"The Beatles" bit me!

After joinning "Sgt. Peppers lonely hearts club band" I realised "All you need is love". So I yelled out at the beefy looking passerby, "Hey bulldog", he smiled and said "Aint she sweet". I thought "Act naturally" and pacified the "Devil in my heart". I asked him "Do you want to know a secret"? He said "Every little thing"! To this I realised my time for "Crying. Waiting. Hoping." was indeed over. I said "Mean Mr. Mustard" "Don't let me down" . He started to sing "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". I got "No reply" and thought "Not a Second time". I walked up the slope of the road only to realise that I am like "The Fool on the Hill". I felt the urge to "Shout" for "Help!". 


I thought I have forgotten what I am "Searching" for. Just then I met this "Sexy Sadie" doing the "Hippy Hippy Shake". Her friend came to her and said "Why Don't we do it in the road?" I followed them on to "The Long and Winding Road" to see them "Here there and Every where". "A day in the life" when i thought I had reached "The end", seeing them I realised it was just "A beginning". "Ask me why?" "Because" I realised I was "Free as a bird". And "A hard day's night" always follows with "Carnival of light", all I needed was "A little help from my friends".

I followed a "Bad Boy" from that group cause "I got to find my baby" "Teddy Boy" cause he was my "Honey Pie" who'll "Hold me tight" at night. So I followed him to the "Yellow Submarine". I got in "From a window". I saw him from there talking to "Lovely Rita". He put on some "Jazz Piano Song" and went to "Rip it up/Shake, Rattle and Roll". A voice in my head said "Run for your life"!


I thought "There's a place" I could go to, but realised that I need a "Ticket to ride". I thought "Wait"! "Slow Down". So I took the "Winston's Walk" that passed through the scenic "Norwegian Wood" instead. It was a beautiful night of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". Someone shouted out "Hey Jude". I looked back and thought "This Boy" is "Mother Nature's son", the love of my "Sweet little sixteen" years. He looked at me and said "Baby! It's you"! 


Both of us felt "Something" rekindle. I realised that he ain't just "Some other guy". He felt I'm not just "Another Girl" . He said,"I have searched for you "Across the Universe" to find "A taste of honey". "A world without love" made me "Cry for a Shadow" of my "Girl" ". He held my hand, paused for a while and said,"I want you" "In my life". On hearing this, "Lonesome tears in my eyes" flowed freely. I smiled, quivered and replied, "If I Needed someone", "I need you".

LOL v/s LMAO

"A comedian (comedienne is used sometimes if female) or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience directly is called a stand-up comic."


I was introduced to Russel Peters by the tag line "Praaataaaaaaapppp!!!!". My friends kept repeating it, till one of them (namely Ravish) ; finally forced Russel Peters on us. Thereafter the video spread like a plague. While every joke and punch line he cracked made me die laughing, but the patriotic in me kept feeling, "Why does he keep picking on Indians repetitively?"
The answer was pretty obvious, born and brought up in Canada; it was pretty obvious to feel more like a Canadian than an Indian. Him feeling violated when looked and treated as an Indian, makes sense,somewhat. 


To answer my woes came Papa CJ to the rescue, introduced by yet another friend (namely Maulik). An Indian to whom foreigners WERE the outsiders and not the other way round, which was the case for Russel Peters. I guess being in UK right now helped me correlate with his basic theme of criticising UK life. His ending line made my day; "If you've been upset by anything I said today, I don't give a shit. Heck I come from the land of Kamasutra, I can f@%k you in more ways than you can count!"


:D

La be`lla

(I hadn't have had the time to pen down this article, but the basic idea of this article has been haunting me for the past few weeks.)
Few weeks back, I was invited by some friends to go for a movie, my first in UK's theatre. So I went without caring to ask about the movie. When I reached I came to know it was for "NEW MOON". A movie that was completely & brilliantly successful in incinerating all my crazy ideologies, hypothesis & emotions attached to the "supernatural realm".
Although a complete "BLAST!!!!" of a storyline (according to the movie and not the book, you mad TWILIGHT series lovers!) and two hours of my precious time that I'm never getting back, there was just one thing I liked (apart from Jacob's stunning looks :DRROOOOLLLL! : ) . There was only one dialogue that thrilled me and kick started my satiated thirst back to its unquenchable state for knowledge about the supernatural, paranormal and downright unreal things. The lead female (Bella) goes through a solliloquy where she goes on to say,"What if everything we ever heard was true?". And truly a scintillating statement.
It got me thinking truly, What if E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G was true? What if there are Thumbelinas and unicorns to dragons & dragon slayers, to Gods, Devils and vampires, to Darth Vader to Yoda, to werevolves and vampire slayers. The fact that warp drive, teleportation, borg cubes, Klingon species...everything just waiting out there to be discovered and the high potentiality exhibited by them of their existence just makes the child in me quiver with ecstasy and happiness.
The idea that a mutant spider is going to bite a "Peter Parker" any time now is just what the comic reader in me would come alive to! Till then I'll keep shuffling through the pages of newspaper to find my own "Spiderman"! Now, isn't that news worth waking up to! ;)

