Meaning

Meaning!

It churns up from the depths of our minds;

It is a song that sings out the lyrics of life;

It is the music of the Sacred;

It belongs to the primary nature around us;

It is neither religion nor faith; belief nor conviction.

Yet, we fail to understand it.

It is distracted by addiction and consumerism,

desire and materialism.

The Sacred is the essential quality of life.

It can be found in any form.

A small stone or a mountain, 

the first cry of a newborn child,

and the last gasp of a dying creature. 

It can be present in a loaf of bread, 

waiting to be eaten, on a table,

in the words that expresses its taste. 

The remembrance of the Sacred is like a central note in life. 

Without this remembrance,

something fundamental to our existence is missing. 

Life lacks a basic nourishment. 

A depth of meaning.

Fazli Sameer / Jan 2020

Beginnings

Beginning brings an inevitable goodbye
And then brings to mind the questions of
What should we leave behind?
What should we take with us?
How do you construct bridges?
To connect us with the past?
How do you create structures up build our future?

Is a beginning a beginning or a progression of the past?

Chandrix

Jan 2020 Meeting

Greetings for 2020!
The first meeting  of the EWW was conducted today at the Beach Wadiya
with the following in attendance:-
Asghar
Chandrika
Fazli
Jayanthi
Kiara
Madonna
Nuha (Guest)
Peter
Sakuntala
Zainab (Guest)

Although the first item on the agenda was to discuss the itinerary and
plans for 2020 it was decided that this be done at the Feb meeting on
account of the absence of many of the senior members of the group.

The presence of two young literary passionate guests, Nuha (19)
introduced by Saku, and Zainab (16) the niece of Asghar was most
welcome and the two were warmly received by all. It is hoped that will
play an active part in all future meetings as members of the group.

Nuha kicked off the morning with a reading from her first book of
poetry, “Inner Wings”, published a few months ago. The poem, titled “I
Choose to be” expressed a desire of a person wanting to break free
from the shackles of societies pressures. Nuha also showed a copy of
her book with the rest of the members who all acclaimed that it was a
great first attempt at publishing and encouraged her to pursue this
passion with gusto.

Jayanthi followed with verses from her poem, “Through Gorilla Glass”
where she invoked the question of whether the image of ourselves that
we see on our computer screens would initiate a thought process of
trying to look at ourselves from a more different, yet game changing,
perspective in life.

Peter, brimming with his usual humor, started off with a little ditty
aimed at Fazli’s previous account of “Am I that easy to forget” about
“Suzy darling”. He followed up with a real life horror story about
“The beauty who rose from the dead” which he had encountered in
Kalubowila many moons ago.

Kiara’s short poem on “Tear drops falling” gave an emotional account
of the feelings of not wanting to cry.

Madonna changed the mood of the audience with her “The Song” which was
an emphasis on the meaning of lyrics that contribute to life. Her
unusual idea of playing and singing two songs, “Somewhere my Love”
from Dr Zhivago and “Nikhita” by Elton John, got everyone active in
joining in to give out a lovely chorus.

Zainab, read out her poem titled “Revelation”, where she dwelled upon
a lonely rose bleeding against the thorns of a lonely love among a
meadow of wild flowers.

Fazli shared his lines on “Meaning” which he had conjured up from a
question that was posed to him by a Masters of Philosophy student
asking “What is the meaning of meaning?” His thoughts enveloped the
need to seek the depth of meaning in everyday objects that are Sacred
around us.

Asghar gave us an interesting extract from his current book
reminiscing the days of the 60’s when people spent time relaxing along
Galle Face Green and enjoying the beauty of Colombo the way it used to
be then.

Saku’s  reading of an excerpt from her story “Adventure in
Elephantese” which was published in the “Noel” magazine brought out
the currently talked about plight of wild elephants running amok among
human settlements which had encroached upon their environment.

Chandrika was the only one who pounced upon the suggested January
theme, “Beginnings” with her claim that most of us senior citizens do
not really have any more beginnings left in life.

The critiques were harsh and humorous and taken in great spirit by all present.

Refreshments, washed down with EGB ended the morning session by noon.

All in all, a great way to start the year 2020.
Feb meet will be hosted by Jayanthi & Saku

Thank you to everyone who attended and let’s hope we see more joining
in next month.