Hello my readers, my friends, it will be one year in February that I would complete with this blog. It all has been very exciting this journey with my writing and the medium. I am so happy that I have got a space of my own to talk to all my friends and followers. Though a ‘dumbo’ when it comes to internet technology , I think am doing okay. Slow and steady, and I am happy with what I have achieved with all the travelling and family commitments.

In the same context I would like to THANK ALL MY FRIENDS AND READERS ! Thank You for all the support and comments, I always hope and pray not to disappoint any one of you and give you some good reading material. I hope I have been successful. A very Happy New Year to you all! Hope you achieve all that you have planned and break any fancy diet that you would like to start! Hey, life is too short ! Eat healthy, drink in moderation and enjoy!

So here is a poem for all my friends and readers,and all those whom I have left behind on moving town, as well as for the memories and time spent with all. So brew yourself some sweet sweet coffee and enjoy the short poem! Happy New Year to all!

Tomorrow

Good Times,

Good Memories,

Good Friends,

Are here today and gone tomorrow,

They come like a gust of wind,

And remain in our hearts,

Like a mark of an arrow,

Sweet Talk,

Sweet Thoughts,

Sweet Exchanges,

Remain sweet and sacred forever,

And memories make them sweeter,

They sustain us in our sorrows,

When we lose faith,

Feel lonely,

And dread the day after tomorrow,

Good Times,

Good Memories,

Good Friends,

Will be there for you,

Always and Tomorrow!

Destiny Vs Will

Hello my friends my readers! How life is a fabulous mystery? Her Highness ‘Destiny’ really throws a curvy shot at you when you expect it the least! Well, a month ago I started to settle in the new town and my husband went away, then only to be told a few days before he came back that we have to pack the house again and head to our home town for a three months course to achieve  promotional ranks of the army! So again; baggage, packing, mothballs and a temporary school admission for the kid! And so in a weeks time we all are back again to refitting our lives and our routines to a new place!

I have often experienced that ‘Madam Destiny’ has many things up her sleeves, and I must not take her for granted. One day I am thinking of a month long leave and the next minute I think of packing! One day it rains in the morning and my husband cancels coming home and by afternoon the Sun shines and he suddenly arrives?  One day I am sitting alone in a new town and the next day I back to my own home? One day you are climbing a mountain which you have climbed a hundred times before and the other minute you lose your foot hold and fall, one night the petrol prices are normal and the next day they climb up 4 units of money and you start taking your bicycle to work! At one time you are flying high and are the apple of everyone’s eye and the other time you are all alone with a spouse who doesn’t want you and/ or parents who refuse to be involved.

Destiny and Will are like two fighting siblings, each one throws a blow on the other. Though Destiny makes  all the  sudden moves, it is our Will which has to battle it out relentlessly.

If you have a strong ‘Will’ then take ‘Destiny’ by the hand and move on, she just might become your good friend in the end! This is what I have experienced- take it on the chin and strike back aptly! How about you, how do you deal with Madam Destiny?

So  Sip Sip, and think, think, think ,on your hot hot coffee and enjoy the short poem!

Destiny verses Will

I sit in the solitude of the present and see,

How the sunny skies, turn into thundering climes.

I sit in solitude and think of the past, and see,

How happy days turned into sadder nights.

I sit in solitude and try to foresee the future,

How lonely stays will turn into crowded lives,

I sit in solitude and I vow,

That each sudden strike that Destiny tries to give,

Will be ricocheted,  with the Will of mine.

The Gaga Formula

Hello my friends, my readers! Pardon my absence, it was just one of ‘those days’, when you don’t even want to see a computer screen. Well the Formula One race track is on and burning in India. Wow! Is this a sign of progress? I don’t know, if the Formula One driver would just leave Delhi and Greater Noida, and start driving on the ‘highway’ to Uttar Pradesh, they will see how bad the roads are and what fast/rash driving is like! That would be the real Formula One challenge! I think the government has completely lost its ‘formula’ in such a lop sided development. Development means destruction of natural resources, so it’s a balancing act and very few countries have got it right.

