Near

No heart-to-heart talks
Loneliness between couples
Near but miles far away!

Written for Haiku Horizons: "near"

Kiss of Love

photograph by Robert Doisneau

Can you pause for a while?

In this fast race, as people shove,

All I want is your smile

And a re-assuring kiss of love.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 250

Ruby

Whose life is flawless?
Even ruby is not free
Of imperfections.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "ruby"

The wonder city - Melbourne

Whose eyes don’t grow bigger with the attractive sight of Melbourne? Melbourne is, indeed, one of the most beautiful places in the world. I have heard descriptions of the country Australia from many of my relatives who have settled there or visited the place. But, I have never got a chance to get there and bask in the marvellous views of the city and wonder what an amazing place this world is!

I have always had a wish to live at the topmost floor of the tallest apartment, however, I do not know whether the wish will come true. But, trying Eureka Skydeck, I would love to let my wish be true for at least a few minutes!  Standing on the top of the world I would love to touch all the landmarks of the city with my fingertip! The view from the 88th floor of a skyscraper! I’m certainly afraid of heights! But, the magnificent view would give a mixed bag of emotions of fear, thrill and excitement! And all with no real floor below! That would be a one-in-a-lifetime experience! Just take a look at the video below, Tanmay and Rohan’s Melbourne escapade. You will surely feel the rush to experience it at least once. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4LA3PbtRu0&index=15&list=PL2r0ptqQ1wBCimcqdfsBCks1YVaFDczLh

And again when it comes to heights, hot air balloon is a major attraction. Who wouldn’t think that it is a very romantic getaway.  What’s different about a hot air balloon at Melbourne is the panoramic view of the highs of mountains and the wide ocean blue. It has to be a view from paradise!
Tanmay and Rohan make it an absolute fun adventure with their humour. Check it at the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFke1cDm5F4&index=18&list=PL2r0ptqQ1wBCimcqdfsBCks1YVaFDczLh

The next thing I liked is A Maze and Things. What a great idea to make use of space for physical interaction. It just adds more fun to the already interesting science theories! Optical illusions are a fun thing. It makes us realize how our own eyes and brain cannot be REALLY reliable! Everything in this world is relativity! Do take a look at the below video to find out how A Maze and Things is funny!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPIyEbiRL0o&index=13&list=PL2r0ptqQ1wBCimcqdfsBCks1YVaFDczLh

I’m more of a nature person. I would definitely love The Twelve Apostles! A huge stretch of ocean blue and there you behold the colour changing sand rock stack apostles! Nature plays wonderful games with light - the colour of the sky, the colour of the ocean, the colour of the sand during daylight and in shadows. Nature, I salute you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ8aD--efb4&index=14&list=PL2r0ptqQ1wBCimcqdfsBCks1YVaFDczLh

Puffing Billy is another exciting thing for whoever values antique pieces from history. It is the oldest preserved steam railway train. I love the hissing start of the engine and the sight of smoke covering the antique engine . I’m a big fan of train journeys. Peninsula Hot springs is a place to unwind and relax in the naturally flowing mineral rich hot springs. Panny’s Chocolate factory is a place for every chocolate-lover! They have chocolate city, chocolate toys, chocolate exhibits. What is common in all places in Melbourne is that it makes every visit a child-like experience. I would become a child awed by what the city has to offer.

Do take a look at all the series of Tanmay and Rohan's escapade at "Come Alive in Melbourne". Visit Tourism Victoria website for a complete guide of all the places to visit in Melbourne.

ATTENTION!

Lastly, I have a surprise for all the readers! A contest where I ask a question and the best answer gets a Rs.500 shopping gift voucher. And the question is as follows:

"Which of these places would you want to visit in Melbourne and why?"

The contest closes on Jan 4th, 2015.

Good luck, folks!

Trust

A: Do you trust me?
B: Firstly answer me, do you trust your own decision? Do you trust yourself?
A: No, I'm never always sure about my decision and myself. But, that is not the question.
B: I don't know, maybe if you were confident I would have trusted you.
A: It hurts to know that there was never trust in our relationship.

Written for Lillie McFerrin Writes-Trust.

Castaway

He remembered her eyes, clear light-brown eyes. The twinkle of their beauty had always made him smile to himself when he would be alone. He would laugh and smile at her silliest of jests, in spite of being a morose such as himself. Why did he love her? He had tried to reason with the thought, but never found one. His love was above all reasons. They had decided to get married in the near future.

He looked away through the window. He did not have a girl friend or a family. It had been 10 years since she passed away. Cancer had brought on a copious bleeding and she had fallen on the floor and gone. Just like that. Her parents had informed him and he had rushed to her house. But stood just there, not daring to move another inch closer, struggling to vanquish a violent emotion. No, he did not want to see her in full form. Her eyes were just enough for the rest of his life. To live and to die at the same time.

