Three wishes from Genie

The three necessary values, I would rather say, ways of thinking, I would like to teach my child are the following:

• There is nothing absolute in the world. There are no rules to live life and be happy. If you are not hurting anyone and trying to lead a life you desire, that is good enough. A teacher who taught you that truth is the ultimate value in life would have lied a few times for personal gains. A role model you look up to also would be flawed in many ways if you look close. 
• Being financially independent is important and there is nothing like a dream job. You will know that nothing comes for free. A paying job also gives you some bitter relationships and some sweet. There is no job in this world that offers only a bed of roses. Not even your job of dreams.
• Love is an important bond. A basic necessity that everybody looks for is to love and be loved. You will look for it everywhere. And if you do not feel loved, you never feel that you have lived. Love and be loved.

Written for Indispire - edition 118 on Indiblogger.in

Rest

If you cannot do
The tough task ahead of you
Rest, but do quit.

Take a little break
Tell yourself you can do it
Smile and start again.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "rest"

Moon-struck

Behold her in the dusk!
She caresses the breeze,
By her uncanny resemblance
To an angel, I am awe-struck!

As her free flowing hair
Throng her face of golden-glow,
I see her beauty only half;
The other half in moonlight.

Written for The Tuesday Platform

Skip

Do not skip your meals
To lose weight and look thinner
Your body may thrive.

Your body may thrive
Till it loses something else
Along with beauty!

Written for Haiku Horizons: "skip"

Match

God is an artist
Man-made matches work
Sometimes they do fail.

A god-made match of
Only a mother and child
Remains beyond death!

Written for Haiku Horizons: "match"

First day of the rest of my life

photo by Tom Chambers

We are ready to move out. And move on too. Maybe not ready to move on yet. The twinkle in her eyes is gone. She is leaving back many memories in this place. And the dreams that loomed big in front of her half-asleep eyes in the day, have moved back to the background and merged with the shadows of unknown shapes. This place was held very close to her heart, but, now, it is time to move out. Time is like a lightning, it strikes us when we are busy making plans. And after the lightning, the thunder and the rain, the rest of our lives, we get busy doing something else.

Written for  Magpie Tales: mag 312
Written for A Week for Writing - prompt 101

Swing

Life is like a swing
Takes to the highest of highs
And lowest of lows.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "run"

Z - Zoom

When we zoom in on the tiniest details of life, we lose the larger picture. We tend to focus on the imperfections of the insignificant things that accounts for nothing in the long run. For example, somebody insulted you and you get disturbed by that for a day or a night or a week or a month. That person probably will never meet you again in reality. But your mind lives in his afterglow. And your life during this time is wasted. Do not let that happen. Do not lose the forest for a tree.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

Y - You

Sometimes I wonder do you ever think of me? For a flashing moment, do you ever put aside whatever you are doing and bring a picture of me in front of you? I really wonder. If that could be possible, then do you ever pick your cellphone and think of calling me? If that is possible, then why do not I get your calls? I really wonder why and how.

I  know, you might be thinking the same. Why are you not getting calls from me? As you wait for me, I wait for you. I am tired of this juggle of me and you. We have lost our beautiful moments together that could have been. We have lost the times that we would have wished to rewind. We have been existing adding years to life. 

When you feel the same regret, then call me. That is the perfect time. That is when the 'you' in you will merge into 'me'.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

X - Xerox

There is a wrong 'term' used for photo copy, mostly in college students and school-going students. It is 'xerox'.

Get my notes xeroxed for studies. 

Xerox this page for me, please.

Xerox is an American company name. It is not a verb.

Next time, please do say - Get this page photocopied for me.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

W - Wait

Meek and timid eyes
Waiting for her Prince Charming
Ready to run far.

He had to come now
To save her from a marriage
With unknown stranger.

This fight never ends
She sighed and thought in her mind
And gave up her soul.

