Rain! Rain! Went Away!

Its official! Monsoons are over. October is almost here and the weather seems to know it. Clear blue skies, bright sunshine, fluffy white clouds and not even a hint of rain. And the colours all around, everything got such a thorough cleaning during the rainy season that its practically shining wherever the sun finds its way. Of course not everything came out looking squeaky clean, the roads are definitely worse for the wear and buildings have a very sorry look about them. But nothing that some repairs won't fix. And as for us, the inhabitants of this crazy city, we can finally go back to stepping out of our houses without an umbrella; leave the windows open without worrying about the rain washing everything away; traffic will probably ease up a teensy weensy bit (hopefully the 2 hour journey will turn into 1.5 but that is just wishful thinking); and best of all, maybe now with temperatures soaring again, we'll enjoy ice creams again.

On that note I'll end this rambling and wish everyone a very good day ahead! Cheers :)
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We come into this world with nothing, but as we go along our way we gather a lot of things but 'things' may be a bit ambiguous. What I really mean to say here is the people that we gather around us. The friends we make, our circles, our gangs, our groups, our lifelines, these are the guys that make life what it is. Everything around us is a testimony to this fact, from social networking sites which wouldn't even exist if not for the innate need in mankind to connect with each other to sitcoms which more often than not would fall flat without the band of merry men to boost along the story. So winding back to my original point, whenever I look around, I am amazed at the number of connections we make in our lifetime, people we meet at every point in our lives who somehow just remain with us long after that time in our life is gone. I feel doubly grateful when I see the number of people in my life who I will always always cherish.. Here's to you guys. Cheers!

Volcano

What is it about destruction that attracts us? Nobody ever wants it to happen to them but nevertheless everybody eagerly follows the news when there is a calamity (natural or man made). With connectivity getting better and better, news from all over the world has invaded our homes and lives. Its not just that these incidents are increasing by the day, we find out about them immediately and that is what adds to the shock effect. Even the silver screen realises this, evident from the movies where the end of the world seems to be the theme! What is it exactly that pulls us in? Is it just the drama? The philosopher Henry David Thoreau once said 'The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to their grave with the song still in them'. Maybe we ease this desperation by feeling the adrenaline rush that comes from an event that threatens to destroy everything. The rush of emotions: fear, anger, pain, empathy all combine together and give us the feeling of being alive and from that springs the will to survive in any way possible, the proverbial fight or flight so to speak. But at the end of the day, when the movie is over or the crisis is past, we go back to the humdrum of our everyday lives...until the next time!

PS # I think I should mention here that I was watching this movie called 'Volcano' last night, I'll leave you to guess what that was all about :P. Cheers!
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Love Affair of a Lifetime...

There are many reasons to love the internet, I particularly like the fact that I can download sitcoms that I might not ordinarily have access to. There are so many sitcoms these days that one has their work cut out trying to follow them all on TV. Besides, the timings may not even be all that convenient, sometimes they even coincide and they almost always reach the TV half a year behind the original release. The solution: download them from the internet! And right there is an entire world of possibilities opening up before you, a world beyond the constrictions of the television set. My initiation to this wonderful phenomenon began even before I knew what it was all about, the TV series Lost was quite difficult to follow when there was a week between episodes aired on HBO, but a stack of DVDs with Season One and Two on them and I was hooked for 15 hours straight. All the flashbacks and the eeriness of the island and the fact that were stranded pretty much in the middle of nowhere, made it all very exciting indeed. It helped that it was summer and school was out and it was too hot to do anything else, but the journey had begun from where there has been no looking back. Strangely after the marathon run of the first 2 seasons, I have never managed to follow the rest of Lost, I eagerly read about the series every time Wikipedia got updated but never got around to watching it. I progressed from Lost to OC which most might agree was not much of a progression but I went through the whole of Seasons One and Two religiously anyway, it was a phase that one had to go through. Sometime later I caught bits and pieces of Seasons Three and Four when they were airing on TV but didn't really get hooked enough to download them all and watch them while devouring ice cream. I do however do an occasional YouTube search of 'Best of' OC videos and songs and that satisfies me quite enough. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. of course has been a part of all our lives at some point of time or the other. I began watching it on TV from the time they were airing Season 9 and went on to watch it till the end. After that, it was all bits and pieces of episodes as and when the channels decided to do reruns. It wasn't until college that I managed to watch all 10 seasons and it was always the best thing to do when feeling sick, I still have them all stored up coz it is definitely something to keep for the rainy day, the evergreen humour will never fail to make me laugh. The next sitcom of note to enter my horizon was the much debated about How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM). Having heard endless rave reviews of this one, I decided finally in my second year of college to check it out and I could not have picked a better time. It was the time when everyone was quite fed up having watched 5 seasons and yet not discovering who the mother was and here I was watching it for the first time. And not a moment too soon, coz soon after came season 6 and I was so new to the thing that I loved every minute of it. I'm not so sure about the upcoming season but HIMYM and I have had a nice ride. Another epic sitcom for me has been Castle. I accidentally began watching it on TV one day and I was hooked. The rest as they say is history, I have followed every episode with bated breath and still have all three seasons saved up on my laptop. In fact, I just spent an entire afternoon going through my favourite parts of Castle. I, along with a million other people wait in great anticipation for Season 4, which is coming soon (but really not soon enough!). Along the way I have also fallen in love with the eccentric geniuses of The Big Bang Theory and can watch all the episodes over and over again. The Mentalist also touched my radar but alas have only managed to follow it sporadically on TV but a big fan anyway. Grey's Anatomy is one other series that has captured my imagination over the years but I strangely never had the urge to watch every episode of this one, I was absolutely content with watching an episode every now and then with absolutely no idea what season it was from. In college I once discovered an entire collection on someone's laptop and filled in a lot of gaps in my knowledge. This series is also a target of my YouTube searches for all its beautiful songs and also for some really amazing compilation videos. Speaking of college I cannot help but mention the infamous Gossip Girl series, which I have never particularly liked but never managed to stay away from either. Indeed I only recently finished watching the remaining part of season 4 which I had begun in college and what can I say, it was one hell of a ride. Gilmore Girls too was something I discovered in college and have tried to follow it as much as possible because it really is such a happy show. Recently, I have become an addict of the TV series Bones and am avidly following it on TV these days. That about sums up my love affair with the sitcoms facilitated in no small way by the internet. I guess I miss all those times in college where I've just forgotten everything and lost myself in the world of sitcoms for hours at a stretch. Those days may be gone but the sitcoms, they will stay on, there are too many memories attached to them and I will treasure them for life. This in no way is the end of the journey, I am trusting that the entertainment industry will continue to thrill us for many many years to come. Cheers!

Freedom...

