What If....?

Right up until the 31st of Dec'19, I was avoiding the task at hand - packing for my return journey to Oslo two days hence. The thought of ending up again in a cold place, with no one around made me want to savour the love and warmth of home and food right up until the last minute. It took a good amount of mental programming the next day to finally start preparation for flying out.

I flew out and landed on 2nd Jan and eased back in to the life here in two days. And things went off as per routine for about ten days. And then I fell ill. No big deal. It began with the normal cough/cold symptoms. I had dealt with it before, but this time it persisted for over five days.

When my eyes opened on Friday, the body couldn't muster the strength to get off the bed. The eventual bathroom trip that followed drained me off the remnant energy almost driving me to unconsciousness. I panicked. Home was far far away. I looked about me - there was no one around. The heaters were running at maximum but they offered very minimal comfort to my shivering body under two blankets and two layers of clothing. I hastened to book the first available appointment at the doctors for the day. Five days of illness later, I stepped out of my indignation - I needed help. And from thereon was implanted this seed of "What if...?"

I write this today. It has been two weeks since I first fell sick and I finally feel I am getting back on track. The idle hours and the empty mind put me through quite a physical and mental upheaval. Over the days I realized:

1. Life can change anytime. You may want something for so long but overnight your situation may change and you could want something absolutely different.

2. Help comes in from unexpected quarters. Life has its own ways of taking care of you. Have faith!

3. Clarity. Testing times automatically put things into a far clearer perspective and your priorities are sorted.

4. Illusion of control. We have absolutely no control over what is to happen to us. Mental make-up is what one can control, at best.

5. This too shall pass, like everything else.

The "What if" doesn't stand as tall as before now. Whatever is, is!


"You don't know what you know until you know".

Hither and Yonder

I sought it hither and yonder,

Desperately and intensely, as the hands of time clocked the years away.

I sought it ever since I first saw it dazzle on the silver screen,

Since I first heard the crests and troughs of the poems rhymes,

Since the many firsts that were to not last forever,

Oh yes! I did search for it hither and yonder.

I travelled hither and yonder,

My journeys always with an inkling of hope,

My eyes constantly on the lookout,

Maybe the next turn, the street across, the distant house, or just around the roundabout?

Albeit, always returned only to travel again,

Oh yes, I did travel hither and yonder.

I waited hither and yonder,

And realized patience is not just a virtue that one is born with,

Like any other skill, you get better at it with years of practice.

Howsoever long it takes, it must be on its way,

The picture would be complete, the missing piece would be found someday.

Oh yes, I did wait hither and yonder.

It gave me a glimpse,

It assured me of its presence in the hearts that beat around me.

It built me up and also tore me apart,

It saw me through it all, as I saw it too - the entire spectrum of it passing through the prism of time.

But never did it leave me, and neither did I.

Oh yes, it did stay with me - hither and yonder.

I feel it now everywhere around me,

In a stranger’s smile, in the sun on a frigid day,

In the voices I feel fortunate to be hearing from miles away,

In opportune discoveries, and also when no plans seem to fall in place.

It finds its expression in the desperate prayers, in selfless offerings and in grateful moments,

Oh yes, it is now in me - hither and yonder.

But the question does still implore!

What would you do to see it for real?

To hold its hands in yours, to see it in the eyes,

To feel it like all things tangible in the worldly sense should.

Would you now go out seeking again hither and yonder?

Or would you now just sit back and let it find you….

"At long last"

Time Tales

I had stepped out in the evening. It was a cloudy day and was raining lightly. People don't step out much in this weather and being a Sunday, most shops are closed (Europe!). I would walk a little outside and if I start getting cold, I'd walk into whichever shop I find open or just get into the train station. So, finally when I was headed back, I didn't take the bus that I usually take as the bus stop was a bit away and walking in the cold wasn't inviting. Instead I took the tram which drops me halfway through to my place so atleast I am warm inside. Here's when it happened.

After getting off the tram and walking towards the bus stop, I heard bells toll everywhere. It was 8 pm. Harbor to my left and the European buildings to my right. Light rain, cold breeze and not many people around. Not a soul that I knew. Instantly, my mind went into a reverie - the opening scene of DDLJ. Just like him, images of home and feeling of warmth touch and go in a second. Hits you hard! 

