Puraani Jeans

Happy Republic Day

2012-01-26T22:51:00.000+05:30

Dear *educated* friends,

Wake up to the real issues of our society and country. Stop being the victims of propaganda and the puppets in the hands of media, politicians and PR agencies of the world. (For starters, watch *less* of all those news channels. If you have too much time, there are thousand better things you can do. Read a book, spend time with your friends/family, *may be* go out and help someone.)

Get informed before you commit yourself to any issue, party or person. Vote.

The smallest good deed is better than the grandest good intention. There are thousands of initiatives being driven all across the country. Be a part of one. Take responsibility for one child's education. Help one child escape the traps of child labor. Treat others, regardless of the their social status, with a little more respect. Act.

A country is as good as its citizens. If you are so worried about corruption, make sure you and your kids are clean. This way, you can be rest assured that 20 years down the line there will be no more corruption.

Really, take some responsibility. It's about time.

Happy Republic Day!

Yaad

2011-11-02T03:23:00.000+05:30

Tum apne saath is ghar ke veerane bhi le gaye
Ke saath mere ab tumhari yaad basati hai

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तुम अपने साथ इस घर के वीराने भी ले गए
के साथ मेरे अब तुम्हारी याद बसती है

----------------------------------------------

~ thesaurabh

Twitter: twitter.com/thesaurabh | Flickr: flickr.com/thesaurabh

Steve Jobs

2011-10-08T06:34:00.001+05:30

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever"

~ John Keats, in Endymion

Steve Jobs, you beauty!

Random Wisdom

2011-10-04T23:58:00.000+05:30

"An explorer is just another escapist with a good PR."

~ thesaurabh

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Twitter: twitter.com/thesaurabh | Flickr: flickr.com/thesaurabh

Yaad

2011-09-26T04:35:00.001+05:30

Kaagaj kalam lekar baitha tha
lafzon se dillagi kar raha tha
ek lafz bada badtameez nikla
tumhara jikr kar baitha

aaj tumhari yaad ayi

---------------------------------------

कागज़ कलम लेकर बैठा था

लफ़्ज़ों से दिल्लगी कर रहा था

एक लफ्ज़ बड़ा बदतमीज़ निकला

तुम्हारा ज़िक्र कर बैठा

आज तुम्हारी याद आई

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[Wrote this for a childhood friend :) - 03/05/11]

The Cosmic Trick

2011-07-20T03:36:00.002+05:30

Long time since I wrote something like a poem. So, here goes...

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Circles

They run in
Waiting for
The opportune moment
The point of intersection

Millennia pass
They don't (meet)

Parallel circles
Love blind rocks
The cosmic trick
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Post production insight 1: I get this feeling that the last three lines (of this poem) can pass for an English Haiku. Don't they?
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Twitter: twitter.com/thesaurabh | Flickr: flickr.com/thesaurabh

Top of the Mind Playlist

2011-04-17T03:02:00.002+05:30

10 songs which are on the top of my playlist these days (in no specific order of preference):

- Roadhouse Blues by The Doors

- Turn The Page by Bob Segar

- Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

- This Night by Black Lab

- The Man Who Sold The World by Nirvana

- Sunset Point (album) by Gulzar

- Heavy Fuel by Dire Straits

- Just Feel Better by Aerosmith

- Fade To Black by Metallica

- Hey You by Pink Floyd

Note 1: Very difficult to pick just one song from the album "Sunset Point". The whole album is like a poem with each song being a verse.

Note 2: Chances are that among all these famous numbers, you might have missed out on "This Night" by Black Lab. I heard this song in a recent episode of House M.D. and absolutely loved it. Recommended.

Coincidence and the small joys

2011-02-25T02:41:00.005+05:30

Some six months back, a little past 7 on a Saturday evening, sitting at Toto's Garage (Bandra, Mumbai), I was deeply engrossed in a discussion about aesthetics, beauty, language and purpose of our existence with a friend, almost oblivious to the music that was playing there.

Why was I oblivious to their music? For starters, the conversation was really, really engrossing. But more importantly, as any regular at Toto's would know, their playlist is almost exactly the same, everyday, to the extent that you can probably tell the time by listening to the song that is playing. It's not a differentiator. It's not a shortcoming. It's how it is. It is a part of the personality of the place. It's a part of the place. Like the number plates on the walls, the old Beetle hanging from the rooftop and mysterious man whom no has ever seen without his Ray-Ban.

Anyway, so we were talking and I started humming. And I realized I was humming a song which just got over. I couldn't remember the lyrics, I couldn't remember the sound of the singer's voice, I couldn't remember a damn thing except the very prominent sound of Harmonica/Mouth Organ used in the song.

