Happiness Always

When does the world comes to an end?
What happens after we die?
How do you explain something that never ends?
What’s the purpose of life?


These questions have haunted us, or at least me, at odd hours - while awake at night, when we lose a dear one,or at lone hours. Some of us  evade such questions and some who try to answer them have not been very successful. I have personally thought deep and searched wide only to conclude that we all have our own sets of beliefs and understanding and interpret each one befiiting our own capability. I can however claim that I have found the answer to the last one

 “what’s the purpose of our life?”
And the simplest answer is “to be happy”

To many it might not be quite the answer but trust me it makes  a whole lot easier to try and understand the other perplexities. This understanding might not lead you right to the destination but it makes the journey worthwhile and given the fickle nature of our own existence and the numerous unknown cirscumstances shaping our life each instant,  we couldn’t ask for more. After all all our complicated  worldly aspirations are aimed to make us happy or provide us comfort, which I presume is just the same,  polished with our selfishness and ego. Another thought I have found helpful and unbelievably comforting while being a bit orthodox at the same time is that, we are programmed beings- in the sense that what we are destined for will eventually be and all our efforts to alter or understand will go in vain. This, I believe supports my claim all the more.

 Religion and science seem to be the fundamental pillars upon which we have pinned our hopes on, something we turn to at times of despair and are being rescued to an extent temporarily. But as we rise above it, our search for the one true reason and salvation continues. From a distance,  science or religion are tools of our own invention and with time many such will crop up comforting a few along the way. Religion to me is our self invented illusionary redemption and our refuge from fear of the unknown and the unanswered. It is simply based on the theory, “if you cant convince them, confuse them” and our basic human tendency of fear and desire fuels it all the more. Religion has so far been an excellent tool to quieten the common and lazy folks who don’t want to tickle their brain. With such a statement I am not denying the existence of a cosmic power of some form that moulded the universe, it is just a caution, “lets not be fooled, and that we have been given some grey matter, lets put it to use “. Science, now, seems to be more convincing than its illogical stepsister. Anyhow winning a gold does not infer that you are the fastest and the strongest. Religion has served us well in its time and science continues the legacy bringing us closer or at least enabling us to ask better questions yet both have stood testimony and been  judged “a good servant but a bad master”.

Now that we have successfully eliminated or for the least sidelined two strong contenders and assuming that we have found the answer lets dwell upon it. If happiness is our ticket to this paradox then why not simply be happy? I attribute the answer to a fact that simple does not mean it is easy. It doesn' mean impossible at the same time  Not all of our daily endeavours succeeds and we submit to the whims of fate restricting ourselves to our little fears and discomfort while utterly forgetting our own nature. If we dare to dream big and achieve worthwhile, it is only natural and logical to accept failures with equal grace. It is okay to be afraid, to fail, to give in, to hate sometimes, to lust, to not know everything, to bend a little, to be human. Like i mentioned we are programmed to be human not perfect. Along the way, in our quest of attaining perfection we have denied ourselves our birthright of being human. To be human is to love even more fiercely for each ounce of hatred, to rise even higher with each failure and to be kind and compassionate and accept that we are not different or equal, just unique and incomparable. To be human is to accept our own nature and be truly home.

Lets learn to appreciate and listen, to spread smile and lighten hearts, to forgive and forget, to wave a stranger and hug a friend, to be happy and human before the earth covers us along with our regrets.

Let’s learn to pursue happiness.

Happiness always

Born to be a farmer

An ode to those that work in acres, not in hours.

I read this somewhere.

FARMING : It is a job, full of long hours, in all temperatures and lots of hardwork. But it is so much more than that. It is scars, callouses, broken bones, stitches and bruises. It is sunshine and storm, dirt under your nails, and straw in your boots. It is early mornings, late nights, and long days. It is the joy of good harvest, the beauty of a sunset, the peace in the barns. It is a calf in the kitchen, a dog in your truck, and freedom in your soul. It is faith, determination and accomplishment. It is fears, tears, laughter and love. It is a way of life, a sense of pride, a family affair. It is home. And there is no place I would rather be.

