Amazingness of Nothingness….

The superficiality of the commonplace;
Rousing an idle or agitated mind…
A stir of emotions,
An effort behind a burning smile…
Seemingly an intelligent old man,
Amidst a sea of faces;
Gazing at the moon, on a sea beach,
An epitome of class and peace…
A voice inside me tells me,
To go and talk to him,
To ask him to join me for dinner;
I don’t and…
I missed my chance, it is too late now…
I run wildly to the street to look for him but he is gone…
Gone into oblivion, nothingness…
I know I have lost a piece of answer to the puzzle,
I am trying to solve.
I will come back tomorrow,
To see if I get my chance back.
The sanctity of mysticism…
The struggle of a pen with paper…
Coincidences don’t work;
Though I will hold on to it till tomorrow;
In the quest of nothingness….

A road less travelled….

When I walked down a road...
Very less travelled..,
No one around for miles…
I was excited; I was scared…

I picked up a stick from the way…
Don’t know what I would have hit with it…
Was not enough to scare even a dog…
But gave a satisfaction of having something to hold on…
To put an obstacle between myself and the Unknown…

I sat by the river, walked by the paddy fields…
When night fell, I lie on a hammock…
Under open sky, gazing at stars…
Thinking of nothing and wondering in between,
O its cold…

I sat by the fire and realized…
I love the smell of burnt firewood…
And of a burning oil lamp…
A revelation that I adore fire…
When I always thought I was a pure water person…

A walk again the next day…
On an aimless path…
With an aimless mind…
For a change, at peace with myself…
And with the world…

It all happened…
When I walked down a road…
Very less travelled….

Hope... A dilemma.....

‘Sometimes we discover in one single lucid moment what we have been looking for throughout our lives. The point is not to destroy ourselves before that moment arrives.’ – Ivan Klima said in his book ‘No Saints or Angels’. I can agree with this statement. In the nutshell, it means, Hope, that, “that” moment would arrive at some point in time.

However, in the second school of thought, a line from a song by GnR says, ‘I’ve been dragging my heels with a bitch called Hope’. I can agree with this too that we live with the hope that things will get better, carry on with our jobs (or anything) because we are not clear about what we exactly want and it just goes on and on.

During our journey, we keep on discovering new things about ourselves out of the blue but in that quest of self- discovery (which I believe is the most important purpose of the existence), does Hope really play a part that hopefully we would find the answer? No. Somewhere Hope makes us lose touch with reality because while hoping things will get better, we lose on the time in which we could have thought of alternative options or actually worked towards a solution.

At the end of the day, we should just work towards what we think we want without the hope that we will get it or the idea that we won’t. I completely realize the meaning of the saying ‘Just work towards the goal without worrying about the outcome’ now.

The concept of keeping Hope is so forcefully inculcated in us since the birth that I am scared to say, ‘Hope is a hopeless thing.’ As far as the saying of Mr. Ivan Klima goes, we should never ever destroy ourselves, be that ‘moment’ is coming or not. On the other hand, I wouldn’t also say that Hope is a bitch because the infrastructure of the society stands on the concept of Hope. Now the infrastructure of society stands on the concept of Faith too which leads to another line of thought, Is Hope synonymous to Faith? Next time…

Born to be Wild....................

The fiasco happened 9 years ago. On the occasion of Independence Day, my school had organized ‘Vande Mataram’ singing competition. A representative from each class had to sing it for the prize being given to the class with the best singer.
Like a normal teenager, too full of myself, I agreed to represent our class.

I wouldn’t say I went up on the stage just like that, I had practiced a lot. Being a good bathroom singer is different from being a good singer on stage was something I hadn’t realized by then. On the D-day I went on the microphone, smiling at everyone, as if I am going to give the best performance. Music was played and I started singing, needless to say badly, but I found it so amusing that I started laughing (on the mic). For people who don’t know, I laugh like either an evil giant or a neighing horse “depending on the situation”. Apart from the teachers, everyone else started clapping. I realized the principal is quite angry, tried to be serious and started again but the same story. I got a scolding from the teachers on insulting the national song which made me feel quite guilty.

