Lone Streak

The deadly calm of the ending night was shattered by the shrill alarm going off. It could not have come at a better time. A sound sleep and a sweeter dream lay in tatters. Life was so cosy under the blanket; that too on a holiday. Forcefully opening my eyes, I reached out to turn of the alarm which had perhaps sworn to wake up the entire house!
As my thoughts began to gather, I could feel a slight excitement building up in me. It was just past four and the sun was a long way off from east. A quick wash and a mug of coffee later I was ready. I was ready to race my car against time; race it against the speed barriers; race it for the thrill of racing it!
As I rolled the car out of the garage, I realised I could barely see. Was my vision clouded or had I left my glasses behind? It was neither; actually it was a thick dense fog which had set in like a curtain and visibility was down to less than two feet or even less! Nevertheless, I revelled at the prospect of driving down the empty streets on a foggy night. With the windows rolled down and the head lights in full glow, I hit the pedal hard. The welcome empty streets were in stark contrast to the chaotic traffic. Within no time I was streaking down the roads. The cold air swarmed in removing the last existent traces of sleep in me. The wind swept back my hair. The speakers were blaring out loud. The smooth roads offered no resistance.
Strangely enough, even though I was driving alone on an empty road I did not feel the lack of company. I felt that I had the whole world to myself. It was after a long time that I had myself for company. As I drove on, the song echoed in my ears, “Everybody needs sometime on their own, everybody needs sometime all alone!!”

Misfirng Blanks

As I try for the nth time today to put pen to paper, I find myself at a loss of words. This attack of speechlessness has left my thinking paralysed.
My mind is at its tumultuous best. And to complicate matters, I am searching for the reason. A niggling worry, incoherent thoughts have only added to the sense of helplessness surrounding me. Thinking is perhaps at its coherent best when the human mind is at peace; at peace with itself, at peace with everything around. Unfortunately for me, it is a luxury I am not entitled to enjoy today.
A delayed entry and an early wrap up of office left with me with ample time for myself and yet as the day nears its end, I feel that today has been a complete waste of sorts. May be it is time I begin soul searching or else today will go down in memory as a day of misfiring blanks!

Life for Sale

Winter is at its fag end and the torturous summer is knocking at the doors. The days have lengthened considerably; so much so that the moon does not dare to show itself before the clocks clear its arms well past six! This is a part of an annual cycle that life goes through and yet such is its subtlety that most of us fail to perceive it.
And then there is this one thing which we all look forward to every year. It has become a part of the seasonal cycle and it has made its way to our minds through newspapers, television advertisements, handouts and bill boards. With the rise of the rich-middle class in India, it has captured the imagination of one and all alike. It is the Great Annual Sale!!
Every year at the end of winter and onset of summer there is a huge slump in the savings of almost every common man. The annual sale is perhaps the most eagerly awaited celebration in India after….Well, now it is second to none!! It is the most eagerly awaited celebration!!
There is a discount on everything here, it appears. The soulful merchants and traders seem to have understood how important our savings are to us and are therefore offering something free with a nothing or making us “an offer we cannot refuse”. From brooms to books and from clothes to cars, this phenomenon has taken everything in its grip. And quite predictably, we all have fallen for this. Budgets are adjusted and credit cards are arranged for- the money managers in us work overtime to prepare for this bonanza (Read: Spending spree).
I, on my part, make a pledge after every celebration that the next year when the sale turns up I will rein myself and fasten my purse strings. I am still in search of that elusive next year.

The Monday that Was!

