Underneath the moonlight

Sitting light,
Under the open sky
At night,
Watching the beautiful sky
Bright,
A shooting star crossing by

For an instant
The whole world: illuminated
By the glitter, so greatest
Dazzling the eyes
With the beauty
The little star created

Underneath the moonlight
There’s magic & beauty in my sight
Gives a feeling of hope, so right
N for my dreams, the courage to fight.

Whatever the moonlight touches, it sparkles
Like silverware
Casting a glowing twinkle
Everywhere
In the night’s allure
At peace with my heart
Letting the negative smoke depart
I hug myself close
Lightheaded, I sing,

Underneath the moonlight
There’s magic & beauty in my sight
Gives a feeling of hope, so right
N for my dreams, the courage to fight.

Though the shadows are dark
They soothe me, like
We are one being & not apart
I imagine you by my side
And us fleeing into the night
No reason anymore to hide
Everything seems possible to me tonight

Underneath the moonlight
There’s magic & beauty in my sight
Gives a feeling of hope, so right
N for my dreams, the courage to fight.

Wishing for a Change

Today, here in our office some sitting position changes were undertaken for a part of our department. Well, as far as, their seats are considered, it’s all very good and arranged quite well (most of them sitting in a way that their PCs are facing the walls and nobody can peek into them out of curiosity or authority).

Though I wish to sit in such kind of position where I don’t have to worry about people staring at my LCD, but that’s not the one uppermost in my list of wishes. One of the top ones is that I wish for a similar change. Present scenario is that, any moment I get bored or want to have a talk or am feeling alone (though sitting amongst a crowd) or just feeling like having some good company, every time I have to go somewhere and seek it as the place I sit isn’t conducive to good talk owing to the people sitting around. I sometimes envy my friends (no offense meant towards them, I hope none is taken) who have desired people around them, making their day and then they get so used to sharing things with them.

I wish to have a place where I am around the people I connect with, am comfortable with and can easily talk to regardless of the topic. Or even a single such person would also do. Right now I feel stuffed and suffocated and desolate by having to sit mum all through the day, looking for times when I’ll get to have a chat and even then it takes time to get out of that desolate being. Of course these cases happen only on some days and not all, yet those some days are dreadful to pass.

I wish for a change if not this then another one. But something that will be for the good.

3 Idiots: A must watch for every Non-Idiot! :-)

Finally we office friends made a plan for a movie.. Yipppppeeee!!! That too a premiere show on Thursday. All thanks to Dada (Gaurangitrate) & PreRajularisation (No, as such he has a very good name .. Rajesh ;) ) We all were bored from our office schedule and so very eagerly waiting for 6:30. We were around 16 people and occupied two middle rows of the theatre.


Now, let’s discuss about movie. Aamir khan has once again proved he is a genius, the perfectionist. Even at the age of 44, he perfectly looks like a college student. The base might have taken from Chetan Bhagat’s Novel ‘Five Point Someone’, but the storyline is very different.. and of course much better than the Novel.

This movie will remind you of your college days... best days filled with fun and friends. The mentality of students is captured so well. We were all like this. In the initial college days everybody is in a race of getting good marks and impress our professors. Where everybody thinks one who is getting the highest marks is the most intelligent and successful person in the world. Cut-throat competition and pressure on students is pictured so well. Some scenes will take your breath away and dialogs are just too good. For example when Farhan says: “Human Behaviour: Jab dost fail hota hai tab dukh hota hai, par jab woh first aata ho bahut jyada dukh hota hai!!!” :-D. All engineers will enjoy it to its best as they all were once part of it all. There is a series of scenes which will leave you burst out in laughter to get a heart attack but then we kept on reciting “Aaaaaal izzzzzzz Welllllllll”.

Apart from comedy, movie gives a very fabulous message in a very simple way: “Strive for Excellence, Follow your heart and Success will follow you”. It’s also an essence of my favorite book: The Fountain Head. World is full of second hander. Be a first hander: Carve your own path, Live on your own terms; this is the fountain head for Success.

There are many twists and turns and surprises in the movie, the climax is also one of the best climaxes, pictured on the beautiful locations of Laddakh (perfectly matching my dream island ;) :)) ). Last but not the least, the ultimate one “Jahapanah, tussi great ho..Tohfa kabool karo!!”.

We were all speechless. Do I need to say, Go watch it (if you haven’t) ????

Interesting Differences

There are some things that always elude us no matter how much we try to attain them. Such is my association with movies I wish to watch in theatres. The wish hardly comes true (sigh).

It’s not that I don’t go to theatres to watch movies. But the ones I go to watch aren’t the ones I wished to watch. For this, I think I can’t blame anyone else but me. I think I just don’t pursue and pester everyone enough. Recently, there took place an episode where I really wanted to watch that movie. But alas! The whole plan went awry. Whatever happens, the plan going wrong or disinterest, nevertheless, the end result is the same that I don’t get to go for that movie.

I just have one question, to whom that’s still confusion, why are my movie preferences so drastically different from everyone. By everyone, I mean my friends. Oh! I am in no way saying that I am utterly different and cool, but actually in contrast, am I abnormal in liking the things which my friends just pass it off without paying much attention. One of the side effects of this unnatural thing is our talks about movies and stuff are awkward (sometimes for me). I use the word awkward because, when I am talking about any movie, I stand out coz at that particular point of time, nobody else is contributing but me. And for most part, I feel like I am boring those people with my incessant chatter about my interests. And before anyone can contradict me, I’ll say, I am capable of reading human expressions. It’s not always good to stand out; at least sometimes I want to gel in and I don’t wanna bore people but still I want to let my words and thoughts go unrestricted. How to achieve these two contradicting things is the final question.

Mirror, mirror: Tell me, who am I?

I am standing in front of the mirror, gazing intently at the person on the other side. I push my brain cells to recollect any memory of the person I was looking at. But there is none.

The first moment, I stood in front of the mirror; I could see and recognize that it was nobody else but me. The same me, the same traits and the same expressions. As time passed, the similarities decreased. I could hardly recognize the person I was seeing. What happened to the real me? The answer I deduced to the question that came up was I have “Changed”.

Change is the order of the world. We need to change according to the times. The circumstances change us for the best. I knew this, yet the change panicked me. As I see now, the change in me has occurred on the darker side. I realize the circumstances aren’t always glorious but are sometimes dark too, slowly edging us towards a precipice.

The person facing me is a stranger. She is angry, agitated and immensely irritated. She flares up at inopportune times, hurting our loved ones. She is unable to keep her emotions in check. And after all this, she is hit by a guilty conscience so huge, she moves onto a gloomy state and lapses into a silence and for how long, she herself doesn’t know. She sometimes feels that there is another person inside her trying to guide her and these silences are that other person’s work, so that she cannot hurt anyone further. That other person is the real me. I have always been calm, never reacting instantly and hardly ever angry. I take over for sometime. And then, all of a sudden, everything is bright.

