Dancing in the Rain

As it's rainy season here in India, I tend to go back to my memories of rainy days in my life. A number of scenes flash back in my mind. So, I just wish to give them some space on my Blog, as well. Why not? After all, there's no life without water, too.

From rainy days at school to getting drenched till recently, I have a good list of my romance with Rain. Getting started with my childhood, I remember looking at rain from the window. I was never tired of it and the most common and obvious pastime - making paper boats and leaving them only to see how far they reach before drowning somewhere.

Then, in my college days at Aligarh Muslim University. I remember when I planned to watch the first day- second show of the movie - 1942 A Love Story. There were three other friends with me, including my best buddies - Ansar and Fakhir. We decided to reach there a little early so that we could get tickets easily. It was a pleasant cloudy day. We had not been far when we were forced to take shelter under a tree. I was riding my bicycle and my friends were on a cycle rickshaw. We waited impatiently for sometime but then it was getting difficult to stay there as we thought we might not get the tickets. So, with Rickshaw puller relenting to our request, we started off our sojourn towards the movie theatre.

For a few minutes, we were a little worried about getting drenched but when we already got drenched then we dropped all our worries somewhere on our way. It was such a heavy rain that there wasn't any traffic on roads. People were standing under whatever shelters they could get. Most of the eyes were fixed on us as we were passing the market of Rasal Ganj which is very close to Nandan theatre - our destination. They looked at us in awe or some other feeling we couldn't understand. But, at that moment we were not even bothering to wipe the rain water dripping through our face rather we were busy talking as if everything was perfect and normal when it wasn't. Finally we reached the place. Our patience was paid; we got the tickets and the movie was a visual treat, especially the Rain song- "Rhim Jhim Rhim Jhim" .

Another incident from the recent past, happened on a friend's Birthday. His name is Disney and we call him "Diz". Diz loves to get wet in rain. We had got bored of sitting at his place and waiting for the rain to stop. With two others friends, we set out for a walk. We simply had fun on the streets of Hyderabad - enjoying the rain, singing songs and cracking jokes. Diz felt that he had a great birthday and we all felt that we had loads of fun.

Even this time, I had my share of getting drenched in the rain. Sometimes it was planned by me and at other times, it was destined by God. What about you? Thinking of your experiences ? Have a drenched journey into the Rains you enjoyed...

Don't forget to have some hot pakodas and aromatic tea or coffee on your way...

Learning and Living

Learn as if you were going to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Ever since i came across this quotation, my perspective towards life has changed. I feel I have developed a profound interest in learning new things. Along with that, I have got an answer to the Never-ending Human thirst for material life.

Imagine if we know we are going to die tomorrow, what is there that we would need? Imagine what would we want to have if we know that we are alive only until tomorrow.

For me, Almighty Allah's forgiveness, my loved ones around me and a peaceful death ensuring smooth and silent departure from this world, would be all i need. Then, why am I a part of this rat race for wealth and power.

The Holy Quran says in Surah At-Takathur [102:1-8]
"The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things), Until ye visit the graves. "

True, when we don't know how long are we going to stand on this earth then why do we spend all our lives in amassing material wealth.

So, finally i try to seek a balance between things like learning and living. Learning can make our life better with every single day we continue to live. We can share what we learnt, with our friends and folks. It is a lot easier to share knowledge as it grows with sharing but not so with material wealth. Material possessions weaken our desire to love, share and prosper. Everything is our life has a limit, so do the material things. They are supposed to make our lives better. Let's not allow them to take control of our lives.

Those were my thoughts on Learning and Life. What are yours? Think about it and if possible try and share them with me.

~ Qais