Note to the Lion

Dear Dad

Ordinarily, this note would have been very difficult to write, but what's making it easy for me is my million odd faults as a son and my being nothing of the sort that you envisioned and dreamed of me to be.

While other Fathers proudly bask in the glory and achievements of their children, here I am, a fitting example of nothingness, out of who nothing big can be expected. I'm not complaining, but merely admitting something that you already know and have known for a very long time now. So then, the question of why writing this note in the first place?

Well, for all of my misgivings as a son, I wanted to tell the world of how much you toiled in order to make my life rewarding and happy! Of all the times when you put me ahead of you to make sure that I had the best always and all ways! For having made sure that I went to fine places to seek education and had among the best of literature to read from! Ensuring always that I had a very good meal to savour when a lot of my kind went starving because they were not fortunate enough to have someone such as you for a Father!

We've had our differences and agreements, and many a times I could not reason your logic as you would have desired me to do, but I cannot say enough in appreciation of the wonderfully everlasting lessons that I have learnt from you! You have taught me far more than what books and exponents could and it is a shame that I cannot demonstrate any of that in a manner you'd have wanted to see!

I'm not writing this to eulogize you, that's not the objective and you know I hate to do just that! I'm simply telling the world that your absence would have made things unimaginably worse for me!

I'd have missed the opportunity to be a step closer to God had you not been around!

Enough said, I guess!

Footnotes:

Not quite a tribute on occasion of Father's day which happened yesterday! Just a random note in appreciation, would be more like it!

Take me away

I've been asked a number of times as to what my greatest fear is! In a very jocular sense and almost immediately after being asked so, always, I've retorted with the word 'myself!' And, I keep wondering what that actually would be, for all of us do have some sense of fear, most certainly, whether we choose to readily acknowledge it by saying what it is, or mean to keep that a secret and wear a whiff of confidence and an air of invincible importance in the attempt to convey a sense of courage!

Many of us have long passed the state of being afraid of snakes, heights, water or insensible actions, primarily as a result of mastery over the mind and experience, or rather an impeccable combination of both, which many a times proves to be a very staunch ally in the road of life, often helping us overcome even the most mountainous of obstacles!

So coming back to what I would term as my primal fear, you know what that is? It is the fear of witnessing the deaths of loved ones as my own life would progress into a seemingly endless tapestry of eventful handiwork supposedly given to extend only for that very purpose of being such a mute and wretched spectator! I fear, most, of being the one who would see endless deaths of friends and family without having the opportunity to conclude myself until such a point in time when all of them who matter the most have been expended! I have a very uncanny premonition that this one is going to be true, so much as I'm sure of my name!

Diagnostically speaking, I'm told Necrophobia is the term!

To the dark side of the Moon

Is there something such as dark energy, dark force or the like? I'm not talking in terms of physical cosmology or astronomy which relates to the energy that fills itself across space and is responsible for the rapid and continual expansion of the universe.

I'm talking of negative forces at work that can be destructive. I mean, every positive supposedly has a counterpart in the opposite? Can it be explained? I'm curious to know!

What exactly is a negative? It is believed to be more potent than just being an opposite of a positive force, one that is primarily intent upon creating a harmful circumstance in order to achieve a certain objective. But there is another side to this assumption, which seems to be a more prudent approach and certainly one that is comforting. What if there really is no positive or negative energy? Maybe all energy is neutral after all, until the point of our personalization of it, in the manner that we do!

I'd like to quote something very interesting I read off the internet; Look at determination as a common character trait. It is an intent that, if carried to one extreme can make someone so stubborn that they will never risk change. On the other hand, it can make people so determined to succeed that they will risk everything just to say they did it. The original energy, therefore, has no positive or negative connotation. It gets that based solely on how each of us use it. Sounds convincing?

Now, you'll forgive me for having titled this post after what is perhaps one of the most acclaimed musical creations in history! No dark forces at work here, I assure!

Put the sun back

I've written about this once before, but that's not stopping me from doing it once again!

Sometimes I wonder if it really is all that complicated to seek true love and be blessed with it! Is it so phenomenally difficult to arrive upon what is perhaps the most blissful times of life? Must there be a great deal of struggle to achieve it or can it be chanced upon just like one would arrive on a road to a certain destination?

