Tag: Thoughts

intangible

Posted on by Ajmal

This resonates well with my take on it. Remember when we talked about the vision? I had written that this space is a virtual studio of arts, ideas and minds built on the idea of embellishment of childish curiosity that we’re born with and to manifest it through fine writings, arts, visuals, and moving images. You cannot touch this space, but if you have been reading me, this humble space, which we call “The Border of a Mind” is in your memory, in an intangible realm of your mind. Keep reading and I’d put my heart and soul in curating this garden of ideas. God bless : )

“The unreal is more powerful than the real. Because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. Because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles. Wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on. If you can change the way people think. The way they see themselves. The way they see the world. You can change the way people live their lives. That’s the only lasting thing you can create.”
― Chuck Palahniuk, Choke

illustration based on a portrait taken by dear friend M.H.P

articulative eloquence.

Posted on by Ajmal


A photograph of an early morning stroll at Kala Pathar Beach, Havelock Islands captured by Netta. Today, the theme is about words and articulation. “10% of conflict is due to difference in opinion and 90% is due to delivery & tone of voice”, says a famous quote. I’ve felt this to be true through several experiences. Articulation and tone is something that we learn through a lifetime during stages wherein we get matured. I’ve always felt that articulative eloquence is an art. I’ve been fortunate to come across several personalities who are at epitomy of this art and I’m grateful to draw inspiration from them. There’s never a benchmark and there’re heaps to learn to grow.

Reading from 2015 Toasmaster’s public speaking champion’s winning speech,

“Words, when said and articulated in the right way, can change someone’s mind. They can alter someone’s belief. You have the power to bring someone from the slums of life and make a successful person out of them, or destroy someone’s happiness using only your words.. Words have power, words are power, words could be your power. You can change a life, inspire your nation and make up this world a beautiful place. Isn’t that what we all want it? Isn’t that why we are all in this hall? Your mouth can spit venom or it can mend a broken soul.”

 

filling frame.

Posted on by Ajmal

This is a photograph from a visit to Princess Islands in Turkey sometime in 2014. It’s a frame that still fills and imbue my mind. Grateful to Almighty for such visual treats for the soul. Having endless horizons is a sanctuary for the wandering souls. Just as a small piece of salt melts into a large glass and becomes part of the sea, in the infinite horizons wayfarer souls too melt and blend into eternity. Journeys often confer fulfillment upon crafting these membranes of memories. Share your stories with us 🙂

“ Watching the infinite horizons gives you infinite dreams, infinite ideas, infinite paths! Choose a great target and then you will see that great instruments will appear for you to reach that target! ” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

ornate blossoms

Posted on by Ajmal

Petals are something I’m sort of eccentrically inquisitive about. In some of our earlier writings, we’ve wondered about their ethereal quality and have read on how beautifully they edify a lesson of transience. Here’re some photographs that I look from University of Sharjah gardens last week during an evening stroll. These are jewels we fail to appreciate when we are in the hustle and bustle. I’m not sure about you, but I’m totally to the hilt, blown away by the spectacular art and magnificence in their intricate subtleties. Look at the brilliant layering and the patterns that are a treat for those with eyes to relish them. Before we relegate them to the quotidian normal realm, we can relate on a very small allegory that came to my mind. If we see a painting of a tree or a flower prepared by someone, we definitely know that it is done with intent and meticulous planning. If we are told that somebody threw a bottle of watercolors and brushes randomly into the air and that when it came down, it turned into a perfect painting, that’s totally preposterous and defies sense. Or if someone came along and say that some paint boxes were overturned by wind and storm and they mixed with some rain and in a long period of time changed into a perfect painting, that is so illogical to conceive. Now, if we look at these petals, we see a plan and an order, a conscious design, organized patterns and a beautiful harmony of colors.  They bide their time for us to think about them. They are not randomness around us. Neither are they desultory existences around us. They have a purpose in making us ponder about them. They have a story to tell you. They’ve something to show you. They’re locks of thoughts waiting to be unlocked by you. They’re not looking for a monk. They’re looking for me and you.



This write up is a part of Ponder Series of The Border of a Mind Visual Studios that we have been building exhaustively over the past several months. When we think about the world around us and also when we look within, it might seem usual and ordinary. But ponder series, as you might have already guessed, is all about thinking deeply and delving into the details by going beyond the ordinary perceptions. It’s a very humble endeavor towards unlocking extraordinary in the ordinary by opening our eyes of wisdom and insight. Hope you enjoy reading them. God bless friends 🙂

Some of the chapters from the Ponder Series include :

> Visual Narrative – Ponder Series
> Reflecting on Shadows
> Stumble over Pebbles
> Ethereal Quality | Petals
> Golden Ratio
> Vision – Pondering on the intricacies
> Ruminating on Bird Nests
> Living Embellishments
> Pondering on Birds 
> Perceptions

 

Hope is a Ferris wheel.

Posted on by Ajmal

“Hope is a Ferris wheel-
It takes Low and High;
And when you reach the Top,
It’s like you can touch The Sky!
And when it takes you Down-
Hope becomes A Thing
That, When you’re getting Off,
You take With you to Bring.”

