Gulmohar flowers in an old diary...

Dear friends & well wishers,

These days I am just settling for the good, removing all the clutter and re-arranging something...may be life :-).

While doing so, I just got hold of an old diary and when I opened it, I found dry & faded but beautiful orange gulmohar flowers. It was a mixed feeling. I mean, I always believe that life is nothing but memories of past, feelings at present and dreams for future. And the petals of the gulmohar flowers revived something amazing.

I too think that life is about living in present and preparing for future. Also I agree that one should not dwell in past. But paradoxically we cannot just delink ourselves with the life we have lived. The power of past cannot be ignored and somewhere it should not be, because, if not anything, atleast it has given us experience to live present more beautifully & future more effectively.

I really cherish old photographs and have been spending hours in arranging & preserving them since childhood. I keep my diaries where I used to write songs, quotations & even sms and experiences safe. I keep old letters, greeting cards, articles and my dears books with care. I treasure all the gifts gifted by my loved ones especially by my cute little kid sister (I know she is not that little now) and more importantly the memories of all who matters to me.

God has bestowed my life with wonderful memories that empowers me to live every single moment with content & happiness.

These memories give me strength to live with love & smile. Just a recall on few of many memories like - How our mother used to get up 4:00 am in the morning to prepare 'Khas-khas, badam ka halwa' for us as it is good for health in the early morning? How she used to remain wake up throughout night just to make sure if we need anything during study hours? How our father used to pat on our forehead throughout night whenever we became ill? How our father used to wait for hours outside our coaching classes to pick up us safely? How my sister used to collect hints for weeks to get perfect birthday gift for me?How she always used to & still make sure my security & protection? How I used to wake her by singing songs and that used to irritate her most...LOL? How we used plan and arrange for birthday parties & get-togethers? How we used to select songs for days and get them recorded in a much planned sequence? How we searched for a beautiful slam book in almost all the shops for months? This list is endless and most of the things are still there & will be there.

These memories give me strength to live with trust & smile. Just a few of many memories like - How we used to wait for 00:00 hrs to wish happy birthday (I still remember one night I fell asleep while waiting with my eye lenses on...LOL)? How we used to enjoy picnics in school? How we planned for black day, blue day, pink day and even fluorescent day in our college? How we arranged for a surprise friendship party & especially friendship cake in a train park? How we used to reach each other in case of any need? How hard we tried to talk if we had come to know that any of us is feeling low? How we shared if anyone of us fell in love? How much happy we felt when we came to know about job or completion of education, marriage or child? How unplanned encounters in train, on internet, at exam centres, during paper presentations & even schools, colleges & offices turned into lifelong friendships.

I mean just a flash of these thoughts fill my day with lots of hope, faith and gratefulness to God.

I agree that few experiences are worth forgetting; Few people are not worth remembering. So let us make a choice. Let us free our lives from all the clutter of bad memories. We also might have done few mistakes and had tough lessons. Let us keep the lessons and leave everything else. Let us forget all the bitterness. Let us choose all the goodness & sweetness of life. Let us try to make our lives worth living and worth reading. Because some day every present & future would become past and every moment will become memory.

Let us start a fresh & add fresh gulmohar flowers in our diary, so that some day when we will open, it we will smile with the beauty of nature & life.

With a fresh & beautiful smile ,

Pragati Soni