I apologized and requested for the permission to let me sing again. When the time came, I chickened out and said I can’t, I am Sorry. The fear of public singing had been haunting me since then. Whenever there was anything related to singing on the stage, I would run miles away.

Around a year back, getting into my head the notion of taking as much fear out as possible (ultimate goal, being fearless of everything, not sure if that’s attainable), I decided on doing something about this fear of public singing. Finally, I came to know of an amazing place called Opus in Bangalore where every Sunday is a Karaoke night. After deliberately delaying it for 3-4 weeks, one fine Sunday, me and Divya (my flatmate) went there for her birthday dinner and I took the plunge to sing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbATaj7Il8 - ‘Born to be Wild’ Steppenwolf version . My turn came, I downed a large peg of Old Monk, closed my eyes, stood up and said to myself, ’Let’s do it’.

I went on the stage with shaking legs, trying not to look at anyone in the eye. Music was played and I started singing “somehow”. After one line, I was actually enjoying and smoothly going on with the flow, the voice going stronger with every word. For the first time, I realized the kind of high a good applause can give. It took me 5 minutes to reach my seat back with almost everyone on the way saying ‘nice singing’, ‘you have guts’, ‘well done’ :-) . I was smiling for the following full week and even now when I think of it, I smile. I was wondering how a band like Queen, Metallica or Iron Maiden would feel after a rocking performance in front of thousands of people. I guess ‘Toooooooooooooooooooo tooooooooooooooooooo high on life……….’, would really like to ask them this question if I ever get a chance.

As far as I am concerned, for me, for the next visit, the song is ‘Fear of the dark….’

An Untamed Sea......

When I’m a wave, I am free;
But most of the times, the wave is tied, not allowed to move at its own pace…
I’m a captivated wave…I struggle to flow but a sea holds me back…
Forcing me to sleep, when I want to reach some unknown shore…
When I know, I can create many waves to reach a beach,
I am forced to hold myself… Maybe to stop a storm…
But I want to generate a storm, a ferocious hurricane, to destroy and Yet…
To allow new buildings to come up in place of old…
But just right then, I am told to hold…
To hold the destruction that is stopping a new foundation…
Till when??? Till I grow so adamant that…
Whatever sea says, I want the sirens to blow, to prove my flow…
Whenever it’s a half moon, it reminds me of me…
I am a wave but still, I have to beat the sea…
And when I think, who would I really be happy with…
The answer is: An untamed sea…………………..

Can you please repeat??????

Where I belong...

Two weeks ago, I was irritated with the way things work in India. My maid stole a couple of my rings. I am sure she did it because I had kept them on the table, I couldn’t find them anywhere in the house and no one else had come apart from her. I told her if she has taken them, give them back. Or I will take further action. She said, ‘I haven’t taken them, you do whatever you want’.

I, then, went to the police station to lodge a complaint. Great people as our policemen are, they said we won’t be lodging a complaint now, we will come to your house when your maid is there, interrogate her and accordingly, take it forward. First day, I called them up, the response was that everyone is on cricket duty for the ongoing India Australia test match and we will come tomorrow. Second day, the reply was same. I couldn’t even fire her until they came and I just couldn’t stand to see her face daily. I always had to curb the yearning to punch her, strangle her throat, make her writhe in pain and however much I would have liked to, I obviously couldn’t do that.

Third day, same story. I got so frustrated that I actually yelled at them saying if the test match is going on, you wouldn’t do anything else? Is it not your duty to protect other people? You give me in writing that you can’t come because of cricket duty or whatever. Then, they finally came, questioned her, she didn’t accept, took her to the police station, searched her house, lodged an FIR but nothing happened. She finally got away on bail and they didn’t even know how much the bail was worth. Moreover, the height was when I went to collect FIR copy, they asked me to buy a whole bundle of A4 sheets as they need it to send photocopies of FIR to various officers. I was zapped. As if I already haven’t lost money in the rings, the commute to the police station so many times that on top of that, they want the paper bundle as well. I just told them, I don’t have any money now and came back from there with the intention of not taking any help from police unless it’s a murder or something like that.