No, she is not dead
Nor is she alive, living,
Someone else's dream.

Why is it a rule?
For parents to conclude from
Their child's bread to bride?

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.
Written for Haiku Horizons: "run"

V - Ventriloquism

I was recently introduced to this art by a stage performance and I say it was amusing and interesting. Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) changes his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. Changing one's voice is alright, but pretending that you are not voicing the words is a really difficult task.

I watched a show of the famous Ventriloquist Indushree and Dinku and was fascinated by the art. The lady's sense of humour and presence of mind brings joy to the audience. Good going!

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

U - Ultimatum

One rigid stroke of hand, the noose tightened against his throat, he struggled to breathe in air and stopped, the convicted was hung to death, his ultimatum unheard.

His mother was there to witness his death.

What is more disturbing for a woman than to see the life she created, the life that came out to the world from her very own womb, the life that sucked life from her bare bosom, die, in her presence?

Be whatever the reason or force that causes danger to a child, its mother always and always tries to protect from her child's world from collapsing.

And for mothers, their children never grow up.

No mother should get to see her child die - was his ultimatum.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

T - Time Travel

Everybody wishes for a time machine. A machine that could take us back to our favourite days in our memories. Let us do a quick time travel.

I started blogging in May, 2014. I re-started it, I would paraphrase it as such. Poetry, short stories and quoting some random feelings were the genres I had decided to write. The journey is on, however, there is not much seriousness and dedication that I have been giving to blogging yet. Time is a limiting factor.

You can read my first post here. I noticed that I suffered from a writer's block for many years because of which I stopped blogging. I re-started it when I thought I would try my hand in blogging again. Though, the writing flair has not made a full-fledged comeback, I am still surviving with the not quite, not yet type of writing. I hope the writer in me will be soon born again.

Written for Indispire - edition 114 on Indiblogger.in
Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

S - Siblings

It is fun to have siblings. They are your well-wishers, your partners in crime, your support system and friends. They can be good and bad, at the same time. The memories of them we etch on the sands of time is forever. No oceanic wave can travel so far as to erase them off.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

R - Reciprocation

Reciprocation is an important thing when it is about bonding with people. Ego is the firewall between people and to trespass that we need to take an initiative or at the least, reciprocate others' feelings. The people we take for granted are our own family members and especially our younger ones. Just because we can say anything to them, we retort with negative words. Instead, pause and think that they are the most important people in our life. Reciprocate their sacrifices, deeds and engage in household activities.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

Q - Queue

The most important manners that lack in our citizens is the sense of forming a queue. We were brought up in schools by inculcating queue habits that we soon forget after growing up. Sadly, our education system does not test the values that education can gift a human being. It is measured on a scale of how much salary that one gets and what is the value of the person in the marriage market. It is sad, I confess. Whenever there have been times when people have trespassed queues, I have resorted to arguing or fighting with them to make them stand in line. Be it a temple or an office, some as Indians really do not appreciate queue system. But, queue is a way of paying respect to your own time as well as others. Please do queue up instead of vying in a crowd to get things done.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

P - Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a mixed state of emotions. It can be shocking for the unprepared ones, it can be depressing for women going through a tough phase of life and it can be a joyous celebration for women who were desperate to be mothers. But, it can never be just a plain news. The journey of nine months, lesser for some and more for others, is a packaged offer a mother or a to-be mother can experience. For a few unfortunate ones, when the journey does not offer an experience of being a mother to a new born, the event turns into a horror.

The best experiences of pregnancy can be the following:

• You feel the kicks inside the womb.
• You get to rest and enjoy the extraordinary attention and care that people around you pay.
• You get to fulfill your cravings from your loved ones.
• Finally, when you are a mother, all the pain is forgotten and you are born again.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

O - Oblivion of life

You are a poem
Hazy and vague to discern
Show me who you are.

Panting from running
In endless circles, I am
Turn my life around!

