Scene - I

"Where do you sleep?"
"Nowhere, I don't sleep". She stubs out her cigarette and makes deliberate eye contact before moving away to empty the ash-tray.
"And where do you make love" he asks rakishly, moving closer below the high-ceilinged grey of the apartment and the garish city sky.
Her fingers pause for a moment as she crooks the index one moving swiftly as she steps out of her dress answering, "Everywhere"

romance was ignorance

It seems to me that growing up has meant the loss of romance.
Romance was…the way wild bushes grew on the slopes of the hill nearby,
The cold winter afternoons spent out on the verandah,
The long walks on hot tarmacs after games of spot-the-mirage,
Evenings spent out under the stars,
Romance was …our first kiss,
Our innocence,
The hope we gave ourselves…
Romance was… our dreams, hopes and plans…
The sweet nothings you said to me,
Romance was… talking to you without worrying where we’re going,
Knowing you’ll be by my side,
The trust we had,
Knowing that we would never hurt each other,
Romance is my memory of you and how we used to be
Your concern for me still…
The way my name sounds when you say it
Romance is you, romance is me
Romance, it seems, is a pure function of availability

That kind of love

Love that is as recurrent as waves on the seashore
As unconditional and certain as the sunrise every morning,
Love that comes softly and takes you by the hand…
The kind that leads you in the darkness
That you linger in corners waiting for
Love that stops your heart.
And fills your soul.
Love that is complete,
The sort that is unreal.
Love that overwhelms…
That calms your spirit.
Love you can come home to…
That makes you want to dance.
That teaches you to ask forgiveness,
The kind that brings relentless joy
Love that makes simple moments into memories
That turns sweet nothings into history
Love that breaks you
And the kind that makes you

The Southwest monsoon was scheduled to hit Bangalore yesterday, I think it forgot to come. I actually THOUGHT the monsoons were here a few days back, but I wrong, said the newspaper. Those were just April showers that didn’t know when to stop.
This seems like a relatively good year for this city, that I have grown to love and call home.
For a long time, until recently, I never called Bangalore home. I never called myself a Bangalorean. Things changed. There is no place I’d rather be right now.

Emotionally unavailable.

“What sort of a man makes love to one woman and goes back to negotiate a dead relationship with another?” The sort that is so beyond knowing the meaning of love.
She thought he was secure, confident, intelligent, clear. When he spoke to her for the first time, she thought, “This man has character”. And now she was realising how wrong she had been.
When she learnt that he was capable of grovelling the way he was, she lost all respect, love and admiration for him. Just like that. In an instant.
“You talk of high ideals, high standards, high goals. You have none. You aren’t even sure of yourself. You don’t even know if you’re worthy of the standards you’ve set for yourself. And you complain. About life, about events, about how things never went your way. You aren’t a man. Not even close,” she said to him, eyes filled with fury.
He looked at her, surprised, taken aback, shocked that this girl, who had said she loved him, had turned against him with such vigour.
And then it hit her, she was worth more than this. And she left, silently, walking into the darkness, smiling to herself…

Unforgettable, that’s what you are
Unforgettable though near or far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before has someone been more

Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that’s how you’ll stay
That’s why, darling, its incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

I remembered “our song”. Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss me. It wasn’t really our song, we forced it I think. We forced a lot of things. I think I forced less though, I think I loved more, felt more, cared more, he took care of me, for the most part. And which woman doesn’t want to be rescued? He rescued me from all things evil, from situations at home I didn’t like. From people who I believed hated me.

Then I grew up. I realized my own shortcomings. I realized I wasn’t a victim. That I was just being silly, that I was ok. You can’t love another till you’re okay within yourself. THAT I’ve realized. Only two whole people can love another completely, love isn’t meant to complete two incompletes. That’s probably the biggest lie sold to us in songs, movies and cards…that love fills us, completes us, makes us whole. Codependence. Boy, it sells. It’s not the same as symbiosis, for those who are wondering. It’s like two parasites coming together, trying to feed off each other. Quite unnatural, quite hopeless, quite temporary, a disaster waiting to happen.

