Smile of the Silver

Some day we are going to get the way we wanted,

Life as it cud be,with love and passion to start with,

Dream come true,And i feel happy all through,

As it is tough to be lonely,

I hold on to moments spent,

Some day we are going to get the way we wanted,

Life as it to be,with peace and growth to start with,

There is a silver line,And i can see all through,

As you complete me as my being meant to be,

I want to spend the whole of it just being with you,

Some day we are going to get the way we wanted,

As a child, I remember reading a story about a girl called Pandora, who opened a forbidden box and let out the  evils..Death, Despair, Pain, Hatred and Hope. At first I  didn't understand, I mean why hope? until i  came across an article on greek mytholology, according to which  HOPE is an evil too.

Sometime i just can't bring up to myself to think HOPE as an evil. If we look from our experieces we can say its a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of perseverance.Its not causing harm then how is it evil?

Though while I write this article i am debating with myself was I born with hope or I acquired it with time I spent in managing to survive? Is HOPE the new synonym to survial?But then what happens to Darwins theory of " Survival of the fittest". If you are fit to survive in the land you are born ,Why do we have to hope and what do we have to hope for?

As Monroe Forester said

"When we feel defeated, we need only take a deep breath and say, "Yes," and hope will reappear.Hope is always available to us".

A would be mother Hoping her child will be born healthy or a new bride hoping she will have a marriage like no woman has ever had.A person going for the job interview hoping that he will get the job. Or a player for that matter always hopes to win. Or a patient on his deathbed hopes to get fit and live more.

In all these reason when we have nothing to loose.After trying everything all we can do is Hope. Does HOPE really makes life easier?

May be it does! Is it not a reason enough, that If a wounded soldier in a war ,can smile hoping that his scarificie will not go waste.Then why shouldnt we all hope?How can be something be evil if it protects us from the life which otherwise filled with so much....as pandora let out the evils.But we shouldnot forget that she also let out the greatest gift to mankind- something very important for our survival. Hope a reason... for all of us to smile.

So lets keep smiling and keep hoping!

Happy Birthday To me!!!!

It was my Birthday yesterday. I was feeling low, though i am not a party person but would definately like to have company after all i am a human and all humans are social beings. Therefore i decided to go out and  pamper myself- whats better then shopping?. Lalaport Koshien - My ultimate shopping heaven in Japan. It has everthing that i can ask for-just my taste. As i walked into the corridors, i already was feeling better- Is this the place or it is genetically woman at the thought of shopping. Perfect shoes, Classy bags, Smart coats and beautiful jewellery. Everything made sense now. As i walked through the floors i realised i was no longer feeling lonely rather i felt completely in sync like the chimes and the music . In this country which is so crowded yet peaceful, people are so busy in themselves. Children playing, Couple busy in shopping and a window shopper like me was busy finding a perfect gift for myself. Beautiful sales people or i should the perfect host of the shop luring you into their traps. I was just wandering what should i gift? and with all this, there i was feeling happy. What is it that makes a woman happy???Is it shopping or the company, I was trying to figure out and then it happened. Its is the country - my date for today, tomorrow, and whenever i want .When you have a perfect companion Why do you need anyone else???. It is the perfect place for a loner like me. You are so much the part of the crowd yet you are with yourself.....,perfectly at ease. This is JAPAN-the land of rising sun .Though i bought nothing but i was able to go home with my perfect date and enjoy the rest of the day.

Hiroshima -The Rising

From burnt bodies, homes, schools, hospitals and places of work, the people of Hiroshima made a new start. Lacking materials or assistance, that new beginning was filled with pain, agony and suffering.

From ashes to the city of lights, rubbles to well architecture city- That is how I would like to describe Hiroshima (which means wide island in Japanese). The journey for the people of Hiroshima was long filled with pain of losing their loved ones.

Front of the “Cenotaph “made in the memory of those who lost their lives in Hiroshima A-Bomb attack on 6thAugust1945 (Pic taken by my husband on 6th August2007)

After the fierce fires subsided, people started looking out over a burnt plain in every direction. The surviving articles of daily life lay burned and smashed where they had fallen. Piles of unrecognizable corpses lay everywhere. The survivor’s hauled away debris, mourned over the bodies, and began finding life out in the rubble.

Few survivors, many stories, various emotions, different feelings at one place –Hiroshima. One such story is of Shinchi. Shinichi was 3yrs old. On 6thAug1945, he was riding his tricycle in front of his house, a sudden flash, he and his tricycle were badly burned. He died later that night. For the father his son was too young to be buried in a lonely grave away from home, thinking he could still play with the tricycle, he buried Shinichi with the tricycle in the backyard. In the summer of 1985, forty years later, his father dug up Shinichi's remains and transferred them to the family grave. The tricycle, Shinichi's love, was donated to the Peace Memorial Museum(one of the exhibits in Museum)

A mother of two, saw her two daughters aged 2yr and 4yr. burnt to death in front of her. And she could to do nothing. It is heard that the mother tortured herself till she died in yr 2002. A mother of a 13yr old girl could never find her only daughter’s body. All she could recover was her daughter's slipper which she preserved as her daughter's memoir till the day she died, afterward it was donated to the Museum by her brother.