Gods must be laughing
A fool in his plans, I am
Jolly laughing stock.

I am waiting for
The spring in my barren land
Come, be my first bloom!

Written for Haiku Horizons: "poem"
Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

N - Naught

It was a dynamic place. Anyone who entered the room in the day would hear mechanical noises of machines, cranking up of motors, workmen yelling at their sub-ordinates to move quicker to get things done. And by night, it was a rendezvous for the two of them. They belonged to the blue-collared employee class. Their affair had stirred exaggerated rumours and especially about the girl. Many men had tried to woo her and failed. She fell for this guy and he was a gentleman. Their love story would have had a happily-ever-after ending. But, there has to be always a twist in life. Life is not so easy, is it? The envious scapegrace could not see her dating another man and killed her; right there in the warehouse, after all workmen left. There was a ruse to get her killed. A very-well planned strategy to kill and get away.

But, they never killed her literally and she never left. They say that her soul lingered around the place and troubled the work-men who tried to start their work from where they left. All the work was brought to a naught and the place is now abandoned. But, it was a dynamic place, there is a proof. Anyone who enters the room hears mechanical noises of machines,workmen yelling at their sub-ordinates. But, it happens only in the middle of the night.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.
This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. This week's WOW prompt is ‘The abandoned warehouse'.

M - Make-up

Make-up is my current obsession. I love to play with colours, eye shadows and blush. Make-up makes one feel confident about their looks and provides a professional facade to a personality when done correctly. Beauty is hidden within every girl and make-up enhances it. I always thought that I would become a beautician if I had a second profession. Beauty is a topic of interest to me and I absolutely love making up my relatives' and friends' faces for any party.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

L - Lust

Image Credit : http://withrealtoads.blogspot.in/

Every nerve in his body
Went through a surge
Of frenzy intoxication
Allowing himself to indulge.

A simple camaraderie
Turned into silly small talks
Soon he found himself bury
In her lustful arms.

It was a sin, he knew
She belonged to no one.
As her lips kissed his sinew
Knowing every one belonged to her.

A lustful gesture that tempted
Him to go feral and beastly
The prostitute patiently waited
Until lust lured another customer.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.
Written for The Tuesday Platform

K - Kiss

My first kiss was the most memorable one. It was the first of all my beautiful experiences. And it was the best of all my experiences. As my lips touched him, I felt delirious excitement of being alive. I suddenly knew the reason for living from that moment. I would trade off any amount of time just to feel his soft, fragile skin as he squirms in his sleep. His tender eyes, when look back at me, I know for sure that nothing in this world is more important than him - my new born son. Maybe I gave you life, but, I am born again with you!

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

J - Junk Food

I am a fan of junk food. My love for junk food started from childhood with chocolates and it still remains. I get easily bored with routine and if it is the same food everyday, I sulk, I complain, I cry and I eat. I hate bland food. I prefer spicy, pungent food over sour or sweet flavours. Masala puri is my favourite spicy food and chocolates can never satiate my sweet tooth. Regular food with extra chilli and pepper can get me head over heels. I simply love junk food, also, I am careful that I eat them few times a week only. (Well, at least I did not say few times a day!)

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

I - I

I oscillate from
The fear of knowing me
To not knowing me.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "fear"
Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

H - Habit

It is said that it takes a certain number of days of continuous practice to become a habit. I would like to list a few cultivated habits that have helped me in the long run.