Bad timing. It was all about bad timing.

I don’t have to pretend to be older, wiser, more mature. I don’t have to act like I want to socialize with people who can’t hold my interest for more than 10 minutes. I get to be a child. I get to be silly. I get to be me and you get to be you. I don’t need to pose. I hate posing. I’ve done enough of that for a lifetime. I don’t need to impress, I don’t need to show you my better side. I only need to love, love completely, feel without worrying or thinking twice about whether I’m feeling too much :-).

I've stopped worrying, being scared. Life fits.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes

"Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God."

I strayed for a while, from things that meant the most to me. I don’t know why or how or when or what for… I wish I could take it all back. Undo. Unfall. I can’t, I suppose.

The monsoons are finally here. Much-awaited. Bangalore looks clean. Washed. The roads are wet, there’s mush everywhere, but there’s an air of happiness that transcends all else. A new season, a new chapter :)

I smiled at random people today on my way to work. They smiled back, fortunately, acknowledging my act of casual human-contact. The rick driver was courteous for a change, thanked me for the tip I gave him.

And now, I want coffee at Barista. I want hot coffee, cold chocolate, muffins and a friend’s company!! I think though, that Cha Bar might be a better idea today. And there’s a Punjabi food festival at work. Right! Like they’ll make Sarson ka Saag and Makki ki Roti! They probably don’t know what that is!! Oooooooohh…I remember winter afternoons at Adampur, when we sat out on the lawns for lunch!! *siggghhh* I miss it all so much!!

I finally found my muse. A muse for the wrong reasons, at the wrong time, in a wrong sort of a way. I never thought I needed one till I met you a few months ago, my desire to write conveniently quadrupled after that day. And now I need you. Oh! How I hate that I need you!! How I love that I need someone, finally!

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

-Rudyard Kipling

I was 14 I think, when I read Kim, also by Rudyard Kipling. I remember the day I picked it up from the library, sitting next to my schooltime boyfriend:) I remember so vividly, his reaction. How was I moving from Agatha Christies and Nancy Drews. He said something to me about having too much time on my hands. And how right he was. I read the strangest, most irrelevant and (maybe) useless books. I enjoyed it.

Having too much time on my hands has been the story of my life! I’m lazy and I can’t pretend I’m not, but I hate having nothing to do for more than an hour. Weekends are busy, but weekdays aren’t. Work is slow. The bright side is, I get time to do what I love, to write. To write, other than what work expects of me.
If someone had told me, at 16, that I would be a journalist, I would not have believed them. My English Lit teacher did tell me once, that I should make it my profession. And that’s when I started writing recreationally. I stopped caring who I wrote to or what I wrote about. I just wrote. I never imagined, though, that I would get paid to write. I never thought of myself as a writer, I still don’t.

Recently, at dinner with a friend, I told her of my plans to choose a new career path. That I was bored and that I thought I could do much better. That I wasn’t using my head, and I didn’t feel productive. I love numbers and I love words, words more than numbers, and work is the perfect blend. The problem is I don’t get to be creative, at all. I get to be creative here, and elsewhere, never ever at work :)

I still believe my calling is to teach little children. I don’t know when I’ll get to do that, maybe after I’ve had my fill of corporate mania, after I’ve worn my glasses long enough, watched enough CNBC, talked mergers and acquisitions over dinner for years, stared at tickers and stock moves on my three screens for hours on end, played the stock market for a while, and managed to make an impact of my own. Maybe then I’ll teach babies how to count and read and write and spell and subtract.

I find it hard to believe that this is what I want to do, I can’t imagine myself with a hoard of little children running wild, but my heart says that’s where I’d be happiest.

For now, I’m content. I want more, but I’m content.

