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.