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.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Saturday, December 15, 2007
My Theory of Spaces
Its a lazy Saturday morning today..... the maids have left, having done their jobs & wifey is not around - gone to Mumbai and only returning tomorrow.....
Its one of those rare "spaces" I get in my crowded life..... and I am feeling good :-)...... the cell phone has not rung since morning (if it has a life of its own, I am sure the poor guy looks forward to weekends too..... or perhaps if it has a paranoid personality, must be feeling ditched & neglected ?..... personally i think hes an over pampered guy - always hand carried, kept close to heart (in my shirt pocket)..... and never out of sight for the rest of the day)..... whenever it is that i retire (i hope by 40).... i make a promise to myself not to carry a cell around. Is that possible ?.... Dad says YES...:-)
Coming back to "spaces"..... back in college, the days i was wooing my wife - i still held onto my concept of needing my own space - until the day i got a sermon on what it means to being a couple from madam wife. I was not too convinced, but since there were bigger priorities at that time, i decided to lose that argument. Sometime back, I felt so vindicated when I was reading Kahlil Gibran who said :
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
I bookmarked it - and went back to my wife with it. Now, my wife & I - we are as different from each other as chalk and cheese. She went berserk laughing at the "winds of heaven" dancing between us - and the "moving sea" ...... the rest of that week, i had to hear out a lot about the different kinds of winds calling out to me. Bad idea. But good learning : When you are trying to convince someone, speak the language the person appreciates.
And then there was this other time when I got into one of my compulsive moods to change the layout of everything at home. After a few hours work - as we looked at the final product again, I said : "Now, thats so cool, I love these spaces".... slightly stressing on the last word. I got a patented "look" reserved for our maids during bad-behaviour time. And then I heard a sermon on how I had conned her into not buying anything for the house under the guise of minimalism. (For the record - I genuinely love minimalism). Thank God we were not in Jaipur that day I thought - else half our house would have had Rajasthani folk items hanging around everywhere - and perhaps even our sofa would have made way for a more ethnic (read RED, full of beads & glasses) pillows & bedding arrangement on the floor. Again, bad idea. Big mouth. But good learning : Don't try to be smart - around sensitive topics.
One of my traits - that has helped me in my professional life i think, is that I am tenacious. I don't give up so easily. So, it was one of those days when both of us were in a really really good mood, we were driving up to Almora - and I thought I should try again. But this time instead of tongue-in-cheek smartness or philosophy, I thought I will use logic. "You know the difference between India & Singapore ?" I asked rhetorically. "Too many people here". "Too much density". "Just look while we are driving - how nice it is to have so much of a gap between the vehicle in front". "You know - even in music, its the gaps, the silence between two strings - that makes the difference"....."Yep" she said - "Good progress" I thought. "Even in language - just imagine what would have happened if there were no commas or full stops"..... just then my experienced eye thought I caught the beginning or hint of a smile curving up her lips. "So", she said, "Should we turn off the music, so that we have some..... spaces ?"..... my early warning systems went off : the ruse had been detected. "If the enemy detects your advance - chances of winning low" says old chinese saying. I was far too experienced a husband to fall for this one. This time, bad luck. Topic change. But good learning : There are some arguments that you can never win. And there are some people you can never convince over a particular issue.
There is this anecdote about a Chinese Master that comes to mind. As he was walking up a path, there was a raging bull in his way. Everyone around thought he would use his mastery to tame the bull. The Master however walked around the bull - and went on. The point is, I think : Very often, its not really important to win an argument or get our point of view accepted.
Today I have my "space".... and I will enjoy it & live it when I have it. I will update my blogs, I will pamper myself at the saloon, I will get a Shiatsu done, I will go for a long walk in the evening. I will enjoy the silence.
Just a disclaimer - and something I have learnt from experience : Spaces are critical to have - but too much of spaces, makes a wall look bare, makes music into one of those foreign orchestras (where you are not sure when to begin clapping), makes a city look like Dubai (empty & desolate at times), makes for bad sentences - and makes relationships unbearably lonely.
Its one of those rare "spaces" I get in my crowded life..... and I am feeling good :-)...... the cell phone has not rung since morning (if it has a life of its own, I am sure the poor guy looks forward to weekends too..... or perhaps if it has a paranoid personality, must be feeling ditched & neglected ?..... personally i think hes an over pampered guy - always hand carried, kept close to heart (in my shirt pocket)..... and never out of sight for the rest of the day)..... whenever it is that i retire (i hope by 40).... i make a promise to myself not to carry a cell around. Is that possible ?.... Dad says YES...:-)
Coming back to "spaces"..... back in college, the days i was wooing my wife - i still held onto my concept of needing my own space - until the day i got a sermon on what it means to being a couple from madam wife. I was not too convinced, but since there were bigger priorities at that time, i decided to lose that argument. Sometime back, I felt so vindicated when I was reading Kahlil Gibran who said :
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
I bookmarked it - and went back to my wife with it. Now, my wife & I - we are as different from each other as chalk and cheese. She went berserk laughing at the "winds of heaven" dancing between us - and the "moving sea" ...... the rest of that week, i had to hear out a lot about the different kinds of winds calling out to me. Bad idea. But good learning : When you are trying to convince someone, speak the language the person appreciates.
And then there was this other time when I got into one of my compulsive moods to change the layout of everything at home. After a few hours work - as we looked at the final product again, I said : "Now, thats so cool, I love these spaces".... slightly stressing on the last word. I got a patented "look" reserved for our maids during bad-behaviour time. And then I heard a sermon on how I had conned her into not buying anything for the house under the guise of minimalism. (For the record - I genuinely love minimalism). Thank God we were not in Jaipur that day I thought - else half our house would have had Rajasthani folk items hanging around everywhere - and perhaps even our sofa would have made way for a more ethnic (read RED, full of beads & glasses) pillows & bedding arrangement on the floor. Again, bad idea. Big mouth. But good learning : Don't try to be smart - around sensitive topics.
One of my traits - that has helped me in my professional life i think, is that I am tenacious. I don't give up so easily. So, it was one of those days when both of us were in a really really good mood, we were driving up to Almora - and I thought I should try again. But this time instead of tongue-in-cheek smartness or philosophy, I thought I will use logic. "You know the difference between India & Singapore ?" I asked rhetorically. "Too many people here". "Too much density". "Just look while we are driving - how nice it is to have so much of a gap between the vehicle in front". "You know - even in music, its the gaps, the silence between two strings - that makes the difference"....."Yep" she said - "Good progress" I thought. "Even in language - just imagine what would have happened if there were no commas or full stops"..... just then my experienced eye thought I caught the beginning or hint of a smile curving up her lips. "So", she said, "Should we turn off the music, so that we have some..... spaces ?"..... my early warning systems went off : the ruse had been detected. "If the enemy detects your advance - chances of winning low" says old chinese saying. I was far too experienced a husband to fall for this one. This time, bad luck. Topic change. But good learning : There are some arguments that you can never win. And there are some people you can never convince over a particular issue.