• Exercising
• Reading
• Concentration
• Learning new things and memorizing them.
• Writing

Each of the above has made me a better person than I used to be. Anger management is yet another item to be added on the list. The work is under progress.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

G - Girl

The fact that a person is a girl/lady/woman itself attracts attention. It is not easy to be a girl. As a new born, as a toddler, as a teenager, as a maiden, as a wife, as a mother and as a grand mother, it is not easy at all. In orthodox, conservative families, a baby boy is preferred over a girl because he is known to relieve his parents from hell, according to the religions. As a toddler, the girl should always be protected from pedophiles, rapists. In addition, the girl should be dressed with bangles, flowers and should follow societal norms. As a maiden of marriageable age, she is always asked why she is not married yet. As a wife, she is always nagged why she is not pregnant yet. As a mother, she is always challenged for her parental skills. As a grand mother, she is always a burden to her children or daughters-in law (as she always tries to supervise on things they do.) And through all these stages of life, she has to protect herself from eve-teasers, rapists, critics of her body, critics of her feminine talents and skills she is supposed to possess.

It is not easy to be born as a girl. Not one bit.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

F- Fancy

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

I relived my childhood

Through my motherhood

She dressed with a glow, hearty

Fancily dressed for a party.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 311

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

E - Enigma

As colours unite
To emerge as one colour
Of spotless bright white.

Enigmatic white
Shows austere simplicity
Never gives away.

Never gives away
Its secret constituents
Mysterious white.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "one"
Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

D - Dimple

Dimples have always fascinated me. It adds beauty to a smile. When I was little, I used to wish for a dimple on my cheek, in fact, each cheek to get a dimple. Alas, man proposes, God disposes. There used to be a period of time when I used to be obsessed with dimples. A senior in my school had dimples on both her cheeks. I used to love the sight of her face when she laughed or smiled. And would experience a pang of jealousy also. 

Today I have outgrown that obsession. I have realized that looks do matter only till a certain point of time, probably to make the first impression and not necessarily to keep the impression.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

C - Chocolates

Yes, what else can it be? I am a chocoholic and I love to eat everything made of chocolate. My mornings start with a chocolate flavoured protein drink and it charges me to get going. A bar of chocolate or a chocolate ice cream can easily bring my sobre self to a smiling portrait. Chocolates contain anti-oxidants which help fight stress and aging, so why not? Though, sometimes, I do wish I did not like them so much as I tend to grow insecure about my teeth and fitness in old age.

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

B - Bus

Public transportation is regarded as the most economical transportation and eco-friendly means as well. My association with public transportation began from school days and has never ended. Surely, it spares you the back pain of riding or driving a vehicle. The best of all is that it saves you from heavy traffic jams and the consequential road rage. 

Thanks to my city that is well-connected with public buses because of which a large number of people commute by them, mostly youngsters, school and college-going students. Not withstanding the vying crowd on busy morning and tiring evenings, buses always are safe and easy modes of transport.  

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

For the stomach is empty again

Soon as I started this blog, I entered a contest on Indiblogger relating to food. (Read the post here) Surprisingly, I won a participation prize and an early bird prize for it. That is my early memory of food with Indiblogger.

But, the relationship of a man to food is dated ages back. Our vedas say, "Annam na nindyaat", meaning do not curse food. Our grand-mothers used to say, "Do not get angry on food." (When we skipped meals just because our parents did get us what we wanted them to buy.) No matter how the food tastes, it is supposed to be received with both hands as a blessing from God, because there are many others struggling to earn two meals a day. Vedas also say that the act of eating is a form of "yagna". A saint sits in our stomach to churn and grind the food we eat. And hence, we are supposed clean our "five organs", namely mouth, two hands and two legs before starting the yagna. That is the sanctity attached to food. 

Cooking is my passion. I like to dish out new delicacies, snacks and savouries. Spicy food is my personal choice. I like to spice up things and when the taste lingers on your palate long after you have finished eating the spicy food is one thing I enjoy the most. As a little girl, I liked masala dosas of restaurants, but, as I grew and explored different places and tastes, I like a variety of foods, except those that worsen my allergies and non-vegetarian dishes. 

"A man's way to heart is through stomach", is what they say. It is true for women too. Who does not like to feast? Men and women alike, food can entice different age groups. It also brings them together on festivities and special occasions. From a basic want of man to a means to bring families together, food can be a want to a luxury for us. 