The last few books that I read (especially the order in which I read them) has really got me thinking. The simplest things are the easiest to miss and when someone does take notice and makes a success out of it, we wonder what special powers they are blessed with. The people themselves know it ofcourse, it just leaves the rest of us baffled. To explain a little more clearly, the book I finished reading just today is 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell. More impressive than the title is the subtitle - "The Story of Success". You may be forgiven for yawning and thinking heard that before but seriously, this is a very radical approach. According to this book, the way we behave is rooted in our cultures and environments we were reared in no matter how far removed we are from it. It also goes on to prove that success is no accident but a combination of opportunities and hard work. The term 'hard work' is looked down upon these days, with smart work being the flavour of the season, but it amounts to the same things, gaining proficiency in your chosen field by constant application and practice and thereby getting better and better at it. Moving on to the the next book on the list, this one was an old favourite, 'Freakonomics', discovering the hidden side of everything has never been so much fun. An interesting thing to note about both these books is that while at the heart of it they deal with facts, figures, research and analysis, they are not the run of the mill economics textbooks (read: they don't send you off to sleep) simply because they are narrated like stories with examples of real people, real lives which makes them so irresistible, you keep turning the pages waiting to see what happens next. And once you do find out, you not only have a great story but you've also learnt a few facts of life! And that brings me to the other 2 books that I read recently, 'It Happened in India' by Kishore Biyani and 'Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch' by Arindam Chaudhury. They are similar yet different books, almost mirror images of each other. While Kishore Biyani tells his story of success with the his theories of management hidden within them, Arindam Chaudhury talks about his theories and gives us examples to support them. In any case 2 things were very apparent once I was done reading these books; the first being that management in India is very distinct process (hence proving Malcolm Gladwell's point that culture has everything to do with people's behaviours). Traditional theories, models, best practices and procedures need to be customized to suit the Indian context instead of lifting straight out of popular literature. The second fact is that though there are plenty of people who have realized this truth and are doing things differently, there is hardly any record of it, nobody writes about or publicizes a new way of working which actually works in this country! So the big learnings for the month are to understand how our culture defines the way we work and use it to our advantage and also to make sure that we tell the world about how we do things instead of trying to mould ourselves to fit the so called universally accepted principles which are at best applicable to only half the world's population.

And that my friends is what I think freedom means. Its about making the choice to embrace who we are instead of being ashamed of it and telling the world we are proud to be who we are instead of apologizing for not fitting into acceptable definitions.

Happy Independence Day...

Cheers!

Self Discovery...

Her fingers raced across the keys on her laptop. Even from the flickering reflection in the window of the bus, it was obvious that she was hard at work. Brows furrowed, deep in concentration, lips twisted in a way that showed that whatever was showing up on her screen was far from good news. After half an hour of pounding the keys and somehow balancing the laptop while the bus jerked along the puddle filled roads of Bombay, she gave up and gave in to the nagging headache that had been wrecking havoc for the past few days. Even packing away the laptop in its case seemed to require too much energy so she just let it sit in the seat next to her and stared moodily out of the window into the incessant rains outside. Monsoon was certainly at its peak and she was caught right in the middle of it. After a minute or so when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she became aware that she was far from home, it would take atleast another hour to get there and then she had an appointment with the gym. She groaned at the prospect but she had promised herself that the next three months nothing would stop her. She was to be married come December and she wanted to look her best and the thought of that made her smile sleepily before she drifted off into exhausted sleep..

And that is where it gets interesting, for you see, this is where I am lost. I can set up the picture perfectly and make you feel like you're actually there, its so vivid but when it comes to imagination, feelings, thoughts, there is very little I can do. That is probably the reason why I have half a dozen half finished stories lying around somewhere or the other, I kept telling myself, its just a problem of mine of mine, I just can't write stories. Essays? Monologues? Speeches? Anecdotes? Interpretations of events? Philosophy? All those things but never a complete story with a beginning, middle and end. I had resigned my self to the fact but that’s where apparently I was wrong. I read a book that told me otherwise. It said that the only thing that kept me from writing a story, which I clearly wanted to, was my fear of what people might think of it. Having read this a few times and digested it, I set out to figure out what it really meant. I had always prided myself on not caring much about what the world said and thought, indeed on occasion I have deliberately gone out my way to do things differently and questioned things that ought to have been left alone. So you would think I wouldn't be afraid of what people might say to a story that I may choose to write, right? Wrong. The book went on to tell me that the more the things are dear to us, the worse this fear of failure gets until we're so paralyzed by it we can't even bear to think about it. Well that made a lot of sense and again I'm not just referring to writing here. The fear of failure and rejection is always there tapping on our shoulders until we crumble and give up. The trick is to just not let it do that. Sounds simple doesn't it? Yet it is the hardest thing to do on earth, it is actually probably easier to pull the trigger of a gun! But just think for a moment that if instead of giving in to the fear we learn to accept failure as a part of life, knowing that we'd be richer in knowledge because of it, life would certainly be different. I like to call it the 'practical power of positive thinking'. I used to be skeptical about the theory that if only you would believe and imagine the best would happen, it would happen. It sounded too idealistic to be true. But lets just twist it a little bit. 'Think Positive' needs to be more interpreted to mean that whatever happens should be used as an opportunity to learn something new. So now instead of naively saying, 'Oh I'm going to think positive, I am going to be rich someday' and expecting to sail to the finish line; we would be a position to learn from the mistakes we make, hurdles we cross, ridicule and criticism we attract and because of this learning, we would be rich in more ways that one!

So here is a solemn pledge to shut out the fear and make the best use of the life I've been given to learn something and do some good in this crazy world! And I think some stories might see the light of day after all!

Cheers!

The Bigger Picture...

Sometimes we just get too caught up in the moment to realize that there is so much more beyond it. These are the times when we let our worst fears rule our best instincts and the worst that can happen at a time like this that you find that you have no one beside you to tell you otherwise. If you are ever faced with a situation like this, then just repeat to yourself a very simple statement: This too shall pass. For there is nothing in this world that lasts forever. So if you're going through hell, accept it. If you find not a single friend around you who understands why you are doing what you are doing, accept it. If at times you yourself don't understand the things you are doing, accept it (trust me, your instincts know better). Think of the bigger picture. The bad time will pass and your far thinking will take you places, the true friends will remain by your side for life in spite of what it may seem like for now and your instincts will be well honed to recognize these signs in future. And most of all just remember that there is a lesson in everything in life and that is NOT that you should fear what life throws at you just because you have had one bad experience in the past, but that you now are better equipped to deal with the situation before you. It isn't easy I know to keep yourself from sinking into doubt, but make a deal with yourself not to wallow in it. Take a minute, but only a minute, to tell yourself every single thing that you can possibly do wrong and then vow not to let it happen. You will feel better for it for two reasons; one is that once you list all the negatives they won't seem all that bad and two is that the reassurance from yourself that you won't let anything go wrong will go a long way in boosting your confidence when you find it failing. Don't get me wrong, mistakes will still happen, but they won't cripple you if you have that vision in your head of where you are headed, the light in your eyes which guides your path and voice in your ear that gives you your confidence, in short: the bigger picture is what you need to think of.

Fortune...

When once upon a time,

You sat upon a wall

Staring into the distance

With dreams shining in your eyes

The people of the town,

Would look at you and say,

"There's a lad who needs to

get the hell away!"

The children of the town

Would come around and play

And look at you in awe

And wonder what you did all day

But alas they never knew

The reason you were there

Was only so that you

Would be fortunate enough

To catch a glimpse of

The fair maiden that resides

Behind the castle wall

The very wall on which you sat

And wasted your life away.

And life and fate are such that

In the end you didn't even sway

When you took that last quiet breath

The reason I call this poem (or atleast an attempt at poetry!) 'Fortune', is because I believe that most of us waste our life away waiting to catch a glimpse of it. Instead, lets get off that wall and do something about it. Cheers!

Parodies...

