The Notebook..!!!

Lately, I have been reading a lot of novels by Nicholas Sparks. And I must say that there is some magic in the way the author writes. He has 16 published novels out of which 6 have been adapted into films. I have read 7 novels by him and that too one after the other continuously, which obviously explains the depth of my craziness for reading novels by Sparks. Today, I have started reading my 8th novel by Sparks which is entitled as "Message In A Bottle". Well, this is not in continuation to the previous seven books which i have read as I was captivated by works of some other author for around two weeks (which I am surely going to discuss in my next post). So coming back to Sparks, I personally feel that the books by him are specifically for those people who love reading romantic, emotional, religious, tragedy, fate etc. kind of stuff. Moreover, while reading his novels, one can always feel that "Love is in the air". I am so much moved by his works that I have started collecting all the novels which I have read till now and will soon have a good collection of his books (along with other ones as well) to my credit.

The first novel that was published by Nicholas Sparks was “The Notebook” in 1996. Though, few of my friends to whom I had suggested reading this novel didn’t find it too good, I enjoyed the book to a huge extent. Well, I am not too good at writing detailed reviews for a book or a movie I have seen as my mind goes blank when I think of doing the same; hence i would skip going deeper into the details about the book. But yes, there are few lines at different stages in the book which deeply touched my heart and which I would surely like to share with everyone. Here it goes:-

 

-   Science goes only so far and then comes God.

-   I think our love can do anything we want it to.

-   It's the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee.

-   So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... every day.

-   We fell in love, despite our differences, and once we did, something rare and beautiful was created. For me, love like that has only happened once, and that's why every minute we spent together has been seared in my memory. I'll never forget a single moment of it.

-   You are the answer to every prayer I've offered. You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don't know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have.

-   They didn’t agree on much. In fact, they didn’t agree on anything. They fought all the time and challenged each other every day. But despite their differences, they had one important thing in common. They were crazy about each other.

-   In times of grief and sorrow I will hold you and rock you and take your grief and make it my own. When you cry I cry and when you hurt I hurt. And together we will try to hold back the floods to tears and despair and make it through the potholed street of life.

-    “A living poem" had always been the words that came to mind when he tried to describe her to others.

-   A person can get used to anything if given enough time.

-   Our lives can't be measured by our final years, of this I am sure.

-   Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants? Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?

-   No matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours.

-   Miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things.

-   Our souls were one, if you must know and never shall they be apart; with splendid dawn, your face aglow I reach for you and find my heart.

-   It might seem as the hardest thing to do, but you have to forget the guy who forgot about you.

-   That a day spent with dreaming and sunsets and refreshing breezes cannot be bettered.

-   No drowning man can know which drop of water his last breath did stop.

-   I am no one special. Just a common man with common thoughts. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul and for me that has always been enough.

-   You and I were different. We came from different worlds, and yet you were the one how taught me the value of love. You showed me what it was like to care for another, and I am a better man because of it. I don't want you to ever forget that.

-   The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we've lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we've found each other. And maybe each time, we've been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come.

-   Dusk is just an illusion because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are there cannot be one without the other yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel I remember wondering to be always together yet forever apart?

-   We sit silently and watch the world around us. This has taken a lifetime to learn. It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and not say anything and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure. Silence is holy. It draws people together because only those who are comfortable with each other can sit without speaking. This is the great paradox.

Freedom...By Choice...!!!

He was very afraid. He hid himself in the corner of the dark room so that no-one could find him. Today was another day just like rest of the days. He saw his mother being beaten up badly. Her nose was bleeding and she was not able to even stand up on her feet. He was watching this from the corner of his eye and felt helpless at the same time as he could not do anything to save his mother. “How things had changed all of a sudden?” he thought. Theirs was a perfect and happy family. He remembered the days when they all together celebrated every small occasion enthusiastically. Life was going quite perfect till someone else entered their lives. He did not like this new member at all, especially when he saw that she was given more importance than his mother now. Most of all, he hated her for taking the position which his mother held once. He saw his mother crying every night; he could feel the pain she was going through but was not able to understand why did she never complain about this anytime? May be, it was her love that provided her the strength to tolerate everything and the hope which assured her that everything would be fine one day.

While he was thinking all this, suddenly he heard his mother crying out loud. She wanted to explain that it was not her fault at all, but the distrust and hatred which she faced, broke her down. Her heart was shattered into pieces and she could find no other option than to tolerate everything silently. He could no more bear the situation of his mother and so decided to put an end to all of this. Somehow he gathered the courage and stepped out from the place where he was hiding himself. Soon he realized that he was no more afraid of what was coming further as he knew that soon his mother would be free from all the sufferings she had from the past few days. He wanted his mother to smile again and to stay happy forever. He had never thought about this earlier, but he had to do this today, for the sake of his mother.