There is this anecdote about a Chinese Master that comes to mind. As he was walking up a path, there was a raging bull in his way. Everyone around thought he would use his mastery to tame the bull. The Master however walked around the bull - and went on. The point is, I think : Very often, its not really important to win an argument or get our point of view accepted.
Today I have my "space".... and I will enjoy it & live it when I have it. I will update my blogs, I will pamper myself at the saloon, I will get a Shiatsu done, I will go for a long walk in the evening. I will enjoy the silence.
Just a disclaimer - and something I have learnt from experience : Spaces are critical to have - but too much of spaces, makes a wall look bare, makes music into one of those foreign orchestras (where you are not sure when to begin clapping), makes a city look like Dubai (empty & desolate at times), makes for bad sentences - and makes relationships unbearably lonely.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Our Times
I try and not just put in forwards out here.... but once in a while, there comes a "forward" that makes me stop and think - and thats when I think, I need to put it up here and share it with all. This is an article attributed to George Carlin, a comedian in the 70s & 80s. I sent the same one to my wife - and she replied with 3 words : "Practice Practice Practice" :-)
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom,but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less....
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete
Remember : spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent. Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER : Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom,but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less....
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete
Remember : spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side. Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent. Remember, to say, "I love you" to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you. Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.
Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER : Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Coffee or Cup ?
I got the below article as a forward from a friend..... it is said that the biggest truths often come in the simplest forms..... like Einsteins E=mc2. Just read on..... and do ponder over it..... Keep It Simple Stupid, is a golden rule that unfailingly works.
"The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect."
A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the simple and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. Then you began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this:
Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. Enjoy your coffee!"
The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.
· Live simply
· Love generously
· Care deeply
· Speak kindly
· Leave the rest to God.
You are the miracle, my friend; your life either shines a light or casts a shadow!
Shine a light and enjoy the coffee.
"The happiest people in the world are not those who have no problems, but those who learn to live with things that are less than perfect."
A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the simple and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. Then you began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this:
Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. Enjoy your coffee!"
The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything.
· Live simply
· Love generously
· Care deeply
· Speak kindly
· Leave the rest to God.
You are the miracle, my friend; your life either shines a light or casts a shadow!
Shine a light and enjoy the coffee.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Leap - and have faith
Life is full of choices. And ever so often, we land up at a decision fork..... and rarely, are the choices very obvious. I remember reading somewhere in MBA school about the concept of limited knowledge. A manager at any given point never has the universe of data to enable him to take the "perfectly right" decision. Thats pretty much true for everyone in life situations too. How then do we arrive on the "right decision" ?..... Just think about it - what is a "right decision" ? Like its said about the butterfly effect, a small change in starting conditions can result in wildly different endpoint conditions - but as humans, how should we know what the different end points could be ? I really don't think there can be a "right" decision. At a given point in time, using the mix of emotions, circumstances and all knowledge we have - we can only take our best shot. But having done that, there is only one way to make the decision - "right". And that is by passionately, obsessively and fanatically believing - that the path we have chosen is THE right path. Enough freedom fighters believing like this, bought us independence. A handful of scientists believing in this, put man on the moon. Ultimately, I think - every decision is really - a leap of faith, backed by an unquestioning mind.
What is it that really matters ?
To do interesting things or,
To do important things ?
Which path is it that is right ?
The one leading through the heart or,
The one lighted up by the mind ?
Whats the greater good to follow ?
Individual thought & wish or,
The collective wisdom of people around ?
Dare we turn left ?
Where we have been told to turn right ?
Or should we continue straight ahead instead ?
This or That ?
Which road to take ?
It really doesn't matter, I think,
Beyond the point of the fork in the road.
To take any of the roads - and then move on,
To believe, to be obsessed and lost to the world,
To back the faith with toil and love,
And to see just one road beyond the fork.
That I believe is the right way to go.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Whats a miracle afterall ?
The little boy,
Wearing silver sunlight,
Soon realises the time is past.
How long do you clasp onto a beautiful dream ?
When its tearing away at you, all the time.
How do you undo whats already done ?
How do you turn the clock, back in time ?
Are there really miracles ?
Or are they just mirages turned inside out ?
Every dream - just a cotton cloud,
Ours to own, till the expiry date ?
What do you do,
When a dream turns sour ?
What do you do,
When what you take for a miracle,
Turns out to be a mirage afterall ?
Wearing silver sunlight,
Soon realises the time is past.
How long do you clasp onto a beautiful dream ?
When its tearing away at you, all the time.
How do you undo whats already done ?
How do you turn the clock, back in time ?
Are there really miracles ?
Or are they just mirages turned inside out ?
Every dream - just a cotton cloud,
Ours to own, till the expiry date ?
What do you do,
When a dream turns sour ?
What do you do,
When what you take for a miracle,
Turns out to be a mirage afterall ?
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Lost in thoughts
Vast spaces in my mind,
Where I walk around from time to time.
At times meeting friends, at times old thoughts,
So old at times that they are a part of me,
Just the fleeting second of recognition, deja vu
And then gone again - lost in the spaces
Are we static - with moving thoughts ?
Or are we moving on - in a world of static thoughts ?
Its a world of imprints I think,
Every thought, sight and smell,
Maybe inconsequential, important or in passing,
But imprinted for life - all the same.
In some vast mindpsace - another world ?
Waiting to be revisited, relived and passed again.
Ours is to choose the worlds we live in,
And ours is to choose the world we create for us.
Where I walk around from time to time.
At times meeting friends, at times old thoughts,
So old at times that they are a part of me,
Just the fleeting second of recognition, deja vu
And then gone again - lost in the spaces
Are we static - with moving thoughts ?
Or are we moving on - in a world of static thoughts ?
Its a world of imprints I think,
Every thought, sight and smell,
Maybe inconsequential, important or in passing,
But imprinted for life - all the same.
In some vast mindpsace - another world ?
Waiting to be revisited, relived and passed again.