These are few stories but there are incountable . Those who survived this attack are called as “Hibakusha" (explosion-affected people). The survivors were the worse sufferers  and usually were diagnosed from diseases resulted by the bombings. One such was Sadako, she was 2yrs. old at the time of attacks. She died 10yrs later from leukemia (one of the disease caused due to the nuclear attack). Many other suffered from various types of cancers, slimming of bones, Cataract, Chromosomal aberrations and radiation sickness. Its been 62yrs since “Little boy” (Little Boy was the codename of the atomic bomb , developed via the "Manhattan Project" which was dropped on Hiroshima, on August 6, 1945 by the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets)  was dropped but still the children’s are born with mental deformities (Microcephaly).

Amidst all this suffering, when there was no food, clothing and shelter- the people of Hiroshima were struck by another tragedy. On 17th Sept1945 ,  Makurazaki Typhoon, one of the three most devastating typhoons hit their lives. Bridges that had survived the atomic bombing were washed away. Railroad tracks and roads under reconstruction, surviving company buildings all were drenched―efforts to rebuild lives were washed away. Water drove people out of the tiny air-raid shelters and barracks where they were sleeping and carried off the few possessions that were left. 

Reduced to heaps of rubble by the atomic bombing, Hiroshima struggled with the problem of stabilizing the lives of the people and reconstructing the city as quickly as possible. Government offices and citizens started to regain their footings. Out of their efforts rose the Peace Memorial City Construction Law, and "the Peace Memorial City Hiroshima" finally began to take shape. This was the first step of Hiroshima towards its success, a success which came from their “Never say die spirit”, from their hard work and labor.

I often ask myself“ Was it so necessary to use nuclear weapons to stop the war ?”

LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF HIROSHIMA .....!!

Thank you dear husband for taking me to Hiroshima, I will cherish this trip forever.

U - Turn

When you plan, things jus happen to sail, life takes a u-turn.
Everything changes, Hard you survive,
And things begin to settle once again,
Life takes a U-turn.....

Laws of LIFE

Everyday that passes by, makes me wonder what my tomorrow would be like?

 THE CHANGE.... its happening.

 This change is for good or bad that only time will tell, I am waiting........!!

My Experiences with JAPAN

My love affair with Japan began when my now husband came to Japan, he would often write me in his mails what it was like to be in japan, what was the life like? after we got married, I came to Japan. It was a cold morning and i could feel the clouds almost touching my face. At 5a.m my plane touched the grounds of Japan and in my mind i was busy thinking just few hours ago i was on a different ground and now this journey has brought me to an unknown land which i was yet to explore.  And deep inside  my heart the feelings were so varied that putting them in words would mean killing the spirit.

There is so much to write about my experiences in Japan, I can go on and on but...I have decided to focus on  few major things that a foreigner like  me should know? Japan- the land of rising sun is a group of island totally surrounded by sea. The four major islands being - Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu and many other small islands. There are four seasons. The climate is mild throughout the year except for winters which are very　cold and in some parts there is even snowfall. But one thing for sure japan is blessed with scenic mountains and landscapes.

Japan(or Nihon) is the 10th most populated country in the world with an exception of the number of females exceeding then males. The favourite overseas destination of japanese are America, followed by Guam and  China.　Japan is known for  its colorful and long history. Japan unlike many other countries is a tradionally rich and is the most econimically stable. Technically, Japan  leads with its computers, laptops, cameras, mobile phones exported all over the world.

The major language of Japan is Japanese( or Nihongo), people here are very polite and are very hardworking. Another remarkable quality which impressed me the most is their                 organization skills ( even a housewife mantains a daily planner). The currency used is Yen   (coins are available in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500 and the  bills 1000, 5000, 10,000)

The people of Japan are health conscious and have a cusines full of variation (both in taste and apperance). Being a vegetarian i didn't find many choices but i realy enjoyed having Miso soup ( my suggestion to all those visiting Japan is turn non-vegetarian you will really enjoy it!)

The people here like to be presentable and prefer to dress up formally, honestly speaking there is nothing called  "casuals". The traditional attire is "Kimono"  for both men and women. But today they are usually only worn for festivals, ceremonies and other special occasions.

 And the best i have saved for the last - the kids , I am in  love with the japanese kids.  They are so cute and a complete fun to be with. The japanese kids are very shy and don't talk much but once open up, you can hear them telling all sorts of stories despite of the language barrier.

My journey till now has been an amazing experience. I have really have enjoyed my stay here. To all my friends who are looking for a vacation abroad, Its time to pack your bag and board the first flight to Japan- for a experince of a lifetime. And my lovestory continues.....!!

True Love...

"It is the star to every wandering bark

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."

"Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 

Within his bending sickle's compass come:"

(excerpt from Shakespeare's sonnets ) 

旅行する (The Journey)

.....................................Lost in the world of perfection, purity and idealism, I am on my journey to permeate truth from what is not true, from being an idealist to a survivor- where my life moves parallel to mind, where my heart is in sync with ..the totality of life.

This blog is my route to self discovery, in the hope to acheive it i will share my thoughts with you...My name is Jyotsna Singh and I live in Japan and..rest join me in my journey, my search and let us discover togather about me, my world, my life.....and much more!!!

The inspiration behind this blog is my 'best friend'.