity for a pacifying God’s existence in their thoughts and beings – having done so, they generally shed the burden of the wrongs they have done in their near past (forget about the entire lifetime they have lived on this planet!). The Mercy can beguile them to believe that their bit is done.

With all correctness, the urban hermit started to tread an unequivocal path of buying his own food whilst many had a starred look! How often would you see a beggar buying his own food with the invisible money he has sought? With all righteousness and ability of thought and action, he percolated the regular stance of all of us and that is, he might ask for money if not fruits and other disposable food items which we generally tend to give to them in lieu of seeking GOD’s solace!

An old gentleman oblivious to the fact of true character of this new age hermit starts to chat with him, with an intent to make him believe and accept the “Goodies” he has brought from his marvel. The situation remains grim and acclimatized to all of our acceptances, the end result is the same.

With a gluing look the Beggar blabbers – I am not a Beggar you all think BUT “It is time that has made me come to this compromise of life!”. All of my family members have discarded the notion that I was a husband to my wife, a father to my two lovely kids and a son to my Ageing parents!

No one dare asked him the reason for his penury and a situation --- by the time any one had the guts to approach and unlock this mystery of self-proclamation , the guy started to walk gently and never looked by –  I am in awe with the time when he would meet me again at the same temple I so often visit and bow, till then The Mystery just continues and enchants us all with its own altered ways of time !