Neena > Neena's Quotes

“Time heals everything, that’s what everyone says. Wounds heal and leave only scars behind. But some wounds run too deep to heal, and pierce the deepest layers of one’s soul. They stay there unhealed and ready to ooze blood at the first sign of grief.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“The young, thought Sharma, have this ability to suffer much in the time of grief, unlike the old who have seen enough sorrow and know it shall not stay forever. The young hardly know grief is like a thunderstorm. It comes whispering softly at first, a distant hum, a halo of vehemence in the sky, and then there is a sudden, violent, and copious outpouring; that drenches everything that comes in its way. It darkens the sky and turns every inch of green terrain dusky grey. But they don’t realize its ferocity will become less with the lapse of time, and the sun will shine bright and warm, and wash the land golden, and no one would be able to tell there had been a storm. They scarcely understand this essential unfolding of grief isn’t meant to last forever, and eventually, it shall come to pass.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“He had swept her off her feet then, and was all charm and charisma but then the magic slowly diminished and finally died due to his secret betrayals over time. Thousands of little resentments had replaced the early warmth. But their hearts, although heavy with bitterness and anger at the failed expectations, had gotten used to the solace of each other’s company that often comes with years of living together, and they never stopped performing this morning ritual of their married life.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“The Hardest Part

Not the loving, but the part
just after—
the remembering
when you gathered
the broken pieces
of what once had been whole
and the part after that—
the forgetting
when you drowned those pieces
one by one into abyss.”
― Neena H. Brar

“To love;
not just love
but the way
it
becomes
your
whole existence
you got to
have some
madness in
your blood.”
― Neena H. Brar

“When in love
try keeping your heart sane.
Once it loses sanity
the mind usually follows
the course.”
― Neena H. Brar

“Only after loving you
I realised I had an empty space;
this little void, a tad bit of hollow
inside a corner of my heart
and it screamed: Fill me up!”
― Neena H. Brar

“If You Forget Me
if you forsake me
I shall forget you too
don’t take me for
the lone redbud that lay bare
behind your window
in the garden
with branches naked,
robbed of life
in the dead of winter
waiting once again
to embrace
spring
which has forsaken it
before.”
― Neena H. Brar

“MY FATHER
If I have to write a poem about my father
it has to be about integrity
and kindness —
the selfless kind of kindness
that is so very rare
I am sure there will be many people
living somewhere who must be as kind as him
but what I mean to say is
I have not met one yet

and when it comes to helping others
he always helps too much
and as the saying goes —
help someone, you earn a friend.
help someone too much,
you make an enemy. —
so you know the gist of what
I’m trying to say here

anyways I was talking about the
poem about my father
it has to be about
passion
and hard work
because you see
you cannot separate these
things from him
they are part of him as his two eyes and
two hands and his heart and his soul
and his whole being
and you cannot separate
wind and waves
or living and the universe
or earth and heavens
and although he never got any
award from bureaucracy
the students he taught ages ago
still touch his feet and some
of them are the people
you have to make
an appointment to meet even if
it is for two minutes of their time
and that’s a reward for him
bigger than any other that
some of his colleagues got
for their flattery

and also I have to write about
reliability as well
because you see
as the sun always rises
and the snowflakes are always six-folds
and the spring always comes
and the petals of a sunflower and every flower
follows the golden ratio of symmetry
my father never fails to
keep his promise

I have to mention the rage as well
that he always carries inside him
like a burning fire
for wrongdoings
for injustice

and now
he carries a bitterness too
for people
who used him good
and discarded
as it always happens with every good man
in our world of humans

and you must be thinking he has
learned his lessons well
you go to him —
it does not matter who you are
if he knows you
or you are a stranger from
other side of the world —
and ask for his help
he will be happy to do so

as you must know
people
never change
not their soul in any case.”
― Neena H. Brar

“You must not always believe me
when I say I will love you
untill eternity
because love just
like weather
does not last forever
and you must not ask too many questions
because if there is no answer
I will be tempted to lie.”
― Neena H. Brar

“It was hard to tell with her. Like a chameleon, Devika effortlessly feigned the role she sensed the other person expected to see, subject to what she wanted in return—mere admiration, for which she had a vast appetite for, or to get something she desired at that particular moment.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“Being rich and powerful does that to you. You don’t get a chance to offer any clarification because people dare not ask you a thing. They would prefer to hear someone else’s half truth, then make up the other half, and then whisper a twisted version in someone else’s ear. The whole matter gets distorted in no time, so much so, that it no longer resembles the actual facts.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“It wasn’t an unhappy marriage? Could a marriage be happy, standing on a shaky ground of adultery and a disregard for the wife’s feelings? He didn’t say anything; he listened to her quietly.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“You know how your intuition warns you about someone, but you bury it because it shows the darkness underneath which you wish to ignore; the bright and shiny on the outside is so inviting, you don’t want to look anywhere else?”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“When she met Rudra, it was as if she had just awakened to the world and discovered its wonder. She knew a lot about dreams and a little about wickedness.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“If elders could bequeath their experience and knowledge of life to children without the children making any mistakes, they would save them from a lifetime of heartaches.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“My brother shielded her from the harsh realities of life but, as you must know, the parents ought not to pluck the thorns out before they hand down the roses to their children; it is not always possible to shield your child against all the disappointments that life bestows. A day comes when a child has to face life on her own and, as a parent, one has to make sure that the child is ready.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“Was he not supposed to be suffering for what he did to my heart? I couldn’t bear the thought of him living his life somewhere as if nothing had happened. I wanted to find him, confront him, ask the reason for breaking my heart. But then, I realized it was pointless. He wouldn’t have any answers I wanted to hear. There was nothing out of character in his treachery.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“When he walked out of my life after three years, he was the same person who had entered my life three years earlier. I’d formed an image out of my perception. I thought he was what I wanted him to be.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“If the child had lived, she could have evoked contempt from many, but in death, she had found supporters who wanted to fight and win her battle. Her death had made all the difference. It had gained her the sympathy of strangers instead of their scorn.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“As often happens with introverts who, despite having nothing against people, find the solitude of their home more comforting as opposed to the company of others, he was thought arrogant by many.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“Ignorance, Sharma reflected, had nothing to do with education. He often had observed conscientious stupidity in the well-educated section of society who, owing to their fear of the unknown, adhered to centuries-old, absurd beliefs.”
― Neena H. Brar, Tied to Deceit

“What does reading mean to me? For me it is like breathing, so vital, so basal, a necessity I cannot live without. Reading is my comfort and my retreat. Without reading I can exist, but I cannot thrive.”
― Neena H. Brar

“After family, books are the things that make me happy. Books are my solace, my sanctuary from the everyday cares. If I could I would make reading my soul occupation.”
― Neena H. Brar