It's hard to wait around for something you know might never happen; but its harder to give up when you know it's everything you want. - Unknown.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 249

Hot

Burning hot sun smirked
As people complained of heat
"Fools, don't they need light?"

Written for Haiku Horizons: "hot"

Road safety is everyone's responsibility!

Image credit: Google

Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) has started an initiative for road safety in India. A very much needed initiative in the days of rising road traffic issues and the number of vehicles on the road. Road rages and lack of safe-driving-sense is a common sight in the current days. Many thanks to NSDF team for initiating a noble cause and I am glad to be a part of this responsibility.

Due to over-population and a need to have one’s own vehicle for comfort, India is seeing a sudden crescendo in the number of vehicles that are put on roads. Hence, management of road traffic and safety-driving have become key players in the current scenario. And this should start from every driver who takes charge of his own life and his fellows while on wheels.

The following points can help bring about road safety in India.

1. Get proper training from registered driving schools on how to ride a vehicle. Such institutes should not only teach how to drive a vehicle, but also educate a driver on various traffic signs and signals.
2. Proper use of indicators while taking any turn. I have observed many drivers who do not show indicator signals of their vehicles and suddenly take a right or a left turn disrupting the traffic flow behind them, while also leading to accidents.
3. Follow traffic rules. This would be the first and foremost rule for every driver and the Indian Government has always emphasized its importance on traffic rules. Violators must and should be penalised.
4. Avoid drinking and driving. Though there has been a constant emphasis on this point, many still take it lightly. There can be innumerable rules and checks by officials, to check for road safety, however, safety starts from you. It starts from every responsible driver.
5. Regular education of drivers. For example, every 3 years or so, there has to be a school that certifies every driver-citizen to drive safely. It has to be made compulsory along with driving license.
6. Wearing helmet while riding a two-wheeler. This provides protection from major injuries to head in case of accidents and prevents the person life-threatening dangers caused by road accidents.
7. Wearing seat-belts in a car. It has to be made compulsory for all the commuters in a car to avoid risks caused by an accident.
8. Proper road signals and signs displayed clearly and visibly. This helps the driver to notice the signs without missing them and guides him on the road for safety.
9. Do not rush on roads. If you are supposed to reach a place on time, start few minutes earlier than required. This avoids a mad rush on roads in traffic jams, road rages and quarrels.

Maybe, every citizen realizes his responsibility towards road safety. Amen!

Written for The Nissan Safety Driving Forum on Indiblogger.in.

No strings attached

Bond of Union, 1956, by M. C. Escher

They just sat in silence. Both of them. She had never felt so complete with any of the men she had dated previously. But, his company was different. There was strong lust once between them too like the others and she thought it was the only thing that held them together. But, after years of togetherness, their relationship had won. It had won over lust, greed, passion, hatred and whatever negatives she could think of. They were bound to each other with love and yet free. Time had really tested their bonding.

She smiled and thought, I guess it takes more than a teenage venture to experience this form of love. Pure, subtle and free in its form. Union of souls.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 248.

Give

Oh mother nature!
How does it feel to only give?
And not ask returns?

Written for Haiku Horizons: "give"

Cleanliness #AbMontuBolega

Do you ever voluntarily like to eat at a restaurant which is as cluttered as any dirtied street of your city and pay the price of a fine-dining hotel? Plus, your medical bills for eating at such a filthy place?

Do you ever visit a burning yard of wastes and be happy about the smoke that it emits and the health hazards that it causes, and can it be worse when it is situated near your house?

If the answers to those questions is no, then why are we putting up with it silently?
I’m proud to take up this initiative to speak up about cleanliness-awareness. And that is what #AbMontuBolega Campaign is all about. Making your opinions about cleanliness audible to the concerned authorities, the Campaign has inspired us to take one step ahead. Yes, we do require such initiatives, because we cannot be silent spectators and allow the leaders and politicians to be laid back and relaxed when the whole nation is suffering in filth.

There are severe issues that require immediate attention. They are as follows:
1. Proper sewage and closed drainage pipes to be laid out in all areas. Solving this issue eliminates the primary problem of seepage of waste water into drinking water lines and thus in turn avoids health hazards.

2. Proper execution of segregation of wastes following which there have to be waste treatment plants to process the wastes.

3. Tarred or concrete roads to be laid out to minimize dust on the roads and avoid respiratory problems as vehicles pass by.

4. Your-house-your-cleanliness concept where every house takes charge of cleanliness around its own house. For example, we burst crackers during Deepavali and took up the responsibility to clean up all the burnt cracker remains and hand it over to the garbage collector the next day. We cannot wait for a corporation/municipality sweepers to come and clean for us.

5. The elimination of open drainage systems. It prevents the mixing of rain water and overflowing of drains during rainy days.

