To my very special mother, On this normal day, I'm writing you this poem, Since there are some things I would like to say.
Thanks for thinking I'm funny Even though I am really not And even though i hardly say it I love you quite a lot.
Thanks for taking me places I couldn't have gotten on my own And for always making our house
Feel a lot like a home. Thanks for always being there To make sure that I'm okay So I know that if I need you You are just a hug away. Thanks for all the good times passed And the ones that are still to come For always being a person I'm proud to call my mom.
You can't choose who your family is, But if it was something I could do, I know if I could go back now My choice would always be you.
Life can be full of light and brightness, On silent days with plain blue skies Or life can be like pitter patter raindrops That falls like tears from your ruby eyes.
Life can be the ever dreamy heaven That you will only reach through hell, But you won't know that you are happy, If you haven't been sad as well. Life can teach lessons in a hard way But you will be wiser once you know That even roses need both sunshine And a touch of rain to grow...
You can write for hours on hours, Of all the things you wished you could be, But the truth of the matter is simple, People are not poetry.
And I know that you wish you weren't awkward, That sweet words could roll right off your tongue, But your time here is too short just to worry, How each single sentence is strung.
It's okay to be rough around the edges, To be bruised up, broken and scarred, But it's not okay to let people tell you, That it's a reason to change who you are.
Your hair doesn't sit neatly, The way a poem sits so neatly in a line, And sometimes you might feel like a word, That nobody has learnt to define.
You might not be a star that lights a dark path, Or a bird that could teach us to soar, But it's okay, because you are too complex, To be crammed into one metaphor.
It's okay not to know what you are doing, Since your feelings don't have to all rhyme Though a poem once complete is eternal, You have the freedom to change over time.
You are much more than can ever be written, there is no title to say "This Is ME", You can't be trapped in the lines of a notebook, Because people are not poetry.....
"OMG! I'm suffering...." And as expected, my imaginary stupid (but sometimes sensible!)friend,Timmy, popped up.I should really find out how he does that (and stop him!).
“From what, milady?” “Tim, i think it's a disease...”
“And the name is...?” “Wise men call it amnesia, some call it dementia, people like me try to call it alzh… alzh.. err its complicated” “Caught you Rini. You have lost memory, like Aamir in Ghajini. Where are your tattoos, if i may ask? Let me get needle and ink. I will be more than happy to do the honors!!! ”
“Shut up, you idiot!! I did not lose memory! Just a tiny bit on the outer side.” “It has sides?!!??” “Oh yeah, it is like a huge football, which comes with an inside and an outside.” “Really? You mean, inside is full of air?? Hehehe... Enlighten me, anyways.” “Oh Tim, you see, the inside is like a bank.You save your best moments in it. So anytime you want to have one, just unlock it and get one out.” “And the outside?” “Hmmm... It contains less wanted moments. it is like the stuff you carry in your purse or bag - bus tickets, chewing gums, bills.” “Why are you so worried then? Erase them completely. And then, you will be tension-free” “No Tim! You never know when the bill would come back to you and say ‘Remember me?’” “Oh right. You would not remember the bill.” "Tim, you are drifting away from my problem!"
"What's the problem, then?"
“It becomes harder when, unlike purse, the 'outside' of memory holds people.” “You forgot people, Rini??” “Naaah... Not all of them. There are these people Tim, I know I have seen
them somewhere but I can’t place them. And problem is, they remember
me!”
“Now, I get it. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to DEBTORS THEORY!! (drum roll.....). "God Tim! I really had lost my mind when I created you! Plus, I'm the only lady here, sans any gentleman!" "Whatever Rini... According to Debtors theory, people always remember their debtors, but debtors never remember people.” “TIM!!!” “Okay okay you have no money” “I'm goin to kill you, you monster!”
“Fine... what is the trouble”
“Thanks a lot for asking so soon. Problem is they smile, I smile. They call by name, I smile. They ask questions, I smile.” “You are a little too cheerful perhaps.” “What is happening to me, Timmy?” “You must be dying.” “No I am not!” “Oh well, no harm in hoping.” “That’s it! You are dead.” "Hey, but I'm your only good looking imaginary pal, Tim, the greaaaa...."Ouuuucccchhhhhhh"
A wedding is considered one of the most important days in a person’s
life. In many cultures it serves as a complete transition into
adulthood, a permission to be a new family. Through out the ages
weddings have been used as an expression of happiness, success, duty and
prosperity. In the marriage ceremony, a couple makes a public declaration of
lifelong commitment to love each other. A commitment, by its nature, is a
challenge. Saying ‘I will’ to those vows obliges you to forgive and be
forgiven. It will be tough at times! So marriage is a risk, but a risk
worth taking. There’s plenty of evidence to show married couples are
more likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise.
A wedding ceremony is something which every girl dreams about. It is and will be one of the more memorable events in her life. Lot of emotions arise inside her. There is the anticipation of new life, excitement to share life with someone else, then there is fear of the unknown, mixed with certain anxiety about what could go wrong, and if she is an Indian, then those cheesy romantic scenes and songs of Karan Johar's movies make a tiny home in her mind.
