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A nice thought by one of my favourite Marathi writers Va Pu Kale! This quote is part of  Vapurza - a compilation of his thoughts on varied topics.

Life is Like That! 1

Last month was very eventful but I am mentioning two small yet consequential incidents that we could all learn a lesson or two from.

Lady at Saras Baug :
The other day, I was strolling in Saras baug with “A”. After having a long tiring day at work, the best way to unwind is to go to a soothing quiet place and just jabber away about sweet nothings. But evening time is also hunger time. So, as usual I had a feast in the garden while “A” kept a strict commitment with his diet. I had pink cotton candy and juicy cucumbers. One cannot leave Saras Baug without eating Mataki Bhel…So we hunted for a lady who would offer us Mataki Bhel custom-made to suit my requirements (Without farsan or shev and only with natural ingredients). She handed over my special Bhel to me and took a 20 Rs. Note from us which is the usual price of one Bhel. As we were walking away from her stall, she called me back and honestly returned 5 Rs. Since there was no farsan or Shev she did not prefer to charge us for the whole amount. I was touched by her honesty. For the last 2 years I have always asked my Bhel in the same fashion from several vendors in Pune city. But she was the only one who felt the need to charge us for the value that she offered. The 5 Rs that she returned voluntarily would have meant a lot to her considering the fact that she made ends meet by selling Bhel. I was amazed that such honest people still existed in this world.

Man at the Club:
We were planning for yet another evening outing and we decided to camp at “A’s” favorite club in town. We had been planning to go there for several days but had to postpone due to some pressing work or the other. So “A” was happy and so was I that we had finally made it to the club. We were seated on one of the sofas in the porch and were observing people around us. I am not used to such places so I was keenly absorbing the ambience of the club. I spotted an old man with a bunch of ladies. The man who might be in his early 70’s was clicking his fingers cacophonously and loudly to call the waiter. I was alarmed at such harsh display of authority. Even “A” disapproved the old man’s capitalistic gestures of calling the person. Even the waiter looked embarrassed and humiliated. I hope someone does offer the old man a few good words of wisdom and etiquette…or perhaps a simple lesson in humanity….

THANK YOU!

This is a poem dedicated to all who have helped me to hold myself together in my “Not so good days”.

I just want to say a big
THANK YOU

For standing strong - through the arid desert of my testing times
When life was not calling my name
And with every breath – my beaten soul was drifting far away

For infusing life blood
When every ounce of energy had drained
In a longing that was never to be mine

For wiping my weary eyes
When the harmful sandstorms of blames
Brought tears to their dreamlessness

For keeping hope afloat
When every promise drowned in dismay
Killing me for innumerable times

For keeping the candle burning
When the sadness seemed to last for eternity
Even on long dark star-less nights

For bringing back my lost smile
When the meaning of happiness had altered
And I had forgotten the cheerier side of life

For helping me believe in myself
When for days I quit to be me
Because I was afraid of non-conformity

For making my days special
When I waited for all the occasions
Worthlessly for someone to come back

For talking to me tirelessly
When pain didn’t accord me sweet sleep of peace
And tore my dreams into a thousand splinters

For helping me regain the spring in my step
When I couldn’t stand on my own feet
Defeated and desolated by myself

For tracing back my extinct worth
When I was rendered worthless
Good for nothing by the one who was closest of all

For being my support system
When I needed someone to understand and appreciate me
And not judge me by my short-comings

For understanding my failure
When everyone pointed fingers
And did not bother to be considerate

For helping me recover
When I could not get over the mirage of my loss
And kept wandering in search of a respite

Really, thank you for this and everything else
But more importantly……

For Welcoming me back with open arms,
When I thought I had nowhere to go
And it took a while for me to realize that I had finally come back home….

- By Me!

Breaking Through!

The Problem

Old eagle Frank flies with
drooped wings and withered might
Even the gentle touch of zephyr resonates
Sending ripples of pain throughout his body
He vens direly for his once zaftig body
Now a bundle of old bones and feathers
It is time to kowtow to the ruthless time
For he is at the fag end of forty erstwhile years

His claws no longer swiftly grip the fish from the pond
His failing eyesight cannot trace a frail snake or rat from a pinnacle
His carefree sky-bound high- altitude endeavours
Are now limited to a low flight for survival
Trapped in the squelching chains of old age
Tired of being hungry and sick
He decides he had enough of this ruthless mockery of life
And accedes to dive to his own death to put an end to this dismay

Survival of the fittest

He plunges from a cliff, his wings folded
Disconsolate about his wunderkind achievements
Just then he sees on the top of a tree
His old friend Raphael, looking young and happy
Relishing a fish fresh from a pond
There he sits with all his youthful charm
Out Frank stretches his wings and forces himself
To fly to his youthful friend perhaps too older than him

