Sunday, November 28, 2010

A fistful of sands (of Time)

“What do you usually do once you reach home?”  I asked my colleague during an after-lunch stroll.  
“I reach home by 8 o’clock in the evening, cook dinner, watch tv, and then go off to bed.” She replied, albeit with an element of surprise on her face, as to why was she being asked such a question.
“And how about the weekends?”
“I go out shopping.”
“Do you have any hobbies that you pursue?”
“I love fabric painting and stitching designs on clothes. However, it has been almost a year since I have done any of those activities.”
“Why?”
“Because I am not finding enough time to do so.”

This was not the first time in my life that I was hearing someone say that he or she doesn’t find time out of their busy schedules to pursue something different in life. In fact, 3 years back, the count of those who gave this reason for not trying out something new in life was at least +1 than what it is now. Yes amigos. I also belonged to the same category. The time always found a way to escape from my hands. And the reason for that was not that time is stronger than my grasp, but that my grasp does not have enough will to hold on to time.

Things, however, have changed now. And these days, I find more time for myself and to do things that I love, than what I usually found couple of years back. For instance, here are the details of how I spend time on a regular weekday –

Activity
Time Spent (in hrs)
Getting ready for office
1
Time spent in office
9
Travel betw office and home, both to & fro
2
Listening to my favourite music
4
Eating
1
Watching TV
1
Playing guitar
2
Sleeping
7
Checking mails, RSS feeds and Facebook
1
Total
28


Oh yes. My average day is 28 hours long, 4 hours more than what God intended to grant me. And those extra 4 hours are something which I could not have managed to squeeze into my daily routine, had I not had the will to do so. I get that extra time because of my deep love for things outside the average daily routine. For instance, I love playing guitar. Hence, I reach home, have my dinner, and subsequently, ensure that I practice guitar for at least 2 hours. Similarly, I love listening to British Rock. And I find out time here and there to plug the earphones, which ultimately gives approx 4 hours of time to my favourite music to fill my ears.

The truth is that if you really want to find more time for yourself, you can, only if you truly love something. Develop a hobby and devote time to that.  The way things stand today, I can definitely say that I am now living a life which is "longer" and more enriching as compared to the life I was leading couple of years back. Its not only that I am holding on to time, but these days,  I am infact, able to squeeze out more time out of the time. And I am sure anyone who has a great passion for something can do so.
  

Monday, September 13, 2010

My Playlist (contd...)

My previous post is dedicated to the people I can listen to non-stop for hours and hours. And I am talking about some of the most influential musicians ever born. These include Bob Dylan, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Ozzy Osbourne, Axl Rose, Slash, James Hetfield, Bono, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and many more whose music continues to fill my ears.

There is a special playlist that I have created in my Walkman, which comprises of just 15 songs. These 15 songs are my all time favorites. And the poem I had written in my previous post actually describes each of these songs. I am listing them down here in the order in which they appear in the playlist. The order is the same while describing these in the lines of my poem.

1. War Pigs (Black Sabbath)
I would rate this song much above the other songs from Black Sabbath such as "Paranoid" and "Iron Man". Amazing guitar by Tony Iommi throughout. Insane drums by Bill Ward. And what a powerful voice from Ozzy. Heaviest of heavy metal.

2. Civil War (Guns N' Roses)
Primary reason why this song exists in my playlist - Axl Rose. God forgot to give him brains, but more than compensated for that in the voice department. The variety in the pitch of his voice throughout the song is mind-blowing. I also like the opening broken chords played on acoustic guitar, when this song starts to take off. Had Axl continued his collaboration with Slash and Izzy, I bet Guns N' Roses would have given hundreds of more powerful songs, and would have continued to top the charts even in the new millennium. 

3. The Times, They Are a-Changin' (Bob Dylan)
You search for the original song on Youtube, but you won't find it. What you would find instead are hundreds of cover versions of this song, performed by people across all generations. And generations would come and go, yet the message that this song contains, would still hold good.

4. Fade To Black (Metallica)
I would say just one thing about this song - amazing guitar play - both acoustic as well as overdriven. The very first riff on acoustic guitar, the intro solo, the acoustic rhythm, the two power chord progressions in the middle, and the outro solo - each is so unique and powerful, that you can't push the Stop or Pause button once you have started playing it. I would rate this song to be the best guitar song ever. And this is the song which actually inspired me to take guitar solos and power chords more seriously.

