Psychedelic Slippers

"श्रावणमासी हर्ष मानसी हिरवळ दाटे चोहिकडे , क्षणात येती सरसर शिरवे, क्षणात फिरुनी ऊन पडे " माझा कवितांसोबातच्या आठवणींचा प्रवास इथून सुरु होतो. बालपणीचे कित्येक " Family weekends " आम्ही कवितांसोबत घालवलेले आहेत. "सुवर्ण नौका" अणि "सौंदर्य कुंज" असे  कधी काळी आई-बाबांना (बहुदा) कुठल्यातरी वाचनालयात मिळालेले दोन काव्य संग्रह आमच्यापाशी होते. त्यातल्या कविता बाबा आम्हा सगळ्यांना वाचून दाखवायचे . सहसा जेवणं उरकल्यावर आमची ही मैफिल रंगे. बाबांचा काव्यप्रवास कुठून सुरु झाला नाही ठाऊक पण बाबा कविता फार सुंदर वाचतात . वाचतात काय, बाबा कविता जिवंत करतात . त्यामुळेच हिरव्या गालिछावर डोलणारी फुलराणी मीच आहे , आणि "छानी माझी सोनुकली ती, कुणाकडे ग पहात होती " म्हणत तिला चिडवणारा वारा म्हणजे बाबाच आहेत असे नेहमी वाटायचे.  बाबांनी  उभा केलेला , मर्ढेकरांचा "गणपत वाणी " माझ्या भावाला आणि मला खूपच आवडायचा . ती कविता आम्ही बाबांकडून अनेकदा वाचून घ्यायचो. बालकवींच्या संगे आम्ही  दूर डोंगराच्या पायथ्याशी वसलेल्या पिट...

They tell you the 20’s are good years. Freshly out of college, you are all set for the world. That’s where everyone starts anyway. Then work –life happens, or post-graduation happens, or something such. For the first two years, (of whatever you choose), you live with a gusto. You are an adult, (by almost everyone’s standards) and you have this new sense of freedom. The responsibilities haven’t yet clouded your dreams. You are hopeful, still. Some have just cracked out of their shells (called home) and they are experimenting. Others turn more reckless with their experimentation. Everyone’s still searching though, looking for that niche where everything feels in place. You try a lot of new things. It’s not like college any more where you had to look over your shoulder each time you wanted to try something new. And before you know, in a frenzied rush to make the best of your times … bammm!!!  You hit the 25 mark. And then life changes… (almost overnight). You are bogged down b...

Gargo is a 2 week chapter in our (me and Charlie) life. An innocuous little pup walked into our door, almost dying and freezing to death.  It was convulsive and severely dehydrated, and we felt it wouldn’t live through the night. But force feeding ORS helped. We got some medicines for it. It took 3 pairs of hands to get them down its throat. Thankfully it lived. And it was as grateful as a loyal dog could be. For the next couple of days, it kept trailing us everywhere. We were forced into an ersatz motherhood. We had a crawling 3 months old, that every couple of hours would nudge either one of us available for food, and then rush to crap and pee.  He wouldn’t let us go out of sight and would start jumping the moment he saw us in the corridor. I must admit, it felt nice to have someone waiting for you at the end of the day, and greet you ever with the same excitement, every single day.  When we headed for breakfast, he would crisscross between our feet happy and gay ...

It’s been a really long year, and we have just started with 2015 and I guess it’s still not too late to jump into a retrospective post about the year. This year has been crazy at many levels. It all started with a bang, an eventful bang that changed a lot of things for me. It started with a lot of hopes. Like for the first time I had almost half the year planned out in excruciating detail. I should have known better, for like most things planned so carefully it didn't work out that way. I now have a list of resolutions that I never got to strike out (maybe I could carry them forward  J ).  To begin with, I lost someone really close to me. And despite of all my claims of having mastered the art of losing, I realised I was a novice again. I had thought years of experience of getting close and letting go of people might have now made me more adept at handling such delicate matters, but as I learnt, it really doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if it’s the first time or...

An accidental movie plan led me to search for Fanny. Finding Fanny took me home to the tiny offroads lined with fields, the riversides, the grilled wooden facades, the Three Kings church. There are some neatly done pieces esp Dimple Kapadia's "Ot" and "Poperly" in the first few minutes of the movie, but then the consistency to stick to the accent is lost over time. I wish atleast one actor in any movie would get the Konkani accent right, I wonder if its that difficult, coz in many places, the konkani conversations feel like they are read off a script (They aren't too long, just one or two lines strewn here and there). The characters are regional stereotypes, but Pankaj Kapur breaks out of it and sounds no where like Don Pedro. Deepika Padukone maintains her angelic divinity throughout the movie, (and yes she didn't get on my nerves). The movie transports you to another time, where time ceases to be. Its like those Amol Palekar movies of yore. T...