Have you ever looked up into falling rain? Or noticed how raindrops bounce off surfaces before they finally come to a rest? Or how perfect it looks when you see rain caught in the beam of a car's headlights? So perfectly aligned every drop that even as we curse all the havoc the rains cause, we can't help but admire the beauty of it. For it really does test your patience when they is a lovely cool breeze playing around outside but you dare not open the window of the bus lest you get drenched from the rain. Instead, what do we do? We sit in a steaming bus stuck in never ending traffic jams on just another rainy day in this crazy city we call home. But I digress, I was talking about the sheer beauty of nature at its best. Nature taking care of its own, replenishing parched soils generously, never sparing a thought to what it might be doing to all creatures great and small. But to be fair, its not that rains are only about bad things. There is so much joy in splashing around in puddles and getting thoroughly drenched even though there is an umbrella in your bag. And who hasn't stuck out an arm through a window just to catch raindrops in their palm? Its all these enticing little things that keep you coming back for more, even when you know that at the end of the day, a drizzle will turn into a downpour and then a thunderstorm and alas flood you with all its might; but for now its just fun to play in the rain. Cheers!

Blink Of An Eye...

A blink of an eye carries so much in itself, the sheer joy of closing the eyes, giving them that split second of respite, only to open them again and behold the world in all its glorious colours. We don't appreciate it enough, the simple act of blinking, the fact that the eyelids work tirelessly all day to keep our eyes fresh and clear to look out into the world and conquer everything in it. Our eyes have a thousand qualities, they are the windows to our soul and can never hide anything from the person who chooses to look into them. Truth pours out of them like water from a fountain, our lips may lie but the eyes never can. It just confirms my belief that we may (and often do!) lie to the world but we can never lie to ourselves and that is what you see in the eyes. The eyes are also the road to our hearts, shining brightly with love one second and filled with anguish the next, all depending on what the heart is being subjected to at the moment. True joy can also be found here; as a child I never understood what it meant to smile with your eyes but now it makes perfect sense. The only way you truly smile is when it lights up your eyes, the happier the occasion, the brighter the light. Of course joy is not the only emotion to colour our eyes, the red hot of fury, the green of jealousy, the black of hate, the icy blue of indifference are all there, ready to come out into the open at the lightest provocation but us human beings naturally tend to look for the bright and happy yellow more than anything else and when we see it, it feels like everything is good in the world. But alas nothing lasts forever so is the same with what we see in the eyes, from love to hate, fear to anger to triumph, disgust to determination, patience to weariness, they all come and go, all within the blink of an eye...

Shruti, it seems to be only a blink of an eye since we celebrated your birthday a year ago, all together, but now when we are all back to where we belong, I'll take a moment to treasure the best there is. You have always been the one island of calm in the midst of the storms that blew around us and it was the strength in your gentle eyes that shone like a lamp through the darkness. You saw every colour there was to see and yet you never tired to see some more. May you always stay that way and many, many happy returns of the day. Cheers!

Great Explorations...

When you search online for the greatest achievements in human history, you find under the category of greatest explorations, the following:

• Columbus's discovery of the New World (America)

• Lewis and Clark Expedition (They traversed the uninhabited territories of the USA from the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast in the early 1800s)

• Marco Polo's journey to China

• Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe

• Amundsen's journey to the South Pole

Before these pioneers explored beyond the boundaries of conventional thought there were vast parts of the earth that was absolutely unknown to man. Seems inconceivable today doesn't it? The Atlas as we know it today has been there forever or so it would seem. Every child in school has been made to learn the names of countries, their capital cities, the principal mountains, the chief rivers and lakes, the distribution of forests and deserts and even the crops that grow in the different parts of the country depending on the climate! As children, we have all cursed the very existence of the book of maps and on more than one occasion even changed the face of maps when memory evaded us, but if we could travel back to a time when the maps were being created, we might see the beauty in it, the sheer joy of watching the shapes come alive for the first time. Of course it was not without its own problems with society being so firmly entrenched in their own notions about the world and further back in history, in the age of kingdoms when maps were regularly redrawn to reflect the might and power of the kings in question. These explorers in fact had their work cut out to convince the people in power that their journeys would reveal anything at all! So now when we may even a casual glance at the map of the world, it is with the secure knowledge that there is little else to discover. Every piece of land and water body is neatly demarcated by multicoloured lines; which goes to show just how far we've come. Of course we're far from being sure of what all goes on beneath the surface but even that, with today's technology is not that hard to project. What we're forgetting however is that no matter how advanced things are now and how easily and carelessly we can access information, we are still poorer than our ancestors in knowledge. This day and age is wasted on us. Once upon a time, people with much less information on their hands, were more hungry for more knowledge and they made sure they got it, the scarcity of it making it all the more precious so that every last drop had to squeezed out of it. People ‘read' languages different from their own instead of merely learning and forgetting them; people read books to know about places, things, people and cultures that they had never seen; society was a closely knit community where people looked to each other in times of joy and in times of need; there was time for work and there was time for play and last but not the least, there was an appreciation for all of these things that is missing in today's life. The word culture was originally coined to mean the cultivation of the soul and mind. How many of us can honestly claim to doing that? Or even attempting to? It isn't easy mind you, even if you did decide to wake up one morning and start enriching yourself. We are limited by our own passion for speed and anything that doesn't quite match our pace gets left behind. The internet, that wonderful platform that literally brings the world at our fingertips is rarely used to discover something new unless circumstances demand it. We have become a servant to the technology, blindly following glitter instead of gold, instead of technology serving us. We have the means to read about anything we wish to; visit almost any places that we may wish to and find entertainment in any number of ways but how often do we actually do take that crucial step towards the unknown. It gets easier every day to arrange for anything to be delivered straight to your doorstep but it gets harder and harder to break out of the comfort zone. Its like having an entire ocean at your disposal and being content to live in the bottom of a pond of stagnant water. For that is exactly what our lives have become: stagnant. Of course one may argue that we after all are not completely at liberty to always do as we please and that we have responsibilities to fulfill but unless you put some passion into it, nothing you ever do will feel like worth it. It is heartening to hear about people who have broken the mould of ordinary and ventured into the unknown; we follow their lives with breathlessness and wish we could be the same and yet at the end of the day, we scoff at their foolishness and lack of wisdom. I'd say that people had it much better when they knew little and thus wanted to know more. They would journey across the world by the only means available to them which took them months to reach their destination (such cruel waste of time I hear you say!) but they used their time to enrich themselves like we never have. Think back to the years spent in school, how often have you sat in class and strained to hear the bell ring that would signal the end of the lesson? Did we ever even then think about learning something new, get excited about knowing something more than you did yesterday? We didn't and reason for that is just that the world and our society has made us that way, looking out into the world and seeing only the present (and an exaggerated version of the future!) and nothing else. So, sometimes, we should take the time to cast our eyes back to the time when explorers set out to discover the world (in every sense of the word) and then drew the maps which in a sense was almost like creating the world all over again; and then when we come back to the present, find some way to bring into our own lives, a passion for discovering something new and extraordinary.

PS # I am going to be practicing what I preach. When caught in the middle of a conversation about the Philippines and having only a very vague idea of where it was, I actually used the erstwhile internet to pinpoint the exact location and a very helpful website also enlightened me about the capital city, the principal mountains, the chief rivers and lakes, the distribution of forests and deserts and even the crops that grow in the different parts of the country depending on the climate (Not that I remember even one tenth of this, but it was good to know that I could know anytime I want). Cheers!

All Mixed Up...

