My First Book - 'Pages of Life'

My first book: an anthology of poems entitled 'Pages of Life' will be out very soon, it is under publication. This book has been a dream for me. It is for the readers to judge whether the poems were worth publication or not but I cherished that dream for long and now I'm happy to see it come true.

How wonderful it is to see your dreams come true!!!  :)

P.S. The picture here is the title of the book and the photo is  my original, that is, my photography.....so don't you dare copy it ... LOL

The Ending of an Unknown Search

Pic src: Joy

Sometimes we don't even know that we are searching for something. We only realise it when that discreet, undisclosed and the unknown search ends with the discovery of that something. And it is a sense of fulfillment that gives you immense pleasure. We feel as if we have completed ourselves in a very important way. Life becomes all the more meaningful.

The search I am talking about is, as I said, for something unknown. But we can say that it is related to our deepest desires. It is like discovering our own 'utopia'. We all live in a world of dreams and we all wish to see them come alive some day. And it is at such a moment that we enjoy like the flight of a bird. This seemingly endless pursuit gives us a sense of freedom - a freedom from the chains that bind, from the feelings that all our dreams have been in vain, from the cobwebs of our heart, and freedom from the negativity of emotions.

A feeling of freedom is there because at times we have had experienced a fear in our heart that our dream is actually utopian and it goes without saying that we cannot think of achieving that. But the unexpected always happens! Keep trying...don’t give up, because you might get that dream material from the most unexpected quarters at the most unexpected time.

So the motto is as I always say, KEEP GOING...you never know what life has in store for you...but one thing is for sure that with your optimistic approach, you won’t end up with nothing!

Writing an Epitaph...shocked??

Pic src: Blank Epitaph

Epitaph may be seen as something that continues to live on even after a person has died. It is just like what we leave behind....I was reminded of John Keats’ epitaph: “Here lies the one whose name was writ in water.” Though Keats did not create something new for his epitaph, yet he used the idea contained in the lines written by Beaumont and Fletcher in their play ‘Philaster’. Keats’ epitaph led me to search for some more interesting epitaphs. Some of the brilliant ones I would like to share here:

• “A tomb now suffices him for whom the world was not enough.” – This is the line written on Alexander the Great’s grave but the author is unknown.

• “That’s all folks”, is what Melvin Jerome “Mel” Blanc, an American voice actor and comedian, chose to write for his epitaph. This line was the trademark line of cartoon character Porky Pig, whose voice was provided by Blanc for many years.

• “This is the last of Earth! I am content!” – It was John Quincy Adams, an American lawyer, diplomat and a politician, who wrote this wonderful statement for himself.

• “Called back”, is what the famous American author Emily Dickinson wrote as her epitaph.

Reading all these and many more, I was wondering if I was given a chance what I would like my epitaph to be. A tough task! But then an interesting one...after all, we would all love to leave behind footprints. We all would love to be remembered when we depart and that too in a special way.

Now I had a task at hand, I had to think of an epitaph for myself (though I know I would never get an opportunity to use that epitaph because that is not a part of my culture and religion). So let me think what I would like to include....

It would be something like:

•No matter what you do, you have to lick dust finally!

•Returning to dust? Nah!!! I’ll be back again to haunt you :)

•See you again! Till then don’t rest in peace that I have gone!!!

•I hope I am still there in your memories! May be a trace only!

•A space in your heart is all I want!

•Have I earned this place??? Oh yes, I sacrificed my life for this.

I couldn’t shortlist one out of those mentioned above. May be till I need them I am able to zero in on just one of them. So keeping my fingers crossed till then...that is because I don’t want to use them so soon; I still want to do many things...still want to make more efforts to realise my dreams, still want to do things that are somewhat incomplete.....I have miles to go before I sleep...

A Thank You Note!

It has been three years since I started my blog ‘Literary Jewels’. For the first time I made a post on 15 May, 2007. Since then it has been a memorable journey of 295 posts till now. And I have loved writing all of them! A very important part has been the comments I received from my readers. They have given me the much needed reinforcement, motivation and inspiration to move forward. I would like to thank my readers, who have kept me going.

When I first started writing this blog and was looking for ways to promote it, I came across one suggestion that we should comment on other blogs to make our presence felt. And it was also suggested as one way of attracting comments from other readers. Now after having gained three years of experience, I have formed my own opinions. There have been people who commented only when I did that (Pardon me for saying so but that has been true in some cases and I have no ill-will against them). But more importantly I discovered that there are a few readers, who commented regularly without my doing the same on their blog. Believe me this was not a deliberate attempt to stay away from their blogs. There has been a time when I did not devote much time commenting on other blogs, even I spent very less time reading their blog posts (though I really wanted to do that but somehow couldn’t spare much time). It was during that time I noticed this thing. I am especially grateful to them, for their selfless feedback. By writing this I fear I am running the risk of losing some of my readers. But then it was a heartfelt desire to mention it here. And I would like to add again that I am grateful to all my readers. Here I must mention those readers too who do not leave behind their footprints when they visit my blog. Then there have been ones who left anonymous comments. All those readers have all contributed in their own unique way to encourage me to keep this blog running.

