Learning, Living

After a while you learn,
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn,
that love doesn’t mean leaning,
company don’t mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents arent promises.
And you begin to accept you defeats
with your head up and eyes ahead,
with the grace of a woman;
not the despair of a child.
And you learn ,
to build all your roads on today
because tommorrows ground is too uncertain
for plans
and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

After a while you learn
that even sunshine burns if you get too much
so you plant yyourown garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for some one to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure, you really are strong
you really do have worth.
And you learn, and you learn, and you learn
with every goodbye , you learn.

In search of peace!

The air is crisp with the heat of the sun.
The distant crackling of a branch somewhere
Echoes through the streets.
Paradise burns this summer!

The air is static with fevered anticipation,
Somewhere here, a man curses, wiping sweat off his brow,
Somewhere there, a woman looks up from her desk
In a hope that today would be better!

Above all this, on a terrace he stands;
A glazed expression on his face.
A stone sculpture, he stands still
Starting at the distant dark cloud!

A storm is on its way and he is waiting.
The silence, too much for him to bear!
The burning feeling rises within him,
He yearns to be in the middle of the tempest.

Pines for the touch, he does, To hear the soothing voice.
He drowns himself in the moments yearning.
Across the edge, the figure moves. He hesitates.
He turns, not wanting to, looks across at the face.

She waits, starting ahead –
The storm calls to her too. She yearns too.
He shifts. He turns. No words come to him.
His lips go dry, her eyes moist!

The average’s passion

Everything beautiful ever uttered,
Everything meaningful ever created,
Everything intelligent ever thought,
Incurs my wrath- my cold stare!

As long as its not mine,
The unstoppable jealously which
Slowly turns to sorrow,
That fuels an inferiority complex
And paves way to the seething wrath
That I thought I had escaped!

Such brilliant ideas, those were,
It wasn’t my mind that
Thought those thoughts
My voice that hummed the piece

Sometimes a console drifts in
“I am young and road is young!”
A greater voice screams,
“Its too late! You are wasting time!”
I am not breathing now, to live tomorrow
There is nothing to do, but drink water
To wet the parched throat.

What all the mind can fathom
And my hands can create – I want all
I want perfection and beauty embodied.
A mind that has the same foundations
But that which has branched out elsewhere.
To a different plan altogether, maybe
Which can make me smile
Within the aura of which I am filled with hope
My conviction is restored, where I find my
Purpose blooming and I am ever so powerful
I need to be loved back, that’s important.
But not as important as love itself
The entity needs to know that its being loved.
That it’s worth has been seen, appreciated, embraced.
The love is naked, pure, self- full and truthful!

The unasked!

Here under the sun we lay!
There I pushed her away!
Here on the boulder we laughed!
There I brought her tears!
Here on that day we lived!
There, on that day I died!
Here on this day I pine!
There she sighs!
Will you be mine ?
Those words I didn’t utter,
When I ached to say,
Now I choke them down,
Before it dooms us once again!

And then it poured!

Sitting atop a hill
She wonders what she should admire.
The levitated magnificence above her
Or the rooted beauty bout and below her!

She decides that the mountain air is best,
To clear her lungs and numb her feet.
That the men don’t feel, but ‘feel’.
Their pain and anguish are for the ground
And that earth is where she is,
Where pain is not condemned so
But taken to be nurturing.

While right ahead of her
Appears, a cloud so dark
Her morbid thought all look clean,
It floats above every being,
Gathering all the anger and pain.
When it fills up its flares
And then gives out a roar
It pours out its vengeance,
Drenching men with their own feelings
It rains and pours, till all is clean!

Hope!

In a fast paced world, no one stops and no one hears.
In a dark desolate street, losing oneself to the shadows.
A flash of life, a glimpse of fantasy, a chariot and swoops you away!
Faith will be rewarded, the brave will live!
Smile for there is a tomorrow, smile for the journey starts
Now!

Here again

A large please!

