Escapade

It was sometime in the evening. Mom sits near me to browse through my albums. She is adamant at seeing the whole lot of them right away. I have no choice but to agree. And there goes the shortlisting train. Only if she cared to understand that those were my friends. The next day I am in college and when I come across those shorlisted faces, I feel a bit awkward. The next moment I am running away from them all, scared and lo!, I trip and fall, the kick. That was exactly what I was looking for. A narrow escape out of one skunky dream. :P 

Words

Those words spoken, wish they were unspoken
Those deeds done, wish they could be undone,
One moment here, one moment there,
And the next moment is an estranged one.
The disgruntled onlooker was once a part,
and now apart, beyond reconciliation.

Another day, another place,another time,
The context is novel, the roles recast and -
Those words unspoken, wish they were spoken,
Those deeds undone, wish they were done,
Life perdures to pull the strings unwearied,
Revamp is only an instance, the show is on, full on.

A While Back

My last one was a rendering made in the mood of wrapping up the last term projects. One month has passed since and loads of things have happened. Somehow the last term made me feel desperate to get back home that I even forgot to inform my friends about my homecoming. The whole process felt as eventful as ever, but nothing will ever beat last winter break I bet. 

The layover at airports as part of the to and fro journey was more than unpalatable. Eight hours in the airport on my way home and a ten hours on my way back. Thanks to those two friends for company, and to the laptop which more than often had landed up for rescue, else I would have died of yucky yucky boredom. Now for some comparisons. One thing we noticed was that the Bangalore airport was visibly way more friendly than  the Delhi airport. We were allowed to enter the Departure terminal way before the hour and got to have something and stretch our legs. The case with Delhi airport was quite different. Since we would not have been allowed into the Departure terminal three hours before the flight, we had to sit at the Arrival itself. Thanks to the drinking water pipe which is designed to serve only tall people and to make things still effortless for a five feet being, there were no glasses available and no space for glasses either. For a while I tried hard to strangle my thirst, but there are limits to everything. Two more rounds of the hour needle and I felt totally helpless, so walked down to the pipe, managed to raise my mouth to it and then I could not stop myself from bursting into a laughter considering my present posture. So two drops of water to maintain my liquid levels and I was back to my luggage again. The eateries were all outside the terminal and we did not want to risk going out in the rain with all that luggage(stuff for the next 6 months :P).

Back to college the next morning, just in time for the first morning class, and I had never slept in a class like that ever before. I wanted to listen, tried hard to take some notes, but all efforts were spoiled hands-down. Then it was a marathon run which covered up areas of pending term five registration, mess bill, collection of books and a tiring walk back to the room. I was adamant not to drop any books on the road this time. So I concentrated hard and finally got to my room with all my books unscathed. Then through the unpacking, cleaning up and tidying of the room. It does not feel good to stay amongst clutter, that too of books and clothes.

Three hours down the line I was almost 'sleep-working'. I wished I could check my mails, but my head and mind seemed to be giving in to the seducer that sleep had disguised into. And when I was woken up for dinner by phone calls from home I realized that life was back and I was once again in helL. One week since all this and I am enjoying the unusual leisure hours that comes with the beginning of every term. Soon it will get fast and furious once again and this time I have no escape until I finish off with all my leftover duties at helL.

The Blondie Countdown says "Days left for PGP25s 183 days" and it touches a chord that arouses a cocktail of thoughts and feelings. Do not know yet what all would pass meanwhile. Hoping for the best as with the beginning of every new term and wishing the same for every fellow being too. :)

The Storm before the Fireworks :P

It is submission time, started a couple of days back actually, but it is still on and going strong. A  few of them have been wrapped up, but a whole long queue waits and the waiting time could range from anywhere between two to six days. After the sixth day, the fireworks take over the baton, sorry, I meant the end term exams. So the waiting time has a firm cap which cannot be fiddled with. Another good point to be noticed is that the queue length cannot increase any further since this is the last week of the term. The queue length would gradually decrease and then exactly zero. As for the utilization of resources, it depends, the classic MBA response. Actually a lot of the parameters could be brought under that head, i.e.,"It Depends". :P

Now if you are wondering why I am so busy speaking from an Operations perspective, let me make it clear to you. I was doing this Operations assignment and I wanted to take a short  break in between. What better choice for a break compared to eating poor readers' heads?? And now I am back to work... :)

First Interview at Sweet 48!!!!