It must have been an old, discarded book. But so aptly written.

I recall very few conversations with my father. Most of it in the farms in between work, while the oxen took their time in the sun chewing bales of hay. One such fine day, he told me farming is the noblest of all professions. He went on to give me reasons why. Farmers feed everyone, even the birds and animals and live in harmony with nature, he said. We obey the laws of nature and are closest to God. We live by the sweat of the brows and with each harvest grow more compassionate and thankful. Hard work is our religion and dignity, our greatest pride . Farmers belong to a clan who would plow deep and straight and not cut corners, seed and feed and finish the days hard work with a five mile walk to the temple. It must have been rather too deep a thought for me back then - an ambitious young lad with dreams of making my parents proud one day. However I scribbled this conversation in a corner of my mind to look back someday and prove my father wrong. I wanted him to know  that we live in a different generation now and that I have dreams of exploring the world which was not very likely if I took after him. I mean sunshine and nature is all good but I want to be successful and happy. Little did I know that not every success leads to happiness.

Sometimes, yet, those talks and advice served me as disappointment which made my claim all the more stronger. I’ll deliver my parents from this hard life of farming, I vowed.

Years hence as I  look down those valleys of memories from the self assumed lofty heights of achievement, I am convinced that nothing could have been sweeter. For how long I can vouch for the same is something I would not like to  answer now and leave it to the test of time- one I have found inescapable and convincing overtime. While still during my high school teen I had decided that I would farm and teach once I am done following the worldly  way of chasing jobs and attaining glory and I find that pretty amusing and credit myself for staying truthful and sensible enough. I am not sure but would like to know very much how satisfied those achievers are today.
I have to admit I am starting to sound more like my old man.

And because we don’t snap beans with grandma anymore and our old man don’t take us hunting anymore than teach us fishing, we have lost part of ourselves.  Hell , we don’t know if it exists anymore. Sitting on the porch, listening to the birds , feeling the wind blow through your soul and letting it all in , enjoying little things in life - I know we have all reserved such luxuries for our vacation and with it we have decided to lock away  a part of ourselves which makes us human. 

Spirituality has vanished , we have willingly decided to forget to be kind because honestly we no longer seem to have time for it. Believe it or not, with each passing day we cease to be less human. We have been to the moon and back yet walking across the streets to our neighbours has become rare and  features under our list of social etiquettes. Our sophistication has taught us to differentiate people on whatever categories we have invented. The superficial modes of communication have trampled real conversations and we don’t write letters anymore.We seem to have traded what little humanity was left to participate in the endless mad rat race. Our tentacles have spread far and wide; who cares how deep the roots go. Days shed colours so fast and so well; we fare so well to forget if we shall ever survive a real storm. Somewhere along the way its our lifestyle that has changed our course and it very much seems to be for the worst. I only hope we don’t go so far as insanity goes.

I remember planting trees every year on my birthday, carrying loads of manure  on my back and watch it grow each day -  I pray that the coming generation still affords that luxury. I consider myself very fortunate to have lived my childhood before technology took over and that I still enjoy walking in the woods whistling away appreciating the randomness. I am awfully thankful to the times I worked in the farm knee-deep in water and those hot summer on the ranch, which unbelievably limited thoughts of  material possessions and the most luxurious lifestyle I look forward to is owning an attic library room  whose window overlooks green valleys and I wish a river passes by and if it is not much to ask for I would love some fireflies for the night.

Lets end with a country song that provoked me to share my thoughts


           I went sky divin’
           I went Rocky Mountain climbin’
           I went 2.7 seconds
           On a bull name Fumanchu
           And I loved deeper
           And I spoke sweeter
           And I gave forgiveness
           I ve been denying
           And he said someday
           I hope you get the chance
           To live like you were dyin'