6. Plant trees in front of your house. Considering the Indian population and the rising housing projects, planting at least one tree per house makes much difference to the already polluted cities by reducing the carbon-di-oxide levels in the air, gifting us with oxygen-rich pure air. Also, more importantly, taking care to water these plants/trees to maintain them.

7. Stop dumping of wastes at residential places and burning of the same.

8. Maintained public bathroom and toilet facilities so that nobody  has to urinate or poop in open spaces. There are already such facilities in some areas, however their maintenance is at a pathetic state. Taking charge of their maintenance is another step further.

And as a basis of all these, for officials and volunteers to work for a system, they have to be corruption free. That is the filth at the basis which needs clearing up. There has been news that BBMP officials have many unpaid bills to many contractors. This amount account to many crores put together. There has to be purity in minds towards duty-consciousness. These culprits have to be found out and punished appropriately so that nobody follows their steps.

It pains to write that we are back to pre-Independence era. Then we used to fight external invaders (British) in our country. And today we fight against our own people whose minds have been invaded with corrupt, rapist thoughts.

I wish to see a country where no official is corrupt, no one offers or receives bribery and no girl sheds a tear just because she is born girl. And thanks to #AbMontuBolega Campaign http://www.abmontubolega.com/, as well as Strepsils (facebook)/ Strepsils (Twitter), for giving me an opportunity to voice my opinion.

Akshaya Patra

Education is the basis of life. It encompasses all aspects of life such as employment, literacy, self-reliance, morality and awareness of about our society and country. An educated man/woman can find a job and feed himself/herself and his/her family. A morally educated society has better social and cultural values which in turn alleviates the problem of rising crime rates in the society. Apart from core subjects and languages, moral education and physical education taught in schools help an individual to be a healthy contributor both mentally and physically. And as today's children are tomorrow's citizens, our nation will be in safe hands of well-educated citizens. Hence, education is the basic right of every child.

Food is the basic want of a man. Until and unless the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter are not fulfilled, it is impossible to aim at higher goals beyond the needs and wants. Novel initiatives such as the following can help make the society better educated and fulfil the basic wants hand in hand.

1. Provide one meal a day for all the school-going children at school.

2. For children who pass monthly tests with an average score or above, provide greater incentives like monthly ration card which helps the child to draw groceries sufficient for another member of the family. This would not only encourage the child to excel in studies, it would boost the family members to send their children to school and support their studies.

3. The above strategy can be extended for higher education aslo. A child of a higher grade should be given more incentives compared to a child of a lower grade. For example, providing uniform or sanitary pads for girls alon with one meal a day.

4. Check for child labour and identify uneducated children. Once they are identified, admit them to schools so that they get enough meals to feed themselves as well as get educated.

5. Teach children tailoring, handicrafts and such co-curricular activities (can include karate for girls for self-defense) so that children can become an earning member of the family in their free time apart from becoming educated. This way, their parents are also happy and the nation can witness more entrepreneurs.

Written for I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda.

Becoming a father

Sridhar was pacing up and down the corridor. There had been a flurry of activity from 11 PM. A life changing event was imminent and he was not sure whether it was going to be good or bad. Tired, he sat down on an empty chair located near a hospital ward room. As he stretched in the chair, trying to shed off his languor, the noise in his surroundings became duller. He remembered her – his wife, Kavya, when she had let out a squeal as a tear escaped her eyes on hearing from the doctor that she was pregnant! Her joy had been seamless. She had called her parents and in-laws over to their house for a grand get-together party. She had chosen names for her unborn daughter or son.

Nine months had just flown by for Sridhar. Well, for him, the news was exciting and unnerving at the same time. More responsibilities to be shouldered, more savings to be made to welcome a new member, all of it suddenly seem to come down on his head at once. Doctors had asked him to be careful as her blood group was O negative, the rarest group. For all reasons, his in-laws had decided to stay with them for domestic help, and life for him was hunky-dory as they took care of her hospital visits and medications as he rushed at office from one meeting to another. Work load was heavy for him as it was the peak time of the year, targets to meet, appraisal around the corner, he hardly could have a wink of sleep at night. He had almost forgotten that she was pregnant until he had to take an off from his office and admit his wife to the hospital that day.

“Congratulations, Mr.Sridhar, it’s a girl”, said the doctor. What? He was a dad? It didn’t sink in at once, he stared at the doctor. “Go ahead, meet your wife and your daughter in room 203”, the doctor smiled and walked away. He rushed immediately, not knowing where 203 was. And then he realized, it was in the opposite direction. He turned around the corner and stood at the door. There he was standing as a dad, witnessing his daughter’s cry. He waited until he was sure of reality. He wanted to make sure it was happening for real. Then he slowly walked across to her bed. Kavya’s eyes were closed. A nurse handed over the baby to him.

