ON A ROAD LESS TRAVELED!

Riding our two-wheelers through the dusty roads of a small city in India, desperate to beat the heat and reach our coaching class on time, we came across two hapless girls who were lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the road. We were a group of anxious teenagers who hardly knew how to deal with situations like these. As we stopped our bikes wondering what would be the best plan of action, the group split into two-one group sticking by the classic advice that almost all parents give to their kids- "Stay away from situations like these, or else you would be in for some serious trouble'' and the other group being these adrenalin driven idealists who thought that even a small effort could make a difference. As the time ran out, I assumed the position of the decision-maker and at the cost of sounding presumptuous, declared that I would go ahead and help the girls. After wasting a few moments asking out for help from the cars that were passing by, I finally dragged one of the girls with my friend’s help and made her hold me as tightly as she could. I then asked my friend to sit behind her to ensure that she doesn’t fall. As I rode, the speed of my kinetic almost matched the speed of my pacing heart, my mind contemplating all kinds of possibilities. My friend remained silent, her mood matching almost mine. As we reached the hospital, a few ward boys rushed to help the girl. And then like a typical scene straight out of one of those masala Bollywood movies, the doctor refused to admit the girl without paying the admission amount of five hundred rupees.

I searched my wallet only to find fifty rupees that my father had given me to fill up the petrol, while my friend was able to shell out hundred bucks. As we stood in dismay watching our efforts going futile, I could hear my friends’ voices from behind. I saw them bringing the other girl who was less injured. And then the tacit understanding followed. We weren’t these diverging rays anymore, just a united force driven by a common factor called the ‘Youth’. We shelled out all the money we had, and finally ensured that the girls were treated.

A lot of chaos followed-the girl refused to divulge her parent’s number, we weren’t allowed to go till the police came and the doctors thought that we were responsible for the accident. Finally after a lot of persuasion, the girl finally gave her number. I was shocked from the response that I got-her family members not being concerned about her condition but only about the money that they would have to pay. My dismay grew as the police came into picture. My patience ran out as the police troubled my friends. Feeling guilty deep down that I had jeopardized my friends along with me, I asked the police to let my friends go and hold me for all the formalities. All of them refused to leave me and go.

 ‘For all of that is left in the name of humanity, don’t ransack it further. For all the help that we extended to help that stranger, all we get in return are these cynical questions and pointing fingers. I guess even I would become one of those parents who have burnt their fingers in the heat of youth just to suggest my kids not to help any strangers or else they would be in for some serious trouble.’ Today still thinking about the words that I said to the police officer, I wonder what would have crossed his mind that he let all of us go, for those words today sound as filmy as the situation I was in when I entered the hospital. Still the words worked, for maybe they were said with forthrightness and fervor. We didn’t get any thanks from the girls whom we helped, or from their parents. Still all of us had a smile across our face as we got out of the hospital. We were exhausted but exuberant. I knew I was glad to have such friends around; they were glad that they could come out of their fears to help someone they didn’t know, and all of us were glad to realize that we had become matured individuals to follow our own convictions and understand our responsibilities not only towards the growth of our future, but to the growth of humanity as a whole.

That was the day we decided the adage that we would be passing on to our kids-‘of all the religions in this world, humanity is the religion that is the toughest to follow- you can start it from the windfall of being a youth!’

WELCOME ME BACK!

Has more than a year since i wrote! How does life change!A year full of challenges and hard-work,the journey has truly been incredible.From beginning my career as a trainee at SOM distilleries to joining the biggest BRAND in the world-'COCA COLA' , the path was challenging and difficult.But life is all about making those balancing acts, so today i again return to something that i love the most-WRITING.I would restart by writing a poem that is closest to my heart, as it was the first poem i had written-Read on and enjoy!

THE TWO SHADES

RED WAS THE COLOUR WHEN MY HEART BLED,
BUT RED WAS THE ROSE WHEN SPRING CAME AND WINTER FLED.

