A Decade

Comes the end of another year and its been a decade since I got out of college n Yoooo...... wat a decade its been!!!! donno if it exactly shaped the way I dreamt but I was definitely dreaming all the while,as it shaped…

Hmmm… looking back its been quite a journey… the haphazard “rule-the-world” college dreamz seems to have narrowed down to strategic priorities…It surely has been an “unruly” decade…. after the first couple being dominated by “Rules” … starting from the day of the week when we clip our nails to the length of our hair … from the time we sleep to what we eat …n lemme not talk about anything to do with studies.…. dictatorship was the way of life from all quarters….

Democracy that come with the 20’s dint help my discipline much. Liked the freedom that came n dredged the responsibility it gave… the “unruly” decade meant we set our own rules, own visions, own syllabi and our own exams n all this at a very fast phase….. the brutal rat race of the 20’s had jus began… no way could we fall back on the structured cushion as in the past……

The ship had lost the comforting sight of the coast….. and this is where we meet our most favorite teacher ….. life!!!

The 20’s puts some steal in u, it hardens your beliefs, your desires, your dreams and ….YOU (exclude tummy) , the bruises of various failures would sweeten the taste of success….

On a personal front the decade was not of any grt start… every year disillusioned me on how different the reality was from what I presumed it to be… a lot of trial n error went into rectification. Well the 2^nd half has been reasonably good, with focus, goals, little bit of hard work, courage to dabble risk, kick starting new ventures and a sense of achievement…. All these followed the all possible negatives of the first half….all that could go wrong did go wrng...(even my spells ) Sign!!! The teacher does teaches her lessons well.

The decade seems to have signed off well and with marriage being a stabilizing factor, it keeps u grounded, signifying what you need from what you want…. (okkkk …got it…. haven’t mentioned anything about the return of dictatorship, no I don’t think so too )

For a change looking forward for the coming one….. lets see how things go…. Or rather how we make things go…..

At heart I still feel the games quite a few of us play are so small…… we arnt living in gruesome times of the French revolution, the freedom struggle or the world wars…. The current times are so accommodative for personal expansion, conscious growth & with no set limits, these are best times for setting a play ground for real men (n of course a lot of women) to fall hard on the field and raise high from the dirt….. jus play the game……. hmmmmm… I like getting dirty...

Support?????

Support the Protest against Artist’s Arrest…for his obscene paintings of certain religious deities.

Did u say SUPPORT?????

Of the billion natures’ creations and a million by man. This certain Mister of ours finds one of the very few objectionable things to wet his canvas. In the name of modern broad-mindedness, art seems to be restricted in vandalizing the dignity of human endeavor. Agreed that the history of art has its own share of nudity or many such things that could be seen as offence now. But things of one period in history need not necessarily be agreed upon at other times. From the houses we build, the transportation we use, the cloths n the attitude we wear, to the language we speak has undergone enormous change with the various trial and error and R & D, but the creative juices of our artists have dried up n stuck with the age-old formula.

Well if the reason of crossing (or not crossing) lines is that of the free publicity they get along with the big $$$ cheques these “master pieces” generate to the maker, the endorser n the “elite” buyer who sees a lot of “value” in it…… then its business not art. … have a ‘PG’ rating and sell it … and if it is something to do with the intumesce interpretation of a great ‘creator’, which we ignorant lot is ignorant about, then his attics shud be free to be filled with all his gyan.

The word Freedom seems to have been battered and manipulated to suit every person’s selfish need. Unfortunately, unless the greater word of responsibility is attached to it, its true meaning can be distorted in the mask of “personal choice”, “free adult mind’”, “the freedom of expression”, “of speech” and of “personal opinion” and any contrary seem to be In-defendable. There are certain lines that are not be crossed, because of the dignity in not doing so. Jus because something is in existence or happens doesn’t mean that it has to be publicized; then we wouldn’t need walls and cloths to cover the already known acts and things.


Any Religion runs on its own sanctity and faith and has its own truth that can’t be proved jus like the origin of mother’s love or hen first-egg first riddle. And something like religion is highly social when compared to spirituality, which is highly personal. So certain things in a society has to be respected jus like we respect the traffic rules (which we ought to do). Well in this case, its not that any action by certain organization in a violent way is acceptable but jus that our certain Misters wudn’t understand any other language…and sounding a bit too insensitive… anyone who have it in them to paint their parents(who r on par with gods) in those compromising way alone has the right to depict anybody else in those ways… (Forgiven --if he is really such a manic)

TRAIN of thoughts

There are days which gives a new perspective to certain things around us,which we generally fail to give a thought. One of those days I had this rare opportunity, though not out of choice, of traveling in an unreserved compartment of the train….. Things jus happened that way and as the train approached swimmingly I realized that I needed to search for an empty seat rather than the usual search of coach nos. and ended up in the above-mentioned place….. There unfolds the interesting events of the evening….

The compartment was peculiar, half the compartment was divided for the luggage and so only 2 sub-compartments i.e.16 seats were available .......and as the Indian railway statistics go, there were thrice the capacity, and me entering in only worsened the things…. I stared with a smile …… imagining my plight with barely some place to stand among this cluster of ppl all around.

