To ALL

The last episode of FRIENDS flashed past in my mind,
That empty room, the packed bags, the silence of a weird kind.
I sat and pondered over it; as the grains slipped through my hands,
Does everything that has a beginning always have to end?

I looked back in time, through all the days that have been,
The schools, the colleges, the faces of people that I’ve seen.
Some went away, some new ones came in.
Distance brought some people closer,
some others faded away in life’s din.

The optimist is no coward, but he won’t raise his sword,
His belief in the good remains untouched, that’s his eternal divine cord.
This shield of faith, he uses to defend,
But the question still remains:
Does everything that has a beginning really have to end??

The seasons keep changing, but the sun has always shone,
The tides have gone through lows and highs,
But the sailor made it to coast, with his grit alone.
The birds would never have touched the skies,
Had the promise of a tomorrow not strengthened their wings,
For everything that ends, there is a new beginning.

"Come Around A Full Circle!"

The Gift

Go on, don’t stop, keep moving ahead,
Just take this leap of faith without being scared.
If you succeed, a swell of pride awaits your reflection in the mirror.
If you fail, that would be one less thing that you’d have to fear.

The road ahead is tricky for sure,
With twists and turns and bends on every corner.
Takers of it are few, challengers to the path even fewer,
But faith and valour are the only virtues that the path’d honour.

What awaits you at the end of the road?
Diamonds, jewels, or maybe a pot of gold?
Don’t you want to know what the future holds?
So, go on, keep moving, for your destiny, you shall mould.

Every second on the path is rewarding, yet every moment priceless.
As it unfolds, the more you know, it just begins to feel less.
This quench for knowledge, this thirst to learn – do not let it die.
Keep moving ahead, the path itself shall be unraveled before your eyes.

When you’ve walked the distance, you’d look to this note and smile.
The smile will speak of the journey, the eyes will tell story of the truth realized!
So, go on don’t stop, keep moving ahead,
Just take this leap of faith, for it’s all there!


“Always :)”

The Checklist

I realized that it’s been a good amount of time since I last put something down here and so this one comes out. This one’s about the other thing that I’m putting down on paper almost everyday – The Checklist!

Travelling/moving out to other town is an exciting affair. It works on the 3 Ps – Plan, People and Place. All three are vital ingredients. And it’s a long haul from the Plan on the paper to actually getting down to the Place with the People! All along, it’s the loyal checklist keeping you company.

As I am just over a month away from moving out of this city to a new life at a new place with new people, I finally have a decent one in place after struggling with it when I first began. To begin with, I had more than one. One was for the things to carry there detailing even to the number of spoons that I shall humbly bear the weight of along with the rest as they’d all accompany me to this quaint little town – I’d like to call the pair of bags that I’d carry Mr. & Mrs. Life-Lords respectfully so. The list still does get updated every once a while, literally on the paper. The other one – the mental checklist – had the things which I would want to do before I bowed out and away. And that’s when the darned feeling hits you harder – “Man! This is it!”

So, amidst watching the repeats of “How I Met Your Mother" and the not-so-hurried-meals and lazing around in general through the day, I go out doing those things and then crossing them off the list. It is fun as those are the only “productive” things happening in these blissful idyllic times. It’s also fun because you are pouring your heart out; for you do know that the list has the things which are closest to your heart and also the things which you are going to miss the most while away.

This post was one on the list, so having crossed that one off list, I await the morn’ – for the plan is ready and so are the people, Rajasthan – I’m on my way! :)


“When you know, you know!”

Glorified Pain??!!

Amidst nodding heads, the music picked up the tempo. The drums slowly began beating faster and harder. The voice screeched about the pain of an infant abandoned by its very mother. And the guitar gave soul and feelings to his vocals. Irony that the place which I somehow find having a divine touch, had at that time been an audience to people enjoying this saga of Glorified Pain!

I searched the crowd, looking for faces to give away stories that made them relate to this sardonic melody being unleashed at them. I somehow wanted to soak and lose myself to every note being belted out, which was so carefully created to carry the theme of the song in it. And in that state of mind, I found a tussle happening within – one between the heart and the mind – one wanting to let out its story of pain and the other trying to find a logical way out of this externally infused emotion trying to pull me down - this evoked me to write today.

It is a wonder how a person chooses to portray pain. I believe the defiants took to the Gothic lifestyle, tattooing their emotions on themselves for the world to see. Some others wrote songs and poems, while some had funny versions to share, pulling out the gravity from their experience in their expression. Few others just trudged along,their hearts carrying it in silence.

Is there really as much pain in life or are we just sadist creatures taking pleasure in being “unable” to come out of this mental creation of quicksand of self-pity in which we seek refuge? Before I could ponder more, a friend came calling, breaking my thoughts. I realized the song had changed as we were walking away from the place.

