Baarish

I looked outside my classroom window while I was attending my lecture, there was an overcast. After months of heat and humidity, this is what I was waiting for. A few drops of joy gave way to a slight drizzle. Before I knew it, it started pouring. The bell rang only to find my bags packed and me charging through the door. I made my way past the corridor, took out my red umbrella and hoisted it into the air. I was heading to my favourite place - JP Tea Stall. Surrounded by trees and the intelligentsia, there was something about this stall,its tea and the greenery that gave me comfort. "Oye Deepu", I said, "Ek chai banade yaar".

Standing under my red umbrella, sipping my masala chai, dipping a mathhi in it and listening to Coldplay, I thought to myself whether this was the bliss people craved for. If it was, well I found mine. The drops of rainfall which blended with the sounds of the stove burning in the background,preparing more tea, soothed my soul. There were people running from one shelter to another trying not to get wet, there were people jumping in puddles and dancing; and then there was me -
In the madness of this rainfall,
I found peace,
I found myself,again.

Amen

Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise

Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise,
A man earns in a day in Jharkhand.
Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise,
I spend traveling to college everyday.

Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise,
An attempt to earn two square meals.
Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise,
I just had lunch in the cafe.

Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise,
Fifteen hours of sweat and blood.
Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise,
I just withdrew from an ATM.

Chhyasi Ghante Chalees Minute,
His children sleep on an empty stomach.
Chhyasi Minute Chalees Second,
Can we catch a Mcdonalds Burger on the way?

Chhyasi Rupya Chalees Paise.....

What happiness needs.......

Chai Tea - Masala Chai - Spiced Milk Tea

2 cups water
3 black tea bags or 1 tablespoon loose organic black tea
1 cinnamon stick
6 whole green cardamom pods, crushed or about 1/4 teaspoon seeds
4 whole cloves
Dash nutmeg
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
1 (6-inch) piece vanilla bean (cut up into 1-inch pieces) or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 black peppercorns
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cups low fat or whole milk

In the lonliness of things.....

Sometimes when Im sitting all alone, I can actually be me. I mean the real me. Get to know myself a little better, ask me questions I never do. Get some answers I never expected!! Do things for myself. Yes you heard it! Being selfish, being selfish for me.


You question ur reflection
the answer's perplexing
Being true to it
seems the hardest thing

The veil of deceit on it
heavy on my back

Its insecurities
engulfing you

Its failures
mocking at you


The conjunction of naivety with falsity give way to those complexities. Emotions were never my forte, I never wanted them to be either.

You cant let people see through you, It'll just make you more vulnerable than you were before.
It doesnt help, it never did. Dont risk it for those "complexities". Thats why they're called so.

This isn't me!!! I see the essential goodness in people. I don't ponder over my insecurities. Thats the funny part about insecurities, the more you think about it, the more it engulfs you. Its like an ever growing void.

Come to terms with it or leave it be. Somethings are better left "unthought".

Now you see what loneliness does to me........

Come away with me.......

Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera, Swades Hai Tera
Tujhe Hai Pukara....
Yeh Woh Bandhan Hai Jo Kabhi Toot Nahin Sakta

I write this piece as the song plays in the background. It feels as if something, someone is calling me home,far away from this madness. The madness which I've started thriving on.

Return to the roots where I grew from. To the silence that fills this void. To the contentment that isn't bound by material possessions. To the smile that comes from the heart. To the happiness thats mine.

Tujhse Zindagi Hai Yeh Kah Rahi
Sab To Pa Liya, Ab Hai Kya Kami
Yun To Sare Sukh Hai Barse, Par Door Tu Hai Apne Ghar Se
Aa Laut Chal Tu Ab Deewane, Jahan Koi To Tujhe Apna Mane
Aawaz De Tujhe Bulane, Wohi Des

These lines are so pure. We've got everything we need. Every comfort we could think of. But, there's still something missing. That emptiness, that hollowness. You're far away from where you belong. Come home,where you're welcomed with open arms, where we may find you. Where I may find me.


Tu Na Pooch Raaste Mein Kahe, Aaye Hain Is Tarah Dorahe
Tu Hi To Hai Raah Jo Sujhayeh, Tu Hi To Hai Ab Jo Yeh Batayeh
JaYeh To Kis Disha Mein Jayeh, Wohi Des

Twenty going on 21......