One man's dream

Another man's luxury
Bread, wine and cream
Someone's domestic drudgery.

What one man can eat,
Another man can waste.
One can feast on meat
Another can barely taste.

As much as I hate to say
Money controls a man.
Deny the fact you may,
But have more, when you can.

Written for Indispire - edition 111 on Indiblogger.in

A - Ask

One of the most gifted animals in the world is human being. The best gift that he is endowed with is inquisitive instinct. Curiosity that sparks a question in mind is very important for a man. The need to find answers to one's questions, the very search to satisfy the curiosity in a man takes him a long way. It is important to ask, to question and to know. A yogi, a scientist, a student, a lover and everybody else is driven by curiosity, questioning and knowing.

I have palpably experienced the benefits of asking. When I had doubts about anything, I never feared asking about it, no matter how foolish it seemed to others. Nobody is a born genius, so why should I worry about others' perception about my questions?

The important lesson I have learnt from life is, when you don't know, ask!

Written for A to Z April Challenge, 2016.

You own or your own

painting by David Ligare

One man's dream
Another man's luxury
Bread, wine and cream
Someone's domestic drudgery.

What one man can eat,
Another man can waste.
One can feast on meat
Another can barely taste.

As much as I hate to say
Money controls a man.
Deny the fact you may,
But have more, when you can.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 310
Written for The Tuesday Platform

Cat

That rainy evening
The male cat killed the kittens
When the mother left.

She came back to me
Mewing with imploring eyes
A tear left my eye.

I wish I had known
The magic to get back life
And spare her the grief.

Written for Haiku Horizons: "cat"

Kill, take a chill pill!

From my perspective, in Indian society, the word 'cliche' is deeply connected with men, women, marriage and religious rituals.

Image Credit: Google

The following are the cliches I have encountered.

• A woman on her periods should be isolated from the rest of the household.
• A husband should always be working and pursue his career, while the wife should be non-career oriented and look after her in-laws, household chores and children.
• In a marriage, a man should always be earning more than the wife, should be taller than his wife, more (or equally) educated than his wife and should be a step ahead in every possible aspect of life. In short, he should be above and beyond her wife's capabilities.
• A man should always pay the bills be it a chaat shop or a fine-dining restaurant.
• Younger generation know nothing compared to the older generation, just because they were born in this world a few years before. 
• The debates on whether love or arranged marriages are successful. Sorry, a marriage is a dependent on the individuals in question, not whether the couples loved before or after marriage. This generalization is over-used and over-rated.
• There can be bad children but there cannot be bad mothers. Utter non-sense! If that is the case, then, why do we have orphanages? There are children who are abandoned by their own mothers.
• A woman should leave her parents and her comfort zone and stay in her in-laws place or another place of their own.
• A woman after becoming a mother should take care of all the activities of the baby while the dad has no real obligation, but if he wishes to volunteer, that is a great thing.
• Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are born enemies. If the two can handle the generation gap very well, it is possible to co-exist, if and only if both are willing to do it.
• The worst of all cliche is that cricket is the most happening game in India. Sorry, I hate cricket.
• A good-looking person attracts people. Surely, they are catchy but not until they prove themselves to be bad, sometimes.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. This week's WOW prompt is ‘Kill the cliche'.

D day

That day, life showed her the two extremes of life from her daughter's birth to her twin's death.

That day changed the course of his life as a cell in his brain rebelled to become cancerous.

That day, she was helpless as his twentieth call was unanswered because of mehendi on her hands.

Written for Indispire - edition 110 on Indiblogger.in

Daughter

photo by Damien Derouene

The little girl waited for his move. She knew he was not going to win and that all his struggle to win in the last few moves was laughable. But the man's suave manner was intriguing. That was not what she saw in people. People made fuss about their defeat while the winners made merry. World celebrated the winners only and losers were hushed into low profiles. That was how the world was. But, this man, despite knowing that he was going to lose, remained calm. He must be a saint, she thought.

