WANNA BE FRIENDS? Why think? Just go ahead!

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.
- John Burroughs

How aptly said!
Life is indeed too short a period to wait for good things to happen by themselves… The onus is upon us to find the time, and relish the sweetness of the flavour called life. And when it comes to making friends, I follow Francesco Guicciardini’s belief. He says, “Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them…”

I remember, as a kid, I had this Brobdingnagian aim to ‘befriend the whole world’. Nevertheless, in the course of time, I’ve humbled myself from this extremely pollyannaish goal, and settled for befriending a part of it!

Its quite strange, how longtime friendships can break off and go haywire in seconds. At the same time, friendship of consequences might just stay intact for an entire lifetime.

Ever since I graduated (as in completed my grad course), my optimistic intention mentioned above was lost in oblivion. All my close buddies, moseyed through their individual ways of life, and scattered for varied reasons. Work replaced friends. Life was different. Not that it wasn’t fun. Colleagues were fun-loving individuals. But that was that! The fun about making new friends was missing. The challenge of befriending someone was amiss.

And lo’ here again, the cell phone worked wonders! Yet again, life proved how friendship of acquaintances can add the required glitter to your life. Just a few conversations over the phone with someone… and here I am, confident enough (?) to say, that in the process I made another friend (?) ! (Well just a note – The question marks here throw light on the fact that, girls will remain so! Ever-indecisive!! Never quite sure of anything!!)

Interesting, isn’t it! While we girls take ages to decide over the right shade of nail-paint to apply, it takes just some candid talks to make a friend! Well, the candid talks are in favour of friendship, only if it includes a wholesome mix of humour and wit! (And of course, be a patient listener, praise her… and that is it!) However, if the girl happens to be me, you just need to possess a bit more than these few things mentioned! Would have mentioned a few more necessary characteristics, but then I realised, that the list would’ve been never ending! Haha… Kidding!

Friendship is definitely precious not only in the darker shades of life, but even during the time, when the sun shines bright. To ensure that this luminance of an endearing sunshine remains for ever, we need friends to stay on throughout our lives. Well, rejuvenating friendship with long lost friends is another sweet challenge and a different story altogether. As Henry Longfellow says, Ah, how good it feels! The hand of an old friend.

Well, all said and done, be it old or new, more or few, friends are an integral part of our lives. Never compromise on your friends!! And of course, as I’d mentioned it in one of my prior posts, which emphasises on the fact that Friendship acts as a rainbow between two hearts. Pun intended!! ;)

So when it comes to befriending someone, never waffle... Make as many friends as you can!

Well, yet again I assay my aught…

Friend, you are the glitter of the ocean’s waves,
You are the twinkling dew on the swaying leaves,
You are the summer’s sun, the winter frost,
Without you, without me, a lifetime is lost…

-Ships.

Daddy’s Little Girl

Yesterday night, I happened to catch up with a very dear but long-lost friend of mine… All thanks to the ‘net’ which is a boon for people like us… (I will someday definitely write something about these technological miracles, we have always looked forward to; which brings us closer to the absent)…

Well, let me cut the crap and come straight to the point. We girls talked about our new lives, colleagues, etc. She continued the conversation with intermittent smiles, completely overshadowing the pain that she was soaked into… The pain of trammeled passions, gravelly life, maladies of existing as a girl… This poem, I write for this sweet darling friend of mine… It talks for her thoughts… It says it all…

Daddy’s Little Girl

Am I not your little girl daddy?
Why have I got to marry so soon?
I keep saying I'm still not ready,
Still you keep finding me a groom...

I have lots to do in my life yet,
I want to be a free bird for now…
Many un-trodden avenues to tread,
Before I become someone's cow...

Why should I not climb the ladder daddy?
Can't I scale farther heights?
Should I stop dreaming already,
And make way for conjoined fights?

I'm barely a twenty-two,
I so very much want to do my MBA…
Want to fulfill my dreams few,
And not entertain strangers with a tea-tray.

Please listen to my inner soul...
The girl inside me is crying.
It’s insane to choose life partners by poll,
To convince you, I'm desperately trying...

Look a little deeper into me,
You will find your baby girl there.
Open your cajoling eyes and see,
I can no longer bear the to-be-groom's stare.

My love for you is immensely deep,
The depth of which you'll never know…
But for now let me climb the mountains steep
And learn enough to stand on my toe.

The windy mountains are calling for me,
The thorny terrains I want to explore,
Let me try and make my own destiny...
Till I find windfalls galore.

Cheer up babes!! You’ll definitely reach the pinnacle of success… Keep smiling. :)

- Ships

The Drive with Friends …

Today was ‘Holi’, the day full of colours,the day filled with fun… But something within me felt hollow… There was something missing… Or was it everything missing? I missed you all buddies… Hoping to see you all soon.

This poem is dedicated to all those wonderful (or otherwise!) drives we went for. Read on…

The Drive with Friends …

As I look out of my window,
I see my big-small-car parked there,
My little scooter, now almost a widow
Waiting for long, with a blank stare.