Today I am posting a poem which I wrote a very long time ago when the Mumbai- Pune highway/expressway was opened to public and I was travelling over it to go to Mumbai. The poem asks a few questions, I have also used the Shakespear’s ‘honorable men’ type of effect replacing it with ‘beautiful motorway’ (Am trying to be sarcastic). To those who don’t know Pune is a smaller, now rapidly developing town, and Mumbai (Bombay) the already established metro city with politicians, bureaucrats and movie stars.

Check out the race track here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddh_International_Circuit

So sip your hot hot coffee in the cold cold weather and enjoy!

Some Thoughts on the Expressway

We zoom through the highway,

At high speed,

Oh! What a wonderful road it is!

I see the trees and mountains running with us on both sides!

It is a beautiful motorway,

It winds and cuts,

Through the farms ,fields and mountains,

It’s a beautiful motorway!

I see a mountain, amputated in the middle,

To let this beautiful concrete motorway pass,

Some monkeys look at us from the side,

Probably admiring the road and the speed of cars?

Or,

Looking at their brothers and sister driving over the land and trees,

which  once were theirs?

We have lost our tails , but we remain the same,

Only, we now create concrete jungles,

And run from one place to the other,

Climb organizational ladders,

Push each other,

Fight over fruits, trees and stones.

Oh! Here comes a tunnel!

Pierced through the grand brown mountain,

To let this beautiful road through!

The radio plays music and chatter,

We communicate better,

Though we still fight between each other,

What’s the use of a satellite,

if man cannot connect with man?

Whats’s the use of this beautiful road,

If it leads to the biggest slum in Asia?

The trees ,mountain and fields are gone,

Now the concrete trees run with us,

Some tall ,rectangular

with square holes,

Like bodies without souls.

People,cars,smoke,shops,

People, bridges,     lights,     sound,      camera,       action!

I think we have reached the main city?

Some more people!

Here the stars shine bright,

The politicians and bureaucrats have might,

And they fight, plot and fight!

We have lost our tails, but we remain the same.

There are Have Nots and Have Lots.

But there is hope and there are still dreams,

And we are getting close to our destination,

Slowly ,haphazardly,

Slowly, we are moving ahead at least?

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Guess what? Lady Gaga is performing for the after hours party, check out her non outrageous clothes in this article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2054722/Lady-Gaga-India-dons-demure-outfit-local-designer-New-Delhi.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Well , Lady Gaga, well done, well done, we love the hairdo in our national colours, maybe you should also auction of your designer collections and send the money to the poor in Uttar Pradesh? Hmmmm…..

Hello my friends, my readers! This time, my thoughts go towards the poem I was editing on poverty( ref to last post). In the new city, I am astonished to see that so much of poverty still remains in our country! We brag about Formula 1 race tracks and multi -specialty hospitals and technology parks coming up, but what about poverty? Why is that swept under the carpet? I wrote the poem watching an impoverished girl on the street, begging and playing around so happily between running cars and speeding bikes! Similarly, now, many years later, I noticed there has been an outbreak of deadly viruses here and it is  due to the stagnant waters after floods and rain, bad hygiene, and poverty.

 Questions: Why can’t the government spray insecticides and provide a better standard of living? Are the poor so used to not doing work that they WANT to live this way at minimum cost? We have families living in our ‘out houses’, with crying children, and mothers working as helpers in our homes and their men- staying in the house-doing NOTHING ! Some don’t even send their children to school. The elder child stays at home to look after the babies. Why so many babies you ask? Well ,the women may have given birth to two daughters and hence wished a son for carrying the family name forward, or they are too poor to get operated, or they think ‘as many hands-as much money’.  

 And what will happen with the petrol prices going up- EVERYONE will be affected! It may soon be cheaper to eat out in a restaurant than at home! ……..And even drinking coffee will be a luxury!!!! So quickly…..grab yourself a hot strong mocha and read the poem below! Do let me know what you think!