Ours is to choose the worlds we live in,
And ours is to choose the world we create for us.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
The Age Of Miracles - Its Not Past
My younger sis - Poorni - finally got engaged last month. I say finally, because by traditional Indian standards - at 28, she is considered "late" for marriage. But who is to say what late is - to each his own and I really respect her for the clear headed thinking she had - that she would get married ONLY to a certain kind of guy, and if a guy did not match her standards - too bad for him. THE ONLY reason we in the family where getting a bit jittery was due to the unique combination needed to pass her "qualification criteria". The guy needed to be into trekking (that rules out 95% of all males in India), also needed to be into music (thats another 3% ruled out), also needed to be a software engineer (there goes another 1%) and then ofcourse - needed to be smart, sauve, level-headed, caring .... which perhaps left 0.0001% of the guys in the reckoning. The challenge for us was to find that guy !!!
I am a sucker for miracles - and this for me is nothing short of one. I am still to come to terms with the fact that she did manage to find someone matching every one of these criteria !!!
Got me thinking - that miracles, magic. love - they still happen & will continue to too. Thats perhaps what keeps the world going. In a world where people are perhaps getting increasingly cynical - to look at a young couple just going to get into holy matrimony, is looking at hope in this world. Poorni - I believe - is on the phone to the US with Amar - for hours at a stretch now-a-days. Am so happy for her. Its the hope & belief of two people - who think that their marriage will be the best one yet. That they together will find a world beyond the rainbows - thats full of magic, marigold, fun and warmth. I do hope they find that world.... but along the way, I do hope they also learn that much of that magic is created by them - and that they need to work on it everyday, so that the magic dust never ever settles down.
Reminds me of a beautiful piece of writing that Richard Bach had written.....
We think, sometimes, theres not a dragon left. Not one brave knight, not a single princess gliding through secret forests, enchanting deer and butterflies with her smile.
We think sometimes, that ours is an age past frontiers, past adventures. Destiny, its way over the horizon; glowing shadows galloped past long ago and gone.
What a pleasure to be wrong. Princesses, knights, enchantments and dragons, mystery and adventure....not only are they here and now, they are all that ever lived on the earth !
Our century, they've changed clothes, ofcourse. Dragons wear government costumes today and failure-suits and disaster-outfits. Societys demons screech, whirl down on us, should we lift our eyes from the ground, dare we turn right at corners we've been told to turn left. So crafty have appearances become that princesses and knights can be hidden from each other, can be hidden from themselves.
Yet, masters of reality still meet us in dreams to tell us that we've never lost the shield we need against dragons, that blue-fire voltage arcs through us now to change our world as we wish. Intuition whispers true : We're not dust, we're magic !!
I am a sucker for miracles - and this for me is nothing short of one. I am still to come to terms with the fact that she did manage to find someone matching every one of these criteria !!!
Got me thinking - that miracles, magic. love - they still happen & will continue to too. Thats perhaps what keeps the world going. In a world where people are perhaps getting increasingly cynical - to look at a young couple just going to get into holy matrimony, is looking at hope in this world. Poorni - I believe - is on the phone to the US with Amar - for hours at a stretch now-a-days. Am so happy for her. Its the hope & belief of two people - who think that their marriage will be the best one yet. That they together will find a world beyond the rainbows - thats full of magic, marigold, fun and warmth. I do hope they find that world.... but along the way, I do hope they also learn that much of that magic is created by them - and that they need to work on it everyday, so that the magic dust never ever settles down.
Reminds me of a beautiful piece of writing that Richard Bach had written.....
We think, sometimes, theres not a dragon left. Not one brave knight, not a single princess gliding through secret forests, enchanting deer and butterflies with her smile.
We think sometimes, that ours is an age past frontiers, past adventures. Destiny, its way over the horizon; glowing shadows galloped past long ago and gone.
What a pleasure to be wrong. Princesses, knights, enchantments and dragons, mystery and adventure....not only are they here and now, they are all that ever lived on the earth !
Our century, they've changed clothes, ofcourse. Dragons wear government costumes today and failure-suits and disaster-outfits. Societys demons screech, whirl down on us, should we lift our eyes from the ground, dare we turn right at corners we've been told to turn left. So crafty have appearances become that princesses and knights can be hidden from each other, can be hidden from themselves.
Yet, masters of reality still meet us in dreams to tell us that we've never lost the shield we need against dragons, that blue-fire voltage arcs through us now to change our world as we wish. Intuition whispers true : We're not dust, we're magic !!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
For my Cinderella
Was going through one of my poems - written when I was in management college. This is from a time when I had just begun going out with the person who is now my wife. I subscribe to the old school of thought - that theres nothing as heady as falling in love. The initial getting-to-know each other, the long walks, the all-eyes-on-you & the fights..... and then the making up again. But so many years down the line, am so glad that the feeling is still as new..... As with wine, a few things improve with age.... "Love" is no longer about just the romantic thoughts of walking together into the sunset, hand in hand or moonlit dinners..... yes, those excalamation points are there and are needed.... but more importantly, "Love" to me is now a more "daily" kind of feeling.... growing together, doing even mundane house-hold chores together, sharing the remote, just listening sometimes. Its about respecting each others friends & relatives, getting up first in the morning & letting the maids in - so that she can sleep some more. Its laughter - especially in the middle of a fight. Its knowing each others idiosyncracies - and finding them amusing rather than irritating..... "Love" to me, since the days of writing this poem has moved from being an adjective, to being a verb.
Walking beside,
Along long winding paths,
Losing myself,
In your casual talks.
The endless fights,
The constant tease,
Is there some magic ?
Behind these veils ?
The feel of your hands,
As I take them in mine,
That look in your eyes,
That tone of your voice.
Yet, so very different,
So far apart,
Should I like a thing,
The opposite you would love.
But hey, look agan,
Do peer through those veils,
Can't you-see-the rainbow ?
Those star spangled fields ?
Make no mistake,
Be in no doubt,
For all that I say & all I might do,
You are so very special, so unique, so true !!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The Bandits !!
I've always had a major fascination for ants.....during summer breaks in school, I used to spend hours trailing the ant holes outside the house in our garden. God forgive my soul for the sins I have perpetrated on them - from cutting off their backsides, to spraying them with all kinds of liquids - wax to ink to the juices in orange peels....I gradually grew less violent with them, but to this day, I still love watching them - as they go about their busy, all important schedules. At another level - all of us are ants too, aren't we ?
A train of ants came walking down,
My window sill one day,
With a little fellow with prodding hands,
Leading up the way.
He stopped, he ran, in fits and starts,
And thus he carried on,
Until he arrived upon my shelf,
Where all of a sudden he paused.
He raised his head and glanced around,
And then he rushed ahead,
This time his destination,
Was some sugar and a slice of bread.
He spent some time, among his friends,
Thanking his lucky stars,
And then he seized a crumb double his size,
After a bitter brawl.
He walked around, showed off his loot,
Thus valiantly carried on,
Until among the crowd he slipped,
And I knew not where he was gone !!
