Beauty

When I talk about Beauty, I am not talking about the things that appeal to the eyes…..I am talking about the things that appeal to my soul.

As I work from home, there are days when I stay up late to get work done. My family is in bed fast asleep and there is silence everywhere….inside and outside. After a long day spent taking care of my home and kids…..that silence is beautiful.

When I wake up in the mornings and open the windows in my kitchen, I can hear the birds chirping outside signaling the beginning of another beautiful day…..that happy chirping is beautiful.

When I run errands, I usually have the music on in my car….usually old Hindi songs which keep playing over and over again until I change the cassette. Now my 3 year old daughter doesn’t go to school yet and is always with me wherever I go. So, though she doesn’t speak or understand Hindi, she can sing all the songs that play in my car. So as Kishore Kumar sings ‘Mere sapnon ki rani’….that little voice in the backseat singing ‘Chali aa tu chali aa’ along with him is beautiful.

When I bake brownies (my son and my weakness), it fills up the house with a wonderful aroma. And as soon as my son steps into the house when he returns from school, he asks me with a lot of happiness….Mumma, did you bake brownies today?......that aroma of the brownies is beautiful.

Thanks to the social networking site Facebook, I get to see pictures of the places my friends visit….places in the US, places in India, places around the world which I have never seen before. The pictures take me on a mental journey of the places they have seen making me feel like I have seen the places myself. Those pictures….that make me travel the world without leaving my home are beautiful.

Sometimes, I try out a new recipe. And later, I ask my husband how the dish was. Now, like all wives, all over the world….I usually ask him this question when he is in front of the TV watching sports. Hey, don’t judge me…..Iike all wives….I have no patience to wait if I need to ask my husband something I am dying to know. So, he replies without taking his eyes off the TV….Of course it was nice…you are a good cook. My husband is not one to give an insincere compliment….so, I am typing this with a big smile on my face…..that passing compliment is beautiful.

Sometimes, when I read a good book or watch a good movie, I get lost in it. I can get totally engrossed in it……that experience which takes me to a make believe world is beautiful.

When I really laugh, I get tears in my eyes. Most people start wondering if I am ok. But it is just my happiness…the fact that I am enjoying their company thoroughly and have totally let myself go…..that feeling of joy is beautiful.

My children when they play with each other fill my house with squeals of laughter and delight. It is a treat to hear them….that sound of my children playing with each other is beautiful.

My car has a flat tire today and as I told my 3 year old daughter about it, she had a fix for it. With wide eyes, she seriously told me….Just use sticky tape and band aids to fix it Mumma (she picked that up from the Dora show she watches on television)….that innocent look on her face is beautiful.

Sometimes, when I look up at the sky during sunset, the sky is painted with so many different colors. It is not just visually satisfying….it really touches me within…..that sky at dusk is beautiful.

My daughter and son never go to bed without saying goodnight to their Dad and me. My son will say goodnight at least 20 times before he sleeps. But at times, especially if I am working, my daughter goes off to sleep in her Dad’s arms while watching TV with him and misses saying goodnight to me. The next morning when she wakes up, the first thing she tells me with a sad look on her face is…..I missed saying goodnight to you yesterday…..that love that my children have for me is very very beautiful.

Signing off truly believing that if you look around, you can find beauty in the little little things around you and this quote by Ashley Smith

‘Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.’