Why I love BLACK

The colour of night,

The end and rise of a beautiful day

The colour of ignorance,

The cue for eternal enlightenment 

The colour of fear,

The chance to conquer greatness

The colour of hollow,

The opportunity to fill it to the brink

The colour of nothingness,

The beginning of something meaningful 

The colour of mourning,

The resounding call of a happier place

The colour of a crack,

The depths from where a tiny plant is born

The colour of a blank screen,

The reboot of a refreshed new tale

The colour of blindness,

The gratefulness of seeing life again

The colour of my shadow,

The knowledge of someone always being there for me - ME!

"You have a mental problem. You need medical help!"

Disclaimer: This is a rant. 

We live in a world that's as convoluted as a ball of wool that's been with a curious cat for a couple of hours. Sometimes, stranger than fiction (like a bad Bollywood movie, if you will). This is  a place where people greet each other with wide smiles and a dagger behind their backs, where you either behave in a way that's politically correct and head back to your cocoon and crib about how something or the other is wrong with every person you meet or completely avoid the discomfort and give 'social' gatherings a miss and sit in the warmth of your blanket and wonder what everyone is up to. You pretend like nothing's wrong and you are the most cheerful person that anyone is ever going to encounter. You do not want them to know about 'silly' things that disturb you, that make you question your decisions and the life you choose to call your own. Nonetheless, you are constantly checking your phone to see if there's someone you can turn to, to express what you feel. But your WhatsApp list throws up a list of names that you don't bare everything with, for the fear of being judged and misquoted. You over-think and imagine consequences that may be way different from what they are in actuality. But this is a risk you do not want to take. You stomach every feeling you feel, every emotion that your gut experiences and put on a fake brave face. You go on with life. More happy things followed by equally disturbing occurrences. You forget the feeling of happy, you forget the feeling of sad. This continues for days, months and years. You fail to open up and share things with those who think they deserve to know everything about you and take it upon themselves to protect you from your own feelings. But here's the catch. When you were silent, their problem was that you did not speak. When, much against your  will, you did say it, all you heard was "You have a mental problem. You need medical help!" Little did they know that medical help would be needed only to confirm rigor mortis. Of the body. And soul! 

This is a piece dedicated to a dear friend who could not distill himself from the worldly concoction and decided to end the drama. R.I.P Gyan!

You bring out the best in me!

What lies in a shell, only an oyster knows. It stays there undisturbed till an over enthusiastic child comes, shakes it, gets intrigued and opens it to find a beautiful pearl; a pearl that was formed in defence to protect itself from the irritant spec of sand… Much like how the best of you comes to the fore only when something or someone really disturbs you and shakes you up.

Here’s to all the irritants – Thank You!!

This Journey Called Life (Part 1)

A very HAPPY NEW YEAR, guys! May this year of the horse treat you with a lot of affection and care!

So, I have been away for a while now, trying to make a mark in my professional life. Some great strides happening there and Bangalore has welcomed me with a rather lavish sprinkling of love, luck and fun :) Here's something that I think of every time I take my EH-8843 for a long ride. Hope you enjoy reading it. Show me the thumbs-up if you want to see the second part too :)

You know how everybody from your father to your English teacher in school to that know-all Professor in college always said ‘Kid, Life’s a Journey?’ Well, guess what! They are not wrong! I was just thinking about my time in school and college (which seem like eons ago) and realised to my amazement how we brush aside so much that we learn for free. I mean, something that we did not enrol for…  Something that was just passed on in a matter-of-fact way without much emphasis on its importance…. Something that… errr.. You get the point, don’t you?


A couple of months ago, I wrote this poem about how the strain of two people in love can be likened to the situation where one is looking to cross the road and move to a place of safety. I realise now that there is much more to learn from the road! It has important lessons for the bright mind that has the tenacity to absorb and come to terms with simple truths of life.

1.      Gear up for the ride.

Remember how it was when your college group set out to conquer the road to Ooty on bikes and being a novice at riding, you couldn’t be more excited? In all your euphoria, you did not really think the journey through, did you? Given a chance now, wouldn’t you do it differently? By the time you flagged off your third or fourth long distance ride, did you not know what to carry and what to wear?

Life, in general is the same! You need to buck up. Be prepared. Have the right armour on so that you are ready for it when the battle is on. Preparation is the key. A couple of times, you force it upon yourself and later, it just becomes a habit; the armour becomes a part of your body. If the unforeseen happens, well you did your bit to prevent it. So fret not!

2.      It’s gonna be a Long Journey.

Long rides are not easy, especially if you are doing it without a significant break! The hard-core bikers will agree with me on this. It definitely is back-breaking and butt-numbing. But the ones who survive these will quite easily finish the shorter rides with greater ease. Also, you find that the tougher ones feel more rewarding in the end because you challenged yourself to do it.

The journey of life is not very different too. The ‘successful’ people you see in your fields have all worked that extra mile to get noticed and clamp their flags in the sands of time. Hardships come and go but the ones who defeat them remain!

