AJ's Captured's photostream

AJ's Captured's photostream on Flickr.

one of my old friends from the college, AJ as we fondly call him..... captures some beautiful sights with a breath-taking angle........ have a dekko!

Tibetans in Exile...

A recent book that opened me to a new world, a world of different perspectives, a world of different people; goes by this name….. probably a thesis work by a lady named Rashmi Gupta. Since she did her PhD from Himachal Pradesh University, the cause of Tibetans was a natural choice.. may be…. Because Himachal has its own small Tibet there, at a small place called McLeodganj, near Dharamsala. a few lines from the book that caught my attention go as follows....

"standing at the crossroads you are nameless...
  snakes twist in the odd corners of your mind
  the name they give you is the only name you have
  their noises are sweet as nostalgia.
  soft as drugged sleep, calling you to the womb, to death, to darkness
  you fall again and again between the sound and meaning."

Until I read this book, I was an ignorant girl who always read in papers and magazines the issues perplexing India and china over Tibet, over their military confrontations and other factors; but after completing this work of research, I had an illumination. A new side unraveled, discovered, a mystic world opened up, a plethora of facts, figures and data drilled into my head. Recently Gandhinagar, my own small beautiful Gandhinagar had buzzed with the news of some Tibetan mela that offered winter wears, beautiful shawls, sweaters, pull-overs, woolens, caps, inners, socks…. And more bunch of items… the specialties of Tibet….. I too wanted to have a dekko…so I pulled up with my family there…. N saw an amazing and artful house of work! I bought some too…. But I didn’t fail to notice how these lovely people who were selling the woolens were all educated, English speaking community, who were in many ways, more sophisticated than their  customers! One of these guys told me that he is originally from Tibet but lives in Dharamsala. The guy, his accent, his peers, everyone caught my attention and somehow  in the back of my mind, I build this strange urge to know more about them, to know more about the reasons behind these educated and wellread people selling items….. and my library supplemented my urge when I found this book, from the cover page of which, His Holiness Dalai Lama was gazing at me…. As though the book was meant for me….. I instantly got the book issued and started…….. I was uninformed at first, the ni got involved, then I got amazed ad finally I got somewhat drawn..o the cause of Tibetan refugees…. May be I can’t do much but may be in my own small ways, I might….. I might not do much for them now, but in the many years to come, I will certainly find out some ways to get to them, help them, live with them…. Maybe after I have made some good money and I have ample time on my sleeves…. But first, I got to find some job! :P guys, anybody who is remotely in touch with some refugees, or some organization working for them, working with them, do tell me if there are any ways by which I can help from here.. coz dilli toh abhi dur h……. J

And hey I recommend this book strongly to anyone who has some or at least little interest in non-fiction and reality…… go on friend…. There are really interesting facts that will leave you equipped with nitty grities of war details between in India-china, Tibet-china and refugees’ lives in India. 

i have shared some links..... do visit them to know more...... 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_diaspora  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLeod_Ganj

a fanciful funky read! :p

unknown faces all around

all smile, though strangers surround

life is not so ugly and ill

people are good in bounty still

hypocrisy mightily prevails

but journeys set sails

do we stop at hurdles?

never, instead we gather in bundles.

fight, face, be valiant

and move ahead you gallant

don't stop, don't hide

walk high with pride.

no life is ever serene

no plains are always green

efforts make lives lively

smile fills the hues in blue.

so go on my friend

sit up, start a trend

be happy be brave

put cowardice to grave.

touch, feel, believe

give love, share life

that will make you a true human

the one He sent on earth...

friends, this innocent but sweet little poem was an outcome of my childhood cravings....some curioisty, some melancholic times, some dying hopes, some happy prose :p... a mix of all... i wrote this in some exam hall... don't remember which... may be writing this was just a way of passing time..but my eternal optimism still flows strong :) :D a funky read i must title this :p

manzil kuch dur h...

