Alma Mater (01.09.2021)

 Alma Mater

A nurturing mother.

That’s what you were supposed to be. You were nurturing, yes I agree.

Were you motherly? I am unsure. I am unclear. 

I am grateful for everything you gave me. 

The ABCs. The 123s.

I am so very grateful for all the hours, all the letters you gave me. 

But where is the quality? Where is the meaning?

What are the words those letters make?

You had a good structure. So very sturdy. 

But did you make a home for me?

Inside all that sturdiness? 

Just because of the strength?

Where is all the warmth I must feel?

Was my heart too cold? Were my nerves too numb?

Alma mater! 

So prestigious. So glorious. 

You were nourishment. 

But...

But thirsty is what I was. 

Beyond a dream

I had a dream last night. We were together at place which seemed to be a carnival. We were having fun, there was a big crowd and by the way we were together I could tell that we were a couple. It felt so good to be with you, although it was just a dream. It felt real, as reals as the days you are seated in front of me telling me how much you miss your old girlfriend.

This was just a dream. You promised me you'd stay for dinner. I was over the moon. I was so happy that I'm pretty sure that I was smiling for real. But then suddenly you left without a notice. Not even a goodbye. And, I remember seeing two parcels of dinner with you as you left in your bike.

I woke up, I was crying. Then I was thinking. Isn't this what I always, always fear that you will leave me without a notice. Like all the others did. I know I cannot keep you with me forever although, at this point of my life, it is my only wish. If you are planing to leave, I wish you'd let me know. Without ghosting me, without leaving me astray.

I just wish you'd love me the same way I love you

Fire.Burns.Light

It hurts so much
But I did know
I am embracing fire
I was going to get burnt

It hurts so much
But I can't quit
When there is fire
There is light!

Sky, I envy you!

Dear sky up above
Gloomy and ready to pour 
I envy you!

In a moment,
Raindrops will fall
Making your burden light  

The Sun will shine 
Once again
As if it never rained 

Dear sky up above
I envy you!

My heart, too, is gloomy
as gloomy as you right now

But,
Unlike you
I have no tears 
No tears to cleanse my regrets

So, my dear sky,
I will never see 
a sunny day again. 

A bad dream

To me

You are like
a bad dream

I once had

A bad dream

I want to forget

A bad dream
I cannot wake up from

You are like
a bad dream I want to

Wake up from !

There can be no companionship with a fool

We hear that we are social beings all the time. We carve friendships of others. We look for shoulders to cry on, hands to hold. While majority is like this, there are a few among us who carve solitude and for some unexplainable reason, the society tries to look at these alone-people with an eye of suspect. However, there is a great difference between being lonely and being alone. Many people are alone and lead happy lives.

Loneliness might seem like a bad thing. It is not a soothing feeling you get when you know that there is no one you can rely on. It’s tough when you do not have someone to talk to when you are sad. But, is it all right if we keep a relationship with another person for the sake of not being lonely?

Friends are an essential element of a successful life indeed; value of a good relationship cannot be measured. What’s also immeasurable is the harm a depressing companionship will cause on you.

Buddhism speaks about loners, explains why they should continue to be alone if they cannot find a better or an equal companion. 61^st verse of Dhammapada says:

Carance nadhigaccheyya
seyyam sadisamattano
ekacariyaram dalham kayira
natthi bale sahayata.

(Meaning: Avoid going along with fools. Should one fail to find one better or equal as companion, then one should continue this journey alone. There can be no friendship with fools.)

These lines were delivered by the Buddha while he was residing at the Jetavana monastery. Mahakassapa thera, one of the Buddha's most eminent disciples was residing near Rajagaha Nuwara with two young bhikkhus. One of them was respectful, obedient and dutiful to the thera, but the other was not. When the old thera blamed the latter for his slackness in his duties, he was very much offended. On one occasion, he went to the house of a lay-disciple of the thera, and lied to them that the thera was ill. Thus, he got some choice food from them for the thera; but he ate the food on the way. When admonished by the thera for this, he was extremely angry. The next day, when the thera was out on his alms-round, the young foolish bhikkhu stayed behind, broke the pots and pans and set fire to the monastery. When a bhikkhu from Rajagaha told the Buddha about this, the Buddha said, “If a person seeking a companion cannot find one who is better than or equal to him, let him resolutely go on alone; there can be no companionship with a fool,” pointing out that it would have been much better for   Mahakassapa Thera to live alone than to live with a foolish companion. 

Another similar story is read in Dhammapada verse 330.

Ekassa caritam seyyo
natthi bale sahayata
eko care na ca papani kayira
appossukko matanga' ranneva nago.

