EASTER AND ITS SYMBOLISM

EASTER AND ITS SYMBOLISM

We celebrate the glory of Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Jesus sacrificed his life for the good of all mankind on 'Good Friday' and was resurrected on Easter Sunday. The symbolism is unmistakable:sacrifice and death is imperative for resurrection of the new. It is also worth noting that Easter comes in spring. The onset of spring with its promise of joy marks the beginning of a new cycle and a new year. In spring, the trees shed off  their stupor and drabness by shedding off dry leaves. They then put on the beautiful coats of lush green leaves and colourful flowers. After a dreary winter,the Nature adorns the earth with the beauty of spring, fulfilling a promise that rebirth will happen every year. The trees quietly teach us faith and perseverance. This revitalisation reminds us of life's unending cycle- whatever withers and fades in turn feeds the promise of regeneration. Thus Easter signifies the triumph of immortality over death.
  'The Resurrection' affirms that tragedies can be transformed into a new life. It is a symbol of victory over death and sin. It gives us hope of brighter things in life and it also tells us, in a way, that everything we do, no matter how small, is never overlooked. A good deed is like a potent seed, it will definitely bring forth beautiful flowers!
 Come Eater and I feel like a small girl once again! I cuddle up to my mother and ask her to recount tales about Eater Bunny, who arrives bearing chocolates, candies and best of all, Easter eggs! She only had told me about the festival and the origins of the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs. The myth of Easter Bunny is believed to be a tribute to the German goddess of fertility,Eastre. It is said that Eastre once came upon a bird whose wings had been frozen during the winter. So touched was Eastre that she turned it into a rabbit so that it could run and be free. But because the rabbit had earlier been a bird-it could still lay eggs! This rabbit is 'Easter Bunny'.
   Well, where there's rabbit there will be mad rush and funny antics.That's why the saying-'Mad as a March hare' has evolved! All during the period of Easter, between March and April, most rabbits and hares really indulge in mad antics while they are courting their mates!
 So, let us also celebrate this festival of Easter a little boisterously by shedding off old inhibitions and the start of something new!
-PORTIA
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GOOD FRIDAY

GOOD FRIDAY

Today is good Friday and my mother,though undergoing treatment for sickness, is keeping fast as a mark of reverence to commemorate the death of Jesus. She is not overtly religeous, but is extremely devoted to Jesus.She feels there is something very special about  Jesus' death.
  Being a theatre buff, she doesn't like movies much, but she still has a good collection of DVDs.One of her favorite movie is Mel Gibson's 'the Passion of the Christ'.I remember watching that movie once with her at home.Both  of us couldn't sit through the whole movie.It was so disturbing!It poignantly portrays thr gruesome sufferings that Jesus underwent:abandonment,betrayal,treachery,torture,mental agony,crowning with thorns and lastly the most painful crucifiction. My mother had started weeping profusely. So I asked her rather angrily,"Why do you torture yourself by watching this movie if it pains you so much?"
 She didn't answer me then but later she said,"Posh,I keep this movie as a reminder to me of my obligation to Him of service and sacrifice. We see pain everywhere in this world by way of illness,failures,corruption,poverty,exploitation,untruth and so on.Jesus' life inspires us to take a stand against all this evil. But do we really bother,leave aside doing even a minimum sacrifice for others?Do we really care for the poor and downtrodden?Hence as a penance for my cowardice I keep fast on this day and shed tears of shame and salutation.
  "Do you know what is the true meaning of 'passion'?It has evolved from Latin word 'patior', meaningto suffer or to endure. Jesus' passion was the consequence of his love and compassion for the whole mankind. He suffered with the sufferers with such a deep emotion as if his insides were being churned! for Him, love was not some romantic sentiment, but a commitment to serve and sacrifice.According to Him this kind of love was the root and rationale of religion.Hence He proclaimed the equality of all human beings and challenged all man-made divisions. His unconditional love for others was boundless and to remain true to it, He ultimately sacrificed Himself for others.
  "However, Jesus' cross is not a symbol of death, but of life! You know,Jesus rose from the dead. For me He lives, and because He lives, I can boldly face anything,including this sickness.".........