A train of ants was walking back,
With my sugar and bread one day,
And perhaps, the little fellow with prodding hands,
Went back the same way !!
A train of ants came walking down,
My window sill one day,
With a little fellow with prodding hands,
Leading up the way.
He stopped, he ran, in fits and starts,
And thus he carried on,
Until he arrived upon my shelf,
Where all of a sudden he paused.
He raised his head and glanced around,
And then he rushed ahead,
This time his destination,
Was some sugar and a slice of bread.
He spent some time, among his friends,
Thanking his lucky stars,
And then he seized a crumb double his size,
After a bitter brawl.
He walked around, showed off his loot,
Thus valiantly carried on,
Until among the crowd he slipped,
And I knew not where he was gone !!
A train of ants was walking back,
With my sugar and bread one day,
And perhaps, the little fellow with prodding hands,
Went back the same way !!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Searching For Me...
Perhaps the hardest thing about growing up - for me, was coming to peace with myself as a person. Which way do I lean ? Whats the best thing to do ? Whats the right thing to do ? Should I take all advise ? Or do I myself know best ? Should I follow my mind ? Or should I follow my heart ?...... By and large, a lot of these questions for me have answered themselves - what I know now is that there is no "one right path"..... there is no "5 easy steps to finding yourself"..... in retrospect, its always like the story about Honda and Buddhas eyebrows..... que sera sera.... what will be will be. This poem is a few years old..... the questions that I now ask have definitely changed, but the essential dilemma still poses itself many a times.... I guess this is what being human and growing is all about......
I'm too old to be a kid,
Too young to be a man.
Neither a prudish dude,
Nor a screaming punk.
I ain't the "traditional Indian guy",
Nor a "modern western clone".
I sometimes like the East,
And at times, the West, I love.
Sometimes an idealist,
Yet, no way, a moralist.
At times I am the obedient son,
And still sometimes a wild rebel.
A voice inside says, "Go along",
While another says, "Don't care a damn".
Who is me ?
Which am I ?
For Gods sake - Where do I stand ?
I'm too old to be a kid,
Too young to be a man.
Neither a prudish dude,
Nor a screaming punk.
I ain't the "traditional Indian guy",
Nor a "modern western clone".
I sometimes like the East,
And at times, the West, I love.
Sometimes an idealist,
Yet, no way, a moralist.
At times I am the obedient son,
And still sometimes a wild rebel.
A voice inside says, "Go along",
While another says, "Don't care a damn".
Who is me ?
Which am I ?
For Gods sake - Where do I stand ?
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Rainbow
Love as the wise men say is a many hued experience...... figuratively, like a surfer riding the wild waves of a turbulent sea...... sometimes the heady highs, sometimes the frightful depressing lows, sometimes the joy of the cruise and sometimes the tumble.... but at the end of it all, never a surfer who would say....never again. For a long time, till I found my own island, I was a surfer too..... often in love, and more often... in love with love..... enjoying the ride, reaching out for the rainbow...... this was me again, in one of "those" romantic moods.......dream, dream, dream.....
For years now, I have been thinking of you - no, not always, but off and on - like pleasant dreams which one likes to recall - which bring traces of a smile to ones lips - a light headed feeling of suppressed joy.
Years roll on, but memories linger. Like the time we first met - and talked. It was I who blushed, wasn't it ? Well yet another incident to recall with a smile !
How soon we became friends ! College days - the fun, the studies, the heady spirit - indelible images printed in the mind for life. The innumerable times I would snatch a look at you - in class. The times when we would often be in a group - and yet I, would be so far away, alone with you. The days when I would look at you, and in silence let you know how much I love you. Days when I wished I could pour out my feelings for you - tell you how much I care - how much I wished to keep you happy always - to take your share of pain from you.
Time flies, doesn't it ?
The night sky appears beckoning. The beauty of a million stars and the silver moonlight spilling into the balcony, seems to wash us in a sea of love. There is not a question asked - not a word spoken. Just you and me and a sense of tranquility. just two little travellers going on and on in the journey of life, with no-one for support but us.
Yeah, the journey of life - past a few rusty towns, past a few hillocks and probably mountains too - but passing many a beautiful meadows, plains extending for miles and miles, a lot of beautiful gardens with bright sunshine and scaling many a summit of joy !
Where is our destination ? Where does the road lead ? - It hardly matters as long as you are with me.
Arriving through the flight of years, the two of us - working together, laughing together, growing together - knowing one another as well as any two persons ever could.
And then, the first few strand of white - yet, the mellowing of spirit, the maturing of thought - a glowing sense of satisfaction - a sense of accomplishment.
The train of thoughts chugs on and on.....
Yet, will you ever know ?
Will you ever understand ?
I wonder............
For years now, I have been thinking of you - no, not always, but off and on - like pleasant dreams which one likes to recall - which bring traces of a smile to ones lips - a light headed feeling of suppressed joy.
Years roll on, but memories linger. Like the time we first met - and talked. It was I who blushed, wasn't it ? Well yet another incident to recall with a smile !
How soon we became friends ! College days - the fun, the studies, the heady spirit - indelible images printed in the mind for life. The innumerable times I would snatch a look at you - in class. The times when we would often be in a group - and yet I, would be so far away, alone with you. The days when I would look at you, and in silence let you know how much I love you. Days when I wished I could pour out my feelings for you - tell you how much I care - how much I wished to keep you happy always - to take your share of pain from you.
Time flies, doesn't it ?
The night sky appears beckoning. The beauty of a million stars and the silver moonlight spilling into the balcony, seems to wash us in a sea of love. There is not a question asked - not a word spoken. Just you and me and a sense of tranquility. just two little travellers going on and on in the journey of life, with no-one for support but us.
Yeah, the journey of life - past a few rusty towns, past a few hillocks and probably mountains too - but passing many a beautiful meadows, plains extending for miles and miles, a lot of beautiful gardens with bright sunshine and scaling many a summit of joy !
Where is our destination ? Where does the road lead ? - It hardly matters as long as you are with me.
Arriving through the flight of years, the two of us - working together, laughing together, growing together - knowing one another as well as any two persons ever could.
And then, the first few strand of white - yet, the mellowing of spirit, the maturing of thought - a glowing sense of satisfaction - a sense of accomplishment.
The train of thoughts chugs on and on.....
Yet, will you ever know ?
Will you ever understand ?
I wonder............
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Thoughts Of Another Day....
My college just disappeared...... just read somewhere that R.E.C Durgapur has now become N.I.T Durgapur....... just does not have the same tone as "R.E College..... R.E.College" - as the conductors in those amazingly packed mini-buses would shout..... everytime I close my eyes to think of those days, a smile unfailingly breaks out in my face..... just pulled out a small mock-ad that I had done for our R.E.College in those days..... and its as if it was just yesterday again......
