Somehow, my interaction with the deaf couple the other day seems to have left an impact. I havent been able to get them out of my mind ever since.
Did you know that Sign Language is not Universal? I wonder why I thought it would be..
Just like all other languages of the world, Sign Languages vary from one region to another.
Ever since I was a child, I remember being hooked to the t.v set every Sunday afternoon. Just before the regional films at 2pm, there would be a weekly news telecast for the deaf. Anybody remember that? I remember looking on,fascinated. I would wonder how people communicate without words.
I still do.
Its different from sharing a moment of quiet, is it not?
I for one, continue to remain vocal. Very vocal. Although that`s not to say that I havent had my moments of quiet, when just a look or a smile or a lingering touch has spoken a thousand words.
But I wonder if that kind of silence is any different from the one this couple shares? What about you? How intense is your need to be vocal?
Friday, January 9, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
No Words
Today as The G and I sat opposite each other quietly working, a Chinese couple walked into the coffee shop and came and sat behind us. They dragged the sofa chairs around, so they could face each other and then settled down quietly. I waited for them to begin talking.
And then I waited some more.
I shifted in my seat,stuck my neck out,trying to catch a few bits of conversation. No Joy!
Fifteen minutes later - still no words.
"Aha!" I thought and motioned to The G.He raised his eyebrows questioningly, irritated by the interruption.
"They`re not talking," I whispered and grinned meaningfully.
The G isnt too big on the talking scene. He would happily spend time with me, reading a book, listening to a favourite track, planning things out or even cooking together.But he would not talk. Not to spend time, no. And somehow I`ve always held that against him.
"Ofcourse they`re not", he said and got down to work again.
I waited some more.Five minutes later and still no words. I turned back in curiosity.
There they were, the two of them. Mustve been around 50 years of age. Conversing like I have never seen two people converse before. Two pairs of eyes locked into each other. One excited,gleaming,bubbling over. The other quietly smiling. Their fingers moving in synchrony. Graceful. Fluid. Faces alive with unspoken words. Eyes brimming over with unuttered love. Thoughts tumbling down through fingertips like snowflakes from Heaven. Soft. Untouched. Electrifying.
I looked across the table at The G. He looked up and smiled.
There are times when words can be done without. This was one of them.
And then I waited some more.
I shifted in my seat,stuck my neck out,trying to catch a few bits of conversation. No Joy!
Fifteen minutes later - still no words.
"Aha!" I thought and motioned to The G.He raised his eyebrows questioningly, irritated by the interruption.
"They`re not talking," I whispered and grinned meaningfully.
The G isnt too big on the talking scene. He would happily spend time with me, reading a book, listening to a favourite track, planning things out or even cooking together.But he would not talk. Not to spend time, no. And somehow I`ve always held that against him.
"Ofcourse they`re not", he said and got down to work again.
I waited some more.Five minutes later and still no words. I turned back in curiosity.
There they were, the two of them. Mustve been around 50 years of age. Conversing like I have never seen two people converse before. Two pairs of eyes locked into each other. One excited,gleaming,bubbling over. The other quietly smiling. Their fingers moving in synchrony. Graceful. Fluid. Faces alive with unspoken words. Eyes brimming over with unuttered love. Thoughts tumbling down through fingertips like snowflakes from Heaven. Soft. Untouched. Electrifying.
I looked across the table at The G. He looked up and smiled.
There are times when words can be done without. This was one of them.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Joy to The World..
I`ve been sitting with the laptop religiously everyday for hours without the faintest notion of what I should post. Today however, a realization dawned on me.There seems to me, an unwritten rule in a lot of blogs that in order to create a post, one must either backpack Europe, give birth, join the order of holy matrimony or embark on a holidayish adventure. I now find myself in an aforementioned category, and thus another post!
This being the first post in yet another brand new year, I guess it should be all bright and hopeful. So I`ll try, even though I remember putting a comment on OJ`s blog about how much more scarier the future(read: new year) seems. And that, it is the only tangible difference I can recognize from last year! And guess what`s scarier? That its all true!!