Why then, does it prove so elusive and tiresome to be drawn into? Is it experience of instances before hand that makes one judgemental and careful? Or is it limited to the will of time to present such a wonderful situation to unravel in front of the patiently willing?

It's very easy, I presume, to maintain one's composure in the face of any adversity, particularly if you have made that very steadfast decision to remain glassy and supposedly emotionless and appear to put up a very strong face for the world to see! That is quite another something!

But then deep down, there is something of an emotion that wants, perhaps needs, a brush of wind to swish over the face with a whiffing caress and yet a sense of comfort that warms up the cockles of the insides!

Love is love, after all! I can't explain if you know what I mean! :)

Footnotes:

I want you to know that this was written in an absolutely positive mood and not otherwise. When on a rainy Sunday afternoon, my being capitulated to the wonderful yesteryear favorite of The Coral titled "Put The Sun Back," I found an instant connect between my mind and the keyboard which resulted in this post!

Why don't you spend sometime listening to this masterpiece yourself and get lost in the wonders of music and relish the moments so spent?

The White Mountain

The White Mountain (HD) from Constantin Philippou on Vimeo.

From where I am standing Dushanbe isn’t too far! And, Dushanbe is the edge of the world!

An expanse of wilderness sweeps me and I know it cannot be covered by even the speed of thought, much less that of light! The wind is cold and brutal but there is a sense of longing to remain where I am, and merely watch the wonder that unfolds ahead of me in a dimension that my mind, with it's umpteen limitations, cannot possibly comprehend! Time is certainly not a factor! The inside reassures me that there is nothing to hurry up for, so I’m calm and composed, free from the otherwise haranguing pursuit that doggedly plays ball with my mind!

Rich orange hues soon give way to shades of gray! Darkness falls and there are a million shining lights dotting the wide sky. They look like brilliant pearls saying something in unison that I strain to understand. Flashes of light erupt in many spots, all at once and almost always, often seeming to be patterns yet so random and incalculable! I cannot seem to focus my gaze on just one setting, though wanting to do just that! It is breathtakingly marvelous yet overwhelming!

A thousand voices call out to me from the sky and yet I know I cannot go, though I so much want to, or rather - need to!

Footnotes:

The White Mountain is a time-lapse video shot by Charles Leung and the marvelous background score was composed by musician Constantin Philippou.

It is to be noted that this post is purely an abstract and bears no connection whatsoever to the geo-politically significant city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan.

Time goes by

No, not Madonna's confessions on a dance floor! I'm talking of how unimaginably fast days are fleeting by!

Is it just me who is feeling so? What seems to be the reason? I mean, 2010 happened just a while ago and now we are poised to complete one half it! Is it that we are so engrossed in life and it's very mundanely routine happenstances, that we fail to notice the passage of time? Or is it that the collective stress of what we endure causes nature to push forward the limitation of time so that life maybe kind on us?

Remember childhood? That brilliant time of life when actually being lived would never seem to pass? Maybe it's our over zealous quest for the end that is perhaps driving us towards it at seemingly light speeds!

Good to keep thinking, but the truth is that there's no stopping the tick-tock!

I found a marvelous time-lapse video on the internet which perhaps is a perfect representation of how 'time flies.' Titled City Life, it is a creation of Spencer Black, and the fantastic background score is by composer Constantin Philippou. Do take a look!


City Life (HD) from Constantin Philippou on Vimeo.

One for the friend

To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.

-- Brandi Snyder

There is perhaps nothing like catching up with old friends and talking about bygone times, relishing moments of life that have long been buried deep - as the vestiges of time, and be able to heartily laugh over incidents that are cherished and remembered as those great unifying factors!

It is certainly a matter of pure strength to be able to visualize and make a sense of togetherness woven over a fabric of love, respect and fondness that are not associated with any material underlying but purely based on the coming together of minds and hearts!

To be able to stay in sync despite adversities from many worlds, professional and personal, added with the brutalities of time and events - ah pure joie de vivre!

And, the finest of all pleasures, apart from of course living the moment, is to be able to envision togetherness in the days to come, uncorrupted by attitudes, selfish motives and a whole lot of more damaging dynamics!

