Out of blue moon, I recollected an old trek to Wadi Al Helo with dear friend MHP a couple of years back and I had some visuals and photographs from that visit. So, I tried to play around with it to have a memorable montage of the visit. We started very early in the morning by around 4 AM and could see the marvelous sunrise and we were able to trek through Wadi Al Helo outskirt rocky mountains in the desert. Wadi Al Helo is located off the E102 Sharjah-Kalba Road, 20km southwest of the coastal town of Kalba in the eastern region of the United Arab Emirates. It’s tiring to climb to the top structures, but that’s worth it when you get a breathtaking 360-degree view of the mountain ranges nestled between the Hajar Mountains. This is a protected area for endangered birds, reptiles, and freshwater fish. There is an old fort at the top of the hill. This area also houses some archaeological sites and has a restored watchtower.
Like me, you should also be remembering instances and encounters from your life where you were blown away by the quality or passion with which you’d find a person would work regardless of the field they’re into. It can be a CEO, a laundry guy, an engineer, a programmer, a person running a grocery, the person delivers food to you, a farmer, anyone! I’ve read somewhere that monetary income is a deceptive way of seeing a man’s true worth. I’m trying to share some of my short memories from over the years that’s pouring into my mind right now as I think about it. The one thing that I can tell you with certainty, at least on what I have seen is that when a person is truly passionate and enthusiastic about what he does or the service he delivers, he or she wouldn’t be overly money minded. Of course, everybody would require money for their needs. But you get what I mean, it’s that their prime intention is to deliver excellence in what they do or giving the best service and the monetary aspect is secondary. There’s a tremendous difference if the primary intention is monetary benefits as opposed to “being best”, “delivering excellence’ etc.
I very distinctively remember an online cab driver who came to drop me and Netta at the bus station on our journey from Chennai to Pondichery. He was a very old man, and when we spoke to him, we learned that he has retired from his primary work and is working as a cab driver. We fondly remember his politeness and the way he served us during that short ride. When we were about to reach the bus station, for our convenience, we asked him whether he could do a Uturn and drop on the other side of the road. His response with a cheerful grin was ” Of course, This is your car ” That left a smile on my face. See how he made us happy with his service.
The guy from the laundry service that I rely on during our stay in Sharjah is a very smart young man Uttam from Nepal. He is very good at what he does, is very well mannered and leaves us happy.
Similarly, since I’ve been living in the same town in Sharjah for almost a decade now, I have been almost visiting the same salon for many years now. My favorite one among the barbers there is a guy named Sulayman, who absolutely loves what he does. Unlike some other barbers who’re in a hurry with no focus or attention on what they do, Sulayman does it slowly ensuring perfection on the cuts and I always leave the place with a smile.
To the point that I’ve been speaking of, all of us can make our best efforts to do what the best in whatever we engage in. It uplifts us and would fill us with fulfillment. Not everyone in this world is blessed to be in a job that they’re in love with. But even then, with a positive frame of mind, we can align it as an opportunity of learning and excelling in what we do. The quality of what we do, even if we don’t try to show it off or advertise it, would be perceived. The reason I quoted some examples from my life is that I find it almost very universal that it’ll be a pleasure to be around with people ingrained with such a frame of mind. As we might have read, when we try to chase the world, it goes away, and if we despise it, the world would be behind us. From what I’ve read, it would take a lifetime of experiences to convince us of this truth and it’s tough to remember it when we are going through tough times.
As Oprah Winfrey famously said, “Let excellence be your brand… When you are excellent, you become unforgettable. Doing the right thing, even when nobody knows you’re doing the right thing will always bring the right thing to you.”
Yes, back here after a short hiatus. The art used in this post is inspired by one of my favorite moving image slices I’ve ever produced. Remember “Membranes of Memories“? In a journey towards having stillness and serenity.
Seekers of Stillness.
“Men cannot see their reflection in running water, but only in still water. Only that which is itself still can still the seekers of stillness. If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe.”
