Hushed Voices

The sun had set and people settled in. Happy chatter echoed in the room. Everyone's faces had smiles and these lit up the room.  Everything not only looked but felt beautiful too. The room was decorated with flowers and arches and balloons and candles. There was a musical piece being performed by two young men.  The music faded in with the happiness in the room. It seemed as if magic was flying out, as one played the keys on his piano and the other strummed the strings on his guitar. The beauty that this moment carried was something beyond words. On the right was the Tankbund with the Buddha's statue standing right in the middle. In the distance were the city lights shining all in white on one side and yellow on the other.  There was the commotion of the traffic, but the calmness of the water and the happiness in everyone's hearts had dimmed it down. Love was in the air. The statue was shining in blue. The water was reflecting every color,  so wonderfully tha...

“Oh my God! Not again!” Hazel shouts, as she rushes out of the bed to get ready. “That’s why I keep telling you, Use the alarm Hazel” her mom replies from the kitchen while she cooks. “Yeah, Yeah...” she says and goes in to freshen up, not wasting any more time. She gets ready, packs her backpack and goes downstairs to eat. “Not even 10 minutes since you woke up and all done!” her mom says , and gives Hazel her lunch. Hazel stuffs the bread in her mouth, gulps down the milk as fast as she can and starts rushing out the door. “Bye mom! See ya!” she says and bangs the door shut behind her. ‘Two more minutes’ she thinks to herself as she turns into the school’s lane. Running through the corridors, Hazel finally manages to reach her class on time. ‘Just like everyday’ she says, with pride, to herself, while she goes to her friends. They chat for a while and then the teacher comes in.  “Good mooorninngg teaacher!!” the class says, in perfect unison, more out of habit than respect....

We live in a world bound by time.  A world where days are numbered,  years are counted and moments cherished. A world where all things are ranked and ideas statistically charted. A world where curious minds found it a necessity to map the time the earth takes to rotate, revolve,  the time light takes to reach us and for everything else.  Basically, this world we live in looks like its hung in space by the strings of time. That's why they say 'time and tide wait for no man'. That's why they say 'seize the day'. That's why they say 'live like there's no tomorrow'. This is what drilled into us, time ticks away and with it, life.   Human minds are programmed to be subservient to this law of time, but human hearts, or to be precise, hearts in love, can clearly defy it. They prove that parallel world's exist, contained within these hearts. They have the power to tap into these parallel universes which defy every other law, only bowing down to...

There are echoes. There are cries. There are wounded hearts and troubled minds. Busy footsteps are the routine and blank faces, the norm. Polished behavior and formal handshakes are all that we are taught. A smile should always be gentle , not straight from the heart. Masks and veils and masquerades on words ,emotions and what not. Greeting people is done with a fake smile or none at all. Perfection demands to be Modest , gentle, positive, confident, polite ... and the list goes on. Behaving, dressing, talking, responding, standing, sitting - every aspect, every detail needs to be done a certain way. There is an invisible rule book drawn for everyone to follow, every single day. Actions could be tamed to follow an order.  But can hearts be tamed? The heart is a wanderer. It explores the depths no one has ever been to before. It finds hidden places and lost treasures. It sees everything in a way nothing else can see. It has in it to find light in the darkness and beauty ...

It was just another cold winter morning. I could feel the cold breeze on my skin.  It felt like my feet were freezing despite the 3 cozy blankets i was buried under. The breezes started getting stronger and colder. It sent shivers down my spine as I snuggled up  trying to feel warm. It was still cold and all that was left was for me to get up and shut the windows and close the blinds. I tried to get out of my cocoon of blankets, but it was harder than I thought it would be. I forced myself out, closed the windows and blinds and tried to go back to sleep. Not able to sleep anymore, I just lay there staring at the ceiling while there were so many thoughts racing through my mind at the same time.  “The good ol’ days” I thought to myself as I started drifting off in time to the days when I was still in school. I remember not wanting to sleep, making the most out of all the time I was awake. I remember how much I loved music and the sound of nature. I remember drawing ...