Today morning was the most brilliant example of ironies. After an entire week of dark cloud cover over the city, suddenly there was dazzling sunshine everywhere. Pale blue skies, patches of white clouds with no hint of rain and miracle of miracles, pleasant breezes and no humidity! That in itself is an aberration in Mumbai. I'm told it didn't last all that long and eventually it did rain but the early morning impression stays with me, fresh and clean, like what I imagine spring would be, if we had one. The trees and grass, glistening with last night's rain and their colour shining because the showers have washed away all the dust from their surfaces; the swings in the children's playground looking like toys with their bright colours and of course the bright yellow sunshine everywhere. It was too lovely a morning to leave curtains shut and as I went around the house drawing them back and throwing open windows, I could hear the music and the singing in my heart. It was a beautiful feeling and all the useless worries just drained out of my head leaving me feeling peaceful and content. In a minute I would have begun to sing out loud and then the rest would have been history but having recognized the signs, I made an effort to come back to reality and hurried over the mundane tasks of everyday as I was by now running late. On the long journey to work, I finally gave in to impulse and began humming along with the music on my phone. Another thing that pleases me today is that I have finished reading the novel 'Gone With The Wind' for the seventh time. It has become a tradition really to read this book every summer since I was in the class 9 and I am yet to get tired of it. Every time I read it again, I see something with new eyes, which I hadn't seen before and thus the exciting mystery goes on. The vivid descriptions of the scenery, the way of life, the war and the characters that come alive over the course of the book all contribute to the pleasure of reading it yet again. Moreover, wound into the beautiful and intricate embroidery of the story are the home grown common sense observations that hold true even after a hundred and fifty years since those days. Society will always be averse to something that is different from the normalcy that they have defined for themselves; wars will continue to be fought because orators fill people's heads with foolish notions; there will always be people on the lookout for a quick buck by twisting circumstances in their favour; money at the end of the day will not buy you happiness and human beings will continue to be baffled to see changes around them that they never thought possible except for a handful who learn to see which way the wind is blowing. An interesting thing to note here is the place of women in society in those days, they were held in high esteem no doubt but it was inconceivable that they should think for themselves. Apparently sheltered from the harsh realities of life, these women were far more intelligent than they let on to their men folks but their greatest wisdom lay in the fact that they allowed their men to continue believing them the helpless creatures who needed protection from the world. It was this wisdom that ensured that the society was peaceful and life went on smoothly, never changing even in the face of utter destruction of their world. It just make me curious to think what it would be like if it had remained that way. The world today has seen women striving towards the same things that traditionally been strictly the domain of men and nobody would dare suggest that anything was beyond their reach but if we step back and think about it, things are not as pleasant as they seem, there has been a large price to pay for realizing our potential. Women now are faced with the prospect of managing the home (a full time job in itself!) and proving themselves at the workplace; which they do admirably but I can't help wondering if its worth. At the end of the day, wouldn't it be easier to just let men think we're fools and do all the work for us? :P

On that very twisted note, I think I'll end this post which has traveled light years from where it began and await the wrath of womankind. Cheers!

It Rained Last Night...

It rained last night. With a vengeance. Sounds like a horror movie or atleast an action flick? Nope it was just Mumbai on 2^nd of June 2011. There is something about the first rains that is absolutely spectacular and completely transforms the city which for so long has been ravaged by the summer heat. It was nothing like the usual storm and light drizzle which normally characterizes the first rains, it was magical and ferocious all at the same time and it threatened to bring the city to it's knees right away. A bus ride which normally takes an hour, took two while the streets (even the highways fared no better than streets!) slowly flooded with muddy brown rivers of rain and slush (I really don't want to name the kind of things I saw floating around!). The sudden change from day to night, growling thunder and flashing lightning all took on the appearance of a drama that nature was enacting for us lesser mortals; only it soon ceased to be merely a drama and threatened to turn into a full scale battle. Nature is wise however, for it reined itself in and decided to spare us for yet another day. It knows that it is capable of complete and utter destruction and also that with great power comes great responsibility! But jokes apart, I love the rains, always have, always will and its making me realize that by extension, I quite like this city too. Its been two months since I have been back here, the city I used to detest so much finally redeeming itself in my eyes in the strangest of ways. I find joy in the simplest of things like the fact that they have installed TVs in the newer buses, which actually air some good stuff, believe it or not, I've been watching a black and white serialized version of “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes: The Cunningham Inheritance”. Of course the serial is interspersed with advertisements on everything, ranging from 'Save the girl child' to 'Say no to drugs' and 'Join our computer institute'. All in all a very enriching experience I think :P. There are other things too, I am fascinated by the increase in the number of bus routes all over the city, where earlier there would be one, there are now atleast five buses going the same route, again a point of redemption, I get to pick and choose the emptiest bus while going to work :). The millions of new construction sites may cause a riot of dust and noise but it just shows that there is no end to growth and development. Of course the streets are more crowded than ever before and there are more people taking the train and it takes longer and longer to get places but strangely I feel more at home now than I ever have. There comes a time when you get tired of finding faults and nursing grudges and then you begin to accept things for what they are and appreciate the best in them instead of trying to change what you can't. This is true of human relationships as well. The more you get to know a person, the more you find things you don't like about them (lets face it, there are no saints any more!). So what do you do? Shun them for their faults or learn to live with the good things and leave out all the rest? (love the song by Linkin Park!).

I remember a quote from Julius Caesar:

The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones;

Why let that happen? Let the good that men do live on after them and let the rest be gone with him. Life gets a lot less complicated and who knows, by accepting someone wholeheartedly with no reservations, you might just bring out the best in them. With that thought I'll sign off and wish a warm welcome to the impending monsoons and while you sip some coffee on a rainy day, take some time to see all that is good around you. Cheers!

City Life...

I simply love the sounds of a city coming to life. It has a magic of it's own, even if it is the dreaded city of Mumbai. After being tucked away in the peace and quiet of Viman Nagar, Pune for 3 years, it is quite an adjustment to relocate to this bustling city again. I'm making good progress however. While the news that the city greeted me with on the 7th of April 2011 was shattering, it is slowly redeeming itself in different ways. The smell of freshly baked bread at the bakery; watching vegetables being unloaded from trucks to the roadside vendors' carts; the vigorous dusting undertaken at all the stores right after opening, the various signboards and wares that these shops choose to display on the pavement being brought out in full glory; the florist stringing garlands out of fresh flowers; delivery of milk at the dairy; these and so many others are the things I love about the city first thing in the morning. Walking around at this time of the morning has quite a few advantages; the freshest supplies are yours for the taking with hardly any competetion around so you can take your time and choose the best and of course work get done so much faster. There are however glitches in this system of thought; since all enterprises do not deign to open at that hour, you often find yourself cursing them and having to return at a more reasonable hour to try sending out a courier, collecting your laundry, changing a library book or CD, buying light fittings or clothing. There has to be that perfect time that needs to be established for otherwise you may end up setting out too late and then being greeted by half shut shutters indicating a 3 hour lunch and siesta session. Post this session you find all shops displaying a great reluctance to conduct any business until the reasonable hour of 6 pm when the streets begin to bustle with life again. This time there is no qustion of peace and quiet and we find hordes of people at every shop and shopkeepers skillfully using all their pent up energy to sell their wares. Fried junk food and other street food causes quite a bit of congestion on the pavement leaving no doubt that this is probably the mot popular time of the day. As the evening wears on it is the clubs abd restuarants that have their share of people's attention and come night the only thing open till late enough is the ice cream parlour and the 24 hour pharmacy, and ultimately the city slumbers again. It is the same cycle of life that we see everywhere with each stage having its own share of joy and sorrow, light and darkness, laughter and silence, heat and cold an the list goes on. So does the cycle will go on, never stopping, never ending, just keeps moving from one day to the next. But all in all, I think I like mornings the best :)

