Of all emotions that man has been destined or blessed to experience, I think 'gratitude' is the most beautiful one. When the heart feels complete and has nothing to crib, grumble or complain about, when satisfaction and contentment brims, and a prayerful feeling towards all that is and was prevails- thats gratitude. It is a prayerful, meditative state in itself. Those moments of gratefulness make up for so many moments of wanting, waiting, worrying and anxiety. It almost makes those worrisome moments of the past worthwhile. It is a wholesome moment in the present.

Everytime we look at the night sky - the moon and the stars and even the occasional blinking lights of an aircraft, we feel so lifted up to the skies. The heart feels featherly light for one quick moment, which then extends to such an infinite time within that quick moment. It feels almost like you have taken in the infinitum of the sky within you - as if for a single moment, the entire space above you fit perfectly into your being.


Expansion
a quiet bloom
blossoming within
all quirky chatter
now subdued.
an innocent glance
an eternal glimpse
a silent current
in those simple moments,
a lifetime unfolds
and folds within.

The other day we were driving to Payson and seeing all the cacti on the way, a thought passed my mind.

Cacti are such awesome creatures - they can stand heat and cold just the same, they survive when there is water and live out of their reserves when there is none, they are not choosy about the soil they grow on, they grow oblivious to the surrounding flora, and they hang on for long enough to grow hands which grow quite later in their lifetime. Okay, I know I am stretching this cacti thing a bit too much - but it made me think about how we have developed narrow comfort zones to everything in life. And the cacti - they can actually treat triumph and failure just the same. Heard that somewhere before ?

As a rule, man is a fool
When its hot, he wants it cool
When its cold, he wants it hot
Always wanting what is not!

Ek din aap yoon humko mil jaayenge
Phool hi phool rahoon mein khil jaayenge
Maine socha na tha...

Ek din zindhagi ithni hogi haseen
Jhoomega aasmaan gayege ye zameen
Maine socha na tha...

Ek din dil ke raahon mein apne liye
Jal utenge mohabat ki itne dhiye
Maine socha na tha...

Here's wishing a bright, cheerful, peaceful and fabulous 2006 to everyone on this planet ! Life's been busy and eventful with no time to log and blog. Its good when there is always something to do, when you feel at the end of a week that its been a long and busy week. Time simply flies when there is so much to juggle between. The flip side is that I don't get to do stuff which I normally do in my leisure - like blogging. But then again, its always not so good when there is nothing to do. I'd rather go with a crazy, jam-packed, don't-even-remember-what-I-was-doing schedule.

Nature is equanimous and bountiful. Nature is thoughtful and organised.

Did God stand outside earth and shower it with diamonds that scattered themselves in different points of the globe as snow-capped mountains and peaks.

That is exactly how I felt during my visit to Colorado last week.

The snow-peaked Rocky mountains had me spell bound. Trees all around were bidding farewell to autumn and readying themselves to welcome winter. However, they seemed undecided about withering away. The soft wind blew their dry old leaves away reminding them gently that it was time to let go. The trees silently heeded the voice of the wind. The trees were showered fresh by rains in the evening as though to cool them and prepare them for the snow that was to fall later. I left Colorado before it started snowing.

Colors. Remember an ad that said - 'Imagine the world without colors'. Yep, not even black or white.

Fascination for colors start with identifying colors at early childhood, graduates to water coloring and crayons during school days, transforms to an interest in fashion and clothes during the teens, continues as wonder for nature's exquisiteness in adulthood and at some point we start appreciating colors without associating them with anything. We finally acknowledge their presence and beauty.

As a little girl, while growing up, I loved to visit the silk saree shop with my mother and grandmother to gape at the glorious colors. I still love to wander around in a silk store and drink in the array of the colors, the texture of the smooth silks and the smell of fresh just-out-of-the-loom yarn; a complete treat for the senses.

The RMKV sarees are awesome to look at in the pictures. I wish I were in Chennai looking at those beautiful works of art. The innovations seem to keep coming endlessly. Theme silks - graceful minakari saree, kolam sarees, 50,000 color silk saree, saree in every possible color known to man, exquisite pavadai depicting the story of Snow White or Cindrella in the zari – what else are these but masterpieces in the loom industry.

Sarees and pavadais definitely make being a woman worthwhile. There is no good-looking color and not-so-good-looking color. Every color looks so splendid in its purest form.

Pictures from Rmkv. Thanks.