manzil kuch dhundli h
chhaanv si dhaki, andhere me dubki
bhanak toh deti h par dikhti nahin

roshni se vanchit, kone me kahin
awaaz toh deti h par sunti nahin
ithlati toh h par hansti nahin

dhuyein me gum, pukarti toh h
par mai khoj pati nahin

kabhi idhar, kabhi udhar
bhatkati si mujhe
meri manzil kyun gumrah krti mujhe

iss taraf jaun toh lage kuch chhut sa raha
uss taraf jaun toh lage sab pichhe reh gaya

machalti si tamannayein
ye bhi chahein wo bhi chahein

doobna bhi chahein, udna bhi chahein
rona bhi chahein, khilkhilana bhi chahein
ghumna bhi chahein kahin, gum hona bhi chahein
manzil hi na jane aur pana bhi chahein

manzil shayd kuch dur h
kuch waqt majbur kuch hum majbur h
wo waqt humara bhi ayega
jab kismat ka pitara khul jayega
jo chaha wo humein mil jayega
jab manzil paas, aur sab saaf nazar aa jayega....

transforming months :)

many months have gone by, days gone by,minutes flew by and seconds dissolved..since i last wrote something ob blogger. though i never had avid followers on blogger but my absence did pinch a few and they reminded me about my blog and coaxed me to resume writing. i love those few who long for more of my posts :) people always seek inspirations for their work, be it writing, painting, singing, designing, traveling or any other thing, any form of art. muse plays the biggest role in creation. may be i was devoid of same. last few months have transformed my life drastically. a 180 degrees turn,that is how we say, right? that has exactly been my case! life's turned for good. i have become more merrier, funnier  talkative, happier, content. what else can i ask for? life's great. with my own set of people, i am nibbling into my happiness every now and then, thanking Him for the same and pestering Him for some more of it :p i have found love, i have found bliss. you see, children have major issues while growing up. i too had my share. major conflicts in my childhood seem so petty and uncalled for now. :) now i can see reason behind many things, behind many words that used to come from my parents. but my home is yet to be cured form whimsical demands and pouting spasm of a child. thanks to my little brother. gagan as we all fondly call him( baadal for his fiends and apoorv for his teachers) ; no more pseudonyms i guess :/ his teenage years are a lot more clumsy.with all his violence and aggression, comes his own set of eerie demands,weird habits  weird ways of celebrating/going out with friends.my god! i already feel like an old-generation lady! :p but things apart, i have become much more observant lately. and that has helped me in penning. so, for the days to come, i am stocked up with things to write, things to post and hopefully things to call accolades for, too. :)

happy read guys! 

some posts follow hereof.

I FOUND YOU

it took eternity,
for the melancholy,
the hurt of my broken heart
to melt away...

it took eternity,
for the dusky clouds of my teary eyes,
shrouding my lovely cheeks
to blow away...

darkness haunted me for long
fear gripped me tight furlong.

it seemed as if ages had passed
since i had lost the touch of wisdom
since i had lost my beatific smile;
all now, gone for long,
repelled by my barren being and dreamless eyes
repelled by my splintered journey and brazen sighs...

i wanted everything back.
i wanted to become alive again
to be bound in bountiful terrain
laugh like nonsense
chatter like an innocent;
to dance as i earlier did
to sing as i earlier did;
show all whites for no reason
and be drenched in happiness a dozen!