And then it was time for the last move. He was checkmated. He lost the game. No, the worst was that he lost his only few bucks. All he did was smile, shake hands and go home like a gentleman.

When his daughter saw him, she came gamboling to him, and in an instant her smile faded, "Oh, I don't see my doll?"

He abased himself in front of her, he knew not how to splinter her hopes, though he did it almost every time.

"Sorry my employer did not pay me today. Tonight, my darling, we sleep without dinner."

His daughter was used to the cruelty. Of poverty. 

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 309

Fly

The bird, spreading wings,
Flew far to never comeback
To dead barren land.

Land wept bitterly
For once it was a shelter
To the lonely bird.

Relationships change,
We do not die young and strong,
Make the most of love!

Written for Haiku Horizons: "fly"

Marks!

Once we pass our youth and settle down with our lives, making a living from a profession, we start knowing the real world - how bad or ugly or beautiful it is! At some point of time, we start longing for those bygone days of childhood. We always miss those days. But, memories belie the stress we went through those days.

Exams! Marks! Parents, teachers and students alike think that scoring a significant number in a particular set period of time is a measure of one's intelligence. I would call it more of a memory and application test. And I have always loathed this system. This system can make a child introvert, unsocial and a bookworm who is no good when he is exposed to practical application or social surroundings.

There have been suicide cases of students who failed crucial examinations. There have been disappointments in students who have scored distinction marks just because they could not get more. Where are we heading to? We, adults, are creating a system of stress for children instead of creating a system of learning.

I know people who have scored first class marks, but, earning higher than people who are exceptional in academics scores. Is it not a paradox? Scores can do very little after a certain point of time in life. Nobody asks a mother how much she scored in her 10th standard when she has her own kid to bring up. Nobody judges a CEO of a company by his PUC marks. Nobody cares about your marks when you are out of the system. It is the presence of mind, the understanding of a situation, smartness, patience, perseverance that takes a man far ahead in life.

Marks do not make a person. It is the eduction, its essence and morals that can make a man.

Written for Indispire - edition 109 on Indiblogger.in

If only

The woman of my life she was,

No one could guess her cause.

Tying up her long hair in a bun,

She always made my life fun.

I was probably her worst nightmare

Livid, I never reciprocated her care.

She took it with a smile, all the bruises,

And lived a life with poor resources.

When I knew not, who was my mother,

Bereft or abandoned without a bother,

She came to my life like sunshine

To become a godmother, I could call mine!

Tears run down, as I kneel at her tomb

I wish I could lie back in her womb.

She was my one and only care-taker,

If only she was my mother!

Written for The Tuesday Platform.

Mind

Killer, thief or Godman
I can be what you wish for!
Come, lead me ahead!

Your wish, my command!
You are the reason I am.
O mind, show me light!

Written for Haiku Horizons: "mind"

The luxury of HappYness

Whenever the topic of discussion is happiness, my mind repeatedly quotes from the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness - Happiness is something that we can only pursue, but can never have it. To me, the word 'happiness' has been a very confusing term. English lexicon has a defined meaning, but it in practice, it is difficult to palpably know it.

To me, happiness lies in the following activities:

1. Getting up early in the morning for exercise.
2. Sharing moments with loved ones.
3. Chatting, gossiping and laughing together.
4. Knowing new people and being a part of their lives.
5. Writing and reading.
6. Doing my job.
7. Not complaining about the situations in life and blaming it on others.

Alright, did you notice that happiness can be only listed in a set of activities and there is nothing really 'absolute' that can scream out, 'I am happiness'. Happiness is a mirage that life creates for you. Something like an optical illusion. You start believing what you perceive, but that necessarily need not be true. Similarly, if you decide to be happy, you can be happy, irrespective of the truth around you. And if you can do that, you have attained deliverance!

