Set her free!

In a small little home by the riverside
Lived a small girl an innocent child
She was lovely and bright,
She loved everyone and never lied

She looked after her younger brother
She fed the cattle green fodder
She walked for miles to fetch pots of water
She cooked the meals and cleaned the litter
But she was never sent to school like her brother

She wept and cried and fell asleep..
And envisioned a world of her dreams

A small school with gentle teachers around
Books and toys and fun friends around
Studying and playing all happy and glad
She smiled..
her eyes brightened, she felt a sense of pride..

She pictured a beautiful home..
Made of bricks of care and cemented with love..
A happy family of her own..
She smiled
Her eyes brightened, she felt a sense of warmth..

Let her dreams see a new dawn..
Let her lips sing the song of freedom..
Let her smiles reflect a new hope..
Set her free! Set her free!!

This poem was originally written in 2001 for my brother for some 'girl child day celebration' assignment in school!

creative inputs srk!

All on the shore..

A victory capture: "Sometimes they just put the 'red' flag on the shore to make it a picturesque capture for the shutterbugs! "

A rightful/unrightful place: "And sometimes they leave the beer bottle metal caps on the shores

Ironically with all the financial troubles ailing the parent company it sure seems to convey the sense-biting the dust(or the sand)-- a rightful place?

creative inputs:srk!

Doors..

"हज़ारों ख्वाहिशें ऐसी के हर ख्वाहिश पे दम निकले

बहुत निकले मेरे अरमान लेकिन फिर भी कम निकले।.."

This thought just crossed my mind when I looked at the picture for some reason. There are many oppurtunities and doors we seek, some open with a grand welcome and some remain closed and we keep peering and pushing to make our way in...

We glance around to see if someone is watching..and then knock and call out to see if someone will respond,

We glance around to make sure no one is watching..and then pull at the lock to see if we can force it open,

Interestingly the left corner has a wooden panel missing, so one can coop his hands together to make it easier for the eye to survey inside. Mystery kills us, we are just the poeple who want to know, want to see how life looks like from the inside. We are the seekers..

We are the romaticists who can feel the past years in the fading colors, the falling paint, the rust imprints of the waters and the dried leaves. We can picture our own story about the poeple who once lived there and left the place for good (atleast that's what we hope)..

It is interestingly how the past and the future both intrigue us, that romance has a charm stronger than the pragmatic present.. atleast for some of us..

creative input:srk!

Pahad..

Bhai's unfinished painting.

Earlier i used to showoff his guitar skills when my friends used to come over and now his paintings as well.
Way to go bhai, proud of you always!

And the finished version with some green tress around and a house in the snow!

Seasons Change...

...And so do we..

I never knew i could feel so dead about you
I always believed that seasons change.
I always believed that 'we' change, 
but something inside tells me,
that the end is near this time
and nothing is going to change from here.


I glide through time and space so fast,
that everything else fades out..
I hear the noises in my head so loud,
that everything else fades out..
I waited for a change so long,
that every hope has now faded out..
and nothing is going to change from here
is all i can hear myself repeating..


I believed,
I fought,
I lost,
I cried,
I fought each time for a change..
but it was always a flicker,
and I never saw the light
I fought each time for you..
And then you tell me, 
you never believed in the fight..
I never knew i could feel so dead about you
but I know now, nothing is changing from here


Not all seasons change
Not all fights win battles
Not all promises last
Not all hopes see light
Sometimes when things stop to change
you just end up feeling so dead inside...

This is a rather grim interpretation of the image but sometimes the most beautiful things around evoke the most grim feelings..

creative inputs: srk!

Enjoy this moment...

.......this moment is life

"Life is but a day,

A fragile dew drop on its perilous way

A laughing school boy without grief or care

riding the springy branches of an elm"- John Keats

Taking cue from the above captured picture, I take the liberty to create a modified version of Keats

"Life is but a day,

A fragile rain drop on its perilous way

A cheeky school girl without grief or care

dancing in the first showers of the rain

swirling her umbrella to create the rainbows

splashing the waters on the face of the shy bushes by the roadside

raising her head to talk straight to the clouds above..

Ah.. i miss that conversation

Ah..i miss the rain..

Ah.. i miss you- 'the carefree life'!

Creative Inputs: SRK

Memorial Travel II

"When you seek it, you cannot find it.."

I have found this statement weirdly true in a lot of life's situations. When I go to watch a much acclaimed movie, or read a highly recommended book, or simply order my favorite drink many a times my own high expectations belie the joy of experiencing certain things.

