A Fortunate Stroke of Serendipity!

Everyone aspires to go on a solo trip once in a lifetime. It is one of the coveted beauties of life or more precisely - "carpe diem." Well, my solo trip didn't turn out to be exactly as I had anticipated, but it was definitely rejuvenating.

This trip was supposed to take place 3 months ago, but due to unforeseen circumstances, it was postponed until the first week of July when one of my close friends was getting hitched.

It was a spontaneous resolution to merge my solo trip with my friend's destination wedding as I like to term it. Surely a destination, few kilometers from lofty hills around the Haldwani's skyline. 

The itinerary looked anchored! One day exploring the panoramic views of Nainital and another strolling by the "Teen Taals" - Bheemtaal, Nakuchitaal, and Suryataal putting the wedding functions on schedule intact. Wait! Did I inform the weather that it wasn't supposed to screw up? I forgot! 

Anyway, with walls of water between me and my desires, there was no way I could climb up to my destination. As a result, nothing could go about as planned, but who knew I would be spending the most amazing days of my life with people I simply adored being with. I met really simple yet elegant people my time away at Haldwani. They were absolutely insane if I am to place it candidly.

Despite my unwritten voyage to the unlisted spots during my day, my time with these people gave me the most cosseted memories of the trip.

With Mamta getting hitched to "the love of her life" - arrange-cum-love - "wink face," I did not imagine myself playing games such as "Chidiya Udd, Dumb Charades and let's see who dances the most - unraveling the secrets of a happy childhood. 

These people - Charu (Radiant Bride's sister), Tanya (Cousin Doll Sister), Yashu(often Smacked Brother), Monu (Enigmatic Cousin), Nitish (Impish Murga), Di (Adorable Bride's Sister), Jiju (Candid Bro-in-Law), Riyansh (Di-Jiju's notorious son who decided on not speaking with me during the entire trip) Hema (Reserved Cousin Sister), Harish (Loquacious Cousin), Sonu (Mr. Undaunted Cousin), Sunil (Ethical & Modest Cousin) and Vicky (Earnest Cousin), and of course, all the elder members of the family who insisted on incorporating me in every event. They made a lasting impression. It is past belief how families I thought of as strangers a day before became comrades of my trip!

I shared my own sort of moments with these much-loved souls that made me realize the integrity they held within.

Notwithstanding that it wouldn't have been possible if I did not have Mamta who is as obstinate and lovable as friends can be. If she hadn't forced me, I would have missed on meeting this wonderful covey of quail!

An Unusual Morning in Mumbai!

Taking a jog, more often a walk at Queen’s Necklace made me realize one thing each morning, why can’t it be this quiet for the rest of the day? Within an hour of a morning stroll, I see Marine Drive teeming with scrambled screams of thousands of vehicles elbowing their way to the proposed destinations.


As soothing the long walks on tiled pathways going down the shore seem in the morning, as remains the desire to bottle it all up for a peaceful day ahead. That isn't possible in Mumbai! At least that is what I thought until one of my friends recently shifted to a place in South Mumbai called "Mahim."

On the Housewarming Ceremony, a bunch of us decided to stay the night. In the morning as my routine holds me as an early riser, I decided to trot my way in the neighborhood. To start with, I realized the morning in South Mumbai is different than my usual at Marine Drive. Mahim has a charming persuasion in its atmosphere. The first thing to witness was Bandra-Worli Sea Link subsuming in the sunrise with a welcoming serenity to lay eyes on! It is a perfect view to start one's day! It hardly feels like the sprinting and hasty mornings of Mumbai at Mahim. The calm and composed neighborhood, the few miles away convenience store and the harmonious walk glaring the sea-view made it worth a stay at Mahim! I know where I can be for random morning saunters!

Life is like a metro!

Life is like a metro,
Board a new journey,
Deboard at the desired station and stay for a while,
Strive and travel across the struggles to reach your goal,
Get along with strangers and sometimes, some of them entertain you for a while,
Some of them stay forever too (best friends)
Once you think, you have come far from home,
Once you think, you have lost your way,
Take the same metro to return to where you started,
Take the same metro to start anew.
Climb a new mountain,
Set a new destination,
Because
Life is like a metro.

A life of optimism!

Is it possible?
A wonderful confusion,
A teetering glow,
A smile amidst scepticism,
A faith built beneath the storm,
An ocean dwarfing the mountains,
A rain dropping by the dessert,
A life born out of the dead,
Is it possible?
Is it possible?
A gam of sharks?
A sheep amidst the cupboard of pandas,
A lion not scavenging but caressing wildebeests,
A hawk nesting on a sapling,
Is it possible?
Is it possible?
A successful loser,
A witty dumbster,
A knowledgeable ignorant,
A king/queen of nowhere,
Is it possible?
Is it possible?

Another You

Your hands in mine,
I gaze over with eyes wide open,
Coffee by our side,
Squinting at the sky,
Will it rain today?
For it has been long since it rained
Having you by my side,
I had scrambled down the street,
Looking out for you until,
I found you, there in the corner
Of a store, much tattered and old-fangled in its looks,
Nevertheless, I jumped with glee,
Having twinkled eyes akin to a long, bright smile
For there seems no end,
Let's stay in the bed together,
And engulf in the stories you tell,
But what once you hold no more,
What will I do?
Then & there,
I must look out for "another you."

Beauty and the beast!