Something that I saw at age 10, I comprehend at age 31! The feeling is pretty inexplicable.

"Home is where the heart is".

Rendezvous with Mr. Ratan Tata

Living in Mumbai has it’s own advantages. The city of dreams is home to one and all – Bollywood superstars, corporate czars, wolves of the Dalal Street and the million faces that make up this city. I remember when I was a kid, I would often be questioned with curious anticipation by people from other cities/towns - “You live in Bombay( the 90's). You must have seen Amitabh Bachchan / Sachin Tendulkar / < replace any famous personalities >, right?”. I assumed the question to be a rhetoric, but when persisted, my answer in negative would evoke an expression of shock and disappointment. Which one was more prominent, I could not tell.


My sole honest claim to having seen one of the biggest superstars for real happened by chance as I was sauntering around Band Stand on one fortunate Sunday evening. It was SRK waving down from the terrace of his building to the crowds gathered outside Mannat who wouldn’t budge. It was more of a silhouette at twilight, as the hand rose from some 5-odd stories above. So, yeah, that was that.


But, when I joined TCS and saw the video “Keepers of the Flame”  on the induction day – I’m sure most of you  TCSers would recollect – I had this one desire. And it was to see Mr. Ratan Tata in person.
It has been almost six years since I have been in this company and finally, the moment was realized.


The Banyan Park office often has regular visitors from the top management of the TCS. This campus has also hosted the honourable Australian Prime Minister. And so it turned out that the senior management of the TATA group were in the Banyan Park campus on Thursday. It was around evening time that my friend and I stepped out after snacks and saw some people gathered at the car pick-up point. Curiosity took over as suddenly my hastened footsteps drew me closer to that spot. I first noticed the TCS CEO – Mr. Rajesh G, then the TATA group chairman – Mr. N. Chandra and finally lo! It was Mr. Ratan Tata himself.


The few of us who were standing there seemed pretty much dazed and awestruck – me, I sure was! And then, they waved at us to come join them for a photo. The realization that this moment, when I am in the same frame as the doyen of the Indian industry would be captured to be frozen in time was overwhelming. Everyone went on to shake hands with him and he patiently and very graciously received our obeisances with a smile. The charm, the charisma, the persona! “Thank you” was all I could say and really all I had to say.


It is moments like these when you realize once again what privilege it is to be associated with the TATAs. For a group that strongly believes in giving back to the society, I felt proud that my tiny minuscule contribution is also helping build a better world for everyone. For I finally got to shake hands with the man who is a legend, carries forth the grand legacy and is the “Keeper of the Flame”.


"Something like this!"

Impromptu!

How can you hold it in when it wants to flow,
Does it shy away, does it get scared, or does it just not know!
It breathes in your breath, it beats in your heart
You can fake it, you can lie, ahh well, but if only it were not for your eyes!
I know, I know, I know and I can tell it all apart.
And yet it waits through the dark, for it knows someday the sun will rise...


*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

The cynic's cynicism melts away at the slightest touch
The tunnel just doesn't seem to end, but hope won't worry too much
It's like the pinnacle from where everything can be seen
It is only patience that gets you there, for up there it has been

Would you know the secret that I am about to tell?
The magical wand, the crystal ball and hocus pocus and the enchanting spell.
It all layeth right before your eyes should you choose to see.
Feel it within, spread it around, for whatever I give shall always find it's way back to me! :)

*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*

I push my eyes even after five past midnight,

Just one more line and I think it will work alright.

I hit the save button and do one final check,

Alas! The code doesn't run, the error I've got to traceback.

I push away the laptop and lay back on the bed.

I remember the words I keep hearing - never enough said.

I push myself to stay awake a bit more.

I write a few more lines and this time I just know it to the core.

With what great effort those lines I wrote and yet they didn't do the trick!

And laying on my bed, these lines I write with ease and look!

How it created "the magic"!

 "Time and Tide"

Are you with me?

Would you lie besides me on the grass?
Watch the time stand still just when you let it pass.
The open skies would never hear what the waves would never see.
Our little promise we make that day,
The world around us would never give away.

Would your eyes meet mine when I look across the floor?
Would you smile your shy smile when you let me in through your heart's door?
The band won't stop playing till we call it a night.
Do you know that, just for us, the world wants to gave a miss to the morning light?

