Of Rainbows and Contrails...

As a child, one of my favourite songs used to be “Raindrops on roses…” from the classic movie “The Sound of Music”. It made me smile. I’d learn stanza after stanza on my own till I knew the song by heart. (It was only after Google that I found out what schnitzel and apple strudel looked like) Lyrics were very important to me-they still are. I am in no way suggesting that being fascinated by lyrics meant that I listened to only “deep” numbers. We had lousy Hindi Songs as I grew up in the late eighties and nineties unlike today, where our industry is churning out brilliant numbers both in terms of melody and lyrics. I quite enjoyed those songs too (all Govinda-Karishma numbers with their cheap and meaningless words). It is just that no matter what the words are, I need to know them.

I am not writing about songs and lyrics though but of all those things that uplift my spirits; and music, perhaps, tops the list. From grade six (that is when I got a room to myself) till date, I need an hour, at least, where I lock myself up in my room and listen to blaring music. Depending on my mood, the songs can be classics, say Nat King Cole or as shocking as “Shiela ki Jawaani” or “Gandi Baat”. These days I am into Charlie Puth thanks to my children and Justin Bieber’s version of “Despacito”. Thankfully, I have a husband who encourages me to take my time for the wise man learnt rather early into our marriage that that was my secret to broad smiles which he received the rest of the day. In fact, when I am grumpy longer than usual and efforts to cheer me up fall flat, the suggestion usually comes up, “Why don’t you take an hour and listen to your music? I think you need it…” Inside the room, I instantly get into exaggerated moods…if I need to cry, it comes out instantly and then all smiles. I dance, I act and I dream …I don’t hold back at all and perhaps, that’s what refreshes me.

Human beings have a wide range of emotions and we believe we live for a million good reasons but if you work out every reason threadbare to the end, you’ll find that we are all looking for happiness- Plain, simple, unadulterated Happiness. We may think it is love that we are looking for, or material comforts or a fulfilling career or travel or just a sense of purpose but all of this leads to just one thing and that is happiness.

Despite all that we read in texts by many greats, or hear in sermons of wise men and despite every rational bit of our body and mind agreeing to the fact that happiness comes from within, we always tend to look outwards for happiness- accept it or not. We can say big things but the very fact that we are announcing from the roof tops, that we make ourselves happy and don’t look towards others for the same, is a clear indication that we do.

Credits: in.pinterest.com

Life does throw surprises at us and shocks us even more. We are faced with myriad problems, no matter what age, gender, class, country, religion we belong to. Our problems have a way of weighing us down and make us believe that our problems are way more than that of our contemporaries. We just make that assumption and stick by it. “I am a serious and deep person for I have had trials and tribulations like no other not like say, Abhishek Bachchan who was born with a silver spoon!!”(I really do feel sorry for that gentleman for I quite like him and he is target to pot shots just because he was born into a family that the world loves- does it make sense?) What Bachchan Jr is going through, only he knows and he is not about to spill the beans and neither are your other contemporaries! Everybody has their fair share of problems- some spell them out others don’t.

So what is it that makes us go on and what makes some of us give up and put an end to it all? HOPE! This beautiful word is that beacon that lights up and should always light up within us, no matter what, for it takes us forward to live another day and another and another…the hope for a better life, the hope for true love, the hope of having children, the hope of becoming famous, the hope of being remembered for the good you did even after you are gone, the hope of having your loved ones around you, the hope of a new toy, the hope of a meal, the hope of escaping a death sentence, the hope of not getting caught and even the hope of losing weight or growing tall/fair/freckle free…the list is endless but as long as there is hope we carry on. If we couple hope with faith, then the journey is a lot smoother. And that is why a suicide is the saddest of all acts because it is a tell tale that all hope was lost and that is a shame- not on the person who lost it but on all those around him/her. I do not mean to be harsh but I truly believe that no one really wants to take his/her own life. They do so only because they see no other option- not a single ray of hope. A few kind words are all it takes, every now and then, to get the person off that state of mind for the time being. Once the moment passes, the thought of suicide normally passes and Hope is on its way back.

Credits: dbta.com

Rainbows to me are just that. A sign of hope! A sign that good things are waiting to happen! The imaginary pot of gold never comes to mind when I see a rainbow because just by being there it tells me all’s well in the world. A cloud with a silver lining does the same and for me so does a contrail! It makes me so happy to see a condensation trail that a jet leaves behind…it isn’t a natural phenomenon either but it lifts my spirits up instantly as does the Blue Jay. Beauty is abundant in Nature and just spending time in natural surroundings brings on a certain sense of calm, of gratitude even! Butterflies, ladybirds, fresh blossoms and sometimes even dry leaves (I love the crunch beneath my feet) are little things that can do wonders if we stop to appreciate them.

Credits: travelandleisure.com

“Magic happens when you do not give up, even though you want to. The Universe always falls in love with a stubborn heart.”- JM Storm