सभी कहानियाँ, यहाँ तक कि उलझन भरी कहानियाँ भी, अनकहे तौर पर उम्मीद जगाती हैं; वे एक ऐसी दुनिया की बात करती हैं जिसे व्यवस्थित किया जा सके और इसलिए जिसे समझा जा सके।
All narratives, even the confusing, are implicitly hopeful; they speak of a world that can be ordered, and thus understood.
All narratives, even the confusing, are implicitly hopeful; they speak of a world that can be ordered, and thus understood.
जानवर वे थे जिनकी मैंने देखभाल की और जिन्होंने मेरी देखभाल की।
Animals were both the lives I took care of and the lives who took care of me.
Animals were both the lives I took care of and the lives who took care of me.
दर्द को बस चुपचाप महसूस करने के बजाय, दर्द को भुगतने में घबराहट और बेचैनी सबसे अहम भूमिका निभाती हैं, यह बात मुझे धीरे-धीरे समझ आई।
Anxiety and anticipation, I was to learn, are the essential ingredients in suffering from pain, as opposed to feeling pain pure and simple.
Anxiety and anticipation, I was to learn, are the essential ingredients in suffering from pain, as opposed to feeling pain pure and simple.
समाज की नज़र में सुंदरता का मतलब बस यही लगता था कि कौन दूसरों की तरह दिखने में सबसे ज़्यादा माहिर है।
Beauty, as defined by society at large, seemed to be only about who was best at looking like everyone else.
Beauty, as defined by society at large, seemed to be only about who was best at looking like everyone else.
क्या कोई ऐसी चीज़ जो छोर या किनारे पर मौजूद हो, उसका स्थिर केंद्र से कोई लेना-देना नहीं होता, या फिर किनारे पर होने की वजह से वह उस सीमा का हिस्सा बन जाती है, उस परिभाषा का हिस्सा बन जाती है जो पूरी दुनिया को एक आकार देती है?
Does something which exists on the edge have no true relevance to the stable center, or does it, by being on the edge, become a part of the edge and thus a part of the boundary, the definition which gives the whole its shape?
Does something which exists on the edge have no true relevance to the stable center, or does it, by being on the edge, become a part of the edge and thus a part of the boundary, the definition which gives the whole its shape?
मैं पुरानी यादों के मोह में इस कदर डूब गया कि मुझे खुद पता नहीं था कि आखिर मैं किस बात की याद में खोया हुआ हूँ।
I began a lifelong affair with nostalgia, with only the vaguest notions of what I was nostalgic for.
I began a lifelong affair with nostalgia, with only the vaguest notions of what I was nostalgic for.
मैंने अपनी ज़िंदगी के पाँच साल कैंसर के इलाज में बिताए, लेकिन उसके बाद के पंद्रह साल मैंने इसके अलावा और किसी चीज़ के इलाज में नहीं बिताए कि मैं बाकी दुनिया से अलग दिखता था। उस बदरंग रूप और बदसूरत महसूस होने के दर्द को मैंने हमेशा अपनी ज़िंदगी की सबसे बड़ी त्रासदी माना। उसके मुकाबले मुझे हुआ कैंसर महज़ एक छोटी सी बात लगती थी।
I spent five years of my life being treated for cancer, but since then I've spent fifteen years being treated for nothing other than looking different from everyone else. It was the pain from that, from feeling ugly, that I always viewed as the great tragedy of my life. The fact that I had cancer seemed minor in comparison.
I spent five years of my life being treated for cancer, but since then I've spent fifteen years being treated for nothing other than looking different from everyone else. It was the pain from that, from feeling ugly, that I always viewed as the great tragedy of my life. The fact that I had cancer seemed minor in comparison.
