G A P

On this yet another tired evening from work, rushing out of the station towards the lights to make it across a traffic piled road in time to catch a big red bus that makes up the last leg of my journey to reach home and relax with a cuppa and the new home cinema, I was surprised by a sudden lack of co-operation between the mind and limb. Two teenagers stood right in front, dressed very much their age, noise(mistaken for music) blaring from those hideous contraptions called mp3, shaking their head vigorously in rhythm with the noise(ah, and folks here tell me they get confused with Indian way of nodding !!)..AND sucking these !!!!

It took few seconds for the scene to sink in - the limp and rain and production support was taking it's toll I s'pose - looking around one could observe mixed reactions from annoyance to couldn't-care-less to incredulous looks. Suddenly a powerful mo(ve)ment was felt, as if falling into a Pensieve..

'Aiyoo, what kind of books have you started reading ?? What has got into you ?? What will Pattu mami(read nosy neighbour) think if she walks in now ?? Whatever is the West doing to our kids.. should unsubscribe MTv channel first thing !!'

Lady exits.An innocent(namesake) child was taking in every page of an unusually interesting plot - Betty scheming against Ronnie ! On the floor beside her lay more copies, High School teens ogling at their bikini clad girlfriends on a warm summer day on the beach..what a cover page to make a grab for !! ;) !! Lady enters, drops a bunch of books next to the child. Lady exits. Innocent kid shrinks away from those chandamamas and tinkles, nose upturned, furious at having her intelligence questioned thus !!

Drawn back to my body at the lights, I break into a sudden smile which slowly turns a grin when nearby lady murmured under her breath, '..into their second childhood when hardly out of the first..!!'

Global Warming

100s of emotions
100s of arguments
100s of statements
100s of broken promises
100s of discussions
100s of occasions to reflect
100s of moments to ponder
100s of Politicians
100s of questions
100s of demonstrations
A picture's worth more than a 1000 words afterall...
Maybe I am happy for Global Warming ~ reassuring to know warmth is still around even if not in our hearts !!

What really sells !

Strange but true - being away from the country makes one positively patriotic. How many times have you gone visiting rest of the world to return(even if for a vacation) to your hometown towards the end only to turn euphoric at the very sight of the roads(you cursed for traffic), malls(you spent days together talking of noting but the visa), alleys(your gang had exclusive lease over).

So, revisiting the point of patriotism, it should also be mentioned how every desi news portal & blog is devoured in a desperate hope to keep abreast of current 'affairs'(pun seriously intended) back home.

On a nothing unusual therefore mundane morning, an article in the paper catches the eye - SECOND HONEYMOON - under the 'News from around the World' column. Funny as it may sound to an International audience the Government's move is welcomed as a measure of taking the right direction to provide basic amenities to more than a minimum number of people. Having interest thus spurned by Reuters every desi online news portal was scanned eagerly hoping for a bit of first hand news. However, it was a shocking disappointment to realize such news was a turnip in comparison to someones breakfast in Mumbai Jail !

A few days later one did find a mere mention of the article in discussion(NO! Not the b'fast) and sighed, turning back to the monitor to continue yet another day of living away from where one's heart belongs..

See what I see ??

The fleeting summer in this part of the world leaves a sun worshipper like me to assume expecting trying times to descend soon which obviously explains sunflower like attitude of gazing at the orange ball whenever wherever ! Ever felt the warmth of sunshine after being plagued by incessant rains which reinforce your belief that sun is really all those miles away from earth ?? Now that you are inside my mind, we continue..
Having found myself a window seat to comfortably settle in and gaze on way to work, I was drawn moth-like towards a source light ~ a spec of golden drop from the sky seemingly taking a cautious peek at the world spread below with all blues, greens, browns and more shades of hue which make it up. The scene struck kind of an irony having experienced days when this giant ball beat down mercilessly with pleasure much like the D(a)ork Lord ;) as compared to the shy Indian bride on a suhaag raat look being thrown from the skies today. That's not all.. the morning sky clouding around the sun seemed to cause refraction, making the rays diverge, springing a halo around the huge cloud, beams lighting up the horizon in a very mesmerizing reddish yellow.
As I continue to take in this scene, my mind's shutter working in conjunction with an USM lens.. er.. eyes, the train makes a sharp turn at a bend, the captivating scene disappearing as a result ! With a sigh, returning my eyes back to carriage I am pleasantly surprised to notice the face of a fellow passenger at far end of the carriage light up as if spellbound and bewitched by a scene outside the window, before returning to my morning 'paperwork' with a smile..
The excitement thus experienced not having faded, it is eagerly mentioned to a colleague at work. 'Crepuscular rays', he grunts before turning back to look at those lines of unintelligible code where it is believed a bug was resting causing havoc ! Trust science to explain my entire post in one tactlessly plain and brusque monosyllable(almost..).. little wonder poets have been rendered redundant in this era of science !!