A college is not just another place to study in.
Its a temple to the human spirit.
A place that releases the best in you.
REGIONAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE, DURGAPUR
Like when you stroll through our sprawling
grounds - the Lords & the Oval
Like when you experience what freedom is
sitting at Jupes, Canteen or Samrat.
Like when you form friendships that
you know will last a lifetime
Like when you spend quite moments in our library
Or feel the sweat running down your face
as you work out in our gymnasium.
We can go on and on and on......
But well, some things are to be experienced
...................not just told or heard about !
R.E.C DURGAPUR
.......... not just a college, a temple
.......... not just an institution, an experience !!
A college is not just another place to study in.
Its a temple to the human spirit.
A place that releases the best in you.
REGIONAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE, DURGAPUR
Like when you stroll through our sprawling
grounds - the Lords & the Oval
Like when you experience what freedom is
sitting at Jupes, Canteen or Samrat.
Like when you form friendships that
you know will last a lifetime
Like when you spend quite moments in our library
Or feel the sweat running down your face
as you work out in our gymnasium.
We can go on and on and on......
But well, some things are to be experienced
...................not just told or heard about !
R.E.C DURGAPUR
.......... not just a college, a temple
.......... not just an institution, an experience !!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Till We Meet Again.....
This was a small note that I had penned while in B-school for the batch of 98, when they were passing out of college. Some of the folks liked it so much that they got this printed in a small note and pasted it on the momento boxes that were given out. Few things give me the kind of high that seeing my words in print do. This was one such time.........
Its a small world.....
Of different stations,
But criss-crossing paths;
Today we are together,
Tomorrow you take your way;
In between we share our memories,
A collage of feelings, thoughts & experiences
Until the time is ripe,
For our paths to cross again;
Until the time is ripe,
To say Hello again......farewell
Its a small world.....Of different stations,
But criss-crossing paths;
Today we are together,
Tomorrow you take your way;
In between we share our memories,
A collage of feelings, thoughts & experiences
Until the time is ripe,
For our paths to cross again;
Until the time is ripe,
To say Hello again......farewell
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
The Journey Is The Destination
This was a poem that I had written for my wife when we were in college. We were very much in love with each other, but being two such different people, we did take our time to find a common tune. This was on one such occassion when we had moved apart - and were tentatively trying to find a way back again...to each other.
If I am I,
And You are you,
Yet in being so,
If I am hurting you,
Should the change be in me ?
Or should it be in you ?
Is this 'compromising' ?
Or is it 'adjusting' ?
Or are these just two complex words,
To indicate we are 'changing' ?
Two people haven't loved,
Who haven't fought before.
There never was a love,
That didn't hurt before.
Perhaps in so 'changing',
We discover ourselves once more,
Moving beyond the "You" and "I",
To find "Us" for evermore.
If I am I,And You are you,
Yet in being so,
If I am hurting you,
Should the change be in me ?
Or should it be in you ?
Is this 'compromising' ?
Or is it 'adjusting' ?
Or are these just two complex words,
To indicate we are 'changing' ?
Two people haven't loved,
Who haven't fought before.
There never was a love,
That didn't hurt before.
Perhaps in so 'changing',
We discover ourselves once more,
Moving beyond the "You" and "I",
To find "Us" for evermore.
All in the game
Flash back to REC days again...... those happy-go-lucky times, that was mostly one long holiday - with the occassional formality from time to time of having to give exams.... I was mostly a decent student when it came to academics...... but one paper which still gives me the chills when I think of it, was "Structural Engineering"..... that hieroglyphic maze of bending moment and shear force diagrams...urgh.....one paper that refused to be mastered with one night of night-out and cramming......and so, the inevitable happened - I actually failed the paper and had to redo it again.....in engineering college jargon, it was called - getting a suppli ..... something generally pretty dreadful.....but the most serious of situations sometimes also affords us a laugh, like it happened to me..... read on......
Life is a roller coaster - at times carrying us to those blissful peaks of ecastacy, but at times, plunging us to the abysmal depths of depression and dejection - with its all enveloping darkness and gloom. A realm where grey often appears black and a smirk often seems a sneer.
But yet, as the prophets of yesterday would often tell us - that old worn out cliche - "If you can smile at life, life will smile back at you". The minute we see the humour in our often lugubrious predicament, the dark clouds of gloom suddenly seem to lift, ushering in the rays of hope and taking the impossible into the realms of possibility.
Failing in a subject in exams may not exactly be most peoples' idea of humour. It wasn't mine either - not until I had an experience of what it really felt like.
The next day after the fateful news broke, I got up as usual. Sleep for me was the ultimate narcotic, blurring the immediate future, wiping clean the past. The first half an hour of each day hence sees me more as a mechanical zombie going through the motions, rather than as a thinking, feeling person.
It was in this state that I made to proceed towards the students mess, my eyelids yet to cover half the distance up, when one of my friends came up behind me.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, drew near, with a voice laced with emotion, bordering on grief, he whispered, "Arun, I'm sorry". My sleepy mind raced to attention. One part of it had already raced ahead, "There hasn't been an earthquake, back home in Bangalore, has there ?" I thought. "Why, what happened ?" I gasped, almost impatiently.
He gave me a look usually reserved for the kith and kin of the deceased and then almost mournfully said, "I heard about your suppli, yaar".
I couldn't help but console him. I took his hands in mine and said, "Its okay, it'll soon be over". "But why you ?", he asked. "It happens", I said, and then almost as a justification, "What else do you expect if a person takes Structures with a nights preparation ?", "Anyways, forget it, yaar". But he persisted, "And of all the professors, it had to be this person only ?" "He does not pass guys easily".
By then, I had started feeling genuine pity for him. With all the re-assuarance I could muster, I told him once again, "Look, its okay. So what if its him ? If I perform well, hes got to pass me, right ?"
He still didn't look too convinced. He was still giving me the "sacrificial goat" look, and if I had probably tried hard, I might have probably spotted the beginnings of a tear too. Anyhow, he gave me two quick raps on the shoulder, said "All the best", and a trifle sadly, walked on. "Don't worry", I shouted back to him as I walked on.
It was soon after, that the humour of this peculiar role reversal struck me, and I burst out laughing in the mess. "What happened ?" my friends around me asked.
"Nothing" I said, "I got a suppli" !!
Life is a roller coaster - at times carrying us to those blissful peaks of ecastacy, but at times, plunging us to the abysmal depths of depression and dejection - with its all enveloping darkness and gloom. A realm where grey often appears black and a smirk often seems a sneer.