Seeking an answer, I ask the mirror: who am I? What have I become? Will these timely and wise interventions by the real me stop eventually? Or will I be able to gather myself up again and shun these sinister traits? I don’t want to change, at least not for the worst. I want to hold on to the good things in me. These changes, I say, happened inadvertently. I never paid much attention. I thought that it was just a passing phase. But now it seems its here to stay. I was awakened by some of the recent appalling incidents. I am glad it did.

I am finding ways to retrace everything. I have a slight idea of what went wrong and what needs to be done, though it is going to be utterly difficult. The one thing I know will help me get through is the belief I have in myself. So now here starts my attempt at amendments.

Through the time glass

However hard we try to keep the past locked down, it crops up at an unexpected time winding us down in its depths. Reliving certain events gives so much pleasure. It lightens up the mood and makes us forget the present day strains.

I am roaming in my past enjoying and visiting its lanes which have given me so much, sculpting me as I am today. I feel nostalgic too as I explore, wanting just one more tryst with my past, wanting to live those wonderful days again.

I walk through the picturesque neighbourhood of my school. It is winter and I look at those foggy lanes with the dense trees swaying slightly to the breeze. It seems as if there is smoke everywhere, the sun hasn’t risen yet, and then I could make out the silhouettes of children on their bicycles. Excitedly I run towards my school and I see myself walking in through the great gate carrying a heavy bag on my shoulder. There are very few people on the school ground. I am talking to my friends about some movie and that’s when I look yearningly towards my friends. We were so young and innocent and we had sworn to be friends forever. I wish I could meet all my friends today right now, as if there was no time gap between our school days and now, forgetting our differences, the way we used to.

I go towards where our classes held. The brass bell standing in the middle in the shade of a huge banyan tree, the smell of damp earth due to sprinkling of water, birds chirping everywhere, squirrels crossing just a few feet from me, I look at all these wondrously enforcing this image in my mind, wanting never to forget it. I peer into my class, all of us sitting on stone benches obediently listening to the teacher. I can’t believe I was so obedient and not a naughty child. We were all scribbling furiously in our notebooks, once in a while we whispered to the friend sitting beside and then the teacher glared at us. I just stood there frozen in time, in those carefree days.

Traveling in time, inhaling deeply the essence of the forgotten past,
And painting its myriad hues on the canvas of my mind.

Today these are my fresh new eyes looking at the places, people and milestones differently. There were times I was angry, unsatisfied, rude and unforgiving. But now, I have calmed down and I banish all those negative thoughts from my mind. I am forgiving towards anyone against whom I held a grudge or anyone who hurt me in the past. This is a new day. I am accepting everything and moving forward.

Fire and Ice

I read this piece by Robert Frost and loved it and of course agreed with it too. I won’t add anything to this post and ruin the sheer pleasure of reading it.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Charm Maestros

Every once in a while you meet people who are CHARMERS. With every soft syllable that falls from their lips and with every expression and every compliment they give you, you are charmed. At that moment of time, their power is such, (no idea, whether it comes naturally to them or it is an acquired talent) they give you no space to escape from them. It feels like you are literally caught in the magic.

Being charming really is an ensnaring quality, but definitely not in a bad way. I have a friend who is one of those. When I am with her, I have to try and keep my mind grounded instead of letting it wander away to the skies. I have met few guys who were charming as hell. When I observed them, it was as if, with almost no effort, people were in their pockets. I had to concentrate hard and not let myself be entranced. Besides, sometimes they have no knowledge that they are bewitching fishes, so innocent, yet there are times of course, when everything is done deliberately to trance. I wish I too could be a charm maestro. The feeling that you have an irresistible power is so heady.

Ashwathama – Among the immortals

Since the last few days, I have been trying to build upon a fantasy, which I could begin to write. There was a basic plot that was zooming in my mind, but I still had a lot of information to collect before I could even begin to set up the general story structure. In one particular instance, I wanted to find out a person in our history who was an immortal, so that I could base my one character upon it. The reason behind looking for an actual tale was that while writing I wanted to have some facts as the backbone.

I talked to my mother about this and she, having quite the knowledge of our mythological history, suggested me the name of ‘Ashwathama’. She told me that he is one of the eight immortals and that he was the beloved son of Guru Dronacharya (teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas of Mahabharata). I had known a bit about Ashawathama, of course as the part of stories that we had enjoyed in childhood. I had also heard from one of my uncles that, he still is on earth and there is an old fort somewhere on the top of which is Lord Shiva’s temple, where Ashwathama, being an avid worshipper, daily offers flowers. About the exact things such as why he is an immortal and what happened other than that, I had no idea. So ‘Lakh dukho ki ek dawa’, I went on to Google and on to wikipedia from there. Ashwathama’s story had me amazed. And it’s tragic too. Just like Karna’s, but both of them had been on the wrong side, so how could they be helped? The whole story could be read on wikipedia.

I wonder, is there any possibility that these mythological things can be real? Even if some part of them is real then that too makes a lot of difference in the world we think we live in. Ashwathama still lives on among us according to the beliefs. Revisiting this story made me realize how rich our mythological history is.

Amidst the dreams

I am going to write about dreams, in the literal context. Not the dreams that we want to fulfill, but the dreams that we see at night. At night, I encounter the dream world numerous times. And the strange thing is that I remember almost all of my dreams. Generally from what I have heard from other people, they don’t remember much of the dreams they see or they claim that they enjoy a dreamless sleep. I have always wanted to know what my dreams meant, how they can be interpreted. I wanted to somehow relate them to the real world. But of course, if that had been an easy task, anyone could have done it.

Jumping from the matter of dreams to the one famous personality, I know in this field, Dr. Sigmund Freud. I had heard about him and had even come across his name in many of the books that I read. I too knew that he is well known as the father of psychoanalysis. One day, just browsing through the net, I got directed to Freud’s wikepedia page. It was a fascinating read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. But now that the fire had been lit, it craved for more information. Now was an opportunity for me to know about my dreams. So, I downloaded his book ‘Interpretation of dreams’. To be frank, I was tentative at first, as I didn’t know whether it was worth reading. But yet I started and even the first few pages had me mesmerized. I have read only 8 pages and I have already got answers to some of my questions.

The subject is greatly interesting. I didn’t have much knowledge concerning this, yet it seems captivating.

A vicious circle

Today, the numbers of vehicles in any major city of India have gone up so drastically that the resulting impact is: poisonous fumes, green house effect which in turn triggers off global warming and a huge lot of problem related to congestion.

Like everyone else, the traffic woes I have are enormous. Being in Ahmedabad is almost the same to other metro cities when it comes to issues related to traffic. On the route that I travel daily through my two-wheeler, there is one circle which is so built or I don’t know whether I should call it designed that never, (Really never) is it free of congestion. The intersection in question is called ‘Dariapur Darwaja’. I can’t really describe about the number of roads it connects as there are many. People are coming from all sides and getting stuck in between. On top of all this, there is no signal there and neither there are any traffic cops manning the situation. Daily, the transport buses, the rickshaws, cars, two-wheelers, cycle carts, tempos and what not, get stuck. It takes almost half an hour to cross that single intersection.