He was so overwhelmed with joy that he wasn’t sure whether he could hold in his hands something so delicate, tiny and beautiful. He found himself holding her, an extension of his body. A part of his life had taken a shape of a beautiful human form and staring back at him. Oh my, my! He placed the baby next to his wife and looked at her. He touched her cheek and said, “Kavya, thanks for a daughter.” She opened her eyes gradually, awakened by the touch. “Kavya, thanks for a daughter”, he reiterated. She smiled and held his hand.

They used to be a happy-go-lucky couple before marriage. But, after they had moved to the city and settled with a married life, their jobs had taken away all the time that could be spent together. Their relationship was just like any other mechanical life, trying to make ends meet, fill stomach and buy basic needs and wants. But, now, they were a father and mother! Their love had transformed from a careless-teenage love to an engaged relationship to a committed marriage and now as parents of the most beautiful daughter! He kissed Kavya on her forehead and tightened his grip around her hand.

He placed his other hand’s little finger near the baby’s hand and it soon wrapped its fingers around it and dozed off to sleep.

The touch of a loving wife and a beautiful daughter had awakened a loving husband and a loving father in him. He was bound to the love of his life, now, stronger than ever and for forever!

Irritation

Image credit: wikipedia

The host asked the boy, " What is the most unforgettable moment of your life?". 

The boy was physically handicapped with an impaired ability to speak. 

But his lack of physical strength was compensated by his intelligence. 

He had won in his professional degree as a gold medalist and was being interviewed by a news channel. 

He slurred in reply, "When my mother gave up on me saying you are just another irritation to the world and walked away."

Written for Lillie McFerrin Writes-Irritation.

Store

Sweet nothings whispered
Future is a mystery store
They love or depart.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "store"

Flight

After a few days, doing all her household chores herself, she was missing her mother. She was in an alien land, leaving behind all her old connections. 'Freedom', she thought when she had arrived, 'from old memories, old culture, old societal pressure'. Here, she thought she could do anything, undo her wings and fly, experiencing gusts of sea-wind and basking in sunshine. But, it was a different life altogether, she had freedom but no time.

Written for Lillie McFerrin Writes- flight.

That road

Do your remember that fly-over? Everyday we used to travel down that road. In the frenzy of mornings, not noticing it, in a hurry to get past it and reach our destination. The road is still there, witnessing flurry of activity suddenly in the mornings, some couples exchanging lovey-dovey talks at sunset, some other acquaintances making small talks, some just waiving to say 'Hi', some just stuck inevitably in a traffic jam, some just not stopping at all. Also, do you remember the golden-yellow glow in the sky at sunset? It was a sight to admire. But, only for a few moments. Then we would be soon gone, past it. But the road is still there, aged by passers-by.

I finally quit taking that road one day.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 246.

Envy

She had sabotaged  her friendship with everyone that she was envious about. A topper in her class, a lady with a handsome man, an opera-singer, a rich father's daughter. All of them were her close friends, all of them were her enemies, simply because they provoked her envy. She was none of them, and today too, she is none of them. The only difference was she was no more envious of them because she had won the inner battle.

Written for Lillie McFerrin Writes - envy.

A nation in shame

                                             image credit: http://magpietales.blogspot.in

Behold the cost of their entertainment!
They have striped her for fun and thrill
Cold unknown hands without sentiment
Are ready to torture her, rape her and kill.

What a shame to the nation!
What a shame to humanity!
She was just another nature's creation
Look, how her free wings are brought to futility!

With a new dawn, everyone moves on,
Maybe blind and numb to what they feel,
As the nation plays her as a playing pawn
A woman in her dies every night piecemeal.

Note: There is a new crescendo in the crimes against women these days in India. Indian ancient Manu scriptures say "Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devataaha" Where women are honoured, Gods and Goddesses like to reside there. Unfortunately, there is no fear of morality, spirituality in the current days. There is a rise in pedophiles. Every woman thinks twice to open the door for a stranger. And every mother never wants to open the door for a stranger!

I also learned that it is the same in the USA. One in five women in the USA is a victim of rape. This news obviously brings disgust to every woman irrespective of her nationality. 

I blame the men-dominated society, media and crime laws for it. Men want women to see sultry, naked actresses and that has become a catchy trend for any commercial business. Advertisements for almost anything wants a woman ready to strip for the media. And what goes around, comes around. 

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 245.

Full

Toil all day for crumbs
Leaving loved ones, home sweet home
To fill your stomach

To fill your stomach
Which remains empty after all
Everyday in vain.

Written for Haiku Horizons: prompt "full".

Book Review - God is a Gamer

Book: God is a Gamer

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Genre: Thriller

Pages:  310

Price: Rs.299

Publication: Penguin Books

 

Image credit: Google

The book says the author is India’s No.1 thriller writer. Well, he surely deserves it. He is the first Indian author to have struck the chord in me. With well maintained language proficiency, vocabulary and consistency in the story plot, Mr. Ravi Subramanian deserves all credits for this amazing novel and surprisingly so for an Indian author! I had a repulsion towards Indian authors particularly because of low English proficiency in their writing. Chetan Bhagat’s stories were the last I could admire, notwithstanding the level of language proficiency. I had no more expectations from Indian books. But this novel! This novel has pushed the limits of Indian authors to a much higher level, and do please keep up the good work, Sir! It is good to have a Sidney Sheldon from India.