God bless us all and keep us together!

Happy birthday RO

Redefining Oblivion turns 4 today!

Originally cast under a different space and name on July 21, 2004, this space is the result of an underdog's desire to reach out to the world in an effort to learn and experience the many wonders that are!

Today, after close to 6 years of having begun blogging, and 4 years of having experienced the joy of this wonderful medium known to us as Blogger, I am an extremely happy man, fortunate for being able to interact with wonderful people such as you, through who I see and know different worlds, rich in culture, well-being, happiness and above all else - a sense of togetherness like no other!

At this juncture, I'd like to whole heartedly thank my 5500+ readers and fellow bloggers from across 1043 individual locations in 99 countries for their 12000+ visits, tracked since the incorporation of the Google Analytics tracking system in December 2008 within this space! Your visits mean a whole lot to me and are a constant source of unparalleled pleasure and medium of interaction, something which I dearly look forward to!

I cannot say enough to express my love, sense of happiness and gratitude!

Love you all!

Timelessness experienced!

In a sense, all of us are travelling constantly, to destinations far and wide, within and outside!

There is always a sense of urgency combined with enthusiasm and hope, or despair, as the case may be, something that inexplicably knots the stomach of every traveller, experienced and otherwise. Travel has indeed become a very integral part of our lives, as a massive exercise of being able to deliver us from one destination to another, quite often one realm to another, it may seem!

We seek to move and change as often as we are, in the quest for something that we assume is within our grasp yet unknown to our minds, only defined as a certain place to arrive at, associated with memories, bygones or anticipations, to connect ourselves with time, past, present or future!

Then, in mechanically aided configurations, set in motion, while at travel, we cast away our anxieties momentarily in the hope that our lives will be better for the purpose that we have embarked upon, in the quest of! Our disposition, powers and limitations seem to bear uncanny similarities, fused together in waiting for time to pass. The only difference lies perhaps in our minds, burdened with differences of sorts many others will never come to know, much less understand!

But fate will most cruelly decree another course and turbulence will come without warning, although some of us will have had a sense of premonition! But then, it is too late and the inconceivable is set in motion to enact something that will change our lives forever, by bringing an end to it, in the manner and form that we know of existence in this realm. Time will cease to exist, and so will us, to be hence remembered as statistic and spoken about in memoirs!

Footnotes:

Redefining Oblivion mourns the tragic deaths of 158 passengers who lost their lives on-board flight IX812, that crash landed in Mangalore during the early hours of 22nd May. This post extends it's heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and friends and also thanks providence and the good Samaritan souls in vicinity for saving the lives of 8 others who would have otherwise succumbed as a result of the accident!

À la Culture

I will forgive you for assuming that I made a mess of culture and cuisine, or rather a mash of the two! Oh, just in case you didn't, I'd like you to know I was referring to the title of this post in a rather benign manner considering the mighty malignancies that have plagued diversity, culture, development and perhaps the most abused of them all - dialogue! No sarcasms, honestly! Only hopes!

According to the United Nations, today is the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, adopted in the aftermath of the 9/11 incident, aimed at facilitating culturally diverse communities to understand the values of coming together with the objective of achieving harmonious working relationships, or better still - partnerships. Sounds certainly more creative, promising and diplomatic, I gather!

Now, I know this is very difficult to get across to a politician, but perhaps the esteemed body of diplomats at the General Assembly thought it better to create a little something for the occasion nevertheless, in the belief that figurative gestures of goodwill need only to be lettered in print while clearly being devoid of any purposeful understanding or an ability to function, or both; something that you and I would choose to call a matter of convenience, I suppose?

Now, before some of you jump up to accuse me of disregard, let me assure you that I do know the 'supposed' significance of this 'illustrious' occasion, which is to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to learn to “live together” better. (No, those quotes surrounding live together were not inserted by me!)

Meanwhile the IAEA can have it's every-so-often tête-à-tête with Iran while the IMF can continue to use Apac as a drawing board for implementing it's macroeconomic policies heavily riddled with conditionalities! How very cultural and diverse, or both!