I just hope that the municipal corporation takes some notice of that vicious circle and at least either install a signal there or keep permanent cops there. The journey which should have taken only 40 minutes, thanks to that circle, it takes an hour. The fumes I inhale or for that matter, anybody inhales, in that half an hour can cause our health severe damage. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Aroma touch!!!

A little try to describe a marvelous creation of nature… a flower named “Parijat”. I don’t know how many of you have actually seen this master piece of Almighty, but one thing is for sure if you haven’t seen it, you have missed a stunning sight!

A topic is in a way very abstract, but these eyes everyday experiences its charisma and these hands could not stop to give it a try to describe it. Parijat flowers have four to eight petals arranged above and a vibrant orange tube in a pinwheel pattern. It is also named as ‘Harsinghar’ & ‘Shefali’. (yes… Shefali means Parijat!! :) )

These flowers are highly fragrant and will definitely catch you breath if you are passing anywhere within 50 meters of radius. These flowers blossom after sunset and its floral aroma reaches to the peak from 9 to 10 PM – a time when I normally come back from walk and my respiratory system is working at its best ;-). I just can’t stop inhaling, try very hard to understand whether am I breathing in the alluring fragrance or is it taking my breadth away :). Its beauty is at its peak in moonlight. No words can describe it. It is completely mesmerizing, rather hypnotizing :).

As soon as the dawn breaks, they drop one by one and literally form a carpet of snow-white petals and orange sepals on the earth (your self won’t allow you to walk on such a beautiful carpet). Some of the flowers won’t fall on the ground and will stay on leaves. 3-4 flowers on a single leaf with orange and white color with softest cover create an awesome sight.


This flower has a divine origin and is one of the gift from “Samudra Manthan”. Although most of the flowers are offered to God directly after picking from plants, Parijat is considered to be the only flower that can be collected from the ground and offered to God. It is also used to produce perfumes and face-packs and it also owns some medicinal properties.

This flower has romantic relevance and there are many interesting stories related to it. One is related to Lord Krishna: Both his wives Satyabhama and Rukmini wanted the tree in their courtyard and quarreled over it. But Krishna planted the tree in Satyabhama’s courtyard in a way that the flowers fall in Rukmini’s courtyard.

There are many other interesting facts about it and following site caught my eye:
http://www.whitelotusaromatics.com/fragrant/parijat5.html - THE FRAGRANT HARVEST – Exploring India’s aromatic traditions (also contains info about some other great floral elements like: Heena, Mehndi, Jasmin, Sandlewood, Kewada and Mitti :) )

So if you haven’t noticed this magnum-opus of nature yet, take some time out to observe its elegant beauty. (if you don’t find its plant nearer to your place, then… well… a good friend is always welcome to my home, ;-) anytime…:-) ).

Thol trip

As far as trips are concerned, this is the second trip I am writing about. This one was completely different, of course the last one being official. Where the last one went into the “ALRITE” category, this one was “SIMPLY MARVELLOUS”.

I ask: What is a good recipe for a successful trip? A group of friends whose mantra is “Enjoy and include everyone in that enjoyment”, people who are in a peppy, upbeat, happy mood, a mode of transportation, articles for sports in place, lotsa food and finally a good destination. And what you have in hand is a real delicacy. Ours was exactly the same.

We, a group of friends from office decided to have fun, the time incidentally being the occasion of one of us (namely Siddharth) leaving the office for greener pastures.
The place is called Thol which is a bird sanctuary on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Due to some reason, two of our members weren’t able to make it. The night before, I just hoped that the complete plan would get implemented, as making plans is a really easy task, implementation takes effort. (Pun definitely intended, hahaha)

Two people in different cars (Gaurang and Utpal) had to collect every one of us at 6 o’ clock in the morning. By the way, there were total 9 people in effect. J Though the road was bumpy we enjoyed the ride and didn’t even know when the time passed because of our animated (so called for the mimicking and exact dialogue deliveries by Pooja and Rajesh – the rest of us: Margi, me and Gaurang were audiences, just chipping in sentences to refresh actor’s memories) discussion about - of course our day before’s “Big Picture” meeting. About the other car, I would have to ask them to write about their ride.

I was thinking of skipping some small things but then decided otherwise – our morning nashta at a nukkad and pooja’s pics with the buffalo (worth seeing) and of course the time when we stopped to admire lotuses. Pal literally thought that the fields on the other side were better to look at than the lotuses, in which case he was somewhat right. (deadly na!)

The place looked nice on the outside but Utpal (who had already visited the place once) assured us that there was more to come. Well, we were able to see a few exotic birds, complete thanks to Malhar and his keen eyesight. Otherwise I think we would have just seen some sparrows, thought them to be exotic and moved on.
As we kept on walking, we found a very beautiful and a perfect place to settle down. It was our imagination of ‘the meadow’ ;). It was completely covered with trees not a single sun’s ray penetrating the shade, with the water from the lake adding to the beauty. The place was serene, exquisite and peaceful. There, we played badminton, only a little bit of cricket for the fear of the ball getting lost in the water, that too by the guys only, ate, chattered a lot, discussed and basically had fun. At that moment of time I felt contented with what was happening.

The time for leaving drew close and while walking back to the car, we made plans to come back in a season when there would be less heat. Though we were leaving, our day was far from finished yet, plans were made to watch a movie and off we went to a nearby multiplex. The drastic difference between the nature’s world we had left and the concrete world we had entered seemed huge. Yet, I was happy that we had time to spend together, away from the hustle and bustle of city.

(This seems like a huge blog but I couldn’t help myself and I let my thoughts and words run riot)

Naughty smiles :)

There are times when, in wrong situations, an unexpected smile arrives. When thoughts swirl in the mind and a spontaneous smile comes, it really is embarrassing when people stare. Doing something mischievous, following which the vivid expressions on my face, always give me away.

One such day I was in a peppy mood. Singing songs, greeting everyone I met, I was enjoying myself. On our office staircase, I started swinging to the song I was singing. Well, logically this shouldn’t be done, not when all your seniors sit on the same floors. But who cares about logic on a fine day! The moment I turned for taking another staircase, I almost collided with a group of people which included one of my seniors too. Even then the problem wasn’t me colliding, the problem was I had this huge idiotic smile on my face with my thoughts being: “I was dancing right here. What a pity! You missed!” Of course, everyone stared at me for seconds on end. To me it seemed like minutes. All of them had question marks on their faces. It was fun seeing them that way, as I knew they wouldn’t ask me the reason for my smile.

It feels great to have some secret joke to smile at or laugh at. These naughty smiles give different experiences to live in a dragging monotonous life.

Effortless expression

I present a piece whose creation required absolutely no effort. The words just flew from my mind. Other things that I have written needed at least some kind of effort, some thinking and some time that I needed to put into them, before they could be completed. But this one here, it was just effortless.

The meaning which the six lines explain is strangely fitting for me and the situation I wrote them in. But today, instead of dwelling on the reason behind, I just see the piece as a combination of words which I could put together to express myself.

