Ye Laal Rang….(Red!)

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The human mind is ruled by instances, sights, sounds and touches. Many times things, events or situations trigger a feeling of “deja vu” or the feeling that we have seen or felt this before. Emotions and feelings can also be evoked by sights; or to be more specific; some particular sights or sounds.

Like my feather brain flits and flies in the fervour predecessing “HOLI” and struggles to remain calm and perch on one single thought on beholding anything in RED. This hue epitomizes the charm and essence of HOLI. For me, it breaks all barriers of thoughts, and things come rushing out into the realm of the mind.

RED… or as I like to speak the Hindi word “Laal”, reminds me of the Vermillion dot, so oft used by Indian women to mark their foreheads. It is supposed to be in obeisance to the third eye, the “Agyaa chakra” (power point), thought to be located in the area between the two brows…It enhances the beauty of the face and provides immense grace to the person wearing it.

RED… is also the colour of the life giving fluid flowing in our veins, the blood, pumping the squishy organ residing within the ribcage, so that it keeps on beating and we keep on blinking…

RED… so often seen as a blush, marking the cheeks of a bride or a young girl, rising slowly up from the neck to the ears, making the visage appealing and utterly beautiful…

RED… the ball of fire, rising up the east skies, bringing warmth and glory to the land bathed in the dull hues of grey and black. Dawn is the youth of the majestic Sun, slowly giving way to the glowing orange, the bright yellow, the fading twilight and the ultimate oblivion, in the form of stars and a black night…

RED.. passion, seduction, love… it is the ultimate charmer, seducing all to it’s vibrancy and sweeping all in it’s crimson tide…

RED… it’s the most sought after hue in the blooms. The red rose is the prettiest sight to behold. So are red carnations or for that matter, all flowers…

RED… the gemstones of Ruby, Garnets, Tirmuline… The dazzling glow of these stones, which can take the breath away, the shades and hues spilling and oscillating between the deepest and the brightest of the shade…

Any description of Red is incomplete without the heart touching and beautiful couplet by the  great Indian mystic and poet, Sant Kabir..

He says…

“Laali mere laal ki, jit dekhun tit laal;
Laali dekhan main gai, main bhi ho gai laal
लाली मेरे लाल की, जित देखूं तित लाल,लाली देखन मैं गई, मैं भी हो गई लाल”

When a devotee realises HIM, he sees theillumination of HIM all around. He merges into his beloved in such a manner that all difference between the being and HIM disappears. Then there is no duality, no two beings, no master and devotee…..it’s just HIM…

For me, RED is the epitome of all that is alive, bright, flowing and vibrant. What does it mean for you???

Of Fairy tales and Royal fails!!

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“Hum aah bhi karte hain to ho jaate hain badnaam, Vo katl bhi karte hain to charcha nahi hota”…(My every sigh makes news, while some other can get away with even murder)

My inner poetess was brutally kicked awake from deep slumber, to aptly alter this very famous Sher by Akbar Allahabaadi to,
“Hum aah bhi karte hain to ho jaate hain badnaam, Vo katl bhi karte hain aur paate hain rokda aur naam!!!!!” (They get payment and adulation for their acts!!)

Now you all must be wondering that being home bound for too long and not receiving that healthy dose of gossip and mean, nasty comments has rendered me imbecile….that I’ve lost my marbles and am rambling “ainvaiye” (uselessly)

But no sirs and madams, this “naacheez” never rambles “ainvaiye”, but always bursts forth with “baaten naiye naiye”!!! ( Gossip)

So, the latest “breaking news in town, city, country, continent…rather the whole “bairi duniya” is this…”Meghan Markle breaks her silence over torture by royal family”!!!!!
In other words “ek sasural ki sataai hui aurat ne muh khola”(A harrassed daughter in law speaks up!!)

Living in a country like India, one may ask…”To”??????? As in, “Sooooooooo”????

What’s the big deal? What’s new? What is the hullaboo all about?
This is the “Kahaani ghar ghar ki” in India.

Actually if the reverse happens, then it’s breaking news…

Like a dear friend of mine has a mother in law to die for… She pampers my friend, makes goodies for her, asks her to go on date nights with her husband while she takes care of the house and her daughter; in other words, she does her part in making her daughter in law fall in love with her more and more every day (which I think is the sensible thing to do if one wants to spend the “budhaapa” comfortably with the same daughter in law. Converting her into a daughter, by showering love, care and affection is the best way)

So coming back to this mind boggling relationship; my friend gets invited to these gossip parties just to be sat down and asked, “aise kaise???

“”Aisa kya kiya tumney?

“”Ye gazab kaise ho gaya?”
(How? What magic wand did you wave?)

Now, the original topic, the bane of my “sukh chain”…

The thing which pinched every woman; including me of course; was that Meghan reportedly got paid 7 Million dollars for bitching about her in laws…(so the gossip columns state)

7 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any woman in this world, be it Indian or Amreekkan, will dive into this world of slinging muck and shedding tears over the role play of “sataai hui naari” (again….. harrassed woman!!) for free!!!! And if demanded, will pay for the listener’s rapt attention and faked compassion! (Fake as who has the time or the interest to listen to other people’s sob stories when they themselves are a walking library of them!!)

But then, one has to be the Duchess of Sussex.. So that women accross the world are relieved that “jab iska bhi vohi haal hai, to hum to bahut acchey hain” (She too has to go through it all)

I really feel that Oprah Winfrey’s purpose in interviewing Meghan was less of milking a scandalous situation and more of psychologically satisfying and placating women around the globe that everywhere the situation is the same behena!!!”Sasural hai, to rona dhona, roothna manana to chalta hi rahega”!!! (Dramas are a part and parcel of relationship with in laws)

Well, all said and done; I still can’t come out of the burn of all that money being doled out for good old bitching…But that’s me then, a mere “Bhartiya naari”…

What do you all feel???Eh?????