5. Black Dog (Led Zeppelin)
Unlike other songs, this one can clearly be divided into two sections - vocals and instrumental. This style of vocals is also known as Cappella. During the vocal sections, while Plant is singing, there are no guitars or drums. And when he finishes his lines, suddenly Jimmy Page starts burning the stage with powerful guitar signature. The guitar sounds totally different from what I have heard in other songs. Such innovation in music is what makes Led Zeppelin arguably the best rock band of all time.

6. Man On The Edge (Iron Maiden)
Not as famous as the other Iron Maiden songs, yet I personally think it is the best from them. Once you hear it, the song won't leave you. Very catchy tune and lyrics, that would set their feet for a long long time in your head. And yes, I can still hear my brain humming loud and clear - "Falling Down, falling down, falling doooowwwwwn".

7. The Unforgiven (Metallica)
The song opens with an ominous finger-picking pattern on acoustic guitar, and it continues throughout the song, although not as audible in the later sections of the song. The lyrics are amazing. One of the very few songs that has powerful verses and a very mild and soothing chorus section. 

8. With Or Without You (U2)
The mix of sounds in this song is very different from any other song I have heard. Especially when the song kiscks off. Bono has lent a great voice to this song, pretty subtle when compared to other songs he has sung, although towards the end it again emits out a lot of energy.

9. Kashmir (Led Zeppelin)
I wouldn't call it a song. It is more of a poem. The lyrics are probably the best of all the songs categorized under rock genre. And I don't think I need to say anything about the guitar riff being played throughout. Page had to tune down 3 of his guitar's strings to have a DADGAD setting instead of EADGBE. As I mentioned earlier as well, this kind of experimentation with sounds is what makes Led Zeppelin the greatest rock band of all time. Although, the sequence of songs in this list of mine is not based on any rank, however, I would still go on to say that Kashmir is ranked Number 1 in my personal favorites list.

10. Don't Think Twice, Its Alright (Bob Dylan)
One of the best finger-picking patterns I have ever heard. And its pretty fast as well. Have heard a lot of cover versions of this song, but none has ever been able to imitate the exact pattern, as played in the original version from Dylan. The lyrics are simple but pretty awesome. The best break-up song of all time.

11. Highway Star (Deep Purple)
I love this song because of its tempo. The fast pace throughout keeps my mind blowing whenever I hear it. A bass guitar intro, and suddenly the song takes off like a rocket.

12. High Hopes (Pink Floyd)
The song is an auto-biography of David Gilmour. The song is also a biography of each one of us who wants to fly back to simpler times. The last Pink Floyd song ever written. And I would say it is the perfect end to a legacy.

13. Wonderwall (Oasis)
The song opens with an amazing chords progression on acoustic guitar. And continues on with a great melody throughout. I enjoyed a lot learning this song on my guitar, and thats the primary reason I like it so much. The chords, however simple they may sound, are pretty complex in nature. These are not  the regular open or barre chords, and can not be played without a capo.

14. Nothing Else Matters (Metallica)
Amazing lyrics, very different from any other love song (considering this is a romantic song written by James Hetfield for his girl-friend). And amazing guitar play. This song inspired me to learn finger-picking on acoustic guitar, and I would blame the song for long finger-nails I have grown on my right hand.

15. Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
This is considered to be the best Floyd song ever, not only by me, but by millions. The amazing solo from Gilmour has been rated "the best of all time" on numerous occasions.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

My Playlist

A song about war, and about political sins,
A song that cries against a war within,
A song that speaks of shifting tides,
A song of a man who contemplates suicide,
A song portraying craving for a woman's love,
A song about a fall from high above,
A song about a life, always ensnared in a bubble,
A song that talks of a relationship in trouble,
A song of the timeless journey through the sands,
A song to break up a failed romance,
A song to boast of his proud possessions,
A song about yore, how he yearns for regression,
A song for a friend who can save him from himself,
A song of trust, of words of heart, and nothing else,
And a song of all his senses that cease to exist,
Is what you'll find in my head and on my playlist.