My friend didn't seem to remember/know the song either. Regardless of my anxiety to know which song it was, I decided to act cool, and didn't ask anyone else. A terrible mistake, I must admit!

Anyway, next day I tried to look up the song. No luck. (Though in the process I ended up exploring some other good numbers.)

-----

Cut to today, about an hour past midnight, I was in my room when I heard a familiar sound coming from the direction of the drawing room. I jumped off my seat, rushed to the drawing room. The same Harmonica tune as I described earlier. At least I feel it was the same. The song was playing on my flatmate's laptop. I asked him which song it is. He told me the name of the song.

I have heard the name of the song. I knew who had sung it. I knew everything about the song except the song itself.

Earlier today, I was reading about another famous number from the same singer, after which I ended up reading about the singer himself. While reading I learnt that "this song" was his first hit song. So I knew the melody, I had the memory, I knew the name of the song, I knew all there was to be known about this song.

I just didn't know the song. Something, may be the only thing, that really mattered.

So I came back to my room and played the song on my laptop. As I listened to the lyrics of the song for the first time ever, I was totally overwhelmed. Why? Here's why...

Piano Man | Billy Joel

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes."

The song described the very situation I was in. Such a wonderful coincidence!

-----

The song has been playing on my laptop in the loop for past one hour or so. And I think it will go on throughout the night.

Also, #SmallJoys is one of the top trending topics on the twitter right now. Ah, the small joy of a coincidence. :)

Incoherent

2011-02-24T02:57:00.005+05:30

I have made about 6,000 tweets so far. At an average of, say, 70 characters every tweet, that's 420,000 characters. At the rate of, say again, 7 characters per word, that's like 60,000 words.

That is a big number. Especially considering I have hardly updated my blog in months. And this makes me wonder, why?

May be because tweeting is convenient. Or may be because it's transient. May be both. A blog post is a much more serious affair. No one reads those tweets. Not that anyone reads these blog posts, but well, lets assume some people might do. Just in case. Also, that assumption is important for self-motivation.

Everyone is so busy tweeting about what they think or what they feel or what they think they should feel or what they feel they should think that they hardly get any time or energy or attention left to read what others are writing. That got messy. But that makes sense. If you can read that, that is. Anyway, that's not related to the topic. Or may be it is. Smart title, you see!

Anyway, so the bottom line is that I will try to write more, and often. No targets. Just more, and often.

In the meanwhile, if you have suggestions, tips and tricks on "how to be regular at writing/blogging", please do share those in the comments. I really appreciate that a lot.

Get Inspired

2010-09-26T01:16:00.009+05:30

Just watched "LOTR: Return of the King". What mighty awesomeness, wow! There's an extremely inspiring exchange between Sam and Frodo from "LOTR: The Two Towers" that I am reminded of every single time I watch any of the movies from this trilogy. Here it is:

***********
Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.

Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?

Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

***********

Yes, there's some good in this world... and it's worth fighting for. We'll fight. :)

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T17:24:00.008+05:30

Words may be cheap. Hope, however, is golden.
--------------------------------------------------------------

So here we are, the last day of the year. People are ready to let go of the year that it was, eager to embrace the New Year with arms and hearts wide open. It is in this moment that I pray you to hold on to this passing year, for a few moments more.

For many of us, this year didn't turn out as the year we dreamt of. Expectations were corrected and the dreams were shattered. It is in this moment, I request you to hold on to what all you have dreamt about and expected of.

Struggle may not be highly coveted but is an inevitable reality of life. To perceive the struggle as an opportunity and not as an adversity is the only way to get better of it. It is in this moment of struggle that I ask you not to lose your heart and spirit but to hold on to life with courage, confidence and strength.

As a famous quote by James J Corbett goes:

***********

Fight one more round.

Fight one more round when your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring

Fight one more round.

When your arms are so tired you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard

Fight one more round.

When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired you wish your opponent would crack you on the jaw and put you to sleep

Fight one more round.

Remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.

***********

Fight one more round my dear friends.

Wish you all a very happy new year and the life you always dreamt of.

The Fall - Part II

2009-11-28T23:27:00.001+05:30

My fight for survival entered into the third night. I really wondered, had this been a story, would I believe in it. I was afraid to die and this was the single most powerful reason for me to hang on. This was a time when I started noticing something. The clouds started to clear and the cold wave struck the valley.

It was turning extremely cold and I was still bleeding from the wound in my hand. As the blood was dripping on my face the cold sent shrills along my spine. I cried in my worst and loudest possible voice but I could not hear any sound. Probably my words got frozen in the cold. This is when I felt most scared in my life, and for my life.