― Robin Herrera, Hope Is a Ferris Wheel

anamnesis.

Posted on by Ajmal

/ˌanəmˈniːsɪs/. The title of this post is from the late 16th-century Greek word anamnēsis related to ‘remembrance’.

Clouds and sunset light playing a symphony of art in a winter evening at Sharjah, UAE. November 2019.

“A lot can happen in a year. People die. You outgrow old friends and get tired of mundane jobs. New careers come. New friends find your soul. But no matter what, you grow, you lose your mind a bit and most importantly you get a little wiser. Your circle gets smaller because you get stricter with your energy and time, If you are really lucky, you’ll find love inside yourself, inside of friends and family, and just maybe the universe will bless you with a lover that laughs at your really lame jokes.” .S. Mcnutt

Netta shared this recently and it resonates well. Regardless of where we belong and what we do, it’s worth to have a reminiscence of what changed in one year. Need not be always the specific things mentioned in the above quote. It can be anything and could be even related to how you respond to situations, your thought process, the way you plan things, the priorities you weight in on, people you engage and rely on, the general attitude towards events, etc. For me, personally, I believe it has been by and large about stepping back and striving to be more thoughtful in my responses, not to be too impulsive in general terms, making time for building this site by putting in more content and sharing writings, trying to be more positive, being diplomatic and to have a cohesive spirit of togetherness in responses, setting compassionate boundaries, and an earnest attempt to be more professional and objective in my professional assignments. This may be, also one of the years where some personalities whom I admire for their creative pursuit and passion had the biggest influence in me in terms of the time I spent and also the actions they actuate in all that I do. It was also the year when Genie’s cove was set up with Netta by my side, slowly building our little space and being truly grateful for the we-time. Let’s see what next year turns out to be, God willing.

Quality | indelible objectivity

Posted on by Ajmal

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”, said Benjamin Franklin or Aldo Gucci. This is something that’s cemented in my thought process when I conceive of quality in a product or service. We’re living in an age and time where monetary considerations and market situations generally impel companies and individuals to sacrifice quality to a certain extent and base the purchase decision, in some situations, solely on the aspect of price. It doesn’t happen with everyone and all companies and is definitely not a generalization, but you know, that’s the general way things are dealt with. I’m always with the idea of getting something durable and long-lasting and using it for sufficient time rather than getting something cheaper and of inferior quality and then lugging around fixing it when it breaks down or does not serve its intended purpose every other week. Even if it doesn’t break, if the lack of quality in the product or service does not make you happy for whatever reason we bought the item/service in the first place, that requires some careful thought and consideration. Of course, that doesn’t imply splurging on some product that’s priced more than its really worth of, but the intent here is to cautiously use our intuition and sound judgement to carefully evaluate what works specifically for each one of us, and to get things with a long term plan and intention. As the famous social media joke run reads, Tajmahal wouldn’t have been so stunning if Shah Jahan had asked for three quotations and decided to go with the lowest. In total quality management (TQM) principles, it’s often said that the “cost of quality” isn’t the price of creating a quality product or service. It’s the cost of NOT creating a quality product or service. The highest price does not always necessarily yield the highest quality. And another aspect of this thought is that something expensive for a particular person may not be the same for another person, but everyone can decide their priorities and invest in quality catering to their requirements. Empirically if we generically assess the products we have used for the past couple of years and recollect the service industries that we have engaged with directly, we can get sort of a pragmatic and realistic emphasis on the importance of using high-quality products for the long term. That’s definitely worth to get our thought on.

“We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us and call that handful of sand the world.”
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

Instilling Compassionate Prudence

Posted on by Ajmal

I always dream of this societal framework everywhere wherein, every person gives his best in whatever they do. Even if he/she’s a novice, I truly believe one can perfect his craft by being proactive, enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. This sort of prudence is something that can positively impact anyone you engage with. On a broader realm, this applies to companies and their engagement with customers and if we move further broad, that’ll change the world. For instance, if somebody is working in a customer care team, he can put in extra effort to bit more gentle and considerate with their clients. Being too gentle may not required by work scope, but that really makes a difference. Similarly, an artist who works professionally can put in extra bits and pieces to make his craft bit more detailed and enriching. Imagine a gardener charged with the task of pruning certain plants as a part of his job. Seemingly monotonous in the first instance, he can put in extra effort to make his output much more beautiful and add his personal touch to it. I had previously written something about “job from the heart“.  We’re not talking about meeting customer needs, but exceeding what they expect from you. This sort of a spirit truly brings in sort of fulfillment in everything that we do. This urge of always trying to give our best, improving ourselves and perfecting our craft helps us grow internally.  And the best way to be prudent is to make our best efforts to surround ourselves with people who uplift us, encourage and compliment us. This is not a motivational note or something similar, but I always thought of writing about this wholesome approach of instilling prudence in whatever we do.

Be it any work that you’re engaged in, I wish it to be filled with beauty, positivity and a state of mind often manifested in the quality of work we deliver. This sort of engagement with other people in different realms of life is what I believe defines us on a deeper note.  God bless you, friends!