Asks he to the young looking eagle
How do you look so strong and juvenile?
Smiled Raphael, said my friend we are eagles after all
We live our lives in the same patterns for years
Hunting and surviving – exhausting our resources and means
And after completion of forty years, we get our youth back
You will have to toil hard, bear the pain for 90 long days – change everything that you are
And out shall come a new you – young and smart

Ideas for Action: Breaking Through

So Frank toiled hard for the next 90 days
He went to a remote place far up in the hills
He pulled out one claw a day and his feathers with his beak
Blood oozed out of his wounded body
He then allowed his new toes and plumage to grow back
Then he hit his beak on the rocks
Allowed it to break off and bore silently all its pain
Out grew a new beak in a matter of few days

Now, Frank is no longer an old eagle
Who grew tired of his old body and was plunging to his death
We are no eagles, we have no second lives
Yet like them, if we try really hard
We can break out of our old bad habits – and be a new person
It is not inscrutable – to work hard and break free from our comfort confines
To bring in new patterns of positive behaviour and conquer our erroneous zones
After all, it is all about making a decision and putting it into action

On a didactic note like Frank we can rejuvenate our existing lives
We can shed our apprehensions, prejudices and off beam behaviour
We can kill our habits that seek no congruence with the good human beings that we are
We can try to adjust and don a renewed “US” to survive
The world doesn’t see us the way we are, it sees us the way it wants to
So let go of your old behavioural patterns and embrace new progressive changes
Always remember it is never too late and difficult – Nothing is ever impossible
Because, even impossible says I M Possible

- By Me!

I like!

I clicked this photo @ the Rangoli festival @ Chendani Koliwada - Diwali, 2009

This is a sentiment that is close to my heart.

HB!!

Happy Birthday to u!!!
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Return to Innocence!

Children..aren't they the sweetest things!! No matter what state of mind you are in - they always manage to bring back a smile to your face!! Just try doing this!! Have you ever seen children lined up parallel to the railway line..happily waving back to the ignorant passengers of the passing trains!! For once - let go of all inhibitions of how people will judge you and wave back at them....with a simple smile if not over the top alacrity. And see the magic!! Their moon like faces brighten up with this momentary happiness of receiving a positive response to their mirthful anticipation. They keep waving back at you, till your train speeds away farther than their vision can capture!! I am not able to word the way this feels...its a pleasant feeling to make them happy in the most simplest form...like there is a complete different meaning to life other than the infinite materialistic ones we keep chasing about!!!

Life's Big Lesson in a Small Scoop! 10

I am updating this section after a loooooooong gap! It was not that lessons weren't learnt in this span! Infact there were many! Its just that not all of them were drafted here!

Abb padh likh kar kiska bhala hua hai?????

I have a habit (You can call it a bad one) of uttering hackneyed dialogues and making fun of the highly cliched sentiments that our Hindi Cinema evokes @ times - rather ignorantly. One of my favourite one is to babel fish in a typical auntie like monotonous style, " Abb padh likh kar kiska bhala hua hai ?"(Read:Who has benefited out of Education anyways?).

Yesterday I had my Eureka Moment! As me and my hostel mates gathered for our regular late night "girl talks". And our regular bhanksss about films began. I began to utter the same dialogue. And I stopped mid-way. Rather my rational brain forced me to press the STOP button immediately.

"Padh Likh kar Kiska Bhala hua hai ?" My brain re-read, scanned and comprehended the dialogue. The answer came pronto: Mera aur Sabka. This was even more applicable in terms of women. I gulped my curiosity @ that moment and let it lie low for later contemplation. After everyone descended to their slumber the internal ratification began. I am 26 years old. Am independent!(yeah I can finally say that) Inspite of a crash I have landed to the safety of my own feet. Bruised but certainly not broken! And a major portion of the terra-firma beneath my trembling feet(apart from my loved ones) has been provided by no one else but my education.

There are girls in my hostel who have practically come from remote villages in Maharashtra. Some of them can hardly afford a metro-lifestyle. They prefer to walk their way around instead of spending Rs. 3 everyday on the "comfort" of overcrowded PMT Buses. They want to educate themselves and the world around them. They are taking pains of working part time and educating themselves because they understand that in a society that is ruled by the influence of ever-altering political, social and economical scenarios, it is education that will be their backbone.

Education today has stood firmly with many ladies who have absolutely no support in this world. With education comes financial Independence and it further reckons freedom to take individual decisions responsibility.

Just imagine the spate of us Indian women if we were born in an earlier time frame where situation was not conducive for women education. The vicious circle of poverty - early marriage - illiteracy - dependency - destitution would have continued. The anti-women literacy antagonists would have ruled the world and our atrocities as a second sex would have multiplied. Or for that matter even if we were born in a third world country that was not pro-women education and liberation, each day would have been so difficult to live.

