As I went down in the river to pray, studying about that good old way, And who shall wear the robe and crown, Good Lord, show me the way

When you trust the world the world responds to that trust. I have been around people who border on the extreme when it comes to spirituality. And I closely know someone who has bordered on the two extremes at different points in his life. From intolerance to dependence.

For me I know I am not a disbeliever. I assumed that to mean that I am a believer. In the recent past have had to really stand up to that test. Practicing religion without really knowing why. Taking it to an absurd extend. All because I knew I was not a disbeliever. At the end of it felt lost, worn down and even a little weary. Started questioning myself. And after a while started getting the answers.

Simplisticly put, there are energies around us. Which can be channelised by us. By the faith we place in them. When we start thinking about something, wishing it to happen, the universe starts conspiring towards making it happen.

These energies can work both positively and negatively. Haven't you ever been really wronged and felt hurt and wished the worst? And then witnessed something really go wrong for your personal villain? Ironically Satan needs less persuading. And also when we wish bad on someone we are far less selfish. Its not really about any personal gain for us, not even in any remote way.

The Golden Temple can change lives. This power has been bestowed on it by the faith placed by people. My belief that the blessings of the Golden Temple will have a positive influence on my life, channelises energies towards the Golden Temple, to do that. You have to only imagine the faith placed by millions for centuries- which then will begin to explain the aura of the Golden Temple, how it actually is a life altering experience. Albeit only for those who believe.

Faith is what explains the difference between the invisible and the non existent.

Have you ever made a deal with god?

Faith is what makes sure that, God and I, we both keep our end of the bargain.

Your face is your fortune, so some wise men spoke

The other day while watching Kajrare Kajrare on some obscure television channel, with undivided attention, while others in the family sat appreciating Aishwarya Rai's beauty, dancing abilities etc, I started thinking about how perfectly this song has been cast. (I know not really a remarkable or unique observation and also too late in the day, but anyways)

Aishwarya transfers her own 'brand' on to the role. So to her role of a notch girl she adds grace, charm and the 'play hard to get' bit. To really dramatise what I am trying to say, imagine Mallika Sherawat assaying the role. See!

She makes kajrare kajrare a bridge product. Bridge products help break barriers. They help bridge the gap. They enable people sitting on the fence to get recruited into the category. What sheeshas do for smoking and what breezers do for drinking. There are enough people who don't smoke but don't mind the occasional sheesha, of course it has tobacco but it comes minus the taboo. It is consumed through a pipe and comes in green apple and strawberry flavors for crying out loud.

How is Kajrare a bridge product and for whom? Well kajrare becomes the bridge item no. for girls looking for happening yet acceptable nos to dance on, in family sangeets. There weren't as many girls belting out "Babuji zaara dhere chalo, mirchi laagi...." in the midst of proud parents, aunts, uncles and even in laws.

On a related note:the world can be basically divided into two : the haves and the have-nots.

Haves are people who are born beautiful (of course all children are born beautiful, but some distinctly, visibly more beautiful than others, and these are the ones I am talking about). And if that wasn't enough they grow to just the perfect height and have perfect bodies.

The have-nots are god's lesser children (not children of a lesser god- I think it is far better to establish a hierarchy amongst the mortals, than amongst the gods), who will spend a better part of their lives trying to bridge the gap. They may not be beautiful (in the skin deep way) but they are usually a wee bit quicker on the uptake. During their impressionable years their well wishers (read moms) urged them to and they readily believed that there may be a trade off between beauty and brains. And so they spent considerable amount of time honing the latter. However when they go into the real world they realize, this is not really the case. Beauty exists both with and without brains. There really is no trade off. Suddenly it doesn't even make sense for there to be a trade off. They then go back to trying to bridge the gap, but alas by now its a wee bit late and the gap is too wide.

After thought: My blog is the bridge for the book I intend to write. And my camera phone the bridge.........