PORTIA.

Let Your Heart Breathe free

LET YOUR HEART BREATHE FREE!

The other day, when I was sitting with my mom in a hotel,to my surprise John walked in with a girl(probably his fiancee).Our eyes met and I involuntarily squirmed a little in my seat.His face too registered a change but he somehow brought a smile to his lips.He straightway came to our table and exchanged greetings first with my mom and then with me.He then introduced his girlfriend to my mom and then headed towards their table.I could understand his care of introducing us as old neighbours and not exchanging much words with me. he clearly did not want his girlfriend to have other ideas.
 When they left, my mom exchanged a glance with me.But by now I was composed, so I just smiled back to her.She was much more relieved than me.
   ......That evening all those past days' memories flooded back to me.John was my first love. We were together almost for about eight months.I loved him from my heart but for him love was supposed to be expressed physically too! I was not prepared for that.For me sex was a very serious committment and I wanted our love to mature more to reach that stage. This put off John and in a fit of rage he broke off our relationship.
  This devastated me  so much that I even contamplated committing suicide.Just about the same time my friend Sara had also been ditched by her boyfriend. But to my surprise,she had taken it so lightly like dusting her palms and walking on to a new tie! My mom always treated Sara like her other daughter. She too was worried at first for her but then seeing that the break-up hadn't mattered much to Sara,she was also surprised. However, she soon started appreciating Sara's matter of fact attitude and indirectly asked me to follow Sara's example.But I was too engulfed in my grief to listen to her.
 Since it was a torture for me to see John going on happily with his life and even exchanging a casual hello with me asif nothing had happened,I took up a job at a far away place to be away from him and all those places related to our pleasant days.As usual,my mom didn't say a word to me,except for saying,"Take care".
   But after some days I received a letter from her.That letter helped me to overcome my gloominess and grief and till this day I have kept it with me as a treasure.I would like to share it with you:
  My mother had written,"Dear Posh,though I didn't object, your decision to go away to a different country didn't make me happy.I never expected that my daughter would run away from herself in this way.I thought you to be a brave person.Well,at least now face the problem squarely.You must realize that you had given too much importance to that relationship.
  "We give much importance to our expectations from a relationship. When in love, we focus all our energies and attention on the loved one. This slowly but surely suffocates that relationship.
 "Must love be such an all-encompassing emotion?Must it mean to own the loved one? This kind of obsessive love leads inexorably towards destruction. An all-cosumming passion destroys those affected totally!What did the famous 'star-crossed lovers' Romeo and Juliet achieve except to be eternal symbols of all-consumming, self-destructive love?
 "so, why destroy all the ephemeral pleasures in the hope of an elusive, unreal,everlasting love? Why become possessive only to suffocate a beautiful relationship? We should realize that all our dreams and expectations can never be fulfilled just from one love relationship. Nobody today can owe total allegience to you or your concern and then a relationship based on certain demands will always prove to be fatal and should be cut off immediately.
 "And so, instead of bemoaning what we can not get out of a love relationship, let us celebrate what we do get! it doesn't matter if you have to share your loved one's love with others. Just enjoy your share if you really love that person.What matters is your love for that person. then even some moments of happiness shared with him or her are enough to enrich your life."
    This letter lifted a heavy load of sorrow and self-loathing from my mind .
I rushed back to London to hug my mother.Now I could move about my neighbourhood with my chin up and could also return John's casual 'hello'.....
-PORTIA

My mother:my philosopher, my guide!

MY MOTHER: MY PHILOSOPHER,MY GUIDE!