This is about a friend, a middle aged one, but a real close one who despised the idea of taking up a job. Not exactly, she did plan to go for a couple of them at several points of her life, but always ended up deciding against it when the appointment letter clinked in the letter box. And so passed almost twenty precious years of her life caring only and only for her husband and kids. Now her kids were grown up and working and suddenly after seeing them off to enjoy their new found lives, she had this urge to look for a job. Again the mother in her chose to do what mother's do best, teaching little kids at a play school. Again she chose to go to one at a walking distance because that would let her stay nearer to home.


And so she set out for her first interview. She loved the atmosphere of the play school. The whole ambiance there reminded her of those days when she used to deck up her kids' rooms every day according to their changing fancies. And then straight to the Principal's room after inquiring at the reception. She was confident that she would make it. She could shape her kids to what they are today. If she could mold those two little devils into their present designations, what on earth could stop her from molding a couple more of them?

Well the interview began. She told him about her background, the traditional answer to the "tell me about yourself " question. Then details about the family and finally the million dollar question, "Do you have work experience in this field?" A trained interviewee would have been prompt to say that she had trained two devils all her life and ingrained every good she possibly could, in them. But the mother was too innocent and  quick  not to answer in the affirmative. And so came down the curtain on her first ever job interview. Not to forget that she is a well educated lady, if she had chosen to work at a younger age, she would have got the job she wanted to have.

This was something for those millions of mothers who smother their dreams for the sake of their families, whether those be dreams of a better job or luxuries; and also for those mothers who take up the daunting task and still never ever show even the least bit of penuriousness in showering a mother's unconditional love. This is not to tell them whether they were right or wrong. That was and always would be entirely their choice. But a thousand thanks to every mother who simply cannot stop being the caring and giving mother that she is. :)  Not to forget to mention the fathers who are equally special(just that the protagonist happened to be a mother). They have no choice, but to work, ;) but they never complain either. They are the strong Daddies, the superheroes who hold together their families so that not any strong wind on the face of the earth would ever  reach the insides of their little sweet home or touch their loved ones in there.

Back in hel'L' SWEET hel'L'

Was yearning to get back here while at summers and now its a gradual glide into the usual self. In a month, not really a month, in something less than that, I would be yearning to go home. That is how it usually works. This time around it feels really good to be back in college, maybe due to the realization that life in hel'L' is going to be only for a span of another nine months, and time flies away here, as if it is all in a hurry to catch its next connection flight. The estimations and expectations are high, as with every commencing term. The estimations were always ad hoc and proved to be wrong or deviated trajectory without fault, at some or the other point. But this time I am indubitably excited about the lectures that I would get to attend. Looking forward to this second round at hel'L' with a bevy of expectations and hoping to enjoy every moment here like never before. :)

From over the mountains.............

Blend

Could be anything........Interpret at your own risk........

Great Expectations

A Zen proverb rightly states ~ "The obstacle is the path"
How true is that! Of late I have been counting instances that proved it over and over again for me. Not that I never came across such instances before, but just that I have too much of idle time now and I am bothering to keep proper count for a change.

The first example could well be my blogging faculties which almost went into a coma state after I got to Bangalore. When I left Lucknow for the summers one thing I was overly excited about was that I would get to blog more systematically now, since there would be more time. Every night before going to bed I travel up the memory stack for the day to see if there was anything that I could put down on the blog. But thanks to my swinging mood, I was so exasperated by the new found boring life that I could never even think of a single such thing. That was the first great expectation which faced an even greater slump.

 The first week in Bangalore was impossibly boring and then I slid into the new frame custom designed for me. Almost one and a half month through, I am afraid I am enjoying the solitude, or is it the new found friends here? I am clueless, but I am feeling much better now. I am loving the climate, feeling more with my fellow hostelers and obviously very much at home in office. The last remnant of the previous sentence is probably inappropriately structured, but then that is what it is like. I like the human beings there, though the government attitude does show up accasionally on a face or two.