I am very thankful to my words...yes, my words. After all, they are not wholly my slaves; I too am equally dependant on them to express myself. I have loved my blog ever since I started it. I say this because this has been a brilliant platform for my thoughts, ideas, feelings and expressions. My words have been my best friends – without any demands, without any complaints; being something on which I could depend without any doubt.
Once again I would like to say 'Thank You' to one and all who contributed their bit...I loved my journey throughout, and hope to continue to do so!!!

Best Friend (Story)

Today it was Ammu’s turn to vent out her pent up feelings. She had been a patient listener to her friend just a day before. Having someone to listen to gives such a nice feeling – even if it’s only a nod – just a nod too could work wonders at times. Fighting back the tears in her eyes with a forced smile Ammu went on to say, “I always used to tell myself ‘Life goes on’. Very often I reminded myself – doesn’t matter if the tune turns awry, the music goes on’. Look where I have landed now!” Silence prevailed but she perceived a nod from her friend...how consoling it was for her!

“I never expected this from myself. Inspite of firmly believing the philosophy of ‘life goes on’, I still see myself standing at the same place. Yesterday I found that I had not moved an inch.”

“Ammu come have your lunch”, Mom’s voice called out.

“Not yet hungry Mom”, pat came Ammu’s reply.

“Don’t delay too much”, the mother again reminded. Ammu could sense a tone of worry in her mother’s voice but she did not feel like having a morsel even, so tried to console her mother with a reluctant “Okay”.

Then falling back into the same stream of thought, she continued, “At times I just wish to be myself...with nothing to be done, nothing around me and nobody near”. At this point of time, Ammu was on the verge of breaking down but that magical smile did the trick! She flashed that million dollar smile to fight back those tears.

Just then a loud thunder was heard outside, and a sudden flash of lightening added to momentary glow to the gloomy atmosphere of her room.

At times Ammu felt that what she was indulging in was more of a monologue but then she had a feeling of satisfaction of having given vent to her most innermost desires, the pain of her shattered dreams, the disappointment of the paths that turned topsy-turvy...Today her best friend had been there to listen to her – a friend, who had always been there when she needed the most.

Having said all that, now she was ready to fly again – she felt the butterfly feeling, the wind in her wings and her dreams began to gain colour once again...she is ready to bounce back till she crash lands again...”This is how life goes on”, Ammu said, and planted a kiss on her diary while closing it for the day – after all, that was her best friend!

P.S. This is my first attempt at writing a story. Although I wouldn't exactly call this a story, yet it most closely resembled a story :)

So kindly bear with me :)))))

A Prayer (poem)

Pic src: Prayer

God give me the courage

to surge ahead

and not inch forward

towards the long lost dreams;

a chance to fulfill

my cherished dreams,

and wipe away the broken bits.

Reaffirm the faith in man,

of man’s goodness and goodwill.

Give me the wisdom to know

what is right,

and mettle to mend the wrong.

Let me not fall flat

on the mountains of hope,

let me see the light bright

at the end of the dark, dreary tunnel.

Give me the days when I am

unfazed by the obstacles,

unmoved by the setbacks,

and unscathed by the stones thrown.

Let me just move on...

© Amritbir Kaur

Another Take on Life...

Pic src: Meaning of Life

Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't.

~Richard Bach

Often when I get up in the morning, there is a conflict in my mind – to enjoy the day or to make something worthwhile out of it. This is actually what I term as a conflict between head and heart. But then this is what we all face often during the day – especially during vacations :D

Jokes apart let’s do some serious thinking about life. We say life is so simple, then why can’t we understand it??? But then why do we need to make special efforts to understand, because the moment we feel we have understood it, it would take a u-turn – God changes the question paper the moment we believe we have found out the answers.

Our life doesn’t owe us anything; instead we owe many things to life. Throughout our life we struggle just to ‘be’. And still we cannot be where we want to be! Life is a beautiful a melody, only that the lyrics are a bit messed up. But if we have a perfectly made song, who would aspire for something higher than that! And life would be just like a stagnant pool of water, wanting to move but with nowhere to go. It is the courage to move ahead that keeps us going and that is what differentiates a person from others.

F. Scott Fitzgerald very beautifully remarked, “Life was a damned muddle - a football game with everyone offside and the referee gotten rid of - everyone claiming the referee would have been on his side.” But then life cannot be lived on assumptions…in life there not only ifs, every ‘if’ is accompanied by a ‘but’. Now if I go on writing this post you all will be bored probably, but then I cannot go on and on like that…see here too, if and but :)