ORANGE WAS THE COLOUR WHEN I WAS STARING AT THE BURNING SUN,
BUT ORANGE WAS THE MARIGOLD WITH WHICH THE GARLAND OF MY
LIFE WAS SPUN.
YELLOW WAS THE COLOUR OF MY LIFE’S GLOOMY CROSSROAD,
BUT YELLOW WAS THE SUNFLOWER THAT BROUGHT ME BACK TO MY
CHEERFUL MODE.
GREEN WAS THE COLOUR WHEN I WAS JEALOUS AND MEAN,
BUT GREEN WERE THE LEAVES THAT LOOKED SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN.

BLUE WAS THE OCEAN THAT WAS SO LONELY AND SO COLD,
BUT BLUE WAS THE SKY THAT TAUGHT ME ABOUT THE INNUMERABLE
INSPIRING STORIES UNTOLD.
INDIGO WAS THE COLOUR I SAW IN THE EVENING,
BUT INDIGO WAS THE BIRD THAT LIKE MY SOUL WAS FREEDOM SEEKING.

VIOLET WAS THE COLOUR THAT WAS SO RICH AND SO DARK,
BUT VIOLET WERE THE ORCHIDS THAT WERE PLEASANT LIKE MY
FRIENDS’ LARK.
LOOK AT THE COLOURS OF MY RAINBOW ACROSS THE RAINY SKY,
WISH COULD TOUCH THEM ALL IF I HAD WINGS AND COULD FLY.

WONDERING WHY MY RAINBOW IS TURNED UPSIDE DOWN?
WANT TO MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOUR SMILE WHEN YOU SEE THAT
COLOURFUL CLOWN.

THE FORREST GUMP

This one is for all the Forrest Gump fans....one of my all time favourites....A futile effort to capture the essence of the movie....but alas...the falliable me! So pardon my follies and read on....

No i didn't cry that day because i was a man,
My mind was completely blank and so i simply ran.
Why was i running i couldn't really understand,
But i just kept on running through the forests and the barren land.
All my life i kept running after the happiness i never really got,
That day all causes vanished for which i had always fought.
So i decided that i would run for no particular reason at all,
Maybe i just wanted to avoid thinking about my greatest fall.
People started following me,i really didn't know why,
Maybe they were just like me and even they didn't want to cry.
So we ran through the lands far and wide,
For me they were the crowd but for them i was a guide.
And one day i was just too tired to keep on going like this,
I missed you like hell and missed our first kiss.
Where would i search for you i never really knew,
But you were the feeling inside my heart out of which i never ever grew.
And then i got a letter from you that day,
I thought that happiness has finally come my way.
You looked the same,so fresh and so pure,
But you were ill and there was no cure.
But you gave me the most precious gift i had ever got,
He was just like you and he was the happiness i had always sought.
I take him to the school and bring him back,
And you are the only happiness around us that we lack.
But no,i won't cry because i am a man,
I will keep on loving you as long as i can.
So when your memories hurt me like an uncurable lump,
I'll just run beacuse i am the Forrest Gump.

THE MAGIC GLARES!