As an afterthought, I was wondering that this was still a minor thing in the bigger picture of crime. What about major incidents, what would be happening to those people who have to endure these things for long term when they couldn’t even just leave because of the severity of crime they faced. How much more money would they be spending apart from their loss in the hope that things would be sorted out.

Since childhood, I always wanted to settle down in India but this incident made me think, Why would I want to do that? What is there? I couldn’t even stand Akshay Kumar’s dialogue in Namaste London where he lists the achievements of India, my favorite dialogue in the movie before this incident.

Amidst all this, Diwali came. I was tired on my way back from work but in that 45 minute ride, I saw the whole city filled with colors, decorations, infinite crackers and happy faces. Even the construction cranes were decorated with lights and then, I realized, whatever it is, however it is, this is home. Every family has fights but you don’t curse your family because of that. A nation is just a bigger family and the same concept applies. It just brought a smile to my face for which I had no explanation. I had no plans to but I was so infused with the festive spirit that I decided to buy a lot of crackers, burst them, have some wine, lot of sweets and just celebrate. The day ended on a very positive note. Maybe the purpose of festivals is that if you have nothing else to celebrate in life, you celebrate on these days for no apparent reason.

The spirit of us Indians lies in the fact that however screwed up life is, however screwed up government is, we make merry. We are imbibed with this courage to move on quite smoothly even after facing the worst situations. Everyday in life is a struggle to earn the basic necessities like food,shelter and clothes for around 60% of the people but still we can see smiles on their faces. This Diwali restored my faith in my nation….

…. And once again, I am sure this is where I belong :-) …

DooDoo and YooHoo

Intro to my first comic characters: DooDoo and YooHoo
Basically DooDoo is a rat who stays in Professor YooHoo's house as a domestic help. Professor YooHoo teaches Philosophy at RATS Institute of Practical, Physical, Theoritical, Mathematical and Mental Sciences ( RIPPTMMS ). DooDoo gets fascinated by Professor's intellect and decides to study Philosophy from him. Initially, DooDoo is very dumb. This series is going to be his journey from the start and will unfold with the advent of time.....

Back to school but differently….

Its been years since I finished my formal education but recently I realized that I have entered a whole new schooling era, AGAIN…. A wide spectrum of topics: The difference between a Bullet 350 and RD 350 :- Bullet 350 has a 4 stroke engine with 18bhp (brake horse power: the measure of an engine's horsepower without the loss in power caused by the gearbox, generator, differential, water pump, and other auxiliary components) while RD 350 has a 2 stroke engine (22bhp) which essentially means that in Bullet power comes with every 4th stroke but in RD power comes with every 2nd stroke. The power is generated in RD with such intensity that it is tough to control and maneuver the bike. On the other hand, Bullet is quite subtle, balanced and heavier. I haven’t driven a RD 350 but I have driven Bullet and it is actually very stable on the road. Even on the sharp speed breakers, you don’t feel a thing and when you are driving it, you actually feel like you own the road. Jab Bullet chale duniya ruke… Very true….

Then, one day, talking to a friend Amrit ( The Biker) about the walls we create in our minds, knowledge that Pink Floyd actually has a movie Wall- the movie where it describes this wall and all the things like car, TV etc. we put in the wall as every brick and the video of the song wall- O My God!!! Then talking to another friend Varada ( The Philosopher) about this, a question comes, Have you heard of Syd Barrett? No. Ok he is the one who got the band together in 1965 under the name of Pink Floyd and Shine on You Crazy Diamond actually represents him. O Okk…

