Reflections

This story is getting old. And so far, it is a story told in parts to different listeners in different contexts. The varied contexts in which I find myself quoting parts of this story make me realize that it is probably a story I should write in a complete form, so as to not let the learnings from the story fade away for me. I cannot put a finger to that one moment when I felt for the first time an enormous love for travelling. For me, it is probably an accumulation of conversations and experiences that has made me want to travel more. And given my yearning to move out of my comfort zone, traveling solo had to be tried. Gradually moving away from the thought of always being at the front foot when it comes to work, I feel like the time between jobs is a blessing. Savings or no savings, having a lack of responsibility of sustaining others, I am glad I chose to travel to Ladakh during that time for my first solo trip. When I asked my family for permission, they had to choose betwe...

They had been swimming for a while Flapping their fins, running and jumping, breathing quite heavily It was the gold that they were looking for Here and there they had seen a glimpse of it One of them even reached out of the water once Trying to grab the gold, to touch it with her fins She thought she had felt something warm on her skin But she realized soon it was the hot summer wind So these two fishes swam and swam Trying to find the gold they had earlier seen On the way, they fought with sharks And when either one was tired, the other one carried her on her back It was only a while ago that they had actually seen the gold And they had started chasing it immediately Yet it felt like they had been chasing it for ages A glimpse here and shine there But the gold was still far from their reach After a while, the fishes devised a plan They split from each other and went into different directions They decided that even if one of them found the g...

Amidst all the cheering and jeering I stand with my back to all those people I can hear them and yet I turn a deaf ear to them Because in this moment, nothing matters It is just me and my thoughts And these thoughts overpower me Like waves overpower a sinking ship There was a ship I once saw It was blue and red and a little green It kept moving ahead with a hole at the bottom The captain kept rowing and rowing And the others kept emptying the ship of the water He was almost in a frenzy to reach the horizon And he did not seem to care about the setting sun In the same sea a little further from the ship I saw two fishes, they were blue and red and a little green They were chasing the yellow light in the sea That bright light lit the sea as if it was on fire They kept swimming and jumping and running With each step ahead they lost the soft beautiful fins And yet they kept swimming towards the horizon Not knowing that the sun was really setting ...

I wish I was sixteen again I would still believe in love The sweet nothings whispered to me would still seem true And promises of living together forever could still be kept I wish I was sixteen again I would still have it all figured out Love wouldn't be so confusing And people not so demanding I wish I was sixteen again I would still like emotions Little things would still make me happy And giving to others would come naturally I wish I was sixteen again I would still not know hurt Every new person would be a new friend And sharing my fears would come easy I wish I was sixteen again I would still know what I want Life would still be about opportunities instead of choices And knowing what I want would be enough for me to have it I wish I was sixteen again I could still wait for myself to grow up

“I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly. I’ll do what it takes, till I touch the sky.” I am not used to ranting anymore. Words that came quite easily to me earlier don’t anymore. For a long time, I have been trying to write. Something. Anything. This is what I came up with. Far From Home When I look inside the navy cloak, I see the scared eyes, Searching for something to hold on to. And the smile waiting to break into a grin. Proclaiming the arrival of a new beginning. I hear the innumerable songs of flight, Of love, friendship and success; Sung with girlfriends during the nights. The hands that were held so tightly, As the feet walked uphill: Bruised by stepping on stones, That perhaps slowed their speed, But never made them retreat. I can feel the warm embraces Through words, thoughts and gestures, That made the journey worthwhile. The reflection in the ocean, That which is scared and ecstatic, Smiles as I remove the cloak a...

Hickory Dickory Dock, I think I have a broken clock, The clock it never moves And it shows the same time all the time. So each time I take a look It tells me the time As quarter past nine. Nothing around me moves, The sun never goes down And the dawn never breaks The king still has his crown And the dinosaurs still eat the snakes. The water doesn't flow, Because my clock tells me so. Each time I take a look It tells me the time As quarter past nine. But I never have to hurry I have no deadlines to meet And I am never really late To the meetings of the great. I never grow old And I might not even die Or so I am told. Because each time I take a look My clock shows me the time As quarter past nine. Hickory Dickory Dock It is never really the clock That decides for me Whether I should climb a tree. Even if each time I take a look It tells me the time As quarter past nine.

Having lived in Delhi for my 20 years of life, I had just one complaint with the city – that of not having a water body where you could sit and enjoy the serene depth of the blue. Lately I was lucky to have visited the Hauz Khas ruins with a couple of friends and I’d say it’s a dream come true! A perfect blend of old and new, urban and rural: that is the Hauz Khas Village for you in a nutshell! While the Madrassa overlooking the reservoir built by Alaudin Khilji is the main attraction,... Read more...

