The Power of slience

Can you hear it? The impounding silence

The Path Less taken

Her nails pressed deeper in her palms. She elongated her breaths, each time inhaling more..and more air. The nails, that she forgot to trim, were hurting. But she liked that pain, for it was keeping her sane.

What she saw could not be unseen, what she felt cannot fit anymore under the rug. She felt that she is standing at that moment in space, where many have stood before. That invisible line that looks at you and tells you, "Hey girl stop right there!". The ghosts from past, present and future all gather hushing, with big eyes wondering what she will do next. She cannot feel her feet anymore, they were wobbling from the time this all began.

The words are choking in her throat, they are coming together and floating around her. It was so easy to pick some of them and dart at him. They will hurt him for sure, not as much as the dagger sticking out from her heart, but oh she will make sure they do.

In a flick of eyelids she sees her standing alone. The 

What would I tell my daughter ..

What would I tell my daughter ..

There will be times when the world comes crumbling at your feet. You are trying hard, reaching your limits but like a spinning top, you are not going anywhere. You push the walls, yell, scream, belittle yourself somedays, get overconfident the other. The whites and blacks, indians and chinese, muslims and jews, all look like bunch of angry people to you. The speeches by our chosen leaders will not make sense ... People will tell u to let go. Be paranoid, live by hour.

Right there in those times, you will find ur inner strength if you look closely, ur magic lamp. What three wishes should u ask for..believe in yourself, believe in world, believe in universe.  Moments of joy, moments of anger, moments of doubt, moments of relief ..they all will dissolve like the rain water washes away the mud. And right there is the essence of ur being. When u love, love with all ur heart. When u hate, find the love in that. For there is light in each burning candle, burning with passion…Burning with desire. Some candles get together and burn down the house, some get together and light the pathway. Where are u lighting ur candle?

The world is messed up, it has several heads, it’s a demon, it’s forced upon u. But u are that bud that will grow tall enough to let jack ur mind escape. Not to run away but to look at the world from 10,000 feet above and say ..ha what a joke! Let me paint it red!

So lift ur brushes, march ur pens, put on ur ballet slippers, hold hands and sing..coz world is a beautiful place. Where miracles happen.  Where people are good, where mornings are cheery and nights are warm and toasty. Be the change u want to see in the world, be the voice u want to hear. Be a poet ..my darling daughter. See the world through those rose colored glasses…which u had the courage to pick when someone threw them away.

Dil Se..

From the first scene to the tragic ending, this movie is a master piece. It will take many years and many lifetimes for critics to realize its potential. This is not to say I am the wisest among them all to understand it before them but this movie certainly made me wiser.

The first shot that I remember is the camera out of focus concentrating on a few dimly lit lights near a train station when it eventually comes into focus on a car passing by. It kind of summed up the first meet between amar and meghna, they are like those dimly lit lights attracted to each other, out of focus on a the massive train trajectory. Just when they start their conversation, there begins a moment, a moment stretched in time and they become the focus of the platform. Beautiful cinematography! I am sure the art dierctor and cinematographer had a ball on the sets of this movie.

Amar so full of life as aptly played by srk and meghna trying to exude lifelessness even though she does have life stored somewhere in her. She doesn't want to be normal or feel remotely normal, so she is jealous of amar, even belittling him in her thoughts. It's funny to see srk talking with his suitcase, he plays common man to the tee. "maachis hai aapke paas?" Wind blows and we are not even shown her face properly but amar sees something in her that tugs his heart. He wants to talk more, know her more, like they know each other from previous lifetimes so he just wants to know what's her story in this lifetime. No wonder he ends up stalking her endlessly, obsessively, he wants to find out why is he obsessed with her and the more he interacts with her, the more the mystery gets deeper. For if he didn't pursue her, he will be incomplete without the knowledge. It becomes an addiction, drawing him more and more into the never ending abyss.

