Rabindranath Tagore says this in Gitanjali:

'Obstinate are the trammels but my heart aches when i try to break them. Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it I feel ashamed. I am certain that priceless wealth is in thee, and that thou art my best friend. But I have not the heart to sweep away the tinsel that fills my room. The shroud that covers me is the shroud of dust & death. I hate it yet I hug it in love. My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret & heavy. Yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted'

These words almost sound like contemporary & ancient both at the same time... Didn't it make you wait & think for awhile? An alert mind experiencing this &can take the effort to pen it down. Its easier to feel than to express. Just like its easier to feel free when you are actually trapped. It just probably explains the situation for all of us. We are all slaves living under the disguise of freedom. Aren't we?

We all have chains around all of us. Chains of relationships like love, friendship etc.. also many others of a similar kind. Since we are in these chains we long for freedom but now tht one has got so attached to the chains given the freedom desired they might be afraid to take it.. Get it?
Obstinate are the trammels but my heart aches when i try to break them. Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it I feel ashamed.
Its like one is so attached to some chain tht he might feel bad to break them... Consider your boss in ur organization.. The same guy whom you curse day in & day out. He might have been a good human being.. In reality he might have wanted something else from his life but he is like that today bec he is trapped.. under his responsibilities... and so he is like that. not his fault... so what can we do? give him what he wants in his life... he might hv wanted to be a freer man... But if he does get the kinda freedom he wants today he will not take it up.... Freedom is all I want, but to hope for it I feel ashamed. Ur chains have become your friends. U cant live without your chains. They provide you security. Freedom means a lotta responsibility. Chains to everyday mundane life.. to fulfill the dreams of ur family.. these chains trap a human being completely.... But what can we do?? Slaves aren't we??? why should we feel ashamed of the freedom?? Probably bec we can hv freedom anytime.. but these chains keep us tied.. Chains are miseries.. giving happiness sometimes.... like being grounded with dreams to fly...

I am certain that priceless wealth is in thee, and that thou art my best friend.
Freedom is a lot of responsibility and one is certain that in longing for this freedom cannot be futile... it has to be for something worthy... and the freedom is ones best friend... But these are hopes that lie in one heart. They may or may not come out to be true. And above these uncertain hopes are my chains of security ( read slavery) which are certain. and so i prefer clinging to them.
But I have not the heart to sweep away the tinsel that fills my room. And so i do not have the courage to overcome or break the chains of slavery that exist in my life...

The shroud that covers me is the shroud of dust & death. I hate it yet I hug it in love.
This one becomes a little more philosophical but the mng in indeed beautiful. it refers to the body [shroud]. One knows its useless & life less & that the reality lies in the soul... I am aware of my fake body & so I hate it & still I hug it in love... [ instances of lovely hypocrisies of humankind ;) ]

My debts are large, my failures great, my shame secret & heavy. Yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted'
This ones beautiful.. Kinda refers to the very first post i wrote abt my graduation coming to an end. It says tht when u keep struggling for something you fall in love with the chase. U become so attached to the chase of finding that certain something tht you forget the whole motive. Something what i wrote in the first post which meant that i was getting my post grads degree- something for which i have been working hard. But i wasn't happy the day i got it... why because i had fallen in love with the chase.. fallen in love with the path tht led me towards it...
so when i finally get it i wasn't happy.. what do i do now?? Now tht i hv got wht i want i shd hv been happy but i wasn't... -> Yet when I come to ask for my good, I quake in fear lest my prayer be granted' I am afraid what will i do with the freedom which i have been asking for? I have got so attached to the chase tht i have for gotten the whole motive of the chase.


Brilliant isn't it? ;)

Note: Inspiration of this write up comes from Osho's Book -> Freedom [The courage to be yourself]