AND then i found you.
you gave me what i was longing for;
the depth of your arms
your love and your warmth
your passion, your care
your support, your share
your spirit, your enthusiasm
your zest, your life!

you reignited my heart and its beats
you helped me breathe again
you took away all my pain.

you blew away the terrible cloak;
the cloak of horrid dreams and tearful nights
the cloak of morbid eves and rusted sights.

you gave me back
my smile, my laughter
my delight, my appetite
my nonchalance, my beats
my desire, my treats
my advances, my retreats
my feelings, my being.

you took away all strife
and gifted me back my LIFE....

friends!

hiiiii
long long time no posts!
soon to come with loads of helluva posts! hopefully though coz only reviews could tell that and the opposite :p

for a few who are interested; life's swell , no complaints.:)

take care frns!
BRB :)

A Quartet ends here....

all memories are hitting hard these days.... nostalgic time strikes back.....4 years ago, i was this similar nostalgia ...when i was leaving school, friends, teachers, the lovely campus....and now again i'm leaving my friends, teachers, campus but this time around it's my college. first year was traumatic. seriously! no friends, no fun..... it took time to settle down in the new life. making new friends, breathing new atmosphere.... it was around mid 2nd year when i found my league! my friends! a bunch of the most hilarious mad and absolutely nonchalant freaks whom i now very promisingly and with whole my heart call my dearest friends! :)) without you all i was just breathing in KIRC. with you i started living, enjoying. i know whatever i'm writing is regular stuff. purely in sync with what thousand of my counterparts are feeling. but that's what we are supposed to feel when this beautiful journey comes to an end. right? n why supposed...we supposedly feel just this..... no bad memories haunt you, no jitters bug you. it's only a little transient time.....when we need some readjustment. some rescheduling. a new life dares to start now.... there's so much to write and share but this moment is one fo those moments when you find words hitting hard to you. this is a universal moment for all university students meta-morphing their universe these days.... :P
bade ho gaye yar.....kab kaise..pata hi nai chala...... a whole new world, a different one awaits us now...... let's dare to dream...dare to fly........ "hi-five" buddies! :))

this is one of those classic pics when we all were just waving hands and singing...."college days"......though few of my friends aren't here in this pic...but nevermind...i knwo i love you all yaro! <3 

Where have those days gone!

when i used to write for long

with a pen and a note

i used to clock hours along!

My pen used to move swiftly

and words flowed through it quickly

people used to wonder at this 

"oh! what a beautiful literary piece!"

I expressed through my words

writing came to me as flying, to birds

my emotions crawled through my prose 

without it, everything now seems morose.

Why i stopped writing?

was it coz i was fighting?

conquering my own morbid emotions?

i now long to turn back to my devotion.

Hopes will sail along once again

penning will shoe away all misery, all pain

this nip will take to running once again

and i;ll rediscover my identity plain...........

band kamre me tanhaai si palti hai
ojhal hoti roshni, jharokhoen se dikhti hai
jee to chahta hai k mai bhi udu
par bandhan kuch yun bane hain
k na jeete banta hai, na marte banta hai...

yahan kabhi kabhi dum sa ghut-ta hai
duniya se kata-kata sa lagta hai
par kismat toh dekho humari
na taala todte banta hai
aur na darwaza hi taakte banta hai...

na koi himmat dene wala hai
na koi pyar se samjhane wala
yahan hum apni hi kala bhul gaye
qalam aur kagaz se rishta tod baithe
ab na likhte banta hai, na padhte banta hai...

tishnagi hai, aazaad hone ki
kuch waqt khud ko khud se hi paal pane ki
par ye zaalim waqt bhi tadpata hai
na bandishein todta hai
na hi jaan le leta hai...

ek baar mauka toh mile
kuch thodi khushiyan batorne mile
phir is kamsin dil ki shikayatein bhi dur hongi
taaki phir humse
haste bhi bane aur khilkhilate bhi bane...

