Give your parents roses while they are alive...

I received this short story as a mail. It's not my own composition. It is very touching, do read it till the end.

My mom had only one eye. I hated her... She was such an embarrassment. She ran a small shop at a flea market. She collected little weeds and such to sell... anything for the money we needed she was such an embarrassment. There was this one day during elementary school... It was field day, and my mom came. I was so embarrassed. How could she do this to me? I threw her a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school, my friends asked, "Your mom has only one eye?!?!"...And they taunted me. I wished that my mom would just disappear from this world so I said to my mom, "Mom... Why don't you have the other eye?! If you're only going to make me a laughingstock, why don't you just die?!!!" My mom did not respond... I guess I felt a little bad, but at the same time, it felt good to think that I had said what I'd wanted to say all this time... maybe it was because my mom hadn't punished me, but I didn't think that I had hurt her feelings very badly. That night... I woke up, and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. My mom was crying there, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might wake me. I took a look at her, and then turned away. Because of the thing I had said to her earlier, there was something pinching at me in the corner of my heart. Even so, I hated my mother who was crying out of her one eye. So I told myself that I would grow up and become successful. Because I hated my one-eyed mom and our desperate poverty...

Then I studied real hard. I left my mother and came to Seoul and studied, and got accepted in the Seoul University with all the confidence I had. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. Then I had kids, too... Now I'm living happily as a successful man. I like it here because it's a place that doesn't remind me of my mom. This happiness was getting bigger and bigger,Then sometime later,someone knocked at my front door! Who's this...It was my mother... Still with her one eye. It felt as if the whole sky was falling apart on me. My little girl ran away, scared of my mom's eye. And I asked her, "Who are you?!" "I don't know you!!!" as if trying to make that real. I screamed at her," How dare you come to my house and scare my daughter!" "GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!" and to this, my mother quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," and she disappeared out of sight. Thank goodness... she doesn't recognize me... I was quite relieved. I told myself that I wasn't going to care, or think about this for the rest of my life. Then a wave of relief came upon me...

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So, lying to my wife that I was going on a business trip, I went. After the reunion, I went down to the old shack, that I used to call a house...just out of curiosity there, I found my mother fallen on the cold ground. But I did not shed a single tear. She had a piece of paper in her hand.... It was a letter to me. My son... I think my life has been long enough now... And... I won't visit Seoul anymore... but would it be too much to ask if I wanted you to come visit me once in a while? I miss you so much and I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I decided not to go to the school. ...for you... and I'm sorry that I only have one eye, and I was an embarrassment for you. You see, when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye. As a mom, I couldn't stand watching you having to grow up with only one eye... So I gave you mine... I was so proud of my son that was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye. I was never upset at you for anything you did... The couple times that you were angry with me, I thought to myself, 'It's because he loves me...' My son. Oh, my son... I don't want you to cry for me, because of my death. My son, I love you my son, I love you so much."

"And I will provide for him whence he expects not. And he who puts his trust in Allah - He is sufficient for him. Verily, Allah is to fulfil His work. Undoubtedly, Allah has kept a measure for every thing."
Surah At-Talaq- The Holy Qur'an

TILL DESTINY DO US APART?

I had read somewhere that Allah says “You have your desire and I have my desire. My desire shall reign. But if you surrender yourself to My desire, I shall bestow you also your desire. And if you oppose My desire I shall tire you of fulfilling your desire and ultimately what is to happen will be of My desire” Praise be to the Lord! It is undoubtedly the Lord’s will to give us what we deserve, not what we desire! Sometimes, what we deserve is much better than what we desire.
If in the end, destiny has to decide what turn life will take, why do we go on clinging onto things, which are not in our control? Why can’t we leave everything to His hands and let Him write a destiny that we desire and deserve? Why can’t we trust Him? Why can’t we emancipate, let go? Because, we can’t! It’s an unkind tenet of nature, to desire things that are out of our reach. If we have to get what we ask for, inevitably we get it; without us having to put in much effort. There’s no doubt about that, absolutely. But, if that is something not written in our destiny how can we still defy it? We might move heaven and earth but still not get our wish. We eventually accept what we get. If we had let go of it earlier, maybe we wouldn’t have to go through pain. Maybe... I say maybe, because prayers have a power over destiny too.. As far as my rapport with life counts, it is true.

IF...

