A Martyr Never Dies…

A mix of green and brown on clothes

Shirt, pants and a cap to don with

Legs saved by boots, a belt to match with

Rifle in hands, bullets in pockets

He is a soldier.

He knows no games, no consoles

Save the game of life and death.

He knows no joys save the joy of winning,

Winning by sacrificing.

His eyes have seen blood.

His eyes have seen degrading carcasses.

He is a soldier.

A challenge to death he gives

Defying nature, he guards the frontiers.

Terror, he knows not!

Fright, he holds not!

He fights. He kills. He saves. He dies.

He is a soldier.

Memories of home keep haunting.

Son shouting, “Dad, be back soon! We’ll beat Adi’s team!”

Mother weeping,” Don’t go child. Stay home.”

Father cheering,” Go ahead. Your country needs you.”

Wife uttering a silent,” Take care.”

Perched on a sand sack,

He is silently crying.

He is a soldier.

Day and night, dusk or dawn

Braving the cool breeze and frightening storm

Fighting the hot blows of air or snowfall

Facing every weather, every pall

He keeps vigil, the surveillance always on.

He is a soldier.

A battle breaks, a war is born

Scuffle all around, all his brethren are torn.

Blood oozes out.

Wounds and sores open up.

He never gives up. He keeps saving.

He keeps on. He fights valiantly.

He is a soldier.

Stream of bullets, rounds of firing

Explosion of bombs, arms tiring

Drenched in blood of comrades

He never ceases his escapades.

Battling his country’s foes

He sacrifices his life, his soul.

He is a soldier.

A shot rings through the air

Reaches him, rips him off!

In parts he falls, down in the lap of motherland.

A tinkle of shine in eyes

A smile on lips

All faces cloud his vision

Slowly, he shuts them down. He loses his breath. He dies.

He becomes a martyr.

Back home, the puzzled son asks,

“Mom, is Daddy dead? Won’t he ever be back?”

Amidst tears, the mother smiles.

“My child, your daddy was a soldier.

He can never die.

A soldier saves his country.

He saved us, he saved you.

He saved many like us.

He is a savior.

Oh come on son! Don’t you know?

That a savior never dies.

He only saves. He’ll keep on saving.”

Amazed, the little boy utters,

“The other day you asked what I wanted to be. I got it Mom!

Dad became a martyr coz he is a savior.

And a savior never dies!

I want to be that!

Yes! I want to be a martyr too…

Coz a martyr never dies…..”

Diary of an engineering student nearing exams.....

it's again the time of the semi-year when i have to get indulged in books the most! university exams are approaching and all my time needs to be devoted to my books now. hah! that aint practical,i admit but you know! when you are at home and your parents know that you have your university exams 15 days from now, they tend to get nosy! and i am no different! hehe. although i must thank my stars coz my parents' anxiety regarding my exams has mellowed down by scales since the time i have completed my schooling. how i remember what i had to go through when i was in school,especially during the boards! huh! hours of grilling with books! and more than that grilling with the thoughts and anxiety which was of course rubbed off on me by my beloved parents(no pun intended) and the scores of visits by very respected uncles n aunties! with each knock on the door  came a swarm of suggestions,"beta, don't worry... just keep studying... answer the questions properly in exams... start from the answer you know the best... take care of handwriting.... attempt this section first.... when i was in tenth, it so happened.....when i was in twelfth,it so happened....blah blah blah!!!" hehe...in those times, i used to wonder, how intelligent all my uncles were!! blessed brains! hmmm...those were innocent and wacky times.......


