Friday, September 16, 2011

SILENCE and INNER PEACE - Stress Management

Agar Aap Shanti Chahate Ho To Pehele Shaant Rehena Seekho 
अगर आप शांति चाहते हो तो पहेले शांत रहेना सीखो  

WORDS ON A BENCH IN MUSSOORIE
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Long back, maybe almost fifteen years ago, I visited Mussoorie and during one of my long walks, probably on Camel’s Back Road or maybe near Lal Tibba in Landour, I saw some words inscribed on a bench, a truism that has had a profound impact on me ever since.

I will never forget those interesting words written in Hindi on a bench in Mussoorie:

अगर आप शांति चाहते हो तो पहेले शांत रहेना सीखो 
Agar Aap Shanti Chahate Ho To Pehele Shaant Rehena Seekho 

Roughly translated this means:

IF YOU DESIRE PEACE  THEN FIRST LEARN TO REMAIN PEACEFUL 

Of course the word शांत (shaant) also means SILENT – yes, SILENCE is the sine qua non for Peacefulness.

There is too much “noise” in our lives – Physical Noise, Information Overload Noise, Emotional Noise – internal noise and external noise – noise around you and noise within you – all sorts of noise. Noise hassles you and is the biggest impediment to attaining peacefulness. The first step to inner peace is to get rid of all that noise around you and within you. Go to a quiet place where there is minimal external noise, switch off your noise-making gadgets like cellphones, TV etc. Sit silently in solitude, close your eyes and see how your inner silence dissolves the noise within you and you will experience inner peace and you will be in harmony with yourself.

That’s what I did this morning. I sat in silence in the spacious airy balcony of my ninth floor flat in Wakad, absorbed the tranquil scenic view of the placid waters of the Mula River quietly flowing below, the peaceful verdant hills in the distance, the still atmosphere, the pure fresh air, and I felt a halo of soothing serenity permeate me. Then I closed my eyes and let my silence dissolve the internal noise in my mind and body and now I am experiencing inner peace and I am in harmony with myself.

अगर आप शांति चाहते हो तो पहेले शांत रहेना सीखो 
If you want peace then first learn to remain peaceful

Remember it. Try it. It works. You can take my word for it.

VIKRAM KARVE

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.




SHOULD I TELL HER - A Love Story


SHOULD I TELL HER
A Short Story 
By
VIKRAM KARVE

From my Creative Writing Archives: 
Short Fiction - A Love Story

I love making love on a Sunday morning. 

I make love to a beautiful woman on Sunday morning – yes, I make love to her and she makes love to me.

Here is how we make love.

Tell me, what does a beautiful woman do when a handsome young man looks at her in an insistent, lingering sort of way, which is worth a hundred compliments? 

I’ll tell you what she does.

First, she realizes I am looking at her, then she accepts being looked at and finally she begins to look at me in return.
  
Suddenly her eyes become hard and she grills me with a stern stare that makes me uncomfortable.
    
Scared and discomfited, I quickly avert my eyes and try to disappear into the crowd. I feel ashamed of having eyed her so blatantly. 

‘What will she think of me?’ I wonder. 

But soon, by instinct and almost against my will, my eyes begin searching, trying to find her again.

Ah, there she is. She stands at the fruit-stall, buying fruit.

She is an exquisite beauty – tall, fair and freshly bathed, her luxuriant black hair flows down her back, her sharp features accentuated by the morning sun, her nose slightly turned up, so slender and transparent, as though accustomed to smelling nothing but perfumes.

I am mesmerized.

Never before had anyone evoked such a delightful tremor of thrilling sensation in me.

An unknown force propels me towards the fruit-stall. I stand near her and made pretence of choosing a papaya, trying to look at her with sidelong glances when I think she isn’t noticing.

She notices.

She looks at me.

Her eyes are extremely beautiful – enormous, dark, expressive.

Suddenly her eyes began to dance, and seeing the genuine admiration in my eyes, she gives me smile so captivating that I experience a delightful twinge in my heart.

She selects a papaya and extends her hands to give it to me.

Our fingers touch.

The feeling is electric. 

It is sheer ecstasy. 

I feel so good that I wish time would stand still.

I can’t begin to describe the sensation I feel deep within me.

I try to smile.

She communicates an unspoken good-bye with her eyes and briskly walks away.

Three months have passed. She has never misses her Sunday morning love date with me, same time, same place, every Sunday – at precisely Seven o’clock in the morning.

But, my dear Reader, do you know that not a word has been exchanged between us.

We just make love every Sunday morning using the language of our eyes and part with an unspoken good-bye.

Once I was slightly late for our rendezvous.

I could see her eyes desperately searching for me.

And when her eyes found me, her eyes danced with delight, and began making love to my eyes.

Tell me, is there any love making that can surpass our fascinating alluring love making?

It feels like the supreme bliss of non-alcoholic intoxication.

Should I speak to her?

I do not know.

Why doesn’t she speak to me?

I do not know.

Does one have to speak to express love? 

Are words from the mouth the only way to communicate love?

Maybe we both want our beautiful romance to remain this way.

Our silent love making with our eyes – so lovely, so esoteric, so exquisite, so pristine, so divine, so fragile, so delicate, so sensitive, so delicately poised.

Just one word would spoil everything, destroy our enthralling state of trancelike bliss, bring everything crashing down from supreme ecstasy to harsh ground reality.

I think it’s best to let our exquisite Sunday morning love making go on for ever and ever, till eternity.

What do you feel, Dear Reader?

How long should we go making love like this?

Tell me, should I make a move, talk to her, break the spell...?

Tell me, My Dear Reader...Should I tell her...?

I’ll do exactly as you say.

Till then, I will make love to the beautiful woman every Sunday morning – yes, I will make love to her with my eyes only.


VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2011
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like this story? I am sure you will like  my book COCKTAIL comprising twenty seven short stories about relationships?
COCKTAIL is available as an ebook on AMAZON and SMASHWORDS on the links below:
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If you prefer to read the book in paperback please click the links below to buy the book online:
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About VIKRAM KARVE

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer. Educated at IIT Delhi, ITBHU Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures(2008) and he is currently working on his novel. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles in magazines and journals for many years before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for almost 14 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing. Vikram lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts. 

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
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Email: vikramkarve@sify.com          

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.