The color of the mind

The color of the mind

……B L A C K

Black… The absence of light. Black… The dawn of the night.
Black… The beginning of life. Black… The shade of magnificence.
Black… The color of fear. Black… The language of the blind.

It’s amazing, how this one color has so many faces to it. On one hand if we say that death is the end of light and the beginning of black, on the other we have black, the darkness from which we are all born.

If the eyes see hues of colors, then what is the color of the mind??

Most ideas are born out of a shut mind. A mind that is left to itself no matter what the eyes see. You may be present in a situation of highest level of vigor and color, say a party… but your mind, your true self has its own thoughts.

The mind, so vulnerable can very easily detach itself from everything around and get into its own shell of thought… black???

Take a simple example of a little child in a classroom. The child can listen to the teacher and can also listen to his/her own self. While originally he/she is instructed to listen to the teacher, the child can easily get carried away by the smallest sound outside the classroom. A bird chirps, and off goes the mind of the child.

What the world may call distraction is the actual soul that lies in all of us. A soul and a mind that responds to nature’s smallest interaction with us. Thought triggers distraction and the mind triggers thought. Ah! What do we have here now? Is the mind an entity, a soul in itself? Is it true then, that who we are is what the world has made us by capturing our mind?

At this point you can give yourself two parallel lines of thought.
1. What will a mind, allowed to think freely grow into? A free soul or just a plain human being with raw qualities and emotions.
2. It is out of ideas from the mind that we have so many inventions all around us today. Most of which were outcomes of tamed and most of the times educated minds that thought freely.
In either case the pivotal role is that of the mind. A mind - in a state of thought. Can anyone for just a moment stay without thinking?

Ok. Jus for a moment shut your eyes… It’s easy… Black.
Now with you eyes shut, shut your mind. Easy? Try harder, don’t think. No, not yet. You are still thinking about trying not to think. Black, again… But is it fully black? No?

The color of your mind engulfs the most vivid thoughts, ideas and colors... So what’s the color of your mind now??

Say a little prayer

My son seemed to have a running nose when I picked him up yesterday afternoon while he was crawling all over the place, as usual. I wiped him clean and realised that I myself had a stuffy nose. That very moment I thought to myself, "Oh God, I hope he has not caught a cold!". Much later did I figure out that it was just nothing but a whiff of allergy that swept by since both of us are fine today. As any mother would do, my mind was brooding over the fact that I must be more careful since the temperature was dropping with every passing day. And then it struck me that it was after all a little prayer that I had said when I saw my baby's little runny nose. I began thinking even more deeply on the aspect, and for that moment atleast, felt God had answered my prayers.

Its a weird thing to say, but sometimes its such small prayers that are really answered. Probably because they come from deep within the heart. No matter how many times I pull myself to a religious place sometimes the real prayers come out only when they need to, and what more to be said, are answered!

No, im not trying to condemn those of you who go all the way to temples, mosques, churches etc. to pray. Its more about the faith than the act here. Im sure you agree to what I have here. Im sure you have been in a situation yourself where you buckle your fingers tight with complete hope and say that little prayer, not neccessarily addressing God, and want it to be answered from deep down in your heart and soul. At that instant, what you are praying for is what you want more badly that you can think. And then, we have people who claim themselves to be aethists... ahem ahem!!

America Votes - The world watches

On the morning November 4th, 2008 I woke up, finding myself turning on the television set to watch the US Elections. It was the very first time in my life that something related to politics seemed to nudge my latent interest in this domain. Honestly, I still don't know too much about the elections or what kind of repercussions the results of the same may have. But something about this election makes me want to keep a close tab on its happenings. What is it I wonder, for it has never ever happened previously, even in my own country, that it mattered to me as to who became the President, Prime Minister or even my states Chief Minister per se!

It felt so good just to watch the Americans wake up early in the morning and go to vote for their prospective President. Each and every telecast showed people standing in queues with a fervor similar to that of a teenager voting for his College Union President. When asked why they vote, one said - "Because my vote matters", another said - "Because it makes me a part of history". It felt good to hear this. Almost patriotic in a foreign land. Paradoxical as it may seem, I never felt the same back in India about our elections. Why dont we feel that way back there? Is it the media? Is it the hype of elections and the lull that follows? Or is it the message of the politicians?

My guess is its the last one. Although the campaigning goes on with similar energy, or perhaps even more (not to forget all the drums and dancing that happens on the roads!), I think its the words of the candidates that matter. Here in America, its not just another speech, its a commitment. Something that you can rely on and something that you know will definitly come in place when that particular candidate is elected. And then of course there is this other thing - Enthusiasm. A quick follower to this would be Selflessness of the candidates. I never heard any politician here say "I" in his or her speech.. its either "We" or "America". I guess we Indians have a lot to learn apart from just sporting western brands and accents!!