Spring is in the air

SPRING IS IN THE AIR ~

Sun is bright and shining

Flowers too are smiling

Hold my hand, my dear friend

Let's hear the song of Nature

Get lost in this surrounding

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FRIENDSHIP

FRIENDSHIP ~

You may have it in a cup

I might go for a cone

You may like current ones

I might choose tradition

We can have different tastes

Face reverse directions

We can be individuals

Sharing a beautiful bond

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Illuminated Darkness

I scroll down pic after pic.

Painted faces, cheesy smiles.

Designer clothes, glitter galore.

Posing styles, happy halos.

.....

I watch them together.

Laughter loud, jolly sounds.

Love and hugs, buddy styles.

All is fun and party times.

....

I listen to them in silence.

As they meet me, alone.

Tears rolling, a down pour.

Aching hearts and empty life.

Victim am I, each have told.

....

I see, I hear, I try to understand.

What has happened?

And what went wrong?

Where is peace, I implore?

Taking a selfie somewhere, to post?

(Pic, poetry & Art by Shamsa Anwar)

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Popularity Craze

People crave popularity, with which comes fame leading to limelight and ultimately media frenzy. These are all highly addicting factors in their turns. Once tasted, the person gets hooked on to their toxic powers. Politicians crave them, actors go crazy for them, ones in power run after and the rest yearn them.

I call them vices, because they dig their tendons deep inside everyone. The desire to be popular, being the most powerful one. It starts residing in a heart as early as childhood. With a few exceptions, almost everyone dreams of being the apple of all eyes. Commoners look at celebrities in awe for their achievements. Polls, surveys, ratings, ..., all, are measures of popularity and trends.

Popularity and fame come at a price, as any historian can tell. Not only it can go to one's head in extremes, but even in moderations, it marks its imprint. There's no end to it's quest. Like a strong intoxicant, it leaves the effected panting after it. It's overdose takes away fair judgement, as witnessed by time through the pages of eons passed.

In aristocratic families, the elders used to make sure to instill strong moral values in young generations. As loving parents, each would want their offsprings to achieve popularity but knowing it's vulnerability, they would try to prepare them by character building as protective shield. Children were raised and youngsters were watched carefully before letting them step out in the human jungle of societies, with years of training.

World we live in, is changing at a speed unknown to previous generations, thanks to modern technology. Internet has altered the whole ball game. Traditional norms no longer apply. Modesty, privacy and interaction are in need of new definitions and restrictions. Popularity and exposure are no longer protégés of celebrities alone. Social media has made every person a star in their own right.

Selfie crazed era is a self obsessed era. People are no more content on being ordinary. They are obsessed with social media, which like all toxins, carry pros, when used cautiously and correctly, in measured doses, but can be highly damaging if indulged. Unfortunately, youngsters and children are getting high on it without realizing it's after effects.

Everything is being done for a show. From food, to looks to hobbies, each and every action is finding a way to be showcased and applauded on social media. Likes and comments are valued and scrutinized as indicators of popularity. They effect human psychology just like intoxication. A rise in their numbers elevates while a drop deflates human mood. Their fickle nature plays with the person's self confidence in silent ways. It's effect is so powerful that even the mature ones, the ones who proclaim to be aware of its insignificance, can also not remain unaffected. 

No one knows the end result of this hype, but one thing is for sure, the shape and face of societies will no longer remain simple, plain and pure. Future generations will learn their own lessons, shape new laws and face new challenges. All the while history will smile, for she knows that after every fall, comes rise. Cycle repeats itself. In their due time, moral conduct will find it's way back into societies as a champion to rule. It's a promise that time always fulfills.

Shamsa Anwar

Destiny?

Dad

20 years ...
Not a day go by, when I do not miss him...
Not a moment slips away, when I do not need him...
Yet he is never gone!
He lives in my veins and breathes in my heart.
God bless my pious dad in the Heavens above.
I will love him till the day I close my eyes for the last time.

Love vs Compassion

Love and romance, everyone wants, understands and talks about these concepts. In fact, they are the hottest topics these days. Visit any social media and observe the influx of post after post on this subject. People like such posts because they identify with these emotions. It's easy to understand love and romance because these involve personal gratification. They reflect on individual choices and attachments.

Love weaves threads of relationships, tangles of emotions and webs of expectations. Even the most selfless love,  that of a mother, calls for bonds. There are responsibilities that are part of these relationships. Some defined and vague obligations need to be fulfilled. Love yearns for reciprocation. It pines for the beloved and craves satisfaction.  Such is the nature of love.

Compassion, on the other hand, is something different, though many can confuse it with love. 

Compassion and empathy are selfless. They are free of attachments or personal ties. They don't look for reciprocation. They are a step above love, in my dictionary, because they are absolute acts of humanity. They make a person do heroic acts. They turn people into humans.

Every individual ever born, is capable of love. The world may not approve of that love but the fact cannot be denied that even a hard core criminal knows how to and loves somebody or something. Love runs like blood in every individual. It's an animal instinct. Love is a common and very basic act. The object or subject of desire and the method of how that love is expressed render dignity and respect to that love. Well defined boundaries give legal or obnoxious status to love. In one case, it's devotion and in another, it's obsession. 

Compassion is rare and many lack it. Empathy is even harder to find. The reason is the pure selfless nature of these emotions. In a world where everything is understood on exchange value, give and take basis, where personal joy and happiness is number one goal, where self comes before others, in such a world, compassion and empathy are hard to come by. These precious emotions are natural characteristics of some personalities but they are mostly learned sentiments. 

The world is in turmoil in recent times because love and romance is ruling every heart but compassion and empathy are taking a back seat. We need to bring them up front. Until and unless, our hearts open up for "others" the way they do for "ours", the world will not be a better place or at peace. True happiness will not prevail till the day love embraces compassion. A partnership of the two will bring a total bliss, not only to the hearts but to the whole world.

                                                                                                                                          Shamsa Anwar.