Still, the dearth of those sedulous practices that were ingrained into our helL routines, keeps making me feel that I want to be back in college as soon as possible. [:P]  So I got to crafting my report well ahead of my usual schedules. Then came the next pleasant surprise -  the respondents who were to fill up my surveys are impossibly busy people and so the "Findings and Conclusion" part will have to be indefinitely put on hold. It was even more excting to realize that this indefinite timeline could well stretch into another week and there I see my dreams of early riddance shattered to mere crumbs and dust.

Another great surprise was on hold until I reported to my guide this morning. She will not be available throughout the first half of next week. Special thanks to the holiday calendar which never shows up in times of need - Thursday is a holiday, and my presentation will happen only next Friday and that is very much the day I had chosen to bid adieu to Bangalore with my bags all packed. Now I have another trouble brewing in the undergrowth of my petal laden path. As I mentioned, this is nothing new to me. It has been happening right from the time I was to be admitted to my kindergarten and the pattern is still going strong. Twenty years down the lane, things seem to be working exactly the same way for me.

My inference from these little experiences is that most of it which starts teda-meda ends well for me. Well, there have been cases too when good starts have given good finishes (I have certainly not forgotten about the bad starts and good starts which gave absolutely no chances to  make finishes), but the joy is always more when the tough start gives a smooth finish. Like Shakespeare aptly said for all times to come, "All's well that ends well". Hope the next week proves him right once more, else I lose at stake four more days of my life to Bangalore. One more relevant quote here, though that sounds like a bit of an extra dose from me.

"If you would have your son to walk honourably through the world, you must not attempt to clear the stones from his path, but teach him to walk firmly over them - not insist upon leading him by the hand, but let him learn to go alone" ~ Anne Bronte

That was a Dream Half Come True

It was 4pm in the evening and the auditorium at ISRO was gradually getting flooded with a swarm of ISRO employees and staff. It was the launch of the GSAT 4 using the GSLV D3. It was a proud moment indeed. To be a part of ISRO in itself is an honor, though it is only for a short period of 2 months. And this was truly an awesome experience, the launch. I had never really bothered to know the specifics of a satellite launch. This time it was different,being a part of the organization, it was a necessity and I could make out things a bit better too because I had been neck deep immersed in the ISRO library since the past one week.

So there we were at the auditorium. I had goosebumps as soon as I entered the auditorium. It was the feel, the aura, the setting, or I do not exactly know what, but I was enthralled by it all. Soon after we got settled, the commentary commenced and then we were introduced to all those scientists who had worked day in and day out to make this day a reality. The Chairman too addressed us along with the rest of the team. All this while, the countdown was progressing in the background and by the time we were five minutes away from the launch, the description of the satellite and launch vehicle and the assembly had been done. It all looked so much out of this world, numerous antsized people assembling a humongous structure as that. Now the time seemed to move really fast and the heartbeats paced up. It was very evident from every single face there that they too were feeling the same. They were probably feeling it even more strongly because most of them had in some or the other way contributed to the D-day.

Once the countdown reached 10 seconds, there was pin drop silence out there, the rocket gradually broke its shackles and took off on its flight. The excitement was so high that I could not even make out time fly. Soon the rocket successfully completed its first stage and there was loud applause everywhere. The distances seemed to thin down, ISRO employees across the nation experienced those moments as if there was only a few millimetre of thin air between them. That was an awesome experience, throughout the whole process I felt more and more proud to be a part of ISRO. Then the rocket moved into its second stage, it was very much and accurately following its proposed trajectory. We kept following every single word that was being uttered by the commentators, the range, the altitude, the angle of inclination and took care not to miss the count of time that the rocket had already spent up there.

All was fine and well until all of a sudden the rocket stopped responding. The signals were absconding, but nobody lost hope. Every single soul there held on with faith, hoping that it would be back under control. For a moment all that kept ringing in my head were the words of the Chairman that India would be a self reliant nation in the field of space once this flight  proved successful. Probably that was what passed through every single mind there. This was the first time we tried our indigenous cryogenic engine. The satellite also carried the Ka band transponders that ISRO would soon be venturing into.