Last year, I remember feeling happy. I had managed to quit The Indian Army and was home with The G! I remember thinking that this is all I want. And I was happy.This year I am home with The G. And yet, there`s this niggling itch somewhere deep within. Maybe that with each passing year, our definitions for happiness change. Or that small things in life cease to be of meaning anymore. Or that the more we get, the more we want.
I was home in time for Christmas. The G and I spent a warm December evening decorating our Tree, putting up red stockings and glass fairies with much love and laughter, amidst bites of juicy oranges(!!) and freshly baked garlic bread! And then drove 250 miles in a snow storm the next morning, to spend a warm white Christmas together in a log cabin by the North Shore. Just the two of us. The days have simply flown past since then, in a flurry of activities. Frantic raids of showrooms to find The Perfect recliner for our family room, until we did. Endless hours at our favourite coffee shop, discussing Life`s plans. Home cooked dinners and Netflix movies over Strawberry IceCream. What more can a girl want?
Apparantly more!
I spent the first day of the new year sulking. I wouldn’t have allowed that to bother me. Because that was what my new year resolution was all about! Nope, not that I shall not sulk. But that I shall not let the sulking bother me anymore.The wise soul in me has long made peace with the fact that sulking is an inherent part of my being. I sulk, therefore I am.
So anyway, coming back to the original point I was trying to make, that having had an extraordinary adventure of sorts this Christmas(And more for lack of better ideas!), I feel I should do a post. Let me not ruin it by words. Let me just post some pics for you to enjoy!(This one`s for you OJ)..p.s - The pics are in the post below.
This being the first post in yet another brand new year, I guess it should be all bright and hopeful. So I`ll try, even though I remember putting a comment on OJ`s blog about how much more scarier the future(read: new year) seems. And that, it is the only tangible difference I can recognize from last year! And guess what`s scarier? That its all true!!
Last year, I remember feeling happy. I had managed to quit The Indian Army and was home with The G! I remember thinking that this is all I want. And I was happy.This year I am home with The G. And yet, there`s this niggling itch somewhere deep within. Maybe that with each passing year, our definitions for happiness change. Or that small things in life cease to be of meaning anymore. Or that the more we get, the more we want.
I was home in time for Christmas. The G and I spent a warm December evening decorating our Tree, putting up red stockings and glass fairies with much love and laughter, amidst bites of juicy oranges(!!) and freshly baked garlic bread! And then drove 250 miles in a snow storm the next morning, to spend a warm white Christmas together in a log cabin by the North Shore. Just the two of us. The days have simply flown past since then, in a flurry of activities. Frantic raids of showrooms to find The Perfect recliner for our family room, until we did. Endless hours at our favourite coffee shop, discussing Life`s plans. Home cooked dinners and Netflix movies over Strawberry IceCream. What more can a girl want?
Apparantly more!
I spent the first day of the new year sulking. I wouldn’t have allowed that to bother me. Because that was what my new year resolution was all about! Nope, not that I shall not sulk. But that I shall not let the sulking bother me anymore.The wise soul in me has long made peace with the fact that sulking is an inherent part of my being. I sulk, therefore I am.
So anyway, coming back to the original point I was trying to make, that having had an extraordinary adventure of sorts this Christmas(And more for lack of better ideas!), I feel I should do a post. Let me not ruin it by words. Let me just post some pics for you to enjoy!(This one`s for you OJ)..p.s - The pics are in the post below.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Coming back to Life..
I`m back People! And as always its taking me a while to wean in.
I`ve come home to a quiet white Christmas, glittering snowflakes, colourful glass balls, confetti garlands, distant sound of carols and little white angels flying over me.
As I leave you today with prayers for lots of peace, let me go find mine.
More later.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The C - Word
My Friends,
The reason I have been away for so long and shall continue to be after this post, is that a couple of days back my world crashed in. And I was busy picking up the fragments and trying to glue them together. I still am.
You know how life can be. Like a broken piece of glass. Even if you do manage to collect the slivers and plaster them in, the cracks somehow always remain. Insistent. Like a token of disquiet.