Those fantastic memories come back running
When I took either of them to college with me…
Choice depending on which trip we were planning,
The drive with friends, air filled with glee.

Beach side fun in a galore
Needed just my car, my friends and me…
For a drop to the nearby station
My scootie sufficed for almost three…

Oh how the comps were picked in shifts,
From hostel rooms far away, for the games,
And how we flocked for buying gifts,
Breaking signals, paying fines...
I remember how we crossed the lanes!

When I reminisce more, I remember
My first car, stuck deep into the mud,
How my sweet angels pushed it harder,
Until it bounced back like a stud!

Bravely lending my car to a novice
All hoping it not to get a scar…
For all other times, waiting for the driver nice,
My chauffer-best friend to drive us far!

The dozen of us stuffed into my car…
The hilarious jokes we thundered…
The amazing messed up direction-lender…
All those different paths we wandered…

Oh those stupid jokes, my insane friends…
Thinking of them, I roll out laughing on my floor…
But again, when I get up and look out of my window
I realize those days are gone, and I miss them all the more…

- Ships.

Looking for Bliss??

A few days back, I was having this discussion with a very good friend of mine, about what is the real meaning of a ‘proposal’?

Is it just asking out a guy or a gal… as in be my boyfriend/girlfriend? How puerile does that sound!! (sounds like Alisha Chinoy saying ‘I just wanna be your lover gal’…coming right out of ‘Made in India’)... Hehe…

Well… technically speaking, those college-day asking out for dates and hanging around is not what proposal is all about… It’s an offer of marriage, a life time commitment. Oh My God! Did I say marriage?? Isn’t it a taboo to say that word aloud? How on earth can you live with the same person throughout your life? Hold on… It’s quite more than that… It’s about giving a new dimension to your life… Well, am I sounding like I’ve married ‘n’ times?!! Just to clarify your doubts, I’m still single (smile)… I’m just writing what I believe a marriage should be like. Here it goes…

Marriage is an institution wherein, you start afresh, looking forward to a cherubic experience. Marriage is where, your search for that 'right person' stops and hunt for his/her 'wrong side' starts!

Choosing your marriage partner is certainly the biggest gamble one can ever play! For those of you who want to play safe, letting your parents play Cupid and find your soul mate is a sound option. However, knowing your partner after marriage is a bit venturesome, as you get to discover your spouse's veiled behavior on every coming day. Each day turns out to be a store house of miraculous discoveries of some stranger facts about your spouse. Your life partner sure turns out to be a lifetime enigma! Adventure seekers, please go ahead!!

For mere mortals like us, knowing your partner before marriage is anytime a better option. Especially, a good friend can make a very good spouse. Your life partner has to be someone who understands you more than yourself, on whom you can rely blindfolded, someone who'll stick on to you through all thick and thin.... and who else can possess all these qualities? Only your truest friend can.

Love just happens and fades away... but friendship stays on. One would love to find a friend in one's spouse so that even if someday, love vanishes, their friendship would not let them apart. Even if the marriage fails, one would at least have a friend to turn back to in his or her treasure.

Know your partner’s pros and cons before marriage itself so that the rest of your life isn't a horrendous journey with some stranger, but a mirthful experience with a companion. As said, "Love at first sight is easy to understand; it's when two people have been looking at each other for a lifetime that it becomes a miracle." So guys and gals, what are you waiting for? Find your soul mate today… Let miracles happen!! (Open Request to all... Now, that I’ve clarified your doubts about what a proposal means and what marriage consists of, as a gesture for thanking me, find someone for me too!)

Happy Hunting… Ready, Steady… GO!

PRETTY WOMAN OR PETTY WOMAN??

Hi everybody… Yesterday was Women’s Day… (Does that also mean that the other 364 days of the year are for Men??!!) People wished me, Happy Women’s Day, and I wondered whether I was really happy?

Well… I pondered on it… There is nothing specific that I can complain about. However, looking at the more encompassing point of view, the very concept of this world being a woman’s world is just a whim… a fictitious rosy picture painted to appease the womankind.

Think of this…

Our society preaches morality, sings praises of its womenfolk, but it is actually hollow within. When questioned about giving women her rights, the society keeps mum. She is treated as a commodity. She is a mother, sister, wife… but not an individual. A son is always preferred to a daughter. Why? Only because he’ll fetch you a wholesome dowry or he’ll carry forward your generation, or because he will light the pyre… What a marvelous achievement indeed!

The creator of this Universe has truly empowered her with the power to recreate, yet she’s considered only secondary to men. A woman is still a seller in a buyer's market when it comes to marriage. An independent woman is often termed as an adulteress. Men still call the shots. How disgusting is that!!

Sickening indeed… but coming to think of it, what is this ‘society’ we are talking about? And, who exactly is responsible for their sorry state of affairs? Women themselves! Well… I had a healthy discussion with a friend of mine regarding this… and we came to the consensus that as long as a woman is born and raised to feel handicapped and less capable because she is a woman, as long as she is vulnerable to society because it does not respect her womanhood the equation is unlikely to change.