Did anyone notice; that following these rough times in the corporate world, even the United Nations has evolved, for starters, adopting it's very own punch line, which reads that "It's your world."

Packaging?

Footnotes:

This post is by no means an attempt to deride a world body! Any suggestive notions are to be regarded as misleading and dismissed immediately! For the same reason, I ought to have titled this little note as 'Disclaimer' rather than 'Footnotes.'

Once again, honestly, no sarcasms! Only hopes!

In the world of the absolute

It was a matter of great privilege to have been invited for the 87th founding anniversary of the Narayana Gurukula in Ooty. What better then, I thought, than to spend the time reflecting upon the teachings of His Holiness Sri Narayana Guru, foremost among social reformers, thinkers, erudite scholars and saints that India has been home to.

The following are my thoughts gathered in deeply introspective moments during the occasion

What is the purpose of our lives? Is it to acquire fame and recognition? Does it lie in amassing a great deal of wealth and material comforts? Or is it meant to get our hands on superior positions that yield power, prominence and money? For most of us, that is the very and only purpose of our lives!

In truth, the real purpose of life is to be able to live in happiness and peace of mind and pass away to another realm that awaits us in continuation of the great cycle of existence, and pass away from here to another place, we all will, in a span of time. That is the absolute and whole truth!

So then, why is it that we spend a great deal of time and energy to acquire those things that will not be a part of us for all time to come? The answer lies in our unending desires and a gross inability to categorize and differentiate our wants and needs, the former of which is almost always mistaken for the latter!

I’m not here to sermonize on how good or bad the world is today, unfortunately it has become a matter of extreme relativity and certain debate to which no agreement can be elicited upon! Neither am I here to tell you how you must lead your lives, for that is certainly your prerogative and I am no authority!

I’m here, merely wondering how important it is to reflect upon our thoughts, words and deeds. I'm also thinking aloud on how peaceful it must be to be able to delink the self from the constant pursuit of desires and wants! None of us is superior or otherwise for what we possess or don’t in a material form. If some of us really are, it is because of our attitude, the ability to reason well, and most importantly the ability to live our lives in a peaceful manner. There is no higher purpose than to be able to live without hatred, prejudice, dishonesty and doubt.

Today, there is a lot of talk on how to change the world, on how to normalize it, on how to harmonize it and so on. I say, there is no need for any of that. And, why so? That is simply because, the world is made of us, people like you and I, and when we make a concerted effort to effect a change from within ourselves, the world will automatically witness the change that we envision! So technically, it is us who need to change as opposed to the belief that change has to come from and be effected by an external entity!

Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be.

Tribute to Motherhood

It is perhaps quite like being showy to highlight dates to commemorate Motherhood and the many wonders associated with it. Truly, and in earnestness, one should pay respectful tribute on a very continually personal basis, through every thought, word and deed, or so I believe!

Nevertheless, I couldn't stop myself from summing up a few quotes of tribute on the occasion. Apt and full of meaning, yet simple and clear, these are, I believe, elegant masterpieces uttered by the wise over time in admiration of what is perhaps the most beautiful, loving and supportive of creations, to say the least that is!

No painter's brush, nor poet's pen, in justice to her fame, has ever reached half high enough, to write a mother's name. ~Author Unknown

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along. ~Margaret Culkin Banning

Women are aristocrats, and it is always the mother who makes us feel that we belong to the better sort. ~John Lancaster Spalding

Now, as always, the most automated appliance in a household is the mother. ~Beverly Jones

That best academy, a mother's knee. ~James Russell Lowell

Grown don't mean nothing to a mother. A child is a child. They get bigger, older, but grown? What's that suppose to mean? In my heart it don't mean a thing. ~Toni Morrison, Beloved, 1987

A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, "where mother is." ~Keith L. Brooks

Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother's secret hope outlives them all. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother. ~Abraham Lincoln

A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done. ~Author Unknown

The best conversations with mothers always take place in silence, when only the heart speaks. ~Carrie Latet

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. ~Oprah Winfrey

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest. ~Irish Proverb

Footnotes:

The 'State of the World's Mothers 2010' released yesterday has ranked India 73rd in the list of 77 nations rated for the "best place to be a mother." This clearly means that there is a lot that needs to be done for womens' emancipation in India, primary among them being the issues pertaining to education, health and socio-economic well-being!

