Farewell, My Friends!

I've had just enough time...  to say farewell but I'm not sure about the return...

This is my dead bonsai plant that I found too beautiful to stay dead...


Farewell, my friends. I regret to write this note.

But my health took a turn for the worse and I’ve to spend more time managing it which did not leave me quite enough time to write – at least not in the quality or with the same passion I had been sharing with all of you, my friends.

So I sought to "revive" it to give it everlasting beauty...

Recent events have also forced me to redirect my attention to other more pressing matters and is another reason why I have to leave. 

I don’t know when or if I will be back. Maybe, one fine day after I licked my problems and the sun is shining brightly; I may just find the energy to do it all again. Nothing is definite in life; that much I know. 

To remind me that memory can preserve beauty forever...


So meanwhile, it is farewell. Thank you for all the beautiful moments. I will cherish them and the memories of some of you will never fade, you know who you are. I did not have time to say individual goodbye so I apologize for saying it here. Sorry.

I hate long drawn out goodbyes so this is it, I’m turning my back and walking away with heavy steps. The leaves are falling...

          Something will never die if we don't let it...        
          It may not live on in its original form but it can still live -        
          In other different but no less beautiful way...        

Where Will This Path Leads Me?

I've had just enough time...   to take the path that is offered.

I let the path leads me wherever it leads me but
I do not forget to smell the flowers along the way

It is interesting where paths will lead you if you let them lead the way. That is why when I find myself in a strange city, I like to wander off on my own. Aimlessly. And let the path leads me wherever it may lead. I have always made interesting discoveries this way. Without fail. In every city I have been to.

I just started a new blog and it already is leading me to interesting places. I wrote about the books I read and the books I intend to read. That led me to a mail exchange I had with Liza Dalby, the author of Geisha and The Tale of Murasaki a long time ago about my graveyard of books - http://a1000reasons.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/my-graveyard-of-books/. A comment by a reader led me to reflect on my first meeting with a geisha - "When I was a young man of 21, ages ago. I found myself one night in Tokyo along with a colleague and my ex-boss; each with a geisha accompanying us. We were hosted by maybe 6 or 7 Japanese gentlemen from a large organization toasting us with a mixture of Suntory beer, Black Label whiskey and warm sake..." You can read it here - http://a1000reasons.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/the-geisha-who-showed-me-her-empty-cup/

Sometimes it leads me to strange places
But it never fails to lead me to interesting places

I will continue to wander off the main track and let Life surprises me. It is one of my greatest pleasure to find Life's hidden treasures.

The Melon I Found In The Borneo Highlands

I've had just enough time...   to find the melon in the highlands

A beautiful melon with intricate patterns I found in the Borneo Highlands Resort in Kuching

The melon I found on Borneo Highlands

I know not its name and

There is no one to enlighten

But it is all the same

One need not know to appreciate

One only need know to appreciate

In A Mosque in Beirut

I've had just enough time...   to speak about God

In a mosque in Beirut, a father speaks softly to his child...

In a mosque in Beirut

I saw a father softly 
Speaking to his child

Sitting in the shadows as

Lights streamed through

The windows, I believe

As he believes, there is God

And in churches and temples

Everywhere, a man speaks

Softly to his child about

The God he knows

The Old Man Looking for His Center

I've had just enough time...   to look for my center

I saw the old man walking unsteadily on edges...

The old man

Walked on edges

Struggling to maintain

A balance, not

Too much right or

Too much left

Might fall off

Into the abyss

He is trying to find his center.

I asked “Why?”

Almost causing his fall

He brushed me off

Walking unsteadily forth

Then stunned me

Left me pondering

What his voice carried

With his departure

“How can I find my center,

Walking on level ground?”

_______

What's Your Center?

Moment.

I've had just enough time to...   ponder about a moment.

The moment I viewed the painting "Moment"

I stood before the large painting titled “Moment” in the empty dining hall of this unique company I visited trying to take it all in and feel what a moment meant. There was not enough time. Ironic, isn’t it? Not enough time to feel what a moment is like or what the artist was trying to convey. When a few years ago, I was given the opportunity to start and manage a company, all I had was a vague idea to mold it into “a successful and compassionate company”. In the short span of time, we would be considered “successful” by most standards and now I found a company by which I can model true success after. One that strikes a good balance between profitability and workers’ welfare. That by the way is also true compassion. There is much to learn and execute, but I’m running out of moments…

The last leaf on the tree - a moment in time

If you have just a moment

To preserve your world

Before it disappears forever.

Like the last quivering leaf

In the depth of autumn

Just before its fall to Earth.

What will you capture?