Would you walk with me, walk with me to the distance?
For the timid Alaskan winter sun wouldn't be able to resist warming up to us;now that would be nature's mysterious treason!
The dazzle of our smiles would add glitter to the yellow of the Australian Gold Coast.
And how could we not pose when the Northern Lights flash on the Norwegian waters,our glasses raised to toast.

Would you give yourself to me, a little each day, for the rest of our lives?
Would your heart's strings feel a tug when I write these lines?
The world around us is waiting to see,
The day when you would be with me.

"Are you with me?"

Right Here!!

Dear   ,


I finally write to you again!!! All this time I did come back every once a while to begin to write again, but life around found its expression sometimes in just my grateful sighs or in the amazed silence of my rather inquisitive mind at other times. And then there were times when I was just walking along on the bridge of monotony that lay between these two peaks. Words patiently awaited till this day, to ripe themselves fully to be able to offer in their own way - themselves!


You know, I eventually did board that train and met that friend. The months that passed on by while I awaited that trip made sure that it was all worth it. For the sun shone through the day not just up there but also in the warmth of laughter I shared with my friend. And finally as it splashed the skies with hues of all the seven colours while descending into the Arabian sea, it made yet another revelation. The grains of sand there stretched out to my either sides and were not confined to the mocking hour glass. And this my dear friend is still very little of all that I have seen there. I had been absolved of all that I had long sought to be free from and I awaited the new days ahead with excited anticipation.


Why excited anticipation you ask? I spent the next four months gathering all the essentials that I would need to fly off to the famed land of "beer, chocolates and waffles". How grateful can one be when what one sees in movies is ready to greet him for real at the end of his birthday week! Cliched alright, but I would rightly called it "The Divine Gift". Hereon began the journey of many journeys over the next six months that probably have changed me forever - for the good of course! Life around expanded itself beyond imagination to the world of possibilities. As did the horizon of my thoughts, my personality, and myself. Europe and all of its experiences that will forever be vividly remembered by my mind and heart alike, will always find me being grateful to all the wonderful people that I met there who made those experiences possible. When I finally came back home on Diwali day, ostensibly reliving the SRK moment from K3G as I landed, these words made me understand why I had been having the feeling of having left something behind when I boarded that flight:

"You will never be completely at home again because a part of your heart will be always be elsewhere. That's the price you pay for the richness of knowing and loving people in more than one place."

I have been here and been there - in dream and in reality. I did end up meeting some interesting people too after my return. And it feels great to finally be able to write to you about it all after such a long time.

What do I await next? The next post should tell! ;)

Yours!


"And it's Patience again that speaks!"

The Weekend

What if I’d boarded that train and had met that friend?
What if I’d never chosen to go there in the first place; never bothered to extend my hand?

What if everything turned out just as you had imagined it’d be?
What if, even after that, it still didn’t make you happy?

What if it’s right in front of you and you just let it pass by?
What if that “someday” comes in disguise – would you still recognize?

What if the days of this life were just random and nothing really ever happened for a reason?
What if there was no faith, no hope, no grace, no God – these words but mere illusion?

What if time was non-existent, and a moment elongated to infinity?
What if we had no memory, no ego, no intellect; what then would be our identity?

What if these “What Ifs” never crossed our minds?
And then again what if these “What Ifs” did cross our minds?

What if I’d gone to bed tonight and not written these lines?
What if you never pondered if at all it rhymes?


“Thank God for the Night…”

PEACE?

I’d always been in denial of it, no more shall I lie.
These lines I speak are more than a mere outcry.
Looked up ahead always to what is to be,
But a part of me still craves for what has been.

The mirror rightly says, objects appear closer than they are.
Its only until you look back, you see that you’ve driven up ahead pretty far.

Miss those days of innocent smiles,
The world around was just a beautiful paradise.
The laughter, the careless abandon back in the days of yore.
Reveled in each moment, life embraced you each day when you walked out that door.
When the world of reality was just as virtuous as the books had portrayed.
The dreams would resonate the songs to which you had swayed.

Have never really cared about the miles I’ve run or the people I’ve outrun.
Neither the milestones achieved nor the plants that could’ve sprouted from the seeds.

But tonight I’ve pulled over and have walked back.
It calls out to me so I holler back.

I wish to go back to the days,
Back to the days when it had all began.
Or I just wish for the days ahead
To be the kinds I would want to go back to again.