This one is for you Swati…for you have been pestering me to write about him for long…..
Here enters Mudit Jain (we saw his name on the list while we were getting down at the station) ….wearing a cowboy hat and sun glares that might be helping him in glaring at the sun invisible to rest of the people in the compartment. Swati and I wait patiently for him to remove that beige hat and black glares only to realize that the wait is endless. Rest of the people in the compartment are as amused as we are to see this fella who seems to be directly walking out of Brokeback mountain, but nevertheless, we being these stupid giggling females, choose to show our effrontery and continue mocking him till the time this topic starts boring us. People around pass on their smiles (I am not sure that is because of our supposedly good sense of humor or just the fact that we are two young females) as we continue babbling. Through this entire cheap act that we put up, he just chooses to ignore us and stay quiet, just as he chooses not to take out his ostentatious accessories. We try to encourage him to react, but he doesn’t, he is in his own quasi-real world…so we attribute it to his inability to comprehend our sarcasm (we are too proud to believe that any guy can ignore us). So we move to other instigating topics like men and life and more men and life and bad men and life and good men and life and dearth of good men in life and our lives in men. When we realize that the word ‘MEN’ has been overused and abused, we call it off for the day. When we look back at Mudit we find that he has finally parted from his beloved glares and cowboy hat! (I mean if we can part from this topic called MEN then anything in this world can parted). So we see his black eyeballs and full eyelashes that can easily sweep away any girl off her feet. And its just not about his eyes, it is about the innocence that lies within them, it is about the twinkle that we invariably fail to see in the lust-filled/ drowsy/ unyielding tired/complaining eyes in the males that we see around that awes us. Our hearts melt instantly looking at him, not because he is a handsome man with eyes of a deer, but because he is a man to whom the crookedness of the world has failed to touch. For an instant, guilt sweeps across us both, for all the shameless act that we have been putting up through the evening, just because he is not one of us, just because he is an aberration, and coming to think about it now we wonder whether we are unable to accept the aberration in his style or demeanor, the demeanor in which he is not mean, not bothered about what others have to think about him, in which he shows that he has no complaints towards life, no sarcasm and no bitterness. But because we are not an aberration, we joke and tell each other ‘Only if he wouldn’t have been an aberration!’ So we end the day discussing about yet another man. When I get up in the morning dropping a dozen things from my middle berth as I get up, he religiously keeps on picking up all the stuff and handing it back to me with a smile. All this for all the fun I made of him! And no, he doesn’t mean a thing more by his smile, it just comes in naturally to him, so he finally takes away the cynicism from me as well, the cynicism that I invariably carry when I get those smiles from other males, smiles that may or may not mean a thing. I smile back at him, and it comes in naturally to me as well this time. After a while, he again dons his sunglasses and hat. I smile, this time not because I am playing another silly comment on my mind, but because now I know why he puts on those glares, though he may not have any clue about it. I perceive that he puts them on to save himself from all the sarcasm, bitterness and cynicism that are highly contagious. As we get down at our station, I wonder from where can I buy those magic glares and hat? Any idea fellas???????

WHAT ARE YOU SUFFERING FROM?

Here are some of the syndromes i have seen among people i have come across (including me ofcourse!)Read on and try to figure out your category.

• OCD- Obsessive Compliment me Disorder (And the award goes to Ms. Aditi Chaturvedi.Any competitors out there?)
• AIDS-Avoid Intelligent Discussion Syndrome(A certain Sara Palin must be suffering from it,specially after making so many 'intelligent' statements.
• CANCER-Critisize And Negate the Competent,Efficient and the Rich (Ever overheard a conversation between the paan-chewing baabus?)
• SARS-Sadism Accompanying Rejoice Syndrome (Its wonderful sometimes to indulge in some guilty pleasures.)
• STD-Show Tantrums and Displeasure (Is Karnataka CM reading my blog?)
• SCID-Severely Corrupted Indian Denziens (All of us who just sit back in our homes and blame the politicians for all the mishappenings)
• MPD- Machinating and Plotting Disorder ( Kindly congratulate Ms. Ekta Kapoor and all her scriptwriters for this one.They have a disorder and they are encashing on it!God bless me with such a disorder....)
• RABIES- Revile And Blemish the Innocent,Earnest and the Sagacious(What are you thinking Mr. Antulay?)
• TETANUS-Tell Everyone That our Adjoining Neighbours are Useless Skunks( The media of both the countries and ofcourse a lot of organizations are suffering from it, who just love to propogate the 'HATE YOUR NEIGHBOUR' policy)
• POLIO-Pricks Of Liquid Income Outflow (Ouch,this one hurts!)

So the qusetion remains....what are you suffering from?

BROKEN!