now that am doing engineering and face my university exams every six months with multitudes of tests held in between( mid-sems,submissions, viva,seminars, presentations,class tests...huh!), i have somehow managed to acknowledge that finally my dad thinks i have matured up a little and don't really need constant coaxing for studying. he well knows and understands that when i sit with books, i do study and when i am in no mood for studying, no soul on earth can make me do that! and coaxing would just lead to time wastage, electricity wastage and of course,'peace of home' wastage as even if i am somehow led to my book, i won't be studying it! just flipping pages or may be day dreaming about the next get together that i have planned with friends or the next fest to be held at college....wondering what would i wear that day...or may be planning which next movie should i plan with mom or friends...et cetera...et cetera.....huh! well.....that's what today's youth is all about! rebellioun! anyways, be however 'mastikhor', i certainly am getting aware of the ticking clock and the passing days....yesterday only while i was sitting at my uncle's house and as he popped the question, "when do you have your exams beta?"...i realized that i am certainly gonna land in trouble!!! gosh, it's just 15 days from now!!! and i haven't yet started!!!! i am dead!!! as soon as i reached home, i changed and settled myself on my bed with a copy in hand and guess what the copy was for.....scheduling...!! now which student on earth has ever followed his plan??? i am no different. see, how seriously i took my study plan and all those restrictions i posed on myself, no FB, no blogging until my exams get over......that's the irony of life! you keep realizing things....but you can't bring yourself to mend your ways..especially when you are an engineer whose university exams are nearing....coz ultimately, after 5 semesters in college, you kind of get used to this! to the anxiety, to the restlessness, to the fits( of scheduling and not following) and of course to the 'callous attitude'.....! but you see, i am definitely gonna study from today onwards........bas ye post karke,i 'll be off......and yeah, of course a little twitter and FB too...and my mails...surely after that.......and wait, there goes my mom, saying something....


"sweety, aaj shaam ko pooja aunty ke yahan chalna beta, thodi der baith ke ayenge....tujhe bula rahi thin ghar bohat dino se..."
"oh yeah mom, theek hai..chalenge......vaise bhi chhuttiyan hi toh hain.......PL hai toh kya hua......"


see, how i wish i never get changed! after all, this is the fun of life!!!! 


happy days ahead friends....i'll be back after a hiatus of about 25 days.....toodles......
and wish me luck for my exams......:-)

Sometimes it's good to let go...

many a times in life, you feel so helpless, so pitied, so anguished that everything else blurs... u lose ur strength and decision making ability. u kind of get shattered. no way out in vision! my dear friends, it happens. n the turmoil which u are going through, can never be understood by any other soul on earth! if at all someone understands a part of it, it is ur best friend or may be that one person to whom u are the closest. in my case, it's my best friend!
jisne bhi suna yahi kaha k let it be yaar! just forgive and forget. nobody can understand what's the real turmoil going on within. but you know, from whatever i could understand and i could gather, sometimes we must let go...let go the one who was very close, very important....sometimes we ought to let go ....for their sake...for our sake...coz what could be the point in carrying forward a relation which would see constant accusing, back biting,  blah blah blah....no one intended to do what happened but circumstances bring out the angel or the devil inside you. no one intended to break it, no one intended to fight with th other...but sometimes we don't have control over what happens, over what dooms to happen, over what is looming near, over you fate, over your anguish, over your love........we must learn to let go...only for the sake of those lovely things which were there in the past, only for those beautiful sordid emotions that had resided in the past, only for those shared smiles and moments that went on to become lifelong memories....memories that will always be cherished, always be reminisced......nobody wants to lose a friend....a good friend.....but sometimes....it is good to let go......and trust me on this....coz going through the same thing again and again becomes a hell lot aching and painful....for both sides.....if only both would let go...at least the memories of happy times stay intact..... or else they too get dimmer and fader with time......the reason why i am writing this here is that every time someone gets to know that something has happened, he/she keeps advising, get back! don't do this. don't do that. just let it be and carry on... phir se dosti kar lo............ for all those reading this post, i would like to clear that at i have never let the friendship depart, i just let my friend go....... toh phir se dosti karne ka koi sawal hi nai uthta......... i can't show what i have been through but i can assure that memories of this friendship will continue to ever inspire my and bring smile on my lips..........one can never stop loving a friend but sometimes...you have to let go that friend......sometimes it is good to let go......