 Every single person there refused to leave the auditorium hoping that the rocket will be restored to its normalcy soon. The agony in the eyes of those master craftsmen who had sweated it out to make this day possible was very evident. The wait was long and every single soul there was praying hard to harness success once again. But nothing seemed to be working. I kept my fingers crossed all the while and I really wished that I could be part of a successful launch, but then the experience was awesome and me, completely spellbound throughout. If it had launched successfully I would probably have had the most extraordinary experience of my life. Anyways it was only an experimental flight and our scientists there, I am sure are a determined lot. If not today, some other day, but India will become a self reliant space programmer in the near future. Kudos to our scientists and their craftsmen who work for the country so tirelessly and never lose heart, come what may, and hoping sincerely that they harness success next time with not even a shadow of failure looming anywhere in the vicinity.

Cool Summers!!!

I am in Bangalore this summer, that adds one more city into my list of sojourns. Its cooler here in every sense, considering that my last summer was spent partly in Chennai. A cool breeze blows towards the evening  mostly followed by rain, making me forget about the summers, I meant the climate. And as for life, the transition due to this temporary detachment from the IIM has been pretty different too. Life all of a sudden seems to have become so cool and chilled, no quizzes, presentations, assignments, tensions and there is just this one project that has to be done by the end of this two month tenure. All of a sudden life seems to have become so different and I am finding it tough to locate a word to describe this situation exactly.

Now for some cribbing. I had been craving for an internet connection since the last couple of days. Thanks to the data cards, I am feeling a bit relieved now. Life has moved to such a point that it feels like hell even away from helL. There I had no clue as to how time passed and here I could even end up playing around with the clock needle, just to convince myself that time is actually moving.

I was almost glued on to the phone until I got my net connection, called up almost every single friend on my contact list. Thanks for that, coz it had been long since I had spoken to most of them, but they were probably surprised considering the lengths at which I spoke to them. Probably I had never ever spoken to anyone this long, now it does not feel like ever hanging up. The longer anyone speaks, the happier I feel. The best part is that I am going to end up spending all my stipend here on phone calls and the internet :(

My Dad and Mom are having the toughest time keeping me busy. Just now I asked Mom not to hang up and she told me that she has nothing more to say, so would call back after taking enough time to make up new stories. That was insulting, but then it was Mom, so why worry :) These are times when I wish there was a special someone who could have given me company anytime ;) But thanks to myself, I could not still locate anyone for the concerned designation. So these two months are going to feel even longer than two years now. Hope to locate some friends and acquaintances before I go schizophrenic and start having delusions ;) 

Time for Some Leisurely Perusal

The last time I read a novel was maybe when I was in Chennai. It has been so long back now. Reading was fun then, Landmark was the most frequented shop, in fact the first place visited after every salary got credited. And sometimes there was this overwhelming greed to read, that we often indulged in the long abandoned barter system, exchange any book for any other. Thanks to those others who were equally crazy, they too were ready to read anything that they could lay their hands on. 

Thanks to Dad who lead me into the amazing world of books. He made sure that I read every important book, the Ramayana, the Panchathantra, the speeches of Vivekanda, My Experiments with Truth and many more. Vikramaditya was an all time favourite. The "Vetal" always took me into the world of fantasy, I always wished I too had one to myself, not on my back, but me on his back, and then he could probably take me into unknown lands of yore. Since I had finished going through the books in Dad's library, he got me this one on Russian revolution from a close friend's. It was a book by Mikhail Aleksandrovich Shokolov called " And Quiet Flows the Don". I literally had to put in a whole lot of effort in reading this one, but then I did finish it off successfully. I was just in my eight standard or so then, so the level of understanding was pretty low, but I still remember the pictures that it formed in my mind and every time I think of the book, those pictures come rushing back. Probably I had given in too much time into understanding the book, that I ended up forming such ever non-fading pictures of it in my mind. Dad kept getting me more and more books whenever he could. One another book I remember is Arundhati Roy's, "God of Small Things". Critics gave conflicting reviews on the book, but the little girl that I was, it was something in the lines of the Sholokov book for me. It somehow connected up everything. Revolutions, no matter where they happen, are revolutions and they do bring about strong transformations. A lot many thoughts were evoked by this one. I still feel I could not understand them well enough then. Every another time I try to revisit them, they make new revelations. These are games that these magicians play, the books, they are so slow revealing, even better than the Dark Knight viral marketing strategy sometimes. They can keep you pinned down to them like never ever and then do the same again, every time you go back to them. Thanks to Dad, he kept me busy with books. 