"The report has highlighted the shortage of trained health workers, mostly in the semi-urban and rural villages that house majority of Indian population, as the main reason behind the country's sorry state of health care system. The report analysed a total of 166 countries, among which Sweden is placed at the top while Afghanistan is at the bottom."

Excerpts from the State of the World's Mothers 2010 report

An update on the commenting system on Redefining Oblivion:

After much consideration, in order to make the commenting process a more personal exercise, I have incorporated the intensedebate application which will henceforth allow, you to observe comments and me to respond to them in a more interactive and one-to-one manner. I hope you find this interesting and certainly more personal than the dreary monotonic system that came along with blogger by default!

Remembering Tagore

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

-- Rabindranath Tagore, Chitto jetha bhayashunyo (Where the mind is without fear), Gitanjali, 1910

The grand doyen of Indian literature, music and poetry, educationist, spiritualist, philosopher and Nobel Laureate, respected world over as a man whose creations have no equals, was born on this day in 1861.

Today, as Redefining Oblivion pays respectful homage to this unequivocal polymath, I have chosen to post some of his most celebrated words that have hence become iconic, timeless and supremely meaningful.

Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come

Age considers; youth ventures

Depth of friendship does not depend on length of acquaintance

Emancipation from the bondage of the soil is no freedom for the tree

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.

Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it

Facts are many, but the truth is one

In Art, man reveals himself and not his objects

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them

Nirvana is not the blowing out of the candle. It is the extinguishing of the flame because day is come

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough

The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence

Gone with the wind

Oh heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains!

-- Kahlil Gibran

Few people make a profound impact in your life, and to lose them is akin to losing life itself. 

This is about a man who lettered to me compassion, excellence, language, wit and nuances of life itself! As a renowned educationist whose standards often surpassed excellence, he was a visionary whose courage to embrace change remains unparalleled. His steadfastness and commitment to educate many generations and liberate them by bringing into their lives a new light has often been remarked as commendable and has been appreciated in multitudes. 

So when the news was broken to me that he passed away, my grief, although unexpressed, knew no bounds! But soon, I found comfort in Rajaji's words in his rendition of the Mahabharata, which I have recounted here before, that "It is not true wisdom to be impatient with Death or to grieve immoderately for those who die. There is no reason to pity those who pass away. We may have reason indeed to grieve for those who remain."

But what strikes me most is how he left us, like how Kenny Rogers rightly sang in the Gambler that "the best you can hope for is to die in your sleep." 

Footnotes:

My beloved Uncle, scion of our family, guide, philosopher and friend left us at this time, and will be missed forever! He, who showed us direction and light, earnestly and selflessly, will be celebrated for all time to come! He continues to live on, in our hearts and minds and will do so for time immemorial and has thus attained immortality! 

Remembering Rwanda

April 1994 marked a gruesome turn of events in a relatively quiet Rwanda.

The assassination of Presidents Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi sparked a cycle of violence that has since come to be known as The Rwandan Genocide, acts of unspeakably appalling horror that continue to haunt people of the entire world, let alone a nation!

I first heard of this heinous outbreak on The World this Week, a focus program by the NDTV. Prannoy Roy and the Late Appan Menon were bringing us some very updated but awfully uncomfortable images and data pertaining to the merciless killings of Tutsi natives and all those who were inclined to a peaceful Rwanda.

But this post is not to gloss over unpardonable actions of a few barbaric cowards because of whom millions in the hope and quest for a peaceful life were cut down, neither is this to serve as an almanac of events that dominated the troubled Rwandan social system and government apparatus. All of that simply cannot be summed in one mere blog-post!

This post has been made to pay rich tributes to the persons of Pierantonio Costa, Antonia Locatelli, Jacqueline Mukansonera, Paul Rusesabagina, Carl Wilkens and André Sibomana, all of whom have well beyond their human capacities performed feats that would equal in measure and will only to acts of God. In their concerted efforts to halt the genocide they saved and subsequently sheltered hundreds of Tutsi people and brought upon themselves great danger. But for the remarkable efforts of these wonderful people, humanity would never have known the intricacies of dignity, fellowship, brotherhood and compassion, all of which were grievously periled in the midst of the genocide.