Your first tentative kiss

The walk down the aisle

Praying by your father’s death bed

Safety in your mother’s embrace

The day your child was born

The pressure of his little finger

A Lifetime in a Moment - What is Yours?

The glorious birth of a bright new day

The awesome silence of a starry night

The golden goal or the perfect save!

The view from the top of the mountain

The cool caress of Spring breeze

A slow departing Summer sun…

Each of us will preserve

A special moment

Of beauty, joy or love

But whether it is beauty or joy,

It is still love…

A Walk On A Rainy Autumn Day - Part I

I've had just enough time to...   have that walk on a rainy autumn day

The view from the farmhouse I stayed in that cold autumn morning

The wind was colder than I remembered. They always were, weren’t they? It is our memories that betrayed us. They convinced us that the wind was kinder than their nature, the rain gentle and we were comfortable in our walk. But I shivered with every gush. It bit my ears and stuck its icy finger into the side of my ribs and the umbrella I was holding trembled like the quivering leaf. I remembered. I hated the cold. It remembered me too and taunted me its icy embrace, laughing at my discomfort and challenged me to give up the walk and seek the warmth of shelter.

Some trees are bare, some still hold on to their leaves with grim determination

 I had strayed away from the others, falling behind. My frozen fingers gripped hard on the metal casing of my camera, shooting with one hand while the other shielded my body from the relentless rain. I know the pictures will not turn out well in this low light but I had only half an hour and I wanted to cover as much ground as I could before I had to return to the bakery. There were cakes waiting to be baked. And I did not have an extra day to wander this ground. I wanted to be back to this beautiful part but I know how ways lead on to ways and I may never find myself back here again. So I just took what Life has to offer and stepped over useless regrets in my walk through the wood on that rainy autumn morning in the land of the Danes.

The rain created little ripples on the surface of the calm water

The cold bothered me. But I welcome it as one would a familiar old enemy who brought your keenest senses to life. No, not an enemy but an adversary. A worthy one. It was as determined to push me back as I was as determined to push forward. Time was not in my favour. Some trees were completely bare by then but some still held on to their depleting leaves with admirable determination. I was told I was lucky to even see leaves this late in the year. But I was also told I was unlucky as just a week ago, this park was a glorious blaze of colours. But can one be lucky and unlucky at the same time? I guess so. I took a deep breath and was rewarded with the nostalgic smell of wet leaves, damp earth and the crispness of autumn air. It reminded me why I loved autumn so much even though I hated the cold.

A lone bird puffed up its feathers to withstand the cold

As I walked, and observed, and shot; I let my mind wandered. Giving it free rein to gallop wherever it pleased. As expected, it preferred the more melancholic pasture and my thoughts merged with the rain till it became as blur as the fine mist over the pool of water along my path. The walk in the rain that autumn morning was so familiar to how I imagined it will be that it seemed so unreal…

The hardy ones but even they too shall pass

When you're walking from your past

You can never walk too fast

Everyone's the same

When you're walking in the autumn rain

Walking in the autumn rain-     

-  Day One: Autumn Rain

More rain and wind and gray skies are forecasted

 It doesn't matter where you're from

'Cause wherever you are from

You got a long walk on

You got a long walk on

The past scattered like fallen leaves and refection on a pool of water

Autumn in My Garden - Visiting Autumn

I've had just enough time...  to reacquaint myself with autumn

I love autumn so much I planted autumn in my garden...

Memories hanging

Like the last leaf of autumn

Reluctant to fall

So I can be moody even when the sun is shining brightly...

After the last leaves -

Silhouettes of trees lined hills

Desolate beauties

Because sometimes, one just want to be melancholy...

I love autumn or I love the romantic fantasized idea of my imagined autumn. Melancholy, bittersweet, beautiful whether in glorious colors or gray outlines of desolated trees. I imagined sweet loneliness, long walks in snapping cold, chilly winds that cuts and reminded me to preserve this fragile body, time to go deep into reflection, to visit the boundary of depression and know that dark country, to slow time down and view the false promises of progress, ambition and speed; a time to gather, recharge and wait for the hibernation of winter and the rebirth in Spring. Maybe the actual autumn is none of these. Maybe it is just my illusion having never lived through an entire autumn though I have visited autumn in several countries over a long span of time. Maybe those living in autumn countries will laugh at my ridiculous notions. Maybe they are living too close to autumn. Whatever, I love my idea of autumn. So much so that I planted autumn in my garden so it can lead me there even under the tropical sun. And as fate would arrange, I'm going to reacquaint myself with autumn - tonight.