I met with an accident this Sunday, and it seemed to have changed my life all of a sudden. It was a big eye-opener…it persuaded me to reconsider a hundred thousand things….to reconsider the way I take my life for granted, the way I take people around me for granted, specially the people who love me the most. That day sitting at the hospital, I could see the endless pain my father’s eye, something I had never seen before, as if he was trying to tell me, it’s not you who is broken, but it is my trust that you can take care of yourself that is broken. I never ever want to see that expression on his face again. The fallouts that followed the incident were worse….my family having lost their faith in me, my friends trying to make me understand things, people playing the blame game, it was all too much for me to take. But sitting here today I write this post for all those who have suffered because of me and my attitude towards life. Broken trusts and friendships, I know I can’t bring all that back now. Sometimes in life we become so blindfolded about things that we love and run after, that we forget to see in what ways is it corrupting us……and at the end of it all, we never find the things we were actually running after, because it was never ours anyway, but we end up becoming something that we were actually not. So one fine day when we realize that a wild goose chase has done us no good, it has infact consumed all our energy and vibrancy, it has made us do bad to people who actually cared, who were there with us all along, but we never noticed them because we took them for granted in this maddening chase, we realize that they all have already moved too far, and you are left with nothing, no energy, vibrancy or trust from people who actually cared. So what do you do then? Apologize to people whom you have hurt badly? That won’t be the solution I guess…..the best thing possible that could be done now is to pave the way that you broke while running, putting each stone step by step, making sure that nobody ever falls again from the road of trust that you have built. And maybe that would be the best thing that you could do for people who actually cared.

I faltered a thousand times in the things I did,
A hundred thousand things I told and hid.
I am sorry for the pains I have caused,
For the trust of people I have blindly tossed,
But I get up today and try to heal the burn,
I today realize the lesson that people wanted me to learn,
I am glad they are still there despite what I have done,
I know now what I need to abjure and shun.

KABHI KHUD PE HANSAA MAIN,AUR KABHI KHUD PE ROYA!

#When people remind me that i am turning 24 this year,and i shouldn't be staring at guys younger than me,that most of them are!
#When my boss gets didactic.
#When i am supposed to wear only suits to my office.
#When my tailor stitches suits like the ones Jassi used to wear.
#When my beautician drops burning hot wax on me and say 'Oops!I am sorry!' with an apologetic smile while my skin takes it out on me by popping up a boil.
#When my pimples refuse to go away even when i am way past 18,even when i tried all the remedies from Lactocalamine to the ones that aunts suggest.
#When my male friends gawk at a hot female passing by giving that 'Oh!You look so hot look' glare while they never even spare a second look,even if i manage to look like Marlyn Monroe(Just as a matter of speaking that Monroe thing!)
#When the autowaala and Rickshawaalas eve-tease me.
#When i meet my old flame and he manages to look better than last time.
#When i meet my old flame and i inevitably look worse than the last time.
#When i have to go to the loo in my office where there aren't any other female workers.(It stinks man!)
#When my friends tell me how caring and loving their boyfriends are or any of my single friends gets a boyfriend.
#At the thought of an arranged marriage.
#When my friend tells me that i had the worst hair-cut ever.
#When i badly want to doze off but can't beacuse my boss is around.
#When my friend invariably knocks me down on all the discussions that we hold.
#When my father lectures me on time management and systematic investment plan.
#When i have just 100 bucks left in my bank account.
#When i want to grab a drink but can't beacuse i stay at home.
#When i somehow manage to perform an act that remotely resembles dancing while my friends show me the grooviest of moves.
#When my 2 year old niece tells me that i shouldn't wear a particular dress beacuse its too tight.
#When i am on a 'Oh so perfect date' and my brother calls me up and gives me those warnings to come back at once.
#When the psychos who are behind my life refuse to undersatnd that i am NOT INTERESTED in them.
PS-Hope they are reading and understanding!
#When my bus driver becomes hellbent to make me listen to worst songs on FM.
#When i see that my hairfall rate is 10 times faster than my aging process.
#When i go to get my eyebrows and upperlips plucked and end up looking like Amol Palekar in the movie Golmaal.
#When my mother tells me about my another prospective groom(Yup,all that ends up in the prospective stage,while my mother prepares herself to get yet another BEST guy for me)
And what do i do when all these things bang my head????
Well,i listen to the song-KAbhi khud pe hansaa main,aur kabhi........................