Live Well, It is the Greatest Revenge

The above line which forms the title of my blog today is from the religious text "The Talmud", which is basically is a text of Judaism discussing its customs and history. I've read it in other contexts as well, but I thought it was interesting that a religious discourse also had this in its pages.

What do you think it means? Revenge isn't a concept you'd find in religion; though wrath and envy do form part of the seven deadly sins. But what I think it shows is that if you really want to live a fulfiling life - live it well, and don't compare yourself with others. Do what you want to do for yourself only.

I saw two movies recently (yeah, I have been watching TOO MANY films these days). I feel it's time I bought another cross stitch now! Both these movies deal with how you live your life.

The first is a movie starring Will Smith called "Seven Pounds". It is a good movie - strong acting, but sad and depressing most of the time; slow paced as well. It shows a grieving Will Smith you is trying to come to terms with a devastating accident, and is looking for people worthy of his "gifts". He even becomes an IRS officer to achieve his goals, which was quite intriguing. I wonder what exactly the scriptwriter does.

The second movie was one called "Happy Go Lucky", a British movie starring Sally Hawkins as Poppy, the ever happy, ever positive primary school teacher, who isn't as clueless as she appears to be. It was refreshing (though I can't see how anyone would not get annoyed if their property was stolen).

All this reminded me of a poem I read a long time ago in class - It's called Leisure by William Henry Davies and it follows underneath:

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Dark as hell, strong as death, sweet as love

When I was very young, I came across a book by Alexander Dumas called "The Count of Monte Cristo".

For those who haven't read the book, the main protagonist is Edmont Dantes. It is set in the time of the mid 19th century in France; Napoleon has been exiled and political intrigue is at its height. At its core, the book is about love, betrayal, revenge and forgiveness.

I've always loved this book. It is complicated, and one that should be read again. It is not something that can be finished in one reading. Wikipedia in fact has a chart showing all the characters in the book and their relation to one another. Films made on this book have fallen short of the true genius that comprises this genre - but there is a good mini series made by the French starring Gerard Depardieu which does some justice to the novel.

Dark as hell, strong as death, sweet as love - Old Turkish Proverb

I came across this for the first time in my recent trip to Nainitaal, Uttaranchal (Devbhoomi) outside a coffee shop on Mall Road. I thought it was very profound, particularly since death was attributed to be "strong". A bit of research saw that it was actually an old Turkish proverb, though there is some dispute. However, whatever it may be, I thought that it best describes the range of emotions that one sees in the Count of Monte Cristo, which I would strongly recommend to anyone and everyone who has yet not read the book.