Oh-Obama!

so...as the three day visit is concluding today, both India n US are enriched with some bonding moments...whether it be the First lady of US dancing with small kids in Mumbai or Mr. President Obama doing a jig with students in Delhi, each of those moments will be fresh in millions of minds for long..... not to forget the tough pulling by students of Xavier's, Mumbai! some really nice questions were put upfront to Obama which had him nervous for a while before answering......i must confess it was fun to watch it all! that a person of such stature is pulled up by small anonymous pupils, it really gives me a high.....not that it was in the case of Obama but every time i see any such incident or dialogue, i have a funtime! and i must agree to the fact that Mrs Obama is a such a sport! dancing the koli style with kiddos...so sweet of her! i have always read in papers about how good a homemaker this lady is! she keeps a check on everything, be it her kids' online connect or their studies or Mr. Obama's plans...everything n anything! and with this comes a surge of respect and applause for the first lady of US. anyways...what i was actually speaking about was the 'Oh-Obama' phenomenon! Mr. Obama visited us,our pleasure but it turned out to be their pleasure as well! with all those snaps n pics being flashes in various news channels, what i could gather is that it was a "serious" fun trip for the Obamas... aint that great! packed with dancing, dinner eminent personalities from Bollywood, sports, music and of course cabinet, it was nothing less than a wholesome tour for the first family of US. and i appreciate the way we, india, handled it. i mean, that is what we are known for all over the world! our hospitality. ATITHI DEVO BHAVA. that is imbursed in our culture, our core set of values and ethos. i am definitely impressed by how we have tended them but at the same time i also sense the contrast between their and our culture. when our prime minister n his wife visits them or our president visits them...this is not the kind of attention and embrace they draw. but anyways....in India Mr Obama is definitely a phenomenon...one who has totally rotated the US policy making scenario! at a time when US commanded the world, they saw crowning of Mr Barrack Hussein Obama as their president and this president changed the whole picture! for a change we have a US prez who loves peace and who follows Gandhi, our beloved Bapu........we have a prez who wouldn't mind shaking a leg with kids and who wouldn't mind facing a tough session wit open minded students and who has a wife, Michelle who invites much more respect when she says that,'i urge you to ask my husband some very tough questions a give him a tough time.....'.....oh Obama!

EXAMINATIONS!

Pulsating heartbeats, soaring BP

Sleepless nights, minus TP

Sweating foreheads, quivering hands

Blinking eyes & aching glands…

All but few succumb to the fear

Dreadful & afraid of the ‘danger’ looming near

Restless still motionless, sitting on chair

An internal battle of calculation with a flair!

When the D- day comes

All notes n sums

Get tied in buns

And fought with for runs!

I knew this! I know that!

I had surily read that! Pat!

Oh! What is this? What is that?

No idea on earth. Dhatt!

Somehow, over gets the exam

Now I need a massage n some balm

Need to hold onto my pain n calm

N come back tomorrow for the next exam!

Oh poor me! Poor world!

Always answering the questions hurled!

That’s the beauty of examinations

It witnesses critical times n sundry emotions….

My Love for Chhole!

every time my mom cooks chhole, i am delighted! god knows what is this with me and chhole! some kind of divine connection! as if we are made for each other! me for chhole and chhole for me! my friends don't fail to get amused every time we go to some restaurant or hotel and i desperately search the menu for Indian! chhole bhature or may be chhole puri! he he... they keep wondering what is with vandana, going all ga-ga about chhole.... but what to do. can't help it! chhole are something that gratify my taste buds to the extreme! maa k hath k chhole is something i crave for almost all the time...one chhole and secondly gulab jamuns! one amazing fact that is, is that i applaud my mom's culinary skills most when she has made chhole at home! hehe..call it flattering or anything else but yes, i do feel a divine connect with chhole! have you seen that advertisement of a man( ranvir shorey ) going mad for mangoes....maaza- aam ki pyaas.....feels like i have the same kind of love for chhole! spicy and mouth watering chhole....i must say chhole seems to the love fo my life, besides gulab jamuns of course! you guys remember the ad wherein a little boy(sardarji of kuch kuch hota hai) leaves his home, only to be back home when baited with jalebis...i must confess, one can do that to me too; provided jalebis are replaced with my mo's chhole! .......oh, how i love them! ..........oh! gotta go...my mo's cooking chhole.......toodles! happy food guys!

A NEW LIFE

Nine months of endless wait,
   while now in a complete trance state
   he couldn't believe it has happened!
Taking his ecstasy to a new level,
   his eyes now seem bedazzled.