Also, there is nothing that can give you eternal happiness. Everything comes with an expiry date. That is my realization. Opinions change, relationships change, people change, things change and I change too. The frolicking  person who once was the fountainhead of your happiness begins to matter less after a few years, The activity that gave you immense happiness once becomes boring after a while. 

Change is a constant thing in life and sorrows, happiness, nothingness and everything else revolves around it. Nothing is forever and definitely not the illusion of happiness!

Written for Indispire - edition 108 on Indiblogger.in

Not yet

Image Credit: http://magpietales.blogspot.in/

It feels like a surreal reverie,

As I try to fight the qualm.

Your memories linger free

All there is, is an eerie calm.

Obliterated from my memory,

No, you can never be gone.

Our love is the love of century,
That leaves a path to tread on.

Come again to light up my mind!
Fortitude to move on and thrive
In your presence I shall always find
To me, you are always alive!

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 308

Safe

A mother thinks twice
Before sending her daughter
To play and make merry!

How safe will she be?
The fact that she is a girl
Can cause her danger!

Written for Haiku Horizons: "safe"

Grandiose plans

The guide pointed his tubby finger to the idol. It was an idol wrought out of a single rock - a dancing lady standing akimbo. Rani's interest was piqued by the intricate details of the idol. The guide further explained that the idol represented a famous classical dancer known as Shantala, a beautiful queen of Hoysala dynasty. Tired by the day, he disconsolately showed them the dais on which she used to dance and the God to whom her dance was offered, as mentioned in the scriptures. Nevertheless, Rani's face brightened as her imagination flew far and high when she pictured an antique temple filled with audience, music and flowers. Rani, being a dancer, reveled in her thoughts of an enchanting dance performance. Dance was her passion.

As the day broke chilly and dark, she returned to her hotel with her family. As they sat together for dinner, she asked her mother, "Maa, what if I want to give up my software profession and take up dance full time? I am aspiring to be a professional dancer."

Her mother winced. "What is wrong with you? We are going to look for a groom for your marriage in a few days and now you say this! Do you want us to be alive or dead? Do you think any good family will respect you if you are a dancer? You will be looked upon as an object of entertainment." A typical mother brought up with rigid and orthodox school of thought reacted. 

Though Rani never understood the connection of her being a dancer with her mother being alive or dead, she knew her mother was going to lay down an emotional ruse to ruin her plans. She remained quiet and finished her dinner, as usual. 

On her return from the trip to temple, Rani recalled that night, as she did in many lonely moments. A night that could have changed the course of her life; a night that could have made her a dancer on whom rhapsodies could be written; a night that would have given her what was truthfully hers, her life.

Snapping out to reality, she heard her son cry out. She wiped her tears and bared her chest to feed her baby. She was married with a child to a family that despised dancing. What could she possibly placate herself with? Dance was her life's fountainhead.

My favourite books are "The Guide" by R.K. Narayan and "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. This week's WOW prompt is ‘Books and Titles'.

S-S-S-Story!

"Say something Sanjana!"
Sanjana spoke softly, "Shocked!"
Surya sat scrutinizing situation.
"Simply, sprint somewhere", simpered Surya.
"Sister supports surreptitiously so slipping succeeds", Surya specified.
Successfully supported, Surya, Sanjana, slipped silently.

Written for Indispire - edition 107 on Indiblogger.in

The wife he never had!

painting by Cesar Santos

Ladies and cigarettes are his weakness.

Round hips, red-lips, an hour-glass figure;

Surely, he settles for nothing less,

After a night, she is his disposed cigar.

By day, he is a gentleman, at work,

Head held high, a businessman perspires,

For a raise, more incentives and perk,

By night, there is another lady as he retires.

As they fall in bed, in the wild exploration,

He wishes back his youth and vigour,

And a wife who creates such sensation,

Instead of his own, who awaits him back in anger.

Written for Magpie Tales: mag 307