At the Traffic Light

As the traffic light turned red, in all the din,

Sat a tiny girl,

With a bare torso,

a sweet smile, milk drop eyes,

and a dark chocolate skin,

With knees to her chin, and

two plastic cups in hand,

All her dreams and thoughts within.

Some saw her through their AC windows,

Some through their helmets and glares,

The horns blared, the traffic snarled

The petrol polluted the air.

The road was her school, her home, her bed hard,

With two plastic cups in hand, she played in her backyard,

One cup on the other, she created her rescue tower,

She looked through the plastic and her dream became sour,

One cup her tower come tumbling down,

In that instant gravity was learned and then she frowned,

She took the fallen cup and hit it with all her might,

She hit, it crackled, she hit it, with her tiny fist tight.

The tower now broken, yet one cup in hand,

She looked at it excitedly and filled it fully with sand,

Thoughts of a sweet drink, yet sand in her hand.

The cup filled with dirt, a cup full of positivity,

The traffic light turned green,

Her thirst was quenched, as she tipped the sand out,

she came back to reality.

Naturally Wired

Hello my readers, my friends!  A new city, a new month and a new thought! Am in the new place and getting visits by the stray cows, monkeys and dogs who probably think my garden is a ‘drive in restaurant’! Well, I don’t bother them too much, I let them chomp on for some time and then drive the visiting creatures away.  Now that we humans have occupied their areas, we have to live with each other in peace. And, I finally watched the movie ‘Avatar’, yes, I waited for it to come on TV! I know, I know, a bit late, but nevertheless I  loved it, a tad slow but it had a good message of what might happen if we don’t live in tandem with nature.

This reminded me of a poem I wrote in frustration. It was a wonderful sunny winter day, when I decided to fine tune a poem on poverty. What kept on bugging me were two helicopters which kept on circling above my head! (My husband was posted in the ‘field area’ of the army-hence the helicopters) There was some VIP visit due, so they were practicing! But in that process they were not only annoying me but also, sleeping babies, and birds which flew in all directions confused! Then, later, I saw cows being stoned and driven away back to their barns as their ‘grazing time’ had ended for the day! I was amazed at how much pressure we give these animals, I never knew that the poor cows had to also follow army timings!!  Then, there came a time when we ladies would freak out when we heard a bell in the middle of the night, only to find out that this ‘wandering bell’ was a large black buffalo who had not returned, and would graze through the night!

So, the poem below was written while working on another one. It speculates on how life would be in the future, I have written it in short sentences, as if a computerized voice is saying the lines.  So have a cup of cold coffee and enjoy! Do let me know what you think!

Naturally Wired

Two helicopters circling above my head,

Oh! I remember, all the birds are dead!

A motor car running on the side,

Oh I remember……all the buffalos have pulled so hard they died!

Acid drops keep falling on my head!

Everywhere pollution has spread!

I am so alone yet I talk all the time?

Oh, I remember……… on my phone and online!

Acidity is burning my insides!

Oh! I remember………………. All vegetation is finished or dried!

Can’t feel any pain or cry?

Oh! I remember………….an artificial heart pumps inside!

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Why dont you also read what the Fantastic Cow did to the Mayor for her rights- in my 'Blog of Short Stories'-have a look!

Struggle for Freedom

Hello my friends, my readers! On the 15^th of August we celebrated our Independence Day! We are independent since 65 years! That’s not a lot of time, I must say? When did USA get ‘Independence’ 1776? (pls correct me if I am wrong) And now, we are known as the ‘developing country’ of the world and a so called a future ‘Economic Super Power’. Yes, there is development in technology and industry but we have still a long way to become a truly self sufficient developed economy. The competition must not be with any other country but with ourselves. But , there was poverty then and there is still poverty now.