The blood stopped dripping by now. I looked down, and saw a white blanket of mist, illuminated by the moonlight, covering the valley. There was a river or a lake, shining, at the far left. For a moment I wished that I had a pen and a paper.

It was amusing how a simple wish to write overtook the fear of imminent death albeit just for a moment.

This was the moment of clarity. I smiled. I think I did.

I wanted to live, to smile, to write, to feel, no matter how short this life might be. I was not afraid anymore.

I felt liberated and I decided to let go of the rope.

I did.

I was falling down. I felt a sharp pain in my otherwise numb shoulder as the heart started to pump the blood into the arm. Life was coming back to me, may be for a split second, but it was. I cried again, louder this time, but not in pain, rather in celebration of life. I fell to live.

<End of part II. Watch this space for more!>

The Fall - Part I

2009-11-26T23:59:00.004+05:30

Sky looked murky with all the clouds and it looked pretty dark even though it was yet sometime before the darkness will actually befall the valley. The wind was getting strong and the valley looked amazingly beautiful from the top. I would have loved to see this view for all my life had I not been hanging with just one hand on the rope stretching across the two hillocks. Probably it was all that I was left with to see in whatever life I had left with to live. I don’t know how I ended up here in this otherwise God forsaken place. I have no clue what this rope is doing here. Is it a dream? It better be, but no! I can feel the wind trying to chisel away pieces of my skin and I can feel the numbness in my shoulder. I don’t know from where I derived the strength to hang on to this rope for this long.

It has been long since I was hanging here. Not that I had a watch but I saw sun rising from behind that flat hill twice and if not for clouds I can see it setting for the third time. It was weird how I didn’t feel hungry or thirsty for a single moment all this while. Last night it rained but I didn’t feel wet, nor did I feel cold. No, I have not become numb either, for I can feel the wind. This could not be a dream, for even in my worst dream I can not imagine that blue thing holding me on that rope is my hand.

It was so high where I was hanging that I could not even see the ground under me. The space was mostly filled with mist and my motivation to hang on to that rope was possibly coming from the imagination that there lie spears down under the mist and the sheer thought of the pain was scary enough to make my grip on to that rope stronger.

It was getting even darker and I was losing all hopes of rescue. I tried moving along the rope but no matter in which direction do I move by how much, it all looked the same. The only contribution this exercise made to me was that of confirming that it was not a dream as I could feel the blood coming off my hands dripping on my face. Yes, the blood tastes like salt but what really surprised me was that my hand still had some blood in it. I could not hang on to this rope forever, I thought, but I could not die either. I was afraid and for the first time during all this time, I realized that I am going to die. Fear dawned upon me and filled every void of my existence. I was not ready to die. I had so much left to do.

<... to be continued>

Making sense of noise

2009-08-07T15:08:00.006+05:30

Life doesn't have background music, just white noise!

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Detailed post to follow later.

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Daydream

2009-05-30T03:35:00.004+05:30

Dedicated to the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.

Your eyes don’t speak, just hide
like an ocean on a moonless night, guide

to the fragility of the truth, lied
to the author of the verse, who tried

to escape the inexplicable, reside
through the play of heavenly, decide

the destiny of the fallible, inside
your eyes, don’t speak, just hide

-

Twenty Months, One Lifetime

2009-03-03T05:37:00.006+05:30

This evening when I was walking by the Sunset Point, snapshots from last 20 months kept on flashing in front of my eyes. I saw a bunch of guys standing in front of guard room swamped in the enthusiasm and excitement of having made it to IIM Indore. I saw the night when we fought it hard to be crowned as the most talented section and the crazy evening when India won T20 world cup and people danced bare chest while being showered and splashed with water smelling like Harpic. Trying to build a human pyramid and break the mataki, covered in mud all become one again. I saw people running around the campus during IRIS while some others chose to sleep in their rooms with their indifference and one crazy guy writing 'wake up calls' on bathroom mirrors.

I saw 'A Top Parties' and 'late night walk scandals'. I saw people joyous and miserable during placements. I saw glint in every person's eye and chuckle on their cheeks when a new member, 'the most adorable guy' of the campus joined our family. I saw pranks that we pulled and the pranks that were pulled on us. I saw sleepy heads hiding behind water flask in the class rooms and the happy days when we had 20% off rule.

I saw the sky pouring over campus creating artificial cascades on the stairs behind the library and the foggy mornings when you can not see the ground where you are about to land your feet. I saw melting pot once the venue of every party, now the temple of butt-kicking ritual and D Block court always abuzz with cricket and some of the most memorable parties of our times.

I saw my life and others' as I walked back to the hostel. I saw what I am going to miss for rest of my life.