Dad's elder brother was another inspiration. His library always kept luring me every time I visited his place. It was in school that the spark of reading was probably struck. The first books were Charles Dickens classics, Tom Sawyer, Black Beauty, The Wizard of Oz, and slowly onward to W.B. Dixen, Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Perry Mason and so on. Whatever I could  not lay hands on in school, I used to grab them at my uncle's place. The sight of Charles Dickens classics there made me read them all over again when I went there once, in the ninth or so. Shakespeare was another favorite.Then it was the Sherlock Holmes series. I read all of them, just to make sure that I stayed updated on Holmes and Watson, in case anyone bothered to ask. ;) Got a chance to delve deeper into Shakespeare, in school. Those were the original verse versions which we had to learn as a part of the curriculum. We were all so taken backward in History by the obsolete version of English, that we made it a habit to converse in the Elizabathen style. Words like thy, thee, thou, ere, yore, the -eth suffixed words and the likes were the most used on the list. The books in the curriculum always lead to do more of their kind, and similarly some of the poetries and some of those catchy quotes. 

Once in college, a huge wave swept me away into the land of Science fictions. My little brother Abhishek, used to get me books by Robert Cook from the school library, only until he was once asked the summary of one of them and he failed to even mumble the title of the book and that was it. I had to look for other sources and again back to Dad. He got me a whole lot of books on Stephen Hawking and his works. The black holes looked the most enchanting thing at that point of time and there was this shift in ambition, the sudden urge to become a scientist or sometimes, even a space scientist. Well, after college I knew there was no space for space scientists in the company that I got recruited into. So I decided to become more open minded and expanded my horizon for variety books.

Once in Chennai, the choosiness had almost completely disappeared. I was once again all happy to read anything that I came across, though there was still this left over liking for Stephen Hawking. So I read some more of him before getting into more variety. Sidney Sheldon was the most easily available one, since our neighbors had a whole collection. Then at some point sprung up this new nosiness for love stories. The first one in line was well, Erich Segal's, "Love Story". It felt boring in the beginning, something so mushy and not so like those detective and science fictions types. But then I liked it as it caught on. Then I gave in for more of such kind, one was "Sundays at Tiffany's" by James Patterson, almost like the Twilight sagas, too unreal, but then engaging enough. The worst part was this curiosity to know what "Mills and Boons" was actually all about. Every time we landed up at Landmark, we spotted those large offers put up on this one. The curiosity was rising with every visit and finally we bought one. We ended up wondering how anyone could write just for the sake of making people drool. One read was more than enough to figure out why they were on attractive offers and always marketed so grandly. That was probably the last time I read a novel. 

After coming to IIML, I had almost forgotten my way into that land of books. But today is a special day, I am back on my path and now I am hoping to get lost in the world of books all over again. :) This is the most beautiful world that anyone could ever visit, the safest sojourn, so engaging and least demanding. They simply are the best of friends that anyone could ever make and the most faithful too. So I am all ready to sign in again for this rendezvous with books and hope I get to stay long enough this time. 

Just Chill !

Yesterday was different, after a long while. In spite of being a Tuesday, I woke up only by 11am and it felt so good (hope my Mom does not get to see this one, else I am done for). As any other holiday usually has been, this one too was unwritten, unplanned and undefined. So the usual spark ignition kinda system seemed to have gone out of fuel for a while. After a bath, I felt a bit better, but in no real mood to work. So followed the next default step, a visit to the doctor, my friend. Do not, by any chance mistake the visit for anything medical, because she is a vet (now i bet you must have vindicated your doubts of it being a medical visit). Anyways she is one great holiday planner. So there we set out all of a sudden for a lunch at a nearby restaurant. 