All seems well this moment and the next moment you feel that everything in your life is falling apart! You try pulling things together, clasp onto something, but only end up getting hold of thin air. Numerous people put in their best efforts to save a dying relationship, a withering friendship. Sometimes it works out; many a time, it doesn’t.
If only we could go back and amend just a single line that we said, a single word that ruined a timeless friendship!
If only once, we could turn back time and do things differently!
If only, we could apologize to a person we hurt, but have no courage to do so...
If only, we could accept our faults and work towards correcting them...
If only, we could see through people and save ourselves from getting hurt...
If only, we could elude betrayal...
If only, we could admit our failures with humility...
If only, we could become insensitive to pain!
If... If... If... It’s a very elusive two-letter word...

Unexpected Truth...

We always sketch things way ahead of time. We do whatever, always oblivious of what the future may hold in store for us. Planning is an untold, unquestioned part of our life. But, is it always necessary that everything happens in just the way we want it to? More than often life brings in unexpected surprises as well as anguish that we had not planned for. We embrace all good that comes our way with open arms without forethought but are always miserable about the unpleasant things that happen to us. That’s human nature; it’s the way we react to things. Still, if we get only what we desire, what would we have? Luxuries? Comfort? Money? Fame? Success? That’s it? The person we love? And? What else do we get? Do we always ask for the right thing? If we get only that which we ask for, the most basic happiness would be missing, leaving a gaping void in our lives. Do we ask for the flowers to bloom? For the wind to blow? For the birds to sing? For the clouds to break into showers of rain?? No! Yet, we enjoy all these simple things that life offers us. We get so many things without asking that we forget to be grateful. We forget to marvel at the Lord’s might. When we get so many things without asking for, why can’t we accept a few unpleasant things that come across in our life without cribbing? Life is but a test put forth by the Maker of the Universe. Why don’t we enjoy it with all that it offers us? The thrill when we receive something unasked for is inexplicable. It may be anything, good tidings or suffering. Aren’t surprise gifts the best of the lot?

Faith- The Absolute Healer

Ever wonder what life would be if we don’t have hope? If we never love for the reason that we may be hurt? Or never make friends for the fear of being betrayed or backstabbed? I particularly like two adages that go on as- “To love and win is the best thing, to love and lose the next best!” and “It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all!” Okay, agreed. Easier said than done. We hope and what we get back is despair. What if we do get hurt? What if we do get betrayed? It gets stifling even to think of the wound. Our heart knots with fear, with distrust, with misgivings. We wonder whether what we got is what we deserve. We see no way out of the noose. We wait for some miracle to materialize and liberate us of the pain.
They say that time is a great healer. Yet, I beg to differ. I believe in an altogether different truism. I believe in faith in the Lord. What the Lord plans for us is what I deem a better healer than time. Time has its own means of healing; time takes time! But, as soon as faith grips us, we’re cured of the lethal hurt that eats us on the inside. We feel so light, as if our bones are going hollow. That is the power of faith. No matter what obstacle comes our way, faith is what keeps us going, every single time.

The moments that make life worth living...

What is life? This is one of the very clichéd, insatiable questions. As I may put it, the small insignificant-looking moments best encompass life...
Singing out loud with your buddies like a delinquent, until your voice grows hoarse...
Feeling blissful when rain falls on your face and blends with your tears…
Surfing through old stuff and finding old cards that make you smile even after countless years…
Laughing at the inanity of it all, after making up with a dear friend with whom you had a row with…
Watching the sunset from your windowsill, until the stars start winking at you...
Taking a stroll all alone, for no reason at all, thinking whatever thing and enjoying every bit of it...
Watching yourself in the mirror, not liking what you see, but still loving yourself...
That’s life! Raising a toast to all these moments that define life! Cheers!

I miss you my friend...

As the adage goes, Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the weak and enkindles the great. I believe in this saying to the core, but with one change. I believe that absence is the same in friendship as well. One of my dearest friends is on vacation and I miss her, as I do not know what! (like hell I do!) My campus looks unfamiliar to me without her. The silly laughs that we shared and all the small talks that we had, I miss all that so very much!
I am simply not used to being myself without her around at my college! I feel like I am living someone else’s life. It all seems so alien to me! I feel there is something utterly missing! Maybe I will have to stay in this stupor for another 3 days! Whoa! Sounds like say, forever!
Essentially, she is the only person after my best friend with whom I can trust my life with, without batting an eyelid! She has been a pillar of strength, a channel of comfort for me. She has motivated me as no other person ever did. She has immense trust in me and that makes me feel so secure. It is so reassuring that someone believes in you. It feels like a warm blanket enveloping me on an icy night. Without her around, I do not have that safety cloak around me. It feels scary! However, she will be back soon and that belief is enough to keep me going.
I put this in writing (err... typing!) to let her know how much I miss her. I simply cannot imagine myself without you my friend!