The Prophet, The Wanderer.

For quite some time I had been hunting for an anchor to restore my tranquility. Failing to think of any fruitful option, I landed at Starmark. After traversing through the floors and inspecting almost every section( and shelf) of the book store, I stumbled on a big fat Omnibus edition of Kahlil Gibran.

I had read Prophet earlier, but the sight of the complete collection lured me to empty my pocket.
The second book after Prophet in this complete collection is SAND AND FOAM. It is a collection of short stories and aphorisms which will not only amaze you but also make you wiser. It throws light into the deeper layers of life, which, unfortunately is missing from the superficial life of "hi-tech world".

I went to the mountains a while later after getting my hands on the book. All throughout the journey, this book was my only companion. Every time I read and re-read the short stories and aphorisms in SAND AND FOAM, I was dumbfounded. I went taciturn for hours, lost in a different world.

I am quoting some of the Wanderer's words here:

"Now would I fulfill myself. But how shall I unless I become a planet with intelligent lives dwelling upon it?
Is not this every man's goal?"

"A pearl is a temple built by pain around a grain of sand.
What longing built our bodies and around what grains?"

"Once I knew a man whose ears were exceedingly keen, but he was dumb. He had lost his tongue in a battle.
I now know what battles that man fought before the great silence came. I am glad he is dead.
The world is not large enough for two of us."

"My house says to me, 'Do not leave me, for here dwells your past.'
And the road says to me, 'Come and follow me, for I am your future.'
And I say to both my house and the road, 'I have no past, nor have I a future. If I stay here, there is a going in my staying; and if I go, there is a staying in my going. Only love and death change all things."

"When you long for blessings that you may not name, and when you grieve knowing not the cause,then indeed you are growing with all things that grow, and rising toward your greater self."