The empty stomach was in great expectations, but Alas! the food failed miserably in tickling any of our taste buds. I really wanted to leave the plate clean, but then the situation would have gone out of control if I tried any harder. Hence, the final choice, give up. It always hurts to do that. It reminds me of those childhood days when Mom used to make me eat neatly, not even letting me leave behind a morsel in the plate. She always told me about those poor, emaciated kids around the world who were even ready to have from waste bins because they had no choice unlike me. The first picture it always brought to my mind was glimpses of the Somalian kids in the title song of this program called "Living on the Edge" which used to be telecast on DD every week. And then the food would just make its way in easily, making no more complaints. Anyways after coming here, I have made  it a bad habit to waste at least twice a week. If the aura of the mess prognosticates of the chances of food wastage, I make it straight to the milk counter, again the peremptoriness that develops due to having a chance to choose. But that sure is at least better than wasting food. Still there do come times when I forcefully make myself forget those emaciated figures and end up dumping food. There is nothing on this earth that I ever kept from my Mom, but this one thing I never ever dared to tell her. Wish I could some day become a more responsible being. 


Well that was just an hour of the whole day. After coming back, we listened to some music, tried watching some movies, but nothing looked any interesting because the rightful activity to have followed the lunch was a nap. So we parted ways for the time being. Since afternoon naps have always been an issue for me when not at home, even that somehow looked uninteresting. So got back to this life saver to figure out some new time pass. All efforts seemed to be going futile, and back to square one, chatting, the perpetual love. There, it was evening before I could even make out. Chatting is this one seductive thingy, keeps me bound to it, that I always lose track of time. Precautionary measures that only work are putting the system to deep sleep, or forcefully signing out of all those hyper-networking apps and thinking of the CG system. That works wonders, trust me. Right now there seemed to be no reasons to use any of those, so I just carried on gleefully. 


Another favorite activity on the list has always been going for a stroll and so accompanied another friend on one, and killed another half an hour there. This one was fruitful though, got some gyan on how to choose electives and also some info that was about me, but so much not in my knowledge. That was one session which helped me do some rectification and clarifications. 


All this was followed by the most looked forward event of the day, some time with another set of friends here. The doc was there too. She is one best friend, so it is almost like a twin effect, wherever we go, we mostly make it together. This one was an altogether different experience after coming to college. Got to help with some cooking after a long while. Our rock band singer was the chef and she cooked us some delicious Kerala delicacies. Did someone tell me that good singers make great cooks? PJs apart, lets get back to the job. She was too inclined in doing all the cooking herself. So our duties narrowed down to just dicing and cleaning, the backend stuff (the word reminds me of those software projects that I ever got to lay my hands on). That does not take much time so we got to playing some dumb charades, for me it was after two whole years maybe. The last time I played the game was probably at the Talentine competitions at HCL. It felt good getting to do the acting and the interpreting all over again. This is one fun game, it can work like laughing gas when played in the lightest of moods. And one more fact to be noted, that we were in the company of a fourth person who utters something funny every another second she opes her mouth. So that made way for a lot of laughter, at the FPM hostel for a change. 


Then we were all busy locating our houses on Google Earth. I was stupid enough not to make out mine. These places look so different in the plan view. I probably had to be shown an elevation to make my brains work. Anyways that endeavor was deserted halfway through and we turned our concentration to the sumptuous food. The singer proved an impressive cook and thanks to her, I had no reasons to think of  "Living on the Edge" show at the dinner table ( not exactly table, we dined on the bed). As the saying goes, dinner with friends can never ever be hampered by hurdles like table manners. So there we were, talking away and laughing our way to satisfaction. Our hostess and the chatterbox took turns to keep us involved with their share of experiences and stories. The doc and me were entrusted with the laughing part. The chatterbox had so many stories to share, she had a story lined up behind every single word that she uttered. That slid the clock needle a bit too fast and it was time to let our dear hostess get some sleep after a long day. So the three of us set off for our respective rooms. That was just another day of my life, but one special day indeed, because it is rarely that we get any idle time here. That reminds me of a poem that was taught in the smaller classes.