I was and still am amazed that I am able to write, telling things I want to, in a beautiful way. This one here was one of the first things I wrote and so it’s close to my heart.

I close my eyes
A tear escapes
It seems like a diamond
And people watch it dazed
But for me, it is the loss of a lifetime
I never had opportunity to face.

Three days of heaven

Recently there has been a substantial increase in the traffic of Ahmedabad. The blame most probably lies on enormous vehicle sales that took place during Dashera time. Whatever the reason, it is pure hell to drive through. It is very draining to stand in a traffic jam for hours, inhaling all the carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. In the evening, it used to take me an hour and a half to reach my home for the drive of half an hour. Then came Diwali and the streets were thronged by feisty shoppers increasing the traffic woes. L And of course the fire crackers were the worst of it all.

But, after Diwali the scene has completely changed. I don’t know about the other states, but in Gujarat, the market remains closed for four days after the New Year has started and get opened up on the fifth day. This year, because of some astrological calculation, only three days are there. But these three days are pure heaven. Very less vehicles on the roads, pure air to breathe and complete relaxation of the mind. I wish these three days would continue forever.

A serious thought behind this: The way we humans are using the non renewable sources of energy and the amount of carbon dioxide produced being so huge, we really are slowly and steadily killing earth and of course along with the flora, fauna and ourselves. Everyone, and I mean everyone, the rich, the poor, the illiterate, the educated, the Indians, the Europeans, need to make a conscious effort to conserve energy, to start using the renewable sources (in whatever little things we can), stop deforestation at any cost, plant trees wherever possible, make the usage of fire crackers completely nil, stop wastage of water etc. These things are in our hands and we can practice them in our daily lives. Let’s wake up and stop killing the earth.

Oh! Edward

Having read all the five books of the Twilight saga (the partial draft of midnight sun included), getting your mind away from Edward is kind of an impossible thing to do.

Liking Edward (I didn’t want to use a more stronger word J) has got only a little bit to do with looks. After seeing the first movie and Robert Pattinson in it, though he more or less fits the bill, the feeling didn’t go much deep. His looks, no doubt are very good, but when compared with ‘The Edward’, the author has described, has left me untouched. I had expected to be swept away and in the world that didn’t need much from me in the imagination department, as the things I have read, I was going to see them now. But, the movie left me unsatisfied as I am sure the same reaction was invoked in many other people.

The words ‘Oh Edward’ aren’t far away when reading the books. The most interesting part is that, they are completely involuntary. His nature, his characteristics, the way he takes care of everything, his expressions, his stubbornness of choosing the right thing for her, all these are the things that make him hot. I won’t deny that him being utterly handsome and his having out of the world beauty added so much that then the adjective ‘hot’ does not even come close to describing him.

There is probably not a single gal remaining who has read the Twilight saga and not fallen in love with Edward. It seems the guys would have to do quite a bit too much to match up to him. :D

Happy Somethings

In reel life, the life on TV, in theatres, there are always endings. Happy, sad, not so good not so bad, but always endings. For real people, there are no endings. A beginning once in a while but other than that life goes on with up and downs, with changes. The bursts of happiness with which our lives become alive, I am glad they are not endings, they really are “Happy Somethings”.

The reel stories with happy endings are the most adorable. You watch a sit com, follow the lives of the characters. Sometime later a bond is formed. You identify with them, their pains, their problems, their love, their happy somethings, their moments of change, their calling, actually their lives. When it draws to close with a happy ending that is huge, big and great, that is going to change their lives forever with contentment, satisfaction and happiness in the backdrop, it compels you to feel, after all the struggles and problems, why, in my life, can’t there come a happy something (coz I really don’t wish it to be an ending) which is like a huge bubble so that when it will burst, it will cover my complete remaining life.

On second thoughts, I can’t say I am glad but it’s a thing to rejoice that a single happy something does not stretch over complete life because if that would happen it will be very difficult to appreciate the real meaning of happiness.

May be that’s why reel life isn’t real.

All thanks to Technology…!!!

Yesterday in office, we had a heavy discussion on mobile computing. We were discussing some basics of the technology and were confused in some part of Mobile database stations. So I wanted to check it in a book which I had to study as a part of my syllabus during my engineering.

I still have kept all my books, even the tutorial files in my cupboard. Other than files and books, I have stored many precious things – every small gift presented to me by my friends, my drawings, crafts everything. These are some of the most beautiful memories of my life, most favorite things existing on the earth.

I can not think of losing any single thing at any cost. While I was searching for the book I found a small cute diary having flowery design on the cover page. As I could not remember what it is, it made me curious. I opened it and… oh! Telephone diary. A typical telephone diary having two alphabets on each page. I was supposed to write numbers of my friends in school (though I rarely used it, having a good number memory B) ).

This tiny diary made me think how things have changed today. We are so much dependent on our mobiles now. Earlier you had to dial numbers and you’ll remember it after dialing 3-4 times. Today you just need to store it once, i.e. only one person has to mention his/her number, will give missed call to other person. You’ll never have to check that number again once it is stored (Missed call is also a very interesting thing ;-) ). Moreover, no need to remember birthdays. just set birthday reminders. Somehow I feel in the whole procedure, the real charm is lost.

No doubt it has made life much easier, but a hand-made card touches heart more than an E-card. A letter is more appealing than a SMS. It reflects human emotions and expresses feelings beautifully. Today emotions have also become digital. No wonder, technology has made it cheaper and easier to keep in touch with dear ones who are away. But neither speakers nor web cameras can give a feeling which is even near to touch. We follow “Walk when you talk”, but can it compare a walk with a friend on a river front? Where you can read all the questions, fears or joys in your friend’s eye without saying a single word? And in chat… due to poor network connections, we miss some lines and misunderstandings take place… aaaaa.. it is so irritating.

Even though it fails to give 100% satisfaction, we can not overlook its advantages and something is better than nothing. Due to technology, we can instantly convey important messages and you don’t need to wait for long to execute your plans.

Techie things are like Maggie, you can instantly cook, tasty to eat and also satisfies hunger and letters, cards, walk, touch are “Chicken soup for the soul” :-).

Real Fascinating Instances

The world we live in. It is devoid of violence, hunger, danger and even change. We spend our time with the same people, face the same situations daily. No fascinating things to talk about, no real life experiences to share its all really dull. But after I heard some stories about the things I have not imagined in my entire life, I realized, so what if there is no change, at least there is no violence and danger. These stories I am going to narrate here are the ones that I heard from a person who is my uncle and who has served in the Indian military all his life. In addition to that, he even was chosen for UN missions, which no doubt took him to new experiences and dangers of course.