Meghna is scared of amar. She is a terrorist but is scared of him. why? Because he does remind her of someone from her past birth as well. Someone rescued her but tormented her. I sometimes wonder if she suffered from Stockholm syndrome in her previous birth and srk was the captor. So in this one she is trying to run away with all her might away from him but situations and circumstances make her go right back to him. Interesting isn't it? If a story makes you think about its prequel and sequel, it must be pretty convincing!

God of small things

I v/s I - Man sets goals, plans his life around it to achieve them, works hard and finally gets what he wants. So now he must be happy right? I mean most people do get happy by things like this. Look at the guy cheering you with a wine glass, or your wife looking so proudly at you. So why the heck are you asking this question to yourself? I think he realizes the mockery behind - Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

I wonder why .. is he expecting too much from life? Is he not setting his goals correctly? More introspection needed. But for me I guess it boils down to one thing - small things matter in life. So often we are too busy to stop and smell the flowers on our way to work, too posh to dance in the rain, too boring to amuse ourselves with cooing baby. Life is not a big gift in fancy box, neither it is the symphony of one success after another. Life comes in small packets, in small moments, in small memories. It is in small things u can see the god or meaning of life.

So next time you see it raining, stretch out your hand from the window and feel the warmth of nature in those cold droplets. Next time you feel down, take a walk in the park. You will be amazed at how it cheers you up. We have inspirations all around us but instead we focus on the mazes we created for ourselves. Now he gets stuck into them like a rat trying to find the cheese, but forgets why is he running after cheese and whats the guarantee that once he finds it he is going to be happy. Sometimes he is not even hungry but just runs the race ..because ... well thats what people do right? And that rat outside the maze, on a big giant wheel imitating symphony conductor..well he is crazy ..ignore him. And where were we? Who moved my cheese ??

In the end its all cosmic conspiracy ..to make you happy :)

Blue umbrella

Was putting away the thought of starting a blog for a while as needed some great post for it. This is how it happens everywhere right? 'Grand opening' ..'New beginning' ..'Happy Ending' :) But I guess your thoughts never need a new beginning or a happy ending. You just wait for that eureka moment when words flow lucidly from there on to the paper and further and you wish it makes way into hearts of the readers. Sometimes I wonder - is an heart to heart talk between generations an heirloom? or a moment caught in space like the story of genesis where god instills life into Adam.
Visited the Monterey Bay aquarium last year. Yes this officially marks beginning of aquariums and zoos and Disney's for us. We will do this over and over for a decade and then will become fit to replace a disney character (with forced smile stuck on their face for eternity) or better a zoo animal :) Anyways so among the amusing (sometimes creepy) deep sea creatures, saw some really beautiful ones. Like this one called - umbrella jelly. Besides the beauty of it, it instantly invokes lot of sentiments in you..a calmness..a happy place..and all this besides a screaming disinterested baby :)
Nature is beautiful - with its different life forms, shapes and sizes and embraces them equally. It shows us that they can coexist. Then why do we make a big deal out of differences - difference of opinion, religion, thought, country, color. Similarity is overrated, imagine living with yourself! talking same things, same thoughts, same blabber, same silence. I would kill myself in the process :) Lets embrace the differences, raise our toast for disagreements and gush over imperfections. For they make the world a pretty interesting place to live in. . like millions of umbrellas in the sky. From afar they all look same isn't it ?

Carpe Diem!

Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibi	Don't ask (it's forbidden to know) what end
finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios	the gods have granted to me or you, Leuconoe. Don't play with Babylonian
temptaris numeros. ut melius, quidquid erit, pati.	fortune-telling either. How much better it is to endure whatever will be!
seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,	Whether Jupiter has allotted to sink you many more winters or this final one
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare Tyrrhenum:	which even now wears out the Tyrrhenian sea on the rocks placed opposite
sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi	— be wise, be truthful, strain the wine, and scale back your long hopes
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida	to a short period. While we speak, envious time will have {already} fled:
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.	seize the day, trusting as little as possible tomorrow