“I’m glad you came”

Red Or Green?

The light turned red giving me time to stop and look out through my window. I chuckled about the impervious luxury I enjoyed within my glass windows. The temperature inside was a cool 24 degrees on this May evening and my favourite tracks were lined up on the playlist – I really had nothing to complain about. I saw anguished, tired even fatigued and frustrated faces struggling to get their respective fair’s worth of foot-space with alert eyes scanning the slightest movement made by a comfortably seated co-passenger. They were all waiting impatiently – either to get off the god damned over crowded bus or to get the next available seat – whichever would come sooner. Horns blared around suddenly breaking my thoughts. I delicately released the clutch and I eased ahead. The sight of the bus in my rear view mirror and the thought of the people on it were almost instantly pushed back into oblivion. Two cars had already crossed over and as I passed the signal, it finally turned green.

The red lights put me to a halt once more. This time it was a huge glass building I saw to my left. The ten storied structure looked so alive; more so because each of its very well illuminated floors, with people’s fast-paced trots on each of them, were so clearly visible even from a distance. It stood out flamboyantly against lackluster backdrop of the dusk; so much so that it was almost wickedly inviting. I have always been intrigued by the sheer charm and beauty these modern-day architectural innovation, so to speak, possess. I feel that they unashamedly and yet very convincingly deceive an innocent curious onlooker. It’s a mere facade for the innumerable faceless people coming into that building day in and day out .The poor onlooker might never know that there’s more to it all than meets the eyes until he too gets to step into one of those flashy buildings. I knew what those fast-paced feet were running towards – either to get onto one of those buses or to get in the driving seats of their cars. And I chuckled again, this time for having raced past the bus and the two cars that had got ahead of me and also for the good fortune that at least for that day I wasn’t stuck in one of those glass buildings while the rest of the world seemed to be having a merry time heading home. The signal turned green again and I pushed off.

Just as I was about to change gears, I had to slow down and scornfully put the car to rest again at the red. The same bus lined up next to me as did the two cars I had raced past. This time I chuckled with a little resentment at the dawn of this tiny little realization. That unknown person in that glass building, the people aboard the bus along with its driver, the two cars that I noticed and the many others that I didn’t – we were all just dodging the red light to get past the next green one! The string puller above was probably mockingly laughing at this nonsensical race that we’d got ourselves into – inadvertently or out of choice.

Did I hit the red next or the green? Oh! What the Heck?! Does it really matter now?

“Where are you headed, by the way?”

To YOU!

It's in her eyes and she knows its true,
No one could ever make her feel, the way that you do.
Why then does she hide it and denies?
Why the resistance, why all the lies,
When he can see the truth speaking through her eyes?

He fears to admit it but he knows it too,
He doesn't want to live without her, he dreads the thought of having to.
It's beyond his naive mind to understand,
Why he felt so complete the day he had held her hand.
Why then does he not let it take control?
Why not give it a chance and let it flow?

Its incomprehensible, this power of love.
Maybe that is why its called the gift from up above?
Don't they just not want to see?
Them being together is just meant to be?

A ray of light is just all it takes,
To tell the real apart from all the fakes.
Its probably still dark, the dawn is yet to arrive,
Till then they must bear it, they must struggle to survive.

The darkest cloud also flees at sunrise,
The shining glow, upto then remains in disguise.
This serene morning they too would wake up to and see,
Then they'd realize that fairy-tales are for real - they just have to believe.

Years later when they'd look back and see,
They'd know it'd all happened for a reason; some call it destiny.
A new page gets written every night and day,
This book thus read tells us that life works out in mysterious ways.


"And so you know"

So I heard...

Probably there came a time in his life when EVERYTHING fell apart! He lost his sense of direction, where he’d go and what he’d do. He just couldn’t go on believing in all that was good and beautiful! The smile he’d flash was just a mock, the laughter of people around; a guffaw at his misery, and that reflection in the mirror – just doesn’t recognize the face it knew before. Sick, as it may all feel, that was the ground reality. Rock-bottom, and hit so hard on the spine, that the tiny little hole way up there, scintillating just about enough sunlight to catch the eye could very much be a mere illusion. Burnt, bruised, hurt and pained, the god damned breath pumping through the lungs became a curse, disallowing him to meet his fate, ridiculing the vision of his eyes with the little dash of that remote sunlight. He just lay – motionless, caring pittance for anything..everything...
Probably, he’d never want to get back up again..but then probably he just TRIED to.

