Footprints on the sands of time...

   TELL me not, in mournful numbers,

        Life is but an empty dream ! —

    For the soul is dead that slumbers,

        And things are not what they seem.

    Life is real !   Life is earnest!

        And the grave is not its goal ;

    Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

        Was not spoken of the soul.

    Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

        Is our destined end or way ;

    But to act, that each to-morrow

        Find us farther than to-day.

    Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

        And our hearts, though stout and brave,

    Still, like muffled drums, are beating

        Funeral marches to the grave.

    In the world's broad field of battle,

        In the bivouac of Life,

    Be not like dumb, driven cattle !

        Be a hero in the strife !

    Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !

        Let the dead Past bury its dead !

    Act,— act in the living Present !

        Heart within, and God o'erhead !

    Lives of great men all remind us

        We can make our lives sublime,

    And, departing, leave behind us

        Footprints on the sands of time ;

    Footprints, that perhaps another,

        Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

    A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

        Seeing, shall take heart again.

    Let us, then, be up and doing,

        With a heart for any fate ;

    Still achieving, still pursuing,

        Learn to labor and to wait.

 (A PSALM OF LIFE by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow )

I recited this poem for one of the English Recitation Competition at my school. Even though I could not fully comprehend and appreciate this poem then, I loved it... I loved its lyrics... for beautiful rhyming and for picturesque wordings. And now when I read this poem... I am absolutely bowled over by the content...  it inspires... and enlightens...!! Absolutely simple... yet absolutely mind-blowing..!! This poem, just the few lines, captures the gist of whole life...!! It is so fresh... so modern....!! So realistic in the present context that at times I am surprised that it was penned down as early as October 1838.

That this poem is contemporary to our times....tells that... though world has changed...  and that we have changed... and also our outlooks... priorities... beliefs... and everything... but still the true meaning of life has not changed... over these years... rather the centuries...!!

I believe that the real meaning of the life can never change...it is passed on from one generation to next...  knowingly or unknowingly...!! Our generation is following the footprints left behind by the past generations... and the coming generations will follow ours...!!

Those old mails...

We belong to the IT age... where the handwritten letters are soon going to be an extinct art...!! And I firmly believe that nothing can ever replace... the smell that comes from an old, folded letter... the warmth of words... the earnestness of feelings... and the effort of the person who wrote the letter....!!

I loved it very much... more than any precious gifts... whenever he (now my husband of 3.5 years :)) gave me handwritten notes or letters...!! And I have preserved nearly all of his handwritten notes to me :) ... and each of these notes is very close to my heart...!!

That he has written these notes... in his own handwriting... makes them ... all the more special and romantic :) :) Alas!!!... This not-so-new email culture has nearly killed the art of writing letters by hand... the real letters... but still sometimes ... on demand ... he writes to me... in his own handwriting ... :) :) and I love those letters so much!!

Nonetheless be it handwritten letters or emails.... I believe... all old mails are real treasures...!! Every mail has a history and a memory associated with it...!! Each of these mails has a story to remind.... a story that can make us smile... laugh... blush... and sometimes... even cry... but in any case... it stirs emotions...!!

After a very long time... today I got a chance to skim through some of my old emails... and I could not stop myself from being transported to past... and the memories overwhelmed me... !! I felt so happy... and at the same time... so content... and so blessed.... for having such wonderful memories... Touch wood!!!