Last Christmas..

So this is what I wrote a really looooong time ago and held on to it thinking that I'll use it as a part of Christmas spirit. Here goes nothing!

"Last christmas..i baked a cake,
the very next day i ate it away.
This year to save me from pounds,
I'm havin a muffin special.

Once eaten and twice shy,
I keep my distance but you still catch my eye..
Tell me dear batter do you recognise me?
Well it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me.

(Merry Christmas!) I iced it up and smelt it.
With some decorations, I really prepped it.
Now I know what a fool I've been,
But if I baked you now I'd gladly eat it again.

A crowded room, friends with tired eyes...
I'm hiding you from all those prying eyes,
My God I thought you were someone to rely on,
Me? I guess I was the woman who just baked one.
A face of an eater with a fire in her heart,
Hunger undercover but you tore me apart!
Oooh Oooh
Now I've found some muffin which doesn't taste the same.

A face of an eater with fire in her heart,
(Gave you my heart)
Hunger undercover but you tore me apart,
Next year,
I'll bake something, I'll bake something special..special.
something..something...
I'll bake something, I'll bake something special!
who'll give me something in return,
I'll bake something.
beat my batter and watch it bake.
I'll bake something, I'll bake something special.
I've got you here to stay,
I can bake you for a day.
I thought you were something special.
Gave you my ardour,
I'll give it to something, I'll give it to something.
Last christmas I baked a cake,
I ate it away.
I'll bake something, I'll bake something."

Gear up for Christmas everyone :)

I hope you dance....

"Cherie,  when you write a program don't try to unnecessarily include pointers and recursions and all that. Keep it short and simple. Use the power of simplicity". This is what my brother told me while I gasped for breath with "Unix & C" in my first semester of my undergraduate level of study. These words carved a niche in my soul and stayed there forever. So simple yet, so strong.
"POWER OF SIMPLICITY"..how many of us realise that any more?
How many of us remember that a simple "Sorry!" works more effectively than quoting paragraphs of poems of a laureate to say the same thing!
How many of us remember that a simple "I miss you" bears more charm than gifting a humongous teddy bear with a hideous red heart bearing these words inscribed on them?
How many of us remember that a simple smile exchanged between two random strangers bears so much warmth than the ongoing ignorance of your existence between people working in the same office.
A simple gesture of getting a graphic candle on a Diwali night when you have been rampantly searching for candles brings you far more joy than burning those 14 candles which only causes more pollution. :P

Somehow in the daily hullabaloo of life we forget to live. We forget that we live to "live". We forget that money, food, materialistic pleasures follow and bring you joy only when you are happy!
I can't help but quote a song that was written on the diary that my father had gifted to me in my 10th standard.
"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder.
You get your fill to eat,
But always keep that hunger.
May you never take one single breath for granted,
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed.
I hope you still feel small,
When you stand by the ocean.
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens.
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance....
I hope you dance....

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance.
Living might mean taking chances,
But they're worth taking.
Lovin' might be a mistake,
But it's worth making.
Don't let some hell bent heart,
Leave you bitter.
When you come close to selling out,
Reconsider.
Give the heavens above,
More than just a passing glance.

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance.....
(Time is a real and constant motion always),
I hope you dance...
(Rolling us along),
I hope you dance....
(Tell me who),
I hope you dance...
(Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)..
(Where those years have gone) ."

Courtsey: Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance.

What is love?