Today in India we are faced with a different type of a struggle – It is the Freedom of the Country from Corruption’. And the lone leader is Anna Hazare, an ex army man who got a calling to help the society. Through his life he has always worked for the people in the most honest possible way.(http://www.annahazare.org/) And now he fights for the ‘Lok Pal’ Bill , the Bill which has been swept under the carpet since 1969(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokpal).In brief, it allows the people of the country not only to question dishonest people but also the elected representatives. Following Gandhi he is following  the ‘non violence and fast to death ‘ method-  a difficult yet successful method. He has the people’s support. And one must wait to see what happens, next. In India we are pen poised to see how history will be written. Do the people win or the government?

Let the men, women and children be honored for the sacrifices they made in getting freedom for this country. I am happy to come from a more secular, socialist and democratic nation. It’s good to be free, isn’t it? So I just hope this time justice and honesty wins and we become the first nation to become the most ‘non corrupt nation’ of the world if nothing else!

On that note enjoy the poem below written on India’s Freedom Struggle. I suggest you put in a bit of crushed cardamom and cloves to your coffee and try the Masala Coffee! Enjoy and do let me know what you think!

Weapons of Freedom

A pinch of salt can save a life,

A pinch of salt can kill,

A fist of salt can free a nation,

Solely on one man’s will.

A length of rope can water fields,

The rope can hoist flags of national zeal,

A rope can tie a noose so tight,

For three braves to be killed.

A meter of white cloth can be spun by hand,

A meter can cover the shame,

Bundles of cloth can be burned on the streets,

or cover those who had fought for the Nations claim.

Salt, rope, and cloth,

Are the weapons for freedom to instill,

Stick, swords, and stones, will always break bones,

With bullets great leaders are killed.

………………………………………………………………

Moments

Hello my friends, my readers! Long time, no write! Well, today I thought I would offer you a poem about all the immeasurable moments in our lives. Get yourself a large mug of coffee with cream if you must, as since I have not written for so long, it might take a while reading!

Well, I am still on vacation! And it’s raining cats and dogs, and I am worried about a flood situation! Not only has the Monsoon set in, we in India faced another one of our yearly routine, of triple bomb blasts which ripped through crowded places and killed a lot of innocent people. And as always, the media is busy and the politicians are doing a lot of blah, blah,( even the statements are getting stale and boring) I am SO tired of hearing the words –‘resilient’, ‘spirit of the people’, ‘the perpetrators will be brought to justice’, ‘US/UN/UK/France condemns the attack’, ’Even we are facing terrorism in our country’, etc, etc, etc.

I, myself, suffered the loss of my grandfather a few days ago, whose health suddenly deteriorated and he breathed his last just a few seconds before I entered the ICU. I was heartbroken that he did not see me coming to meet him, as I thought it was my luck to be in the city on vacation when he was taken ill. I cursed myself as being the worst grandchild in the world, as I left for home. I remembered the whole night all the sweet moments we had shared together , and I dreamt of him smiling at me. But my father then called me the next day, and told me how fortunate I was to not have seen him suffer in the last moments and how I would remember him only as a healthy, happy grandfather. I then felt better, and I let go of him, slowly.

And thus, I realized how life’s moments are precious, and how we have to make the most of them, as you never know what destiny has in store for you in the next moment. Hearing of the bomb blasts and having experienced the loss of a close one, I realized I will have to make each moment of my life count, and not sulk or have any disdain to anyone or for anyone. As I remember from what Mark Antony said, in Shakespear’s classic ,drama ‘Julius Caesar, ’the evil that men do lives after themselves, the good is often intered in the bones’ (this is from memory, kindly check the actual words).

So here is the poem,…… and how about another cup of coffee?

Moment

A moment can last a life time,

A moment can tell all,

A second can be too late,

A glance can make us feel small.

A whisper can say softly, things sweet,

A shout can turn to a brawl,

A touch can cure all sickness,

A hit can make your soul fall.

All we need is a moment,

A moment that says all,

Life goes on and is timeless,

Moments that we cherish and define us,

Are the moments when we make others feel tall.

 Also check out what the Fantastic Cow-Monalisa is up to in her next adventure in My Blog of Short Stories !