Now I am with my mother who is struggling with a tasking ailment. I am simply amazed to see her braveness with which she is facing this ordeal. Being constantly in her company, my thoughts are about her only and every single moment I thank god for giving me such a wonderful person as my mother.
Looking back at the way she has raised me, the first thing which comes to my mind is how she indirectly encouraged me to be free to be me,myself!She never asked me to' this' or 'that',neither she scolded me for being 'too this' or 'too that', 'too noisy' or 'too playful'. she just let me be.I used to hear people blaming her for my 'tomboyishness' but she herself never thought so about me.
 The freedom she gave me slowly made me to realize my responsibilty towards her. And involuntarily I began to check and correct my actions and words.
However, my Dad was another case.He is traditional in thinking and wanted me to adhere to tradition, to behave according to certain accepted rules of behaviour, and to dress according to the norm.But,he never forced his openion upon me, though I could see an occassional frown on his face.He didn't like my mom's way of discussing everything concerning our family openly. He felt certain things shouldn't be discussed before children.
 As I entered  adolescence I naturally had some new and thrilling feelings and longings.however, my free behaviour was mistaken for flirtyness and in turn all my romantic dreams were shattered. I became cocooned in myself and started to shun boys, who, I felt, were after  me just for sex. At this juncture 'Cathy' became my friend and saved me from getting mired in gloominess.Slowly but surely I got attached to her and we established a beautiful relationship.
Once my mom came upon us in our intimate moment. We were embarrassed but she left instantly without saying anything.
However, I was uneasy and brought up this topic with her.
Looking directly in my eyes, she asked,"Do you feel guilty ?"
I firmly said,"No".
She patted my hand and said,"Then it is alright. Posh,I have always encouraged you to be free to be yourself.I don't believe that human behaviour should be regulated by rules. If we all were true to our ' inner self' rules wouldn't be necessary. We all have an ingrained sense of right and wrong, of what is loving and what is not.
"always trust your instinct. trust that small inner voice that guides you to the right ,loving action. That small inner voice is who you really are. Be free to be yourself. Allow yourself to be spontanious. feel your felings, express the truth as you see it in the present moment, and let your love for life radiate from your whole being, expressed in your thoughts, words, and action. Trust yourself. affirm:'I am free to express in whatever way I like and will always be true to my inner being'. You have the right to live your life on your own terms. But then,only you will be responsible for yourself. Realize that this responsibility is really great. Honour it always. you may commit mistakes, but treating them as errors in judgement and lessons learnt, move on.remember, you are not only my child but a divine child of this universe! "

-PORTIA

HAVE A THANKFUL HEART

HAVE A THANKFUL HEART
 I was greatly shaken by the recent devastation of Japan and then came the news of my mother's sickness. I rushed to her to London and was further shocked to see her in a very bad shape,to say the least. Her medical reports said that she now had to fight  a long battle with her sickness. Though the spring season was all around me,this news chilled me to the very bones like a frosty winter.
 I couldn't hold back my tears. they were more of frustration and anger than of sorrow. I couldn't understand why god is troubling such a gentle,harmless and noble soul with such tough ailment. My mother is such a loving person! She loves everybody and every thing,including the plants and trees of her backyard garden.I have seen her many times caressing tiny saplings and talking to them sweetly asif they were babies!She believes that her garden understands her love and reciprocates equally by giving her so many beautiful flowers. She won't hurt anybody even in her dreams and therefore she has chosen to be a vegeterian.And though she did not impose her liking on us,we too have become vegeterian in order not to hurt her feelings.
 Seeing my tears she took me in her arms and said in a feeble but loving voice,"Posh,don't cry,baby. are you again angry with god? I still remember what you had written in your mail after that devastation of Japan. Oh, your each and every word was like a hoarse shout at god!"
  "Yes," I said,"I am now much more angry with Him. Oh, mom,you are so gentle,pius and attached to Him and even then-"
 Cutting me short, she said,"Have you forgotten my reply to your mail?Have a thankful heart. have you forgotten your cicero?"
 That made me laugh. I remembered how she loved those ancient thinkers and had instilled their words in me. According to her ,the famous Roman orator Cicero was one of the greatest motivational speakers.I then remembered Cicero's words,"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the virtues."
 When my mother had first told me this sentence I was a little puzzled by it and had asked skeptically,"What is a thankful heart, in a world where hearts are  so easily broken(it had then actually happened in my case and I was still feeling that cruel stab in my heart), where calamity and disappointment meets us at every turn and corner?How can one have a thankful heart in this world which is nothing but grief and woe? One must be slightly insane to have a constant attitude of thankfulness."
 She said,"well,I believe in the law of attraction.Whatever you will give will be sent back to you. For most of us, the habitual response to adversity is purely negative. But to those who know this universal secret well, there is always the possibility of a hidden advantage. Things that seem bad are not always the worst possible things. Sometimes they are just a way of the universe of opening new vistas of happiness for us.
 " My child, as I often say,count your blessings. Be thankful for all the wonderful things you have in your life and always see the hidden advantage in the events that surround you.See, my illness will make us more tough! have you forgotten what your dear Shakespeare has said?"
 Wiping my tears, I said with a smile,"Sweet are the uses of adversity."
On that my mother hugged me tightly and said,"That's my Portia!"
 I knew why instead of usual' Posh' she said 'portia'-the name she has given to me after that heroine of 'Merchant Of Venice'. I snuggled close to her.......
-PORTIA

