Loose Change

My life has been full of conflicts lately…on the one hand I have had my life falling into place…ecstatically into place…and on the other hand I have had one of my closest friends facing a tragedy and grief…which seems insurmountable… What does one do when the person she thought was her closest counterpart, her lover, her sweetheart, her husband is no more…how does life go on for her??? I can empathise and I can grieve…but I cannot understand…for that I would have to live her life… Questions, thoughts, puzzles, all unanswered… How does life go on…when it has stopped for a few… Of course we all love again. And we all go on with our lives…I have too come up from what I thought and envisaged as complete tragedies…things that would make my life come to an end…or at least ensure that I stopped living for a long time to come… But then life has a way of falling into place…very rightly for some and limpingly for others…but it does. I know I am sounding morose and I know this is not how I usuall...

Yesterday a friend’s husband passed away in a road accident. Just like that! I pick up the phone to hear that Arun is no more… Arun of the ArunKavya couple. Arun of the Crazy Coorgi Couple (that’s how I had christened them!). Childhood sweethearts, completely in love with each other… And suddenly one half is missing… So whom am I mourning for? Arun who is not around or Kavya who is? Or am I feeling guilty about the fact that I yet continue to enjoy the small pleasures in life, when my friend is not? Read an epitaph a while back. And I think this is how I could best describe Arun. 'While alive he lived'

Read an article in the morning that got me thinking…no I wish it was something as trivial as fairness creams, or perhaps the next best thing in cornflakes. It was all about living and dying. This article hits you hard, right from its headline which screams out 'I kept saying, "Help me, help me." But no one did’ A young woman, very much like you and me…caught in a violent situation not of her own choosing…decided to act a little differently than she would otherwise have done… And that is what got me thinking…I have faced umpteen accident victims, taken them quite a few times to the hospital and have had emergency care administered to them…received their gratitude as my token…and walked away with a mental pat on my shoulders for having emerged a better person from the whole scenario! This situation was however totally different! It was wrought with violence, with a knife wound, with a person bleeding to death… What would you do if you were faced with such a situation??? Wou...

Hey! Stray thoughts that come to mind...this is one post that I will keep updating...with my thoughts and your inputs..... …the more we are taking away from Mother Nature, the more she is striking back in areas where she yet has total, absolute control! - Happiness is infectious...just like life...try it sometime!

Driving to work (yes I know! Seems like that’s how I spend the major part of my day)…anyways…driving to work sometime last week…a hoarding caught my eye! That’s all this post is all about! Just that one hoarding…as hoardings go, it was the regular tin hoarding with the flex print ad put on it rather slickly…the ad you are asking…exactly my point! The ad was….well…how do I put it across??? A breakthrough ad, one that breaks all gender barriers and myths…equalises all gender inequalities in one fell swoop! To cut a long story short…it was a fairness cream ad, the cream being targeted very specifically at the male of the species! A few things that caught my eye…and made me go into paroxysms of laughter… The ad takes the onus of bringing all closet ‘dark horses’ out into the open. Does that mean we shall soon see a new fashion trend? Men will now sport the cream in their breast pockets rather than the traditional handkerchief? The model in the ad – rather dishy I would say! And a wheatish ...

Written for a friend...hope it helped the person in question! Life Gives you the thumbs down Sending you deep down The nadir which knows no end And Just then, you look up See the world bottoms up Making sense as you go round the bend!

I was reading up on some interesting stuff about small animals, their habits etc etc…when suddenly I came upon a creature called tarsier. Its adorable, as you can see from the photograph attached here…what did take me aback was the absolute miniature size…these creatures are really small ! Just got me wondering about creation…the beauty, the perfection of things, as they exist around us… P.S. Image credits: Image 1 - leewongu.byus.net/.../ 작은원숭이.jpg Image 2 - www.fell2earth.com/ puzzles/tarsiers.jpg

Strange question??? Completely not in context with what I usually warble about??? Well…I guess… Just need to slow down for that faction of a second and look around at the life that is passing you by…things that leave you awestruck and amazed….spellbound… Early mornings, Misty with rain Dewdrops on leaves Shining again The birds sing out aloud Their chirping a musical sound How can you then Even whisper aloud??? You walk through the grass Naked feet in the mist Feeling a part of it all… Amazed at the way it feels! The day goes by Leaving you amazed Noon light Filtering through the leaves Dappling with a weave effect The night comes in. Softly Disturbing not in the least! Getting along with it All its sensuous appeal! As the day unfurls It leaves me spell bound Amazed, awestruck, speechless In love with the beauty That abounds all around Close those cynical eyes Blindfold the disbelief Step back to enjoy This moment in time In all its hues Steeped with All its beliefs!

