So much more to life...

Drop by drop the oceans fill...
And when I see the enormous number of drops I missed,
I always feel,
The ocean could have been much bigger,
The ocean could have been much bigger..

But then says someone that the greed doesnt end with the ocean,
And when I see the enormous wants I have,
I always feel,
More wants could have been fulfilled,
More wants could have been fulfilled..

One after one the number of friends increase..
And when I see the number of friends I missed,
I always feel,
The friendship could have been stronger,
The friendship could have been stronger..

One among all could be the someone special..
And when I see the enormous distance,
I always feel,
It could have been so much more special,
It could have been so much more special..

I think I have missed out on so many things..
But when I see all I missed out on,
I always feel,
Life could not have been better,
My life could not have been better..

Ankit

Even this shall pass away

Once in Persia reigned a King
Who upon his signet ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before the eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance,
Fit for every change and chance.
Solemn words, and these are they:
"Even this shall pass away."

Trains of camels through the sand
Brought his gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to match with these.
But he counted not his gain
Treasures of the mine or main;
"What is wealth?" the king would say;
"Even this shall pass away."

In the revels of his court
At the zenith of the sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests;
He amid his figs and wine,
Cried: "Oh loving friends of mine!
Pleasure comes but not to stay;
Even this shall pass away."

Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield;
Soldiers with a loud lament
Bore him bleeding to his tent;
Groaning from his tortured side,
"Pain is hard to bear," he cried,
"But with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away."

Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue, carved in stone,
Then, the king, disguised, unknown,
Stood before his sculptured name
Musing meekly, "What is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay
Even this shall pass away."

Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Waiting at the gates of gold,
Said he with his dying breath;
"Life is done, but what is death?"
Then, in answer to the King,
Fell a sunbeam on his ring,
Showing by a heavenly ray,
"Even this shall pass away."

Theodore Tilton

And miles to go before I sleep..

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep;
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep;"

This for me are the four most beautiful lines that describe the human life in the present world. But I take it with a pinch of salt. Back in IITM, where I first heard these lines, I took these lines as trivial as each individual has some responsibilities to live upto.. But as I move on, I realise that the deep and dark woods signifies the more promises we make as we move on. So, this game of moving on and fulfilling the promises never ends. To give you an example, I thought doing well in my undergrad was a promise I had to keep when I first heard this quote. But now, I need to repeat it for my grad and later on in my job.. And to the family.. The count can just be unlimited. The humans are stuck in this cob web where, the more you get, the more you need to get.. The more you deliver, the more you are expected to deliver.. After all it takes just two meals a day and a close circle to be happy. We will find that the people in the lower strata of the community quite adhere to this. But as we move up the strata, we become more greedy, me expect more, we sleep less and we are less happy. Its not what I am saying. You can have a look around you. Personally, I dont remember when was the last time I slept without knowing when I had to get up. That for me is slavery, where you are a puppet in the hands of the materialistic world. Guys, there is life more than money.. the promises you need to keep are those you made to yourself and no one else..

This is going to hurt just a little bit

One thing I like less than most things is sitting in a dentist chair with
my mouth wide open.

And that I will never have to do it again is a hope that I am against
hope hopen.

Because some tortures are physical and some are mental,
But the one that is both is dental.
It is hard to be self-possessed
With your jaw digging into your chest.

So hard to retain your calm
When your fingernails are making serious alterations in your life line
or love line or some other important line in your palm;

So hard to give your usual effect of cheery benignity
When you know your position is one of the two or three in life
most lacking in dignity.

And your mouth is like a section of road that is being worked on.
And it is all cluttered up with stone crushers and concrete mixers and
drills and steam rollers and there isn't a nerve in your head that
you aren't being irked on.

Oh, some people are unfortunate enough to be strung up by thumbs.
And others have things done to their gums,
And your teeth are supposed to be being polished,
But you have reason to believe they are being demolished.
And the circumstance that adds most to your terror
Is that it's all done with a mirror,
Because the dentist may be a bear, or as the Romans used to say, only
they were referring to a feminine bear when they said it, an ursa,
But all the same how can you be sure when he takes his crowbar in one
hand and mirror in the other he won't get mixed up, the way you
do when you try to tie a bow tie with the aid of a mirror, and forget
that left is right and vice versa?

And then at last he says That will be all; but it isn't because he then
coats your mouth from cellar to roof
With something that I suspect is generally used to put a shine on a
horse's hoof.

And you totter to your feet and think. Well it's all over now and after
all it was only this once.
And he says come back in three monce.

And this, O Fate, is I think the most vicious circle that thou ever sentest,
That Man has to go continually to the dentist to keep his teeth in good
condition when the chief reason he wants his teeth in good condition
is so that he won't have to go to the dentist.

OGDEN NASH.