upside down

the day's molten heat gripped my rubber shoes. as i walked away from it, it trickled through the cracks of wooden floor; crawled towards me. i had seen this in my dream sometimes, it was all so charismatic and thrilling. i was however, running towards the molten day in my dream. why was i running away now?

the night started to freeze. i turned the heater on and it suddenly was gripped with sharp knife edges of snow. i must be tripping, i thought. this is the opposite of reality. i opened the window and a cold breeze embraced me like my death. she was so peaceful yet so chilling.

i walked on the beach and looked at the sky, under my head. the water went upside down as waves formed and then went back up as the wave subsided. wind created ripples in the sky. i felt the sky extending its arms towards me and i wanted to fall in it but i could not, gravity had given up. well no, it was acting opposite as if someone just dialed it in the reverse direction suddenly.

sun is all dark today, as against yesterday when it was oozing bright energy. it is dying, i thought or being reborn? it was a massive ball far away with red ring around it shining in the night. or may be the fuel on this side of it burned out and that side just started burning, just like a forest fire would spread. i was wondering if life would now start on the other side of solar system. it was a weird thought.

moon had disappeared, nasa and other authorities were looking for it for months and could not find it. may be it just gathered enough escape velocity and sprung itself away from gravity of earth. it left a white mark in space though all through its path, may be they can trace it that way and bring it back one day. was it an organism with beating heart that just ran away when it saw something different?


this too shall pass i thought. then i had a sudden jerk and i woke up and whatever i had seen in my dreams was a reality. 

Tranquility

Another day passing by. Passing by while I look outside the window 'how beautiful the World has been, or was or can be!'. Another moment slips by without realizing that once gone it will be never back again. May be it will be captured in my mind as a calm serene tranquility. Peaceful as the shadow of a mango tree on a harsh summer afternoon when I heard the wind sing to me. The chorus was framed far away by the bell in a cow's neck. I saw those dry grass streaks rustling and whispering that this moment too is passing by.

The fearless moments that I have enjoyed within myself seem to be reborn every time I remember those calm moments. I am sure you had your share of them, don't you love to weave them in paintings, in words, or in your pictures? The moment that gave you a sense of relief from the tiredness, so real. I feel that the people that I know are slipping away, may be it is a magic trick played by my thoughts just to confuse me. I do not know if I have enough chips on my side to raise that blind but I would love to. I would love to see them coming back to me, some time - some moment where we could ride the bicycle as effortlessly as we used to do or swim to the other side of the river and look how tiny others look from this side.

It has become a fast paced, goal based life where these moments are a rare thing. I experience them at times when I am lying down on my couch on a lazy Saturday afternoon, just by myself listening to an old song. It is rare alright but it is worth fighting for. Or when I splash the water on my face while in the shower and there it is that homely feeling, ecstasy. Cherish it while it lasts, search for it until your feet give you the road. 

Devil is in the details

I have been listening to this line time and again, mostly in the context of the US debt deal. Even though that has passed at this time, I am thinking is there really a devil in details?

I would rather disagree to the most part. For great scientists, musicians, artists and surviving human beings, devil is in not getting enough details. I do not think that Da Vinci would have painted so amazingly if he would not have seen even the leaves rattling in the wind. Imagine Lata-ji without those minute details when she is singing her melodies.

However, I get the context that when you are so closely watched by billions of people on this planet you would want it to get over quickly. In terms of the debt deal the leadership was questioned and challenged time and again. The desire of devils flared up as time went by and both the parties wanted to make sure that they come out as winners. In this they had to ensure others that their desire is the best for the US citizens. When so much is at stake and people use zoom in so extensively, devils is in the details. You do not want to come out as a devil yourself with election race heating up.

Focus on the details as much as you can, I think that is what has and will set you apart from others. Learn the most and grow through the details! Politics will always be a center piece of human evolution and provides a lot of fodder for daily humor. Enjoy every step!

Drive through the memory lane

Things had gone faster than expected. The pages have turned on themselves faster than the wind of life. The bookmark, a dried leaf from childhood, has even grown its own elements.

