Morning Glory

I have started loving mornings. It’s true that I was always an early bird, but that was because I had to attend school at 7.30. It was more out of compulsion rather than choice. I can't even call myself an owl because I have never stayed awake except when it is something life threatening like my exams or when I am reading Harry Potter.

For a week, I decided to get up early in morning and just sit at the sliding window. No thinking, no contemplating whatsoever. Just picture this- sitting peacefully at the window with piping hot tea and all that you get to hear is……silence. I enjoyed how the wind howled and rustled away the leaves ever so gently. The leaves swirled in harmony, rising and falling in rhythm with nature’s heartbeat. It was their secret dance and I was more than thrilled to have discovered it.

I seriously thought cuckoos are an extinct species at least in cities, but here there was one cuckooing in all its glory perhaps to attract his mate. Seriously the kind of efforts the male species put into wooing……

Well you won’t believe it, but it was so quiet that I could hear the announcements at the railway station! That was the only artificial sound invading the surroundings that time. I am yet to miss the calls of aaji every Sunday morning. She sells Nashik kurmure which she carries in a large plastic gunny bag. For all these years, she has not missed a Sunday and over the period of time I have seen her wrinkles become promienent and her eyes becoming cloudy. I always used to wonder if she had kids or not because it pained me to see her carry the load on her head and hawking in the streets when she should be playing with her grandchildren. Looking at someone else's life, you realise how sorted your own life is.....

The most irritating sight and sound early morning is the Ghanta Gaadi or the garbage truck. All I can see is an overloaded truck ringing across the streets with flies and stench announcing its arrival way before you can see the truck. Not a pleasant sight at all.

But seriously all those late nighters must give this experience a shot once. If you omit the garbage van arrival part, most of the experience seemed to have a pretty calming effect on me. Never knew getting a piece of peace was this easy.

When we risk it all

I have always loved the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ series. The books are a collection of short stories and poems but this poem struck me because of its simplicity. Never before have I read a poem so straight-forward and heart-warming. Kristy Glassen, wherever you are, just want to say- U rock! Thanks Nikki for lending me the book. Pagu and Alias, this one’s for you…………………

WHEN WE RISK IT ALL
We can’t blame others when love dwindles away,
For we knew from the start it never promised to stay.

It’s just one of those things where the stakes are high,
And sometimes it’s forever and sometimes it’s good-bye.

When you love the right way, you will never lose,
No matter what path life may force you to choose.

You may end up with tears or a broken heart,
But you knew what you had signed up from the start.

You can only give what you’ve got to give,
And if that’s not enough, then you must continue to live.

Life will go on and broken hearts will heal,
You must continue on your quest, for that’s the deal.

Throw your heart into life and never stall,
For the greatest risk is to risk nothing at all.

You see, love is the only thing that we know,
That can be divided and divided but continue to grow.

And life isn’t long enough to lock away our heart,
Just because life may have forced two people apart.

We will continue to love and continue to lose,
We will continue to pick and continue to choose.

And then one day we will risk ii all,
Take the chains off our heart and dismantle the wall.

The last time we love will be the forever,
And never again will our hearts be forced to sever.

Will never have doubts that it’ll go away,
Because this time, it’ll be here to stay.

But until then, we must endure all the pain,
For we only see sunshine if we can wait through the rain…….

A thousand deaths to live

It's a materialistic world he said,
For she chose the rich guy instead,
Throwing away the cold metal ring,
He felt something die within.

What a world to be in,
Where cheaters always win,
The winner smirked at him,
he felt something die within,

What a husband to live with,
Who curses me in a drunken fit,
As she braced for his blows thundering,
She felt something die within.

Familiar they may sound,
Times when you hit bottom ground,
When words ain't enough,
To mellow the situation tough.

But this is not the way to live,
It's the way to die,
Coz we have many deaths to live,
Before we get one life worth dying for.

Again pick up that ring,
You might find someone more adoring.
Hit back with a vengeance,
For winning there's yet another chance.
Bid adieu to him forever,
Ushering in a life free of terror.

Coz that was not the way to live,
It was the way to die,
And we have many deaths to live though,
Before we get one life worth dying for.......

Racism of a different kind

Its appalling, to say the least. The recent wave of racist attacks on Indians has shaken everyone badly. Many thought of Australia as a safer destination and with the institutes there wooing Indian students, it was but natural that there would be an influx of the student population. And now you get to here this.