As his wife lay in peace inside
   a cradle too, shifted beside.
Small chuckling sounds fill the room
   and joy grows manifolds zoom.

He steps in and stares
   tears flowing down as he prepares,
   to hold his bundle of joy in arms
   and see its innocent lovely charms.

He uplifts the tiny girl in arms n LO!
His lips crackled and a grin they blow!
"Thanks immensely!"; he utters to his wife;
   "for giving our love such a beautiful life!"

The mother wipes her tears too
   as crowd in the room steadily grew.
All want a peep at the child
   and at her cute little gestures mild.

She has just stepped in this world
   yet sorrows, she has already nulled.
"She's beautiful, her smile even more so!"
Someone utters as the extended family readies to go...

hey friends!i know it's long time since i have posted something new and exciting but what to do! time crisis! 

you see, exams are approaching. this 18th would see me catapulted into a studious student, who's head banged into the book! ab pura sem kuchh padha nai toh this last minute jitters are surely gonna be there! hehe

anyways, i'll be back on 1st of nov, 10' now...till then, i leave you all with a few compositions of mine, materialized long back! hope they leave an imprint on your mind......

auf weidersehen!

LIFE IS MEANINGFUL...

Life is so very exciting

life is so very boring

life's lovely, life's hep!

various facets of life...

Life's lonely, life sucks!

Life's great! Life's sensible!

Life's outrageous, life's a waste!

 

Various people...various moods...

Various happening...various hues...

Life bogs you down. life dodges you.

Life's rude n life's screwed.

 

But,

that's life for me, for you, for us.

United we stand, divided we fall,

together we we'll unshroud every pall...

Every pall of unhappiness

every cloak of dampness.

Mood swings we'll bear

and...Mood swings we'll steer.

 

Life's a test,

it gives us no time to rest.

But together we'll pass every test,

together we'll win every toss.

 

We'll be happy, we'll be sad

we'll cheer another and we'll be glad.

 

Life will seem meaningful then,

in our own beautiful living den

me, you and the special someone

who's yet to arrive...

From her...

Love and warmth we'll imbibe...

 

And of course, 

those wonderful people too; 

who've made our lives beautiful

will keep on inspiring our smiles

and our lives will be steered for ...

...for those unending miles.....

 

Perhaps then, we'll only think

with an eye's blink;

that...

 

Life's colorful, life's wonderful,

life's cheerful, life's never dull;

life's adorable, life’s memorable,

life's beautiful, it's momentous,

and...Life’s is always always meaningful...!!!

No language is pure language

oye! book layi hai?
hey i like his bohemian style!
arre! wohi toh keh raha hun, tujhe aise alfaz use nai karne chahiye the!


watcha! as the title goes....it was this one sentence that put me thinking....and as i sat n contemplated, i found that yes! no language is pure language...if it's English, we use French n Spanish or German phrases in it. 'nouveau', 'carte Blanche', 'de novo', 'sayonara', 'auf weiedersehen'....all these words are quite a part of one's speech! where is english! this is english remixed! similar with Hindi, Gujarati or any other language! all are remixed versions of languages! hindi n urdu come in combo. how many times have you heard anyone say-"kya mai shauchalaya ka istemal kar sakta hun?" and my dear friends, as a matter of fact, 'istemaal'
 is again an Urdu word! see, i can't think of a plain simple, straight sentence! hadd ho gai! as we know Sanskrit is known to be the mother of all languages as it is the one from which all other languages have taken birth n their form, i would say that besides that, we won't find any language just purely of its own character. maths, English, Hindi all have arisen from Sanskrit. perhaps that certifies Sanskrit as the purest language. but then how many of us can speak n understand it? not many, in fact, not most! we see, we have adapted ourselves swiftly to the fast growing world which makes us dance to its tunes....but what to do? any escape route? none, i believe....and i don't even want one...imagine me saying-"namastey mitr! kya aapn kal kaksha me padhaye gaye paath k uttar likhe?"!!! hehe...i quite like the fusion that is abundant today.....and believe that most would second me.....