He ran towards the place where his mother was being beaten up. He clenched his jaw tightly and gave a bite as hard as he can at the master’s foot -The same master who everyday used to beat his mother harshly and mercilessly since the day when he had brought the new dog in the house. The master cried out in agony and fell down on the floor at the very moment with his foot bleeding severely. The son helped his mother to stand up and they both ran away from the place. He was happy that both of them had escaped successfully from the house which was no less than a hell to them since few days. After all, there was no love for them in that house and the master kept them there so that he can sell them one day at a decent price. But he no more wanted to be anyone’s slave. He cuddled his mother and started wagging his tail in happiness. Soon they saw a group of street dogs in a distant area and smiled at each other. Their future was waiting for them.

Those little things in Life…!!!

Few days back, I was waiting with my friend for our office bus at 7:30 in the morning when she got a call that the bus would be late by 20 minutes. Well, that is quite irritating for me because of two reasons. First, I don’t like to wait for anyone and anything at all. Second, I am quite habituated to the punctual bus timings; thanks to our driver. So finding nothing interesting to do, me and my friend decided to wait and sat down on the steps of a nearby shop. What I saw next took me back in time and I was flooded with memories of my childhood.

I saw little children with bags on their back and water bottles around their neck, holding their mama or papa’s hand, waiting for their school bus. It reminded me of my early school days when either my mom or dad used to take me to the bus stop every day. And the last it happened was when I was in 2^nd standard. After that, I was old enough to catch the bus on my own – as I think so.

I then saw some ladies in a sleepy mood, buying milk packets from a nearby seller. I earlier thought that this must have stopped these days as usually people get the milk packets in front of their gates early in the morning, but was amazed to see that there are still many people who take a walk till the shop in the morning to buy milk.

There were few people, especially the aged ones, who were coming back from jogging and their morning exercises. They stopped at a corner where a man was selling all the newspapers and near to it, there was a tea stall. What a perfect combination! The satisfaction I saw on their faces, having a glass of tea while reading newspaper early in the morning, was something incredible.

There was a sweeper cleaning the road with his broom. He was too busy in his work that he hardly paid any attention to the people passing by. There were clouds of dust everywhere but he continued with his work. It was a scene to watch once in a while for me, but an everyday task for him which was the reason he didn’t even look up for once at anyone who passed through there.

Few ladies outsides their homes were busy cleaning the verandas. They were still in their night gowns, but the daily chores were something more important to them than grooming themselves first, which showed their commitment and dedication towards their family.

Few shops started to open slowly, especially the tea stalls, green groceries shop and general stores. A van loaded with green groceries stopped by a small shop. The servants unloaded the groceries speedily and soon started arranging them in their shop. I usually buy groceries at once for the entire week, and that too I go in the evening, so I was watching this after a long period of time.

A florist was arranging flowers in his shop near a small temple. The fresh flowers and their fragrance left me mesmerized.

Suddenly, my friend saw our bus coming and we stood up from there and left the place. But I was still thinking about those little things of life which were very common to watch when I was a child. Today, I hardly get a chance to see these day to day activities going around or rather I should say, I do get a chance to see, but don’t pay attention to them. Life seems to be very busy these days and sometimes we miss the enormous happiness which we get from the smallest things happening around us.

Light Moments...!!!

It’s been one year of my marriage with Yog and till date I get to see many surprising sides of his personality. Though I already know them, but every time he comes up so differently in situations that leaves me enthralled. Below are few of them:

Once I was grinding something with my hand grinder when it got dismantled. After several failing attempts, I was pretty sure that Yog would fix it up. So last Sunday, I handed it over to him while he was watching his morning news (I forgot that I can least expect him to do something while he watches news). Without giving a look to it, he assured me that he would fix it in 10 minutes and so I got occupied with my work. The next thing I heard him saying was that "This can never be fixed. It is permanently damaged" and was busy watching news again. Hardly would he have expected this reply from me when I said - "No problem! We will get it fixed from that uncle running a shop in the corner of our street who says that "I can repair anything"…" And it worked….I got my grinder repaired within 10 minutes.

One fine evening, we went to a newly constructed mall opened recently near to our place. After shopping there and exploring it for around 2 hours, we decided to call the day off. The "Exit" of mall was provided at different directions based on the area it would lead to. We had to follow the "Exit to Viman Nagar" board, but as it was not yet open, we followed route having board "Exit to Nagar Road". Although Yog was aware that the other route (Viman Nagar one) is not permitted to be taken, he took the car near the security driver and asked "Idhar se bahar jaa sakte hain kya? (Can we follow this route?) ", to which the security driver very rudely replied "Idhar se nahi jaa sakte hain (You cannot take this route)"… After leaving from there, Yog’s first reaction was "Nahi jaa sakte tab hi to pooch raha tha…jaana hi hota to poochta kyun (Why I would have asked if it was permitted to go from there?)"

Mega Yacht...!!!