My eyes wondered around, catching up the various faces of my newfound mates and making assumptions of their varied backgrounds …… surprisingly, eye contact with most of them happened at ease & followed by a smile. Conversations flowed as fast as a shrilling stream and getting to know people happened in place of the usual hostility associated with the “class” travel. Well needto mention the kind souls who squeezed themselves to give enough space to place my ……. watever..

Babbles revolved around interesting topics of lives, food, occupation, politics, travel places,.. railways etc… this set of ppl traveling for about 50 hours is such “admirable” conditions, become a family by now… actually enjoying their journey of life……. they were so open ….dint have to ‘look-gud’ to the world… dint have to be defined by their dress, makeup, shades, cells, attitude, artificiality, pretence …… they were wat their flesh and blood, their crystal clear soul were. …. being themselves…. being human…….

There was this follower of Islam after all the topics he covered, from his cherished meeting with Indira Gandhi, to stories about his younger days, found enough space to kneel and say his prayers!!!! (the admirable thing bout these men) ….silence prevailed to assist the man reach his almighty ….. after all the laughs, views and biscuits passed around and lots of insight bout the various corners these members of the “family” come from…….. thoughts left the train……….. and went to the unknown destination….. jus wondered how little I know bout the grt land which I call mine…… there’s so much……unknown, unexplored……. than the limiting knowledge which the media gives us….. wondered how different we all are…. how we differ in our food, clothing, culture, traditions, language, thoughts, behavior, u name it …. and its different…… and still we stick in oneness…… thoughts went to fantasy of peeping into every household and get the essence of the lives that reside in this grt land of ours………

Got a glimpse of wat Swades talked bout ….. and wat Mr. Gandhi enjoyed traveling in these“Classes” ………..

Thoughts brought me to the “1st Class” of the train, the prevailing silence, the colored books/laptops blocking ppls eyes, the cell phones taking place of the men next to cut a talk, enough space for themselves but not in the hearts ….. the artificiality, the pretence, each person wanting to be everyone else other than themselves’……….. (jus a general statement, not intended to hurt ppls sentiments :) ) This experiance is gonto entangle me for quite some time... so are those wonderful souls whom i may not get to meet again..

felt so looooossssssssst, jus can't describe but felt a sence of happiness, sence of oneness ……… felt like packing the minimal necessities, a cam and sweep the planet on a tour ……………

Well next time I travel ….. its gonto be here … not out of compulsion but out of choice…. For the variety called INDIA.

Friends..

One of those days...

One of those days, when nothing seems to go your way… you get up with a rick in your neck, ulcers in your mouth, ………seems like even the sun woke up at the wrong time… n then you recall the thorny, important chores scheduled for the day, the meetings that can’t be ignored, the things that got to be done…..

And then … after your inevitable morning routine, the day kicks off … smelly socks, sore throat, stiff neck, ruptured oral cavity and hotttttt sun…. your bike, the only gud thing that runs, runs out of fuel….. added to the adventurers journey of the day…. you forget to carry the important papers that form a matter of discussion with your client, and all the calls you receive for the day form the matter of disgust,…..grrrRRR “smash the phone”.... nothing seems to go right …..................aaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAA……............. feels like fleeing to Africa……

As the “SOUL” of the day is set …. even a scope of delicious icecream wudn’t save you …..the clock takes it own sweet time to tick as you go bout questioning your existence on the planet….. and virtually doing nothing other than pulling your hair!!!!

One of those days ……. When nothings goes your way……… untill the sun sets ---at the right time……….. AND THEN……… a couple of calls gives way for a brush with your buddypals….. you kiss the phone, suddenly has bcome the best thing in your life, …..your bike rips, as a tiger thats found its prey…… and your “Soul’, ---enlightened as that of a monk on top of a mountain….. FINALLY you meet the "gang", 'your own', 'pieces of you'….. …….. your struggles for the day seems ages, pain past, and the evening looks as if it shudn’t end……. and WHAT A TRANSFORMATION…….jus over a cup of coffee, lotz of senseless words, PJ’s, few moments of silence, and loads of laughter over nothing…… suddenly the whole meaning of life is defined, and Africa seems to have become a distant place….

“Friendship”, …. hats off to the men who coined the word for this relationship, one of the finest motives for us to lead our lives, the most treasured possession which money can't buy….. “Friendship”…. probably tops the list of the best things in life …… jus like………….hot cup of chocolate on a rainy day,… long silent drive on an open highway,… the lush green leaves and colorful flora one the primitive days of spring,… a beautiful smile of an innocent child, ….the wagging tail of your pet,…. sun going down the beach,…. snowfilled mountains ……and ofcourse Africa….. the list cud go on ………

At times like these, when you look bac, and see as to how fortunate you are to have a bunch of grt guyz …… whom you are proud to call them your friends…… with whom you can share the thoughts which your own mind hasn’t heard off….. whom, you can always count on no matter what ……who are 'there for you' regardless the time, distance,place……. with whom your ego seems to have lost its form and feels non-existent….. with whom you can see parts of your own, which the mirror couldn’t …… with whom you are YOU…..

My Thanks, to one of the finest intangible, invaluable creation of life……..

By the way, the sun did wakeup at the right time …… on one of those days....