IRRATIONAL TERRY

Terry Jones, head of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida.

many of you may have followed him on television and internet these days. yes, you guessed it right. he is the pastor behind the 'BURN KORAN DAY'.  he plans to burn copies of the holy Quaran on 9/11 in order to commemorate the death of victims whom we lost on the fateful 9/11 crash. since the last two days this has been disturbing me a lot! how can he (terry) go to such outrageous limits to gratify himself! just because he is devoid of patience and forgiveness, he would go to such disheartening and heinous extents! and besides, what compounds the levels of anger on his decision is the fact that he is being extremely insensitive towards the expected repercussions! he has clearly stated that he or his church won't be responsible for what follows the Koran burning on 9/11.... how ridiculous! he says he is motivated by his faith. now how would one put that? by whatever he intends to do, doesn't he realize that he is putting his own religion in jeopardy? being insensitive towards other religions is something which people can accept but marring the values or going against his very own religious values is something that appalls me and amazes me at the same time! after all the Ground Zero debacle(which hasn't yet been put to rest), here comes more fodder for disrupting the world peace. knowing very well what the follow ups would be, interpol has issued a global alert in response to this. Mr. Barrack Obama is specially pleading and convincing Terry to retract from his plans.... Obama says,'i hope he listens to those better angels.'  i just hope he does! how can a person who has been in conflict with his own religion live in peace with himself ever after this! what if someday somebody stands and says that he would burn thousands of copies of the holy Bible or the holy Gita just because some Christian or some Hindu were involved in some heinous crimes that lead to loss of lives! a very very in fact, a minuscule section of society, or may i say, the anti-elements of society who carry out inhuman acts of crimes lead to picturization of their whole community in bad terms! what we as humans need to understand is that what goes par all these petty ramifications of religions n countries n bounds is that one thing-'mankind'.... that's it! being a human, a simple human being, who gives us the rights to hurt the sentiments of other humans! hurting sentiments of some people sometimes is acceptable but hurting the whole community, a whole religion is not at all acceptable! i have been very very disturbed by these news doing the rounds.....perhaps the way i wrote this post would very well reflect that...... building a mosque at Ground Zero is something that i do accept- controversial. hurting the sentiments of one community for flattering the other one is not feasible but hurting n keep on hurting that one section of society that has somehow always been misinterpreted is something that is not going well with me n many others all over the world! and i do know n understand that if this 'Koran burning' happens on 9/11 it would lead to vengeance all over the world! disrupting the peace and tranquility........god bless john terry......

HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY

5 September 1888, birthday of the second President of India, academic philosopher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. what we commonly known as teachers' day. this is one day in the whole year when all of a sudden, the very essence of being a student dawns upon most of the children and the very feeling of being a student shines! not that i am mocking the larger section of our country i.e students. it's just my way of putting things honestly! the whole year round, students tease their teachers, create nuisance, think up of every possible way to distract their teachers from delivering lectures, recite notes or conducting tests save this one day known as TEACHERS' DAY. this day all the anti-teachers pupils become the teacher-fearing, teacher-worshiping, noble souls who would gift them pens as a token of reverence or make cards for them! well....be the reasons true or fake, teachers' day is always a affaire grande! given the kind of student that i am, i have always remained in the good books of all my teachers; a fact that makes me feel satisfied with myself. though i remember all my teachers the whole year long, i don't get much chance to see them. thanks to Dr. Radhakrishnan's b'day, i get this one day when no excuses could stop me from meeting my dear teachers and thanking them for making me whatever i am today! every student's life sees many many teachers who teach him one thing or the other but there always are some special faces, those faces who worked very diligently in molding us. my life is no different! my memories are no different! there have been some very special teachers who have come along the way my life was travelling. today, i would like to thank them all. n not just today, i keep thanking them every day, every time i achieve something, minor or major. thanks to all of them. my parents who have been the best teachers! they taught me how to talk, how to build, what to speak, how to be strong, n every single thing it takes me to be a human! Sachindran sir, who brought something very special in my life, something through which i relate to people- literature, the art of writing! had it not been for him, i hadn't been writing this blog today, posting articles, stories and poems. Sanyukta mam and Ranjini mam, both of whom taught me the importance of strength of vocabulary and the power of words! Vinayan mam who has been a guide throughout, especially my plus 2 days. she's has been very caring and loving ever since. Dey mam who may not have taught me ever in any of th standards but who has always been this frank and fun-loving figure whom i look up to. she's fun to be with! Chaudhary sir who taught me the value of learning teh core, the basics! he taught me how if our foundation is strong, the house would stand all the tests of time! many teachers have come and gone, few have stayed and i wish they would always stand by me.....on this auspicious day, i would just like to tell them all that i owe them a lot! i owe my 'person' to them! thank you for shaping me, for making vandana.........i love you all........HAPPY TEACHERS' DAY.......