IIM Indore - I 'lived' here!

Just another participant
Batch of 2009

A ride to the heaven

2008-11-08T23:26:00.003+05:30

Nov 08, 2008, Morning 5 a.m.

After two long hectic days, a long night without any provision of sleep and a disturbed mood for whatsoever reason, I was out there in the open to cover Ashwamedha, the flagship event of our annual fest IRIS, on a notice as short as 30 minutes. I was running out of battery in my camera, had no charger and it was not the best time in the day to ask people for their cameras or chargers. I walked down to melting pot, a place in front of our canteen, to meet the organizing team and the finalists to get started for the day. But wait, it had to go worse. I was told that the organizers had a surprise rural stint for the finalists at a village called Harsola about 30 odd kms from IIM Indore. Damn! With no camera, no batteries, no breakfast, no open shops in the path at this time of day, what the hell am I going to do there?

When things can not go worse, they can only get better. So I raided one of the fellow batchmates room and took his camera and charger, put it on charging. Grabbed a junior and took his charger and put my batteries on charging. A few minutes later, got another camera from another fellow batchmate. Ashwa team was running late by about an hour or so and with that I got those extra 60 minutes to get my arsenal charged. Canteen was open by this time so got myself fueled up with some nice Poha and a cup of hot coffee.

Oh yeah! I had heard about this interesting finalist (read nice looking girl) so the motivation that was amiss all this while, was coming back to life.

And then suddenly one guy asks me, can you ride a bike? Damn you idiot! I don't want to ride a bike. I want to sit in the cab and click pics. That is my job for the day! Furthermore, that is where the chick is going to be. But what the heck, I said, Yes I can.

He handed over to me the key of a brand new 200cc bike. A tamed beast to say the least. (Does it rhyme?) Ah, something better than the chick, I thought. And so it started. "It" - It is what I wanted to tell you about. It is what I was preparing you all this while for. It is what you have to read all of above junk to know about. It was a ride through wide open highways outside the city of Indore, with breeze sifting through my hair, and a landscape so beautiful, I was feeling like heaven.

I know the story has a great potential for literary genius but the ability of my language to explain this experience ends here. And though it sounds like just-another-ride, it was spiritual/orgasmic (chose your extreme :P) high for me! Or may be even better. I was riding there on the road and jukebox in my head was busy playing, "on a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair..." This could not be anything but the heaven! It was heaven. :)

The day continued to get better. Saw a herd of camels that day - more than a hundred of them, flocks of sheep, consisting of more than several thousands, went door-to-door and saw the so called best MBAs of India trying to sell stuff of daily needs to villagers and villagers outsmarting them. A few cups of tea by the roadside. Hell lot of pics. A great day, one of the best in my life.

Check out the pics:
http://picasaweb.google.co.in/shrivastava.sun/AshwamedhaRuralStintIRIS2008#

-

Setting an example - II

2008-06-25T23:46:00.013+05:30

Here is another interesting piece of news. Topper of his management class at IIM Ahmedabad, Kaushalendra, has come up with an interesting entrepreneurial venture. Something that I wish more graduates from IITs, IIMs and other premier institutes of India should be doing. This news caught my attention especially because for quite some time now bitching about the worsening condition of law and order in Bihar and UP has become the "In-thing" but no one ever bothers to think of a solution. Here is one guy who is trying to make a difference. We need many more Kaushalendras. Way to go dude.

Read more at Financial Express
and Economic Times

Setting an example

2008-05-07T11:39:00.004+05:30

Mr. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Governer of West Bengal, has decided to go for a voluntary two hours power cut at Raj Bhavan (Governer's House).

Read more at Time of India

Frequencies

2008-04-23T14:19:00.004+05:30

I read a piece of writing yesterday, something that compared colours and music. As there are notes to sound, so are the colours to light. Wonderful, goose bumpy thought. So true, so elementary, still I doubt how many of us observe it.

Colours, music and fragrances are three elements that influence me a lot; to the extent that I can say that they drive me. Nostalgia is another such element but I believe that it exists somewhere in parallel to a lot of other things or rather is intertwined with most of the things and hence detailed dwelling into nostalgia needs a separate discussions altogether.

So I was saying that the music and colours are basically frequencies of sound and light. Now I recall all those media players’ visualizations showing music on spectrum and a lot of other things and it amuses me endlessly that despite my great love for physics I never noticed this simple analogy, or even if I did, I never remembered.

I wonder if the two things can be integrated i.e. you see a spectrum and think of the tune (that is how the optical fibre communication takes place, more of less) or rather more interestingly think of colours when you listen to a piece of music. High pitch means violet and high bass for red… wow! And I am not talking about those visualizations again; use your imagination if you can.