Sunday, August 8, 2010

Butterfly Ear-rings

A long black skirt and she’s wrapped inside it.
The white shirt looks on her to be a perfect fit.
A pair of glasses and two eyes hide behind.
Two lips having dullness of a palish color undefined.
Each strand of hair kempt in a knot too tight.
Grim look on her face - a usual sight.
Unnoticed go among such mundane things -
Her colorful butterfly ear-rings.

Those orchid blooms, and her wide open arms.
Her leap of faith sans the worldly qualms.
A pair of eyes, in them a playful glint.
Her lips haute-coutured in a bright red tint.
A blow of wind and her hair that swirl.
The laughter that breaks away a gloomy lull.
And you’ll notice the expanse of her hidden wings
In the colors of her butterfly ear-rings.

Wrath of Rain Gods

“Sir ji, rains are going to elude us this year as well”, said the driver of the bus I board each morning to office.

It was the first week of June, and there was still no sign of any rainfall in Pune - no clouds in the sky, no respite from the scorching heat, and no positive weather forecasts as well for the next few weeks. Rains had eluded Pune the previous year, and this year as well, they had already been delayed by at least a month.

“Sir ji, there is nobody but ourselves to blame for this change of weather during past 2-3 years. We are responsible for the wrath of God that is punishing the city”, he said in a tone which appeared to be filled with guilt.

I was quite impressed and emotionally stirred by this statement and the way he thought. Even after knowing all about global warming, and how it is rising to alarming levels, most of us are doing nothing. All continue to burn more and more fuel, waste energy and turn their backs to the issue. The problem is that most of the people don’t even want to accept this as a fault of their own and turn a blind eye towards the environment. However, this bus driver was talking more sense than these much more educated and knowledgeable ones. I didn’t know if he was doing anything substantial to save Mother Nature. But at least he was thinking in the right direction. Or so I thought.

“Yes, you are absolutely right. The environmental problems are our own doing. We should try our very best not to damage the environment any further”, I said.
He interrupted, “Yes sir ji. Man must control and bring down the levels of freedom that women enjoy today. “

Had my ears deceived me? Instead of ‘levels of emission from automobiles’, had I heard ‘levels of freedom that women enjoy’? “Beg your pardon!!!”, I said.

“Sir ji, women have been given too much freedom nowadays. They are skimpily dressed. They have boyfriends. They even smoke and drink these days”, he continued. “And worst of all, they even do unmentionable things that should be done by girls only after marriage”, he alluded to consummation of physical bond between the male and the female of a species.

“So???”, I asked him, unable to comprehend what he wanted to say.

“Sir ji, God is looking from heavens above. He has seen all the misdeeds of women in recent times. He is extremely angry on women, and these longer than usual summers and absence of rains is His way of punishing them, and punishing us for letting them get out of control.”

“Moreover Sir ji, government is also not doing anything to control this climatic change. Law punishes men who rape women. Why doesn’t it punish the women who do such unmentionable things before marriage?”, he continued to express his deep concerns for Mother Nature.

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. And I just couldn’t believe that people could be so lame. Are these ideas of his own? Or have these been implanted into his mind by others who think likewise? Are there many more in this world who believe that the ice is melting in Arctic region because women have started enjoying an occasional booze in India? Are there people who believe that seasons’ cycle has shifted because ladies have stopped hiding their faces behind ghoonghats and burqas?

At first, I thought about explaining in detail to him the real cause of earth’s environmental problems. But then, I realized that it is not only about the environment that I would have to explain to him. I would as well have to get rid of gender bias existing in his mind and inculcate in him equal respect for men and women alike. And the latter cannot be achieved through a lecture or some kind of workshop. It is something that should be slowly instilled into a person right from his childhood. If a child grows up with biased thoughts in his mind, there is no way his thinking can change at any point later in his life. And there could be no way that I could make this bus driver think in any different manner. So I decided to remain silent.

More than two months have now passed since this incident, and it has been raining continuously for past five weeks or so. It seems that people have now realized what great damage they had been carrying out to nature and have perhaps taken positive steps towards ensuring that Rain Gods stay happy. Positive steps such as all unmarried women vowing to stay virgin until they marry, I guess. After all, that’s what causes rains. Right?

PS: You can read here how Mother Nature is avenging man's cruelties to her?