Life's small lessons

i wonder how little things change perspectives sometimes....how they teach you a lesson and how they add a new dimension to your thinking process! while making dosas today, i notices how a dosa won't be proper when i exert force on it while spreading it on the 'tava'! and the same paste on the same tava would become a lovely dosa if i spread it softly; that is to say, with less force....if one would like to think on this, they would notice how true the similarity exerts in real life! when people force you to do things, you may oblige but half-heartedly! the outcome may not be the best you can deliver. on the other hand if people convince you to do things with courtesy and love, with a soft, calm and gentlemanly tone, you would feel like doing things for them! you would take interest in the given task and deliver nicely! you see! that was a small lesson i learnt today! so no more harsh tone with my brother whom i have to convince every now and then for petty chores...we don't realize the importance of such minuscule gestures or variants of nature until we see the difference in the 'result'! i learnt my tiny lesson......share some of yours.....

TRANSIENCE TRANSCENDS ALL….

Nothing is permanent here;

Neither love nor hatred.

People love you few days

And the next few days they change their ways…

Their soft look, tender eyes, loving phiz

Plus all the care and concern; everything departs!

What replaces, is cold shoulder and hefty thrusts;

Cancel a friend, a foe now darts!

But all that matters is the loving memory of the old days gone…

Nothing is permanent here;

Neither success nor failure.

You build a castle of dreams.

But one wrong step and there falls your pack of cards!

Everything shatters!

But we don’t lose hopes, do we?

We don’t give up dreaming, do we?

Coz’ all that matters is

The joy of learning and the excitement of building!

Nothing is permanent here

Neither prosperity nor hunger.

Once a king, now a beggar;

Who knows how the future hovers.

Luck shines and jackpot crackles!

Sometimes, for people living in shackles!

After all HE is up above, watching…

All equal beneath HIM…

Nothing is permanent here

Neither loneliness nor crowd.

Sometimes happy and joyous, life seems full!

Sometimes dull and sad, life seems hollow!

But we appreciate loneliness too!

As without bouts of emptiness,

How does the importance of crowd infuse?

Nothing is permanent here

Neither smile nor frown.

When joyous, we smile

When angry, we frown.

But both are just reactions!

After all, they are little curves of nerves…

Smile after a frown, your love serves….

Nothing is permanent here

Neither extremism nor liberalism.

When ‘own lot’ suffers,

Extremists do get ‘extremely’ liberal!

Coz we know that love conquers all…

Nothing is permanent here

Neither height nor depth.

What seems to be the height of score,

Could actually be the depth of study!

Both are relative notions for depiction…

Nothing is permanent here

Neither youth nor old age.

Physical beauty blossoms in youth

But beauty of heart makes old age come alive!

Both youth and charm are just in mind!

Actual beauty surpasses ‘skin’!

Nothing is permanent here

Neither life nor death.

One bullet and the body lies still!

Back at home, in bricks;

His laughter n memories still instilled…

This is a transient life

In a transient world!

Where transience is cherished,

Transience reminisced,

And transience treasured!

Nothing is permanent here;

Transience transcends all…

In this world so huge

   People live in a pompous deluge…

None so fair, none so true

   All bound in the same hypocritical hue…

Relations have become a favor,

   Reciprocating feelings, a chore;

But a few people always stand out!

Love they give, reverence they receive

Relations they worship, feelings they understand;

They lend a meaning to our lives……..