The day a woman can live on her own terms without fear, and stop considering her womanhood as a sign of weakness, she will see the balance improve in her favor… True freedom is what she is looking for…

This poem I write for this great masterpiece of the Almighty - WOMAN.

HEY WOMAN – CHEERS TO THEE!

Her breast is filled with life to suckle
Gives her baby sustenance to grow
She is to protect, to nurture, to impel,
And seeds of excellence to sow.

Toughest when she endures
Softest when she caresses
Frailest when she defends
Loudest she can fight
She’s the one who can fill
Every heart with delight.

Ever-changing as the ocean's tide
Are the varied moods of a Woman…
She’s undoubtedly her man’s pride
She can turn a hell into heaven.

Soothing her fallen comrades
In the weakest hours of sorrow
Standing at the side of her beloved
Even if there's no tomorrow…

Kindness, charity, love and care
Ribbons of her honor galore
Soft, tender, gentle and fair
She's the stirring of amore.

Her tender caress can make a pauper think
That he is no less than a king.
Woman is fleeting, just like an eye-blink
Either hold on to her or see her leaving.

She is Mystery… She is Enigma
Only understood by her creator
Life always leaves her in a dilemma
Be it order or chaos – that’s her!


All you women out there…wake up… We are a force to reckon with. Cheers!!!

ROSE ON GRAVE

Yesterday evening, as I was going back home from office, I planned to stop by Kiah’s showroom at Bandra, to glance through the diamond rings… Something on the way really touched my soul and made me stop and think… So this post is dedicated to that little girl… I’ll call her ‘Rose’.

Its almost dusk… The sky is embellished with streaks of red. More beauty one can’t find. My dear friend Jyoti offers to accompany me to the showroom… and who would not like to be accompanied! After all, it's so boring to go window shopping all alone!! Bandra is her domain. We fix an auto to go there. On the way, there’s a crossroad… four roads meet each other there… and but obvious, there’s a signal too… And just as it always is the case with me, all signals are always waiting for me… They welcome me with love… Simply speaking, they turn red!

Two girls… can’t remain quiet even for a second! But somewhere amidst our incessant talks, we hear an innocent voice saying, “Sis, please take these roses… only for twenty bucks”… Now that’s ‘Rose’. She’s a cute, little girl with a cherubic glow on her face. She minus her rags plus some riches would’ve definitely made her win those little Miss Mumbai contests. I looked into her twinkling eyes… filled to the brim with hope… Standing there with a bunch of roses, white, yellow and pink, which she must’ve picked up from somewhere, highly hopeful of earning those twenty bucks… My thoughts wandered into oblivion. Jyo in the meanwhile, bought those flowers. Though the flowers were not fresh, but she was glad that she brought a smile to that little girl’s face.

Well, after the window-shopping spree, Jyo gave the bunch of beautiful flowers to me to carry back home… as her mom wasn’t so fond of fresh flowers. That’s another school of thought that says… why decorate your house with something which won’t last forever?
Alright… I thanked her for the roses, wished her goodnight and took an auto to go back to the station. On my way back home, I kept looking at the roses… And my mind was filled with a thousand thoughts…

This world is really so unfair… On one hand, there are people like us, who have most of the luxuries in life. The fact that you are reading my post says, you have an access to a luxury – your computer! On the contrary, there are people like Rose, deprived of the basic necessities of life, who live hand-in-mouth, steal flowers from graveyards to earn a living… Well, I don’t justify jyo’s act of buying the flowers… because, in a way it encourages malpractices. I never believed in giving alms to beggars also, as they’ll otherwise never learn to earn for a living and become dependent on others for ever. However, still I some how cannot convince myself if I am right or wrong. We waste food… they beg for it. We waste water… they don’t have clean water to drink… We sleep on curl-on and yet complain that it is not soft enough… they sleep on footpaths without bed sheets and cushioned pillows. What an irony life is!

We are more concerned about big things like Arcelor takeover, Jet’s Sahara takeover… But we forget to look at the other picture where poverty has taken over a vast majority of our people. With our mad rush for money, and sick hurry for fame, world has almost become an insanity fair, thus increasing the divide between the rich and the poor and overall increasing the gap between man and God.

Well… It’s very easy to talk of things, and equally difficult to find a solution for them… I’m no one to preach, but I could just hold the torch and light the way. A rose is the best thing a lover can gift his beloved… It symbolises love and happiness. The same rose when on the grave signifies affection and grief. Life is really a conundrum… Even Afred Tennyson could not help but think about it when he wrote,

FLOWER in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is.

Little Rose is like any one of us… Let us befriend innocent kids like them and bestow them with love and care. Let us make an attempt to do something for them. Let us give them the joys of childhood. And I feel really happy to see people who actually go ahead and put things into action. I know of one such effort – Toybank. Visit http://www.toybank.co.in/ . Bravo people… Keep up the good work. Lets come together and make this world a heaven on earth.