Family Madness

Family mania is etched on my mind in the aftermath of this holiday season. It was a drama and emotion packed week for me as I celebrated Diwali after almost six years. I refuse to call the last few years - Diwali celebration (when in the US), with the phoney mithais, crayon rangolis, wax diyas and stale goodies. A new Eureka moment dawned on me as my mind has reluctantly registered that it was actually missing the family drama and chaos that drives such festivals. Infact I have enough ammunition to write a new tele serial! The only sad moment this Diwali was loss of a ailing family member. As a mark of respect, we decided to not celebrate ‘Bhau beez’ and instead went out to Water Kingdom! I must have been an amphibian my last life. My soul lights up when I am in water, but this was something else. The crazy slides literally pushed the wind out of us after which we stuck to the kiddies rides! What fun that was!

I want to know!

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for,

and if you dare to dream

of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched

the center of your own sorrow,

if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy,

mine, or your own,

if you can dance with wildness

and let the ecstasy fill you

to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us to be careful,

to be realistic,

to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me

if the story you are telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty,

even when it's not pretty, every day,

and if you can source your own life

from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of a full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know

where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up,

after a night of grief and despair,

weary and bruised to the bone,

and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know

or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand

in the center of the fire with me

and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me

where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you, from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. 

-Author Unknown