However, memories are still fresh in mind. Things can be so simple and yet so difficult to comprehend and to act on. Sometimes logic caves in and it is void that lives at that spot. Forgotten are the fights which made things black and blue but remembrance of happiness linger on and give a sudden kick start. The grip on the hand is long gone but impressions of them have left their prints.

Its like a drive through the country side, while playing a favorite song and singing it while you are thinking of memories associated with it rather than road ahead. The breeze on that drive was same as breeze the day we walked together. The sun rays are dancing on the wet road and they have not dispersed but formed a bright diamond on it. Windows rolled down and hands trying to grip the air as they had done earlier. There is no fear of any past or future like it never was. Forever!

Remember??

1. Do you remember the breeze that you enjoyed sitting on a bench with your friend and talking about something stupid or serious?
2. Do you remember the happiness of seeing someone whom you always want happy smile while they enter a room and look at you?
3. Do you remember holding hands as you walk on the road without even thinking about it twice?
4. Do you remember being foolish while buying your gift for your first love?
5. Do you remember the shiver through you as you looked at your loved one after a long time even though you met her/ him last evening?
6. Do you remember the long walk that seemed shorter than a walk in your room?
7. Do you remember the end of the evening as the talks started getting more interesting?
8. Do you remember that desire to meet someone constantly by forced accidents and smiling over it on your way back and still feeling lucky?
9. Do you remember the comfort of being with a person whom you knew in a group of people?
10. Do you remember the moment when you both realized something and there was no need to talk any more?
11. Do you remember the smile on your face when you saw that someone get up in the morning when you called and instead of hearing 'Hello' you hear a 'Smile'?

Just remember those moments because you would come back to them later on in life and you would want to enjoy them in your thoughts again!!

A Walk through desert

As the small young feet dragged themselves in the sand, all he could think of was how he had spent his evening by the river once. He had met some new people who had come there with their kids and they had shown some interest in him. They shared their games with him and also enjoyed a dip in the river. They had searched for shells under water and he could still feel the multi-colored shells which he believed were God-sent.

However, he was far away from that spot now and though the memories were drenching his heart wet his feet were slow as they walked through the dunes of a hot blooded desert. The desert had never been this hot for a while and neither had it been so calm and lonely. He remembered how excited he was when he first stepped in the cold sand on the morning before. He had also thought that if he can survive this experience he would have something to look forward to. What, he was uncertain! But something that he would love and live for.

He remembered that his journey began with 3 people who called themselves 'Gypsies', word he found familiar though he had heard it for the first time. His young skin had never felt so cold before though he had come from an icy land in the North. A gypsy recommended him to walk bare feet if he wanted to enjoy his life in the future. He could not connect the dots until he let his naked feet touch the sand. He loved the feeling so much that he threw his shoes away and started to run as fast he could.

As the Sun started fading away in the horizon leaving behind sparks of orange he realized that it was evening. He had walked so much that he could not feel his feet and suddenly with sand turning colder he felt a shiver run through his spine, feet first. He remembered the words of that gypsy 'Do not stop until you see a drop'. However, he was very tired and could not continue any longer in that harsh cold which gripped him like her own child. He remembered his mother like never before and wished that if only he could touch her face once.

Haunted

The door had been kept open. He knew that he had laundry to pick up and should not take more than 10 minutes and he thought it is not enough time for anyone to sneak in and moreover the neighborhood was calm and people were sober.

It was an apartment on the 4th floor and though old building had been recently renovated. The walls were painted in cream color, however the stairs were left brown, aged. They were so old that even the owners had assumed it as an original color.

As he walked in the enclosed confinement of the passage he was humming a song, an old hindi classic. Something that was haunting in its essence and which reminded him of his own haunted dreams. He had always seen someone observing him when he hummed that song. He saw an old woman who hid behind a wall and had a grin on her face as she saw him do his activities. This would scare him so much that he would run closer to his parents as a kid, when he saw her smiling and observing. First he thought it was an old protecting soul who had come to see that no harm happens to him. However, as days went he would shiver by just the thought of it.

Tonight as he walked through the passage he saw the old woman. However, she wasn't observing him from a distance she was way too close to him. He could feel her walking with him and he walked faster as he approached the end of the passage. He felt as if roof is way to closer than ever before. He looked up and saw her looking at him, observing with same grin as he had dreamed her.