One of those days, when there was nothing much to do…or maybe there was and I just didn’t feel like it… An extended coffee break with colleagues went into interesting areas of conversation…interesting to some…controversial to some…beliefs and principles…. A colleague had just come back from the Transport Office where she had gone for a learner’s test…as she had been in the U.S. inevitable comparisons were made between the US and the Indian system… The red-tapism (a very Indian phrase mind you!) just gets to some people…but then there are believers like me…who believe that we can make it happen…we can make this system work…it just needs our time and some patience… I admit entering any government office earlier would make you feel like that you have entered a claustrophobic cubbyhole...yes I do emphasis it as a thing of the past…coz things are changing…maybe not with supersonic speed…but they definitely are… There are offices where the employees smile at you and wish you a cheerful good...

People watching has always held an endless fascination for me…be it close friends or complete strangers…more fun with complete strangers actually…you do not know anything about them other than what you can see and perceive… I had to go to the railway station the other evening for some work…the parking spot that I found was rather distant from the entrance. Walking up briskly (rather late in the evening, tired, wanting to finish all work and just get home), my pace suddenly slowed down. Stepped back for a minute to observe the life unfurling all around me…have you ever noticed the completely different ways in which people walk? In a railway station, where you have people across all strata, the differences, the variations are even more pronounced. One person walking by, had an ambling gait, which would speed up after a couple of paces and then slow down again…almost like he remembered to slow down…better not go in early…what will I do in there for so long? Or maybe he had go as a part of...

I did write about my hibernation period…the delicious feeling…of doing absolutely nothing…looking back I realise that the sense of doing nothing actually had a lot of other things built into it… Some thoughts that come to mind when I think back… Not working At home Not doing much Just lazing around Watching the world go by Through the window of my home Picking up a book to read And falling asleep Waking up to hear the voice I’d been hearing in my dream! Life has kind of slowed down now The colours in sharper relief With the smaller moments Coming more to the fore With the larger moments Getting magnified some more! Looking back it feels like A dream I lived in With reality coming Slowly creeping in Life with all its colours and hues Right here for me, right now Asking me to come in again Be a part of it again! Watching the world go by now Liking the way it looks Falling in love with life again Loving its colours and hues…

Hey there! Started writing my own blog and rather reveling in all the ‘creative pursuit’ (at least I thought of it that way!)…. About the same time was when I decided to go into hibernation….and believe me it was that way! Took a month off between jobs…doing what???? Well…the first few days were spent feeling as to how much time I was wasting not doing anything! Does that make sense? In a crazy kind of a way??? Here I was with the break that I had been trying and planning for the last 6 months…and now that I had it, I didn’t know what to do with it…. Oh! But the best part has yet to come! One fine day I woke up at 11.00 in the morning and suddenly there I was…used to the delicious, sinful thought of being completely jobless…..of course I had pending tasks and things to do (still pending by the way J) but what the hell…. Took time off to go visit my parents in Mysore…decided to drive down…Oh! I enjoyed that drive….I’m sure you can relate to the heady feeling, that complete high…when you...

Driving along on a pleasant evening Looking out at an empty road A rare sight, not often seen! Out comes flying a bottle into my vision Looking around for a spaceship All I detect is a Lancer! To people in the car I venture to ask The originator of the rubbish And set them to task Unrepentant, incomprehensible looks I get greeted with! Utter silence I am left with! Then I watch another scenario unfold! The driver’s side window Comes swooshing down An apology is what I am all set for! I see rubbish flying out again The road before…the divider then!

Mornings are like most mornings for any of us…start slowly and then build it all up to a crescendo…jump onto the bike or hop into the car and speed up. Right up to the time you hit the first traffic jam! Phew! I guess that’s when you slow down and take that first breath. Look around, realize that it’s a different time zone and light effect you are looking at. It was exactly one of those very typical mornings for me today as well. A little more than most, because of my lack of sleep! Driving by on the road, feeling a little sleepy, wishing that it was Sunday rather than Friday. A very blissful zombie like state of existence very hard to describe but very easy to understand :-) Took a turn onto the inner ring road, my usual route to work…and just woke up! In the midst of all that traffic, all that smoke, the continuous haze that seems to hang over the area (maybe its all the negative vibes generated by road rage…OK that’s for another time!) …I suddenly noticed a splash of lavender and li...