A sting on the nerve,
A stab in the heart,
A cramp in my belly,
A burden so heavy,
It all pinches hard, even today,
That sometimes I forget it's been many days.
Past you, past the moment,
No longer I need,
A presence worth nothing but an illusion,
I feel glad and giddy with relief.
You were a betrayal to rectitude,
To my fortune, the mask fell off on time,
The conniving you could do no harm,
as all you tried, fell over ahead of its time.
I still can't sleep at nights,
Thinking about the plot played well,
Fills me up with shock and disgust,

Was I gullible? No. Your character was fictitious!
How could I not see through,
A mettle of deceit beyond a conniving smile,
A promise made of a knot - loosely tied,

An imprudent mortal or devil in disguise.
Yet I congratulate myself today,

standing unleashed, severing the ties.

cuz' of you, I can now sense a deception,

from miles away, with open or closed eyes!

Try it if it scares you?

People often ask you to try something new that scares, as well as excites you, at the same time. Well, I beg to differ. Not that risking your life and decisions for your dreams is bad, but risking it for someone else who solely owns the right to destruct it, is. Take risks, take chances, try something exciting too but only if you are responsible for the outcome.

Taking risks because someone else seems right one to fulfill it for you would only lead to disappointment. For example, Want to be a writer? Risk everything, fight for your dream but don't rely on someone else to help you accomplish it even if they have all the means to do so. If you do that, then and there, my friend, you might have taken a wrong road. Not just it would make you dependent and negligent but lands you in a fool's paradise. And when you realize the other person were in a slack the whole time you thought things were important to them, it is too late.

Hence, I say, if anything excites you, as well as scares you, at the very same moment, be it, someone arrival in your life, a relationship, your dream or anything for that matter, do not ever let anyone be the helmsman of your life or ship. Be your pilot and never keep hopes and expectations from something that keeps you as a layman or spectator of the result.

Do not fear to try something new and exciting if the outcome lies in your efforts. But run away from something that requires someone else's efforts for its long-term survival. It could be your life but someone's pass time. That's the only bridge and difference. 

A sigh from a Hopeless Romantic!

Today, I saw a movie named 'love on the sidelines' and I just thought why people call themselves hopeless romantics. Also, somewhere or the other, it made me realize that I am one of the same too. Shocking as it was! Well, knowing you don't have a love-life makes you wanna have it more. The more you stay single, the more you see happy couples singing their love melodies. Why does it have to be this way? Why do we call ourselves hopeless romantic? Is it because we are hopelessly waiting for the impossible to happen or is it because we are pressurized by the defined angles of the society(rather movies), that we often think that someone is going to pop out and make it a happily ever after! Cliché isn't it? Life, as we know, isn't as smooth as a movie. It doesn't have a happy ending in two hours, even two days for that matter. Is there a happy end for me? I am sure there is an end, but we can't possibly know everything from a trailer. A sigh from a hopeless romantic!

Sorry my friend....

Sorry my friend, guilty as charged,

I know I have hurt you,hurt you a lot.

You know what you mean,

Mean the world to me,

Hurting you was the least of all

That I could ever do intentionally.

Know I screwed up things,

For someone's suspected your loyalty,

But if I had known its so big

I would never have even done it.

You know, we share a bond,
The trust and faith we share,

I know you don't pass on things,

You are worthy of everyone's trust,

I am sorry you had to listen to this,

By none other than your great friend,

You are the best person I have known,

Known to share everything with.

Wish I could prove it to the world,

Whatever happened, it's all because of me,

One mistake has had it all,

for you would think twice before trusting me with anything.

I am sorry for what I did,

Hope you will forgive me soon,

I am conscious of my guilt,

Regret is all I have,

I am sorry my friend, guilty as charged.

Quitter or Striker

The moment when you have a picture clicked from so many different angles with one or many different cameras and then just one turns out to be that perfect capture for you; in the very same way, every problem/situation/incident/event/theory has so many different interpretations and just one turns out to fit and associate well with your mindset. We might derive a lot of negative aspect from it, but what seems to make a difference is whether there are any possible positive outcomes that might help better the situation and push us to an explanation that we might never wanted to believe in the very first place. Hence, before we ever conclude our problems to dead ends, we might just want to pause for a bit and look out of every possible connotation it could apprehend to. Yes, we all have a particular view of everything, but we should probably press space for other possibilities to grow. 

For instance, butterflies are such insects that are known for their beauty. But a butterfly in itself can never look at its wings, hence, remains unaware of the beauty that a human's eyeshot covers. Anyways, would it even make any difference to a butterfly if that insect could see how beautiful human beings thought it is. I guess not, because when we despite being in possession of a brain to decipher the right from wrong, are vulnerable to pessimism and life-threatening errors, a butterfly could apparently disregard the admiration of the humans.
It would still engage in drinking nectar from flowers or sustaining on a plant matter. 

Another brilliant example could be any modern art. A modern art does not give you any interpretation of the artist's vision, rather, it provides you a stretch for an innumerable amount of possible interpretations that the viewers might derive from an art. For me as a viewer, this art is probably giving an interpretation of an image of the razor wire hugely circled at the end while started by rolling one with the another in the beginning, circumscribing two lovers in the middle who float hand in hand in between.

Thus, the basic conclusion I want to derive from these examples is that not everything that seems meaningful to us has a meaning to everyone else around us. Sometimes, when life strikes something deeply attached thing out of our lives, it could lead us to an entirely refreshened panorama that we hadn't contemplated worth considering before.

P.S- Well, I never believed in the stuff I have written above until a long term injury forced me to quit few things I earlier thought were meant for me. Also, it allowed me to raise to an entirely new positive outlook after a long negative desperation.