A whole new perspective of freedom from the movies like Easy Rider or Motorcycle Diaries. Motorcycle Diaries is a famous one but a brilliant excerpt from lesser known Easy Rider:
George Hanson( Jack Nicholson): You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can't understand what's gone wrong with it.
Billy(Dennis Hopper): Man, everybody got chicken, that's what happened. Hey, we can't even get into like, a second-rate hotel, I mean, a second-rate motel, you dig? They think we're gonna cut their throat or somethin'. They're scared, man.
George Hanson: They're not scared of you. They're scared of what you represent to 'em.
Billy: Hey, man. All we represent to them, man, is somebody who needs a haircut.
George Hanson: Oh, no. What you represent to them is freedom.
Billy: What the hell is wrong with that?
George Hanson: Oh, yeah, that's right. That's what's it's all about, all right. But talkin' about it and bein' it, that's two different things. I mean, it's real hard to be free when you are bought and sold in the marketplace. Of course, don't ever tell anybody that they're not free, 'cause then they're gonna get real busy killin' and maimin' to prove to you that they are. Oh, yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em.

And when I think about it, yes we just talk about freedom but we are not free, we are completely wound up in layers and layers of web and though we like to believe we are free, reality is far far away from that…..

I think I am in the first standard of the school currently but I hope and do hope so fervently that one day soon enough I am able to pass out from the school and be free…

A disaster named Singh is Kinng

How do you feel when only one Sardar is blabbering? Now imagine how it would be when 8-9 of them are continuing for 3 hours. Same is the case with Singh is Kinng. Generally, I like Akshay Kumar a lot but this movie has even put that into question for me. He has done too much over acting in this one and I believe he is getting fulltime onto the commercialization bandwagon. It might be good for his career but anyways, I think he is losing being his usual self.

The movie starts with him being an idiotic villager called Happy Singh who inflicts more damage than benefit in whatever he does. He is so tiresome that villagers make a plot to send him to get back a guy from the village who moved to Australia and became a top Don vis a vis King. Now our Happy Singh instead of going to Australia reaches Egypt by boarding a wrong flight. And Whoaaa.. who does he meet as soon as he lands in Egypt, Katrina Kaif. Surprise….. Happy Singh is besotted and starts dreaming of her as his wife. But then, he is put on to the next flight to Australia. He catches up with Don there but the Don throws him out followed by a whole sentiyaap dialogue where Happy Singh says, “ Hamari kaum to auron ko bhi khaana paani khilaati hai aur tu apne gaanv ke bhai to dhakke maar kar nikaal raha hai….????” Hungry and tired, he roams around Sydney and makes a pact to not go back unless he is able to take the Don back with him.

Kirron Kher, a flower-monger, takes pity on him and gives him food and shelter. She sends Akshay Kumar on an errand to decorate a boat which surprisingly turns out to be Don’s boat. There is an attack on Don and in an attempt to save the Don, Happy Singh manages to put him into comma where he can listen and see but can’t move. One good comedy scene in the hospital is when the don is on the bed and they are discussing who should be made the new don? The old don points his eyes to Happy Singh, so everyone believes that he wants Happy Singh to be new don but actually, he was trying to blame Happy Singh for the comma and his blood begins to boil in the packet from which transfusion is being done. A big PJ but at least people had a laugh.

Now our new king Happy Singh teaches the lesson of righteousness to the crew and they change from being devils to nice hearted people and blah blah blah. Meanwhile, Kirron Kher’s daughter is coming with her fiancée. Her daughter believes that they are really rich but in between, they have gone poor and Mom dear is worried as to how will she face her daughter and her daughter’s fiancée? Here comes our king to the rescue. He plans a whole drama where Kirron Kher is made the owner of don’s palace and everyone else is a servant.

No points to guess now who will be the daughter when she gets out of the plane? Saddi Kat. Happy Singh’s heart is broken in million pieces but he still tries to put a brave face and work for arranging everything for the wedding. However, In the end, Kat has a fight with her fiancée and marries Happy Singh and everyone has learnt the lesson of virtue and morality, Don comes back to his senses and everyone returns to the village….

"HAPPY" Viewing in case you are still planning to waste your money on this…….