16: Dusting mah life..!!!

Weekend time approaches … and we often hear “folks... What on weekend?? What’s on ur mind????”

Ahem…well, expecting decent replies to it…I assume most of us would either answer with - a short trip along with friends or family… or might go on shopping spree … or might just go about watching plays in theatres or movie … or some might just cook to their hearts content and enjoy the delicacies, etc. That is, the possibilities are abundant …and finally, there is also one such activity that, we females are too fond of, which we are totally paranoid about… No man...not the beauty treatments … its DUSTING!!!

Dusting the furniture, dusting the table tops, dusting the couch, dusting the vases, dusting the center table…phew!!! We act like programmed robots when weekends arrive!!! Our aim for Sunday is almost always to achieve a spank clean house in fear that someone might drop in anytime and see the cluttered stuff!!!! We toil for so long …sometimes even stretching to last drop of energy in the body that we finish the rest of the day only sleeping and resting!!!

And finally, as the day nears closure we often question… Where did the time go???

I didn’t write a single word, nor did I listen to my favorite music…. I didn’t catch up with my friends either...I had planed so many things for this weekend but I ended up only dusting my life!!!

 On weekdays I spend time listening to bosses, making decisions, slogging at workplace, making the code work and what I did on the weekends was slog even more!!!!

We often in life get entangled in typical loser announcements of: “Where is the time to do what we really want to do...?” but is it really, the time which is culprit or our so programmed human brain and psyche???

Is this that, I wanted to do in my life??? NO…NEVER!!!!

I wanted to write poetries, wanted to sit idly staring at periwinkles admiring them… I wanted to plant lilies in my garden… wanted to go trekking in Himalayas…at least go to nearby resort and spa center to relax and rejuvenate ….I wanted to relax on couch reading and sipping coffee…

But where did my weekend go????

We often spend much of the time beautifying the externalities that, we feel people recognize us with, in process often forgetting the fact that it’s in fact the soul made up of likes and dislikes, hobbies and activities, contributions and participations that gets etched in human psyche!!!

Lot of self introspection led me to realize  that people who mattered to me  dropped in at my home not to check the maker of my couch, color of my walls or my  new curtains… but they dropped in to know what was I upto? What is it that is keeping me busy these days??? What more hilariously funny I did in recent times... What is it that made me blue in this week…on and on!!!!

They knew me more for my dancing, for my writing, for my one-liner filmy dialogues, for my sometimes absolute nonsense concepts … yet they would drop in to know more of me… yes ME!!! Not about non living things that I owned or possessed. Nowhere my dusting the couch got appreciated nor got my dusting the tables noticed…!!!! But my first try at driving did…my first try at salsa did… my first try at still photography did… my first try at film making did…. My first try at cooking did..!!!!

Not all reactions were positive, what with cooking being low on score… but my folks had curiosity listening to it..!!!! They wanted to laugh to their heart’s content, they wanted to give their expert opinions… they wanted to try too…!!! Most important they wanted to live that moment with me…!!!

Life is all about living, spreading and cherishing…they made me realize it!!! And slowly the paranoid in me stopped getting panic attacks with the announcement of the “guest time”!

Now DUSTING is no longer my aim... but an activity that comes with the tag “should be done or not …left at individual’s discretion”.

Indeed life is all about how much you SCATTER… than GATHER..!!!! :D

(btw.. just out of curiosity... when we clean our furntiture and house... why is it , that we call it ... DUSTING??? wherein we actually are cleaning it..!!! :P :P :P)

15: One should always have dreams..

"Dreams are free.. go grab one... and no harm in helping someone grab one too..."

14: India Shining...

Am I proud to be Indian??? YES I AM !!!

Why? For I was born here?

Or for all the achievements by people like A R Rehman, Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Kalpan Chawla, Saina Nehwal, Ambani Brothers, Vishwanathan Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Freida Pinto and  by organizations like  Force India team, IPL League???

Or because, amongst all the economies that got affected during the global meltdown in 2008-2009, one economy which made the quickest recovery is Indian Economy???