She came into this world, innocent and bright eyed vowing to not let anything change her, change the way she looked at the world, but alas that was not to be. The very things she valued the most would bring about pain in her life, honesty and sincerity have no place in the world today. The walls close around her, threatening to crush her very being if she doesn't give in to the ways of this big bad world. They say that no good deed goes unpunished, it is indeed true. For what do you do if all your endeavors to do good just fall by the wayside? When happiness is yours only for the moment? When there are more thorns than there are roses? Do you give up? Do you do whatever it takes to survive even if it means lying to yourself? Where do you draw the line? And if you do decide to hold out against the world, the last man standing, what is that worth? At the end of the day, what remains? Just you alone, broken and defeated... Why? Because you did what was right, you followed the wisdom in your heart. So you give in, you do what it takes to survive. You close your heart to things that hurt you, you don't reach out to someone in need, you say what you need to get ahead and you think about your future and what will be best for you. You put yourself so far ahead of everyone else that very soon it gets lonely and you long for the days of uncertainty, never knowing what each minute shall bring, the sheer joey of feeling alive. But what then? You can't turn back to the world you left behind. All is lost and everything the world ever told you seems suddenly foolish and devoid of any real sense, you feel cheated, robbed off a life that you could have lived but didn't get a chance. So, here lets take a moment to celebrate the wonderful thing that is life, in all its beauty and absurdity. Take a moment today to follow your heart and do something that makes you happy even if for just a moment and it shall be worth the risk. A leap of faith is sometimes the only way you can experience things to the fullest without making a million calculated decisions, which are often about things so trivial that all the energy that you invest in it is a complete waste. Having said that however, i have to admit that its not such a bad thing to make calculated decisions, but for the most part, when it comes to decisions of the heart, going in blind is the only way to be...

Sonnet VII - Hartley Coleridge

Is love a fancy, or a feeling? No.
It is immortal as immaculate Truth,
'Tis not a blossom shed as soon as youth,
Drops from the stem of life--for it will grow,
In barren regions, where no waters flow,
Nor rays of promise cheats the pensive gloom.
A darkling fire, faint hovering o'er a tomb,
That but itself and darkness nought doth show,
It is my love's being yet it cannot die,
Nor will it change, though all be changed beside;
Though fairest beauty be no longer fair,
Though vows be false, and faith itself deny,
Though sharp enjoyment be a suicide,
And hope a spectre in a ruin bare.

Happiness...

The eternal battle between Mars and Venus will remain just that: eternal. There is absolutely no way for one gender to win this proverbial war, if there was, well where’s the fun in life then? I believe that the reason for this tug of war lies in the very essence of how we are differently wired. Men and women are just different in the way they look at the world. It’s in the very nature of men to not let things affect them in the way that women just don’t understand. The seeming indifference may be a disguise for a lot of turbulence but they just have that knack for pushing it away, a trait which is both admirable and at the same time pitiable. For what is life without experiencing every kind of feeling that there is, even the most torturous of them? While women are often seen as the weaker sex simply because they choose not to hold their emotions in cheek, they are actually stronger for it. Men may scoff and say that it makes no sense to allow oneself to go through an emotional roller coaster, much better to be disconcerted about things that cannot be helped. I can't help thinking that in this way, though they may spare themselves the pain, they also rob themselves of the simple joys of life, the light at the end of a dark night is not for them. Having said this however, I have to admit that this world would indeed be a crazy place if men and women were all alike, the very fact that they are such opposites of each other helps maintain the fine balance, which also explain why we turn to each other to find solace and happiness. She feels for them both and he protects them both from the harsh world. He goes out to face the challenges and bring home the bread while she is content to be home and make it a paradise on earth. Alas, those days are gone and indeed nowadays the notion is almost primitive, but I can't help thinking that it was how it was meant to be, designed to be. But human beings being what they are, will never be content with the status quo, set about destroying this balance and hence we have arrived at a point where we have invaded each others' space and given birth to a battle which shall never reach an end. But at the end of the day, we aren't all that different from our primitive ancestors; we still turn to each other for comfort, be each others' shoulders to cry on, be the person we share our joys with, and in each other find happiness, the kind that makes all else seem insignificant (even if for a little while). Cheers!

There is always a battle of sorts between the head and the heart. Sometimes the heart tells us to go ahead and do exactly what we want to do but we are stopped by the logical head. Makes you wonder what the entire point is right? Well I think we all know that one without the other is pretty useless so a combination of the two (read: eternal battle) is what keeps us ticking. Its what stops the head from doing everything that makes complete sense and it stops the heart from doing everything that makes no sense and at the end of the day we end up doing just fine. It may feel like the battle is tearing us apart sometimes, but in the end it helps us do whats right. And even when we do make a mistake, it is with the realization that it is all a part of life. The good times and the bad times come and go but as long as you got the head and the heart in the right place, its all good :)

Neon...John Mayor

When sky blue gets dark enough
To see the colors of the city lights
A trail of ruby red and diamond white
Hits her like a sunrise

She comes and goes and comes and goes
Like no one can

Tonight she's out to lose herself
And find a high on Peachtree Street
From mixed drinks to techno beats it's always
Heavy into everything

She comes and goes and comes and goes
Like no one can
She comes and goes and no one knows
She's slipping through my hands

She's always buzzing just like
Neon, neon
Neon, neon
Who knows how long, how long, how long
She can go before she burns away

I can't be her angel now
You know it's not my place to hold her down
And it's hard for me to take a stand
When I would take her anyway I can

She comes and she goes
Like no one can
She comes and she goes
She's slipping through my hands

She's always buzzing just like
Neon, neon
Neon, neon
Who knows how long, how long, how long
She can go before she burns away, away.

She comes and she goes
Like no one can
She comes and she goes
She's slipping through my hands

She's always buzzing just like
Neon, neon
Neon, neon
Who knows how long, how long, how long
She can go before she burns away

Words...

Words are funny things, you can twist them up in so many million ways and yet they always mean something. Simple things sometimes can be made to sound so grand that you wouldn't even recognize them and equally, great things can sound so plain that you might miss them completely. Its almost an art to decipher these curious things called words. There are so many times you might miss their hidden meaning and go for the more obvious one and looking back you might wonder how it could have escaped you. I think that is where the beauty lies, in not knowing, never being completely sure of what exactly they mean. Its the mystery that keeps them alive or else wouldn't we have progressed to mind reading by now? The simple act of putting one's thoughts into one's words can take forever if you consider all the ways it could be done - should I say it as it is or dress it up so that it sounds better? should I hold something back or is it better to leave it all out there? should I be saying it out loud at all or is it best left inside my head? As funny as it may sound, we all do this every time a thought crosses our mind. It's just that the mind is too used to it and does not register it anymore but deep down in our subconscious, the wheels are always turning and the battle always raging. If the thought at hand it something close to our heart and needs a lot of deliberation, only then do we find ourselves consciously weighing the odds. So it may be all in a day's work for us but the words are here to stay long after we are gone.

PS # I don't think fiction is really my forte, so I'll stick to random vagueness

The Begining...

