Miracle of the dawn

My contribution to Cafe Writing Option #4 - Poetry

“In silence and movement you can show the reflection of people.”
— Marcel Marceau

Days and months pass by
with speed of light,
a blink is all it takes
No time to stop by,
to reflect and ponder
an hour is all it needs

Eyes wide open from
a deep distant slumber,
The dark sky and the calm street
the fiery red ball
about to embark on it's daily routine
A tranquil awakening of the senses

Thoughts wandering,
yet crystal clear
conscious deep breaths
inhaling positive vibes
battering eyelids close,
opening a whole new world

A meditative state
a slowing heart beat
immerse in mellifluous chants
experience the silence
the serenity of the dawn
the soul moves, the body still

A shining star

Very few films make a deep impact. Even after coming out of the movie hall, you tend to be in a state of rigorous thinking and pondering over the message broadcasted by the storyline. I happened to watch one such incredible movie last night. People have written excellent reviews about "Taare Zameen Par" in the past one month. Having been a big fan of Aamir Khan from my childhood, how could I afford to miss his first directorial venture!

TZP will make you laugh, cry, reminisce childhood memories, go back to school life, think about our class mates, the irritating everyday grind named homework and much more. The storyline portrays the pressures faced by kids and how they miss out on having fun in the most important phase of life called childhood. Blame it on the parents, teachers, education system, competition or whatever! The pressure is only on the increasing side and no wonder, kids also face the symptoms of stress and depression.

The protogonist Ishaan displays different shades of emotions - be it having fun with himself bunking class and roaming on the roads alone, utter sadness when his parents leave him in a boarding school, withdrawal from all activities and crying to come out of this hell. The characters played by Ishaan's parents bring about the typical middle class mentality where a kid has to succeed at any cost. The screenplay paves the way for some interesting scenes - for instance, when Aamir visits Ishaan's parents, when Aamir gets angry about Ishaan's father's attitude, the painting contest. The mind blowing music plays a very important role in this sensitive plot. Colorful picturization and the amazing paintings are a visual treat.

The tagline "every child is special" sums up everything the story is all about. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you are missing out on a rare phenomenon these days called "a sensible movie". I'll definitely go for a second watch.

Tiny Giant

My contribution to Cafe Writing -Option three : Can you picture that?

I'm amazed by the clear blue skies, the vast oceans, the huge mountains, the planets and the distant galaxies. When compared to this entire spectrum of evolution or God's creation, whichever way you prefer to take it, how tiny and miniscule we, human beings are! But the one nature that makes us think that we are the biggest in the whole world is a small 3-letter word "EGO". It is an inherent nature to be egoistic, just that the magnitude of this nature varies from person to person. I get to observe this nature in many people on the roads these days - "How can a Santro overtake me? Let me show the power of my Mercedes", an example of a 4-wheeler driver's pride or ego. "How can that guy drive on the pavement and bypass the traffic? I have every right to do it", a motorbike zooms past, proving his ego. Rushing through every minute, the working professional thinks that the 9 AM conference call is more important than the old lady crossing the road and cursing her for her slow speed of walking. These are some examples of incidents that I observe every morning which makes me feel disgusted about this whole egoistic attitude shown by us.

Our ego and pride makes us feel bigger than others. But there are other such issues called as "problems and worries" which magnifies and portrays a larger-than-life image. We become smaller in front of those issues and start to believe that we could no way tackle them or get past them. Eventually we become the slaves of these constant worries and our lives are dictated by these issues.

Contradicting in nature, ego and worries can make us feel bigger or smaller. When we realize that we are "tiny giants", then we would be humbled by those huge planets and galaxies and face those problems and worries with confidence and guts.

"The" date

My contribution to Sunday Scribblings - #93 "The Date"

A normal start
nothing unusual,
I pack my luggage
for my weekend travel

Work fills me up
the entire day
sipping coffee
at my decorated bay

Couldn't wait
to spend time with you
those precious 2 hours
for the next 4 days

the sparkles unrealized
the words untold
we play our favorite game
the game of kings and queens

A master of chess
You defeat me in no time,
A sheepish grin
Our fun at its prime

the moment unexpected,
the feelings unexpressed
my hands in your palms
our journey has begun

the perfect proposal,
no words to embellish
this special day,
forever I'll cherish

Over the horizon

My contribution to Writer's Island - Over the horizon

Pondering over the possible outcomes
At times adventurous, at times scary
over the horizon, in the days to come
hoping for the better, yet not ready

inevitable changes in the path of life
embrace the thorns, not just the roses
scholars say so; pains induced vary
a drop of blood or a permanent wound

praying for a canvas of colors
let the brightness spread joy,
looking for the purpose of existence
let the peace empower the progeny

no more inhibitions and fears
the horizon is to be faced,
giving shape for a much larger horizon
A cyclic process, yet not predictable

A nice beginning

It's a cold morning. As usual, I woke up late and had to rush to take my office cab. I reached the bus stop a minute late (probably!) and waited for almost 20 minutes. But the cab was nowhere to be seen. I had two options - either to board a crowded bus which would take atleast an hour to reach office or an auto-rickshaw with the driver demanding extra charges or a tweaked meter reading. I opted for the latter. After crossing 2 kms, I realized it's indeed an auto rickshaw with a tweaked meter.