So here I am, at the brink of turning 20. Wait!! Is that right? TWENTY!! SHEESH!! I already feel so old! Its Garima's birthday today. She's 20 now. Poor thing. Is still in her denial mode. Well atleast I can say Im over "that" phase. I've come to accept these cruel terms and have gone into depression. Why do I have this gutsy feeling that my birthday is going to suck BIG TIME!! Is it because I'm going to turn twenty or because I'm going to turn 20? Well they say "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter, If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!!" I have just one itsy bitsy thing to say to them - BLAH!!

When we were in school. we'd look at these "twenty year olds" with disgust and sympathy. "Poor souls, they'll have to act all mature now" Well, Im now in that phase god dammit!!! Now I know why people cry on their birthday. Hell!! I'm crying even before mine's arrived. Wish I could go to Never never land.....

I cant even say "why does this happen to me" because it happens to everyone!!! Good bye my teens!!! I shall miss you...

'Yeh daulat bhi lelo, yeh shohrat bhi lelo,
Magar mujhko lauta do meri jawaani"

BLAH!!!

Leaving.........leaving............Left!!!!

With the left reiterating its threat to withdraw support from the Congress led UPA Government and the Prime minister not budging from his stand either; it seems as if a break in ties is inevitable just months before the country witnesses the next phase of General Elections scheduled for 2009. The CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat maintained his stance over the agreement despite months of negotiations by the Congress. After witnessing this entire political ‘drama’, one can’t help but ask a few basic questions. The interesting part is that these questions may or may not have substantial, let alone believable, answers.

Let’s start with the Congress and its very own duo – Sonia Gandhi and Man Mohan Singh. Making a statement last August, the Prime Minister proclaimed the deal as a “historical initiative, with major gains for India” and that “the Country would only be able to appreciate the significance of this deal in due course of time.” Later Sonia Gandhi reasserted his views by stating that the opponents of the Indo-US nuclear deal were anti-‘development, prosperity and peace.’ If the deal is so beneficial for India, then why hasn’t Man Mohan Singh presented this in the Parliament? Rational thinking would suggest that if something is so important to a country, then it would definitely get approved in the Parliament. The baffling part is that majority of the Congressmen are unaware of most of the details in this deal, let alone the left and the remaining Parliament members. If a cause is so ‘noble’, as the Prime Minister would suggest, then why is he keeping everyone in the dark while signing this agreement? One would have no choice but to believe that he is simply abusing his power and is singlehandedly changing(or distorting) India’s foreign policy (with the help of Sonia Gandhi, of course).

Its rather noble of Manmohan Singh to stand his ground at the cost of losing his chair and Congress losing its power, isn’t it? Not really. With Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief of the Samajwadi Party, ready to bail him out of trouble; the Left walking out of the coalition shouldn’t really bother the Congress. Samajwadi Party (SP) currently has 39 seats in the Lok Sabha and would clearly be the second biggest constituent of the alliance, if the Left said its last “Goodbyes.” With such a sturdy contingency in place, why wouldn’t anyone sound confident?

Now lets shift the spotlight and talk about the CPI(M). When Man Mohan Singh made an agreement with Bush in 2005 on this rather debatable issue, the left was exasperated that the Congress took them for granted and signed the agreement without their consent or knowledge. It would definitely be a dubious proposition if I were to say that the left is doing this more out of spite than otherwise; but I will still go ahead and state it.

Looking at the possible scenario of the SP helping out the Congress, the Left has already threatened the SP, saying that if they support the Congress and this deal (consequently the US), they will lose out on the Muslim Vote bank (who supposedly have anti US feelings). Therefore, also making the left communal in nature and no different from the BJP. Another question that arises in my mind is that if the CPI(M) is leaving the coalition on grounds of the nuclear deal, then why is it bothered whether some XYZ party joins the Congress or not?



Is the Left so dead against the deal that they are willing to stage a walkout? Or are they trying the same tactics which Mehbooba Mufti’s party tried in Kashmir? The last thing that the Left would want is to be associated with anything vaguely related to the word “Inflation,” as it clearly goes against the interests of the aam aadmi. So is the CPI(M) just using the deal as an alibi to part ways?

The possibility that the Left feels strongly against ‘closing ties with the US’ cannot be ruled out. They definitely feel that the Prime Minister's approach towards the deal showed "how deeply the Congress is entrenched with US interests," even to the extent of ignoring the inflation crisis in India.


Politicians are like diapers, they both need changing regularly and for the same reason. The next few days will decide the fate of Indian politics. The BJP never had it so easy. The Congress, crushed between inflation and the deal, has no one to turn to. The Congress isn’t “right” and neither is the left. They both seem to be entangled in this dirty web of politics and power. As Richard Armour once said “ Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of right or wrong.”