Many years ago, a male friend quoted, “a girl/woman in a relationship is somehow more attractive to other guys”.  I didn’t really give a thought to it then, it could have been well merely his opinion. But what with guys liking girls who are already with someone else (and vice versa) I thought it wasn’t as simple as that. At a broader, abstract level, we as social creatures, seek conformity in our actions, a kind of acceptance. We are more willing to conform to something that has been already accepted. More than often we conform to social codes, rules, without questioning them because they already have some acceptance for them. We tend to believe that anything that has been accepted should be worth accepting. The other way of looking at it, and this one’s a personal favourite, is the Damsel-in-Distress Syndrome. Okay, there’s no such syndrome really, and I came up with the name, but it fits. So a couple of years ago, I had this friend who thought a girl was driving him nut...

Its five years since graduation. Five long years, since we walked into the real world. I look back with awe at all the years gone by. We start off with dreams, almost everyone does. Just out of college and you are ready to take on the world, or so you think. You are looking for a story, an awesome incredible story that you can write and call your own. There is naïvete in the way we perceive life to be, in the hope, in the promises we hope to keep. There is a longing to be together. The tears are fresh, and so is the pain of separation. We haven’t hardened to those ideas yet. We believe miles are only numbers. We keep in touch. We write love notes on walls and pledge together forever. Slowly that flame withers, and life takes over. Some of us toe the line, get a job, get settled, get married; the others still wander, searching for forever. Then you chance across a photograph, a video, an anecdote, that friend you bump into the café, that autographed t-shirt stashed in a long f...

Image picked from: Koimoi.com I am no subdued Rajouri garden types, but in the first few minutes into Queen, in that heart splitting moment, when her fiance breaks up with an all-in-tears Kangana, and she walks out only to return back and plead to him not to break up, while he is irritated over the tamasha her tears are creating in the public, it was me. It was there that the movie became real for me. But I don’t have a pre-planned honeymoon trip to go on, and neither a granny with cool words of wisdom. I live in a hostel bound by an ever-growing things-to-do list. And even if I did, I reckon I would bump into friendly foreigners who’d take me on a ride of my life. I would be too cautious for that. But I’d still let the movie be my story. To give a poker face to your ex whom you bump into every day is a test of your strength that you have to pass every day. One would wish one was as naive as Queen, so it would be easy to let go? I drift. That’s not the point here. I d...

Not a rose tailored to perfection, one hand-picked, off a rose bush, Fragile, petals that whimper Or may be a heart askew, filled with lines uncertain, “Red scarlet or Red violet?” Or a sticky note on the door, just before rush hour, begins, “Dinner at eight!” Or a song half written, for love, on a sojourn, “I love you, you love me too” Or being unsure, is Love, loving to love you? or Loving you love, to love you? Or finding the cracks, only to fill them up, “You may be broken, but I am the glue” ---*--*--- Happy Valentine's day Folks

25 is a funny age to be. Especially when it just turns the tables and you know nothing that you knew any more. Everything has changed. You tell yourself, “It has changed for Good”. And you define good in your head. Yet in your weakest of moments you transport yourself to the safety of two arms, that are now just in your head, but they tell you it will be okay. That your world is what it was. That you aren't a homeless wanderer, that there is a home, there is a pair of arms. They tell you and you believe them. And you sleep off in their comfort, only to wake up the next day and Break your heart all over. It’s the price of freedom, you tell yourself. This feeling of homeless, you have to live with it. And that searing pain you feel, you wonder if its regret or hope. But you hope it’s neither. Where is freedom you scream, and then you run. Yet nothing moves, and you wish you could run in time instead and days would fly forward, or fly back. That you could transport yourself to ...

Once in a lifetime, you have to raise your hand, stand up and say “It’s done with”! It’s hard. Its hard to accept the need to do so, in the first place, its harder to raise your hand and make yourself stand, its even harder to find your voice when on your feet. But for that once, you have to do it. You have to do it for that tiny feeble voice that says ‘go on, you are right’.There are no reasons, just gut feelings, which tell you what should and shouldn’t be done. It hurts. Its like pulling off the cable and saying game over, when the other is probably enjoying the game. Sometimes you see it coming, sometimes you don’t. Love can make you believe the impossible. Love can make you do things and not do things. Love can drive you crazy. It’s all a matter of choice. Whether you choose to let love rule your life and run it, or whether you are adamant to get a grip on the reins. Whether you are content with the happiness in someone’s eyes or whether you need to feel it in your heart to...

The alarm beeps. Meera looks at the time, 5 to 12. She hears the kitchen door squeak. She has been aware of the cautious movements outside, the hushed hustle of 2 pairs of feet; one trailing the other in puffed bedroom slippers. She puts the pen down, pushes the papers aside. The desk is a clutter, and she has long given up on keeping it neat. There is just enough open space to keep a journal and write in it. She picks up the pen to put it in the pen stand, one of the numerous mugs that that were now used to house stationery, there are paper clips in one, paintbrushes in another, and lazing between them all is ‘that’ old paper cup with hearts, brimming with coins. She turns towards the door. A minute to go, “should I barge in on their preps, or wait patiently pretending to be busy and forgetful”, she thinks as she turns out the lights. The clock strikes 12, “Mummaaaa” a gay voice fills the room and her thoughts. She smiles and picks up the 3 feet bundle of demands, kissing h...