The best thing I liked about this novel was that even a layman could understand the concept of bitcoins and the story revolving around it. Such is the explanation, description and coherence of the chapters as they unfold with pages. It has a very gripping prologue and makes the reader ask for more in the coming pages.

The story revolves around the main characters Adithya, Swami and Sundeep, former employees at NYIB;  Malvika Sehgal, Indian CEO of NYIB;  her daughter Tanya ; Varun, Tanya’s boyfriend and Adithya’s son; Gillian Tan, Senator of USA and the agents Adrian Scott, Dan and Tony; Indian finance minister in an affair with Malvika.

Adithya’s past suddenly looms back one day when Varun is found jailed for an Indian-Nigerian issue of selling of drugs. Adithya acts as his son’s saviour and his life becomes hell from then onwards. He faces a series of issues and plummeting of revenues in his own companies – eTIOS and Indiscape. As he tries to get them back on track with the help of Swami, Sundeep and his son, he discovers, his company is being possessed by someone to carry out crimes in US. Malvika’s murder, Swami’s death,  Gillian Tan’s murder are linked to each other as the agents Adrian, Dan and Tony try to un-entangle the mystery with the help of Indian police. 

Another thing that was interesting about the novel was that the story is released in bits and pieces. The starting pages talk about Senator Gillian Tan and his story and suddenly after he confronts an explosion, his story comes to a standstill and starts off with stories of other characters – Indian PM, Swami, Tanya, Varun, Adithya. This way the curiosity of the reader is maintained. The death of Malavika fit in well in the narration and brought the intended shock to the readers.

Although there are many mysteries unravelled as the pages are turned, it does not keep the reader waiting for too long, which is good.  The pace at which the incidents happen is very consistent. A dragging slow and boring novel would be a waste of time, otherwise. The chapters were kept short and did not drag too much. 

I was always suspecting Varun and Sundeep to be involved in the ATM heist, Cotton Trail and Gillian Tan’s murder.  But, Tanya being targeted, came as a shock to me. I have very slight inkling on her. Anyway, Varun was the main culprit, agreed. But, he roams free in spite of being the biggest culprit. And the Agents Adrian Scott and Tony settle with their investigation with Tanya as the mastermind of the crimes. This makes me angry. When I found out that it was Tanya who was genuine in her love for Varun and that she did not cheat on him, it was relief and at the same time, disgust for Varun.

Tanya’s reaction to the FBI agents was not apt, when they threw light on all the crimes taken place so far and held Tanya as solely responsible. Her reactions were not justified. She was mostly like a confused immature girl that did not go well with the situation.

The novel demands memory and concentration on names of characters, terms and some facts, to be on track with the story. For a thriller to be completely successful, I would have liked it better if the agents had got the real culprit.

Is revenge a crime? The novel poses an interesting question. The answers may be subjective as people differ in their thoughts, but here the revenge of Varun against his father Adithya has made a thrilling novel.

Rating:  4 stars

Verdict:  It is a complete thriller and is the best among the Indian books that I have read. I would definitely recommend it to others.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

If only

 

image credit:  Dick Blick Art

As soldiers fight for love and peace
Not with guns and ammunition
Amidst the detritus of shed-down trees
Selfless and life-giving for their nation.

What a heart-rendering circumstance!
Blood-thirst, angst, hatred grown so wild!
They left their home without a second glance
His mother, back home, is prepared to lose her child.

She once wishes for a world of bloom
Flowers of harmony instead of guns
Colourful life instead of white and black gloom
Orange smile of petals and green life of ferns.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 244

Dawn

At the horizon
Golden yellow sunrays shine
A new life has dawned.

Written for Haiku Horizons : "dawn"

Unreal

Years later, she was cleaning her store-room. She found many old things and their fond memories. But, she had obliterated one incident of her life in order to move on. Her grandmother's death.

But those pair of socks....

Those pair of socks knitted by her granny. She suddenly desisted her cleaning task and sat quietly crying. She cried for her granny, for her love, for her touch. Granny had been her father, mother and all the power the world could give her. But, today she is just a memory, somewhere in her mind. Like those letters etched on wet seashore sands, soon to be gone by the perpetual rise and fall of waves. So unreal.

So unreal...

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 243

Hope

When going gets tough
And you want to quit the fight
Hope keeps you upbeat.

