Tuesday, March 02, 2010

In the dark of the night, the flames of the holika had burst to life, furious orange- red flames rising to the sky...I'd turned away from the searing heat,teary and red faced, prefering to offer my salutations from a distance.I'd long stared at the flame, the ultimate divider between life and not life. So many life events unfold to the witness of the flames.As much a part of life as the colors,the riot of red, green and orange that were splashed on the tar roads the next morning.I've come to terms with a collegue's shocker diagnosis from last week, and the fight to the finish. To life.

7 comments:

PQ said...

Happy Holi!
The shocker diagnosis - wish your friend a lot of courage and hope for the best.

austere said...

Yep, a distant colleague but one of the most positive persons I've ever met, a smiler. Awful but prayers.


You too, enjoy the colors. :)

Arunima said...

hope for the best!

shiv said...

So paradoxical that flame ... nothing can live in it, nothing can live without it ....life is so short, hope your friend makes the most of it, and courageously....

Anonymous said...

Happy Holi festivities.

It does not end. A constant stream. And every new death is as shocking and monstrous as the first. Death never gets old.
Sometimes I really hate it. No place to hide.
Amanda brought a very nice thought when I had learned that Dr.B. had died:

"How do I know that wanting to be alive is not a great mistake?
How do I know that hating to die is not like thinking one has lost one's way,
when all the time one is on the path that leads to home?"

- Chuang Tzu

?

AmitL said...

Lovely description of Holi-reminded me of staring wistfully at my carefully preserved kites being given the heave-ho on the 'sacrificial'fire, when I was in school/college...and,going next day morning,all round the places to see what remained of the holika trees with their various kites.(In our area itself,there used to be 3-4 of them)
---
On another note-do you feel the mosquitoes are reducing after holi-day?
---
(I missed it,though-had gone for 5 days to my place in the gulf)

austere said...

amit- what a loss of perfectly good kites. perhaps they fly high someplace?

mago- how indeed, does one know?

arunima- yes, fingers crossed.