Random Musings 😏, Part-24

Soul Letter #66

Hello👋 folks, Shubham here.

I am back with another edition of Soul Letter 🗞

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 A Tribute to a Friend

Photo by Joseph Pearson on Unsplash

Last year a friend of mine passed away due to cancer. Although it’s been a year still I along with many others haven’t made peace with it. 

At times a random thought is enough to start the waterworks. 

This week I had one of those days when my tear glands were behaving like an overflowing dam.

To soothe myself I wrote the below poem.

People leave that’s life

How you deal that’s choice 

The pain makes you cry 

With time it shall subside 

The thought of never seeing them again 

Is hard to explain 

How can it be true 

When they were always there for you

Looking for advice 

You crave their vibes 

But we won’t hear their voice 

At least not in this life 

The old photos make you realize 

The innocence behind those smiles

Maybe they were too special 

That’s why God didn’t gamble

He wanted them by his side 

Just like we had one time

If we cross paths somewhere 

I have ample stories to share

We’ll hang out in ways

As we did in the good old days 

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Bookshelf 📚

Image Source: Goodreads

I completed What We Carry by Maya Shanbhag Lang.

The book starts with the author’s mom asking her a riddle, 

“There was a woman in a river. She held a child in her arms. Her son. She needed to cross the river, but it was much deeper than expected. As the water reached her chest, she panicked. “She saw that she had a choice. She could save herself or she could save her child. They would not both make it. What does she do?”

How could she live if she chooses herself by letting her son die. What kind of mother does that?

 On the contrary, to save her son she will have to sacrifice her life. That’s what society expects but doesn’t her life has a virtue?

A woman faces judgment no matter what she chooses. The author has deftly highlighted the instances where society puts imperceptible pressure on women while men are let off the hook.

A notable example is handling a newborn baby. The onus primarily rests on the mother.

There’s a scene when Maya and her husband take their daughter out for a saunter. Suddenly there’s a downpour and Maya struggles to assemble the rain cover over the stroller.

She is embarrassed in public because as a woman she isn’t allowed to make mistakes. 

However, if her husband was struggling instead of her, he would get sympathy points from the onlookers. People will compliment him as a great dad.

What We Carry is an amazing book on motherhood and all the ups and downs that come along with it

Becoming a mother helps Maya make peace with the evolving relationship with her own mother. 

By the end of the book, she comes up with a beautiful answer for the riddle which makes this book a must-read. 

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Miniatures 

Photo by Akshar Dave🌻 on Unsplash

I have decided to add a new subcategory to Soul Letter called Miniatures. 

As the name suggests these will be random short posts. 

A book quote, a YouTube video, a blog, my Linkedin posts, or photos from my life, anything that I feel is worth sharing will drop into your inboxes under the title Miniatures. 

And here’s the best part. 

Unlike our weekly newsletter, there won't be a scheduled time to post them. 

A miniature might hit you at any time any day of the week. 

The unpredictability makes it exciting. 

Let’s assume you are having a rough day tussling with a tricky problem.

Boom, out of nowhere a miniature(my article not the drink) arrives which ends up uplifting you.

How cool will that be?

There’s also the other possibility where it further ruins your day and you start cursing me. 

It’s still a win-win situation as I successfully diverted your attention from the main problem to something else. 

I will try my best not to spam your inboxes with this series as I tend to get carried away. 

Let’s see how it pans out.

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Hope you enjoyed this edition.

Signing off for today :) Until next time, Houdoe! 🙋‍♂️