But yet, as the prophets of yesterday would often tell us - that old worn out cliche - "If you can smile at life, life will smile back at you". The minute we see the humour in our often lugubrious predicament, the dark clouds of gloom suddenly seem to lift, ushering in the rays of hope and taking the impossible into the realms of possibility.
Failing in a subject in exams may not exactly be most peoples' idea of humour. It wasn't mine either - not until I had an experience of what it really felt like.
The next day after the fateful news broke, I got up as usual. Sleep for me was the ultimate narcotic, blurring the immediate future, wiping clean the past. The first half an hour of each day hence sees me more as a mechanical zombie going through the motions, rather than as a thinking, feeling person.
It was in this state that I made to proceed towards the students mess, my eyelids yet to cover half the distance up, when one of my friends came up behind me.
He placed a hand on my shoulder, drew near, with a voice laced with emotion, bordering on grief, he whispered, "Arun, I'm sorry". My sleepy mind raced to attention. One part of it had already raced ahead, "There hasn't been an earthquake, back home in Bangalore, has there ?" I thought. "Why, what happened ?" I gasped, almost impatiently.
He gave me a look usually reserved for the kith and kin of the deceased and then almost mournfully said, "I heard about your suppli, yaar".
I couldn't help but console him. I took his hands in mine and said, "Its okay, it'll soon be over". "But why you ?", he asked. "It happens", I said, and then almost as a justification, "What else do you expect if a person takes Structures with a nights preparation ?", "Anyways, forget it, yaar". But he persisted, "And of all the professors, it had to be this person only ?" "He does not pass guys easily".
By then, I had started feeling genuine pity for him. With all the re-assuarance I could muster, I told him once again, "Look, its okay. So what if its him ? If I perform well, hes got to pass me, right ?"
He still didn't look too convinced. He was still giving me the "sacrificial goat" look, and if I had probably tried hard, I might have probably spotted the beginnings of a tear too. Anyhow, he gave me two quick raps on the shoulder, said "All the best", and a trifle sadly, walked on. "Don't worry", I shouted back to him as I walked on.
It was soon after, that the humour of this peculiar role reversal struck me, and I burst out laughing in the mess. "What happened ?" my friends around me asked.
"Nothing" I said, "I got a suppli" !!
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Hasta La Vista
Had written this small piece when we were on the verge of passing out of B-school...... like in every institution, the expreiences & memories for me, of those days - are a mixed bag..... with the biggest positive ofcourse, being that I found my wife studying in the same batch as me :-) .... and for that one reason itself - XIM will always hold special memories......
Here I get off my friend,
Its been nice knowing you.
We've shared the trip, we've swapped our tales,
We shared some joy and sorrow too.
At times we didn't see eye-to-eye,
It was perhaps the age, perhaps the height ?
And yet, here we are - the destination,
Or perhaps you go ahead some more ?
Good luck dear friend - God be with you,
Perhaps you can drop in a line ?
Until someday our paths shall cross again,
And we can swap our stories once more.
Here I get off my friend,Its been nice knowing you.
We've shared the trip, we've swapped our tales,
We shared some joy and sorrow too.
At times we didn't see eye-to-eye,
It was perhaps the age, perhaps the height ?
And yet, here we are - the destination,
Or perhaps you go ahead some more ?
Good luck dear friend - God be with you,
Perhaps you can drop in a line ?
Until someday our paths shall cross again,
And we can swap our stories once more.
A dream to live by....
This was me in the growing up years...... I've always believed in the "someone somewhere waiting for you" line...... life seemed so much more hopeful and positive that way.... but then, there were those days, when the wait seemed endless ,,,,, and I had to really try hard to continue to believe....... 
What is it that I am searching for ?
What is it that I am chasing ?
Like a mirage that moves on and on,
A shadow that is haunting.
Like a dress of golden sunlight,
Sand blown through my fingers.
Here for a moment and gone again,
Very much mine and still not quite....
Will there ever be a "someone special" ?
A fairy come wafting by ?
To touch me with her caring ways,
To put the sparkle in my life ?
Someone to share my joys, my pain,
My laughter, my jokes, my tales.
Someone to talk to through the night,
And someone to wake up to with a smile.
What is it that I am searching for ?What is it that I am chasing ?
Like a mirage that moves on and on,
A shadow that is haunting.
Like a dress of golden sunlight,
Sand blown through my fingers.
Here for a moment and gone again,
Very much mine and still not quite....
Will there ever be a "someone special" ?
A fairy come wafting by ?
To touch me with her caring ways,
To put the sparkle in my life ?
Someone to share my joys, my pain,
My laughter, my jokes, my tales.
Someone to talk to through the night,
And someone to wake up to with a smile.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Animal Talk
All animals talk.....if only we could understand !! Every morning as I step out of my house - I hear dogs barking nearby, birds crying out in the distance, an occasional cat who purrs by as he quickly rushes on and sometimes the plaintive long bellow of a cow or buffalo on the roads. So much of converstaion all around, it really is a talkative world !!
For those of us who call Bangalore home though, no animal sound can be more familiar than the soporific, persistent droning of mosquitoes - who despite all our clumsy swishes and swats, refuse to be discouraged.
A number of times - lying alone in my bed, I have wondered how it would be if only we could understand these animals talk....if only mankind could break through this last existing language barrier !! I've always suspected - that these mosquitoes in particular are not so dumb, helpless and pre-historic as they make themselves out to be. Anyone whos experienced the worst of Bangalore mosquitoes - like me, will tell you - the attack sometimes seems so beautifully co-ordinated and executed....something like the bombing sorties that the airforce folks carry out.
Fast forward to an era where mankind has finally broken this last existing barrier....heres how a report on one such mosquito sortie would sound.....
"The lights went out and the mosquitoes took off, each of them from a seperate base - but soon, they re-grouped, circling the room in concentric circles with gradual descent - splendid, perfect co-ordination !
Machhar-1 had already identified one target, a fat plump boy sleeping on the bed near the window. As Machhar-1 swept down the room, he spotted a second, a swarthy man with an aquiline nose and a short greying beard, lying alongside the door at the western end of the room. He switched on his R/T (receiver-transmitter) ....'Zero one to Pygmalion. We'll attack on a reciprocal course. Follow me at 12 seconds interval. Good luck'. The reconnaissance was over. The attack was on !!
Machhar-1 went into a steep climb and began to turn. Led by Machhar-2, the string of mosquitoes followed and began to orbit over the western approaches of the room. Machhar-1 steadied. The metallic voice of the automatic navigator sounded in its ear phones, 'ok captain... ready when you are'.