मैं निराशा को पदानुक्रम (hierarchy) के चश्मे से देखता था: अगर दुनिया में कोई ज़्यादा बड़ा दर्द मौजूद है, तो इसका मतलब यह हुआ कि मेरा अपना दर्द कोई मायने नहीं रखता। मुझे लगता था कि मुझे बस इस हकीकत को स्वीकार कर लेना चाहिए कि मैं बदसूरत हूँ, और इस बात को लेकर निराशा महसूस करना ही पूरी तरह गलत है।
I treated despair in terms of hierarchy: if there was a more important pain in the world, it meant my own was negated. I thought I simply had to accept the fact that I was ugly, and that to feel despair about it was simply wrong.
I treated despair in terms of hierarchy: if there was a more important pain in the world, it meant my own was negated. I thought I simply had to accept the fact that I was ugly, and that to feel despair about it was simply wrong.
मैं पहले सोचता था कि जब आप किसी चीज़ को सचमुच जान लेते हैं, तो उसकी सच्चाई हमेशा चमकती रहती है। अब यह बात मेरे लिए बिल्कुल साफ है कि अक्सर ऐसा नहीं होता, बल्कि यादों की बैटरी कमज़ोर पड़ जाती है। और कई बार तो ऐसा होता है कि जब आप उस पुराने ज्ञान को इस्तेमाल करने की कोशिश करते हैं, तो वह एकदम से फुस्स हो जाता है, ठीक वैसे ही जैसे स्विच ऑन करते ही बल्ब का फ्यूज़ उड़ जाता है।
I used to think that once you really knew a thing, its truth would shine on forever. Now it's pretty obvious to me that more often than not the batteries fade, and sometimes what you knew even goes out with a bang when you try and call on it, just like a light bulb cracking off when you throw the switch.
I used to think that once you really knew a thing, its truth would shine on forever. Now it's pretty obvious to me that more often than not the batteries fade, and sometimes what you knew even goes out with a bang when you try and call on it, just like a light bulb cracking off when you throw the switch.
मैं पहले सोचता था कि सच्चाई अमर होती है; कि एक बार जान लेने या देख लेने के बाद वह हमेशा मेरे साथ रहेगी—एक ऐसा पैमाना जिससे बाकी सब कुछ नापा जा सके। अब मैं जानता हूँ कि ऐसा नहीं है; ज़्यादातर सच ऐसे होते हैं जिन्हें सहेज कर रखना नामुमकिन है। सबसे बुनियादी बातों को याद रखने के लिए भी हमें ज़िंदगी भर कड़ी मेहनत करनी पड़ती है।
I used to think truth was eternal, that once I knew, once I saw, it would be with me forever, a constant by which everything else could be measured. I know now that this isn’t so, that most truths are inherently unretainable, that we have to work hard all our lives to remember the most basic things.
I used to think truth was eternal, that once I knew, once I saw, it would be with me forever, a constant by which everything else could be measured. I know now that this isn’t so, that most truths are inherently unretainable, that we have to work hard all our lives to remember the most basic things.
एक हद तक मैं अपने आत्म-विश्लेषण को एक यातना यंत्र की तरह धार दे रहा था, जो इतना तेज़ और असरदार हो कि ज़िंदगी भर मेरा साथ निभाए।
Partly I was honing my self-consciousness into a torture device, sharp and efficient enough to last me the rest of my life.
Partly I was honing my self-consciousness into a torture device, sharp and efficient enough to last me the rest of my life.
इंसान होने का एक मतलब यह भी है कि हम लगातार इस बात को कम आंकते हैं कि दूसरों पर हमारा क्या असर पड़ता है।
Part of the job of being human is to consistently underestimate our effect on other people.
Part of the job of being human is to consistently underestimate our effect on other people.
कभी-कभी ज़िंदगी के सबसे छोटे पल हमें इस कदर जकड़ लेते हैं, हमें उन्हें अपनाने पर मजबूर कर देते हैं, और यह माँग करते हैं कि हम अपनी बाकी की ज़िंदगी उन्हीं के इर्द-गिर्द जिएँ।
Sometimes the briefest moments capture us, force us to take them in, and demand that we live the rest of our lives in reference to them.