Sach hai. Today’s man is self-centered. Selfish and cunning, he will always think about himself. All of us keep bumping into such people. Not the one to be lucky, I too have bumped into many such beings.  Every time I feel cheated, I build a perception that this was the last time! I won’t be deceived again but alas! You keep on trusting people; some good, some bad. Every time I fail to discover the real person behind that sweet smile-flashing guy or the generous girl, I feel this would be it! But the reality of course doesn’t synch here! Anyways, life does offer you your good and bad moments. It does build your camaraderie with good and bad people. It does delight you and sometimes fright you! But it’s always on us how we deal with it. Remember, life will take you to all kind of people at all times, but the selection has to be done by you and solely you! I too have made many friends and lost many of them too! Every time I lost a friend, I used to think that now I would never be able to trust people but when I had new friends, all my apprehensions were gone! You see, sometimes we do err! After all, we are humans! But erring doesn’t mean we are a bad decision maker or a bad chooser! Life won’t always be your sycophant! Instead, it will be your critic! But criticism always helps, you see. It makes you tougher, bolder and better by the day. It will build a responsible, head-strong and an independent person out of you. A human is crushed under many situations that he’ll face in life but there are always some people who would stand by you like anything! Your pillars of strength, your anchors. They will reassure your faith in time every time you tend to fall. They could be anyone! Your parents, friends, relatives, peers or maybe those unknown faces whom you never tried to unveil…. You have to pin point those faces yourself. Nobody would help you with this; simply because nobody else can! These faces, these beings never expect anything in return save your love. I hope all of you have found those pillars and if not, will find them soon and at all turns of unfolding life…….have a happy and a joyous life! Bless you!

memoirs | Slideshow at imageloop.com

finally! i did post some beautiful pics as a slideshow! although i had planned another output for the blog but somehow, for the time being, i could manage this. all the pictures that i have placed above hold special significance in my life. and among all these two are personal favorites; one- jyoti and me; two-myself on teacher's day, in the black saree....look at the big smile on my face! those were the most lovely and fun-filled days....how i wish time could be stopped there and if not that, i wish we had a time-machine.....

As the wind swept past

on the lane i stood aghast;

time was moving fast

I was completing my odyssey last;

But memory didn't fade

of the day underneath the arcade.

why? why did it happen?

why was my life made so sadden?

It was my fault I know

and time didn't allow me grow.

A dark past of my life,

Ever since, I've been battling this strife...

Well! i wrote this little piece of poetry long time back. i still remember it was my chemistry unit test, class 11th. i had completed my  paper and sir wasn't letting pupils leave the exam hall yet. that was when i wrote this little quartet... i was in pain then and i think it does come across... school life is one of the best phases of our lives. in fact, my best-est! i will never forget those carefree days, full of happiness and joy. and at that time a slight trigger was enough to put me in morose state, especially when it concerned my friends. after all we were still small! it was at one such point of time when this came through....a little thing as silly as not being the first one to start reading a english lesson in class would irk me! would you even believe that? huh! and a little thing such as sharing a tiffin would bring oodles of brightness on my face! hehe...lovely days those were.... 

Escapades with rain and BABAJI ...