2011's on run!

hi frns! long time! but a whole plethora of exams were lined up!  but now i'm back with full throttle!! it's already December and now only a few days remain for us to bid adieu to 2011 - the busy year!! 2011 has kept me on tenterhooks throughout and these last few days don't seem to deviate form the usual.....:-p

it's been a helluva time, seeing my transition from third year to fourth of engineering........ all of a sudden future looms dark..... job, career, masters , goal, achievements.... all these things go round n round in head and around coffee tables for discussions! hehe........ but i have been  having a gala time with frns....... these are going to be my best memories! with friends and family...i'm living it up to the fullest!! we will be students no more at this time next year...and before we lose this precious phase and part of life.....we want to soak ourselves completely in its demeanor and magic......... :-)

writing has taken a backseat since past few months but i'm definitely going to go back to it as soon as i get some quiet and patient time ...... January looks like a good time......

meanwhile i have read a good number of books this year and continue to do so right now.........
rest all is in peace...i'm in harmony with myself, content with my life and happy with the pace...... bless all. amen.

hi friends. i did mention about a blog that i had created some while ago. but, i have taken it off now. just this. and yes, if you are interested in knowing why haven't i put up some new couplets then let me assure you that they'll be up soon........actually in the past few days i have penned everything in hindi and i am not so confident with my hindi writing. hehe...so thought that not taking a chance will be good with this thing. anyway, keep giggling guys coz life's short and smiles and laughter only makes your living much more easy,much more easy......auf wiedersehen! :-)

folks....hi

hello all.
much time passes by between my consecutive posts. agreed. but as they say,what meets the eye is not always true. sometimes i'm absorbed in my own thoughts, sometimes i struggle hard to find time. sometimes i sit in leisure, not doing anything. sometimes i simply don't have anything to get started about. sometimes i have a helluva lot to write but can't fathom enough words which would express my state....sometimes i simply mirror my being into the words that echo here. it's all about time and situations. past few days have been troublesome, terrible if i don't fake it.. much to my agony, but life never stops! does it?? testing times are ON and i,being the silent observer i am, am trying to see straight and go straight. anyways.....i am longing to put up something good and fun here! hope to do that soon......meanwhile friends, i have started another blog besides promenade.....the links to it's posts are shared on the right side bar........the blog goes by the name- ...Digging Inside...
the interested may roll through it sometime.....

"It's the same sky, the same land but perceptions differ.

Iit's the same road,the same curve but journeys differ..."

People of both nations- India and Pakistan are home to people with similar facets despite their dissimilar names. People there long for freedom as do the people in India. Freedom to voice their views. Freedom for women to step out of home fearlessly. Freedom to dissect the ignominous face of abysmal poverty. Freedom to cross borders without being scrutinized through those torrid eyes which consider us potential terrorists. Freedom to chase corruption out of their country. Freedom to see their children playing happily with children baptized under other religion. Every family has its everyday fights; insignificant and significant, striving for a better life, a better future. The common man, the hoi polloi does not want war. We want peace and bonhomie. We want a future that would reflect the past, the history of 19th century...ONE  country, the golden bird, may be a INDISTAN or PAKINDIA..... On the signing note I  would echo the sentiments from a popular bollywood film-

 "panchchhi, nadiyan, pawan ke jhonke.......

koi sarhad naa inhe roke....

sarhad insaanoen k liye hai....

socho, tumne aur maine, kya paya insaan hoke......"

“aaj bhaagne ko ji chaha hai

is ajab-gazab si duniya se

jhilmil jhilmil ummedo se

toote, bhikhare kuch sapno se

veeraane se band kamro me

ojhal hoti hasti se

gumsum, chup chup in adharo ki

ankahi, dabayi kuchh baato se

dhundli kuchh beeti yaadoen se
hasti roti barsaatoen se
muskurati, ithlati angdayi ki
pyasi, utsuk saugaatoen se
bheege mausam ki nam aankhoen se

behte girte is pani se
aaj bhaagne ko ji chaha hai

is ajab-gazab si duniya se…..”

Crippled….