 Meaning of this verse is that, ‘it is better to live alone; there is no fellowship with a fool. So one should live alone, do no evil, and be carefree like the elephant roaming alone in the forest.’

 It’s not always easy to tell a positive relationship from a negative one. Yet if a friendship is stressing you out and demands too much from you, most probably that is a negative friendship. You know that it is not a positive relationship when you don’t get anything back no matter how much you offer. These toxic relationships can be bad for our mental health and well-being. 

If you are a person who is afraid to be alone or a person who is tired of friends who destroy the best in you, it is time to think back. Always remember that friends you make is a choice of yours. If you can’t see a single way of improving your toxic relationship, you should think about letting it go. You don’t have to keep friends to show the world that you are not alone. Don’t be scared of being lonely; be scared of foolish companionship which may suck your life out of you. Being a forever-alone will be not so scary if you consider the harm done by toxic relationships.

Life lesson from a tuk-tuk driver

I went to school in a school van service from grade one to 13. Most of us became good friends within a few years and shared many experiences during that period, both good and bad. We weren’t always good children. Mischievous at times, we learnt a few lessons for life from some things we did.  I still remember one such lesson which made us learn a lesson through the feeling of guilt. As I remember, I was still in grade three; it was the period when we weren’t much thrilled about the food inside our lunch boxes. My friend and I used to return home with a not-empty lunch box at least two days a week. We all know what a not-empty lunchbox means. It means disaster if you get caught to your mother. My friend was also scared of her mother and knew what’s waiting for her if she didn’t empty her lunchbox before she gets home. We had to do something but we couldn’t eat what’s inside because we were worried whether the food was stale.

I can’t remember whose idea it was or how we started it; I only remember that we wanted to have fun and save my friend from her mother. We started throwing food out from the open shutter targeting kids traveling in school vans. It was an ugly thing to do, but we didn’t realize it then, since we were all kids. It was fun and the lunchbox got empty. That’s all what we knew.

We couldn’t continue shooting kids with bread for a long time. One day we threw food into a three-wheeler in which there were three kids in the back seat. They were our targets. We were masters of shooting bread by then and we managed to throw a few pieces of bread in to this three-wheeler. Those children got irritated and complained to the tuk-tuk driver and he wanted our diver uncle to pull over. He didn’t do as the tuk-tuk driver said and fate decided to meet us up near the color lights.

And we got a lecture; a lecture I still remember after one and half decades. He asked us whether we knew how many kids starve with no food and whether we know how hard our parents have to work that they could feed us everyday. He blamed us for dirtying his vehicle that he’ll have to wash it now.  He scolded us, ‘Oyala maha pawukara lamay,’ (you sinful children). That was the last time we ever threw food out of our school van or from any other vehicle. Even today, I think twice before throwing any amount of food away.

Sometimes you learn lessons from complete strangers. This is just one such event. You too, may have lots of stories to tell, where you learned lessons from strangers. We humans make mistakes, sometimes because we are so ignorant about the consequences of our act and sometimes because we’ve got nothing else to do. However, if you carry the guilt feeling on your shoulder, although you made the mistake unconsciously, then there is a chance that this guilt would become a greater problem than the penalty of the real mistake.

The feeling of guilt can be an advantage at times. When your body is out of food, it sends you a message, a feeling of hunger, to notify you that you need to have food. When your phone battery is low it sends you an alert that it needs to be recharged. Likewise when you get to know that you have violated a morale value, consciously or unconsciously, your mind sends you a message telling you that you shouldn’t have done so. This is called ‘guilt’. This is what happened to our little mischievous gang in the school van; the guilt feeling motivated us to be better children.

But sometimes people carry guilt around for unrealistic reasons. Let’s say a girl who ended her relationship with her boyfriend is carrying a guilt feeling with her for the thought that she ruined this boy’s life. In reality, if the girl stayed with the guy, it would cause more harm to both of them. It would be futile to fret over this for years and years. Let’s say that you went out with your friends and a terrible accident happened. Your friend got badly injured. You feel guilty about what happened to your friend because it was your idea to go out with him or her that day.

Guilt occurs because we focus on the emotion itself and ignore the real reason behind the incident. This girl might have ended her relationship because it was no good for both of them and your friend got injured because he wasn’t careful crossing the road and not because you invited him out. But both of them could leave out the reasons and be guilty for the rest of their lives. You can see that there is no point if you carry the guilt with them taking the responsibility in both incidents.

It is only a fool who makes the same mistake twice. If you make a mistake, learn your lesson from it. Take this an aid to help your life. Always remember that the real problem is not making mistakes, but not learning from your mistakes and carrying unnecessary guilt on your shoulders.