Moving on to the fragrances, I wonder if we can extend the above phenomenon to it. And more I think about it, more I feel puzzled, confused, startled and puzzled again. I don’t know anything about the science of fragrances or olfactics (“study of sense of smell” as they call it) but I doubt that smell can be classified like colours and music. Can smell have the frequencies?

Think Spectrum! :)

MBA for dummies

2008-04-23T13:47:00.002+05:30

With three trimesters and two and a half weeks (reminds me of new show that I am watching, two and a half men :D) into the summer internship, here I am all set to write some globe about MBA. Globe, as you must have noticed is a word that doesn’t belong to most of you people’s vocabulary in a way it belongs to mine. This is a glimpse of our never-ending-ever-expanding lingo, something like the universe. Now as you may notice that the mention of universe here is quite arbit (another lingo). That is how our communications are like.

I somehow feel weird using word MBA as I am not doing an MBA. I am doing a course in management and as a philosophy I believe that management is much bigger than MBA. However for conformity matters, I accept to use MBA and the two terms will be used interchangeably throughout our discussions. :D. I know it has got nothing to do with this discussion but I find it worth mentioning that I am very fond of using smiley-s so don’t be overwhelmed with overwhelming (and mostly unnecessary) use of those. :)

I don’t know why people do MBA. It has always confused me. I wanted to do MBA because I wanted to go back to studies and have some good time there. Having done my graduation from my hometown, I wanted to experience life in a residential program and that too in a world class institute. I guess others have better reasons to do it. Some of them are too bored from their jobs and want a break so instead of taking a small vacation they chose the extended one (that too sometimes on company expense) and in reality end up regretting the decision under the piles of books and never ending assignments and term papers/projects. And then there are a few kids who are confused as ever, troubled from the education so much that they want to finish it up, once for all and hence right after their graduations they join MBA(worth a pity, seriously!). Rest of the people can be classified as serious MBA candidates who state to have bigger and better reasons to do it but when we go for a Root Cause Analysis everything boils down to those extra zeroes on the pay checks. :) However as even in my soberest effort, I can not relate to these muggoo-s and ghissoo-s [nerds, that too incurable] (though I appreciate the extra zeroes), I shall refrain from any discussion regarding them unless strictly required. :)

If you think that I just wrote too long a passage, it may be blamed to the endless journals and papers that we are forced to read during the course. Just in case if you have the slightest of intentions of adding an MBA to your nameplate or visiting card and you find the above paragraph anywhere remotely close to long, May heavens help you! I think media and movies are in a big way responsible for the charm that is attached with MBA (like everything else that happens around us, what a cliche, sigh!).

No, I am not talking about the exorbitant salaries that they mention (as that is indeed a given) but the other factors.
How do you get to see an MBA in the movies? They wear great suits, dine at amazing hotels, drink best vines, can just walk in and pick up the best (read hottest) girl in the bar, live in the most amazing villas and condos… the list goes on. So far I haven’t met any of them in real life and if you have please don’t let me know (I am rather happy with my blissfully ignorant shabby life).

So far so good, I guess this much of crap must be sufficient to appease our blog-guru for the time being. I do welcome feedback. You may write to me at shrivastava.sun@gmail.com (applauds, slaps, criticisms are good; cash, gifts, kisses, dates are better) in case you think you can handle any more of me :D or be simple, just drop in a comment, we appreciate that quite as much. :)

Saurabh

[Originally published at http://mbaglobe.blogspot.com/]

Words may fail me!

2008-03-29T04:10:00.007+05:30

(Click on the image to view full size)

Mar 28, 2008 - 06:53 AM
F-Block Terrace, IIM Indore

Words may fail me, Colours won't.

Humne dekhi hai in aankhon ki mehakati khushaboo

2008-03-23T22:26:00.013+05:30

Gulzar
Absolute master of poetry. From "Main ek sadi se baithi hun" to "Bane to tere khyal ko libas ki tarah utaar dun" and "waqt se kehna zara, woh thahar jaye wahi" this man rules everything through his words. His unusual metaphors send the listener on a journey to a surreal world. This Snow white hair and a large white kurta wearing simple person's words are equally simple yet he is a man who can make these simple words sound mystic.

He can produce romance from anything. How else can you explain "taaza gire patte ki tarah, sabj lawn pe lete hue", "geeli mehandi ki khushaboo, jhooth mooth ke wade sab" and "Pukaro mujhe naam leke pukaro, mujhe tumse apni khabar mil rahi hai". The romance continues in "Aapki ankhon me kuchh", "Phir wohi raat hai", "Ek hi khwab kai baar" and "Gulmohar gar tumhara naam hota". And how can someone portray the pain and suffering of a lonely man in words any simpler than "Ek akela is shahar me" yet making it so dark.