Its like 3 years right... she said, 2 years 8 months he said It feels such a long time.. she said as he slid her fingers in hers effortlessly. They stopped walking. She looked up at him, then at the hands that looked so obvious entwined. "you have grown up" she said, in an almost motherly tone. He looked at her with confused eyes "This", she said bringing their hands up. "Its no more awkward."

A i m: To fall in love A pparatu s : Conducive environment, a bunch of friends, pen, paper, self-owned vehicle if available, sufficient pocket money (better if self-sustained), target Theory and Motivation: This is the age of co m petition. Times today are much more trying than before. In view of the skewed sex ratios, and limited available opportunities, it is imperative than one be prepared in advance for to fall in love is no child's play. It requires pre-meditated effort, lots of patience and planning. not to forget backing of generous parents and friends. And while there may be those who'd choose to wait for things to take their own course remember,  God help s those who help themselves. One realises sooner or later that there is no alternative to plunging into the rat race. Procedure: 1)    Identify: Though it may sound intuitively simple it is a tough choice. While making this decision please take the following factors into account Long term or short...

I have a brother. These are four very powerful words. Loosely translated in hindi it would mean , “Mere paas bhai hai”. (Of course not the “bhai”s of the “once upon a time in mumbai” kind, but i admit trying to give the same effect atleast once or more in life). I have used these words time and over in school, to ward- off guys... “bhai” would become “BHAI” then. Then that guy who’s dying to pass that love letter to you, would think twice, “ arey uska bhai hai re”. The physique of the bhai dint matter then, all it mattered was that there was a “bhai”. As you move out of school , and life’s troubles move beyond warding-off guys, you tell yourself, “I have a brother”. The words still give strength. I have a brother. My brother has a well-formed face, well developed, agile limbs, and a teddy-bear tummy he wishes he’d get rid off. We’ve been in two states for more than a decade now.It took me a moment to count the years. Of what he has been in this past decade i dont much of rem...

first shortlist all the possible guys you can fall in love with (these would be based on various social, intellectual, monetary constraints). then strike off those that don't meet your choices of physique( some love apes, some giraffes) then those that have already been baited (unless you are bitchy enough to chase somebody else's guy) then you have a bunchful of guys left that can be baited. now each of these guys again would probably have a list similar as yours. and then if you are in his list, and he in yours you have a fair chance of falling in calculated love. then you bait and wait. well if you aren't then you gotta use other tricks and bribery. tips on that are well beyond this post. and then there's the other way... where you just plunge on gut feeling. where eyes meet and there are butterflies and fairy tales. while most emotions can be broken down... how do we break love into sets of likes and dislikes? u either love somebody o you don't. like, dislike o ...

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve. Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow. She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask ...

I have this swing right outside my house.. I loved swinging on it, esp in the evenings. A seaside sunset, swift breeze, rhythmically gushing waves, tall palms…. And a vast open sky above and yes clouds… passing clouds. My most vivid memory of the times on the swing is with my cousin. I guess I started sitting on the swing cause of him. We would fall back on the swing, staring up into the sky, riding clouds… throw a lasso over a cloud and wander into “neverland”. Then talks on life, the universe and everything else would ensue. Riding clouds would never be possible if not for him. … when I return home this time, he l be a little more older, a little farther from “clouds” and the road to “neverland” may be lost forever as he grows up.

The length of time is a relative term. How long is a year? If you r just a year old, well a year is all you’ve got and its LONG… when your 90, a year is just a year, a one more to 89, a one more to more.. How long is a day? If your having a bad-hair day its LOOOONG, if your out with your chummies, its too SHORT…its 24 hours either way!! How long is a year? How long is a year that spaces you over 2021 kms (;))? How long is a year with someone? (or for the most part without?) Anniversaries are add-ons to a relationship. For those blessed with the curse of a strong memory, they are a little too many. There are all the numerous “firsts” and then the seconds, thirds, “n th s” to commemorate the firsts. They usually start with “d’ you remember …” and then there is a long conversation on who remembers what. The specifics are obfuscated as the stories are told and retold to make a fairy tale. For anything new, a year is a long way… the first is the toughest, hardest, longest and t...

While graduation marks the end of an epic, it also marks the beginning of a lot of first times, one of the foremost are long distance relationships. The word relationships here not being restricted to the strictly romantic ones. Work, studies, time pull you apart. Sometimes geographical distances are the barrier, sometimes temporal. but what stays is the word distance. and then some day some snaps remind you of some people, you add new people on your phone list, and old ones are phased out. As you age, you have more n more people to keep track off, and trust me this can be an overwhelming task. so here are a few tippers, to save dying LDRs , to preserve the ones, or to build up on em... there are a certain things that need to be understood at the beginning. First "things have changed". That you have moved places is a "fact" neither parties can run away from, so embrace it. Secondly you have moved apart cos of a reason (cause) etc. and that often has more to do with ...