The following video, titled One Million Voices is a reflection of hope in the backdrop of war and ruin in Rwanda. It is an adaption from the now popular movie titled Hotel Rwanda. Take a good look at it and do follow the words of the soundtrack, which will surely move you a great deal. It is hoped that the likes of the Rwandan Genocide do not find place in our times ever again, for the sake of our children who deserve nothing less than a world built on the foundations of peace, happiness and compassion! We owe that bit to them - a great deal!



Footnotes:

As is always the case in the aftermath of such events, there has been no consensus with regards to the number of people who perished during the genocide in Rwanda.  The official figures published by the Rwandan Government estimated the number of victims of the genocide as 1,174,000 in merely 100 days of violence. That accounted for 10,000 people murdered every day, 400 every hour and 7 every minute!

The wounds will live on, for more than a lifetime!

Made in Japan

make.believe

-- The vision that drives Sony Corporation

Inspiration comes from many sources, if only one can observe and absorb, that is!

One such resource is Made in Japan, autobiography of the famed Akio Morita, erstwhile head of the Sony Corporation, an organization that is synonymous for cutting edge quality and excellence!

The book is replete with instances of commitment, dedication, enthusiasm, innovation and perseverance, doses of which can be liberally adopted and replicated by all of us in our daily lives. The key, according to Morita, is discipline without which nothing can be made possible and with which there is nothing that can come to be impossible!

What is striking is the narrative itself, which is extremely simple, warm and very personal. It is a work of art that depicts the working of a very evolved mind that does what it loves the most, with a very strong sense of dedication and will power that has ensured what Sony is today!

For those of you who are looking for a very good add to your collection, this is a masterpiece and an absolute must read from which a lot of lessons can be well-learnt.

Footnotes:

Sony is presently a $79.6 billion enterprise employing over 180,500 people, with total assets of over $123 billion.

Swindler's List

Goldman Sachs, as you know, has been the latest entrant into the list of multinational organizations that have been charged with defrauding their investors and customers! Adding another string of shams to a long list which has emerged forerunner in the news, thanks to a hyper recessive state of the market, this falling of corporations like a house of cards, emerged noticeable enough in the eyes of the world after the Enron fiasco in October 2001. Since then, monolithic conglomerates which were hitherto blue chips of the industry have been going under in unimaginable numbers!

My point is that of disgust! These supposedly clean-slate businesses have long emphasized on corporate governance and transparency while claiming to uphold the values of corporate etiquettes and what not! In doing so only on paper, while amassing colossal profits and dishing out hefty bonuses to their leadership branch,  they have unduly harassed their employees into making them clock extremely long hours under very high pressure, often in the most derelict circumstances, something that is almost always never addressed, despite the presence and operations of supposedly superior human resources functions.

Those of you, who are part of the corporate culture know very well how integrity and transparency are mere buzzwords etched only in glossy presentations and brochures, their meaning, letter and spirit never practiced even in the least possible measure.

Is it therefore worth the effort to be enslaved to such well crafted evil that totally disregards human capital and its potential, while instances of white collar crime such as creative accounting, just to name among the very many, goes unpunished?

Mission Radiance

It is believed that if you desire something long enough, it eventually comes within reach and becomes one with the mind! One such thing that did happen was our visit to the Government School of the Hearing and Speech Impaired earlier this week! I've been long wanting to visit there and organize a little something for these special kids, so when Manesh, my good friend, suggested a well laid outreach and giving program to put this into effect, my joy knew no bounds as if realizing a long awaited endeavour that was finally coming to be born!

Such an expedition does a lot of good, for, as an outsider, one comes to understand the intricacies of how special children go about their lives and conduct themselves in their routine, something that is done with a great deal of relying upon within than outside, contrary to what is popular belief. They truly are icons in the sense that they derive strength, courage and determination from among themselves than looking upon to an external source for all of that!

It is truly heartening and to see how much they can connect with you and more importantly teach you some very valuable lessons in life! It may, for some of us, be very easy to overlook the basics of life that we consider a necessity. But when you step into the realm of these little ones, you realize that there is absolutely nothing that can be taken for granted indeed.