a simple get-together turned out to be great fun! yesterday me, jammy, khushbu( 24 ) n khushbu( gh-5 ); that's how we distinguish the two, referring to the circles that lie in the proximity of their homes; we all met casually to hang out together. at gh-4, an almost divine spot for friends in gandhinagar, which provides you one of the finest glances of scenic superiority of this city. all was going well untill it struck me that i had to rush for my java classes. it was my first day at the class and being late the very first day doesn't tag you as sincere. does it? anyways, so i left my friends to enjoy the weather as i hopped into an auto rickshaw. but as soon as i got into it, i gathered i did a mistake! this rickshaw wallah was eerie! kinda wacky! i told him to take me to gh-2. he said he would take me to pathika, not beyond that. since i was getting late, so i said, "all right, take me to pathika". then as the auto gathered pace, he started irritating me with silly things like,"madam, baarish aayegi. mausam dekho kaisa hai. apko problem hogi ghar tak pahunchne me..." etc, etc....and lo! tabhi baarish shuru! as we reached pathika, he said," gh-2 hi chhod deta hun madam, apke paise bach jayenge. nai toh aap bekar me do rickshaw karoge...madam ek kaam karta hun, seedhe ghar hi chhod deta hun na...ghar kahan hai apka?" hell! ek toh baarish, i had nothing to protect myself from getting drenched! and uspe se ye ajeeb insaan! jaise taise i reached gh-2 par wahan pahunchke he again started his raag...i said,"stop!"...though he said he would charge nothing for transporting me, i just slipped a note of 10 into his hand n rushed to my class... all you guys out there who are thinking abt the fare, just don't gandhinagar is a small place.....5 rupees and you can go anywhere, from any sector to any other sector.....anyways, somehow i managed to reach on time. but another blow! neither mam, nor other students could make it to the instt. heck! i was stranded in my class that wasn't running! my friends were enjoying, minus me! a frenzy of calls between me n jammy n finally i decided to join them at helipad. to hell with getting wet again, i already was! thanks to the showers. another ride in an auto, though a sane one this time, and i joined my friends at helipad where they were all clicking pics. as soon as i joined them, a babaji came along and started a conversation....basically a lecture...on karma and dharma......first, he cautioned us to keep polythene with us for saving our mobiles from getting damaged. i said, ji babaji, aage se rakh lenge....bas phir kya tha! ek baar jo kehna shuru kiya, he didn't stop then! coincidentally all of us were dressed in jeans then, seeing which we were given a soft lecture on naaridharm....just imagine! he said laaz- lajja is naaridharm and woh humein bhulna nahin chahiye....bade hote hi, 16/17 ya zyada se zyada 18 saal ki umr me shaadi kar leni chahiye....sukh baatna chahiye.....ma-baap kitna karenge, dhang ke kapde pehenne chahiye, salwar-kurta, bahar nahin ghumna chahiye...n blah, blah ,blah!   baba re! he was a marathon lecturer! we all ran for the scooties, kicked and drove away........for ur info, we were all at helipad to save ourselves from rain but then, thanks to babaji, we were suddenly roofless! so we decided to go to  11 and find a place to sit n talk. finally, sector 11 provided us some solace. had hot samosa, gol-gappas and tikkis...... and of course, some window shopping.....hehe....at last, we reached our home. but it was an interesting day. showers, a spooky rickshawallah, a dharma-preaching babaji and all those hot delicacies! it was fun!

I WISH I COULD BE FREE…

I want to break free

I want to break free
I want to break free from your lies
You're so self satisfied I don't need you
Ive got to break free
God knows God knows I want to break free

that's how the lyrics of john deacon's composition go.

sometimes life bogs you down. and all you want is to breakfree! let go all the chains and fears that hold you.

at one such point  of time in my life, when i found myself no better than a caged animal, i wrote this poem. 'i want to be free....'....i wanted to free myself from the clutches of the 'real' life. life ain't always a jovial song, right? so, here this is how my poem goes....

I wish I were a bird

        I would fly away and be free

I wish I were a fish

        I would swim far and flee

I wish I were wind

        I would blow everywhere with glee

I wish I were a raindrop

        I would fall on leaves of every tree

I wish I were snow

        I would cap the mountains and regions hilly

I wish I were a flower

        I would bloom and spread fragrance like Lilly

I wish I were a clown

        I would make people laugh and act silly

I wish I were sand

        I would slip down any grasp

I wish I were music

 People all over the world would listen to me with clasp

But

        My feathers are cut

        Oh! I can’t fly!

        My fins are stitched

        I cannot even try!

        Everyone’s veiled

        Oh! I cannot touch them!

        There’s roof over each head

        I cannot so wet them!

Oh!     I am helpless!

            I am deprived!

            I am breathless!

            I am bereaved!

I am caged, I am tied!

I am raged, I am shied!

I sit here… alone and think;

How I wish wishes could come true!

How I wish wishes could come true!

Coz

        I wish that I were a bird

        So that I could fly…

Coz

        I wish I were a fish

        So that I could swim…

Away, away … far and farther…

I wish I could be free!