Few days back, one of my friends forwarded an e-mail with the subject "Mega-Yacht". I opened it to find out that the e-mail mentioned of the yacht gifted by Mukesh Ambani as a birthday gift to his wife. The yacht costed 20 Million Euros and was to be parked at Breach Candy, Mumbai. For those who have not yet received that e-mail, please refer: - http://zillionarts.com/most-luxurious-yacht-ever/

The e-mail spread as a fire in my group in the office and soon there were group conversations on the communicator and we started forwarding it to those around us who hadn’t received it yet. In such cases, often we come across some funny comments. Here are few from my friends:

Btw, my friends strictly refused to disclose their names with the comments mentioned below, so I’ll refer them as A, B, C….Seems they feel it as a threat to their identity.

A: Hey Bhagwaan!!! Ye mujhe god kyu nahi le leta? (Why doesn’t he adopt me?)

B: Kaash humko iski yacht pe kaamwali baai ka job mil jaaye….

C: How people earn so much that they afford to buy such things?

D: Bohot mast hai yaar….Par ye iska karega kya?

E: Apni wife pe itna kharcha? Very costly, they are not simple anyways. World’s richest person, friend of Bill Gates, he should learn something from that person who lives in a single house…I m forgetting his name…yeah "Warren Buffet"…

And last but not the least…

F: Ohhh man!!!! Iska ladka single hai kya???

Faded Love...!!!

"I will be coming home late today. Please have your dinner and go to sleep"

"But you had promised that we will….."

"Hey listen. I have to go in a meeting. Call u later…"

Beep…beep…beep…beep…

She was used to these types of conversations lately. But today, she had least expected this as it was their second anniversary. For a moment, she forgot that this was a part of her life now, in fact their lives now. She tried not to think about all those things but her thoughts drifted in that direction speedily. Her head was spinning, her mind seemed out of control and she went to her favorite place – the one where she used to go whenever she felt down. It made her feel relax and ease all her tensions.

She thought about the initial days when their love had just blossomed. Riya and Aditya were deeply in love with each other and both had decided to spend the rest of their lives together. There was an essence of purity, respect, trust, forgiveness, acceptance, sacrifice and loyalty in their relationship which blended both of them into a single soul. They were determined to be together no matter how many obstacles may come their way and they stuck to the promise they had made to each other. Though their families didn’t agree, they got married and started a completely new life together.

In the beginning, the romance between them was abounding. They both were the world for each other and were extremely happy that way. But hardly had they known that it takes huge effort to sail a ship through the storm successfully. It all started with minor issues first and then gradually the differences between them increased. Initially, they would quarrel only amongst themselves, but soon their arguments started coming up in front of their friends as well. Their life was an open book to everyone now and it became the source of entertainment for few as well. Aditya started spending more time in office than at home. He started ignoring Riya and would never lose any opportunity to tease and provoke her. She too would always find flaws in whatever he said or did, ultimately increasing the gap between them.

Thinking about all this made her feel suffocated and she started breathing heavily. She desperately wished to go back in time and correct all those things between them that had gone wrong. She wanted to be in love again with Aditya. Though situations were going against both of them since long, she somehow expected that they would celebrate their anniversary together today. But she was shattered into pieces after hearing his response. Everything seemed useless and unbearable to her. She wanted to escape out of all this and set herself free. She wished to live in a world where there were no more hard situations between both of them, where both would only love and respect each other. She was roaming restlessly on the floor and she felt her legs could no more hold the burden of her own body.

She still moved forward, giving the entire place one last look with the hope that the place which always gave comfort to her and spared her from all the tensions will help her today as well and suddenly that place seemed a best mate to her. She felt a lump in her throat as she was going to leave this place forever, may be to find solace somewhere else. Her eyes were swollen and red, her mascara was washed with tears along her face, but these things no more mattered to her. She reached the parapet of her terrace and glanced down on the road. A distance of only seventeen floors to be travelled and everything would be fine, she thought. Without thinking too much, she climbed the parapet and stood on it. She stretched her arms and felt the cool breeze across her body. She closed her eyes and saw an image of Aditya. A soft smile spread across her lips and soon she was floating in the air….

"Happy anniversary Darling…..I love you!!!"…. She heard Aditya’s voice. She glanced everywhere around, but could not see him. She wanted to be with her husband, to hold him tight in her arms, to feel him around her, to love him, but why was she feeling so helpless? Why she was in no more control of her mind? Why was her body not responding accordingly? She started struggling a lot…She tried to get up, but could not. She started sobbing heavily and continuously. Suddenly she felt as if her body was being shaken up. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see Aditya in front of her. He was holding a bouquet of roses. She quickly looked around her and found herself in their bedroom just to realize that it was a bad dream. She hugged Aditya tightly, cried a lot and felt that in spite of the differences between them, their love was far beyond everything and she promised herself to bring back the spark of love which was only faded between them, not lost.

"Happy anniversary to you too Darling. I love you too and always will through eternity and beyond...!" was all she could say…