Of all the list that you have read online! All the dos and donts. There is one that is not mentioned anywhere. But still rather important! The difference between a walk back home and get dragged by your mundu, kind of important.. that is, if you happen to be in the middle of mallu land, wearing a comfortable mundu, chatting up with the local uncle bout the life universe and everything else, he will at some point of time offer, Insist on, pouring you a drink! Maybe twist your hand too !
At this point, Be strong, hold your ground! Fight for your life and refuse to your hearts content! The concept of a small and a large be very different in gods own country! What is small is actually more than a large and a large is the one which sends you to heaven !
So the next time ! Pour your own drink! Have a sip! Live long and prosper!

The Mangalayanam

So In the aftermath of the whole world watching, our exploration into deep space, a subtle sepia toned flash back found me, sitting on one of the numerous entry porches of a famous engineering college in mysore. A dear friend had invited me to participate in a literary fest, that he was organizing. in college.

It  was an interesting program- two people where put together randomly, and given a start point to a plot.
“two astronauts, Indians of-course, land on moon, the first from us. once there, they realize that the Indian Flag that they were supposed to be hoisting on the planet, Is in fact, missing (rather left back on earth! talk Bout having a proper checklist!)
Continue the story as a Dialogue script, with the two characters mentioned already, a character from control room on earth and a new character as per your liking!

Below is what we Wrote:

C S- Captain Shankaran

L U – Lieutenant  UnniKrishnan

MC – Mission Control Manik-Chand Seth

M R- Mundurajan
__________________________________________________________________________________
*For the benefit of the reader, the regional dialect accent, has been subdued in all cases, to facilitate efficient and non-frustrating reading experience.*
__________________________________________________________________________________

LU : Uh-oh! Captain Shakharan Cheta, We ave a Small Problem, I am not able to Find the Flag that we are supposed to put on the moon!

CS : What! How can you be so stupid and miss that out til now?, Aah! Never-mind, Call Mission Control, They Might have kept it somewhere!

LU calls MS : from the background- “ello, ManikChand Seth here, I have just stepped out to make a deal on E-bay, Please leave a message and i Will get back to you, Maybe!” ” International Caller, Please call back after some time again!”

LU : Eda Cheta, We have a small problem, The flag that we had, is simply not to be seen ya! Please advice on further Course!
( Cuts the Call and turns to CS)
Captain Cheta, why don’t we see around if the flag is lying around somewhere, What do u think sir?

CS : @)U#%&(# Unni, Do you have even an iota of intelligence in that toddy soaked brain of yours? why are u waiting around looking at me? go and see around if you have left the flag lying around somewhere!

LU : (Muttering) Thats what i said!

So Captain and Lieutenant Set out to search the vast expanse of the moons surface, for the elusive Indian flag! and as they keep proceeding, their radio picks up a faint signal, gradually strengthening, eventually putting a smile across the two astronauts glass bubble head mask!
Static….. static…. I am a Ma(static)yalee!
I wear a (static) Lungi!
I am a Card-holding member of (static) Party! 

Like flies to the scent of meen Curry, The Two Astronauts are draw to the source. What they find leaves them speechless, OR not!
A MALLU PETTI SHOP! For the Love of all things Holy.. and Unholy!
Entering the Air Lock the Two Astronauts enter an animated conversation with the shop owner -Mundurajan, over the Price of sugar in space and the freshness of kappa meen, in moon, over a cup of chai!

the radio crackles bringing the MC Sound over to the moon
“Earth to CS. Earth to CS. Come in CS!”

CS : Captain Shankaran Here! Please proceed!

MC : What is the status of your mission? have you found the flag?

CS : We are now on a chai break, Will continue the search for the missing flag after this.

MC : Chai? On the Moon? Are you running low on oxygen value?

CS : It is a Chai Stall Run by a mallu!

MC : Oh! OK, Now I understand all those Fish Bones that we found on the moons orbit! Anyways, can he help us on the Flag front?

CS : hold on while i ask him. (turns to MR) Cheta, any Idea on where we can find an Indian Flag on the moon?

MR : The only piece of clothe that big is my ‘Mundu’ and I am wearing it!

MC From Earth overhears this on the comm and decides that the Gujju Skills of his has a lot of use now, in this fine negotiation.

MC : Respected Sir, Will you give your ‘Mundu’ to save your nations respect!