The most fascinating for me: About the UN mission, he was posted to Congo, Africa for a peace mission as a senior person. The strange part about that was he had 86 people from different nationalities working under him. He stated that there were people from all over the world. He learnt Swahili, the native language used there. As he amusingly said, how were we people supposed to bring about peace if we couldn’t speak to anyone! The other shocking thing was that Congo does not have a government. The country is not managed by any official body. There are military groups and as they have weapons they rule their areas. He said as soon as you cross one group’s limits, the other groups gets hold of you. The groups are fighting among themselves and there being no government, there is no one to interfere. Innocent people are killed daily in such wars and there is very less to eat so the people are even moving towards cannibalism. The only way to travel there is by your vehicle and there are no roads. They have to travel through mud and undefined areas. I could not really believe that such a place existed even in the 21st century.

Once they had to fight one such group to save a small village, the group had been terrorizing for food and other things. It really was tough for them but they made it. The chief of the village is the most highly respected person. And the authority he has is unquestionable. So when these people saved the village, he gave the thing that represented his being chief to my uncle. That thing was the “Tail of a Makau”. I think a Makau is a species of a monkey found in Africa. So much unrealistic!! A wood had been inserted inside the tail, so that it could be held easily. My uncle told me that if you walk the streets of any town or village in Congo carrying Makau’s tail, everyone around treated you with respect and even took themselves away from the path you were walking. Very much unbelievable right? I saw that thing and have even held it in my arms. It feels eerie to hold a Makau’s tail in your own hand.

For the next installment of real yet unbelievable stories, keep tab on my coming blogs.

Song of the month

Some days back, I, with my mom got to animatedly cleaning and organizing the age old cassettes and discs we had. Today, however, we siblings try to convince our parents into using the newest technology, they don’t feel comfortable. So when it comes to music too, there’s the same scenario and hence all the old cassettes and discs are kept safely. But I agree that there is no doubt that the collection of songs is awesome and there is very little chance that these classics can be obtained again.

In between cataloging and reading the songs from the cover, we were playing the songs which interested us. That’s when we encountered a cassette that had a mixture of songs without any particular category from different old movies. I heard this particular song. It probably was from the era where still play back singing hadn’t been introduced and I am unaware about the movie considering the time. Yet the music and lyrics mesmerized me. And I listened to it many times. So after that, whenever I tried to hum, I had that song on my mouth. And today it’s almost been a month and still that tune is stuck in my head.

Here’s a peep into the lyrics:
Woh paas rahen ya door rahen nazaron mein samaye rehte hain,
Itna to bata de koi hamein
Kya pyaar isi ko kehte hain

Well, thats the mukhda, and beyond that I am unable to remember. May be I will hunt for that cassette and listen to the song once more (the pull is irresistible) and write out the lyrics, so that I’ll be able to sing the complete song whenever my heart tells me to.

Fallen

I have always wanted to fly
Wanted to feel the freedom by
As I grew
I realized and in my heart, I knew
Nobody can fly without falling
If I really want it, I shouldn’t be stalling
But I am afraid, the question is why
What if I just fall and can’t fly
Yet when I met you,
With ease, it happened and I was without a clue
Very very hard I have fallen
But I didn’t just fall, I was taken.

Irrevocably fallen for you
Willing to spend my life with you
I wanna know was your fall sublime?
Just as lovely as mine?
I am flying
Tasting the freedom divine
That’s how I know what it really is
It was staring at my face, yet I missed
Being free of everyone else is not what it meant
It’s not being independent
Its staying locked in your eyes for eternity
From this freedom I never want to flee
I fell yet I am alive
I am flying with you by my side
This flight is going to last long
Forever, to you I will belong.

Life is so unfair

Life is so unfair
Excruciating delusional blinding pain
Life inflicts, even when I have not hurt anybody,
For my or anyone else’s gain
Either physical or emotional
Both hurt the same
Eventually from crying out
It becomes very difficult to refrain
Yet having no other option but to bear
I ask, why life is so unfair?

It is said, whatever the injury, time will heal
In no time at all, no pain you will feel
But what happens when life keeps hitting
The same place with the same pace
The wound cannot stop from cracking
Ripping apart, it becomes a huge tear
What life remains! When it is so unfair?

Countering the pain, with strong will power & grit
Is a known and potent technique
What it says, bury the pain
Make it grovel and tamed
Saying is easy, doing it is not
Though many manage
Even when it takes everything they have got
Shocking is the news, when it comes to know
That life chose the dear ones as foe
Will power collapses and grit melts
Everything becomes 100 times of what I had felt
The greatest blow has left me open and bare
Now no breath remains, to ask if life is fair or unfair.

When I..

When I dream of the things
I really wanna do
I wish to God to give me wings
So that they all become really true

When I laugh, I am glad I can
Make people smile with me
Watching their faces, I feel hope and I plan
To always try to let the smiles be

When I talk, I hope it makes sense
To me and everyone else, complete with its essence
I pray to God that my words never hurt
Coz I know taking them back is never really worth.

When I help, the one who is needful
I give myself into it, complete and full
As I believe good deeds done in the present
Shape the future into something that is bright and affluent.

When I sing, I give myself into the melody
Going into the tunes, as if nobody can hear me
Music is like love, when it is in your life
Life becomes an enchanting delight.

When I believe, I totally do so
Even if it is tried to uproot or blow
My faith in God and everything good is strong
I impart it whenever I can, that way I hope to keep it long.

Finally when I sleep, I roam in the fantasy world
The mysteries of my mind & my life unfurled
Leaving the day’s tensions and worry behind
Gearing myself up, for the coming is unknown and I am blind.

22 ways for passing time in office...

One of the funniest mail I've come across: I burst out laughing after reading... Have a look:

If you find it very boring in the office, here are some tips:

1. Form a detective agency to find out who is quitting next.

2. Make blank calls to your Boss.

3. Send mails from lotus notes (outlook) to your internet mail (and
immediately get to the internet and see who reaches first, you or your
mail?) and read them there, and note down the time they take to reach *
there. Then do vice versa....... ...... !!

4. Rearrange the furniture, i.e. flick someone else's chair just to
irritate him/her.

5. Count your fingers (and toes if you still get bored).

6. Watch other people changing their facial ex-pressions while working
and try changing your ex-pressions also.

7. Try to stretch status meetings as longer as possible, just by
asking silly doubts.

8. Make faces at strangers in office.

9. Have a two hour lunch; it's a big social occasion.

10. Learn to whistle.

11. Revise last week's newspaper.

12. Hold "How fast my computer boots" competitions.

13. Practice aiming the coffee cup into the dustbin.

14. Enhence your Literature skills. you can author "1001 innovative
ways to waste your day" to help your collegues.

15. Pick up phone and dial non-existing nos.

16. Have work breaks in between tea.

17. Count maximum no of applications your computer can open at time.

18. For Win NT/95 users....Move things to Recycle bin and restore
them..Then repeat this process.

19. Look at someone & try to imagine how (s)he might have looked when
(s)he was 5 years old.

20. Read jokes and send jokes.

21. Make full use of the comfortable chair and table provided and take
a nap.

22. Send this mail to only one at a time to every one in your contact
list.

Final five minutes

In high school, I had read one story that has remained with me even after all this time. It was really a touching story. Its name is ‘Home Coming’ written by Shri Rabindranath Tagore. It is written exquisitely, evoking all emotions from you, effortlessly. When I wrote this poem, it is more or less based on the ending of the story. I could even remember some of the words that were used. My homage to a life changing story.