But what intrigued me was the reaction to all this out here. People who discriminate between religion, caste and sub-caste have all come together to raise their voice against racism and have tried to put up a united front. I mean, isn’t that like having double standards? We have had our share of incidents where people are tortured and butchered for belonging to a community considered inferior. And now we raise a hue and cry because some people consider our nationality as inferior.

I am not trying to demean anyone or trying to belittle the situation in Australia, but we Indians seriously need to introspect. For a start, has anyone heard of the proverb ‘Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others’?

I am back......again

This is a classic case of writer’s block. I really am at my wit’s end on what to write for the blog. It has been lying dormant for such a long time that while I was posting this entry (copy and paste from Ms Word), I really wasn’t sure if the blog was valid or not. But now that you can see the post, its working 

Oh well, a lot of things happened in the past few months. To begin with, my class went on an ‘Industrial Visit’ to Delhi and Nainital. Mark those punctuations because as most people are aware of, the industry part of the visit was conveniently avoided. Hehe. It was so much fun basically because I never thought I would go so far away from Mumbai (OK, stop laughing, Mumbai to Delhi are quite far apart ) and that too, with my friends. The best parts were the train journeys because we just wouldn’t sleep nor we would allow our co-passengers to do so. We visited a whole lot of places-the regular tourist stuff and we did leave our Mumbai stamp at quite a few places. We didn’t even spare the Metro, thanks to us; it resembled a rush-hour local train. To add a bit of excitement, we had a run-in with a pervert in our train.

All in all, it was good fun. Then we were back to the same old drill of college life…. Time actually flies when you are in third year….I never realized how quickly the term ended and we all were busy preparing for the vivas. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect-a day after my birthday! So you might have guessed how much I ‘enjoyed’ that day. Nevertheless, the vivas are over and done with and now I am midway through my written exams. As usual this turns out to be a month long drama but the good news is that we will be having a month long holiday!! Cheers to that!!!

Thanks for stepping in...

Time:12.53 am
mood:sentimental
When I first stepped in college, I fiercely guarded my heart and soul,for I was afraid someone might see through it. Making new friends was both exciting and intimidating. Sitting in a corner,the world stopped when you walked towards me,with that smile of your's ,said a 'hi'. Is it so easy? You didn't realise it then,but you had walked into my life and your warmth sealed my destiny. You left footprints as you stepped in,you could've easily traced them back,but never once did you glance back. And that,my friend,has made all the difference in the world!
Dedicated to:
multiple options
alias
dee
DC

My first.........

What a day it has been!! FIrst of all, on some instinct, I picked up a Punjabi dress to wear for college, which is completely antagonastic of me. I don't dislike wearing them, but if you travel to college in rush hour it's tough managing the three-piece thing with you. Plus there is the problem of keeping the cellphone with you, I don't have any option but to keep it in my bag, when sometimes the calls and messages go unoticed because you can't hear or feel the ringtone.

Do you sometimes have this gut feeling that everything is not going to be ok today and yet you ignore it? Well today was one such day for me....

Things were pretty cool early morning. Many complimented me on my new 'look' (blush, blush) so I was in high spirits. Plus two lectures were cancelled and we were supposed to be free by 2.45 pm (which is quite a rarity). I spent most of my lectures chatting about the stock market with my friend who had quite useful things to say about it.

For the last lecture, one friend requested me to give his proxy. Now let me make this clear that I am not a serial offender, so I agreed. And I don't need to tell you what happened later. Proxy got caught and I am scooted away to the professor's room with the guy. Now let me tell you I had scored the highest in his subject so naturally he was quite taken aback on seeing me. The worst part was that he didn't yell at me. I wouldnt have minded if he would have yelled and screamed at me, because I knew I was guilty. But the silence was quite frightening. He just mumbled "I didn't expect this from you" and I was left off!

I really didn't know how to react. The guy was apologising and consoling me, but to tell you the truth I really wasnt feeling anything. Absolutely blank. Maybe it was because it had been my first such experience. I obviously felt bad that I had done something of this sort and dissapointed the professor, but then there was this adrenaline rush of having been caught giving a proxy. I think everyone must have one such 'breaking-free-from-the-good-girl-image' experience in life. Seriously. Oh yes, I forgot to add that I was kept standing in class for a good half an hour because I was giggling(yaar, what's wrong with me?). But I had put the professor in quite a situation because no one in the class except me was able to answer the questions so I guess I was forgiven for my uncontrolled fits of giggling.

I must confess the reason I am able to write about this experience is because Sir didn't react much. Or else habitual offenders must be having quite a fair idea how it feels to be in your professor's cabin for giving proxy. Thank you Sir!!