Written for Haiku Horizons: prompt "hope"

Festival of lights

The only light released
The burning desire to triumph
Over blank darkness

Written for Haiku Horizons: prompt "release"

Gone

 

photo by Tom Chambers

She ran and ran away. From her past, from the trauma of her childhood, from everyone who caused it and from the place that reminded of it. She had always been running, finding nowhere to run. She always had a feeling that Gods laughed every time she wanted to run away. And this time the feeling chased her till the boundary. She gave a last glance towards her past and soon she was gone. Finally, the Gods had granted her a relieving escape.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 240

Sky

For her achievements
Sky was the limit she thought
And dreamt of future

Only to be left
With a mediocre life
And her dreams undone

Written for Haiku Horizons: prompt "sky"

This is not my home

Help me find my home
Home is where my parents stay
My mother goes to work

My father goes to work
Know that I don't belong here
I am an orphan

When they come back home
They are busy with chores
As time passes by

Soon it is bed time
No one reads stories to me
I am an orphan.

This is not my home
There should be some other place
Where love has some space.

Written for Haiku Horizons: prompt "home"

Autumn romance

As he drove the car into the garage, he thought.

My wife is waiting for me, like all the twenty-five years of marriage she did. It's our anniversary again. Of love, of our sacrifices for our parents, of our sacrifices for our children and of our marriage. Every time she or I traded off our sacrifice for their happiness, we sat in our balcony, sipping tea and staring into the unknown distance. After all, life is all about our parents and children, I used to say. Not once, not once did my wife disagree or complain. She never demanded for anything. And today when I look at her wrinkled and old face, I still see a smile hidden. The smile of acceptance of what life has given her and of what she has given back. 

As his wife opened the door, he shouted, "Surprise! I came early to take you out for dinner, darling. Happy wedding anniversary!"

Written for Magpie Tales: Mag 239

Your love

To you,

Your love is intoxicating. It's like a high. I feel so drugged that I lose my senses. Is it love at all, in the first place? Love is supposed to give a peaceful soothing effect. But this takes me to the highest of highs and that's when I fear the most with the fear of falling to the lowest of lows. 

The light was lit to cure the darkness of my house. But, the spark burnt my whole life to cinders.

With indifference,

Me.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 236

Life and Death

She listened to the same song. Again. She felt numb. Yeah, that's how her brain had tried to block emotions and feelings. No more pain. No more negativity. Only neutrality. Nothing felt, nothing taken in too deep inside the heart. Because she had made peace with all of them. She wanted to cry. But, she couldn't. No more tears. She had made peace with them too.

Perhaps, that is why elders keep saying, " Get her/him married. They will learn what is life." 

What did they know? She had been so close to death that she never felt alive.

Justice

The right and the wrong
In the ruthless society
Who decides justice?

Who decides justice?
When conscience is slumbering
And eyes blindfolded.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "justice"

Mediocrity

While the whole world vies
To fight for my glimpse
I'm extolled and worshipped
Here as an idol of ideals.

But know the truth
I'm not any God or Goddess
I was one among you
But I walked a mile farther

Shedding my worldly desires
I aimed for a higher goal
Above and beyond mediocrity
'Cause I don't belong in the crowd.

Written for Magpie Tales: Mag 230

Is it so difficult not to rape?

Six-year old girl raped
Isn't it clear, you loser?
She is not your toy!

Written for Haiku Horizons : "clear"

Note: I write this with very extreme feelings of hatred, anger, frustration and helplessness. All lawless and godless fools are still let free. You do not know whom to trust. A country which worships women as Goddess Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati, rapes its own sisters and children, and kills them to spare no evidence for its sins. I'm starting to feel disgust towards men! 

And entertainment media is no less! They portray women as objects. Yes, objects of pleasure. Such movies, films should be banned. Who is listening anyway? It's all about money.

Only a miracle can save this country!

Crowd

Bright and sunny, the day was good
Crowd and chaos in the fruits' market
Meek and afraid, the little girl stood
Going to the market, she would regret.

Oranges, grapefruits and marred boards
Some just visible, some not legible
Monotonous talks, she would get bored
"Papa, let's go," her voice would be feeble.

Still avoiding those messy markets
Today she is grown-up and fine
"So much shopping to do", her mother frets
She replies, "Whatever you want, just order online."

Written for Magpie Tales: Mag 229

Content

"Wedding"- headline said
I wish you read the content
It was you and me.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "content"

Upstairs

Only conjecture lingered in the minds of the rest, unspoken. It is a story untold. Whatever happened upstairs remained upstairs. Some say two people went upstairs that night, some others say there were three, before the incident. The crime remains obscure, no questions asked or answered. Everyone related to the incident died a silent death.The house was haunted.

Written for Magpie Tales: Mag 228

Drive

Dreams of the morrow

Bring a smile to to-be-mom

Driving back to home.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "drive"

Pages

Life is already complicated. I choose not to see you. I choose to live in denial, even if it means that I have to live with many ordeals imposed on me by the society. I didn't want to read those pages you wrote in your diary.

Because ignorance is bliss.