Monday, July 26, 2010

Me, my cam and the clicks

"So when was the last time I held a camera in my hands to do some serious photography?", I thought before clicking my first photograph in a long long time. The answer to my question was "10 months back". I checked the EXIF on the last photo taken by me, and the "Date Taken" read 9/21/2009 6:19 pm. Long time, no clicks.

My interest in photography was born not in July 2008, when I had purchased my first Digicam. Nor was it born in the next couple of months when I toured, and captured lots and lots of snaps in beautiful places like Paris, London and Switzerland. Although I did capture thousands of pictures in these places, but these were not out of any thought of learning photography, or experimenting with it, but because of the fact that I was getting once in a lifetime opportunity to visit these places, and I wanted to capture and save most of what I had seen, in the form of photographs. And it turned out that of thousands of clicks, some came out really amazing. For instance, these -







































However, it was not until early 2009, when I realized what true photography means. And I thank my friend Samit Tibrewala, as well as some of my ex-colleagues whom I know only by their names and through their snaps EXIFs (If you are interested to see their clicks, check this out). Samit gave me a small lesson on how to use Adobe Photoshop to enhance an ordinary photograph, and turn it into an extraordinary one. And on the SLR bulletin board of my previous organization, I found people sharing their knowledge and experiences on the rules one must follow during photography, as well as the importance of sometimes breaking these rules. Some of these people are Swaheel, Sandy, Ashay Dhavale, Vaibhav Garge, Bobokumar and Nikky Stephen. The photographs posted by these guys on the bulletin board were atleast 100 times better than those you would find on my Flickr photostream, and thats what inspired me to emulate these people. I started posting my own clicks on the bulletin board, and the members were kind enough to point out how I could improvize on these snaps to make them look even better.

And since then, I have learned a lot on SLR bulletin board, and on internet about photography and about using Photoshop. I also went through the complete manual of my P&S Sony cybershot DSC W-35.

Subsequently, the first thing I tried was to modify some of my not-so-good photographs, through Photoshop. The results were amazing. Here is one such example -

Before



















After



















In addition, I also learned the rules about shutter speed, aperture width, importance of light, placement of subject in the photograph etc. And slowly and stetadily, I started to implement these rules while clicking photographs. And subsequently, the photos started coming out perfect, and didn't need too much editing in Photoshop. Below are some examples of photographs where no Photoshopping is done (except very basic contrast adjustments).









































The most important thing I have learned about photography, however, is that you do not need a very expensive camera to get good photographs out. Even a very basic Point and Shoot can suffice most of your photography needs (unless you are looking for wildlife, macro or bird photography). All you need is the experience, detail knowledge of how your camera works, know-how about the rules of photography, and a keen eye to visualize good clicks in ordinary situations.

Yesterday, all these thoughts raced through my mind in a matter of seconds, before I pressed the shutter button down first time in more than 10 months. And now I have decided to pursue this hobby of mine more regularly and without such a long break.

PS: You can find my best snaps from yesterday here.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

So who completed the final act of Inception?


Hello friends. It has been more than 6 months now since I have updated my blog. Reasons are manifold - not many random thoughts erupting in my mind, a shift of interest towards playing guitar, and last but not the least, an accident which made me bed-ridden for approximately 2 months.

Watched the movie "Inception" recently, and I personally believe it to be one of the best movies that has come out in last couple of years or so. A wonderful treat from Christopher Nolan, who currently stands at 2nd place in my list of best directors (next only to Stanley Kubrick). I have seen each and every movie directed by him so far, and intend to maintain the record.

RULES
During the past couple of years since I started watching his movies, I have discovered that Christopher Nolan is a perfectionist. You won't find even a single loophole in any of the movies he has made so far, be it "The Following", which was his very first movie, produced on a very low budget, or the grand, Batman comic book based "The Dark Knight". Inception too is an awesome movie. It has a pretty dense plot, and Nolan has ensured that people keep guessing what the ending of the movie signifies. I personally believe that this movie deserves at least 3 viewings. First viewing to understand the plot, as it is pretty damn complex, and one would have to put all his thoughts into understanding the rules of dreamworld. A second viewing is required to gather some minute clues that Nolan has scattered everywhere, which are critical to the story, and to understand the bigger picture about which I am going to discuss shortly. And finally a third viewing, dedicated not to Nolan, the storyteller, but to Nolan, the director. I am yet to have a 2nd and a 3rd viewing of the movie.