For every wrong, there’s got to be a right.
For every silent prayer, there’s got to shine the Heavenly Light.
For a remorseful past, a future to reveal the futility of grief over what’s been done.
For every moment of loneliness, a tight hug for each from a beloved someone.

For every moment of pain, deliverance to finally come through.
For what's been lost, the joy of finding something new.
For every time that your faiths faltered, the Holy Cross making itself show.
For every failure, a lesson to learn, just so that you must know!

For all the sleepless nights, a day to finally revel in bliss.
For all the hate that’s been fostered, the heart to find love and be at peace.
For every broken heart, a love so great, for it to rise above all the pain.
For all the worries, an answer to say that the worries were all in vain.

For what is yours, can never be lost,
For, in life, hope is all you’ve got.
Come around the circle, come home to yourself,
The journey may be long, but in the end, it’ all worth it, I guess….

“YES?”

P A T I E N C E

So, what is it about patience that is so irritatingly optimistic? Why does she have to so convincingly say: Keep patience, the fruits it’ll bear will be sweet. Why do the lessons learnt about it the past twenty five years keep getting revised every year and the marks to pass that exam higher?


PATIENCE!!! Lately, I’ve been bumping into this word a lot, especially since the past six months. So much so, that I have come to believe that I am in a live-in relationship with it! The exasperating truth it bares - so obvious for you to see, the wretched wait in disdain and despair and finally when you are bereft of the hope of ever seeing the daylight again that you’d so desperately been waiting to see, the sun slowly shines through from behind the darkest of the clouds. It’s like the endless wait of the woman for her man at the station who’s been away for months fighting at the war. And finally when the day comes that he is to arrive, she puts on the brightest of her floral dresses, wears the most fragrant perfume and turns up at the station hours before the train is to arrive. But alas! She doesn’t see him getting off; pained to know that he may not show up in that train that day. She begins walking away; all her wait in vain. And then ever so slowly, advancing towards her, she sees him at the door of the train. As if it’d all been planned all along, as he’d been on his way back the moment he’d left!


It should really take some mettle to live and bear with this word. There should really be some magical charm about it. For, from the many stories told, from the many lessons learnt, you just have to wait for Deliverance to be delivered to your door!


And you know what? When the right time comes and the truth be revealed, you’d know that in the end, it was all worth that wait! :)

“Hey, the clock’s still ticking man!
Ahhh, that’s a good sign – the countdown’s begun!”

On a Thursday Morning....

When the future seems blight, and hopes turn bleak,
When there’s despair all around, and respite is only what you seek.

What would you do? What then would you do?

Would you hold on patiently ‘til deliverance came your way?
Would you still believe that redemption awaits, let this haze of mist be blown away?

Or would you take charge of it all and choose a different trail?
Believe in yourself over your destiny, albeit taking a different course, to let the ship sail!

You could walk either ways, you are eventually to get only where you are supposed to be,
I don’t know if grass is greener on either side, but what you choose makes your destiny.

"And So, It Shall Be!"

This too shall pass….

So, I completed FIVE MONTHS yesterday living away from HOME in this “quaint little town” as I like to call it. FIVE MONTHS!!! I didn’t really know what to expect when I got here. It was a mere coincidence that I thought I’d get a whiff of what it is to be on the “other side”. ;) And there is no checklist or scorecard I’m carrying to conclude how I’ve fared in these past few months! It’s an experience – you cry, you crib and cringe and complain, you laugh, you enjoy, you get frustrated, you get bored of boredom, you amaze your ownself, you love it and you hate it at the same time, you realize and value things you had and yeah, you do smile, a smile that can be understood only by you! :) You go through it all and you pass through it ahead, to take on new ones!!

What really did matter through it all? Infact what really did ever matter in all the experiences that you’ve ever had so far? For looking back to them, I just do see them as a part of my memory, mere impressions on my heart! For it all is no longer there! All of it, all through it, it’s just the experience of things that’s come along with you – nothing more!!

I now admire the discovery and the realization that mankind had – Earth is round. So, what is seen from a distance as the end of the road, was nothing more than the bend in the road! And like ever before, the “end” or rather the “bend” too did pass…..and so now you know… :)

So, hold the head up high, let your shoulders have their space!
Walk through, walk past, with your chin up, and wear the smile on that face!