He is not only a great lyricist or writer but also a great and sensitive filmmaker. Parichay, Koshish, Achanak, Ijaazat, Angoor, Aandhi, and Namkeen! Every movie representing a different shade of human relations and emotions. Just when you thought he is magician of words, he gives you Koshish, story of a deaf and mute couple. Climax of movie Ijaazat gives you the worst heartache you can only imagine of otherwise and the scene in Aandhi with the line "Yeh chaand hai na, yeh din main nahi nikalta, ise raat me dekhna" shows the rekindling romance in a long parted couple.

He is my inspiration to write and I will consider myself extremely successful the day when I can write one nano times as good as he does. And all I wish is to meet him in person at least once, sit by his feet and listen to his work from himself.

[This post is part of Maestros series. These are the people whom I consider absolute genius. I have grown up reading, watching and/or listening to them and I think these are the very best of what the world has seen yet and will ever get to see. ]

What do I want?

2007-11-27T03:13:00.000+05:30

I want to fly as the fragrance flies. I want to touch someone as the wind touches the flower. I want to brighten up your day as the sunlight does to a meadow. I want to tell you how much do I care. I want to make you smile, all through my life.

I want to do this and that and so much more.

But all that I want you to know is that I can’t do this… without you.

A Photograph is Forever!

2007-11-03T04:25:00.000+05:30

Ever wondered what a photograph is? A leaf from the book of time, a moment captured on a piece of paper. See into it, one more time. People you love, places you went to, moments and memories you cherish. A photograph is just that, a moment that was caught unaware of its existense. Time stands still in there. When you were 16, when you saw that spark in her eyes for the first time, when your kids were young, when you wore that beautiful new dress. Every time you look at a photograph, you re-live that moment. You are 16 again, that same spark in her eyes again, you are with your young kids again, and your old dress is, again, new.

Why were you smiling so much that day? Whom was the joke on? Who was that girl third from the right in the first row? Whom were you looking at that day? Hey! you were so fat those days.Every photograph tells a story, some important while others trivial. Nevertheless, every story, important or trivial at one point of time, becomes beautiful cherishable memory. Photographs help us keep those moments alive. Sometimes I wonder how lucky we are to be able to documents moments of our lives.

And then, just like the colour and the texture of your skin changes, the colour of the good old paper photographs do also change. Ever saw a faded photograph and felt nostalgic? Ever felt a photograph? With your finger moving over her face, trying to recall the feel of that touch. If only you can feel that again...Ever noticed that if you take a brand new photograph with Sepia or Black & White effect, it automatically and immediately gets a nostalgic touch.

Some memories fade with time, some alter and while some even get lost in the corners of mind. Thanks to the advances in the technology a photograph lives forever. And with those photographs live the associated memories. Preserving memories has become easier than ever. So don't miss out on any of the moments, preserve as many of them as possible.

Because... A photograph is forever!

More beauty

2007-10-12T04:49:00.000+05:30

Some of the most beautiful things in the life appear when you are least expecting them to. Or may be because you are least expecting them, they appear more beautiful. What ever be the case, here is one of those beautiful experiences.

It was 4:40 am, I was walking towards my room after a long case discussion (which itself is a very rare accurance and hence qualify as a real beauty :D ) and looked towards sky. Morning star was shining at its best and I said to myself, "Wow!!!", but that was not all. Just then I saw something moving in the sky. A large white 'V'.
"What the heck?" I thought. "Ghost?" "Aircraft?"

Nopes! Much better than those, or for that matter than many other things.

A flock of birds, flying high, now this way, then that way... Most awesome spectacle that you can expect at this hour. See it to believe it.

Beauty!!!

Beauty

2007-10-03T05:50:00.000+05:30

Beauty!

I see sky turning from black to dark blue to light blue with shades of orange and red. Dawn. It is beautiful. I see thin layers of clouds fleeting over moon. I see the cover of fog spread over the grounds and fields. I see brown hills and clouds mingling with each other so that I can not differentiate between two. It is beauty spread all over.

I have been observing so much of beauty spread all over, in nature, in things, in buildings, in people... everywhere. And then I thought that I can see what others can't. And then I see that the notion of beauty in everything and beauty everywhere is indeed present everywhere. People are obsessed with the idea. And it is then that I feel that the whole discussion about beauty everwhere has become so 'cliche'. I am using this word 'cliche' so often that this word itself feels like 'cliche'.