Below the panic signals had gone off. There was frantic movement everywhere. People were reaching for their blankets and tugging them on.
Banking steeply, Machhar-1 went into a shallow dive. the target was rising like a grotesque giant as the diving mosquito swept towards it to a pre-determined landing site. By this time the electronic mosquito repeller had already started firing. Machhar-1 swung off course. The RASS (Rapid randon site scanner) had already identified another landing site..... more firing..... automatic Pavlovian reflexes landing almost dead on target. Machhar-1 could feel the sweat running down its face as it listened to the navigators instructions, 'Right skipper, right..... hold it there'. the mosquito made a clean landing - siphon pumps almost immediately drawing out.
'Smooth landing captain.....siphon pumps operating......full throttle..... intake 1 microlitre per second..... early warning systems on full alert.......radar scanners in operation.....' it was the navigator again.
The mosquito was bracketed in several swishes and swats for seemingly endless seconds. then once again, the navigator yelled, 'capacity reached. Siphon pumps being withdrawn..... early warning sounded.... anti-mosquito missile detected on radar screen..... dead on target.... angular velocity 15 cms/ second..... coming in from 58 N 36 S....... drift captain drift' Machhar-1 went on a lateral shift, cleverly out of range of the incoming swat missile and then reared up like a frightened horse as the reflex slammed home, right on their landing site. Bathed in sweat, machhar-1 switched on the R/T again...'Zero one to Pygmalion....in you go'.....the attack continued."
A pretty interesting plausible scenario - isn't it ? ..... On the lighter side heres a teaser I heard : "What did one male elephant tell another as a female (elephant) passed by ?"
ANS : "Wow !! thats a perfect 350-365-365" !!
So the next time you hear an animal talk ..... listen closely, jokes - laughs and conversations are indeed everywhere !!!
For those of us who call Bangalore home though, no animal sound can be more familiar than the soporific, persistent droning of mosquitoes - who despite all our clumsy swishes and swats, refuse to be discouraged.
A number of times - lying alone in my bed, I have wondered how it would be if only we could understand these animals talk....if only mankind could break through this last existing language barrier !! I've always suspected - that these mosquitoes in particular are not so dumb, helpless and pre-historic as they make themselves out to be. Anyone whos experienced the worst of Bangalore mosquitoes - like me, will tell you - the attack sometimes seems so beautifully co-ordinated and executed....something like the bombing sorties that the airforce folks carry out.
Fast forward to an era where mankind has finally broken this last existing barrier....heres how a report on one such mosquito sortie would sound.....
"The lights went out and the mosquitoes took off, each of them from a seperate base - but soon, they re-grouped, circling the room in concentric circles with gradual descent - splendid, perfect co-ordination !
Machhar-1 had already identified one target, a fat plump boy sleeping on the bed near the window. As Machhar-1 swept down the room, he spotted a second, a swarthy man with an aquiline nose and a short greying beard, lying alongside the door at the western end of the room. He switched on his R/T (receiver-transmitter) ....'Zero one to Pygmalion. We'll attack on a reciprocal course. Follow me at 12 seconds interval. Good luck'. The reconnaissance was over. The attack was on !!
Machhar-1 went into a steep climb and began to turn. Led by Machhar-2, the string of mosquitoes followed and began to orbit over the western approaches of the room. Machhar-1 steadied. The metallic voice of the automatic navigator sounded in its ear phones, 'ok captain... ready when you are'.
Below the panic signals had gone off. There was frantic movement everywhere. People were reaching for their blankets and tugging them on.
Banking steeply, Machhar-1 went into a shallow dive. the target was rising like a grotesque giant as the diving mosquito swept towards it to a pre-determined landing site. By this time the electronic mosquito repeller had already started firing. Machhar-1 swung off course. The RASS (Rapid randon site scanner) had already identified another landing site..... more firing..... automatic Pavlovian reflexes landing almost dead on target. Machhar-1 could feel the sweat running down its face as it listened to the navigators instructions, 'Right skipper, right..... hold it there'. the mosquito made a clean landing - siphon pumps almost immediately drawing out.
'Smooth landing captain.....siphon pumps operating......full throttle..... intake 1 microlitre per second..... early warning systems on full alert.......radar scanners in operation.....' it was the navigator again.
The mosquito was bracketed in several swishes and swats for seemingly endless seconds. then once again, the navigator yelled, 'capacity reached. Siphon pumps being withdrawn..... early warning sounded.... anti-mosquito missile detected on radar screen..... dead on target.... angular velocity 15 cms/ second..... coming in from 58 N 36 S....... drift captain drift' Machhar-1 went on a lateral shift, cleverly out of range of the incoming swat missile and then reared up like a frightened horse as the reflex slammed home, right on their landing site. Bathed in sweat, machhar-1 switched on the R/T again...'Zero one to Pygmalion....in you go'.....the attack continued."
A pretty interesting plausible scenario - isn't it ? ..... On the lighter side heres a teaser I heard : "What did one male elephant tell another as a female (elephant) passed by ?"
ANS : "Wow !! thats a perfect 350-365-365" !!
So the next time you hear an animal talk ..... listen closely, jokes - laughs and conversations are indeed everywhere !!!
Poetry in the mundane
Heres a really creative piece of poetry that I came across - don't know who the author is - but he seems to have found music in the seemingly mundane activity of typing (probably using a typewriter ?).....
wacka wacka bang splat tick tick hash
Caret quote back tick $ $ dash
Bang splat = at $ underscore
% splat wacka wacka tilde no.4
Ampersand ( ) ( ) dot dot slash
Vertcal bar, curly bracket
comma comma CRASH
wacka wacka bang splat tick tick hash
Caret quote back tick $ $ dash
Bang splat = at $ underscore
% splat wacka wacka tilde no.4
Ampersand ( ) ( ) dot dot slash
Vertcal bar, curly bracket
comma comma CRASH
Things You Didn't Do
This is a touching piece of poetry I came across in a very nice book that I recently read - "Living, Loving & Learning" by Leo.F.Buscaglia. We so very often put away for another day - telling the people we love that we really do care..... perhaps being expressive is not so macho ?.... or perhaps its the Indian middle class values of not being expressive with our love, that comes in the way..... for all such of us (and we are plenty !!).....this poem touches a chord.
Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car
And dented it ?
I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I dragged you to the beach,
And you said it would rain, and it did ?
I thought you'd say, "I told you so".
But you didn't.
Do you remember the time I flirted with all the guys,
To make you jealous, and you were ?
I thought you'd leave me, but you didn't.
Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry pie,
All over your car rug ?
I thought you'd hit me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I forgot to tell you,
The dance was formal & you showed up in jeans ?