What is Love? The eternal question, I'm no great philosopher and I'm not here to bore anybody with my perspective of it. Its about sharing.....
Today as I finished buying the bare necessities with the bare minimum I had left, and as I crossed the steep Abbey Bridge I saw the bus stop that was at the end of the bridge. On the cold and chilly night and bogged by at least 6 kilos of weight on me, I remembered how nice and warm the bus stop feels. The light in the bus stop that makes you feel you have superior vision than the people walking past you as you feel your cones(for the people who are ignorant, the cells in your eye sensitive to light) working excessively in the strong white light. I could feel how much comfortable the chairs inside the waiting area was, as its a thermally controlled area which in turn makes the seats go warm. When you are cold from walking to the bus stop the immediate sense of relief that brings to you as soon as you step into the bus stop. Ah!....

Anyhow, my eyes wandered onto the lady sitting in the bus stop. She was of Mongolian origin as her facial features hinted. She was wearing a black coat,skirt and knee high boots. Her jet black hair softly framed her face. As each car that passed by, her hair swayed and danced a bit to the music and rhythm of the whooshing air as the hair finally settled on her face. She would push it back with her fingers ever so softly and tenderly that would perhaps hint at her timid and soft nature. She waited impatiently for the bus and she kept peering at the street earnestly wanting just to see the headlights of the bus and she would be at ease. She would force herself on her toes and tilt forward and see, and sigh every time she realised that the bus ain't there. Of course her sighing would not get the bus to the stop faster, but if the bus driver had seen how impatiently she waited for the bus; I bet she would have stepped on the gas to make this lady all smiles.

As I walked past the bus stop, I realised why am I observing this lady so intently? Am I so weird? Is it our nature to observe so much?....? While a quarter of a million questions passed my mind i realised and settled with the solution that most suited and appeased my thinking. Yes. I am in love. Not in love with the lady. Not in love with her impatient wait for the bus (No am not that sadistic, yet! ). Not in love with her beauty. It was the whole picture that I am in love with.
The grace with which the lady carries herself off, waiting at the bus stop, her elegant features that made me notice her from across the street but intently, the sense of unease that prevailed for her bus which I guess all of us share...everything. Its a matter of correlation I guess. On a normal day you fall for a person when you think, "Oh! His ideologies are just like mine. I think I'm in love". That much is usually all the tempo that is required for one to fall in love, or at least to get the ball rolling. Here, similarly I could relate so much with the lady at the bus stop that it was love at first sight..of the entire picture.
For me I guess that's as close to loving at it gets. Love the picture. Love the game. :)

A thousand glimpses

It really is a rather rare emotion that a grandchild and her grandparents share. The abundance by which one gets pampered, the various perks that one receives, the amount of attention and love that's sought out for them and last but not the least..the home made goodness bound to perfection that are made, especially for them! Ah! Priceless is an understatement.
I have not had the good fortune of meeting my grandfather(s), but whenever I think about my good old childhood days, I see many a memories I shared with Dida (maternal grandmother)- be it in the form of the piece of brownie she saved that my mum got for her in the first place, be it how she used to make the ice cream vendor stop every time it used to cross the house and how our entire family including Pacco (the golden retriever dog I had as a child) would cool off with some treats, how she used to get me to post a million mails to mama (maternal uncle) and other gazillion things.
My favourite memory associated with her has to be that, as a child whenever I used to get tired of studying I used to sneak away from my mum's eagle eye vision and go and crash on her belly; while she swayed me from side to side. Although when ma used to realise that I have sneaked out (yet again!), it used to fetch me quite a long lecture which was worth every syllable of scolding which was (then) being efficiently rendered! :)
I lost my grandmother to cancer and she finally expired suffering an agonising death in the year 1998. All I really felt bad was that she couldn't live to see the next millennium (Remember the Y2K hype?) but I was glad that at long last she rested in peace. I guess so was my family.
Last month, it was 11 years since she had passed away; but I couldn't bereave her death as it also clashed with my Visa interview date. Its funny how a woman gets all caught up with life and its mortal issues.
Today in a land far far away from home I pay my respects to her. While I remember the awesome-est moments that I have shared with her it doesn't make one immune to quiver and turn misty eyed to go through the memories borne for a long lost and mostly, beloved family member. But what I do know, is that while I post my emotions on the WWW she's out there with a smile on her face, a smile that bears warmth like rays of Sun on a chilly Monday morning. If she saw me right now her chest would swell with pride with the fact that I know alphabets enough to write an article. She would then mollify me and say,

"Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift, uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die."

Courtsey:Mary Elizabeth Frye

R.I.P. Dida.