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"If only"

Coming back to my room at "Mainak " always brings back nostalgia in some form or the other . It was Ma's birthday today- she would have been 73! We celebrated - with cakes and snacks....celebrated life ! Baba took out an old album of our Delhi / Jaipur trip..and it was memories of another day ...
Found this poem from my old diary.. an excerpt from Arthur Hailey's Overload ...a book I read so long ago and almost forgot !

 Tell him from one who knows: 
A spluttering candlestick
Though burning dimly 
Is brighter by far 
Than cimmerman darkness
For life ,
On whatever turns 
Outranks oblivion
Yes !The "if  only"s do persist forever
As hovering wraith-like and used up wishes
Their after burners spent 
"If only " this or that 
On such and such day
Had varied by an hour or an inch,
Or something neglected had been done
Or something done had been neglected!
Then "perhaps"the other might have been
The other others....to infinity
For "perhaps" and "if only" s are first cousins
Addicted to survival in our minds 
Accept them
And all else.

Amid all else saw "Talaash" ...an Amir starrer that disappointed ! But must say I liked the pathos of the young couple losing their child and the "if only"s that tormented ....Life is so full of them....for each end there is a beginning ....

Comments

  1. Mona Sen3 December 2012 at 00:33

    A nice read Amrita... May god bless u and may you cherish Maa's memories always with the same sweetness. in this context i must say that "If only" and "Perhaps" visit us all the time..we would never be able to cope with ..as the poet says we must learn to accept and cherish the memories of the past...
    A few seconds ago

    ReplyDelete
  2. Abhishikta3 December 2012 at 00:54

    "Accept them
    And all else."
    such lovely lines :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. tefltutor033 December 2012 at 03:39

    Thanks Mona, yes life is full of them...thanks for the wishes..true,
    memories are sweet , even the sadness is comforting when you remember ma !
    Abhishikta , thanks ..I guess it applies now more with the exams looming :)

    ReplyDelete

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