Or because Indians today are far reached in each field you may name , then be it Technology, Astronomy, Metals like Steel, Showbiz, Medical sector, Economy and number of economists that it boasts off, Travel and Tourism -with one of the wonders of world hailing from our motherland, Entrepreneurs, Startups,  Fashion Industry, Our jump till Oscars, Sports???

 NO… but because this land taught me what courtesy means! What help means! What gratitude means! And above all, what being a human means!!! It’s this country that taught me to bow in respect, to feel gratitude in return of help, to appreciate every appreciable thing, to show and practice courtesy and yes, it also equipped me with the power of forgiveness!!!

Like any other country, yes, we too have demons that we are fighting against, we to have problems like Poverty, Corruption, Terrorism to deal with. But, we are making concrete efforts. A country becomes outstanding not by proclaiming itself but by actions towards betterment. We may take time in process but we Indians comprising of almost 1 Billion odd people is huge force that can change the course of the world!!!

Each country has achievements to boast off, but what I am more proud of is the culture & traditions of my motherland, which taught me to be righteous and true in whatever I do in my life. A recent article published in Evening standard further goes to strengthen my belief...







Three cheers to India and its People...!!!!

13: Life explained in one line...

" Its the possibility of having a dream come true... that makes life interesting!!! "

-Paulo Coelho

12: The Speaking Tree....expanding horizons...

The biggest bonanza news of the last week was the launch of special edition of the speaking tree, a weekly newspaper that is started by TOI every Sunday. I was over the moon and my happiness knew no bounds on learning this news. A weekly article residing at the corner of the editorial page to whole weekly newspaper, this piece of literature has grown literally. Needless to say this weekend went amazingly with speaking tree in one hand and coffee in the other. It consisted of 8 full pages of articles that can made me to think, made me to act, at times made me to ponder, as to, am I really on the right track??? And at the same time, it showed the true face of society –full of dark lines, dark circles, patchy skin, acne, few glowing patches and pleasant dimples if any.

My connection with words and language had never stemmed from newspaper..!!!! I was always the one good at math and my brother was always the one good at languages especially English! He used to love reading, and reading and reading… and I used to get sick of reading, at times I even slept within moments of reading 10 lines. That was my way of honoring the writers –what with their writing putting me to sleep, there was no need of Restil (sleeping pill) ever! But one day my bro had got a book titled-“Maya” by Gayatri Prabhu. It was a story of an exceptional girl, who had only questions in her mind, and mind you questions which can baffle you and at times irritate you. Even I am awestruck as to how could I read that book completely??? It was the gripping piece of story-telling that fascinated me to the core. I felt an instant connect with Maya. It’s not that I question so much or I irritate people (at least I feel so that I don’t) but still, I felt the need to go till the end with every single page that I read of it… My brother kept on adding books to his collection and in process I went berserk reading them and wowing them.

Books one can still imagine but newspaper..??? “Gosh, so boring!!!” I used exclaim every time anyone made me to read it. My Mom tried, my dad kind of compelled but to no avail. And then one day I happened to come across an article in the editorial page of TOI and it was without any doubt “the speaking tree “article. There was an instant connect again…it left an indelible mark on my mind, body and soul. It didn’t preach religion, it didn’t ask me to believe in god … it just went on putting forth the ideas that were positive and true in any religion you may consider. It preached truth and differentiated the good from the bad.

And now after being a loyal speaking tree fan for so many years, I am totally thrilled to see speaking tree- speak out through so many different articles and authors with a weekly newspaper. It talks about the philosophies, beliefs and values of the past - and their relevance today. It encompasses reverence for a universal religion and love, and exhorts people to take refuge in spirituality to alleviate stress and resolve conflict in their lives. It is a step towards attaining purity of the mind, body and soul through introspection and through adopting traditional values. Complex, is it? Well… grab this newspaper and you shall see what simplicity I am talking about..!!!!