I was recently having a discussion on Gmail with some of my friends who have seen the movie, and was also going through hundreds of posts on internet about what people believe the ending of the movie signifies. And a few thoughts of my own regarding the ending filled my brain (finally some random ideas after 6 months of inactivity of my grey cells).

I would be putting down my thoughts below assuming that you have already seen the movie and are aware of terms like totem, architect etc. If you have not yet seen the movie, I would suggest to read no further as there are spoilers in rest of the post (and anyway, you are not going to understand even a bit).

So here are my 2 cents about the ending -

THE DREAM















A totem, as described in the movie, is a small personalized item that only the owner knows a specific thing about. However, throughout the movie, Cobb is shown spinning the top in front of everyone else in his team (including Ellen Page who has not even officially joined the team yet). And everyone is aware what Cobb's totem is. Do you think Cobb, who is more experienced than anybody else in his team about the way things work in dreamworld and reality, would spin his totem in open? Maybe he deliberately did so. Maybe he wanted everyone (including audience) to believe that the spinning top was his totem.

Cobb always used his left hand for spinning the top. It is the hand on which he wears his wedding ring. As pointed out by many on internet, the ring is there every time he spins the top. However, it is not there in the very last scene. Is it possible that whenever Cobb used to spin the top, he simultaneously looked at his finger secretly? The spinning top would distract the onlooker (and the audience as well) into believing that it is the totem, while the real totem always lay on his finger. And in the very last scene, since he was not wearing a ring (indicating that he is now in real world), and since he also got his kids back, and had no intention to return to his old profession again, he did not care at all if the spinning top stopped or not.

Nolan is a fine craftsman. In most of his previous movies such as "The Following", "Memento" and "The Prestige", he has made us think only in one direction throughout, until the very end. Only in the last scene of each of these movies has he uncovered the truth. I think this time as well, he has made us believe something which was not the truth. But this time he wants us to uncover the truth ourselves, through the little clues he has left everywhere in the movie.

THE INCEPTION




Inception has more to it than meets the eye. Nolan is known for various experiments he has done so far in his movies. In Memento, he experimented with a non-linear narrative, and gave it a treatment very different than other such movies like Pulp Fiction. While in Insomnia, unlike other thrillers, he focused not on the psyche of the serial killer, but of the detective. And no need to mention that with the two Batman movies, he has redefined the way comic books are adapted. But I believe that his biggest experiment so far is Inception. Here is my reasoning -

Cobb and his team were not the only people who were able to complete the act of Inception in the movie. There was one more guy who actually was successful in this act, and it was Christopher Nolan. He planted the idea in the minds of millions of viewers, that the spinning top is Cobb's totem. And at the very end, the scene cuts to the spinning top, and everybody keeps guessing whether the top would topple to suggest Cobb's return to reality. Or would it keep spinning forever as if Cobb is still in a dream.

You would have noticed, that in both the incidents shown in the movie where an idea was successfully incepted into the subject's mind, it was the very end of the dream where actual inception happened. Although, the foundation of the idea was laid down slowly and steadily during the course of dreams, it was not until the end of the dream that the inception completed. If I draw analogies and say that movie was like a dream, audience the subject, and Nolan the architect, then it would be appropriate to say that Nolan built up the idea in audience' minds that spinning top was Cobb's totem. Nowhere in the movie has Cobb admitted by himself that the top is his totem. He spins the top, but maybe the reason for this could be the one I mentioned earlier. Perhaps the wedding ring was his totem. Or perhaps his children's faces (thats another theory posted on internet).

And at the very end of the movie, he leaves the top spinning, and audience come out of the dream believing that the top is Cobb's totem. Everyone on first viewing would have ignored the presence or absence of a wedding ring on his hand, and the spinning top in the end would have strengthened the idea that it was the totem (Remember, its not easy to recall what happened in a dream, except the very end). The reason why the last scene cut to the spinning top was because that was the idea he wanted to implant in our minds.