Sometimes the briefest moments capture us, force us to take them in, and demand that we live the rest of our lives in reference to them.
जिंदगी की कहानी अक्सर इस बात से तय होती है कि सच्ची समझदारी और वैसी ही सच्ची नासमझी आपस में किस-किस तरह से मिलती हैं।
The general plot of life is sometimes shaped by the different ways genuine intelligence combines with equally genuine ignorance.
The general plot of life is sometimes shaped by the different ways genuine intelligence combines with equally genuine ignorance.
अर्थ की यह एकरूपता—कि मैं सिर्फ अपना चेहरा था, मैं बदसूरत था—भले ही कभी-कभी असहनीय लगती थी, लेकिन इसने मुझे बचने का एक रास्ता भी सुझाया। यह उड़ान भरने के लिए एक लॉन्चपैड बन गया, जब भी मुझसे पूछा जाता कि मेरी ज़िंदगी में क्या गड़बड़ है, तो उंगली उठाने के लिए यह इकलौती ऐसी जानी-पहचानी जगह बन गई। सब कुछ इसी की तरफ़ ले जाता था, सब कुछ इसी से दूर जाता था—मेरा चेहरा एक ऐसे बिंदु की तरह बन गया था जहाँ सब कुछ गायब हो जाता था।
This singularity of meaning--I was my face, I was ugliness--though sometimes unbearable, also offered a possible point of escape. It became the launching pad from which to lift off, the one immediately recognizable place to point to when asked what was wrong with my life. Everything led to it, everything receded from it--my face as personal vanishing point.
This singularity of meaning--I was my face, I was ugliness--though sometimes unbearable, also offered a possible point of escape. It became the launching pad from which to lift off, the one immediately recognizable place to point to when asked what was wrong with my life. Everything led to it, everything receded from it--my face as personal vanishing point.
अपने दोस्तों के ज़रिए मैंने जाना कि लोगों से प्यार करना क्या होता है। प्यार करने की भी एक कला होती है... जो कला बनाने के लिए ज़रूरी प्रेम से बहुत अलग नहीं है। इसके लिए इस कोशिश की ज़रूरत होती है कि हम उन्हें वैसे ही देखें जैसे वे वाकई हैं, न कि वैसे जैसे हम उन्हें देखना चाहते थे।
Through [my friends] I discovered what it was to love people. There was an art to it...which was not really all that different from the love that is necessary in the making of art. It required the effort of always seeing them for themselves and not as I wished them to be.
Through [my friends] I discovered what it was to love people. There was an art to it...which was not really all that different from the love that is necessary in the making of art. It required the effort of always seeing them for themselves and not as I wished them to be.
जब मैं खुद को सुंदर होने की कल्पना करने की कोशिश करता था, तो मैं सिर्फ उस ज़िंदगी की कल्पना कर पाता था जहाँ अकेलेपन का अंतहीन डर न हो, अकेलेपन का वह भारी बोझ न हो, जो बदसूरत महसूस होने पर होता था।
When I tried to imagine being beautiful, I could only imagine living without the perpetual fear of being alone, without the great burden of isolation, which is what feeling ugly felt like.
When I tried to imagine being beautiful, I could only imagine living without the perpetual fear of being alone, without the great burden of isolation, which is what feeling ugly felt like.
जबकि हमारे शरीर समय की रेखा पर लगातार आगे बढ़ते रहते हैं, हमारा मन लगातार पीछे की ओर लौटता रहता है, और किसी तीर की तरह अपने निशाने को तलाशते हुए बड़ी खूबी से आकार और अर्थ की तलाश करता रहता है।
While our bodies move ever forward on the time line, our minds continuously trace backward, seeking shape and meaning as deftly as any arrow seeking its mark
While our bodies move ever forward on the time line, our minds continuously trace backward, seeking shape and meaning as deftly as any arrow seeking its mark