So much said and so much observed. Beauty. Why are we all talking about beauty. I will not be wrong when I assume that everyone who discovers his or her pursuit for beauty must be thinking that he or she has found something very unique. And it feels really weird to know that it is a concept that must have been rediscovered some million times or may be even some billion times till date, and counting...

All these ideas that keep coming to my mind, and to so many other people's mind are beautiful. And if I chose to accept them all, I find no 'cliche' about the beauty. Rather I think that so many people finding beauty everywhere itself is beautiful. Actually beauty is under-discovered until the last person on earth can observe all the beauty that has been bestowed upon us.

Beauty is an endless journey. Come! Lets walk another mile.

Pain

2007-08-03T02:54:00.000+05:30

Pain is addictive. Among all human emotions and feelings it is the most powerful one. Well, I could have granted that to love but love is just like a passing breeze. It comes, soothes and fades away. What exists before and after, and sometimes even in between, is Pain.

Pain is not a negative feeling. Pain is just pain. Pure pain. Deep within. Pain is irrational. Pain is uncontrollable. And most surprizingly, Pain is enjoyable. While the observer is thinking that a person is suffering, the person might actually be enjoying the pinch. That is why people get stuck to the sad feelings and memories. Everytime you hit a new low you feel this weird pulsating pain in the centre of your chest that expands to fill every void within. In a sense, then, pain completes you. So enriching.

But still, by no means pain is a healthy feeling. Just like alcohol and smoke, it kills a part of you. Difference is that booze and smoke give you a high while pain gives you a low. But ain't low is negative high??? (Well, Yes! I am an Engineer!)

Crying is not the pain. Crying is for weak (but lucky) people. Crying is like the "lemon soda" after booze. It saves one from hang over. Crying gives vent to the pain, or the cause of it. In this sense crying makes you feel lighter which is exactly why pain is addictive. For some people would inflict some pain upon themselves, break down, cry, and feel lighter. Joy! Kind of Meditation in itself.

Conversation with Myself

2007-03-31T02:29:00.000+05:30

I am hopelessly in love.

Love can't be hopeless.
Love itself is hope.

Hope that someone is there to speak to
to go to
to seek refuge in
to find support in
to love back
and to hope for...

Love as a mother loves a child...
too common an analogy ?
It ought to be...
It is as common as mothers and children are,
and hence, quite as relevant.

I am in love with everthing,
with everyone; well Almost...

I love this late night blogging where I am pouring my heart out...
I love the evenings with friends at chai-taparis, cafes, icecream parlours...
And the evenings with family, and the evenings with everyone else and the evenings without anyone...

I love the fact that I can love, I can feel it and I can express it, more or less...
I love the fact that I can love so much that I have gone beyond the normal definition of love and hope, and have forgotten if these are two different words...

It is like a journey through strange corridors of life
where things lose meanings...
thus making life much more meaningful...

And then, and there...

Life can't be defined
It can be felt
It can be lived

I am hopelessly in love,
but my love is not hopeless...

My love is my Hope!

I hope you find the hope, or love, or both if there is any difference!

A Loose Sheet of Paper

2007-02-08T16:59:00.000+05:30

What do I want?

Someone asked me this question. Such a simple and straight question, nothing can get straighter than this and yet at times you might find it endlessly difficult to answer, as I am feeling now.

I want to fly like a loose sheet of paper dropped from top of a mountain, now falling, now rising, flown away by the wind to unknown destinations, to unknown future. To a future where future migh not exist at all.

May be to a river... A loose sheet of paper flowing with the river. And all that was written on me is fading away... And I m becoming blank, again... And Pure and Clear, again...

May be to a forest... A loose sheet of paper amidst the trees & shrubs, beasts & insects, lying on part grass, part ground... And then a wild chase... Torn apart... Again... into the pieces... may be back to where I, the loose sheet of paper, belong...

May be to an old riverside temple in a village... A loose sheet of paper brought down by the river... Where a lone soul, depressed, disappointed from life is sitting by the old temple... wondering about the future... finds a loose sheet of paper, with a map half faded... and finds a mission...

May be to a desert... A loose sheet of paper with a message on it.... to a caravan... to a man long parted from his beloved...

May be to a valley that has just received a snowfall... A loose sheet of paper... Dry as it could be... to a family trying to light the fire... to lit the fire.. and warm the family... to become the smoke... and to disperse to the air... rising high and spreading across...

May be to another hill... A loose sheet of paper to a toymaker... who folds me and turns me and folds me and then set me free.. to a new future...

I want to be a loose sheet of paper, one sheet for every person on the earth... With a message, a map, a story or may be with nothing, just a blank loose sheet of paper... but most of all, I want to be a loose sheet of paper for YOU... and what you will do with it... Let me know...