What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
                                                     -William Henry Davies

Two Sides of the Same Coin

One side is dark, the other bright,
which one to choose, the noose is closing
The prices too close and the time too short,
the air is rushing out as if in a snort,
the noise is deafening, like a thunder bolt,
Oh! What could these auguries mean?
Are they hinting at an impending storm,
or of the silence that could anytime close in?
Sometimes life takes us to edges so sharp
and leave there to ponder over nothing at all,
Moments slip out of hands and life feels,
as though drowning helplessly in deep waters.
Only if those recondite facts could be
superficial or at least translucent,
choosing would have been easy and
life a lot more facile, complacent;
but then, how much would thou have,
put thy life at stake for - how many pennies less?
The shallowness would have fast crept in,
but that would still have been deep enough,
to stifle the value that thou today hold for thy life.
These portents are just manifestations,
they exculpate the claim of the coin, that,
it is a worthless one unless it has two sides to it.

Big Small Life

Ever known the stars who twinkle in the night?
They twinkle till one day they'll lose all their light.
Lo, the moon who gives us moments light,
Is also every moment stealing much sight.
Behold the sun,  the true sustainer of our life,
his days too are numbered and may anytime alight.
What of the sweet baby who brings only joy?
What does he take back in his own right?
Each day brings something new, something bright;
but snatches away else which is nice, which spreads delight.
Life is so short, still some big,
 some small, and still not always right.
Why not spread some joy, make someone's life?
Why not enjoy every moment of this big small life?
because life is so short and man no great.
Who knows? tomorrow may come or nay.
So live on, spread joy, love and sweetness
and make this big small life a party to celebrate.

Happy New Year pEOple

This new year I hope I have been more courteous than I was the last time. I have wished ye all before it is past one week since the new year dawned. This new year I was at home. As always I started with the hope of leaving behind all that was bitter or not so good, and making way for all the goodies. As the last bit of bitterness, came the delayed flight schedule and Kochi's sprawling night traffic. Poor me who was supposed to have reached home by 4pm reached home after 11.30 pm. That was too disappointing, still I had successfully reached home at last, for that short recharging term break.

For the next 6 days it was fun and more fun. Mom's rejuvenating treatment seemed to be working instant wonders for me. I almost thought I would have to start dieting while still at home, lest I would end up looking like a pumpkin on my way back. But the delicacies when garnished with family's presence, become simply irresistible. I traveled very little this time around, went to some of the nearby temples, visited all my relatives, met some friends. I met up with two of my childhood friends after a pretty long while. It felt good to be those kids once again, but now talking issues which would make little sense to kids.

I was diligent enough not to make any resolutions this new year. I just waited for the new year to dawn, watched some new year programs with the family and then wished them and silently went to bed. Probably this was the first time in my life when I had a very relaxed, silent new year celebration, with not even the phone bell ringing too long. Every time things get serious around, I feel scared thinking I am actually growing up. Still, this time, I was least bothered. It was only later on that I remembered how peaceful and calm I was when this new year arrived. Again the family-presence magic.

So that was how the new year came for me. Six days at home, and then had to hurry back to my sweet hell. The airlines again played their dirty games and the delay was too bad enough that I had to get my flight rescheduled to the next day. On my journey home, I was swearing at Jetlite and while returning, Kingfisher was at the receiving end. Anyways it marked the realization of the revelation that life is not exactly predictable always. In fact it is unpredictable most of the time, sometimes in a bad way and at the same time good coz the flight delays offered me an extended stay at home.

After coming to college, the first thing I did was to rush through my registration for the third term. I did not expect to finish it all off on the same day, so I did not bother to carry along my bag to bring home those heavy text books. Anyways all hell broke loose with me trying to balance them with my hands and legs and I dropped them twice on my way to the room. At last I left half the bundle with the watchman at the hostel entrance, and then brought them in after they cooled their heels there, or rather I did mine.

So that was how this new year commenced for me, full of unexpected moments. I am once more trying to make some sense of what has been happening in class and with me. The subjects this time seem to be promising some whole lot of slumber in the classroom. So just to keep myself awake I have resorted to a last refuge, daydreaming. Hope that helps, but Oh God, do save me from the clutches of those CP granting-demanding questions. That assured, the rest should be taken care of and I am all set to ring in the new, though not very sure as to what extent I will be able to ring out the ever lingering old. Happy New Year to all ye people once again. Have a great life ahead and I wish the same for myself too.