For starters, we were received with a great deal of love and joy, something that I truly didn't deserve and therefore was moved very much by the honorific gesture. It was a hard task to keep my emotions under check while interacting with these ambassadors from another world.  I consider myself very fortunate to have been permitted to get a glimpse of these special lives and they way they are furthered. There is indeed no greater joy than the joy of giving, for it enables one to experience a sense of happiness and fulfillment like no other!

So for me, this was a mission, one which involved seeking happiness in those of another who surely, as much as me, has the right to live a life in dignity and satisfaction!

Footnotes:

Some of the pictures taken during the course of the event can be viewed via this link.

I cannot say enough to thank Manesh for his marvelously well orchestrated skills of coordination and execution that have ensured the smooth conduct of this effort. Thank you Sir, but for you, this would have never happened! 

Marathon of Hope

October 15, 1979

My name is Terry Fox. I am 21 years old, and I am an amputee. I lost my right leg two-and-a-half years ago due to cancer. The night before my amputation, my former basketball coach brought me a magazine with an article on an amputee who ran in the New York Marathon. It was then I decided to meet this new challenge head on and not only overcome my disability, but conquer it in such a way that I could never look back and say it disabled me.

But I soon realized that that would only be half my quest, for as I went through the 16 months of the physically and emotionally draining ordeal of chemotherapy, I was rudely awakened by the feelings that surrounded and coursed through the cancer clinic. There were faces with the brave smiles, and the ones who had given up smiling. There were feelings of hopeful denial, and the feelings of despair.

My quest would not be a selfish one. I could not leave knowing these faces and feelings would still exist, even though I would be set free from mine. Somewhere the hurting must stop....and I was determined to take myself to the limit for this cause.

From the beginning the going was extremely difficult, and I was facing chronic ailments foreign to runners with two legs in addition to the common physical strains felt by all dedicated athletes.

But these problems are now behind me, as I have either out-persisted or learned to deal with them. I feel strong not only physically, but more important, emotionally. Soon I will be adding one full mile a week, and coupled with weight training I have been doing, by next April I will be ready to achieve something that for me was once only a distant dream reserved for the world of miracles – to run across Canada to raise money for the fight against cancer.

The running I can do, even if I have to crawl every last mile.

We need your help. The people in cancer clinics all over the world need people who believe in miracles.

I am not a dreamer, and I am not saying that this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer. But I believe in miracles. I have to.

Footnotes:

It was on this day, in 1980, that Terrence "Terry" Stanley Fox, a Canadian athlete and cancer research activist began his Marathon of Hope. He has, since, become an icon of superhuman stature! His marathon raised $1.7 million and his legacy continues to evoke deep emotions.

Today, close to 30 years after his death, Redefining Oblivion salutes this herculean idol and celebrates his lasting legacy that has benefited several thousands of people in their arduous fight against cancer, by giving them what they needed above all else in life, that element being hope!

The contents of this post is a letter written by Terry Fox to the Canadian Cancer Society informing them of his endeavour.

Excerpts from the epic

"When Brahma created living beings, he was filled with anxiety. 'These lives will multiply and soon their number will be beyond the capacity of the earth to bear. There seems to be no way of coping with this.' This thought of Brahma grew into a flame which became bigger and bigger until it threatened to destroy all creation at once.

Then Rudra came and pleaded for allaying this destructive fire. Brahma controlled the great fire and subdued it into the law that is known to mortals as Death. This law of the creator takes many forms, such as war or sickness or accident and keeps the balance between birth and death.

Death is thus an inescapable law of existence, ordained for the good of the world. It is not true wisdom to be impatient with Death or to grieve immoderately for those who die. There is no reason to pity those who pass away. We may have reason indeed to grieve for those who remain."

Footnotes:

I have presently completed reading the Mahabharata by C. Rajagopalachari and thought it apt to present this excerpt which moved me beyond anything that I have ever felt, known and heard! I feel unnecessary, and also grossly unqualified, to explain this simplest of truths any more than what has already been so wonderfully illustrated in this marvelous epic.

However, I have come to realize how true these words are, along with those others spoken at length, especially in the context of our lives in the present day!