Wisconsin trip on the contrary was a surprise experience. It was one of those things you get into with no mental image and register everything with a fresh perspective as you go along. I can recall vividly how I shivered sitting along the side of the lake inwardly remembering the similar cold Naini breeze. Every time I drove into Nainital from the warm plains, there would be this one turn along the road where I would shiver suddenly as the cold fresh wind from the lake would just hit me right across. The shiver isn't just a reflex to the chill in the breeze for me its an acknowledgement of familiarity. I refused to put on a jacket because that chill refreshed mental images of my hometown. And a nostalgic person like me savors even the goose-bumpy associations!

What is the perfect treat after shivering in the cold? no brainer-its food and chai!

What if you can get momo's with chilli chutney. Kathal(jackfruit) sabzi and Kadii chawal in a authentic Nepali restaurant. I think the picture alongside conveys my expressions completely. I was overjoyed, overwhelmed (although no tears). Twice I have been labelled a Nepali to my deep chagrin, but this food made me a convert. I felt a deep kinship with Nepali's around the world after eating this food!
Food just fosters new loyalties, its the easiest way to the heart!
We roamed around Madison through the night and the next day was another surprise.

We drove into Wisconsin Dells. All the frozen woods of winter were verdant and green this time of the year. All the sleepy people lazing in their warm apartments in winter were out on the roads with their fancy boats. It was my first rendezvous with water sports. Hello waters we meet again, but this time I'm not sitting by your side in a pensive mood, I am going to run around and race right across you. I will create waves and feel the waters spray across my face at 40mph. It was good fun, unfortunately I have no 'in-action' pictures but the picturesque landscape and the thrill of racing was a wonderful experience. The only downside was the sacrifice of  the bunch of hair when I combed after that 'hair raising' experience!

A lovely margarita cheese pizza with a local brewed awesome beer completed my day and I was safely escorted back to my abode in Champaign.

The day ended on a high note with my brother doing us proud with a 95% in CBSE exam. So a proud sister in a happy mood prayed for success for his little brother in whatever he does in life.
Amen!
(sorry i can't keep a serious face when we are together, crazy reality!)

Memorial travel

The travel was on Memorial Day so technically its memorial travel, it was good fun, good food and good memories too so it goes to the blog. It all started with no planning, no clue about the itinerary, all I knew was that I would be travelling with friends and acquaintances back from engineering days.
Places and people are an interesting combination. Some places are fun because of the people you are around with. How you discover a new place depends to an extent on the company you have around.
You sometimes see people in a whole new light when you are at a new place. ‘Holiday goggles’-looking at everything with a relaxed cheerful demeanor or the other variant ‘Graduation goggles’ –looking nostalgically at all the good memories of past years also play their own sweet role.

So post the initial philosophizing, I should now talk about the travel. It was Chicago-Madison-Wisconsin Dells. It’s a little difficult to comprehend how places change with season here. Under the summer sun you can never imagine the winter chill. Seeing the winter frost you can never imagine lush green trees and gurgling waters. I had little expectations from Wisconsin as I had seen it all frozen, cold and deserted in the winters. My imagination had not conceived beautiful lakes, drives through green trees, gently meandering green slopes and so many people around! So it was a pleasant surprise.

Starting from Champaign I had some known and some surprise company. Coming this far you are already far beyond your comfort zone so all you want is to have a good time with the people around.
The small town people from Champaign (i.e. me) need to refocus in the big city with the tall buildings, lights, traffic and the crowds. However it’s a quick reflex and you reconnect with the city almost in a blink! So it was a quick walk around the Chicago Lake, then off to Hardrock cafe, dinner at a fancy Indian place and then all the way up to Hancock towers. Chicago and the city lights every time I see I still love the sight.

The next day was a rendezvous with an old college friend. It was a good surprise to meet her after so many years and again it wasn’t planned it just happened. We walked and tried to talk loudly over the sound of the passing Memorial Day parade band. Had a Chinese lunch while remembering the awesome Chinese food places in CP, Delhi. I was again at the Chicago bean, taking the usual pictures. I wonder if I am ever going to see the day when I walk along the bean without having an impulse to take pictures. The interesting piece about the Chicago bean is that it was designed by an architect of Indian origin. We just take this vicarious pleasure in his accidental identity. The design is around the theme of what a building can give to the onlooker, so magnanimously it reflects back your own image with the entire Chicago skyline as the backdrop along with all the many people who flock to take their own pictures. It’s definitely an interesting concept. (Reference source: fellow traveler).
With this the Chicago lap came to an end and I started off for the Wisconsin sojourn.

I’ll post the Wisconsin travelogue in the next blog because I am done with my part time here, have got to meet a professor and then head for my internship. Just writing it down to remind myself that it a long day after an early morning and unfortunately life is not one happy vacation like the blog post above!