A hundred thousand words wanted to pour out of her lips. A mysterious smile flashed before her eyes. A turbulant life was coming to an end and yet strangely enough, in those final moments before losing consciousness, she wanted to cling on with all her might to the vestiges of a life that was at the same time beautiful and ugly; anguished and serene; stark and plentiful...
The surprise was so great that her eyes opened of their own accord and focussed on the ceiling fan whirring above her head vainly trying to dispel the oppresive summer heat. The sharpness of the picture brought back to her some sense of reality, a feeling she did not cherish in the least and she was immediately conscious of the hard flooring on which she lay and the pain that throbbed at her left wrist. She wondered how long she had lain in a stupor and realised with a shock that two hours had passed since she had stuggled with her conscience for the last time and had decided to slash her wrists in an attempt to rid herself the life she was caught in. But alas it had been two hours and yet she lay on the foor surrounded by a pool of her own blood, alive and conscious. Three things were very clear to her, one that she had failed and was secretly quite glad of the fact; two that she would never again attempt to do away with herself no matter what the circumstances (it had been very eerie, the feeling that had engulfed her when the implications of her act had dawned upon her) and three, she now had the task of cleaning up the mess she had made so that no one would ever find out. Sighing, she got up from the floor, ignoring the slight dizziness that came with it and tried to sort through the blurry images racing around in her head. In her unsteady state, she paused at the window, saw the first signs of dawn in the distant horizon and took in a deep breath of the fresh morning air and smiled. A new day had come and with it had come hope that things might not always be as bad as they seemed...

PS # My first attempt at fiction, please forgive the idiocy!

You Know You're in Bombay When....

...your already frizzy hair expands to twice it's usual size!
...you feel like taking a bath immediately after you've already had one
...when the food you thought you'd never see miraculously appears on the table (ok thats just for me coz I just got home :) )
...two hours is the reasonable time to get anywhere
...when in those two hours you never once ask how much longer and are extremely surprised when you actually reach your destination
...the roads you saw dug up the last time you were here are still dug up for reasons that are entirely different from the last time
...every shop has a Marathi sub-title
...you can pick up the phone and order anything from a dozen eggs to a bottle of sprite and it gets delivered in 10 minutes
...there are people on the streets more than ever before!

if you can think of anymore, please do add on!

Love this car!

Every end is a new begining...helps to remember that.

The Toss of a Coin

When in doubt, always toss a coin; if you're disappointed with the result, then you've already made your decision...

Very apt I believe. It so happens that we often dont know our own minds but deep down we've never been surer. In a situation like this, all we really need is that crucial reassurance. It need not only be the toss of a coin (it's just symbolic of the fact that there is more than one side to pick), it can be a friendly advice or parental guidance to realize what we really want. As long as the decision rests at the back of the mind, it may or may not manifest itself into action, but the moment we are confronted with reality, we know exactly what to do. Basic biology actually: Fight OR Flight to sum it up neatly. So the big question of the day remains: how do we actually determine if this gut feeling is right or wrong? I dont think there is any test in the world which can actually measure human intuition, but I also know that more often than not it is this feeling of conviction which turns out be the right one and saves us from many a trouble. Too cut a long story short, all I'm saying is that when in a situation of indecisiveness, fall back on the age old nagging feeling at the back of your head which tells you what needs to be done. For believe me, if you let things continue without any interference, there will come a time when you come face to face with reality and regret not having made that crucial decision which could have changed it all. And regret is something that we could all very well live without. On that note I think I shall end this post. Will be back with more nonsense soon. Cheers!

Sunday Mornings...

Though this post is titled 'Sunday Mornings', I will actually begin this cronicle from last night. A huge (and cheap!) dinner at a small but fabulous restuarant after a hard day's work is definitely the best thing that there is. I don't think I've ever seen a group of people enjoying themselves so much! The silence at the table was only punctuated by the calls for more naan or roti and business at the little place soared. Anyway, it was on the way back to the hostel after dinner that I realised how wonderful life actually is. I was thankful all over again for the amazing people that surround me, who will be there for me no matter what. The past few weeks (months actually), have been a very trying time for all of us. We have been through hell and back, but hearing the laughter and conversation flowing at the dinner table last night only went on to prove that we humans are made of sterner stuff as Shakespeare would say. Resilience is truly an admirable quality and the ability to bounce back after life has squashed you flat is something to be applauded. Anyway, getting back to the amazing sunday morning I've had so far. I woke up at the early (for me atleast!) hour of 9.30 am and tucked in to a full breakfast (again a rarity on a sunday!) and ever since then its been one lazy morning so far. I absolutely love these days. Everyone just going through the day at their own pace not really bothered by whats in store ahead. Its idyllic to say the least, and it's been so long since we've had such a good time on a Sunday, we just haven't had the time! Anyway, now I see that the lazy morning is slowly winding down and peole are heading for their baths and the loud conversations are fading so I think its time for me to wrap this up and get back to work as well. Till then, have an amazing day!

interesting thought - an act of love that fails is just as much a part of the divine life as an act of love that succeeds, for love is measured by fullness, not by reception...

Happy New Year...

When the time is right, things always fall into place. I believe in fate and destiny. Everything that happens, happens for a reason; we may not be able to see the reason straightaway but its out there somewhere. Its like an intricate puzzle and we are only one piece of it and have absolutely no idea how the other pieces will come together. So when life deals you a bad hand at poker, know that its not the only game you'll ever play. There will be others, many of them. All you need is some patience (actually a lot of it!) and faith enough to trust that your life holds great things in store for you; maybe not great in the eyes of the world but great in their own way. For it is true that we are all here for a reason - a reason so complex yet so simple that we miss it completely sometimes. The very core of existence of human beings on this planet is to LIVE! To live in every sense of the word, not just the biological aspect of it, but also to live our lives in a way that is completely fulfilling. Put your entire being into the work that you do , and equally learn to give yourself the time to unwind and all else will fall into place. The rest is upto fate to guide us to our destiny (we all have one!). So our part of the deal in this life we lead is to live it to the best we can and not question what will happen because of what we do or not do; because believe me, what has to happen cannot be stopped and what will never happen, will never happen...

PS # This may not seem like the usual Happy New Year message but I firmly intend live by the above philosophy this year. On that note Happy New Year =)

Counting Down: 2

So I've noticed how conversations about the New Year more often than not meander into what happened in the year gone by. Its funny really. You ask a person their plans for New Year's Eve and after they have enlightened you about the aforementioned plans, you both immediately launch into a remeniscing session about what you did last year on New Year's Eve and how it seems like yesterday and how MUCH has happened in your lives since then and well it could go on for a while. Regular readers do NOT worry, I am not about to launch into an analysis of human nature (I feel I do that a lot!). I find myself a prey to this disease as well; I think everyone who speaks to me these days know that I'm going to spend 31st watching movies on my laptop all night like the year before and the year before that. There is a certain comfort in the familiarity of the situation. It is about bringing in the New Year after all. I would certainly like a perfectly normal year ahead. The year gone by has had it's fair share of excitements and I would definitely not want a repeat telecast. Just an ordinary and uneventful New Year is all I ask for. But as usual I suppose it's wishful thinking. I have never known my life to be devoid of activity, interesting or otherwise, and I don't think I really want that to change. It could get mighty dull. Of course my definition of words like 'interesting', 'dull', 'fun' and even 'life' are often at odds with that of the rest of humanity but I guess thats who I am. Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand, enjoy planning your New Year! 2 days to go! Cheers!

Blank...

We've all heard of the phenomenon of blanking out during an exam situation. But you know what, sometimes this phenomenon really gets out of hand and escapes into everyday life. Then you get blank all the time. Like as if everything is blank and nothing means anything anymore. I know I'm rambling and not making much sense but thats how it is. You drag through each day, forcing youself to act normal and by the end of it, collapse exhausted. At times like this you wonder what life is all about. Anyway, when nothing makes sense (like right now!), its probably safer to blank out than trying to figure things out which by the way is guaranteed to give you a headache. Until next time then, Cheers!