If Mondays were to be precursors, then I will surely look forward to this week. Generally Monday is the most despised day all over, it being the “another” first day of the next five days in office.
As expected, this Monday was uneventful in the way it started. Familiar faces dragging themselves into office, still in a state of trance, cursing the clocks for turning fast, staring at the office calendar wondering if it is really another Monday! Well, I for instance, always pinch myself hard on a Monday morning to reconnect to reality.
Right after lunch (My canteen food is yuck), a few incidents unfolded which changed the course of the day and in the process ended up promising an exciting week ahead.
On board a bike nicknamed “Grasshopper” because of its colour and soon-to-be-realised trustworthy shock absorbers, a friend and I decided to play truant from office. It was reminiscent of those bygone school days when truancy was practised for the sake of thrill and measured as a count of heroism.
People mellow down with age, grow more sensible and behave responsibly. In my case, the clocks must have turned anti-clock.
The perennially congested roads in front of my office offered little scope for a cruise. Just try and put together Kolkata’s roads, her erratic traffic, a bike and two bikers without helmets- you have just learned the recipe for disaster. Somehow managing to wriggle free of the “bus-car-auto-cycle” chaos, we proceeded towards our destination.
The roads were in a state of disrepair, loose stones and gravel made us all the more vulnerable. At one ill-famed crossing, as we braked our bike didn’t respond well. It skidded on the gravel. In the next few moments, I saw my friend fall. I saw myself falling and then with a dull thud the bike landed on my leg. It dragged us a few metres on the road but more than that it had put a spanner in our plans! Luckily though, the road demons were busy somewhere else.
I could taste dirt! There was ample of it on the road to incite my taste buds. My first reaction was to spit out and then check for any broken bones. Thankfully my rickety framework survived the fall and the impact of the bike on me. I twisted free my left leg which had got nicely entangled in the rear wheel and tried to stand up. Shaken but steady, I saw much to my dismay that my trousers were torn, my right knee neatly lacerated and my palm dotted with bruises. The same injuries were reflected on my friend and fellow biker. But both of us were still strong and not dazed enough to abandon the trip. With bleeding knees, cut knuckles, dirty clothes, torn trousers and loads of sound advice from passers-by, we continued.
At this point, all I will tell you is that in The Alchemist, the author Paulo Coelho had said that life presents us with omens. Our wisdom lies in perceiving those omens and understanding them. I had decided to ignore the omen in spite of seeing it. And I paid for it. What happened afterwards, how successful the trip was remains to be said and will be a matter of deep speculation!
Yesterday I played truant from office but checkmated certain death!!

An Offic(e)ial Satire

9:00 A.M. - The pace is fast
And everywhere there is a rush,
Life seems to have fallen in line
As it is morning Nine!!

10:00 A.M. - It is time to settle in
May be pick up a pen,
Get ready for another working day
This is life at Ten!!


11:00 A.M. – At this most unusual hour,
People are actually working!
Screens are on, keys tapping all around
It is Eleven in the morning!!


12:00 Noon - Up in the sky,
At its highest is the Sun,
The day is at its brightest,
At half of the turn!
Stomachs are gurgling,
For a brunch or lunch
It’s Twelve in the office,
But there is still work to be done!!


1:00 P.M. – The other half of the day has well begun
‘Cos at this time the clock shows it is One!!


2:00 P.M. – Lunch is over and tea is due
My guess is the time must be Two!!


3:00 P.M. - Heads are dozing off
Ready to break for tea!
The screens are fading away
The eyes are unwilling to see!
Prising them open somehow
It is obvious that the time is Three!!


4:00 P.M. - Warming the seats or
Working like never before
A mild hurry everywhere
As the clocks have struck Four!!


5:00 P.M. - No more breaks
No time for a jibe,
The day is nearing its end
Yes it is Five!!


6:00 P.M. - The heads are bobbing up and down
Nothing here ever needs a fix!
It is time for all to logout
Phew! It is Six!!


7:00 P.M. - For a few poor souls ,
The desk is their Heaven1
Do they even realize?
It is already Seven!!


8:00 P.M. - For all the breaks and breathers they take
It only means working late!
So committed to their jobs these people are
They are willing to work at work even at Eight!!


9:00 P.M. - Is there so much work,
And so little time?
That you have to stay back everyday
And work till Nine??


10:00 P.M. - The lights are still blinking,
I am sure even the Gods would refrain!
But some wretched soul is at work
Even though the clock says Ten!!


11:00 P.M. – As the moon spreads it brilliant light
My mind makes peace with the night!
I just hope that the quadrants are empty thorough
Because there is only one hour until tomorrow!!



