Too Many Options ..

The young are so smart these days, younger daughter talking about relationships and how to make marriages work ! I can not find fault with what she says, but the confidence with which she says it all!!  As if she has been in and out of a thousand relationships already..

The crux of the matter is.. sometimes we need to have a child's perspective on many things.. including marriage. For a child, marriages are meant to last forever. Period. No matter how much pain one causes or suffers.. it is all worth it if the family is together. There is simply no other way.

Now if we had  no other option, it would have been so much easier. But we do. Life offers us so much choice. Everyday, alternatives are being invented, since discoveries are exhausted. Adam and Eve had no choice but one another. Then came civilization.. communities, religions, races. One can chose the right person.. may the spouse be of any community, caste, religion and now you can chose the sex too!! With each passing day you are offered so much choice !! There was a time when kids were married off in childhood.. and such marriages worked fantastically. In fact the success rate was 100 percent. Until death do us part indeed !

Now you choose your own partners. And the more the choice, more break ups. For God's sake.. you have made the choice yourself.. stick by it !!  Yet they find ways out. On trivial matters. What is lacking is tolerance and options.  If you find it tough to make it work, you can choose divorce. Or separation. If there was no other option, you would have somehow found ways to make it work.

Same can be applied to many other day to day choices we make. From the era of B/W to todays 3D, Television has come a long way. So have the networks. Years ago, we had to be content with Door Darshan. Yet I think enjoyed whatever they showed us. Today, half the time is spent on flipping channels to make a choice!

I have a smart phone.. agreed it is not the smartest. But it still is my phone ! Yet  I am looking for a new phone for the past 2 months.  And then again, I have the option to choose now or wait a few months for a smarter phone. Cant seem to settle for one because of so many options!

So today my daughter has taught me a lesson. It is easy to run away from a given situation. There are solutions to problems which give you choices to opt out; and they are attractive in the short term. But in the long run, it is best to look at fewer options and make the best of what you have. May it be your relationships, your job, your home, your friends or your phone.

Loyalty goes a long way. For everyone.. and for everything. !

Tribute to My Mother

When I was young,
I took my mother for granted.
She cooked, cleaned and looked after us.
 Even the birds and bees do that..
 As I grew older, found fault with everything she did.

As she started to grow older,
And could not cope with the work,
too egoistic to accept her inadequacies..
I was her worst critic.

History repeats.. tables turn,
you realize her worth when you go through the same..
And as the years roll by,
I realize her greatness..

I salute her relentless duty
her unique never accept defeat attitude..
In all the hardships she had endured
I wonder what made her tick?

We never celebrated 'Mother's Day' back then
She never received a word of appreciation
nor any certificates, nor accolades
nor a remuneration for her round the clock duty

Now I see what makes her tick..
Its Faith.. Religion.. Geeta Gyan
She regularly reads Holy scriptures..
Advises me to do the same..

Now I feel, it is the need of the hour
Thank you Mummy..
For creating me, and
For being what you are!!

At the Cross Roads..

Life brings me regularly,
to many a cross roads..
Its the choice I make..
Which leads me to my destiny.

So is it me who chooses
By choosing the right Path..
Or is it God Almighty,
Who offers me the choice?

Is my life my doing,
A result of my choices?
Or it is the choice of those around me
Whom I care for,
and choose accordingly?

There are many who consider this
and some who do not
And those who do..
end up living in the shadows
and those who do not.. shine bright !