These last few days I have been on a perennial high! If you ask me the reason…I have no answer to offer. Would an over used and oft repeated phrase like ‘Just because’ suffice? Maybe, maybe not! Well…I actually got down to analyzing this whole feeling! That’s always a bad idea, but then what the hell! I have never been an advocate of extremely good ideas to begin with! There I go meandering and wandering all over instead of answering my own questions…. and this is when I sat down to make an honest attempt to answer my own question. And boy! Did I come up with some interesting answers! Hang around and prepare to be surprised! Reason 1: I decided to BECOME happy! Sounds like an overblown stuffed shirt leading the ‘heal the world’ scenario? Not really! I really did make that resolve! Reason 2: Close friends and family achieving personal and professional goals. Always a very nice feeling!!! But when they come close on the heels of each other, they really do build up to give you that high...

There I was standing at the signal with the usual eclectic mix of car and two wheeler horns being heard in the background. Happened to turn around and see my colleague standing beside me on the two-wheeler. His hand had very casually rested on the horn, which was blaring away for the whole world to hear. He was of course oblivious to it all…did I forget to mention the fact that he is hearing impaired? Well…he is. By gestures I did manage to get the message across, and the horn did stop honking. Just set me thinking along the lines of the world he regularly inhabits. And which we in these loud times sometimes wish for. Can some of you at least answer these questions which are getting louder and louder in my head with each passing day? What exactly does a loud, blaring horn signify about your personality? - The fact that you are so silent in your other life? - Or does it connote that you are so loud that you need something louder for it to be heard by you? - Or just maybe you are a secre...

Life With all its ups and downs With all its highs and lows With all its curves and throws Takes you on one big ride At times it gives you choices At times you just grab them anyways But always It invites you It tempts you It seduces you It excites you Into living!

Oh there I go again! Wanting to write my stuff and with no clue about what to do. Actually this state of affair is not going to last very long…what with the imminent unemployment looming up close on the horizon. I guess I will actually have days in which I will do nothing than wake up late and do nothing other than read and watch the Travel and Living Channel (Gosh! Was that a change of colour that I noticed in your complexion???) The last month has been extremely eventful to put it mildly. After long months of absolute complete indecisiveness…long hours (at least they feel like it!) spent on the treadmill and the stepper suddenly crystallized it all in my mind! I just knew that I wanted that unemployed tag! Imagine cruising along on the road and someone full of road rage comes up to you and asks – “So? Are you completely jobless?” Your answer rather gleefully can be a YES! Wow! Doesn’t just the thought of subjecting someone to such mindless, needless high automatically qualify you for...

My roommate and I were on the painful return trip from the gym. Late at night, hungry and doggone tired! We also realized the unfortunate fact that there was no food at home…and stopped at a take away counter on the way to pick up some food. It was not the restaurant but its location, which was in the spotlight. Situated in a busy street called Tippasandra, it sits amidst the heart of the entire hustle-bustle of the entire marketplace. With a community hall sitting not so far away from it… That community hall is what I noticed last night. It was shining brightly even at that time of the night…shining brightly amidst all the surrounding chaos and mayhem. There was a wedding underway inside. The exterior resplendent in floral finery with the names of the bride and the groom etched out in beautiful floral creations…that take long hours to execute and shorter hours to wither! Bright lights decorating the entire exterior and announcing the presence of an ever brighter bedecked bride sitting...

I took a pen and a piece of paper Wanting to just jot down my thoughts…Or so I thought… My mind went blank…and my ‘creative juices’ dried up! What was I supposed to do??? Heart rending decisions I do have to take Some gut wrenching realities I do have to face But I am just not ready for them now Life as I term it has more in store for me now…. There are fresh beginnings that I have made There are things to do… And checklists to make… Checklists that cover Oh so many things Sadness, Pity, Sorrows These are things that I would like to leave behind Euphoria, Joy, Happiness These are the things to look out for… Life! As they term it… Here I come… With joys, ecstasies Unknown but plentiful all around!