11: Man with a mapping resume

Who would have ever imagined that google maps can be so versatile that they can actually be ur face while world judges you..!!!!

Ed Hamilton -a copywriter from Brave has just achieved it. And I feel this is by far the best expression of creativity and information together.

I am sure many many people are gonna imitate him, but hey no harms huh!! never worry about imitating a good thing from others..!!!

It teaches u atleast 2 new things in process...and yes it taught me too...that:-

1) stop shouting from roof-top that I have creativity in me n I am a creative person...

2) start thinkin not just out of box... but outta this universe..!!!

3) better if you start implementing wht you think before someone else executes it and calls it their own idea... :P !!!

hats off to ed..!!! FYI.. Ed's Resume

10: An evening by cutie's side...

You walk around your office desk as usual… you on your pc then read your mails … go for breakfast and continue slogging for another 8 hours or something before retiring for your bus which takes you home.

You get so used to your daily life that it never crosses your mind that maybe there can come a day when you might face an accident..!!!!! Yes a freaking accident… which will turn out to be a pleasant surprise in your life..!!!!

No people… I am not sloshed …nor hallucinating… but sometimes people say right:-“truth is stranger than the fiction” it’s something like that..!!!!

It was not one of the best days of my life… no not at all..!!!! Everything was so stupid awful... The extra slogging to make the code work… the extra cuppa of coffee to keep u sane for all the working hours… and basically all the boring daily details in between!!!

And at the stroke of 6… I finally started from my desk… walking towards my bus that simply doesn’t stop at my workplace … n hence I need to travel (read walk) to other building that is exactly 7  minutes walk away to catch it. Frankly I was tired… very tired!!! I thought I am definitely gone have a sound sleep today in the bus …so I was looking forward to getting a nice window side seat… but people say right.. “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going”… I didn’t get the window seat… Sob …sob..!!!! I retired my bag on secondary (read next to window seat) seat and climbed outta bus to greet my friends from that other building.

All the while my bag was lying beside a kinda college sack … unaware of who owns it!!!!

Time struck 6.30 and I hopped in the bus… seating beside a complete stranger and forever cursing my late starting from the desk for getting such a filthy seat..!!!! Rhea my friend who travels thru same bus service but to some other destination called up… I was surprised since it has been only exactly 73 seconds that I had spoken to her and she needs me again… what’s the matter..??? I picked up the call… and there she was gushing about how lucky I am etc etc... “He looks cute”… stmts..!!!!

I was stumped as to what is she referring…?? Then she made a loud announcement-“look to your left” and in a fraction of second our eyes met…I was bolted outta my reality … he was looking at me… astonished… amazed... Confused … as to whether I was cursing him..???? Before I could open my mouth to clarify he turned his face away… and I was left with my open mouth to stare at his hairs...I saw they were silky and thick black wavy hairs… which enjoyed the evening breeze as he sat in the window seat..!!!

Rhea interrupted my concentration over him… I totally forgot that I was still on line wid her..!!!! She hung up saying:” go on girl have a nice evening by the cutie’s side…”

For another 5 mins after the call I was contemplating whether I should tell him that, no, I wasn’t cursing you at all… but I simple couldn’t gather enough courage to face his deep dark black eyes and tell him that for the fear that I may again be left dumbfounded once he will face me… all the while he kept looking out of the window…. Sob… sob..!!!

With every passing minute I was getting more anxious to speak to him…. And he was so not interested for the reason that he not even once turned his face away from window… and once when he did I found out that he was fast asleep…!!!! : P

Gosh..!!!!! I lost the chance of speaking to such a cutie… all together... I was thinking as to what am I gonna tell Rhea the day after when she is definitely going to ask me about it. And while thinking all this I never realized when I fell asleep as well…. But thankfully I was awake by the time bus approached my bus stop.

With so much disappointment... that I couldn’t even ask his name….I alighted from the bus… and what the heck..!!!!!!! He alighted too..!!!!!