Poems, Prayers and Promises...

One of my favourite T-Shirts says, 'Music Feeds My Soul'. I find that so true. I don't know what I'd do without it in my life. One of my all time favourite artists is, yes you guessed right, none other than John Denver. It just so happens that I'm listening to one of his songs titled 'Poems. Prayers and Promises' which like all his songs is simply beautiful. I have been a fan of John Denver and his music for a long as I can remember. The lyrics and melodies all come together in such perfect harmony that you can't help but be soothed by them. Most people might not even have heard of John Denver or even if they have, it's only 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' and 'Annie's Song'. But there is so much more. 'Dreamland Express', 'Perhaps Love', 'Seasons of The Heart' and 'For You' are filled with such meaningful lyrics that you are left wondering at the genius of the guy. There are also a host of songs that narrate stories (they don't write songs like that anymore!) like, 'Rocky Mountain High', 'Wild Montana Skies', 'Matthew' and 'Leaving on a Jetplane'. Lets nor forget, 'Cowboy and the Lady', 'Chrismas for Cowboys', 'Whispering Jesse' and 'Sunshine on my Shoulders', the list goes on. I don't think I can ever tire of it. I would never have believed that such simple everyday words could be strung together so beautifully. You have to hear it to believe it. The entire list of John Denver's music is strongly recommended for anyone up for some easy listenin', and I promise you, you won't be disappointed. Hope I have inspired you enough! Cheers!

Rain! Rain!

It rained today. It was beautiful. Unexpected rain in the middle of November is quite something. And it wasn't just a drizzle, it poured like as if the heavens had suddenly decided on a very thorough cleanup drive. Add to that the cool breeze that continuously keeps spraying your face with droplets of water and the steaming mug of tea (or coffee if thats what you prefer) and it'll definitely make it to the list of your "best days". I've always been spellbound by the sheer power and beauty of rains. I love it best when the sun coming shining out after a spell of rain. The world looks so fresh and clean that you can hardly believe your own eyes. I haven't had that pleasure today, since it has been raining pretty much non-stop all day, but lets hope and pray and see what the morning brings. Cheers!

And yet another semester is coming to an end. Its been one hell of a ride and I'm glad its coming to an end, finally. I guess thats how its supposed to work. Everything passes, no matter what. And in the end all that you are left with are the memories, which is not a bad thing at all, really :)

Facebook, Orkut et al

I used to detest social networking once upon a time. Its not like I'm overly fond of it now but I can atleast live with the idea that it exists even though I choose not to be a part of it. (Well actually I don't really have a choice when it comes to accepting the idea of social networking, seeing as everyone around me talks of little else most of the time, my mother included!) Anyway, getting back to the point, I realised yesterday that maybe its not a bad thing after all. Sometimes, when reality gets a little too much to handle, maybe it would help to escape into the world of smileys, quizzes, superpokes and farmville not to mention browsing through countless photographs uploaded by someone or the other. Writing silly, inane messages on someone's wall, chatting, sending out invites, accepting invites, checking updates have all become such a part of life these days. So what does it all really mean? Are we evolving as human beings or maybe regressing back to a more primitive state? (coz believe me if we get too caught in the virtual world, I've a feeling we won't have a clue about anything in the real world!) Or is it simply that life is getting more hectic even as we speak and beyond a certain point, the pressure gets too much to handle? We know that crushed grapes make the best wine but can we really say that the pressures in life can bring out the best in all of us? There has always been a notion that people react to stress in only two ways, they produce the best results or no results at all. But what if there is a third category of people who while trying to do their best under pressure mess up at some point of time and end up neither here nor there. These people neither produce the best results nor do they get no results at all, they're just somewhere in between. What of them then? It is a universal maxim that if you're not doing your best then don't do anything at all. But is it humanly possible to deliver your "best" at all points of time? You may argue that we ourselves decide what is the best that we can achieve but don't we always end up talking about the circumstances we were in when asked about how we have performed? So when we do our best "under so and so circumstances" knowing full well that it is still below our full potential but at the the same time knowing that we couldn't have done more: what does it mean? What then happens to all the hard work that went into it? Does it count for anything? Does it matter at the end of the day that you gave it your best shot? Just because it was still not good enough, what do we do about it? The answer: NOTHING. We can talk and talk and bury ourselves with words, but we never do anything about the situation we find ourselves. The situation ends up dictating the terms of our life and at the end of the day, the only way we rebel, the only action we take is to log on to facebook, orkut et al.

Water, Water Everywhere...

These are a few pics clicked on a very rainy trip to Bombay...

A Very Harry Week...

I just spent an entire week immersed in the world of Harry Potter (reading not watching!) and I have never appreciated the genius that is J.K. Rowling more. It is one thing to have a splendid imagination, but to weave it into a tale that is so thrilling that you actually forget meals! That is something. I had read all the books before, but this is the first time that I read them all one after the other and thus truly realised how intricately each detail was planned so as to fall into place like the pieces of a puzzle. There are incidents that happen throughout the series that may not even register to the conscious mind but ultimately come together in a manner which leaves you completely floored. Hats off to J.K. Rowling! It really makes me wonder though, what is it that some people have that just sets them apart from others. Rowling with her pen is just one such example. Is it talent? skill? intellect? determination? or something quite apart from all of these which is as yet undetected? I know it is a popular tandem these days that "Winners Don't Do Different Things; They Do Things Differently" but I beg to differ. I really believe that fate has a lot to do with these things and some people are just lucky. Now I know that there are a lot of people who get to the top by sheer grit and determination and I'm in no way denying them the credit for having done whatever they have but it's just not the same as the work of a genius. Their work comes across as simply marvellous and quite effortless. And most often than not they are unaware of it. However since the world would be a crazy place if it were only filled with geniuses, I'm glad that they are few and far between and numerously interspersed with us lesser mortals. I guess it's nature's way of maintaining a balance. This reminds me of a common refrain of kids saying, "If everyone comes first, then who will come last?". I've always said that kids have a knack for hitting the nail on the head. On that note, I think I shall take my leave...

Some Days...

The sunlight came streaming in through the window forming a pool of light on the floor by the bed. A cool breeze gently stirred the half open curtains tugging at them as if to say that the day was far too glorious to be shut out. Outside, the weather was perfect, the pale blue sky stretching on for miles with not even a hint of a cloud. It was one of those unexpected days in the middle of the monsoon season, where you wonder if you are awake or dreaming. Since these days are few and far between, one must certainly take full advantage of them. I did too today, being bold enough to wear something essentially white with absolutely no fear of it turning into brown. I'll admit it was a bit of a risk, but tempting fate is fun, don't you agree? Anyway the fates were kind to me and did not decide to shower their blessings while I walked home from college. Moreover, the beautiful weather persisted all day which helped keep my spirits up no end. All in all it was a good day and I have feeling that a great start had something to do with it.

Sunny Side Up...

Eggs...The world's most heavenly breakfast and I hardly ever get to eat it! Sometimes when I'm half asleep on a Sunday morning, I almost expect to get a whiff of the smell of sizzling fried eggs before I remember that I'm stuck in a godforsaken pure veg hostel. Not that I have anything against vegetarian food, but honestly dosas and uttapas for breakfast every Sunday for a year and I'm ready to put a gun to my head. Okay, it's not as bad as that, it's just that when I think about all the omlettes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs and boiled eggs I've had in my life and now nothing, zero, zilch...sigh. I think its time this rambling ended. Until next time then.

