Justifying Joyfulness!

Planning for the blog write-ups, I kept racking my brains about what all can be included in my chosen Theme for this April’s BlogchatterA2Zchallenge2021: Echoes from the Past. I like to write about things, places, and people I have met/done/seen. Brings in that extra reality to what you put into words; I feel. I look for tangible connects when I read something. Makes the experience so much more worth it. I do not want people to read my piece and think: “Hmm, maybe!” I want them to feel: “Wow, that’s it!”

There is joy in everything – the quantities aren’t definable – but some good and something necessary even in the ‘bad’. I have oft learnt it after suffering mentally but then it seemed for my good always. If I had continued in my last assignment, I would be devoting my valuable time for people who did not care and I would never have found time to write my books. It was JUST waiting to happen, thus………there is JOY in memories from my trips to places around the world and my country. Seems so justified to value them so much more now!!!

I found in this process that almost half of Hollywood had famous people whose names started with ‘J’. But I did not know them, though I maybe liked the work of some of them. So, despite the temptation to include some names from there, I refrain and exercise caution. Which brought me back to my earlier dilemma: What to include in my writings for the alphabet ‘J’?

Now, none of my writable friends’ names start with ‘J’. A few earlier acquaintances do come to mind but since they were passersby, even if I do try to pen a few words, they will not ring true.

Next were a few cities which came to mind from our country – one close to my heart because we were posted there, and I studied in a school which was probably the best I ever went to. Place: Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, India; School: St. Francis Convent. And another where again my father was posted, and I would visit my parents for my much-needed vacation. Place: Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.

From the mystical Bundelkhand (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundelkhand) region of central India with the staid Betwa flowing near the city of Jhansi – there were many a tales apart from school and the army life which make it memorable. Most of pictures from that time are tucked away in my father’s home but some which remain fastened in my mind are super fresh, still. The Orchha (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchha_State) ruins and the Chhatris of the rulers on the bank of the river Betwa made a perfect backdrop for the tales and mystical folklores to come alive. I remember one ashram in the Lakshminarayan temple complex which boasted of a huge cow which gave several tons of milk in a day. A photo-op with the celebrated bovine was thus a must if one visited Orchha. Of course, more famous than all of the history of this region, at that time were the dreaded dacoits of Bundelkhand – of which Phulan Devi topped the list.

The largest and only desert in India is famous for innumerable ruins, forts and palaces and some yester-years princes and royal families who have drawn many foreign visitors with their enchantment. I often wonder what it is about kings and queens and dynasties which fascinates us as human race. I pinpoint this attraction on the fact of their dazzling wealth in terms of jewels, precious stones and spectacular property and the other half on legend and lore. The Jodhpur tenure of my father is known to me only from the duration of my visits home, as by then we were posted ourselves (Hubby dearest in his cadre) down south. The majestic Umaid Bhavan palace (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umaid_Bhawan_Palace), the traditional markets, the desert safari – it was lovely to be there, but I remember it most because it was time of complete pampering and there was never any need for me to follow anything else but my heart. The magic of being in your parents’ home!

When everything else seemed not so interesting, I thought I’d just let it be. And there is what I found – a word I love to use as does most of the world: Just. To point out the exactness of an intention. The fairness of an act. The present of a moment in time. So, apt. the pandemic has taught us many things which we are fast forgetting again too, but still. For some of us the lessons are valuable.

It is always about finding your own joy and celebrating with jubilation…….the serenity of relaxing ducks on a hot summer day, the children playing a birthday game seriously, lovely words on even lovelier walks in New Zealand, travel which is fast now a far away dream, and stacked up high houses – lives in JUST the moment!

A reaffirmation of our faith in the need to live in just this moment. Who has seen tomorrow?

A faith in doing what is universally right and fair as against ‘our’ right. What else is worth being remembered for?

A need to be definite about an existence. Why else should one be alive?

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