I want to write to change the world.
I want to influence people in a good way.
I want to feel my hand in yours :)
I want to know if you smile at random people when you pass them
I want to see you smiling at me
I want to see you doing what you do best
I want to learn to lose gracefully,
I want to watch you win everything you are meant to
I want you to be happy ..no..not happy..overjoyed!
I want to sleep, and wake up in manic good moods :)
I want to learn new things, breathe new air,
I want to love unconditionally, selflessly and completely,
I want to play safe and risk everything,
I want to be impatient and wait forever...

I walked this morning. Early. So that I would be awake with you. So that you would know that my every prayer is with you today.
It wasn’t warm, it was so not warm. It was pleasant. Like it used to be in Second year. In Second year when I waked 9 kilometers every morning. To MG road, down to the Taj, around Ulsoor and then home. In Second year, when determination coursed through me, when I had only one goal. In Second year, when I learnt to live and to love. When I learnt about things that mattered and about growing up. Second year, that began with getting to know someone and ended with knowing them fully. A year of big choices and big fights. A year of tears and of laughter without boundaries. A manic year. A year of differences and similarities, a year of moving forward and holding on.
And now… my first year, at work, at independence, at understanding myself. My first year of knowing you. Of wanting to become one with you. My first year of knowing that I'm finally on the right path.
"The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26

I think of you, of days gone by..
Of talking non-stop.. of falling asleep with your voice in my head
I remember your friendship and your love,
The unnatural kindness you showed me.

I have chosen to write this because I know you read this more than anyone else ever does. And even though this is a public link, in all likelihood, you will be the only one to truly read it. And when you do, there will be no doubt in your mind that this is about you. My best friend, my confidante, you're the most reliable person I've ever come across. The most unchanging, the wisest of them all.

Thank you, for being you :)

I remeber so clearly the days when I would write about every single thing I did! I met so many interesting people through my blog. *sighhh*
Things have changed so much. Life has gone from being easy and simple to being easier and simpler :), from being happy to being happier. From feeling content to feeling as if there is sooooo much to look forward to.
i dont believe that life is dificult. i have enjoyed most aspects of my life so far and i can hardly wait for to see what's next. im sure you feel somewhat the same, at least i hope so. i dont like people who complain about things being so unfair etc...people who go "why me" are people i feel like smacking in the face. i do tend to think too much and over-analyse things a bit more than other people though...
i guess i've had my moments...lots of them.. when i've hated things that have happened...where i've thought that it couldnt get any worse. but havent we all?
people who give a lot of importance to appearances, money or materialism annoy me. and maybe, thats why i like you... from what i know of you, i dont think you are materialistic.
if there is one thing all my close friends have in common, it's that they're kind people. i dont have many close friends, i always choose to confide in the person im "seeing" and those friendships dont last once the "seeing" is over. i dont believe people can be "just friends" with an ex who they have truly loved.
i like that you are mature. i like knowing that you're probably better than your peers. i like that you and i are so similar in so many ways. i like that you understand things most others dont. i like that you can see through me. i like that you're funny.

How lucky I am to have something that makes it so difficult to say goodbye... :)
I read that somewhere and felt as if I'd had a revalation. We sit and complain about why things or people are moving out of our lives, without ever stopping to think how blessed we were to be associated with them in the first place. We hope for things, against all logic, against all experience, against all odds.
We numb ourselves to the things we do have and to the wonderful people who do love us. We go to the ends of the earth in search of joy, the joy that someone is offering you everyday. We run from happiness that is there for the taking.
She runs from him, even as he offers her all that she knows is good. Runs to search for a trait that she found in another, to find something to cry about, instead of laughing with him forever. If you ask her why she is still running, she'll tell you it makes her complete.
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for you and me my friend,
I run for life
"But they that wait upon Jehovah shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not tire; they shall walk, and not faint. " Isaiah 40:31

I don’t quite know where to begin. Marveling at the amazing thresholds that I stand at, my life suddenly seems complete. I know that when you wake up every morning with a smile on your face and a song in your heart, that you must be doing something right. I wake up like that nowadays… for some weeks now. Life fits.

