This is the blog of Suhas Vaze. I was born in Pune, India in 1969 to Suvarna and Prabhakar Vaze. I am married to Joy Vaze, who is from the Philippines. We currently reside in Columbus, Ohio.
Here, I discuss "My solutions to Life's Vexing Questions" & provide general commentary.
A little girl name Sophia Cassandra Gaffud Jaucian announced that she could not wait any longer and wanted to see all of us. She is Joy's and my niece, who was born on October 4, 2010 at the hands of Dr. Hesh Green, a wonderful doctor, tennis captain, and friend at Mount Carmel East in Columbus, OH. As her features changed from that day forward, she went from a tiny life to "Sophs". This was especially true for me in the last few days before she made her journey back to the Philippines with her mother Carole, and her loving grandparents Fe and Jaime. I wanted to write something for her when I heard this beautiful song by Brian McKnight (see link below - I want to thank him for the inspiration). I first wanted to steal just the punch line but then I stole the whole song (well actually I stole the structure/meter) and wrote my own lyric. Since Geoff, Sophs's Dad, wasn't with us for her birth, I attempted to write the lyric from a Dad's and an Uncle's perspective - actually, her grandparents, especially her grandmother Fe, feels the same way. Hopefully, Geoff can do a cover! Wouldn't that be great?
The original song is in black italics and my version is in red.
I can’t remember why we fell apart I can't remember when I fell in love From something that was so meant to be, yeah For someone who was so new to me, yeah Forever was the promise in our hearts Forever is the promise on my part Now, more and more I wonder where you are Every day I stop and wonder how you are
[chorus]
Do I ever cross your mind, anytime Do I ever cross your mind, anytime Do you ever wake up reaching out for me Do you ever wake up asking where's he
Do I ever cross your mind anytime Do I ever cross your mind, anytime I miss you I miss you Still have your picture in a frame Still have your picture in my heart Hear your footsteps down the hall Still hear your faint cries all the time
I swear I hear your voice, driving me insane
I am sure that's you, asking for me by name
How I wish that you would call
How I wish you'd remember
To say It all Chorus
I miss you I miss you I miss you I miss you (no more) loneliness and heartache (from now on) it's only you and me babe
(no more) crying myself to sleep (from now on) no harm can come to you (don’t want no more) wondering about tomorrow (from now on) everything I have is yours
Won’t you come back to me I want to come back to you
Come back to me, oh Come back to you, oh
Chorus
Chorus
I miss you I miss you I miss you I miss you
I miss you I miss you
What does a poetic collaboration between my Godchild Anais Gaffud and me look like?
La voilà :
[Anais - Verse 1]
A little girl was born in France,
Then moved to the States and said, "It's great!"
She went to town and saw the cars; said they're big!
In France they're small.
Everything here was bigger.
[Suhas - Verse 1]
She had heard English in France,
But never spoken this way - with a twang that is.
She tried to decipher what her friends were saying.
"Aunt" had become "Ant",
"F-aa-h-knee" was now "Fey-knee".
[Anais - Verse 2]
So she went to school to learn some English,
2 months after she talked the language.
She loved the country,
Her teachers and her friends.
She loved everything, but most of all her house.
She had a big pool in her yard.
[Suhas - Verse 2]
They said her brain was like a sponge,
Absorbing everything, forgetting nothing
New words, new phrases
New idioms, new accents
At night when she rested, her brain went into high gear
Reinventing her for the next day.
[Anais - Verse 3]
Everybody made her smile.
And everybody loved her style.
Everyday she had some fun,
With all her friends in the lawn.
[Suhas - Verse 3]
Days turned to weeks
Weeks into months and then years
One day she was working a rake
Next day she was brandishing a shovel
Day after day her confidence grew
In her ways, her personality shone through
[Anais - Verse 4]
Winter was finally coming
She was waiting for it to be snowing.
Then the snow finally came
And it snowed up until her hips.
She made a snowman
and called it Stan
[Suhas - Verse 4]
Days became longer and
The sun rays became stronger
Piles of snow disappeared and
Daffodils and tulips appeared
Away from the neighbors' eyes
She had grown tall and wise
[Anais - Verse 5]
After two years, the day finally came.
She was going back to France
Everybody heard the news
And said ''That's sad''
Then the she took a plane
And went to France
And said bye bye to all her friends...
[Suhas - Verse 5]
It ended just the way it started
On the wings of anxiety she departed
There was now a confidence about her
Having persevered, as daughter & sister
A joy about returning home
But also sadness about feeling alone
New friends waiting in France
Old ones to be remembered in trance
Can one really say what comes next
Arabic, Devanagari or Mandarin text?
Let your life be like a beach
Where myriad shells a path beseech
Skipping from white ones to ones that shine
Leaving footprints on the sands of time
It is in loving that you will love discover
In inspiring others, inspiration uncover
Life's nothing but a grand irony
If you love somebody, set them free
Be happy little one, ever devout
Always persevering, down, never out
In yours I find a spirit divine
Flowering on the life's tortuous vine
A vine rooted in truth and humility
Nurtured by Readings and Homilies
Holding firm in storm or rain
Burgeoning forth, never in vain
If despair ever were to cloud your days
Use your faith and follow His ways
There is just one of Him but He will run
To your aid, no matter when you beckon
I have a simple thesis. Any goal that you set in your life can only achieved by working the underlying irony. Miss the irony and you'll miss the chance to fulfill your goal. Instead of talking in circles, how about I give you some examples? :)
(a) Want to be a good leader? Commit yourself to serving others. More people are conferred the honor of leadership when people notice their life of service. John Paul II? Gandhi? Mother Teresa?
(b) Want to be loved? Love others. Jesus asked Simon, "Do you love me?" Simon said, "Yes Lord, I love you". Jesus said, "If indeed you do, then love others".
(c) Want your shots in tennis to have more direction and depth? Stop watching where the ball goes at it leaves your racket and start keeping your head steady and focused on the hit point. Nadal, anyone? The more distress you find yourself in (caused by your opponent), the more you need to focus on controlling things on your side of the court.
(d) Want kids to care about you? Commit yourself to caring about them and forget about how and whether they respond. I mean, really caring about them - work on being completely selfless, completely involved and completely loving. I was teaching my 7-year Godchild how to keep score in tennis; I could literally hear the gears turning in her brain as she tried to wrestle with 15-0, 30-0, 40-0, 40-15, 40-30, Deuce, 40-Ad, Game. I had absolutely no expectation that she would get it - all I expected was for us to work at it. And then, miracle. :)
(e) Have you ever read or heard about the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi? Note the following verses and then contemplate the sense of irony put that has been put forward.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
I could go on and on but you get the point...go forth and meet life and its ironies. And by the way, never forget the ultimate irony. When we say that we are alive, isn't it true that we are really dying, every second of the day? So, if you ever wonder what to do with your "life", I'll tell you to just give it away (to whoever needs it). My grandfather, "Bhau", meaning "brother", gave his life away. Long after he passed, people remember the smallest of favors he did them without asking for anything in return. Bhau understood it. He got it. Bhau knew that he was given an opportunity to make others' lives better and he committed himself to that cause and in doing so, he enriched himself. Bhau lived and loved life's irony. That is the lesson he taught me and which is the basis of this blog.