I am traveling again, flying off tonight. This time to Billund in Denmark and then off to Parma and Milan in Italy until the end of the month. So this is the last post until then. See you when I get back...

We Are Blind Because We Can See

I've had just enough time...   to learn that truth can be hidden in plain sight

You may not see the truth even if you have compound eyes...

I was so sure of my sight because I could see

Better than others, I thought

So I did not heed those close to me

"Beware! Things are not what they seem"

But I trusted my sight more because I, could see

We were so sure of the rights we fought

That we could not be wrong

Justice, compassion, transparency, truth

I thought all who came under the banners

Fought for the same God

The battles had been fought and lost

The banners strewn on the battlefield

With the corpses, as I retreated I reflect -

Blindness is such a strange ailment

We are blind because we are so sure we see

Taken of the moth in my garden who reminded me that truth can be hidden in plain sight...

How our eyes deceived us. We would not have been fooled if we were blind. I saw the path I was shown. I saw it lead straight to the castle. And we charged. But we did not see the swamp that bogged us down. That made us easy preys to the hidden foes and the circling vultures. We felt the slings of arrows taking up arms against a sea of troubles. No more! I lay down my arms but not before I reluctantly slay the beautiful illusive dream. But worry not about the dreamer, he dreams new dreams without bloodshed instead...

This Old Bucket Has Seen Better Days

I've had just enough time to...   learn from an old bucket

Taken one evening in Kansas City on a stopover...

This old bucket has seen better days

New and shiny, smooth and tough

Strong and sturdy, rugged and stout

Whether water, sand or soil

It carried with unbridled joy

Proud to be tough, to rough it out

But the years had taken its toll

Knocked and dropped, dented and cracked

Soldered and patched, when it got too bad

Discarded like a soiled rag

Another story, sad

of the old bucket taking in the sun...

One day it was picked up and painted over

Its role in Life completely altered

A humble pot to hold beautiful plants

Put in a corner to welcome the sun

This old bucket has seen better days

But the old bucket disagrees

It has never seen days as good as these

The Secret & Riddles of the Sphinx

I've had just enough time to...  learn the secret of the Sphinx

In Las Vegas, I could not decipher the secrets of the Sphinx...

In the land of sand and gold

I was stopped by a Sphinx of old who

Asked riddles to pass or be devoured

“What creature has one voice

And is four-footed, two and three?”

“Oh, Man!” I exclaimed,

What answer can I give to that?

The Sphinx looked up in surprise

The correct answer I had supplied

For man crawls on fours, walks on two

And in old age the cane makes three

The next question was about sisters,

“One gives birth to the other

And, she gives birth to the first.

Who are the sisters two?"

If I were to think “Night and Day”

I thought out loud, I could not say

The Sphinx stood up on all fours

Surveyed me curiously and said

“Only one last riddle remains,

Answer and you will not be slain”

because I cannot tell the real from the illusion.

“Would you love a creature hideous

To save or kill for your own sake?”

That is no riddle but a trick

Either answer will be a mistake

If I were to die, it might as well be for “love!”

And I gave that to the Sphinx straight

With a mighty roar, she sprang

My eyes closed waiting for her fangs

Over my head she flew and dashed hers

Against the rock it smashed

I lived to tell this tale

But I cannot give you an end for

I never discovered the Sphinx’s secret.

The Lady in the Flower Cheongsam Promise Me Love

I've had just enough time to...   deliberate on the complexities of Love & Life

The Lady waiting on the stairs by the street of Malacca

The lady in the flower cheongsam

Promise me love 

But I don’t have the currency 

She said she doesn’t mind 

But many do 

And do I 

Mind we are of different worlds 

Mine beneath hers

What about pride?

Love conquers all when you’re in love

But love is like soft petals on sunny days

All too soon it fades away while

Pride is sharper than steel and

Harder than the boulder

That stood in our way

Love on her mind

Coward! She cried

Your pride is too fragile

Hitting me where it hurts

How do I make you understand

A man’s pride is his being

Without which he is a bitch

I can give you my life

But I can’t sell you my pride

What about love?

What about love?

Without love a man can survive

A lesser man he may be but a man still

Without pride a man is a dog

Its tail licking its heel

Life in the way

I am a woman.

I need no pride which

Makes me more a man than you

I am willing to die for love but

I am not willing to die for pride

I am willing to give up everything

For that sublime feel

You are not willing to accept heaven

To your brittle pride you yield

She stood at the top of the stairs

I stayed below

She dared me to go up

But all I could think of

Is the same promise

Made by the farmer’s daughter

One love is as good as another

But a shattered pride

Stay shattered forever