The Picnic(a poem)

THE PICNIC ( a poem )
The picnic is over
The garden is quiet again.
The pond is mirrorglassed,
Marble Venus with her reflection
Is in trancedental mood.

An urchin comes in,
Rummages through the leftovers,
Throws the wastepaper bag
After crumpling it in the pond
To crumple its surface
With trembling ripples,
And tresspasses away....
His whistle lingers for a while
On the agitated lawn
till the ripples in the pond
Are ironed out.

-PORTIA

The Spring Is Here!

THE SPRING IS HERE!

Oh, how all of a sudden all the well-known trees seem to be flush with an unknown vigour? From where have come all those tiny leaves on the bare and drab branches? Oh,why so suddenly the cuckoo has started singing and why a strange longing has awakened in me? Oh, the spring is here!Oh me,how did I fail to take the note of its advent even after listening to its harbinger the cuckoo! See,how it has brought all this freshness along with it!
 I have just been awakened by a harp gust of air laden with a heavenly fragrance. It is so strong and sharp that it has almost suffocated me. It has enwrapped me,making it difficult for me even the simple and natural act of breathing. With each incoming breath so much fragrance comes in me that I am unable to exhale it out.
 Oh, how lucky we are to have this faculty of smelling!It surpasses that of  vision,touch,taste and hearing when exciting the mind is concerned.
 Now all around me the flowers are blooming. Each and every tiny flower exhales a different fragrance while opening out its petals. All their breaths then join together to become a perfumed wave which attacks all my senses. This wave not only engulfs me completely, it penetrates me to the very core. But still then I am unable to hold on to it. To try to hold it is as impossible as trying to hold the rain in your fist. It is slippery like mercury. Then,I don't have the containing power of a lake. I can neither hold this fragrance in myself nor can I become one with it. It comes, shakes something inside me violently and whisks away.It always remains aloof.
 This is the speciality of Nature.Though it is always with you,changes you with each passing moment,enriches you,still it remains aloof. We are left only to wonder at its play, its eternal cycle of changes. Before we realize one season is over the next season is already there! Each season causes changes according to its own nature. The trees, shrubs,creepers,vines,birds,animals,insects- they all meet these changes most naturally.
 See how the birds have realized that this season of spring is the season of creation! To enable them to procreate the nature first awakens an urge in them for mating and then endows the male birds with attractive plumage and enchanting notes in order to attract the female birds. Only the male birds become more attractive,beautiful and musical. While competing to attract females their singing and dancing gets more and more vigourous and often leads to hard fought quarrels. What a fun !  Oh,how all of them are involved in this wonderful play of Nature!Only we miserable human beings do not partake in this celebration and depend upon the signals given by the man-made things like the clocks and almanac. What a pity! Instead of becoming a part of this festival of creation we remain mere onlookers!
-PORTIA.