“Manzil mil hi jaayegi, chahe bhatak kar hi sahi,
Gumraah toh vo hai, jo ghar se nikle hi nahi”

HOLD ON!!!

Hold on, Hang on, let it linger a little while,
I know that you are sad, but you can still flaunt that fake lil’ smile.
The music’s still playing, the bands still in spirits alright.
Don’t hang up your dancing shoes just yet,
Not before the band calls it a night.

Songs will change, as would the rhymes,
The nights still young, you too would find your rhythm – just give it some time.
A night like this may never come again,
It’s all changing, just like it’s always been.
These moments, these times,
Live them up while they are there!
Hold on, hang on, and let it linger too,
Yep, it’ll always be there! :)


“Glad, aren’t you?”

Risen

It was not about winning. Neither was it about pride nor glory. The future was pushed back to oblivion and the past had raced way ahead. Nothing was at stake here. There was no question hanging in the air either. It just had to be either way – black or white! No mid-way!

His feet pranced on the ground beneath his feet. His hands didn’t tremble this time as his fingers clasped the cold handle. They had before when he had come across such confrontations but not this once, not at all. The aura of his presence emancipated confidence - the kind a person has when ignorance of the entirety around takes full control of the senses and it overpowers one to the extent that one knows nothing, sees nothing, and thus, has the power to believe everything!

Another step forward and they bowed before each other, never taking their eyes away. The cold rage in his eyes was the purpose and the cause of what the thousand pairs of eyes were to witness. Those eyes, their voices, their multitude thoughts about the righteousness were as distant from him as were his own senses from this cosmos. The sound of the sword when pulled out told him – This is IT! He had just one thought on his mind – To Slay! Whatever is to come up ahead, whatever is to obstruct his way, whatever his sword could make contact with. This thought brought him the kind of power he had only heard stories of as a child. What was he out there for? Because he was there, because he had chosen to, because it was unto him, because he just had to do it, was he The One?!

The swords struck each other twice each demonstrating its power to the other. The third time, the flesh gave away as the blade made it’s way through, testing the extents of their will and frenzy. Gasps followed by silence filled the air. Would the battle choose its victor or would the mind prove that there is no duality – that there actually is no battle that hails one and shames the other. There could only be one, The One?!

“As art thee – Reflections!”

From the Shadows….

Oh you mere mortal! Slave to the fate!
What powers do you possess – greed, jealousy and hate?!
Chasing forever the elusive happiness, oh! You creature so meek!
Do you even know what is it that you seek?

I do mock you, and I mock you on your face,
Oh right! I see that you are too busy, busy finding your way out of this self-created maze!
You can’t bear the pain; you can’t even share your joy.
Bound and tied, aren’t you? While destiny tosses you around like a toy.

Always seeking that one perfect moment, when christened you shall be, to be seated at your throne.
Oh yes! Surely you’ll get there. But sadly, you will be all alone!

Can you just be happy being what you are?
Can you be satiated just doing what you do?
Do you even realize it’s all very close, never been that far?
If only you could see that it’s all out there, just out there for you?

Saying this, the devil dropped his dark cloak,
There was light all around, as the angelic eyes smiled at this young bloke.
How could he have not seen that it was Him all through?
Even when he felt he’d lost it all,
He came down Himself to say – I am with you!

“A Breather”

Of the Lost Charm

Cold silence beseeches the fogged eyes,
Eyes which don’t hold the familiar smiles.
A word of cajole, a noise of laughter like we last had,
Alas! It’s sad but true, just the memories of the past shall now ring in the head.

A phone call now doesn’t sound like the days of yore.
Once, if it ever does come by, sounds nothing more than just a chore.
Hurried words, just to let you know,
That it’s not to be the same, won’t ever be – anymore!

Curse the world, for it’s not your fault,
Or implore the Lord, for you just want the time to halt!
Your vision of the future is mocking back at you,
The old is gone. What? Where? Who? Nope, nothing new.

Drooped shoulders, head buried to the ground,
Time has burdened the soul, the magic is not to be found.
Tells a million tales of how it had all been,
Now lives with what is, the lost charm, never again to be seen….

“Deal With It!”

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!"