The Wonder That Is Maggie...

During the course of the past one year of my life, I have become acutely aware of the fact that an altogether too large population of people love MAGGI. Why this fact should be so unsettling, I don't know. I personally detest maggi (I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this!) and I really don't see how people can be so crazy about it. I've had my share of maggi while growing up but at some point of time, I just got too sick of it! I am quite willing to cook it for someone else but lets just say that I will probably only eat it if it happens to be the last bit of food left on earth. Anyway, the point of this blog is not to express my opinion (however strong!) but to narrate an incident that occured last Sunday. Now, having lived in a hostel for a year, I have discovered that maggi can effectively become breakfast, lunch and dinner, not to mention an evening and midnight snack. Believe me, I have been witness to a scene where after an evening of clubbing (and getting no dinner in the process) a bunch of girls eating oceans of maggi and calling it the perfect end to the day! Anyway, after seeing endless maggi advertisements, it was quite heartening to see a real life example the other day on my way back from Bombay to Pune. The bus was stopped at the half-way point between Pune and Bombay, and I saw this girl eating maggi from a styrofoam cup! The setting was just perfect, pouring rain, chilliy breeze and a steaming bowl (cup) of maggi. I don't know what it was about the scene that touched my heart and almost made me forget my dislike for maggi. Just a thought though, I wonder what she would call it, if it got selected for one of the maggi ads? "Meri bus waali MAGGI" perhaps?

Falling...

The feeling of falling, however blissful nearly always ends with a bump. Coming back down to earth is never gentle, on the contrary it is inevitably harsh and leaves you winded and while you are gasping for breath you swear to yourself that you will never fall again and yet when the time comes, you once again shut out the voice of reason and fall headlong into the trap. It is quite the vicious cycle, one that will go on as long as mankind exists.

So the big question of the day is why let yourself fall at all? The answer is simply that there is bound to be a time when you finally land on your feet, and that is the most beautiful thing on earth. For there ends the fear of falling and begins a whole new vista of happiness unparalled by anything else on earth. Of course this is a very idealistic assumption and nowadays even a reasonable amount of happiness is considered a good deal. So that brings me back to the point that though there may never be a guarantee of landing safely, in this matter we human beings are serious exceptions to the age old saying 'once bitten, twice shy'. How else do you explain it?

Just A Thought...

When too many thoughts clog your mind, use a pensieve but if you are a muggle, then all I can say is: DEAL WITH IT!

One Art...

This is a poem by Elizabeth Bishop, which features in the movie "In Her Shoes" which I absolutely love (both movie and poem!). It goes like this...

The art of losing isn't hard to master:
So many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster,

Lose something everyday. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing further, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring you disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last,
or next-to-last, of three beloved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, and lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

-Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
The art of losing's not hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) a disaster.

PS # I don't know what is with me and poetry these days, but I guess I was thinking of Rashima and hence "In Her Shoes"

Lost and Found...

This is a poem called "Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep" by Steven Cummins which I had penned down somewhere and mislaid. I came across it suddenly today while flipping through the pages of a notebook and thought I'd share it...

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.

A really beautiful poem...I think Mansa will agree.

The World of Studies...

Today, I realised the futility of education. As a matter of course, we students of BBA are required to study a subject called 'Organizational Behaviour'. An admirable subject, one that I quite enjoy under ordinary circumstances, but today it reached heights of ridiculousness like never before. Today we studied the 'Punctuated Equillibrium Model' which applies to temporary groups working with deadlines. If it sounds very impressive, let me assure you at the very outset that it is nothing of the sort. You will see what I mean when I give you a simple example of a school project in which you have to work with a group and finish by a particular date. Hasn't it always been the experience that, before we know it half the time is over and when the deadline is looming, the best work gets done at phenominal speeds (usually the night before!). That is exactly what this 'Model' attempts to explain, using words that could easily bounce off your head without a moment's notice. Behaviour of human beings working in temporary groups with deadlines have been studied and the performance v/s time graph has been plotted to tell us what we've known since atleast class 7, that performance is always at it's highest when the time is short and the pressure is on. Except that the 'Punctuated Equillibrium Model' would say, "Temporary groups go through transitions between inertia and activity". It really beats me hollow sometimes how so much time is wasted in telling us things that we've known for years. Anyway, before it becomes preachy, all I'll say is that there has to be a limit to the nonsense so I guess I'll wait around for that. Till then, bye!

Think About It...

There are times when you don't know whether to laugh or to cry and in all likelihood you end up doing a bit of both. So what would you call times like these?

So True...

We build walls, not to keep people out but to see who will break them down...

Happy New Semester!

When life throws you lemons, make lemonade...I just love this saying. It just encompasses in itself everything that you need to know to survive in this world where, lets face it, you never know what life will throw at you. Make the best of every situation, no matter what, simple isn't it? Yet, we are all too often prepared to quit at the slightest hint of trouble. It's human nature, I guess. Anyway, not wanting to preach, I shall get to the real point of this monologue. Vacations are over and yet another new semester has begun. A lot of people would like to believe that it actually begins from Monday, so hope to see them in class then. Let us all take up the challenge, to make the best of time we have and have a bright and sunny semester ahead (especially since the monsoons are setting in!). Oh I almost forgot, kudos to all our erstwhile toppers, keep it up guys. Cheers!

Who Am I...

It was pointed out to me today that all of us at the moment are nothing without our parents. I mean think about it, no matter how much we strive to get a life of our own, this particular 'life' that we talk about, would be kinda impossible if it wasn't for our parents. So does this mean that we are essentially living their life? And does it also mean that we don't have an identity of our own? The answer to both those questions is no. Though we owe our very existence and upbringing to our parents it does not mean that we do not exist as individuals, with a mind of our own and the will to do as we please. OK, that sounds very stubborn, so let me tone it down a bit; I simply mean that the life that is a gift from our parents, is in our hands to mould it in any way to create one of our own. Everything that we do is directed towards that end. We often hear of people going against the wishes of their parents and thereby hurting them. Although an inadvisable course of action, it sometimes becomes inevitable that we break free from the loving bonds placed around us. It is a scary proposition actually, because the minute we gather enough courage to say and do exactly what we want, we suddenly become our own person and not the one we were raised to be. There is no comforting cocoon then to soothe out the harsh contours of the big bad world out there. The day we can stand up alone with no one to hold us up is the day we can proudly say that yes we are our parents' children, we owe them everything but this is the life that I have created for myself and that it belongs to no one but me.

The IPL Bonanza...

As the IPL (finally) comes to an end, one can't help but wonder how much more cricket one can digest. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge cricket fan myself but a month and a half of non-stop cricket (Two matches a day, for heavens sake!) can take a toll on your mental health. Add that to the fact that the 20-20 World Cup is coming up, and you've got yourself perfect conditions for a nervous breakdown. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but with good reason! And it's not just the cricket that is endless, it's the analysis, that begins an hour before the game and continues for god knows how long after the game is over, I mean have they heard of the word 'overkill'? People just want to see a good game of cricket, with some classy shots and thrilling run chases, is that too much to ask for? Oh and don't even get me started me started on the new craze for '20-20' apparently to attract the female population, it has in fact served to lessen my love for the game quite a bit. But no matter what I say, I will still be caught glued to the TV from the moment someone calls 'heads' till the time they declare the 'Man of the Match' and also avidly reading the next morning's newspaper analysis of everything that went right and wrong in the match the day before. What can I say, you love it or hate it, there is just no escaping it (in this country atleast!)