Streets-- home for the rural poor

"Incredible India" is making fast progress, but the gap between the rich and poor, especially in urban centers, is becoming a deeper abyss and there seems to be no bridge connecting the two worlds. The urban public landscape, viz. the sidewalks (footpaths) become homes for the rural poor who migrate to the city in hope of a better standard of living. They live with their families, including small children without roofs over their heads, and are forced to beg to make a living.

The same space is shared by the rich when there are outdoor street festivals or art exhibitions, and at that time the gap becomes even more glaring.

The rich feel that the poor are a nuisance, who are bringing down the economy. However, if the health, education, and finance policies in urban areas were at par with those in rural ones, why would the people migrate?

-- Behrooz K Y Avari

Room at the table

Have you ever noticed that dining room tables seat six, eight or twelve - not seven, nine or thirteen? I've been single all my life, usually not thinking much of it. But on holidays even the place settings conspire against me, rendering a silent rebuke against my single status.

You can endure holiday dinners two ways if you're single: 1) Bring someone you don't particularly care for; 2) hear the awful words "Pull up an extra seat," a euphemism for either a collapsible chair or one that is too high or too low for the table. Either strategy leaves you uncomfortable.

At Thanksgiving two years ago, while my calves cramped from straddling the leg of my brother's dining room table, Aunt Nell took the opportunity to ask for details about my love life, which was seriously lacking at the time. The event was excruciating. Though I enjoy singlehood in the main, there have been times when I've worked myself into a mad frenzy looking for someone to fill a void I thought I couldn't satisfy on my own. Someone, anyone with a pulse would do. Over the years, I dated quite a few guys I liked - I was even engaged once, but "till death us do part" seemed a very long time. I was relieved to be alone again.

So holidays, especially with the Aunt Nells of the family leave me a little bereft. One day, noting my frustration a friend of mine suggested we try something different on the next such holiday.

"How 'bout you and I go down to a homeless shelter and help out? Then maybe we'll be grateful for what we have," she proposed. I had a thousand reasons why this wasn't a good idea, but my friend persisted. The next Christmas I found myself in an old warehouse, doling out food.

Never in my life had I seen so many turkeys and rows of pumpkin pies. Decorations donated by a nearby grocery store created a festive atmosphere that uplifted even my reluctant spirit. When everyone was fed, I took a tray and filled a plate with the bountiful harvest. After a few bites, I knew what everyone was carrying on about; the food was really good.

My dinner companions were easy company. Nobody asked me why I didn't have a date. People just seemed grateful for a place to sit and enjoy a special dinner. To my surprise, I found I had much in common with my fellow diners. They were people like me. My experience that Christmas brought me back to the shelter the following year. I enjoyed helping others so much that I began seeking more opportunities to serve. I started volunteering for the Literacy Foundation once a week. I figured I could sit in front of the TV, or I could use those evening hours to help others learn to read.

Caring for others has abundantly filled the void in my life that I had sometimes interpreted as a missing mate. When I stopped trying so hard to fit in, I realized I was single for a reason and found my own special purpose.

There is room at the table for a party of one. And sometimes "just one" is the perfect fit.

-- Vivian Eisenecher

Life -- a bed of thornless roses

It is said that "Life is not a bed of roses", and it is true because we believe in it.

What we believe in manifests itself. The blueprint of our thoughts gives rise to our external realities. So it is of utmost importance as to what we feed our minds with. If we believe that life is not a bed of roses, it wont be, if we fill it with negativity and base thats what we will get; but if the input is positive, if I believe that LIFE IS INDEED A BED OF ROSES, thats the exact output I get.

Life is filled with abundance, we just have to turn in the right key to gain it; and the right key here is a balance between giving and receiving (not taking but receiving, the difference being that when you receive, you are gracious, you are counting your blessings, not just being greedy and selfish and taking as you please). This balance causes harmony in the energies surrounding and flowing within ones being.

This harmony of energies is what will make life a bed of thornless roses :)

So control your mind and be in charge instead of charging at others.

-- Behrooz K Y Avari

Be happy from within

Its been so long since I have written, and so much has happened in my life in these past few months. I have loved, been loved, learned, grown and I cherish all the moments that have helped me evolve.
Each moment has and will continue to be precious to be. I want to learn to get better spiritually, help people, spread love, and imbibe in people that happiness only stems from within oneself. No one and no thing can make you or cause you to be happy. People and circumstances are not in one's control. We only have control over ourselves. So why be slaves of our thoughts, of our past, of the future, when we can be masters of the present, masters of ourselves. We can create and manifest whatever we want and need through our faith, belief, imagination and visualization. Remember as you think so shall you become. So be the best you can be and you will be blessed with love, abundance, happiness and wisdom.

-- Behrooz K Y Avari