My Dad was diagnosed to have a serious ailment in the advanced stage of the disease. And I`m flying back with them to Kolkata so he can get treated at the earliest. In spite of the state-of-the-art technologies and advancements in medical science in this country as well as the super efficiency of the health care system, it continues to remain inaccessible to middle class people like us, due to insane costs. And I have to take my ailing Dad back home, because we cannot afford the treatment here.
I dont know for how long I shall be gone. I dont know whether any of you will continue to wait for my return.
And yet, the ties that bind me to you, my readers, are so staunch, that I could not leave without saying goodbye. And that I hope you all shall put in a word for my Dad, in your prayers. The Gods up there just dont seem to listen to mine.
P.S - Thanks for all the comments on the previous blog. Nope, I wasnt trying to influence anybody with my thoughts or make the 'environment unwelcoming' as someone thought! I was simply stating the obvious. That Money Can buy Me Happiness. I wish I had some more.
And lastly, even though I might not be able to blog, I shall definitely check my email in case anyone wants to write in :) Here`s my email address : piperish@gmail.com
The reason I have been away for so long and shall continue to be after this post, is that a couple of days back my world crashed in. And I was busy picking up the fragments and trying to glue them together. I still am.
You know how life can be. Like a broken piece of glass. Even if you do manage to collect the slivers and plaster them in, the cracks somehow always remain. Insistent. Like a token of disquiet.
My Dad was diagnosed to have a serious ailment in the advanced stage of the disease. And I`m flying back with them to Kolkata so he can get treated at the earliest. In spite of the state-of-the-art technologies and advancements in medical science in this country as well as the super efficiency of the health care system, it continues to remain inaccessible to middle class people like us, due to insane costs. And I have to take my ailing Dad back home, because we cannot afford the treatment here.
I dont know for how long I shall be gone. I dont know whether any of you will continue to wait for my return.
And yet, the ties that bind me to you, my readers, are so staunch, that I could not leave without saying goodbye. And that I hope you all shall put in a word for my Dad, in your prayers. The Gods up there just dont seem to listen to mine.
P.S - Thanks for all the comments on the previous blog. Nope, I wasnt trying to influence anybody with my thoughts or make the 'environment unwelcoming' as someone thought! I was simply stating the obvious. That Money Can buy Me Happiness. I wish I had some more.
And lastly, even though I might not be able to blog, I shall definitely check my email in case anyone wants to write in :) Here`s my email address : piperish@gmail.com
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
A Lesson Learnt... part 2
Has anyone read 'A Christmas Memory' by Truman Capote? It is a story about a poor little boy Buddy somewhere in the middle of the nineteenth century. Buddy normally gets nothing for Christmas but hand-me-downs from relatives and a subscription to a religious magazine. He does however receive a prized kite from his special friend one year. And he is thrilled and happy at the thought of going out on a warm windy Alabama morning and flying his kite.
A small part of the story is also about how he was offered money for his Christmas tree but he declined. He believed that theirs was the best and nothing could ever replace it.
But that was then. Times have changed. Stories have changed. Lives have changed.
Today I learnt an important lesson. That Money can buy happiness. It always has. Not completely and at all times. In fact like they say, the best things in life are all free. But Money Can buy happiness. Most of the times.
The relationship between money and happiness, it would appear, is more complicated than the romantic entanglements of any of the Desperate Housewives. Guess what? Not quite. Its a simple math really. A directly proportional equation even a fourth grader can solve.
That`s the lesson I learnt today. And one I`m not likely to forget in a hurry.
A small part of the story is also about how he was offered money for his Christmas tree but he declined. He believed that theirs was the best and nothing could ever replace it.
But that was then. Times have changed. Stories have changed. Lives have changed.
Today I learnt an important lesson. That Money can buy happiness. It always has. Not completely and at all times. In fact like they say, the best things in life are all free. But Money Can buy happiness. Most of the times.
The relationship between money and happiness, it would appear, is more complicated than the romantic entanglements of any of the Desperate Housewives. Guess what? Not quite. Its a simple math really. A directly proportional equation even a fourth grader can solve.
That`s the lesson I learnt today. And one I`m not likely to forget in a hurry.
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