MR : I am not “respected Sir”. I am Mundurajan only. As for Mundu, What will i get in return?

For the sake of brevity (and the readers sanity) we shall Exclude the lengthy and complex Negotiations that took place between MunduRajan, The Malayalee tea stall owner, and Manikchand, the Gujarati, Mission Control Tech Guy. We cut to the point in space and time where the rights of a Certain mundu has been acquired by the Indian space research wing, in exchange for a years supply of kappa Meen to the malayalee Tea stall owner! After the finer details have been haggled around, the Astronauts realise that the Colours need to be added.

CS : Mundurajan Cheta, do you have any colour pens or paints on you?

MR : I have no colours, But i do happen to have green and orange chutni! take it or leave it!

CS : We shall take it.

some time later, back on the site, the mundu has been doused with general helping of chutnis and are now about to strike the mark .

LU : Sir, how do we secure the flag on the pole. without a stitch?

CS : Unni, I Dont care bout anything right now. Just stick the damn thing on the pole. stick the pole in the ground and lets get back to earth as soon as possible. i do not want to miss the TV premiere of the New mohanlal Movie!

And so they sail back happily to earth, leaving behind a very happy Malayalee tea stall owner and a chutney styled flag of Ireland on moon.
_____________________________the end___________________________________

Now this was the story that we put! terrible i know. but it was fun nonetheless. We were apparently disqualified, citing reasons of disrespectful towards ones country and all. we still refuse that logic, stating that if u give a start with Indian astronauts missing Indian flag, you are letting the story into murky territories indeed. also, as our friend told us that we have been disqualified, we very solemnly asked him if the judge was a malayalee! the answer to which explained away our wide grins for the day!

the laws of evolution

The old school way of finding a seat on the bus is to ignore the front row, ( cos obviously. U want to have a fighting chance to survive if there is a crash. No one wants to be the first one to leave!) The second step involves systematically crossing out the last rows, yes those rows of seat that happens after the rear wheels. Where every small jump and bump is exaggerated to flying up and landing with a thud. This when coupled with the Indian road network means that u are in a state of gravity defying back braking stunts. For most part of the journey.! Nope, those rows are out. After we take out the most unwanted rows off the list. The next step is pretty simple. U find the one seat in the middle of the two set of wheels and book that off before someone else blocks it through the mighty power of internet. Now breathe! You have successfully crossed the first phase
That was relatively easy, here’s the tough one. PRAY. Pray that the seat in from of you is not occupied. Pray that the seat next to you remains unoccupied! Pray there are no snores in your bus. And pray to all possible that the windows are not the one which owing to the rattling of the bus, keeps sliding inch by inch opening you up and waking you up every 5 minutes to systematically slide it back .. Like those old school typewriter! But be warned, All these prayers are quite futile. The millions of gods that we pray to, are no match to the lord of the state transport department.
You will realize that the seat side, front, back and diagonally across the aisle, is in fact filled! With people whose faces have fallen looking at you too. For they too prayed to the millions of god for the same wishes on the same bus!
And as you make yourself comfortable (relative term to be thrown around, Just a state of mind Actually) it sinks in that the guy next to you is actually huge enough to warrant a two ticket entry, and half of your sacred bubble of cocoon has been engulfed by his jelly like structure. ! Once you make Peace with Men and the Machine, That is the time when the external forces kick in!
Those mean old geezers sitting up there, those sadistic buggers who do nothing but wait for one of us mortals to fall so that they can tick off us as bad apple and then extort bribes from us; those mean old geezers always make sure that the roads that are well scenic and beautiful are never enjoyed peacefully. There has to be a series of potholes which will send you flying up, briefly letting you a glimpse into superman’s life – in continuous doses. those Oh so awesome roads, dont even get started on them! fill them up with all the traffic and then watch as we all kill each other, honking away to glory!
All these leads to the point of evolution- the age old method migration that used to take months, nomadic tribal movement, with hardship and winter colds have now been reduced to a mere 2 to 12 hours journey! technology that delivers months of torture, all the hardship with the winter cold in one quick burst! 
a quickie on evolution really, if u look at it!