Written for Five Sentence Fiction : "pages"

A reprobate

Dead, but, vivid as a specter,
He was nobody's protector
A preposterous man she hated
Her sleepless nights he haunted

His expressionless eyes smothered
Kith or kin, he never bothered
His brute strength knew no remorse,
Being his daughter, had made it worse.

His photo reminded her again
Many years down the lane
How he had killed her pet
After which, their eyes never met.

Written for Magpie Tales : Mag 227

Life is a party

In a one night show
Heights of joy, depths of sorrow
Sometimes shades of grey.

Written for Haiku Horizons : "party"

Bereft

A Game of Patience, 1937, Meredith Frampton 

Winning or losing never mattered
Times changed and a many left
Fiddling with the cards, though bereft,
Her love of play remained undeterred.

Written for Magpie Tales : Mag 226

Decline

The king had enough
Departing the godless land
He declined the throne.

Written for Haiku Horizons : decline.

Comfort

Good music for ears
Good food for stomach
And a hearty laugh

Written for Haiku Horizons : prompt "comfort"

Abandoned

What is it? What is it? She tried to coax an answer from her mind.
Her waiting for her long gone man? Her patience? Her love? Her lust? Or fanning herself so that she could feel better in the hot summer? A rose that lives for a day? Or the water that quenches her thirst for a few hours? Or her thirst itself?
What are you living for?
What is it that is forever in this world? 
And what is forever anyway? 
She threw everything that she had anchored for her life at once.
She left without flinching, without bidding good-byes, without leaving a note.
Nothing is forever.

Written for Magpie Tales : Mag 225

Doors

She waited there - oblivion beyond a frame of wood, or better than that.
But, she didn't want to feel - not even the peak of joy. 
She didn't want to talk to anyone.
Then there was a knock and she opened it.
It was her son who was gone for twenty years.

I passed by a monument ...

I don't know where my opinion stands. Because anything with love wins. Live-in or marriage, unless you allow the society to influence your relationship. It is just a matter of realizing true love in each other. It may take a marriage for a few and for a few others it may take a live-in relationship. It might take a lifetime for a few, it might take a short time for a few others. And a few more might not find it at all.

Nobody is born perfect in this world. It takes love to make someone perfect.

To be in a live-in, you should be strong enough to walk against the society and say "No I'm going to search for my true love only this way!". But, the point is, how can you be so sure? By the time you decide, your true love might be married off to a woman in the cliched society or your hair may start graying.

I'm not sure about anything apart from the opinion that true love always, and  ALWAYS wins in the end.

And before you die, do you care whether you married the person or you just moved-in with him/her? Nope. You would only look back at the memories that you couldn't forget.

Good ones or bad is up to you and your fate.

Open thy eyes

Open your eyes
See them, force your eyes
Until they can see it

The souls in despair
The living and the dead
Are you still hungry?

Are you still hungry?
For pleasure and blood?
Or for tonight's dinner?

Or for tonight's dinner
With your gut wrenching
For a girl who died

For a girl who died
Who lost her right
To smile, laugh and live

To smile, laugh and live
For no sin of hers
For only being born

For only being born
As a girl child
A god-gifted one!

Written for Haiku Horizons : Open

Borosil is in

Borosil glass. The thought that first strikes me is laboratory glassware. Yes, we used borosil measuring cylinders ONLY, because the measuring cylinders' graduations were precise for a successful experiment. Our labmates had tried using plastic measuring cylinders and were disappointed to find how 500mL of water in one plastic cylinder had showed 520 mL in another. Sorry, science cannot afford such inaccuracy. But, the case was different with borosil glasswares. They were accurate and made for scientific experiments.

The thought of using borosil for kitchen crockery is an interesting idea! The transparency of glass helps to keep the different colours of food visible and tempting. Salads of cucumber, carrot, onion cut into different attractive shapes and arranged in a dinner bowl set, look luscious. The red tomato sauce on the salad could add as a feather on the cap. A veg manchow soup, my personal favourite, would give away its secret ingedients through a transparent bowl. A vegetable-rich cooked rice looks very delicious in a borosil casserole. The green of peas and cucumber, the red of carrots, the golden brown of paneer and onions, offer your senses a feast. Cakes are a delight for eyes and taste buds when kept in a easy-grip-round-cake dish. One could excuse oneself for indulging in a fulfilling meal.

Children, especially, despise vegetables. By improving the appearance of food, we could attract them to nutritious food and a healthy lifestyle and alleviate the serious conditions of malnutrition. And, why not, make all mothers happy? If you are thinking, "Happiness comes at a price", says who? It comes at an affordable price here at www.myborosil.com.

Another advantage of borosilicate is that it withstands high temperature for microwaving food stuff and without giving off chemicals into food materials. What an alternative to cheap plastic containers that release harmful chemicals when heated!