I think we Indian women should really be grateful to the doyens of women education like Anandi Bai Joshi, Mahatma Phule & Maharshi Karve etc. It is only because of the relentless efforts of these people that many Indian women are Educated, Independent and Earning a living for themselves today!

What has education provided me??? The answer is simple! EMPOWERMENT- to stare the world in the eye, keep pace with it and challenge it!!!!

I got my answer!
I will never repeat that dialogue again!
I swear!
: )

I like!

Where the mind is without fear and the head held high; Where knowledge is free; Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls; Where words come out from the depth of truth; Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit; Where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action; Into that heaven of freedom,my Father, let my country awake.

.......Rabindranath Tagore

हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

Indeed a very beautiful poem that I came across Today by late Mr. Harivansha Rai Bacchan. The last para holds a very special place in my heart!! It inspires......


लहरों से डरकर नौका पार नहीं होती
हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

नन्ही चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है,
चढ़ती दीवारों पर सौ बार फिसलती है,
मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है,
चढ़कर गिरना,गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है,
आखिर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती ,
कोशिश करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

डुबकियां सिंधु में गोताखोर लगाता है,
जा-जाकर खाली हाथ लौट आता है,
मिलते न सहेज के मोती पानी में,
बहता दूना उत्साह इसी हैरानी में,
मुठ्ठी उसकी खाली हर बार नहीं होती,
हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

असफलता एक चुनौती है स्वीकार करो,
क्या कमी रह गयी,देखो और सुधार करो,
जब तक न सफल हो नींद चैन को त्यागो तुम,
संघर्षों का मैदान छोड़ मत भागो तुम,
कुछ किये बिना ही जय-जयकार नहीं होती,
हिम्मत करने वालों की हार नहीं होती।

-------- Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Emotional Baggage!

Dust away the magnificence of your lost love
And the remainder shall take you by surprise
It will take some time before you decide
Was it really worth what it claimed after all?
Chunk by chunk, piece by piece depleting your life
Snap, brood and the fragility becomes even more conspicuous

There lies among other chaotic paraphernalia
Almost mortal inter-dependence
Broken shards of trust
Foot-trampled self-worth
Dead weeds of lust
Charred remains of loneliness

Among all that command their existence,
Lies the absolute absence of belongingness
All this unwanted excess baggage
Created, Circulated & Carried
for a painstakingly long distance
by the emotional fool called YOU

By Me!

Sepia Tone!

We see the world in the colors of our convenience

No, not by an ethereal chance, more so by a deliberate choice……….

When we are happy, it seems to be all white and bright

And when sadness creeps in, it turns out to be black and dark

Nothing lasts forever, neither time nor situations

Yet we crave for it to be dazzling when in gloom

And spend half of our lives fearing the shadows when it is sunny

While we live and emote in a mechanical world where our perceptions

Are ruled ruthlessly by the despotism of the colors Black and White,

We miss out on the real intangible color of life...

An altering mosaic painted with the hue of bliss and melancholy,

……Cast in a two toned shade of an esoteric sepia grey!!!

........By Me!

Is the Reason to Die Good Enough?

The other day I was browsing thru some of my old School Photographs. Its been 10 long years since I left School. And I spotted a friend. She was a very talented singer and was so intelligent that the school expected her to bag a rank in the merit list. This however did not happen. We met again in XI when we studied at Karnavat Coaching Classes. This girl who was so talented, plunged to her death from her terrace just because she couldn't fare well in her CA Entrance when we were in our First Year B. Com. I am sure it was an impulsive decision. How can someone just give away their life for one trivial bad experience. What I learnt much later was many people are driven to the point of no return and take such random decisions every single day. This is one of My Poems in an effort to change the mind of at least One such person who is on the verge of self-destruction. Because even though life may not please us always but it is a precious gift. No pain or person is deserving enough to sacrifice ones life for. The poem is in 5 parts. Each part symbolizes a different thought process!

This one is dedicated to you my Late Friend! So Long.......

Is the Reason to Die Good Enough?

