The Dream

today i stand and stare at time how it passes steadily it is finishing us one second at a time even when we dont give in readily it feels strange as it keeps ticking away is hair greying equal to soul enlightening the body is just petals that are withering away is there a light inside thats constantly brightening as i grow older i am left with more questions no one with answers, no place to find them as i look inside i keep having realizations that answers are made with life poured in them a fallen arm and a broken bone yells of pain deep in tone gushing blood turning everything red but a will  to live beyond the tears shed in the night its so dark outside in plainsight one can hide those buried parts need no showing off that face neednt hide what words say of i see a tree thats towering so high the shade is enough to make the sun shy i lay beneath thinking, asking questions why is the tree so giving even when we make it cry the mother grips her child...

"Haven't you tried Tinder?" "Tinder is a lop-sided game, man. It is for the ladies. After weeks without matching I uninstalled" This is not a washroom conversation. Wait! It could be a washroom conversation, one cubicle to the other. Nevertheless the conversation is a common one amongst men. I was tempted to add an adjective in the previous sentence and end it as "amongst 'eligible' men but Tinder offers no such restrictions. So it is just men and it seems to rarely work for them. I am on Tinder and I've known other men and women who have been on Tinder. Quite frankly, the stories of people on and off Tinder are fascinating to say the least. Dating in an Indian context is confusing enough. If you bring in dignity into the mix and make tall presumptions then the complexity has just gone up several notches. Let me explain what I mean. To put it simply Tinder has a reputation. It is assumed that the app is primarily for people trying to get s...

I see your eyes The contours of your face Those pupils dilate wide Time to win the race I see your hands tuck that tummy in A mental note on extra mile of running I see you comb your hair to the back I see your stubble it needs more black The black shirt makes you mope In the white shirt there is hope A hope today will be brighter Despite the same time, same route, the same jeans thats getting tighter I see in the depths of your eyes, a longing That today shall be the last day of wishing I also see you keep forgetting That longing is the why you see yourself waking In a long day I only have seconds with you The smile in the end I look forward to For all I can be is just a reflection It is up to you to read it’s perfection In the night when all goes dark I can show you nothing, it’s stark And I am a mirror, I stay that way You don’t need me, I am not in your way

How do we define fulfillment? We find fulfillment when we find meaning in things we do? How do we go about finding meaning in a 9 to 5 corporate job. There are occasional smiles at the end of a certain time period or maybe there isn't any of that. That isn't essentially bad news but it is just like life. It keeps going on. How then do we find meaning especially outside work? I see people chase other goals. Traveling the world. Are you traveling to experience or is it letting you tick your bucket-list of places you want to cover because of popular opinion? People work out and want to stay fit. What happens once that's done? People take part in marathons. It's a new kind of purpose just like the bucket-list of places. Each one of these things strike me as shallow. It isn't surprising that people who indulge in the above are usually married with 1 or no kids. The ones that aren't married are busy trying to get to the point of a relationship and eventual marriage. ...

Where were we before we hid behind sepia and black & white  our sentences were interrupted by chimes And the most important light came from a notification  Where were we before We defined our likeability by likes We had more than 140 characters to say We spoke in words rather than cartoons Where were we before Loneliness got replaced by the virtual Our friends became display pictures  Their stories only last a day Were we happier then When we thought about people And waited a long time to tell them Rather than feeling them in black font on a white screen We weren't happier then We missed and longed and met and rejoiced Today we meet and are disappointed because The person is nothing like what the display picture said

2B West road, West CIT Nagar, T Nagar, Madras – 35. This is a famous address especially in the erstwhile Madras. Some knew it as a house which housed about 3 families permanently and a number of families that lived in depending on the time of the year. The house always smelled of filter coffee. There was a large gate at the entrance of the house. There was a badly mowed lawn with a tiny clearing that led to the front door of the house. There was a huge mango tree at the side of the house. In the shade of that tree, resting on the wall of the house, you would always find a black Hero cycle. The front door of the house was almost always open. It provided great ventilation against the sultry heat of Madras. We didn’t have air conditioning back in the day. The open doors signified something else. It was a welcome to all the people who wanted to come in. What’s more was that we would almost always have guests who were sitting in the front room. When there were guests it meant one thing,...

I look hard and then swipe Seconds to decide that I like The person in the picture in myriad hues That’s all I have by way of clues I can go left or I can go right Second guessing which way she might If she ever got to my colorful picture And decide maybe I am worth her It isn’t words because I only get a paragraph I cant put a song I can choreograph Or tell that I am cool but essentially love deprived Instead say I am intellectually derived We want to come out But in coming out we are caught We want to look incandescently desirable In the attempt end up avoidable The backlight of the mobile phone goes dark Snaps me back to life stark Notice the person sitting across and smile “I haven’t seen you in a while”

He was sitting strangely. Don’t even know if we could call that sitting. He was at his work station. His feet had crept under the desk as far as they could go. His head rested on the top of the chair. His torso made a 45 degree angle and his legs formed an extension to his torso making him almost vertical but slanted. His eyes were shut. If one saw closely there was slight moisture around the eyes. His body was still and he lay there motionless. James sat at a desk which pretty much overlooked the entire floor. The vision was pretty panoramic. His workstation was right opposite James’. The messenger on James’ laptop was buzzing away. Line after line appeared on it and James looked at them intently. He typed “Sure”. “I will catch up on a call with you next week. Thanks”. He seemed pretty satisfied with the reply he got and looked up from his laptop for the first time in 45 minutes. He saw the still and motionless colleague on the opposite desk. It was unusual. He had never seen hi...