My final five minutes
before my eyes
my sweet short life flits
I remember the smell of mangoes
from my childhood escapades
the hits and blows
I faced
the fun with siblings
the warmth of the family
the roguishness with friends
my life coloured in beautiful blends

falling in love
the exquisite feeling it roused
the deep intense eyes
whom I really prised

to relish every feeling
I just wish
I had been given some more time

the end of the world is here
my five minutes are soon gonna be over
my heart fills
with the love for my life
my breath coming in short gasps
I am in a delirious mind
someone is putting on the blinds
to accept or to fight
m not able to decide
but before I think
the darkness engulfs
d soul leaves my body
once lively it becomes dull.

Wise to be unwise...

It is so wise to be unwise,
To fall in love with YOU and Rise.

It’s unwise not to be where I am,
Not to do what I am doing,
I feel wise when I find YOU with me every moment,
No matter whatever is my movement.

It’s unwise if one doesn’t match with the human race,
Don’t need a world and don’t care about the pace,
I feel wise to be in your embrace,
Divinity, tranquility – everything is with me to brace.

It’s unwise to wait for you so long,
Specially when other miseries come along,
I feel wise, I know you are where I belong,
Barriers will not always be among.

It’s unwise to see dreams with open eyes,
To ignore the world and do prejudice,
I feel wise & hope to see YOU near at every sunrise,
That is something which is greater than paradise.

It’s unwise not to use intelligence,
Think only about YOU or have fear,
I feel wise I am not in my senses,
Touch me, destroy me, I’m all yours my dear.

So wonderful to be (un)wise,
Fall in love with YOU and Rise. :-)

What are you carrying today?

Recently, a TATA photon+ advertisement was launched on television. It depicts a very creative idea, where in all kinds of people are asked by a narrating voice, ‘What are you carrying today?” and the voice itself answers. Finally it promotes its own product, saying that ‘Carry Speed with you’ with the High Speed USB Internet.

This was just an overview of the advertisement. What intrigued me was the question itself, “What are you carrying today?” And I thought, how, to this single question, there can be a huge lot of answers. To prevaricate more, I can easily say that the answer to the question could be different for every individual.

I know I am wasting the time, but I really can’t help speculating about the options with which the people can answer.
Am carrying a fancy handbag. ( That’s the most obvious and straight forward one. Does not let the mind think much)
Today’s my birthday. Am carrying happiness. (Genuine)
Am carrying hope today. Hope of reconciling with my friend. (There’s an emotional one)
Am carrying angst as I am unsure of today’s happenings. (hmm… this one’s heavy on the heart)
Am carrying my best friend today. (well, I actually took this idea from the ad, in which a guy is walking with his very ‘favourite’ guitar)
Am carrying a huge lot of nerves, as I am having my life’s first show on stage in front of an audience, but then there’s happiness too and confidence. So I guess I am carrying a blend :) (the sentence itself explains it all and I think ‘A BLEND’ will be the most used one. Well, anyone can share, if they think otherwise)
Am carrying myself, just me and nothing else. (This one’s too good to be true. How great it would be to be just yourself without any baggage.)
Am carrying time, whole lots of it (It feels like the person quoting this is indirectly saying: Come, meet me, we’ll have fun. I have all the time in the world)
Am carrying sportsmanship to the ground with me (That’s a neat answer. I guess, the opponents are lucky if their opponents are carrying sportsmanship)

After saying all this, my point is that there can be n number of answers to the Question in question. :)
(On a funny and ending note: a lady carrying a child, wouldn’t have to think much to answer the question. And what would a cloud say: Am carrying rain today. So beware, you are going to get drenched)

Define - Being “Emotional”.

Last week proved to be really busy for me. As word “uncle-aunty” doesn’t really feel comfortable, I will use word “kaka-kaki” only ;-). So my Kaka, Kaki and two cousins were permanently going to US on Immigration. (Idea here is not to show my US connections ;-)) This may not a big news for all probably because:
1. Recession hit US
2. Today, most people even in India live in nuclear families where you are not so involved with your extended family. (But we are a “Joint Family”).

From baggage and package everything went well. The “Real” dilemma began when they started leaving for the airport. Including their friends and relatives, there were around 40 people. At this point I would like to mention some of the points:

• Whenever people come to see you for some of the reasons like this (Going abroad, getting good marks in exam etc. etc.) they give money to kids. I really don’t see any point doing this and I guess it is the same case from their side as well. There are many such other traditions where we don’t know the logic but doing in merely because of tradition. Rightly said by my friend “Outer Souls “ – ‘An old belief is like an old shoe. We so value its comfort that we fail to notice the hole in it.”. ( I know I am deviating from the topic, so coming back to second point ;) ).
• As everybody became free from the work, they realize they now have to leave their humble abode. This also indicates a very fact that at some point of time it becomes good to keep yourself busy to avoid negative thoughts and negative energy.

Let’s come back to the original point.
They started leaving and tears rolled in their eyes. (Especially Kaki – It is said girls are really very emotional (???)). Gradually everyone, one by one became part of the same category excluding me. (Again a funny note: sometimes people worry what if they will not be able to cry on such occasions – biding adieu to somebody, death of a person (not so close in most cases), “Bidai” of a girl, list is looooong… And generally such people who cries (honestly or dishonestly) are considered to be “Emotional” (which may be right also according to their definition).

I normally do not cry on such occasions (barring some – exception making ;) ). Some people say I am strong, some say I am quite “practical”. “Some” say “ I am not at all Emotional”. :-) Initially I didn’t like such comments. But then after I realize that they think this way only because my definition of “Emotional” is different from theirs.

According to me being emotional does not mean to weaken yourself when destiny temporarily separates you from your dear ones. It means to smile and circulate positive energy around. It makes the procedure easier. And if somebody is meeting you for the last time, he/she will carry an image of a smiling face with him/her and not a sad face. It may not be so easy, but what is the point in being sad when it is anyhow not going to make any difference. And if somebody is going for a better future, why not to say “Good-Bye” with a smiling face???

Honestly speaking it is not as easy as it seems, but this is the “win-win” situation. And as said by my friend “Inner souls” ;) – ‘People always come into your lives, they never go!’ Cherish the moments you have spent together. Go out of your way to help them. Lend an ear when they need it. Melt differences of time and space… That’s how I define “ Being Emotional”. :-)

Abu Trip

An office trip was arranged to Mt. Abu recently in the last week of June. The agenda of the meeting was some work and some fun. It wasn’t entirely fun as well as not entirely work. The work part included setting up KRA’s for the whole year for the complete team.