I thought you'd drop me, but you didn't.
Yes, there were lots of things you didn't do.
But you put up with me, you loved me
And you protected me.
There were lots of things that I wanted to make up
To you when you returned from vietnam.
But you didn't.
Remember the day I borrowed your brand new car
And dented it ?
I thought you'd kill me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I dragged you to the beach,
And you said it would rain, and it did ?
I thought you'd say, "I told you so".
But you didn't.
Do you remember the time I flirted with all the guys,
To make you jealous, and you were ?
I thought you'd leave me, but you didn't.
Do you remember the time I spilled strawberry pie,
All over your car rug ?
I thought you'd hit me, but you didn't.
And remember the time I forgot to tell you,
The dance was formal & you showed up in jeans ?
I thought you'd drop me, but you didn't.
Yes, there were lots of things you didn't do.
But you put up with me, you loved me
And you protected me.
There were lots of things that I wanted to make up
To you when you returned from vietnam.
But you didn't.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Love it when its raining !!
Rains....just the thought - often brings a hint of a smile to my lips.....rains, as in dark clouds, as in being curled up in bed with a nice book and hot Horlicks, as in the smell of freshness, as in the soothing pitter-patter on window panes, as in Raj Kapoor and Nargis under one umbrella.....I really do love it when its raining !!
I love to watch the rain,
The soft and tender rain,
Teeny weeny drops,
Coming miles and miles and miles.
Hey little chaps, do I know you ?
That you come to meet me so ?
Sending a chill up my spine,
As you hug me so.....
The swaying of the trees,
The chirping of the birds,
Somewhere up over there,
Theres a magician at work !
The smell of the soil,
The patter of the rain,
The distant rumbling thunder,
Following the silver streaks of light.
Tender little drops,
Collected drop by drop with care,
Sent down to earth for me,
With a bountiful hand.
Oh how I love the rain !
The soft and tender rain,
Teeny weeny drops,
Coming miles and miles and miles.
I love to watch the rain,
The soft and tender rain,
Teeny weeny drops,
Coming miles and miles and miles.
Hey little chaps, do I know you ?
That you come to meet me so ?
Sending a chill up my spine,
As you hug me so.....
The swaying of the trees,
The chirping of the birds,
Somewhere up over there,
Theres a magician at work !
The smell of the soil,
The patter of the rain,
The distant rumbling thunder,
Following the silver streaks of light.
Tender little drops,
Collected drop by drop with care,
Sent down to earth for me,
With a bountiful hand.
Oh how I love the rain !
The soft and tender rain,
Teeny weeny drops,
Coming miles and miles and miles.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Some time, with me
Its not often that I get to do this - and these days, has become increasingly difficult - to find that time just alone, pondering, thinking, dreaming.....but every once in a while, the cancerian part of me craves to do just this.....
I want to be alone, with me.
Want to spend some time, with me.
To spend some time gazing,
To spend some time thinking,
To spend some time......
In solitude with me.
I want some time in silence,
Some time in utter isolation,
To be, alone with me.
Some time to spend dreaming,
To listen to my heart beating......
Some time, all alone, just with me.
I want to go deep within,
To a place so serene,
With not the slightest bother or care.
To live, just the way I want,
At just the pace I please,
With not a soul around.......
But me.
I want to be alone, with me.Want to spend some time, with me.
To spend some time gazing,
To spend some time thinking,
To spend some time......
In solitude with me.
I want some time in silence,
Some time in utter isolation,
To be, alone with me.
Some time to spend dreaming,
To listen to my heart beating......
Some time, all alone, just with me.
I want to go deep within,
To a place so serene,
With not the slightest bother or care.
To live, just the way I want,
At just the pace I please,
With not a soul around.......
But me.
Walk with me....
This was me - in my college years - ever the perennial romantic, looking to the stars - and wondering, is "that" special person in my life also looking at the same star at the same time ? And when she does - does she wonder about meeting me ?
Walking down the years,
Dreaming every day,
Hoping every minute,
To come across YOU.
Sharing our lives,
Living our dreams,
Walking through clouds,
Being with you.
Through thick and through thin,
Through laughter, through pain,
You by me and me by you,
Forever young - forever true.
Do you see my dreams ?
Do you feel my thoughts ?
Do you think of me,
As I do of you ?
Walking down the years,
Dreaming every day,
Hoping every minute,
To come across YOU.
Sharing our lives,
Living our dreams,
Walking through clouds,
Being with you.
Through thick and through thin,
Through laughter, through pain,
You by me and me by you,
Forever young - forever true.
Do you see my dreams ?
Do you feel my thoughts ?
Do you think of me,
As I do of you ?
Sunday, September 03, 2006
A new dawn
I've always had a special relationship with God - I've always spoken to him like he was a friend who listens and often helps.....and in strange unexplainable ways - I've always felt that he does answer in some funny ways...........
With tears in my eyes,
And a fractured heart,
I knelt before God one day,
"Oh God, my Lord, my Father in heaven",
"Why do this to me ?" I cried.
My God was quiet, perhaps asleep,
For not a word in comfort did he say,
And thus in my thoughts, when I was lost,
Came a voice - loud, clear and near.
"Hey Jesus ! Is this God ?" I thought,
But then, the voice seemed familiar,
And all of a sudden it occured to me,
It was "THE NEWS", by Gitanjali Iyer !
"A hundred killed, thousands homeless",
"Children on the streets", she said.
"Hungry stomachs and outstretched hands"
Well, problems everywhere.
It was then that something clicked inside,
And a voice inside me, asked me -
If your fates as bad as you think,
Would you care to swap places, my friend ?
Suddenly everything seemed so changed,
The world no longer gloomy,
Perhaps it was my sleepy God at work,
Or was it some change in me ?
With tears in my eyes,
And a fractured heart,
I knelt before God one day,
"Oh God, my Lord, my Father in heaven",
"Why do this to me ?" I cried.
My God was quiet, perhaps asleep,
For not a word in comfort did he say,
And thus in my thoughts, when I was lost,
Came a voice - loud, clear and near.
"Hey Jesus ! Is this God ?" I thought,
But then, the voice seemed familiar,
And all of a sudden it occured to me,
It was "THE NEWS", by Gitanjali Iyer !
"A hundred killed, thousands homeless",
"Children on the streets", she said.
"Hungry stomachs and outstretched hands"
Well, problems everywhere.
It was then that something clicked inside,
And a voice inside me, asked me -
If your fates as bad as you think,
Would you care to swap places, my friend ?
Suddenly everything seemed so changed,
The world no longer gloomy,
Perhaps it was my sleepy God at work,
Or was it some change in me ?
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