Why Kosi plays ?

Kosi changed her mind last week,
Taking a right turn, on a whim,
A little way up on her way down from Nepal,
Jumping over banks she earlier caressed.

Down she rushed in gay abandon,
Taking in her way all alongwith,
Roaring along, with the mixed sounds,
Of screams, tears and lives.

For Kosi - its a whimsical play,
But the people, its her anger they say,
And so they light lamps, offer prayers,
To get her to go back to her normal ways !

Who has understood why rivers change course ?
Or why the earth quakes when it does ?
Who has understood the changing moods ?
Of nature in her whimsical play ?

Everyday Humour

I had gone down to Lucknow on Friday for launching a new product in our desktop lineup. Its an interesting new desktop and within our channel community, the codename it carries : "Puppy PC" has become extremely popular.

After the launch, while discussing with partners, there was an amusing incident. One of my distributors walked up to me to say how his sales of Puppy PC was stuttering, whereas another distributor was garnering all the sales. (He had sold 20 odd units as against 200+ that the other distributor had sold). "But whats the issue ?", I asked him - "Why don't you approach more resellers and push harder ?"..... "No sir.... its not like that" he said...."You see the other distributor has got a girl who is in charge of pushing this product. So whats happening is that all resellers are enjoying calling her up to say (in Hindi)... Dho Puppy chahiye... bhej dena" (For those of you who don't understand Hindi - The word "pappi" in hindi means a smooch). Incredulous as it sounded - I checked this out later with others and apparently - it was true !!

Well I really am not a MCP - but that did make me smile. Also made me think later, as I was flying back home to Delhi - as Indians, is it that we are sexist or is it that we have a peculiar sense of humour that plays out in real life ?

Bombs Can't See

So many bombs,
Popping up like crackers.
Here a bomb,
There a bomb,
Delhi, Kanpur & Hyderabad.

Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat,
Scattering people, limbs, cycles.
Regardless of faith,
Hindu, Muslim or Christian,
A bomb doesn't differentiate,
A bomb can't see.

Its terror unleashed they say,
But whats to fear ?
A mad mans world view ?
An impotent brain ?
That builds a bomb in 6-easy-steps ?
Just to fright & delight ?

No way, you cowards - that ain't us !!
Where the mind is without fear,
And the head is held high,
In that heaven of freedom,
We will ever be awake.

What Can't I ?

I believe I can fly,
I believe I can touch the sky.
I believe I can.
I believe.
I can.

Deja Vu

Its May day today.... wifey is travelling to China.....and so I ended up spending my day with the "Messiahs handbook" by Richard Bach. A beautiful insightful book it is.... and for any of you fellow travellers happening to pass by and read this blog - go buy this book today. It will elevate your soul. A wonderful passage that I just read there :

From time to time its fun to close your eyes, and in the dark say to yourself, "I am the sorcerer, and when I open my eyes, I shall see a world that I have created, and for which I and only I am completely responsible." Slowly then, eyelids open like curtains lifting stage-center.

And sure enough, theres your world, just the way you built it.

Got me thinking .... and as it so often happens when you are thinking on a lazy holiday at home... went off on a tangent thinking of the so many times that I have had this feeling of Deja Vu.... seeing a total stranger passing by - when for just a moment in time, the eyes lock. What if me the sorcerer had chosen a different reality ? So many paths - one life to live - too short a time to live it all, to explore it all, isn't it ?

Deja Vu
Do I know you ?
When our eyes met,
Did it feel so true ?

Hey there stranger,
In another lifetime,
Where we together ?
Me and you ?

Like ships at sea,
Passing each other by,
Having in some harbour afar,
Docked side by side ?

So many ships,
So many strangers,
From another time, another place,
Deja Vu ...... its the soul remembering you.

Slow Dance

A close acquaintance of mine is down with cancer of the bone marrow. I visited him last week - and in the course of our talking, he said - somewhat wistfully - "I was too busy in my life. I wish had made more time to meet up & spend time..." he trailed away. I did not ask further. And then this week at work, a friend from the U.S, sent me a poem apparently written by a teenager in a New York hospital, terminally ill with cancer. Its called Slow Dance - and its one of the most touching poems I have come across. As Paulo Coelho says - there is nothing called co-incidence, what looks like a co-incidence is very often the soul of the universe giving us a message. Read on...

Have you ever watched kids On a merry-go-round?
Or listened to the rain slapping on the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly?
When you ask how are you?
Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head?

You'd better slow down Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow?
And in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, Let a good friendship die
Cause you never had time to call and say,'Hi'

You'd better slow down. Don't dance so fast. Time is short. The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
It is like an unopened gift.... Thrown away.

Life is not a race. Do take it slower. Hear the music
Before the song is over.

Walk Out Of The House of Mirrors Baby

A chirpy, bubbly - little girl,
Alive as one could be,
Chanced upon a strapping lad,
Her Prince Charming he would be.

Seven steps around the holy fire,
And off they zipped away.
Across seven oceans they went,
To a land far far away.

Everything in good time, they say.
And love - like eggs, needs time to hatch.
A small seed will a giant acorn be one day,
Given everything else does match.

What happened in that land far away ?
No time there was to question.
Nor why nor how the dreams lay shattered,
Of "Happily Ever After" as they say.

Lost in a House of Mirrors now,
The little girl stands confused.
Whats real and whats unreal - she knows not,
Who is friend and Who is a foe ?

The demons in the mirrors - Are all shadows little girl,
The world is not so scary.
A wrong turn in the woods - Thats all it is,
And not a land turned black, that you have to be wary.

Every night, a morning brings,
And its darkest before day break.
Hang on, for surely - tomorrow the sun will be out,
And you will bask in the sunshine once more.

A chirpy, bubbly - little girl,
Alive as one could be,
Will chance upon a strapping lad,
And her Prince Charming he will be.