The moon makes it journey east
Leaving behind a curtain of mist
Up above the amber hue
Ushering a morning new!!

'Decent' Proposal

Soul and desire in a wonderful blend,
You are unique; a one in a trend!

Your emotions rarely miss my eye,
In a flash , they pass by!!

You are an amazement in every sense,
My heart resonates with your presence!!

I love you dear, and I miss you all the time
Drop all inhibitions and become mine!!!

Satisfaction

I just wanted to go out and enjoy life and it is ironic that I have ended up writing this compilation of words (read: Piece of literature). It is in the pursuit of satisfaction that I have left my mind wondering and wandering.

The paradoxical nature of this word has kept millions baffled since time immemorial. The human capacity for sin has reached its zenith and yet there is no end to it in the near future. It is the subtle undercurrent of satisfaction that has made man commit the seven deadly sins-over and over again.
The sheer relativity imbibed in the word “satisfaction” is perhaps the best alibi for the saying “What is one man’s’ meat is another man’s poison.”

The world stands silent testimony to countless instances of worldly beings losing out in life and losing out to life in quest of this chimera. The harder one tries to narrow the distance, the farther it draws leaving a seemingly endless gap to close. In course of this quest, the bar is only raised further higher and as one void seems to fill up another one opens up making the unattainable just another figment of human imagination!!

Earth Dreams

A star is born, he is shining bright,
A raw talent and sheer delight.
Closed to the world to all it seems,
Hidden behind his knowledge gleams!

Of voices and thoughts and actions galore
So pure they are, you can’t help but adore.
With stars as friends and the endless greens,
He sets out alone across roads and streams!

Numbers don’t add up; they rather spin
The words he reads make no meaning.
From teachers to parents, be at home or at school
He is born to defy every rule!

The Gods must be crazy and too cruel to tell
The people around don’t bother as well.
A caress and a stroke of tender love
Is all he wants from the world and heavens above!!

Footprints on the Faces of Stone

With a heavy heart and a clouded mind, I believe it is not the best of times to enjoy a Sunday evening. I would rather be in this world of mine where I have only myself for company. Well, this is where I am right now.
As today comes to an end, I am compelled to reflect on the past twenty four hours which have been so eventful and to some extent somewhat tragic – in the truest sense. From everlasting happiness to utter desolation, yesterday has been, in a long time, a day which has made itself immortal in my otherwise “volatile” memory.
The day began with a “Happy Birthday” for my mother. Even the early morning chaos seemed to have joined in chorus to sing for her. Strangely, it was bright and sunny in a sultry winter- and very ironically so. (This irony is referred to again at the end) With well wishers calling in, the morning calm was very well shattered; it shattered my siesta as well. At this point of time, little did I know that there was much more left to be shattered!
The day migrated to evening and there I was standing beside a very close friend, grinning ear to ear, on the (Happy??!!) occasion of him getting married to his sweetheart. It was fun and somewhat unusual to see someone of my age group tying the knot.
There is a saying, “All good things must come to an end.” I repeat and second this. This is where ends yesterday’s happy moments.
The return journey from the wedding ceremony was somewhat unique in every way and in everything it offered- Travelling on a semi-deserted local train with the clock about to strike tomorrow, friends for company and a phone-call to silence it all.
Here in the irony lay,
In this cold and sultry winter
Who on Earth am I?
To fit in a bright and sunny day!!
I will leave the rest to your imagination but will share this last thought. As I post this, I am still trying to connect to God and ask Him, “Why Me?”

The Travel of Time!!

As today begins its time,

The sun spreads its warmth n shine
The mist finds a morning new
As it moves out of view!
As the clocks make a turn,
For half the world, A day has just begun!

The rigours and barriers, all come into play
As we all try to make hay,
Twilight descends with its amber hue
As the blue sky spreads out of view!

The moon takes its place in the sky
and a gentle chill blows by,
As the clocks make another turn
For the other half of the world
Another day has just begun!!