I look back to it now and I think I’ve got the answer to my question – in fact I did there itself. A smile from the friend who pulled me out of my ruminations, the change of song, and another party to head to – the answer: we probably just hold on to it for too long, too tight, that the smiles around, the parties ahead and the change of songs of different themes, all in all life in its different flavors, are just pushed back into oblivion.

I now smile – Hallelujah!

“Yeah, Life’s good!:)”

Muddled Thoughts

They say that on the path you have people walking along; but the last steps you must walk alone. A soldier walks alone into the arms of his death. A seeker has to walk that extra mile all by himself in his quest for knowledge. A woman brings the child into the world with her man, but the pains of labour are her own.



Is it true then that solitude is your best friend? Can it be for real that you have no one else’s but hands of your own faith to hold? When the lights are turned down low, when going into your own space under the covers of your bed; detached from the world and in company of your own thoughts and feelings, do we look within or without?



In the book The Godfather, Genco pleads the Don; his best friend; lying on his deathbed : Godfather, Godfather…. cure me. You have the power…Stay with me, Godfather. Help me meet death. If he sees you, he will be frightened and leave me in peace. You can say a word, pull a few strings eh? We will outwit those bastards as we outwitted all those others. (clutching his hand) Godfather, don’t betray me.



If it all is true, then what are we afraid of? Our own self? Just makes me wonder…………….



“To each one his own”.

Coming Around....

I had been putting this off to never in this lifetime. I found it so not-my-taste to speak of the least. But I knew I had to come around, and so had this post. Maybe it was long overdue, so here I go.

Dev D – To begin with, the movie is very dark, not just in its theme and depiction but also in its intelligent cinematography. Closed spaces and dimly-lit rooms have added that hard-hitting punch to the ubiquitously present gloom that most scenes depict. The director’s vision and essence of the scenes have been well-conveyed. Also, the director/story-writer/actors have pulled off their acts with flamboyancy and flair.

As the movie progressed, I realized that it’s been sewed together with pain and just that! And the director has left no leaf unturned in connecting the audience with it. So you always see Dev trying to “inconveniently” hide it behind those dark glasses, cigarette smoke or just struggle to rise above it or run away from it, taking refuge in alcohol, drugs and sex. It is a portrayal of such gut-wrenching pain that it suffocates you and yet you breath just about enough to sit through this saga of self-destruction, just hoping; with whatever scraps of optimism that remain untouched in you; that it would end - not a HAPPY ENDING; but just that this pain would end some point later.

An interesting and ironic part of the movie comes across amidst this sardonic essay – the relationship between Dev and Chanda. They have never really sought company of each other to lessen their personal miseries – much against the worldly belief we have grown up on that says misery seeks company. It always felt that they were reaching out to each other and in whatever way possible they could, they were trying their best to pull out the other from his/her pit of melancholy.

Two scenes I shall always reminisce clearly: The scene where his mother curses him at the funeral of his father. It was the only scene in the movie where he is shown to be crying literally. It conveyed that behind every mistake, behind every wronged person or deed, the victim is begging for forgiveness and acceptance. The other scene was almost at the end of the movie, which almost everyone would have noticed as being different. Here is when Dev escapes miraculously from being the headline for newspapers as the speeding car gives him a miss on its way into ramming into a wall very close to him. The morbidity of the entire saga is transformed that would find an affirmation in the audience’s minds with that deeply rooted feeling inherent to us all – of hope that the sun shines brightest after the darkest of clouds have passed on. Dev, here, finally realizes the worth of his life, his folly of putting himself through those horrendous atrocities and finally accepts the path that was long awaiting him.

He knew that he finally had to come around – like we all do – to himself….

"If it isn't madness, it isn't love"

Isn't it a wonder.....

Isn’t it a wonder how the twilight slowly turns into night?
Isn’t it a wonder how her hand fits into his just right?

Isn’t it a wonder that distances brings people closer?
Isn’t it a wonder that the memories of a forgone past are a man’s real treasure?

Isn’t it a wonder that the beauty of the divine is seen in a new-born child?
Isn’t it a wonder that the toughest of men have, but on the bosom of a woman, helplessly cried?

Isn’t it a wonder that you really ever want is to be loved and give out love?
Isn’t it a wonder how faith works miracles for a seeker who has the will and the verve?

Isn’t it a wonder that a glass of beer can get you high?
Isn’t it a wonder that, even though living out each day, everyone wants to “live once before they die”?

Isn’t it a wonder when something feels amiss when everything works in rhythm and harmony?
Isn’t it a wonder that the events of our lives are but His perfectly orchestrated symphony?

Isn’t it a wonder that these wonders strike you in the silence of the night?
Isn’t it a wonder that even though I am wide awake, my next line will say:
Sweet Dreams & Good Night! :)