No wonder Indian jewellery companies make advertisements that almost always focuses on weddings or allied events as the trigger for purchase. Now, watch this advertisement:
Tanishq,
an upper-middle class brand of jewellery from the house of Tata, has given us a lot of creatively visualized ads with Aishwarya Rai
swirling and simpering in surreal landscapes in the past (which apparently Sanjay
Leela Bhansali got inspired from...lol). However, in this ad, the brand cuts
through a lot of cultural clutter and gives us a refreshing perspective
on two ideas - one, that it is perfectly normal for the mother of a
young child to remarry, and for the groom to accept the woman and her
child as a matter of course; and more importantly, by choosing a
non-fair, not very young looking woman as the lead in the ad, Tanishq
breaks away from the extant advertising and cultural norms.
When
i first saw the ad, i was a bit shocked noticing the fact that a
commercial can be so bold to make a statement which, in Indian society, is still
not very acceptable. But they did it and have done it with elegance. It may not be the best ad but it is good to
notice that we are getting matured.
I
loved how the ad makers played with us when they give that split second
shot of the groom looking angry. The audience starts to think "ahhhh,
this one's gonna be an evil stepfather..." and then he surprises us all
by carrying the little girl with a smile.
I liked the ending where the child innocently asks "aj se daddy bulaoon (Shall I call you daddy from today?)"...heartfelt ..truly!
A huge salute to the agency who did the ad, the guys who approved the budget and the teams that did the convincing.
My favorite months are March and November. November 'coz that's when my birthday comes and March 'coz... ummmm... May be 'coz I have the right to have a favourite month for no reason (sarcastically rolling my eyes)!!! But for most of the part, I don't need a reason to like something. But this September
evening, I feel good that it is September. I don’t think it’s 'coz of the season.
The rains are a little silent now but I am not sure if they are completely
gone. I still feel cold in the nights and at the strike of 6.30 in the
mornings (That's when I usually go for shower on weekdays!)..Then I notice how cold, cold is. Otherwise I just drown myself under a
pile of blankets or clothes, whichever it is I find sprawled on my bed.
Everyday, I can see the evening turning into twilight through the glass windows at
the other side of the office. And then, there is this blindning (darn, there is no such word but i refuse to correct it!) sun. Why can’t it always be this way,
throughout the day? The sun up there and twilight down here. That way
we can still have days, just darker and more walker-friendly. I don’t know what suddenly made September so dear, but I feel it
is that window I look at to see the changing color of the day, is the reason for my growing love towards September. The
color that makes me want to jump out of the office and soak in the
outdoors, and one that makes me want to drown under that pile of clothes
sprawled on my bed.
My friends and family complain that I'm a forgetful and a teeny weeny ignorant person (strange thing for a woman!!). I am not like Aamir Khan in Ghajini but I do forget things. But finally, I learnt that it is good to be ignorant to a certain extent. Whenever I read or hear
about something new, no filters start working on my head. I read it as
it is written, I hear it as it is told. However, I have
learnt that there are people in this world who tend to pass it all through a filter of prejudices and opinions
and all they have read in the past, before letting any of that in. They
doubt everything. So you see, I can see
the goodness in something faster than them. I may sound innocent or naive (you can call me stupid too) here, but if
it takes so much work to trust anyone or anything and you have live your life till the end with a suspicious and alert mind, would you ever be
completely happy?
I keep hearing people (look closer my friend, you can find them in your huge line of relatives) interpret simple, straightforward words to come up
with inner and double meanings. My only reaction is WOW!!! How on earth, do they manage
to dig so much into those simple words, I can never ever understand. Wouldn’t it
be real tough for people to say every line after injecting a lot of
hidden meaning into it? According to me, life is not a drama with heavy dialogues. It is
just life – you live, you don’t act. You react, you don’t direct. You are you, not someone else!
But guys, people do it – a lot of people do this. It irritates me to the core. I could be standing in a park, telling how beautiful a
violet flower is, and for all you know, someone may
think I am trying to look at a man somewhere near the violet flowers –
'cause of course, a woman in this planet, doesn’t simply stand and admire the beauty of
flowers.
Here is another one. I may say I've plans to go out next day and my listener may think any one of the following:
“It is to avoid me, from calling her”
“It is to show me she is busy”
“It is to make me jealous that I am doing nothing”
etc etc etc...... (the probable list can go on and on and on!!)
Very few take it as it was said: “She plans to go out next day”
I really hate it when I'm misunderstood. But sadly, that happens a lot. So, I try to be extra cautious when I am with such people and make it all the more
worse. For it never works for me when I try to be something. You have to
be nice, not try to be nice. 'Cause then you are trying to prove, to
please, to convince. It doesn’t work.
So guys, try not to be that way and to help you with this, the only advice I will give is be ignorant, naive and probably tell your brain not to overthink (like I do!! hehehe)......
Feel a lot like a home.
