A friend to LISTEN!

F-R-I-E-N-D-S: People with whom you can be yourself. You have not to please them forcefully. No formalities attached. People with whom moments become precious and time flies faster than never before.

Right from being a toddler to whatever your age is now, we all have shook hands to bond with so many friends. And yes, har ek friend zaroori hota hai, likewise we all need a friend to listen. One who lets you talk and reflect. Who can fill in the silence and unsaid sentiments with a smile and soothe you. You vent out and confess things without apprehensions. And soon you see the picture clearer as the pieces of the puzzle come together.

A friend to listen, a heart to share…
One who gives you vision in moments of despair…

Little girl in the veranda

Holding her dad’s finger, she walked in awe, ogling at the bright colours and shapes. Her tiny feet adorned with anklets, resonated joy. Her laughter soothing like sound of chimes. With pure innocence she shouts aloud babaaa, and points at a beautiful necklace, displayed at a jewelry store.

Definitely, girls have an eye for bling. And her baba, who was dressed in a solid white shirt and khakhi trousers, glanced up on her daughter’s choice, her love at first sight. Baba, smiling at her, with a though of her wedding day in the back of his mind, nodded and coochie cooed her that the day is still far away…

Soon I drowned into a pool of nostalgia and was drifted back in time, to my childhood days. I was her age, circling around the verandah at the glimpse of my father. Maa tells me this incidence often that when papa used to come back from his distant braches as he was posted outside our hometown then, Mathura; I use to shy away, giggle and run around the verandqa with ultimate joy. He used to smile and laugh at the sight. All his fatigue of travelling long distance was forgotten. He would call out for me with his arms wide open, and after a little jog around I used to run towards him, excited for his warm embrace. Happiest moments of our lives! Though I can’t recall the details but can still sense his lovely embrace that assured me that I was safe.

How strange it is, over two decades down the lane, the same girl now runs towards another man, her soul mate. The change being that the father himself hands over his daughter to her man. Her anklets reverberate joy, now in her new house. But her hero still remains her papa, and it is a fact that every girl somewhere sees a reflection of her father in his husband.

Stronger than yesterday

What makes me weak, makes me strong too.

Strife imparts strength.

Pain lets me empathize.

Loneliness helps me introspect.

Tears keep me human.

Hurt ensures that I am ‘all by myself’.

Nothingness gives me space to gaze and gauge.

Failures make me sit-back & relax.

I unlearn the worn-outs to learn the new.

I relish each moment, love meeting people.

I am building a library of experiences.

I observe and appreciate.

And...

I emerge stronger every day, a little less weaker than yesterday.

I know it’s not over yet…

The talks that we started

The songs that we sang

Promises that we swore

Dreams that we weaved

All lie unattended

Still and by themselves

I know it's not over yet

The story we began

I know it’s not yet the end

And it is better not-to-end.

Time has tricked us

And both our hearts are in pain

We fight our own battles

So we can run back to each other

Being one, once again…

I know it's not over yet

The story we began

I know it’s not yet the end

And it is better not-to-end.

I-N-C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E

That’s what it better be

Who says there’s a love story

That ever came to an end…

I know it's not over yet

The story we began

I know it's not yet the end

And it is better not-to-end.

Battle of the Ages!

If you were to take a sneak peek into my state of mind at the moment, you’d find a cocktail of thoughts and emotions. Seems like I am stuck in the legendary battle of the ages, between two sets of generations. One B.M. (before M.E.) and other A.M. (after M.E.); where M.E. is My Era.

Irrespective of which category you fall in, I’m sure you’d be nodding your heads in affirmation. Coz I know almost every individual at some point in time has felt the same.

Yes! This has been the dilemma of one and all generations. More the gap, larger is the difference in value system and beliefs. But amazingly all are right. And as I quote ‘right’, here’s another debatable topic- What’s right? Who defines it? Is there a base to which the comparison can be drawn? And the moment we begin to set base, representatives from all ages would have whole lot of interjections to make. And there will be comments on circumstances, availability of resources, education, mind set, exposure, etc. and each would go on defining: ‘right’.

Nevertheless, the most common and favourite dialogue between the 2-gens remains the same.

B.M. : We had limited or less resources & education but we had strong value systems, quality thoughts, qualitative education with strong basics and immense patience. We respected elders, never raised our voice in front of them. We were hardworking and focused in life.

But the M.E.’s and A.M.’s lack in all of them despite abundance in resources and education. They have no routine, don’t take healthy diet, are always after gadgets and don’t value what we say but are always after friends. We say things out of our experience, but they think we are fools!

A.M. : We have more resources & exposure that’s why we are more technologically sound, broad minded and outgoing. We like taking risks & stretching our limits. We look at other options than just being doctors, engineers, lawyers and professors. And we know, even you wanted to do so but then you did not talk back to your elders, not even to put your point across.

‘Respect’, we give to those only who deserve it, who give us respect too and we do not believe in showing it off.

Routine is boring to us. We do same things at different times and different things, each time, every other day. Hardworking is passé; we work smart. For you G.K. was General Knowledge, but G.K. to us it is Google Knowledge or Greater Kailash market.

Healthy diets: we have more packed products, more junk, adulterated food, busy and fast times. But don’t worry, we are coping up well.

And thanks for your advice, though we appreciate it more when we ask for it, which we seldom do because we listen to friends more.

Everyday you want us home coz its paradise. And if you think of yourselves as fools, we are definitely living is Fool’s Paradise.

M.E. : (Speechless)

(Not because, it is hard for us to take our stand. Not because we relate to some of both sides. But because all are ‘right’ in their perspectives and given circumstances. Agreeing to both the generations at different points, and trying to make our both world’s meet, we fight our own struggle.

The moment we back A.M.’s, we are told that we’d face the same situation some day and then we (M.E.’s) will realize the sentiments of B.M.’s. And just when we support B.M.’s, an anecdote from our lives is tossed towards us by A.M.’s, where we had defied the B.M.’s and they had given into our demands.

And we stand there ‘tongue tied’ between the ‘battle of the ages’.)

We all know that ‘change is constant’, yet we find it hard to acknowledge. With every passing phase in life, our expectations are soaring high. We start looking up at our experiences & achievements, but never forget to look down on that of others.

Why this battle of the ages???

Will it ever end???

Or we all will keep it alive and keep striving???

Guess ‘showdown’ is basic human nature.

They keep contemplating the past and manipulating the future, while the present if they look at is ‘decent’.

Mighty One: MINUS ONE!

One step can lead.

One thought can inspire.

One idea can trigger.

One moment can create.

One dream can awaken.

One move can win.

One nod can embolden.

One word can touch.

One drop can quench.

One act can evolve.

One story can inspire.

One smile can speak.

One song can heal.

One belief can win.

Such is the power of ONE.

And one such initiative is ‘minus 1’.

Be a part of this GREEN MOVEMENT.

And ADD your bit towards MINUS 1.

Go Green, Go MINUS 1.

What a bright idea. Something very relevant to our daily lives. So, we don't have to stop taking print outs, yet do something about saving paper, saving trees, saving environment and saving earth. Thus contributing in our way to a better future. ONE brilliant idea.

Also, we must start using both sides of the paper. And instead of getting fresh notepads issued from office or buying them, we can customize one for our daily scribblings.