"HEARTache" - I wonder why?

Tears!!!! I have seldom found them on my eyes. Not even when mom & dad left me at the boarding school or when I got beaten by hockey sticks as punishment or when I failed to clear IIT after a year's relentless effort . It's not even when my sweet & lovely granny passed away. I may have been sad but the tears never found their way to the corners of my eyes. But that day I could not hold back the tears anymore. It was so very unnatural but it came naturally. I was so chocked with emotions that I could only manage to say "Bye" to her before I left.

One Night @ CG

"It's going to be a long night". That's what I wrote on my office communicator to a colleague after going through the email in my inbox. The email was marked important and was signed off by my project manager. The body has the bold marking in blue: "We need to finish of all our pending work before we close off for the day". In short, brace yourself for... A NIGHT-OUT. My first one in my four years of professional career. Though my work clock had somedays stretched to a max of 2AM in the night but a night-out was sort of folklore for me. But now as I sit in-front of the computer and try to punch in my laptop keys; and try to re-live the moments, I sum the moments with one word... FUN!!!.

Next Time

"Better luck Next Time..."

We keep postponing things that are important in life be it fun, family, work to some “Next Time”. Ever wondered WHY? Check out your palm. What you see… A long life line. Damn!!!

The answer to the why is because we believe we will be living to have wrinkles on our face to do all those pending jobs. Who the hell is going to die tomorrow!!!! So was the thought of the  unlucky ones who died in yesterday’s earthquake.  Some of them would have also postponed things to “Next Time” like you. Their time was too small for the Next Time… 

A million dollar $ Question $

 Po, the panda; the dragon warrior asks his goose father "Who am I?" To which there was no answer. He asks the same question to the furious five of Tigress, Monkey, Viper, Crane and Mantis. The question remained unanswered. After being defeated and lying wounded, Po asks the same question to Soothsayer,the fortune teller; and the answer flows... "Your story may not have such a happy beginning, But that doesn't make you who you are !!! It is the rest of the story, who you choose to be. So who are you Panda??" To this Po recollects his childhood, his goose father, his struggle to learn kung fu, his friends the furious five, learning from Master Sifu, his earlier fights and love of his people and answers with vengeance..."I am Po."

Ohh, this post is not a review of the latest animated movie Kung Fu Panda 2, but a build up to what lies ahead. If you have not seen the movie, no worries!! if you have got what's written above, I would say you have done a good job. A high five to that. (But do catch the flick when you get time. It's good :)) 

Angel Heart

The sun was setting down behind a row of high rise buildings. The evening was coming to its usual cool terms after a hot day. It being a weekend, people have flocked to the city center in hordes. There were people shopping, snacking, gossiping, roaming, children running, hawkers shouting, horns blowing.... as if a MAD RUSH has set in and I was part of the mad rush too...

"Cool Joint"; the restaurant, round the corner appeared to be the most happening place. From children to young to old, everyone seems to be having a gala time enjoying snacks. I reached over the counter and ordered my favorite butterscotch ice cream. Finding no place inside due to the heavy rush, I came out to the sidewalk and started savoring the cold scoops. From the sidewalk, I was watching over the traffic signal checking out nothing as such but the lights changing from green to orange to red.

A day dedicated to HER...

8th March 2011 (The Times of India)

The newspaper looked colorful and carried various articles celebrating the achievements of Women past & present. The occasion- 'International Women's Day'. Another give away from the west to east, like the much celebrated and ShivSena despised Valentines Day. In office, my project team too celebrated the day by cutting a huge cake. Of course the cake-cutting honor went to lady colleagues. While returning from office, I was reading 'Wise & Otherwise' by Sudha Murthy (Philanthropist & wife of Mr. N. R. Narayan Murthy, founder of Infosys). The book is a collection of Mrs. Murthy's 50 personal experiences showcasing the myriad shades of human nature. I turned the page. The Truth about Women: was the topic next. Coincidence!!!! The day somehow revolved round women :)

The Flight from Abyss..

"The lower you fall, the higher you'll fly."

"Thudddddd..." Whats that??? That's the sound of the fall. Everyone of us have fallen at some point of time at some point in life. Flip a few pages of your life back and there the list of falling goes on.. The first bicycle ride, the swing in the park, the neighbor's mango tree, the sack race in school athletics, the collage football match, the punch from the school bully... the list can be endless. Oh!!!, if you are too smart not to have fallen physically; then there is no denying you have never FALLEN in Love. :)  The point is falling is impertinent to you or me, rich or poor, successful or loser, big shot or a commoner. We all fall; sometime just to stand up and other times to rise up. This is my story of falling followed by standing and then rising up.

The Act Or Kindness

Did I get it wrong on the title. 'The Act Of Kindness' would be more grammatically correct. Isn't it? But then who decides whats correct. "Of / Or" what suits best. I leave the decision to you.  But then decide when you reach the end...

I checked my watch. The watch showed 08:20 AM. It takes 8 minutes of casual walking to reach the bus stop from home. The winter morning radiated chill. The street was draped by a white transparent blanket of light fog. The cool breeze and the warm morning sun were exact contrast. But I felt good walking; hands tucked into my jacket pockets, lost in my own thoughts. 

Little ahead on road, I saw a boy of around 10-12 year old standing beside his bicycle. He was searching something frantically. He was checking his trouser pockets, then shirt pocket and the next moment he was trying to find something on the ground. He traced back few steps on road and repeated the same action. With a dejected look on his face, he ran back to his cycle and there he went again.. same pre-programmed procedure of searching. Little curious, I crossed the little chap on my walk trying to find a reasonable answer to his behavior.

In Nature's Embrace...

31-Dec-2010. The last day of the year. Pub, Picnic, Party, Disco, Family, Friends... options are unlimited. Everyone has a plan to enjoy. We are no different from rest !!! Me and 3 of my friends: Bikash, Hemant & Jeet packed our bags and off we went for a trip to Gokarna. Gokarna is a small town in 'Uttara Kannada' district of Karnataka state, India; famous for its beautiful beaches & landscapes. We saw the first sun of the new year in Gokarna after a long 11 hour 480 km journey from Bangalore. But the beauty of the place mesmerized us like never before. 2 days zoomed past like 2 hours. Now sitting in-front of my laptop I can only smile thinking of the fun I had. The cool breeze, the warm sun, the winter chill, the chirping of the birds, the foam on the sea water, the white sand can never be captured in a camera frame. You need to be there to experience it, live it and above all feel it. But then don't we all have the urge to treasure our beautiful moments; so someday we again can re-live it by seeing it on our album pages. These are my album pages...