The photograph of a meal during a journey to Buyukada island in Constantinople ;).
Around 5 months back or so, I had written on the theme of realizing roots. We talked about trees with their branches spreading through the air and producing fruits & the marvelous miracle of tiny seeds and grains bearing huge trees within them. If we pause and consciously think about it, the roots which are soft when we touch then pierce through hard rocks and dark earth. As the roots pierce the hardest depths, the branches on the top spread in the air bearing fruits and leaves retaining moisture despite the heat outside. Have we wondered about what a miraculous piece of machinery this is? We can see that they’re under a command. A seed in the process of its initial development would require a lot of things for it to flourish well. The right kind of soil, the balance of water, temperature, delicate humidity balances are some of them. The proportion and the correct balance of each of these factors are paramount for the seed to develop. The right mix and proportion reach them. Can an unconscious entity like a seed work consciously for this proportion to be right? That’s a definite no. We see intention, purpose, and design. Almighty has left these beautiful wonders around us as locks that could only be opened by the key of our thoughts and awareness. It’s consciousness and awareness that elevates & humbles us. The provisions in front of us would invoke yearnings and reflection for the seeker.
Writing and the connection achieved by it sometimes have a transformative effect that’s often magical. It’s often how you discover your true tribe.
Illustrated by The Border Of a Mind Studios
“Writing, if nothing else, is a bridge between two people, a bridge made of language. And language belongs to all of us. If I enjoy a poem, that just means I am recognizing within it something of myself, something I must already possess. Therefore, to love a poem is to love a part of myself revealed to me by another person…I really believe that writing is the closest thing we have to true magic. Where else, but in words, can we discover each other out of thin air?”
Every aspect, object elucidates a story woven with transience. The flowers in the garden, the plants in the office, the wrinkles on your face, dried tree trunks, broken glass pans, aged furniture, sunset. Life is fragile and short. There’s no permanence, only a yearning within our minds for everlasting life.
Fragility
“Every spirit passing through the world fingers the tangible and mars the mutable, and finally has come to look and not to buy. So shoes are worn and hassocks are sat upon and finally everything is left where it was and the spirit passes on, just as the wind in the orchard picks up the leaves from the ground as if there were no other pleasure in the world but brown leaves, as if it would deck, clothe, flesh itself in flourishes of dusty brown apple leaves, and then drops them all in a heap at the side of the house and goes on.”
When you renounce the world, the world comes to you. When you don’t expect something, it comes to you.
From an evening stroll with Netta, 2019
“Peace is not always easy to grasp or keep close. In the process of attaining and protecting it, you may find yourself tired, weary, and uncertain on how to keep your peace safe. While being uncertain is normal, continue to commit yourself to peacefulness. You are worthy of every drop of sweetness and ease that you encounter. Being tested is a part of the journey. Giving up, and letting go, is not.”
I’m very ardent and passionate about learning things online. Whatever little skills that I count on, including building this very website you see here are self-taught. Over the past several days, I’ve been pondering on information consumption and the prevalent model of content delivery and its status quo. It’s easy to learn something from YouTube or any other online platform for example, and that could hop on to a stage of following the personality or tutor online, and in most cases, there’s a very good probability that you’ll be bombarded with a lot of sponsorship videos and ‘obscure’ ads purported as informative or engaging original content that you were originally behind them for. Yes, it’s totally understandable that these content creators would need advertisements to sustain themselves if that’s their full-time profession, but I think the advertising model prevalent on online platforms, especially the way of sneaking in ads without being explicit about it tend to jeopardize the value of time for the content consumer in the long run if thought is given to it. This sort of an evaluation mindset made me rescan all the regular channels that I engage with for learning or infotainment and I’m on the point of a reboot. God willing, I’m making a conscious plan of wielding time for skill enhancements by being selective with the choices. Life is too short to be buried in regular ads on online platforms. God willing, I’ve broad plans to learn a new language and to enhance some coding knowledge to automate a lot of things and chores.