3.      Ask for directions.

If you are a regular at adventurous rides where you take off without having a clear idea about the route or the destination, your friendly Google Maps for help. No network? Physical maps, then! But the best bet is a local who obviously knows much more than you do! So, when in a lurch, you turn to a person who is an expert, right?

Why do you think life in general is any different? This motto in life is applicable at every step. If you are lost, there's no reason why you should not ask the person you trust, to show you the path. Remember, the key here is to ask someone whose advice you will not regret taking! So, be wise. 

To be continued...

Other Side Of The Road

In life, there are several occasions when everything seems perfect but not the timing. Sometimes there are two people, deeply in love with each other but not at the same time. This situation is much like finding yourself in traffic trying to reach the other side. A few lines to bring out the similarity metaphorically. Read on!

We met at the middle of the road; fresh from our tryst with the pavements;

The pavement that gave us something to hold on – a surety, a security.

Security that made us avoid the sunlight so bright

Surety that took us away from the moon so light!

But we decided to take a leap of faith and in the midst of the brewing crowd,

 One single entity we were – entwined and inseparable!

We stuck by each other; there were rains and storms and lulls and calms

We grew together; there were games and stories and events and glories

We prayed to be together, there were fierce quarrels and  tear-filled barrels

We were a world of our own, we were content with how much our little universe had grown!

Out of the blue came a huge red can – uprooting everything on its way – Trust and Faith alike

Panic-stricken, we took to our feet, from the road to the familiar pavement

I looked around and saw that you weren't there!

But I had the scarf which, in the chill you had made me wear.

I looked hard, I looked straight ahead.

There you were on the pavement – but on the opposite side!

I waited for the traffic to lessen, to give me a chance to cross

But one step forward and another can would whiz past me

Leaving me gasping and blinded – momentarily

I finally made up my mind, I looked around to find some help

None seemed interested so I looked towards you.

I saw your face and said “Come what may,

I will cross over from the side that has everything but you”

I dodged the traffic, kept my cool, ran with the last ounce of my strength!

When I finally reached, I was ecstatic, elated beyond measure

For I had made it to you amidst all craziness and drama

I opened my eyes to find you, and find you I did

But on the other side of the road!

“TRUTH BE TOLD”

Writing something and actually finishing it in one go after a looooong time! When I picture this is my head, it looks like this post is going to be quite small. It is not one of those fictional pieces. It is purely drawn out of my own life and hence has sufficient historical data to be 100% true. But also be warned that what I am going to pen down here might seem too preachy for your comfort. I can definitely understand why that would be so. It is quite hard to fathom if you have not experienced it. In that case you might just want to read this like a story and close the window!

Remember how your Moral Science teacher always told you to speak the truth and nothing but the truth? Years later, the Moral Science lessons turned into ‘Ethics and Values in Business’ with slight additions here and there and case studies about the biggest firms biting the dust, instead of the Jataka Tales. But most of us failed to see that in fact, these two courses (if you wish to take them on face value) emboldened the same thing – Stay On Truth’s Side!

Well, crazy things happen in life. Some situations make you feel like you are being pressed against the wall by a boulder, hit on the head by a hammer and punched in the heart by a sharp spear – all at once. I am sure at some point in time all of us have felt it! The easiest way out would be to make it all stop with one lie – the lie that would haunt us in the months and years to come but would liberate us momentarily from all the pain and suffering. But little do you realise that once freed from all of this, you step into a deep pit and there’s no climbing up again; the constant nagging that you would be subjected to post lying would definitely be unbearable (Courtesy: Personal Experience). It is good to sometimes let the ‘Gandhian’ side of you dominate, give you the courage to get the truth out in the open and make you see the difference. When the other person sees that you have said something that is unacceptable but is the truth, he might hate you, might not even want to see you but in the end when rage gives way to calmness, he would realise that it would have hurt more to get the truth from somewhere/ someone else. And when he realises that it took you a lot to tell him what you did, he would come back and tell you that he respects you more now! (Courtesy: Personal Experience)

So folks, I have been on either sides of the fence. Not ashamed to announce that I have been on the other end of truth. To save my skin I have lied at times. After all, ‘I’m only a human, I’m just a child’. But when I sit here as a spectator of my own life and compare the two scenes, it was easier to be on Truth’s Side like my moral science teacher told me! No matter how difficult it seems, somehow, just somehow, it makes more sense! 

Divinity

He holds up his hand filled with fine sugar,
Waits to find the ants with the most perseverance,
The li'l ones who don't tire of climbing slippery surfaces,
Who sustain in unsuitable environment bravely,
Who peer into nooks and crannies with undying enthusiasm,
A dogged determination to find a speck of food if not a smorgasbord.

He then scatters a small crystal here, a small one there,
And watches patiently as His subjects search,
The ones who give up are given a scant reward,
As a consolation for the effort in reaching there,
For He is very generous and kind,

But it is the ones who keep at it, that He really takes interest in,
The ones who search; do their job; work hard,
When He knows you deserve it, He releases his tight grip,
And there you have a mound of sugar - sweet triumph over the ant's own self!