I was attracted to especially the melamine wares. I had bought 5 serving plates of melamine as a gift to my cousins. They look catchy, trendy and like they say "kewl" (cool). The boring and monotonous steel containers and coffee cups make the kitchen look dull and so-less-of-life. 21st century is heading towards a revolution in fashion and colours, and it applies to kitchen too! Let's make our kitchen colourful and lively.

And the food cooked here will take care of the rest of the work.

Written for Indiblogger, My Beautiful food - www.borosil.com

Conscience

You are a cheat, people like you should be killed. The voice echoed in space. Wherever he groped for help, for support, for justification, there was only an unforgiving void, detesting his action at the spur of a moment.

Stop cheating, do the right thing, and you know what the right thing is, what your heart craves for. Go and do it. And now! He was going mad in the roller-coaster of emotions, decisions and his action. He knew he had made a decision without introspection. Looking back, he had felt guilty. Aaah! Guilt. It is a strange feeling. It can lead you to the right path when it awakens the conscience. But, if it takes a wrong turn, may god be with you.

He looked at the mirror. But his reflection was not what he saw. His conscience was dead and his soul no more dwelled in him. It was sold. To his father. And his business. He had given up his love for a marriage of businesses.

He splashed water on his face. The chillness of water stung his skin. In an instant, the marred appearances became vivid, he suddenly knew the right thing to do. He picked up his cellphone and called up his father. When he spoke, his voice was stern, "Sorry dad, I cannot marry her." And hung up before a reply.

Whatever you do in life, echoes in eternity. - Gladiator.

Written for : Magpie Tales : Mag 224

Music

1st April, 1960

Pushi, a well known singer, is getting married on the 19th April, 1960. Her parents and relatives were excited. Today is her first concert, a grand one. And the last one too. One of the pre-requisites for her marriage was to give up her singing career. It was decided, amongst the older "mature" adults. Why is she getting married? she had questioned herself many a times. The question was hushed by the voices of hypocrisy, chauvinism and unscrupulous manner of the society, many more times.

1st May, 1967

Pushi, I mean Mrs.Pushi Jones, a married woman, a mother of a baby girl, is standing in front of her house, waiting for her kid to return home from school. She is humming a beautiful melody, that was the first song she had learnt from her teacher in music school. Lost in the melody, she has closed her eyes. "Mama! I won the first prize in music competition today!" shouts her kid before reaching her.

Pushi smiled and hugged her kid tightly, silently promising herself that she will never let her girl go through the same ordeal again.

Written for Magpie Tales: Mag 223

The pill

"Just one-step away", he said - "to hell or heaven." She raised her head to look at him and asked, " Do you think I can live without you?" They both knew the answer. It was redundant to explain. He laughed for the last time. The night was eerily quiet and unsettling.

In a glance, she understood him and extended her hand for another pill. In a flash, before they could change their minds, before anybody could stop them, they gulped down, one each. In a few minutes, they hit the ground with a thud, awakening the rest of the world.

No, the world did not deserve them.

Written for Magpie Tales : Mag 222

Master

The most extolled

The stark truth of life

The highest rank of mankind

The highest rank of mankind

Omni-present omniscient they say

Can I get a glimpse, master?

Can I get a glimpse, master?

Of you, of life, of world

Of their denuded essence?

Of their denuded essence

Simple and child-like

To see every moment 

To see every moment

To live an unrelenting life

With fleeting time.

 

Written for Haiku Horizons : Master

Growing up

It's a strange word. Growing up. You will never know what it exactly means, and you will never know when it starts and ends. Yet, it's a crucial phase of everyone's life, ironically.

Ammi was an orphan girl. Her parents were alive, but childless. She was abandoned by them and they were dead to her. That was what everyone told her. Yes, of course, that was an easier way to live life - she, in delusion and they, in denial. If Ammi had known the reality, it would have taken eternity to come to terms with her life, or probably she wouldn't have come to terms with it at all. Mom, dad, brother, sister, these bonds had no meaning in her life.

Once when walking down the street of her house, she had seen a child back from school holding her mama's hand. Of course, she lived in a so-called house, thatched roof that allowed all seasons - sunshine, moonlight, rain, chilly air and snow! There was nobody with her, to call it a home. There was a shudder down her spine when she saw the heart-rendering scene in front of her eyes. Why was she deprived of the smallest pleasures in life, she didn't find an answer.

The kid was going home from school. She accidentally stepped into a muddy pothole. Her mom grumbled. The school shoes, polished snow-white carefully and immaculately by her mother, were soiled. Ammi looked at her own sun-tanned feet. Bare, rough and cracked. She didn't have a pair of shoes.

A tear escaped her eyes, she was in deep pain. So much pain that if she had felt it, it would kill her. She had steeled herself, against all troubles. It was a part of growing up she thought, to be indifferent, fearless, painless and lifeless. But, who would anyway tell her what is growing up?

Written for Three Word Wednesday.