Saturday, July 30, 2011

Spreading happiness


Dear Ms.Sunshines,

I do not know your name like I know the rose, the orchid and the lily. All I know is that you bring a smile to my face every day...day after day... You personify beauty, positivity and optimism. I had heard that `The best things in life, they come for free’. But after meeting you I have started believing in this adage even more. You are inspiring. Although you are not on Facebook and Google+, I gladly welcome you friend into my small world...


P.S.: The delicate Ms.Sunshines live for a day. They grow in dozens on an obscure potted plant on the roadside in a busy polluted suburb of Mumbai. They bloom in the dawn, spread cheer and wither away by noon... and the next morning, they are back again in huge numbers to spread some more cheer... thus mother nature’s miraculous cycle of spreading happiness, more happiness and some more happiness moves on...

This also reminds me of a poem by English poet William Wordsworth that I learnt years ago while I was in school. Although the poem is titled `Leisure’, I believe it pretty much sums up our entire life in urban India. Here it goes,

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.