His Story: Failure
His grades topped him in the high school
And the burden of expectations grew
manifold on him after that…
His marks became the object of his family’s pride
His parent’s beaming ego went on a complete joy ride
But due to his negligence his grades plummeted
And when he flunked his engineering entrance
With dashed hope and the pain of failure being unbearable
He could not meet them but more importantly himself in the eye
And he felt it was a reason good enough for him to die
One morning without anybody’s notice
He plunged to his death from his family home
His home- the place where once his presence
was celebrated was now cast under a pall of gloom
His parents who were left less shocked and more ashamed
Will regret the pressure they put on him all their life
But what was the use to contemplate their actions now
Its better that they swallow their grief and heave a sigh!
For their doomed peer pressure
Spelt a reason good enough for him to die


Her Story: Heart Break
She had everything that could set the ball rolling…
Beauty, intelligence, confidence, education and all
She have had always so many people around her
Waiting to be-friend her for her kindness and charm
Her down to earth sweet demeanor left impressed one and all
She was a different person until she met him in that fall
He floored her with his compassion and swooned her with the beauty of his tall claims
He showed her pink dreams of love and laced them with golden promises of marriage
She drooled over her knight in shining armour
Thought he was the one to bail her out when she was a damsel in distress
Little did she know that he was the guy who would leave her happy heart in a wreck
And walk off to be a prince of someone new, to be with somebody else..
And this was a reason potent enough for her to die
She cried incessantly for she thought nothing worth living was left anymore
She wondered what a fool she was to believe someone
Who could easily breach her trust and forget her instantly like she never existed atall
Then she decided she was too innocent to survive in this cunning world
She sang of Juliet and drank a venomous drink to forever cease her pain
Her prince is happy with his life now….has his new princess in his tow
Her pain and suffering is dead and so is she!
For her ripped to shreds broken heart
accorded her a reason good enough to die

The aftermath


For Him: Coward
He is dead now…He will not return
He will have no opportunity to undo what’s done
He will not see the smile of his loved ones
He will not be a reason to be their pride
No…not any longer
He could have given his life a reprimanding of sort
He could have fared better the next time
Now there is no next time
No…Not any longer
His parents hide their tear-dried face
For every time someone stares at them
They say, these are the people who gave birth to a coward
Who cracked up for one fickle failure which was under his control
When he could have easily given himself another chance…but is it possible now
No…Not any longer


For Her: Futile
She is asleep, her slumber is beyond the recall of time
And she wont get up even if her prince comes by
What was it that she derived out of this reckless abandon of life
A proof of how true her love was or an evidence of sheer cowardice
She couldn’t bear living without someone
Someone whom she never understood that she was better off without
Why give up something as precious as ones life
For someone who doesn’t care even an ounce for it otherwise
If she had wallowed her pain and healed her heart
And lived to see a beautiful day……..
Her life wouldn’t have been a tragedy
but a story of will and strength..
She gave her life for him…
For someone who thought nothing more of it but “Futile”


The Thought: Escapism
Both He and She sought solace in the arms of death
When they could have done so much more…
Instead of turning a deaf ear to the call of life…
They thought these reasons were good enough to die
Because for them
Giving up was much easier than hanging on…………….

The Happiness!

I appreciate good things like

I never did before

And the smallest act of the kindness

In my heart is restored

The earlier you realise the better

Because forgiving is easier

forgetting is very difficult

-By Me!

The Realization!

Of all that exist

Love is the most fickle emotion

Dubious effervescence leaves us blind-folded

And we forget that trust is a cursed virtue

Hardly followed but easily broken

Love accords us beautiful dreams

And when it goes it snatches our peace

Shattering our world and

Leaving our heart as arid as a deserted land




-By Me

The Silence!

Something has somehow stirred inside

And has raised a quiet storm

Words have become priceless

Silently wisdom observes it all

Before it allows me to talk

And takes a moment before

The new-found meanings sink-in


-By Me

The Change!

I stare at me,

The mirror never lies

I see it, I see a change

I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise

Mocking at me in my face

It stands there claiming

flamboyantly to be for my best

Ruthlessly uprooting the

foundations of my most

endearing “I”


- By Me

Status Report!

A thousand stray emotional "bullshit" thoughts.... successfully caught, sealed, locked and parceled to the land of no return....

Status Report:
Heart = Quarantined
Head = Augmented

:)

Just a After Thought.............

Often, we humans tend to loose our precious time and energy sympathising with our wrong past, in the process neglecting the opportunities that the present has to offer thus ultimately jeopardising what the future has in store for us.

........By Me

Overcoming a Dry Spell

Well guys, I am back to what I do best- yappity yapping about sweet (sometimes bitter) nothings on virtual space. Well, to begin with I had so many things on my platter- First the good news is I won the "Miss Tiara Title" at Ritika Ramtri Mam's Course after winning most of the subcontests and got to learn so many different things like public speaking, presentation skills, group-discussion, fine-dining, business etiquette, interviewing skills, confidence building and fine dining. I had to really fret it out as the competition was very tough and the Title was too enticing. Secondly, I suffered from a bout of what they term as the "Writer's Block" where all the ideas almost vapurise like amorphous camphor but am OK now and have bounced back to my happy writing self : ) And lastly, I was completely tied down with work both professional and personal that couldn't squeeze time as exciting new responsibilities were added(That's a lame excuse: but still a "NO CAN DO")
So here I am ready to blog my heart away...Blog dear......Missed you so darn badly!!!