Category Archives: people
Life is Good, My Friends
RIP Mary Oliver (September 10, 1935 – January 17, 2019). Thank you for your precious words.
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I was recently sent a quote that got stuck in my mind and refused to leave. It went like this –
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
Think about that for a minute.
…your one wild and precious life…
Every one of those words is heavy with meaning, dripping with significance.
Isn’t it?
It got me thinking.
It also sent me off on a short, beautiful journey of discovery. I discovered (better late than never!) that this is a line from a poem, The Summer Day, by the famous American poet and Pulitzer prize winner, Mary Oliver. From this, I went on to discover her other wonderful poems. And I’m not done yet. But that’s a story for another day.
The essence of that one line makes me think about how careless we sometimes are about our one wild and precious life.
We don’t value it enough to get the best out of it.
We abuse.
We regret.
We fume.
We blame.
We envy.
We look elsewhere.
We get so full of should-haves and could-haves, we don’t pay attention to how fabulous and precious what we have already is.
Why is that?
Shouldn’t we be mostly celebrating our life and the world around that makes it what it is? Why waste a single moment on anything but making the most of it – each of us, as we live our one wild and precious life?
So much better to live in the awareness of how fortunate we are, rather than to get subsumed by all the things we think we should be and imagine that we should have.
If we look hard enough, dare I say – if we look really hard – what we will find is that life is good, life is very beautiful, indeed. And that’s something to be embraced and treasured. Every. Day.
I just came home from listening to an inspiring presentation from a young lady I know who has faced some of the toughest obstacles in life. Born with a birth defect, she has had to endure more than fifty surgeries (so far) and is unable to eat, except through an IV tube. She told her audience that her life had taught her to be a fighter and to defy all odds, and that the many scars she bears are simply testimony to her determination and hope. After each challenge she faces, she simply develops a new normal. She truly appreciates what others take for granted.
Now, here’s someone who knows precisely how priceless her one wild and precious life is, regardless (or because?) of all the hurdles it has thrown her way.
And you? Would you say that you are living life to the fullest?
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
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Indian Wedding Season Is Here Again
This is turning into a year of wedding celebrations in my friend and family circle (completely unrelated to Bollywood pictures used here).
What a big deal we make of them!
Are there any wedding celebration showcases bigger, grander or badder than the ones that Indians are prone to put on? (And why is that, by the way??)
All you have to do is to check out some of the contemporary bridal attire promoted today to get the idea of how far they have come. This is simply a representative area since I am talking about the whole gamut of products and services surrounding the special event. We have effectively created a shaadi industrial complex around Indian weddings – not just in India but here in the US and anywhere else that has settlers from India.
Back to the future?
It’s only early, early spring, but ‘the season’ has started, alright. I expect to attend and participate in a plethora of weddings during the year. And it will take all kinds –
- Elegant and sophisticated
- Simple (these days, the exception that proves the rule)
- Grand
- Ornate
- Over the top (for those of you interested, Have Trunk Will Travel, Inc* will rent you elephants for the baraat)
- Mixed Race/Mixed Religion/Mixed Region
- Arranged Marriages
- And not.
* This is actually a neat enterprise that is committed to elephant care and welfare. So when you rent an elephant for your wedding, you are actually doing a service to this endangered species. If there’s no wedding in your future, check it out anyway!
This year, for a change, I am looking forward to wedding season. Hmmmmmm, I wonder why? I’m actually quite excited.
The closer my relationship to the bride or the groom, the more fun I expect to have. Especially in connecting and re-connecting with friends and family. I’ve already got two under my belt this year.
Depending on which region of India dominates the planning of a wedding (or whether it’s the bridal couple or their parents that rule) , it can turn out to be any of the following (not all are mutually exclusive) –
- One big party – fun all the way
- Quiet and Solemn
- Noisy and Chaotic
- Ritualistic and Ceremonial
- Meaningful
- Unforgettable
I’d guess that if wedding planners had one wish then, across the board they would aim for that one universal experience for the bridal couple, their entourage and wedding guests, i.e. making it unforgettable (for all the right reasons!).
The corollary to this, of course, is that no one wants their wedding celebration to invoke that punishing, forgettable feel of ‘bland’. But just look at the vibrant colors in the picture below, as an example. Indian weddings, in general, are just this colorful and vibrant. Combine this with some spicy Indian cuisine, and luckily for my Indian friends, bland is simply not an option.
In any case, best wishes and good luck to all who are making 2013 their special year!
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The Yin and Yang of Life Anywhere 