25 May 2009

Smell the Roses

Reflecting over the weekends on myriad things that occupy my mind.
And during my rides one of the things i notice is the sound of the breeze,
the birds, the fragrances of the new buds..
and i think to myself..do i need to be on a beach or a park ONLY to stop and smell the roses?
I often used to try to recollect a poem, we had in school..Leisure by W. H Davies..

Leisure

WHAT is this life if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare?—
No time to stand beneath the boughs,And stare as long as sheep and cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:
No time to see, in broad daylight,Streams full of stars, like skies at night:
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,And watch her feet, how they can dance:
No time to wait till her mouth can Enrich that smile her eyes began?
A poor life this if, full of care,We have no time to stand and stare.

How true...and along the same lines...Recd this very interesting mail from a friend.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people.

The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:
Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

hmmmmmm

you spend more time thinking about what to have for dinner than it takes to eat it....or even prepare it :P

If quitters never win and winners never quit, who the fool that said ? "Quit while you're ahead"?

Jack and Jill need a marriage counselor......

Random thoughts 2

"Wise men stand behind me, Brave men stand beside me, only Fools stand against me....." :P

If we live in the present....then how long does the present last..

Y R Coins round??...Ah I remember the 5 Ps coins that were diamond in shape :P and the hexagonal 20 Ps coins. the curvaceous 10Ps coins ...hmmmm

Get a life :|

Have you ever thought about why we can think? I have. . . these are the questions that keep me up at night. . .

Just an adult though : Y do men have nipples :P

i normally do...talk to myself...less arguments...lol :P

Love is only worth having if you are loved for who you are

"and the final countdown......" playing in my head right now........

Random Thoughts.....

... you hold up so well under stress, you deal with sadness, you manage to suppress your emotions and swallow your tears, but at the merest hint of sympathy and kindness the dam breaks?


... when you have typed the wrong word but the correct word is almost exactly the same as the wrong word but only that the last two letters are different, your fingers backspace over the entire wrong word and retype almost exactly the same letters again? Why are you not satisfied with only fixing the last two letters?


... dentists try to carry on a conversation with you, when you are lying there with your jaw propped open, a latex sheet stretched across the chasm and the drill bit is going full speed? When try as you might, you cannot bring the necessary parts of your mouth together to reply, to agree or disagree?