Instead of 40 rupees which is the normal fare, the meter reading showed 45 rupees. I didn't want to start my day having a fight with the driver for the extra 5 rupees. I handed over a 50 rupee note and asked for the balance of 5 rupees. He gave me back a 10 rupee note and said that the meter has some problem and it's showing a wrong fare. I gave a smile and thanked him. "Wow, there are honest auto drivers in the city", I was thinking while walking towards my office. It feels really good when someone changes the wrong perception we have about a group of people, in this case auto drivers who we generally think that they always try to cheat in whatever way they can. A great way to begin a day!

A drive to Kolar

It was a new experience for hubby and myself, going for a drive by ourselves. A long drive with greenery on both sides and a fresh breeze for company is a perfect plan for a Sunday. Being a late riser given an opportunity, such a drive has been put on the back burner for a while. But that wasn't the case last Sunday. After a whole day of classes at IIMB on Saturday, I woke up at 5:30 AM on a cold Sunday to hit the road. By the time, I had my cup of tea at my usual slow pace, reading the newspaper and then getting ready and having breakfast, it was close to 8:30 when we actually started the trip. Traffic wasn't bad as we expected on a Sunday morning. The iPod was playing the most appropriate song for a drive "Ennai konjam maatRi" from "kaaka kaaka".

After crossing the KR Puram junction, to our surprise, the road was covered by fog and there was very little visibility. On the single lane NH4 highway, there were impatient lorry drivers and private bus drivers who tried to overtake and over-speed at every possible opportunity. Slowly, the fog gave way to sun rays and the green fields and rocky mountains came to the limelight. It's a scenic highway with lots of trees around. We reached Kolar around 10:15 and then had to take a right turn towards Kotilingeshwara temple (our intended destination). The road wasn't good at many stretches and there were too many potholes to manouvre around.

We reached the temple at 11.15 and had a quick darshan. We then roamed around to admire the thousands of idols spread around the temple premises. I don't think the count has reached a crore yet as planned. A refreshing piece of cucumber gave the much needed relief from the heat. My stomach had already started growling and we wanted to head to Woodys for lunch. Because of a shopkeeper's poor direction sense, we drove down inside the town of Kolar in such narrow roads for 10 kms when we could have easily drove another 3 kms on the highway towards Chennai to reach Woodys. An ordinary lunch tasted so good that we gobbled in 15 minutes. The food tastes awesome when you are in extreme hunger, isn't it?

The return journey was tiring with both the sun and traffic at their peaks. Having played a significant role of a co-passenger, I slept like a log for 14 hours after returning home and woke up next morning feeling fresh. There were some learnings from this trip. We didn't carry water or snacks and had to search for eat-outs which are very rare in the highways. Also I feel it's better to leave early and return back early to avoid traffic. Our next destination is Belur and Halebid. Hopefully, I remember to carry my camera this time!

Bliss - more than that

Bliss may not be the right word that expresses my feelings when I listen to this masterpiece of Rahman - "Shauk hai" from Guru. Something more than bliss! When I watched Guru, I liked this song that's more like a background tune. But I wasn't as crazy as I am right now. I have the Guru audio CD but this song is not available. On a lazy blog hopping Sunday afternoon, I discovered that "Shauk hai" is available in a mp3 collection of Rahman from Sony BMG. I was thrilled and couldn't wait to get hold of this MP3 CD. I went to Landmark a couple of times and returned back with disappointment since they were out of stock. I then tried Odyssey, a smaller store when compared to Landmark but no luck there either.

A third visit to Landmark helped me get hold of the masterpiece. At a price of 95 rupees, this CD has a compilation of 50 superb Rahman songs from Bollywood. Some of the least popular but beautiful songs from Meenaxi and Water are also available. But I bought this CD just for this one soothing melody "Shauk hai" and it's been played repeatedly in my music player.

The singer has a lovely voice and Rahman has used very less instruments so her voice stands out. Though it's a sad song, it's a peaceful rendition. After the first stanza, an interesting guitar(I guess!) interlude takes over and changes the mood of the song. This song has become something very close to my heart. That's the magic of Rahman's music. It can do wonders and can transport you to a whole different world.

A new phase

My contribution to Cafe Writing - January project (Option #2)

Words to be used - breathless, change, elusive, pensive, reflect, surge, tide, vibrant

An elusive discomfort,
A necessary vacation
The wooden beach house allures,
The shores of the ocean beckons

I run towards the tides,
Struck by the vastness, breathless
A pensive look at the horizon
A reflection, nevertheless

The vibrant colors of dusk,
myriad hues of shadows
the sun goes into slumber
for the moon to come alive

A clear sky with sparkling stars
A surge of fresh inspiration
The dawn of a new phase
The change of a year