Nolan would be a proud man to have carried out this act of inception. And I personally believe that this is exactly what Nolan would have intended to do when he had finished the script for this movie. He implanted an idea in millions of viewers' minds that spinning top was the totem. He put an idea into critics' minds that the movie was just a well-crafted thriller - something like matrix. It is a perfect way of manipulating with a viewer's psyche.

Thought provoking. Isn't it?

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Iambic Pentameter

I had recently posted what I call my first attempt at Italian sonnet, on one of the groups on Facebook. The poem was titled "A lonely road" (you can check it out here on my blog). And based on the comments and discussion that followed, I realized that it was not exactly a sonnet.

An Italian sonnet is characterized by the following 3 attributes:

1. Form - A sonnet is fundamentally a dialectical construct which allows the poet to examine the nature and ramifications of two usually contrastive ideas, emotions, states of mind, beliefs, actions, events, images, etc., by juxtaposing the two against each other, and possibly resolving or just revealing the tensions created and operative between the two.

2. Rhyming scheme - The Italian sonnet is divided into two sections by two different groups of rhyming sounds. The first 8 lines is called the octave and rhymes as follows:
a b b a a b b a
The remaining 6 lines is called the sestet and can have either two or three rhyming sounds, arranged in a variety of ways:
c d c d c d
c d d c d c
c d e c d e
c d e c e d
c d c e d c

3. Iambic Pentameter - This is another important characteristic of an Italian sonnet. Iambic pentameter is one of many meters used in poetry and drama. It describes a particular rhythm that the words establish in each line. That rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables; these small groups of syllables are called "feet". The word "iambic" describes the type of foot that is used. The word "pentameter" indicates that a line has five of these "feet".
An iambic foot is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. And a line of iambic pentameter is five iambic feet in a row:
da/DUM/da/DUM/da/DUM/da/DUM/da/DUM

While my original poem did have the first two attributes of an Italian sonnet as mentioned above, the third one was missing i.e. it lacked in an iambic pentameter. The poem had a proper rhyming scheme i.e. abbaabba cdecde. It also had a style wherein the first 8 lines posed a problem while the next 6 bore the solution. However, if you observe the rhythm of this poem, it would not be what you expect from an Italian sonnet. And thats because the number of syllables in each of the lines is different, which ideally should have been 10 per line.

I would like to thank Jaime Birch, Andy Morley and Alan Nettleton for letting me know where I was wrong and helping me out on the usage of iambic pentameter. And based on their suggestion, I have made some quick modifications to my original poem so as to make it sound like a real Italian sonnet in rhythm as well. Though I have made use of a pentameter in the new version, it still isn't iambic.

Here it goes:


Heavenly abode is what they all seek,
Through the blazing hells of fire, pass I must.
The road I walk is laid in thorns and dust.
Though the destination appears so bleak,
In tormenting pain I must neither creak,
Nor waver in desire or carnal lust.
In tempest and rains of doom, those who rust,
Are the ones whose lives, as ever end meek.

His name to my lips seems forever glued
Until to the end of desert I reach,
And where awaiting me stands my reward.
My contented eyes see what they pursued,
Since eterne, what they always did beseech.
Its the beautiful sunset boulevard.



As can be observed from the rhythm of this poem, just one of the lines contains an iambic pentameter, although all contain 10 syllables each. The line is: "The road I walk is laid in thorns and dust"

I guess I still have miles to go before I write a true Italian sonnet.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Sepia-toned Photographs

As I open an album of yesteryear,
I come across some faces that look familiar.
Faces smiling in some random pics,
Precious memories caught in those ordinary clicks,
Of those days when we vowed together
That tides of time won’t separate us ever.
Yet walls start growing between us now,
We’ve learned to blame new times somehow.

There’s a photograph of a cozy living room.
Ah, he must also be there one can presume.
He was the one who taught me new ways to live.
With him each ordinary day turned festive.
Together, we used to drink and laugh
To celebrate a raise in salary or a perk,
Or to forget a bad day spent at work.
And now though we live just miles away,
We drift one light year apart each day.

There’s a girl in that pic of shingle beach,
Adorn in a shirt that is color of peach.
A salsa together was our way to get high.
I faithlessly walked to church with her, just to be by her side.
Her lap was where my head always found comfort.
She could recognize each tear in my eyes
even though they stayed as dry as a desert.
And now as her life takes on a new quest,
The best I can do is to wish her all the best.

