drifting away from reality

     I went to church yesterday in a rather grumpy mood. That we were late and had to sit outside (’cos the cozy seats inside were full already) only worsened my mood. While I sat there with only half my mind listening to the pastor droning on about how of all apostles Peter loved Jesus the most and Jesus, in turn, loved John the most (God’s got his favorites too huh?); and the other half of my mind wondering why my life was getting crappier and crappier each day, I noticed this little girl sitting next to me, holding a red balloon in her hands - you know, those heart shaped helium balloons that kids are very fond of? The balloon that is supposed to be held only by it’s strand, this kid was clutching in her hands like one would hold a prized possession. Her tear-stained face sporting a smile and the irritated look on her mother’s face suggested she must’ve gotten the balloon after throwing a reasonable tantrum.

     Things seemed hunky-dory until her little brother - the naughty brats that brothers usually are - pushed her and she, in an attempt to catch her balance let go of the balloon. With her hands still outstretched, she stared at the balloon as it went higher and higher up, out of her reach. I thought any moment she was going to turn around and spank her brother hard or cry for another balloon or may be just sulk. Her mother watched too, with a terrified not-another-tantrum-now look on her face. But to everyone’s surprise, the little kid turned around and said, with a voice full of delight, ‘amma, balloon yesu appa kitta poguthu‘, that roughly (and religion independently) translates to, ‘Ma, the balloon is going to God’. I couldn’t help but smile at that.

     She continued to watch the balloon till it was just a dot and finally said, with a look of pride and satisfaction, ‘poyiruchu‘ (meaning ‘it’s gone’ as in ‘it’s gone to it’s destination’). Am sure God himself must have been distracted for a moment, to watch the little red balloon coming His way. What smile it must’ve brought to His otherwise solemn face! :)

     All of a sudden life didn’t appear so bad after all…

‘Sometimes, a little red balloon, against the dark clouds, is all it takes to make the sky beautiful to gaze upon’

Sometimes a little push is all it takes to help someone reach for the stars
and sometimes, just a little word to lift the spirits high.

Sometimes a little memory is all it takes to revive the times that made you smile
and sometimes, just a little lie to believe it’s all gonna be okay.

But sometimes a little push is all it takes to send someone over the edge
and sometimes, just a little word to break a heart so strong.

Sometimes a little memory is all it takes to see it was never meant to be
and sometimes, just a little lie to ruin a friendship long-protected.

It’s the little things you do that make a difference
and what difference you make is what you will be remembered for.

Related Posts:
A serenity prayer
Don’t Look Back
Differences aren’t so bad, you know!

The Original:

    Once upon a time in a land far far away, an old man found the cocoon of a butterfly. Feeling lonely he decided to take the cocoon home to watch its transformation to a beautiful butterfly. One day a small opening appeared in the cocoon. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further. Clearly it was having trouble coming out of the cocoon

    So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took as pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged out easily…but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly.

    What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God´s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

    The Moral: If Life had no obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been and we could never fly.

The Tester’s Version:

    Once upon a time in a land far far away (no, not that far away. come back) an old man* found some WinRunner scripts lying around. Feeling bored he decided to modify them, fix bugs in them and beautify the code.

    One day, satisfied with his work, he started the final run of the automation. He sat down and watched it click, type and navigate around the application in it’s own beautiful way. All of a sudden it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and could go no further. Clearly it was having trouble recognizing an OK button in the application.

    So the man decided to help the script move forward and clicked on the OK button. He continued to watch because he expected that any moment the script would continue. Nothing happened. It had just stopped. The script was still looking for the OK button, which wasn’t there anymore ‘cos the old man had already clicked on it. In fact, the entire automation that had been running perfectly fine for several hours had to be totally restarted.

    What the man in his kindness and haste (impatience and stupidity, actually) did not realize is that the Gods of Mercury don’t quite like to be interrupted.

    The moral: When Winrunner scripts are running, just leave the damn thing alone!

* Age and gender changed to protect the privacy of the guilty ;-)

P.S. I know that was a lame post but then, at times, I get a little too philosophical…in a weird sort of way :D