The trip can be considered kind of successful where the fun part was considered. There were a huge lot of group activities and games that were arranged, but the setting up of KRA’s was actually a mess. Some person’s KRA’s weren’t discussed even once. The remaining person’s; were discussed in about half an hour. I feel like asking a question: Is it possible, feasible and correct to set up tasks and objective for the WHOLE year in half an hour? Shouldn’t some more time and thoughts be involved in the process? Even for the people whose tasks had been discussed, there is dissatisfaction. In some cases, that particular person’s views were not even asked, let alone discussed. In some other cases, the management didn’t have their own thoughts and decisions. They actually were completely depending on the person in question. How irresponsible can it get? Our bosses don’t have any clue about the work they should delegate to their team!! And then those very same bosses scream and interrogate as to why their team is sitting idle the whole time. This is INJUSTICE! If I let my thoughts loose, some very similar things and insults are gonna come up. But, then my English vocabulary will desert me for heaping up the insults.

Before beginning any kind of fun, we were promised that for each and every person of the team, their tasks and objectives will be finalized and signed. But, then I guess, promises are definitely meant to be broken. What little trust we had, has dissipated. Later on, there was a second promise given that the left over work will be completed on the next day in the office. Now, we have to see, to what extent that promise will be kept.

Seasons

Chilling bones, chattering teeth
Bluish nails cold feet
Plentiful appetite, dry skin
Comes with winter as if its kin

Barren land, falling leaves
Forming on the ground huge heaps
A little chilling, windy air
Autumn has its very own flair

Chirping birds, happy bees
Colorful flowers, glorious trees
Joyous atmosphere everyone likes
Spring brings with it, several delights

Scorching heat, relentless sun,
Trickling perspiration, on top of it a sun burn
Harried expression, parched throat
All comes along with summer soar

Humid air, loads of moisture
Muddy puddles, cleansened nature
Water logging, lightning & thunder
Monsoon’s here, have an umbrella as shelter.

The guy I liked ;)

The dazzling eyes, the velvet voice, the caring attitude, the tenderness and the fact that he can hear thoughts together form a really deadly combination. Well, I would have asked to guess the person I am talking about, but then, when no one here can get tuned to my thoughts, it will be unfair of me. I am talking about none other than Edward Cullen, the central male character of the Twilight series.

Reading about him just makes you wish!! The way he is described in the books is simply awesome. And then suddenly I realized why I was taken in by his charm. I see him through the eyes of the person who is in love with him. But, this only feels like an excuse. He is great and the way he constantly thinks whether he is selfish or not by being with the one he loves is quite alluring. To be precise, there is nothing in him that is not adorable.

After reading Midnight Sun, I felt, why hasn’t Stephenie Meyer, written a parallel draft from Edward’s perspective, for all the books. I am not implying that hearing Bella’s thoughts is in any way boring. (Bella is the protagonist of the series, from whose view point the story is told.) But that tells so much less about Edward. Its sometimes frustrating not to hear the intricate details of the Edward’s mind and his relationship with his adopted family.

I really admire the way the author has narrated. She just absorbs the readers into the fantasy world. After sometime, for me, the line started to get blurred. Oh! It’s not like I have gone mad. Just that the experience was quite different and pleasing from the usual routine. I could go on and on about Edward, even to the point of quoting his dialogues. But I guess, it would be very dull for anyone else. He is the most amazing guy I have read about. As I said, it just makes me wish!!

Summer Vacations

Summer vacations are here. Whoopee!!
But alas! For us office goers, there is no vacation. In summers also, we will be sweating out in offices. But children, they will be having a blast. Everyone can see loads of children, forming groups and playing in the afternoons. Many families have already left for their summer hideouts or to their relatives or grand parent’s places.

I can still remember, with nostalgia, my summer vacations, when we used to go to our maternal grandparent’s house or Nani and Nana’s or Aaji and Aazoba’s home, as we call them so fondly. My Aaji along with my maternal aunt, or maushi, used to live in a small village called Gandhinglaj, which is on Maharashtra, Karnataka border. The village was quite small, with only a 5 km stretch.

It’s a beautiful village. The village is carpeted all over by the green color. Different kinds of trees can be seen. It’s a perfect summer hideaway, as it is very cool even in May, because monsoon would have already hit that place. No sun could be seen even in the afternoons. We had a gala time playing outdoor games any time of the day.

The house my aaji lived in was a typical village type house. In cities, we hardly get to see such kind of homes. A small driveway was there, along side which there were so many different kind of trees and shrubs. There were fruit trees such as chickoo, ber, imli, kaju, mango, jamoon etc. We used to have a lot of fun climbing those trees and getting fruits from them. Though we used to get hurt and get our knees scraped, the fun we had couldn’t even be remotely compared with such things.

Beside the driveway, there was a small garden, jeweled with grass and many shrubs that gave exotic flowers. On one side of the garden, there was a small water tank, where water used to be stored, for watering the plants. Every evening, we would take out pipes and water the plants. Watering the plants was just an excuse to get drenched ourselves. And of course, we didn’t complain, if rain drizzled in the evenings. I had a frog friend who lived in that small tank, I don’t remember his name, but daily I used to get fearful of him and chase after him.

I also had a dog friend named ‘John’. He was such an adorable pet. Very peaceful and very silent. I used to sit on top of him and play ‘Horse horse’ and yet the poor animal didn’t even bark. It wouldn’t be unfair if I say that I used to terrorize him like anything.

The house itself, had very high ceilings and very cool. Late in the evenings, we used to sit near the gate of the house and play Antakshari. Most of the time, mom and aaji either used to talk among themselves or talk to the people that used to pass our house. And to attract their attention, we used to sing or I should say scream our voices hoarse, but to no avail.

Almost daily the rain used to pour, yet never did I see any water logging in that place. Surrounding the village, there were many fields for different crops. We used to play in those fields, only in day light coz there was always fear of snakes snooping around. There were many dried out streams, but after rain, all the streams started flowing. The streams made the ideal picture. A small flow of water used to stream down from between the rocks, making a pool around with not much current, hence making it less dangerous for kids. That experience was exotic.

For shopping there was a supermarket. The years I am talking about are from mid-nineties to late nineties. At that time, I had not seen a proper supermarket, here in the city, in Ahmedabad. But that small little village had one, exactly like the one, that we see in English movies. That supermarket used to fascinate us at that time, though not any more, with so many being established everywhere now.

Such were my experiences of my childhood summer vacation, which were so awesome that they make me want to relive everything. But now that I know that they can’t be repeated, I keep their memories alive.

Crop Circles

Crop circles have been observed since many years in the crop fields across the world. They are patterns created by the flattening of crops. Recently a mysterious formation was spotted, an intricate pattern measuring approximately 60 ft in diameter near Avebury in Wiltshire, UK. It was made up of two segments of arc of decreasing size between the concentric inner circles.

There have been given many explanations for the formations of crop circles. They have been called man-made or geological anomalies while they are also said to have been made by extra terrestrial life forms.

Early examples of crop circles have been simple circles, but later on, the designs got complex with intricate details, including geometrical designs and three dimensional structures. The shapes include a bee, a rectangle, a ring and even a three dimensional formation.