Regrets? There are many. There will be more to come. Life isn’t too short for regrets. But it is too short to spend time thinking about them. Knowing that I have regrets gives me a reasonable chance at not making the same mistakes again.

And at the end of the day, I feel a burst of energy that comes from being around my family, where the love you give and the love you get is in the same (gigantic) proportions. Of course, there have been problems, rebellion and bitterness…. but love… it overflows. And my heart, in all its fullness, is theirs.

And friends. My friends, the ones I know who care for me as much as I care for them. Who look out for my good, who accept me for who I am, not for what they want me to become. Who tell me that I’m being obnoxious and ask me to shut up, but do it with such love and such grace…


And God. Whoever says there is no God, must really be a fool. It really is impossible to see all the beauty around you and think of it as just a coincidence. How can anyone not believe in someone who said that he would never leave you? Who told you that every hair on your head is numbered and that he carved you in his very hands… and how can you not love Him..

And the future… it is so bright... that it burns my eyes :)

How do you know when its too much…
Too much love
Too much trust
Too much truth
Too many expectations
Too much adoration
Too much success
Too much work
Too much money
Too much freedom
Too much anticipation
Too much hope
Too many fears
Too many dreams
Too many lies
Too much joy
Too much laughter
Too many tears
Too many burdens
Too much confusion
Too much competition
Too much sugar
Too much warmth
Too much sunshine
Too many colours
Too much security
Too many words
Too many worries
Too many glances
Too much waiting
Too many times

“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness - Desiderata.

Does being a Christian mean having no fear? Am I supposed to be able to give God full control of my life without worrying? I think that's exactly what I should be doing, but I don't always trust God completely. I don't always say 'Let your will be done' and mean it.
I know of so many times when He saved me from things that would've ruined me. I know of so many times He has opened doors for me. So many times He has carried me through sadness and anger, with such grace and power. Yet... I fear.
I know when troubles come, God is by my side and there is a reason for whatever happens to me. Yet .. I fear.
“What I do now thou knowest not but thou shalt know hereafter.”
Yet...I fear.

With time I have not lost hope, my spirit, my ecstasy…
I have not changed my plans, my dreams and my aspirations.
With time I have not left stones unturned, or feelings unfelt.
I haven’t banished my deepest desires for the fear that they may be frowned upon.
With time I haven’t let vain inhibitions stop me from dancing, or jumping with joy.
I have stood my ground and have changed not my convictions.
With time I have grown into a woman perhaps, willing to do what it takes to get what she wants; willing to want only what is right, true and pure.
I have learnt that age does not bring with it maturity.
And religious faith does not bring righteousness.
Honesty does not come from being in situations where your lies will be found out.
Finding true purpose in life has nothing to do with trying to portray oneself in a particular way.
Happiness is not something to wait for..
Happiness is happiness… everyone finds it within themselves.
It is, in all probability, fleeting,
But true joy is ever present.
True joy is mine, and it is yours…
For the taking…

Blessings all mine........:):)

-Beautiful poetry…written by regular people, amateurs :)
-Getting head massages …
-Playing with someone’s hair and watching calmness overcome their face:))…
-Long emails or letters from a dear friend…especially a funny friend
-The sense of peace that overcomes me before I drift off to sleep...
-Watching someone I love getting dressed for an evening out.
-The warmth of family on a cold winter(or hot summer) day:)
-Having a baby fall asleep on my shoulder…
-Stargazing.
-A child I don’t know, smiling at me…

-Being called 'babe' by the two nicest people in the whole wide world :)
-Cuddling with a willing kitten or puppy or cat or dog…:D a few licks here n there don’t hurt either!:D
-Seeing that familiar 5-digit number that calls me late at night :):) -Waking up in strange manic good moods with bursts of energy…yes, I’m a morning-person to the core!
-Knowing silly stuff like “goodbye” came from “god bye”, which came from “god be with you”
-Swimming at sunset or sunrise…:)
-The feeling of wanting to embrace the future with open arms…
-Him.

-Plans with him :)
-Blessed Assurance!