Dec 15, 2005

1985

The year was 1985.


It was as Dickens so magnificiently put it: the best of times: it was the fairly OK of times.
It was the age of the communist collapse; it was the age of Sridevi on top. It was the time of Vespa scooters arriving in India, it was the time of Priya Pickles going global, It was the age of NTR taking up sanyas (and then changing his mind to marry a young woman), it was the time of The Ambanis and their love for Tina Munim.


It was the time of the Indian Cricket Team under Sunil Gavaskar being crowned WORLD CHAMPIONS in Australia and Ravi Shastri being crowned the CHAMPION of CHAMPIONS and driving his AUDI all over the cricket ground in a totally Indian Manner with people on the bonnet and some team members spilling out of the open Doors....

It was as always, the age of fiery summers and fond, freaky monsoons in India.

It was the time of of the beloved *(few) and that of the reviled (many). It was as it always seems to be in India,

The age of blinking HOPE mingled with remarkable resilience. It was the the age of 'just the same'.

Yet change was just around the corner waiting to pounce.

And finally it was the time when I, my mother and my brother spent a glorious one year in GOA and we went to school on the Miramar Beach (panjim) at Sharda Mandir...


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I get all nostalgic thinking back to that time when we left Delhi behind for a year and ended up never returning (at least for my parents) and my four years of vanvas before making a somewhat triumphant return to the city where I was born.

Dec 11, 2005

Paradise Lost

When paradise is no longer fit for you to live in
And your adolescent dreams are gone
Through the days you feel a little used up
And you don't know where your energy's gone wrong
It's just your soul feelin' a little downhearted
Sometimes life is too ridiculous to live
You count your friends all on one finger
I know it sounds crazy just the way that we live.

Dec 8, 2005

Afterlife

Rich as you are

Death will finish
you: afterwords no
one will remember

or want you: you
have no share in
the white roses

You will flitter
invisible among
the indistinct dead
in Hell's palace
darting fitfully

Nov 30, 2005

The Ghost of George Leigh Mallory

I wandered far that night. The darkness surrounded me, held, me, craddled me, kept me safe.

I was the darkness in the shadows. Unseen. Safe.

Confidently stiding through the night I was unbreakable. Unbeatable.

Such were my thoughts.


Skirting the obstacles. Retreating to safety.

The darkness in my mind pervasive and convincing.

Allowing no room for error. Allowing no room for light.

A voice whispered. Quietly.

I looked around but no one was around.

Moving deeper into the shadows I yearned to listen. Feared to listen.

The Calling. Insistent. Never failing. Pulling me forward.

Shadows lessened. Dawn arrived.

Sunlight edged the horizon and spilled gloriously onto the waiting earth.

Golden pools upon my upturned face. Still the whispers did not subside.

I screamed. It was more than I could bear. I melted under the onslaught.

There was no safety. It burned.

Wind came with the piercing golden light. Tearing at my soul. Plucking at my clothing.

Threatening to carry me back to the safety of the night.

I could not stand. There was no support. I fell to my knees. My unseeing eyes closed against the light and the turbulent wind.

Crying. Terrified. Blindly reaching out.

A hand took mine. Sure. Steady. Pulled me to my feet.

Clinging. Sobbing. The light hurt.

A hand wiped my brow. A strong arm held me close.

No more illusions. No more empty safety.

Only truth.

Opening my eyes I began to live again.

Nov 20, 2005

A Date

A day is fixed for one's death
Why pass then the night unslept...

Nov 7, 2005

Dis - ORGAN - ized

“The eye hath ruined me”, the heart complained.
“The heart has lost me” the eye replied.
I know not which told the truth, which lied.
Between the two, it was Meer who died.


- Meer Taqi Meer.
{Poet Fantabulous}

Nov 4, 2005

Dilli Ki Billy

AM heading back to make an emphatic return to my city at last, these last 3 weeks have robbed me of feeling the summer leave and winter set in..

I belong here.. This is my mileu..
I feel at home here. I don't know why but it is...

Ab
Hunzoon Dilli Door Nahi Ast...

Its good to be back here even if it is for the 3 days before I hit the road again, this re charge is sorely required..