All the thoughts started creeping into my grey matter…. “Does he stay here?”, “Is he following me..??? Wow…”  “How come I never saw him before?”… On and on..!!!! and suddenly I found myself staring at him….wondering whether he will give me glance at least…..

And voila…!!!! He looked at me… with slightly puzzled look… and I simply couldn’t stop myself from asking him:-“so you alight here...?” He smiled a little as if expecting me to open my mouth and said”yea sometimes, when I don’t get my bike...!”

Right from the time I saw him for the first time I was like… man I have seen somewhere before but really couldn’t recollect where..!!! And I don’t know what crossed my mind I said him:-“you know what I have seen you somewhere…!! “And he was again confused this time more out of thought that ‘is she chancemaroing on me..? ‘  And I could sense that. I quickly corrected myself by saying that it’s not the way you r thinking but I have actually seen you somewhere… maybe in some technical training that we must have undergone... and it was later revealed that he was indeed part of some flex training that we had together. So finally … I knew this stranger …. I patted myself in my thoughts saying: - “good memory boss!!!”

And by the time I could ask him anything more my car arrived to screeching halt behind us and off I had to go…

I waved him good bye and wow…I spoke to him… for good 5 minutes and more and what the hell..I still don’t know his name..!!!!!! A complete stranger who didn’t seem to be a stranger … and at the same time a known person who was completely unknown….this paradox was too cute to not blush over it…. And all the while my dad thought I was smiling over some joke on radio….that was being played in the car.

That evening , I am sure that I am never gonna forget... and well today, he is one of my best friends....!!! :D

A friendship that blossomed because of a pleasant accident..!!! :P

9: It was about you...

 

When things were wrong,
And I was right, you believed me..!!!!
When all was down
And nothing seemed alright
You were there to cheer up and frown..!!!!

When I could find no one around
You were the only one to surround..!!!!!

I never pondered why….
Nor did u felt the reason to specify….
Deep down in my heart
You were the only reason
Why I could still smile…..!!!!!!

But the past wasn’t all that rosy
For I was the reason why things weren’t that cozy
I remember the times
When I had everything
And you were there too
Yet there was something
That bothered and made me blue

I would keep thinking about our last meeting…
And couldn’t find anything new
I would keep searching frantically
Till I could find no more clue
And finally I resigned on you
Only to realize that you were so true…

The days have changed
And so am I
And I feel the need
To find the reason why

Amidst all the people I try and try some more
Till I can stand on my toes and find some shore
I again search frantically
Till I get just one clue finally
And I look at you
Still looking in my eyes
Finding the peels of smiles…

And then I curse myself
It was you I was searching for…
It was you I had cared for …
It was you who mattered...
It was you whom I have shattered…!!!!!

Today I question to know the reason why
You were always there no matter
How rude was I
I ask you why was it that
You were always rife….
Only to get a reply…
“It was about “you” …And you know that,  you were my life”!!!!!

8: I shall get back...

Let the world scream at me
I don’t give a damn
Let the world scare me
I wont budge at all
For I am my creator
I am my mentor...
I am my strength and I am my vigor

Let the people play some game
Won’t I be hurt wont I be lame…
The classic D of determination
keeps growing and keeps me sane…

Conspire conspire
and conspire some more…
Till the time you get bore
Neither would I resign
Nor I would be tored…
For here is where I belong …
Here is where I shone…!!!!

With all the guts that I can gather
I look straight at you
With every punch that you throw at me
I shall punch harder and get back too…
Don’t u dare think that I will ever fall
For I am here to rise and make you small

The pains that you gave me shall fade with time
But the scars I guess would never be fine…
But let them be there
For they would remind me of you
Who was only a peril and was never ever fair
But I know
The time shall change
And there shall come a day
Free from your clutches
I would breathe again

The light of that new day
Would make me to sing
And my scars would heal too
And add a little zing
That would be the day to remember
That would be the day to cherish
For the freedom in my voice
Would no longer perish..!!!!

(dedicated on women's day March 8th 2010 - to all the women of the world..!!!!)  cheers to us...