I make my way to the next photograph,
And I see a face too busy in a hearty laugh.
He’d crack that old joke, and I would smile each time.
If my life is a poem, he has brought all the rhyme.
For all delicious flavors of world he has served,
Or for those feelings of my heart that he so easily observed
That my heart often found understanding too tough,
In this life, I can never be thankful enough.

Faces come and faces go.
But there are those that shall forever glow
In some pictures that were captured by me,
On some photo films, and in my memory.
Some pictures would start ageing with times,
While some would fade away with changing climes.
The ones that shall, however, always stay the same
Are of those, on my heart who have etched their names.

The New World Order

Darkness is distinctly visible in blazing sun.
Whole world seems to be caught in this marathon.
Falsely sanctified Gods being worshipped by millions.
Path of self destruction being chosen by gazillions.
Globe is entirely enclosed in a gloomy mist,
No one minds if existence ceases to exist.
Screams of conscience would keep falling on deaf ears
Until humanity meets its end in not too many years.

Life is eternal, that's what all believed,
But it looks like eternity is short-lived.
A not too distant storm heads straight this way.
The time is ripe when the hunter becomes prey.
Earth trembles when it’s battered; that’s no surprise.
Vengeance is what I see in ocean’s eyes,
And mountains and rivers think alike.
Seasons seem all geared up for a counter strike.

All laws of nature are about to be annulled.
For too long, man has ruled this world.
Its nature's turn to blow his kingdom to shards.
A new world order is on the cards.

Monday, January 18, 2010

In My Sweet Pains I Rot

You tell me love is magical,
And ask me to keep faith,
While my heart takes a leap, and falls again
And I see its burning wraith.
So I dream you in a dream this last time
To let you know of my denial,
That I’ve discovered it all over again,
Love is the reason for all vile.

All life is being pulled out from me
And I’m unsure if I’ll see tomorrow’s sun.
All I’ve got from my unconditional love
Are some scars that shall forever burn,
Like a seven days’ promise
That has turned into a sentence for life,
A love bug’s venom that now flows in me
Or your gentle touch that cuts like knife.

It’s hell that I traverse each day,
Yet somehow it feels like heaven,
It’s bliss to know you’re doing fine;
And in your smile dissolves my pain.
When I see you laugh in joy,
Against my heart ache I strongly rebel.
And born again is my faith.
I tell you love is magical.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

'17

A searing pain each second that ticks,
And a new death each moment -
For all my uncommitted sins
Isn’t this too big a punishment?
While my brain goes numb
And suffers jolts of delirium,
Sand keeps trickling down the glass walls
But only atom by atom.

Ever since you and I had
That cute little conversation,
I am high on you,
And on this freaking emancipation.
The hangover would last long
But it’s the sweetest one alright.
It’s the seven days’ wait though
That kills me day and night.

I wish time could fly away,
Or at least keep its regular pace.
Or a magic wand existed
That could wipe out these agonizing days.
Feels like I'm entirely lost in time.
And each day is a year, it seems.
And I don't know when I'll see you again.
Would that be 17th or '17?

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Unbroken Promise

Belligerent are the emotions that confront her today.
Thousand feelings beg her to hear what they have to say.
Whispers in her head scream as she walks the busy street.
Her head spins wild, while numb go her feet.
A perplexed thought crosses her mind each passing moment.
Was it too reckless on her part to be too prudent?
Her mind is too engaged in the ghosts of her insanity,
When she left him all alone in that moment of vanity.

She walks past the street where she last saw him,
When she bid him adieu to pursue her fanciful whims.
He had begged, “My sweet Patricia, don’t leave me in strife.
We’ll get all that you want even after we’re man and wife.”
“Victor, my love”, she’d say, “Make a promise to me
That thou shalt never see me, and I shall never see thee.”
His heart’s strong will was what he had to defy.
It was the wish of his heart throb which he could not deny.

Years had flown by, yet time was standing still,
She mourns each day for the love she killed.
And now, she can’t wait any longer to see him again.
Her heart swept in guilt, her eyes shedding rain,
As she finds him sleeping in peace in that old suburb,
And inscribed on stone the last words from her only love.
“My sweet Patricia, I shall forever keep my word,
I shall someday see you again, but not in this world.”