So it’s been quite sometime since I de activated my Facebook account. Well yes, it’s not a big deal. Thousands of people each day do that and I have perhaps just joined the bandwagon of the “oh so anti-social” people. But is not having a virtual presence really that anti social? Actually, not having a Facebook presence really that anti social? Are the ones who deactivate their Facebook accounts really like those movies that the audience forgets once they stop being aired on the television very often? Is the only way one can feel “social”; by posting one liners ranging from “I just woke up” to maybe “I just died”? Why the urge to open your account every 5 hours to see how many people liked your recent photo? Why the inclination to blow sirens over your “love” for your sweetheart? Why the ‘oh so intellectual” task of growing virtual plants? Barring the last things, I have done it all and that’s precisely why I am wondering about the “Why” of it all! Are these things something we a...

When you’re working hard to achieve something with all your heart is when true learning take place. In other words, when you really want something (be it a job, a particular project, an award, a reward, anything, everything) and are willing to push your intellectual, emotional, physical and mental boundaries, that is when genuine character builds. Yes, it sounds all preachy but it’s true. Have you ever wanted something so desperately that you’ve tried every possible solution to get it? Faced unbearable agony and have been on the verge of giving up? And then, more often than not you get what it is that you want and the joy of achieving that is pure and profound. Yes, a lot of time you don’t get what you strived so hard for, but because you’ve strived so hard for something in your life you can be sure that something better awaits you, that is just how it is with the universe. Here’s a poem by Mr. Daisaku Ikeda that I happened to read, which led to the above thoughts: Ab...

A little introspection and a lot of observation led me to finding a certain behavioral pattern followed by quite a large number of females around me! It might be pure co-incidence that I seem to come across so many of them so often or as they say, “Birds of a feather flock together.” Nevertheless, I figured that these observations will make for a good piece of writing for the “behavior enthusiasts” on this planet! For those who have read “The MIC Syndrome” posted by me a few months earlier, this might seem as a sequel to it. And for those who haven’t read it, well, no harm in spending a few extra minutes reading that one! So the females that I am going to elaborate upon are those belonging to the OCD class, short for Obsessive, Confused, Dependent females class. There aren’t no physical attributes specific to any of them that allow you to spot them from a distance. Yes, but they’re all pretty and they all exude this aura that pulls you towards them and before you know it, you a...

“Do you think there is anything in this life that is permanent? “Yes” “I am serious, what?” “You yourself” “Not true, we change constantly” “ But you're still always with yourself throughout your life. YOU are permanent, your thought is not. YOU are permanent, your ideas are not. YOU are permanent, your ideals are not. ” “YOU Human? Akanksha? Body? Mind? Soul?” “Whatever defines YOU. If it's one of the above, then maybe that. Whatever defines you at a given stage, is YOU.The YOU stays, the definitions change. New things keep defining YOU.” When we talk about permanence, there are essentially two aspects to it: Permanence of Existence and Permanence of Form. While the former is really quite “permanent”, the latter is not. That is, Existence so to say is permanent, while form is mostly not. To elucidate, the existence of a human soul is permanent (if we go by the concept of human souls that move from one body to another at th...

Yes, but here I am alone. A wave builds up, perhaps it says its name, I don’t understand, it mutters, humps in its load of movement and foam and withdraws. Who can I ask what it said to me? Who among the waves can I name? And I wait. Once again the clearness approached, the soft numbers rose in foam and I didn’t know what to call them. So they whispered away, seeped into the mouth of the sand. Time obliterated all lips with the patience of shadow and the orange kiss of summer. I stayed alone, unable to respond to what the world was obviously offering me, listening to that richness spreading itself, the mysterious grapes of salt, love unknown, and in the fading day only a rumor remained, further away each time, until everything that was able to changed itself into silence. P.S. One reason why I really like Neruda is because I share the same love for the Sea with him. This poem describes in the best possible way, the thoughts I have each time I think a...

The India habitat Centre has always been a place that never ceases to bring some food for thought in one form or another. Today, it was the play Court Martial, written by Swadesh Deepak and performed by the famous Asmita Theatre group. The play essentially deals with the social stigma attached to a member of the lower caste who serves In the Indian army who is being tried for murder of a fellow army man.  Through the course of the trial, the play proves to us that Truth is not what is just visible at face value. Truth is not one sided. Perhaps, unlike a coin truth does not just have two sides, but many. This is brought about beautifully by the end of the play which is extremely well written. Asmita’s enactment of the play was like an icing to the already well written play wherein the intensity of the scenes brought goose pimples to many. When I am writing about Court Martial, it is essential I mention this fact about it’s much celebrated Sangeet Natak Academi Award win...