The mystery of how crop circles are created has still not been solved. There are evidences suggesting that the some of the crop circles were man-made. Cynics have claimed that the patterns are the work of human pranksters. But crop circle enthusiasts argue that there are not enough hours of darkness to be made by humans. A similar article by Wikipedia is very interesting and can be checked out.

Give me One more Life!!!!

JUST WANT TO ASK A QUESTION TO ALMIGHTY,
CAN'T YOU GIVE ME ONE MORE LIFE ??
YOUR LIFE IS JUST NOT ENOUGH....
WHEN WILL I LIVE MY DREAMS??

LET ME LISTEN TO MY SOUL AND SING..
GIVE ME WINGS, I WANT TO FLY.....
GIVE ME TIME I WANT TO MEET MY FRIENDS..
MAKE ME FREE I WANT TO SHARE SOMETHING WITH MY MOM....


DNT MISUNDERSTAND ME
DNT THINK I AM SAD...
COZ I AM ACTUALLY NOT...
WANT TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW
WANT TO TALK TO SOME ONE NEW
WANT TO SAY SOMETHING NEW TO OLD FRNDS
CAN'T I GO BACK CAN'T I MOVE FORWARD
HEY GOD... PLEASE BRING MY WORLD RIGHT HERE..


I WANT TO BE WHAT I REALLY AM
I DO NOT WANT TO ACT THE WAY I THINK I AM ACTING..
I I I...
I ALSO WANT SOME ONE ELSE..

WITH WHOM I SHARE MY STUPIDITY
WITH WHOM I CAN BE AS COMFORTABLE AS I BE WITH MYSELF
I WANT TO LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF STREAM & BIRDS
I WANT TO SING WITH ITS MUSIC...
I WANT TO TOUCH THE SOFTNESS OF FLOWER & SEE BUTEERFLY.....

DIRECT ME THE PATH WHICH REACHES THIS WORLD........
THE WORLD WHICH WILL SATISFY MY DESIRES...
THE PLACE WHICH WILL MAKE MY SOUL UNRUFFLED..
WHERE I CAN SAY WHAT I WANT & EXPRESS MY EMOTIONS..
LITTLE MISCHIEVOUS AND LITTLE MATURE I AM..
WONDER!!!! WHERE I WILL GET THE MEANING OF "I".....

Admiration is a strange thing

Admiration is a strange thing, when you are at the receiving end constantly.

There is a time when you are greatly admired and looked upon with awe by a person. That person likes you immensely which is quite visible. And you start liking that person too. You are appreciated for your good work at every step by that person. You become accustomed to that admiration so much so that you expect it at every little accomplishment of yours. And sometimes, even when you have not attained anything. Eventually you get into a habit of expecting more even when there is no room for some.

Then comes a day, when you fail to get a reaction from the person who generally appreciated you. Possibly because that person is familiar to all the things that you have done till now and he/she is not amazed anymore. It pricks you a little. But when in front of you, that same person starts praising someone else regularly, it pricks a lot. You feel betrayed, which is hardly a feeling that should be felt under these circumstances. You were never promised anything then how can you feel betrayed? If it made you mad, at least you would have had a release but anger never comes into the picture.

At first, I know there are very few people who appreciate others on every tiny little thing, but the fact remains that there are. Secondly, I really don’t understand the feelings that are roused by such events. What to make of them? What to do under these circumstances? It completely becomes impossible to daily see that same person admiring someone else without feeling left out. But on the other hand, it is not even a single bit unfair.

One thing that I can say is it’s difficult to analyze this particular complicated emotion and the reactions it can cause.

A heart wrenching separation

Children are so much beautiful and innocent. Once you spend time with them, you get so much attached to them, that when it comes the time to go away from them, your heart gets ripped into pieces.

I joined the Teach India campaign with the NGO Samvedna to help the kids take their right of education. I knew the experience will be great. But I never thought that leaving them will bring tears to my eyes. As the days passed with the children, I began to look forward to meeting with them every once a week. I could not imagine my life without that one Friday when I went to teach them. To be frank, many times I was exasperated with them, as they just played, fought on little matters and didn’t listen to me. But, I was amazed at their ability to grasp everything I taught them, even while doing other things.

They played the games that I remember as a child I used to play too. The children asked me too, to play with them. We talked about a lot of other things too. I am not that much fluent in Gujarati, which is the only language the children did understand. And when the kids realized that, they accepted that and even gave me an option to talk in Hindi, saying they will try to understand a different language and that way they will learn too. It really touched my heart to hear that.

I used to teach them computer. The children never used to like to learn the theory, they always wanted to go in the practical. It brings a smile to my face today as I recall the excited looks on their faces, when they used to sit in front of the computer. They were fascinated by every small thing that happened in the computer, be it a pop-up that comes on a right click or a simple increase of the font size. I think, we as kids did not ever find such small things important.
I could go on and on about the experiences I had with them. The word ‘amazing’ does not even gets close to describing it.

But now, as they have got their exams, no longer would they need teachers to teach them. And we would not be able to meet them. That really saddened me. I looked forward to the week because of this activity with the kids, which I know will be missing now onwards.

I just hope that I again get a chance to be with these kids, help them in any way I can. That would really be worthwhile.

Need to make Amends

The sound of ambulances,
The sight of injuries, dying people, riots and diseases,
Its so unnerving
The despair creepin in.

Be it nature’s way of maintaining balances,
Be it man’s follies, or his own made causes,
Be it our own acquaintances,
Or be it somebody else’s sufferances,
Be it the dwindling of our finances,
Be it the elation of senses when taking chances,
A cold feeling sets in,
Making everything around saddening.

Can’t we control such happenings,
Can’t we make a pledge for humanitarian reason,
Aren’t we somewhere wrong, with the nature, in our dealings,
Aren’t we atleast indirectly responsible for nature’s treason,
Why can’t we stop the violences,
Why can’t we stand up for the peace and reduce such instances,
We, as a human race, are the supreme most & everything will be lost,
We are going to perish, if we don’t start making amends at any cost.

Rain

First drops of rain touch my eyes,
I feel them leaving the tip of my lashes, landing on my cheeks,
As if in worship of the rain God, I look up to the skies,
Two more of them I feel on my forehead, where, meanwhile, the sun, in & out of the cloud flicks.

In my surroundings, I watch people trying to protect themselves from the water,
I look at them & feel that they are missing the best part of life,
Thunder crackles, lightning lights up the sky, then also my steps don’t falter,
And then I get a thought, why not draw the people out & make them experience that this is the real life.

I stop, stare into their eyes, move on the spot, with all the happiness I am feeling reflecting on my face,
It is thundering showers till now, I look at them again & see that one or two persons are tempted to experience,
I feel myself getting bold & reckless, I collect some water drops in my hand, approach a little boy & with the water, his hand I trace,
The sweet little boy leaves his mother’s hand, follows me in the rain & he too as if in worship stages a dance.

Watching the pure pleasure in the boy’s eyes, the people realize, having security may make life easy,
But, stepping out of the boundaries will make you enjoy life and not regret it,
So, most people there, stepped out into the rain, and understood that they should make the most of it, life was giving them a treat.