And yes, Someday when I will be tired being others loose sheet of paper, I want to find a loose sheet of paper for myself... To write a poem, of my life... Or find a message for me... Get me one... Someday!

आहिस्ता आहिस्ता

2007-01-26T01:27:00.000+05:30

ज़िन्दगी क्या है, बस एक चिमनी है
धुआं निकलता है, आहिस्ता आहिस्ता

जल रहा हूं मैं इसके भीतर
देख लीजे कभी, आहिस्ता आहिस्ता

उस मोड पे खोये थे जो हमने
याद आते हैं वो, आहिस्ता आहिस्ता

मैं एक अधूरी सी तस्वीर हूं 'जानम'
रंग भरे थे तुमने, आहिस्ता आहिस्ता

-
जानम

रात और दिन - एक प्रेम कहानी

2007-01-14T17:48:00.000+05:30

खोइ हुई रात से
ऊनींदे से दिन ने पूछा
जल्दी क्या है
दो पल ठहरो
ये जो साया है ज़ुल्फों का
चेहरे पे रहने दो
ये जो खुशबू है
सांसो मे बहने दो

के फिर तुम चली जाओगी
तो जाने कब लौट के आओगी
रात ने समझाया
अपना साथ दो पल का है
तुम्हारा आना ही
मेरे जाने का सबब है

दिन ने हौले से मुस्कुरा के
छुआ रात के होंठों को
कि शर्मा उठी रात
रंगों से झिलमिला सा गया
सारा आकाश

दिन अभी कहां मानता था
लौटने का वादा मांगा
रात ने ये कहा हस के
रंग बिखरे हैं जो ये अम्बर पे
बिखरेंगे फिर मेरे आने से

इन्तेज़ार बडा लम्बा
बेकरार दिन था
लेकिन रात का कोई
नाम-ओ-निशां ना था

दिन दोपहर मे ज़लने लगा
और आकाश को रंग दिया
रिसते हुए ज़ख्मों ने

रात का वादा था
रंग बिखरे हैं

रात फिर आई है... दिन फिर आयेगा !

-
जानम

GOD!

2006-08-03T16:02:00.001+05:30

We live. Earth is the only [known] planet to have life. Yet it is a huge universe. Millions of stars, much larger than our Sun. And then all of these are made from a few elementary particles. How has this happened? Just like that? Randomly? No, This is what I call God!

Religions put a picture of God in front of us and instruct us ,on behalf of God, to do this and not to do that. Why should we believe in those stories? Do we really need a God? And even if we do, is it necessary that God exists in the form as depicted by religious scriptures? I am not going to discard those. But I will discuss those a little later.

For now, I want to share what is my notion of God. When you are in immense pain or are afraid or are nervous, whom do you remember? God, Mother, Father, a Friend or someone else. Do they heel your wounds, or eliminate the cause of fear? No, but still you remember them in the times of difficulties because it provides you strength and support to stand up and face the pain and problem. This is what I call God. It is a feeling, abstract and pure. It is the state of selflessness when you surrender yourself to the Unknown. No help comes from the outside but you regain it yourself from within. This is what I call God.

See around yourself, see yourself. Can you think that so many beautiful and complex things can come to existence on their own. I am not suggesting that there is someone sitting somewhere managing all of these thnigs but there should be a system of nature that mantains all of these. That is God. I don't bother about how does He look, what He wears and where He lives. Why should I? As long as I can gain strength from Him, I believe in Him. This very belief is God itself. (Don't think using "He" for God suggests a male God... as in my notion these specifications are irrelevant. You can very well use She instead of He. No issues!)

Then there are a few implications of this notion. And these are really incredible. Religions are work of men's imagination. The way we visualize God and his kingdom today are work of imagination again. But how does it matter? Millions of people around the world believe in those notions. They gain strength and energy from these notions. In this way they are connecting to the true God. The religion acts as interface. Moreover religious practices bring about something important to the society and people, namely system and descipline. (Leave apart the malpractices. They are not compliant to the notion of religions any ways. 'These [again] are work of men and are not doing anything good to the people. True spirit of religion should not be confused with those. Further I believe that religions should evolve to eradicate such malpractices. This kind of flexibility lacks in most of the religious and non religious systems.)

Last but most incredible implication is that God is One. His presence can be felt. His effect on our lives can be experienced. His mercy can be witnessed. It doesn't matter which religion you belong to (or even if you don't follow any religion at all), but what does matter is that all those names (and even the absence of name, as in the case of atheists) ultimately merge to form the One, who is the immense source of energy and life. God is energy! So are we. We are one and the same!

God bless us all!

Amen!