When I had a happy bunch
Trust crippled me…


When I needed to express
Words crippled me…


When I wanted to run away
Sensibility crippled me…


When I vouched for freedom
Responsibilities crippled me…


When I intended to fly high
Love crippled me…


When I wanted to cheer sly
Expectations crippled me…


Forever through my life,
The one I looked up to
That friendship crippled me……

Unkempt life...

hello.....there are times when i see people doing well for themselves and their families...n i feel that if this guy/girl can do it,i too can do it! i am not that gone-case! then their are times when i feel that i can never make it to a decent place which could earn great pride and respect for my parents...then there are times when i feel life changes, may be a year from now and i will start seeing those changes around me....maybe life won't be that dull..maybe life won't be this unkempt.....maybe it would be fun and easy going still.....as it has been for the most part of my life........final year makes everybody restless and curious! i am no exception. the tingling thought that next year, this time i would be a student no longer ..... it shudders me and excites me, both leering simultaneously.... the rounds of various forms, exams and results will start soon and life is going to be upside down...untill of course the day which would see light in the fact that i am at least employed somewhere, earning something for myself and family, doing something worthwhile with my life whose most part has been a waste....

i have never been an extraordinary child or even an informed child....
when i passed tenth and parents asked me what option i was considering, i said science coz it seemed to be an automatic choice....back then i din't know abt the various options various courses u can opt for after twelfth.... i thought a child with 91% in tenth ought to be in science and so i landed up in the science section of school...... but by the time i completed my twelfth it got to me that i wasn't cut out for this......science couldn't do to me what literature could.... science was awful whereas literature was awesome! i tried my luck at convincing parents but may be i wasn't very persistent or may be my appeals weren't too strong and so i was left here, doing engineering.....EC. well....this aint too bad though...somethings are great to read,to know,to work on..but mostly it's a responsibility to complete this degree that makes me study during exams....... now with one year remaining in this tetrad, i am again at a loss of thoughts,the same way as i was after tenth or twelfth...... i don't know what will i do or where will i ultimately show up after i am done with this degree course...... but i have some positivism too....... given the optimist i am, i take myself to be at some decent place doing some fruitful work and making a mark slowly......a few years from now..........

all my mates are facing this dilemma....iam no different.....hoping to see most drems fullfilled......hoping for the best......all my dear friends......i just have to say that this anxiety, this restlessness is natural....but don't let it burden you or depress you.......all of us have a long way to go...and insha allah,we will go the happy ways!

THE POWER OF ONE!

Go tell them, I won't fight with my own brethren

    Less my mother will be hurt.

Go tell them, I won't kill the vigil humans

    Less my soul will spurt.

Go tell them, I won't divide this land and sky

    Less I'll be deprived of nature's beauty a sly.

Go tell them, I won't murder the humanity

    Less, never will forgive me my Deity.

 

This country is one; its people are one.

Our land is one; our home is one.

Our dharma is one; our karma is one.

Hindu is one; Muslim is one.

Love for God and power is one.

 

Go tell them to stop this tirade

    Against mankind

    Or they will have to suffer humility.

 

Tell them to stop terrorism

    Or they will have to fight the unison.

 

Go tell them to stop totting their gun

    Or WE will rise and

    Kill them as ONE!!!

U-turn

hi!
life took a u-turn and i am back here! doing something that gives me immense joy! writing....n blogging for the 'connect' to remain here forever......

i ought to confess that my last exam is remaining yet so i need to rush and pick up my books, but i'll be back soon, with a few new pieces of 'unkempt prose' fondly known as 'my poems'...:-)

sayonara!

GOSH!!!

hey folks! how have you been? long long time!
i am really not sure if i have some 'real' followers or not but being a blogger i sense the need of apologizing as  i have been damn callous about promenade this year......but what to do yar!! this sem's getting on my nerves already! it's hardly the second month but our university is playing havoc with us! already a short semester, it has been made even shorter...leaving no room for our beloved PL..(read as preparation leave)...a PL of  8 days. can you believe it!!! it took me moment to sink in the news...:-( i hope this sem doesn't turn out to be a disaster! i so dearly hope this!.....i won't cook excuses,i'll be direct. forget me friends. until my final exams get over.......will miss this place dearly! but it seems high time for sorting my priorities......