Haloing Shades

             The abode of the dead, shades. Gradation of darkness, shades it is. Disembodied spirits - in shades you shall find them. Uninterpretable nuances, shades again. Some people think shades are cool because they are perceived to be evil. Few books bearing 'shades' as title have widened its influence to the world of eroticism. Shades of this ilk, certainly, are dangerous when they happen to fall right on us.

Disregarding the worldly definitions - shades, simply, could be seen as a state where not everything is fully revealed. There is something in the hiding. A tiger crouches through the bushes, sets its position right and then paws for its prey. Bands of defense personnel keep vigil in the night so the enemy wouldn't breach the boundaries unawares. There was a small boy who thought babies are formed in the womb when a husband and wife hug each other. Even procreation is kept in the shades. Well, these shades beautify and preserve our lives, don't they? Tigers get to quench their hunger, we sleep peacefully at night and new babies are born. Indeed these are haloing shades.

Most of us are blind because we tend to believe all that our naked eyes could see. We keep forgetting that lives are actually illuminated by things unseen. Busy trying to reason out everything, we miss out the nuances of symbolism that the simplest of life's events brings to the table. Our understanding goes holed and the right thoughts from our mind's clutter drain out in a fizzle, in a twinkle.

Truth alone triumphs - of course yes - but not without 'love', that allows itself to go unnoticed. Truth is always right. It is just and yes, harsh. Arrogant and sometimes, bitter. But love blends it, makes it more humane. There was a couple soon to be married in an arranged marriage setup. The girl had had premarital relationships with multiple men before. But everyone behaves as though nothing of that sort had ever happened. The broker conceals this, the parents prefer not to speak about the affairs of their once-promiscuous daughter, relatives and friends who know of this hush it down their burning bellies. The girl is scarred by her own folly. But for the marriage to happen and last, for her not to fornicate more and become a whore, a dosage of love had been most necessary. Years passed by, they are a happy couple now.

There was a prophet who cried out - 'My people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge'. But people could also be destroyed because they want to know everything - without any tinge of love. Do you not know that forgiveness is an offshoot of both love and truth? Do you not know that, in accordance to our culture, our women intentionally cover their body parts men desire the most? If our intent is to see and know more of whatever is concealed - desire would vanish and on the same note, forgiveness would disappear too. We need to apply love to whatever we have known as truth. I do not mean that you should limit your curiosity to know more of the truth. My only plea is that the more you know, let love exponentially increase. It was not with the pride-monger pharisee that God was pleased, but with the repenting sinner. Not everything in life is black and white. We need the courage to accept that. Only then could we see beauty in those shades that halo our lives with bliss and more bliss.