Clocks! That’s the first song of Coldplay I had heard. The sheer difference of the song sort of struck me and stayed with me. From that day to this day I’ve been a big fan of Coldplay. Their music is magic. Their older albums is so much better than the newer ones. One of my favorites is still this non-popular song called “Message”. That’s the first song in the “Coldplay” folder in my car. Every time that song plays time sort of stops. Move forward to 7 th April 2017. The day will be etched in memory for a long time now. We had made the trip to Bangkok only to see Coldplay. With immense difficulty where we had to navigate wrong directions given, not knowing which National stadium to get to, taking a cab that couldn’t go past the traffic to the stadium and finally a motorcycle guy that took two of us in his bike zig-zagging between car lanes with our hearts in our mouths. Coming from India the last part is nothing new to us. But seeing it here in Bangkok sent a new kind of chill...

Modi’s 50 days will come to an end in 2 days. Will I be able to walk into an ATM and get money whenever I want? Will I be able to withdraw more than the rationed INR 2000? All those small traders in the unorganized sector whose work largely depends on cash exchanges will now be able to go back to making their usual daily money? The answer is simply, no. I don’t need Urjit Patel to come on live television to tell this but it is just common sense. The 2000 rupee notes are practically useless as there isn’t much change doing the rounds. The new 500 rupee note is collector’s edition. We have run out of 100 rupee notes. And frankly, if you chanced upon 100 rupee notes then you are going to hoard it considering the bleak future. Hence their circulation is very limited. Any other kind of withdrawals is such a herculean effort that unless your life depends on it, you arent going to venture out and get it. Like the vast majority in the country, I was hopeful that this was a gigantic move....

Not much has been going in India apart from demonetization recently. Suddenly people are intrinsically rich but actually poor. The amount of money in circulation has gone down significantly and the bank coffers have gone up by INR 5.5 lakh crores. This was primarily touted as an attack on black money but now it has slowly started disrupting everyday lives of people. http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/RNdxOHenVluYuLx4iCw4JO/Modis-new-strike-against-black-money-backfires.html  This gives an idea of the people affected the worst. They have produce which is not durable and they don’t have people to sell their produce to. People do not have money in hand to buy vegetables and one cannot swipe at a local market. The salaried class who are primarily reliant organized trade for their daily consumption are facing the least disruption. The majority are reeling under cashlessness. Some of the most affected people are 1.        Vegetable vendors in local mark...

Dark clouds bring down torrential rain You hear the woman scream in dying pain Her son sits at the doorstep with another paper boat He stifles his weeping and lets it float The boy sees a blue car getting drenched The man in it has his fists clenched He starts his car and lets it roar and speeds it down the wet floor The woman in white barely notices the blue car She has a bag of trinkets and a silver star The car comes speeding, splashing water by The woman falls, the bag snaps, and the contents fly Now the rain has run its course The roads have turned into rivers coarse A floating silver star finds a paper boat A woman is saved in this rain of note 

“Write one word a day”, said the monk and gave her sachet with pages woven inside. She took it ruefully, still mourning. She wrote one word every day. On the first day she wrote “Forlorn” and vowed not to repeat the same word. “Wounded” was on the second day. On the 7 th day she wrote “tears”. Then came the 30 th day, the 60 th and then 90 th day. On the 100 th day she stared at her diary. She stared at the empty sheet for a long time. She closed it and went on to sleep in peace in days. Sadness was finite. “Rahila”, he yelled. A lot of by-standers were now looking. He looked pretty desolate and yet determined. “Rahila”. There was that firm voice again. A lad walked upto him and said “Two is better”. And “Rahila”, they called at a 2 story apartment which seemed firm to absorb their voice. Two became four and soon there was a crowd. “Rahila”, they called. “Give the poor lad, a sighter” said one. “Its about time” said another. One old man walked upto him and asked “By the...

There are people I don’t get along on a fundamental basis. As much as I try to make a go at it, it will fizz out given the discontent that atleast one party is going to hold after a conflict of views. For instance I do not like frivolity. Please don’t misunderstand this to the aspect of me not having fun. Fun and being frivolous are 2 different things. When you are frivolous you are basically putting up an act and your rubbish everything as a part of the act. Fun is engaging in something uplifting leading to laughter. Slapstick humor is fun but a prank on someone is frivolous. Both cause laughter and I detest the latter. I have pretty strong opinions and some unbendable values. There are certain things I want to live my life by and a compromise in that wont be possible. For instance, I will not do anything that is to please someone if I don’t fundamentally feel that way. I wont buy a rose on a day I don’t feel like buying a rose. The thought and action of buying a rose is a dee...

Chelsea have been awful this season and I’ve read quite a few blogs and reports on the problems of Chelsea. But what can be the way out of this hole? Does the manager have to go? It is quite clear that Chelsea aren’t going to retain the title and by the current look of things a top 4 slot seems pretty elusive. It is often said in Cricket that a spectacular catch or a run out can turn things around in a match. What Chelsea need is a personality that can provide a spectacular catch. Mourinho is claimed to be a tactical genius but currently his genius is failing match after match. He has probably pulled out every play from his book and that has fallen short. Hence, this is what I think he can do. I am no tactical genius. My only qualification is being an avid lover of Chelsea football club. But I sense a certain stubbornness to Mourinho’s methods which needs a relook. Let’s see what can be done Diego Costa – A crowd favorite who is woefully short on goals right now. What’s more d...

Chelsea somehow pulled themselves out of an uncharacteristic rut they seem to have dug themselves in yesterday. New Castle away has always been Chelsea’s nemesis. No one needed to stress on the importance of this game given the position both teams were on the table. Chelsea were yearning for a normalcy that we fans are used to and New Castle just wanted to be the better team on the field, a feat they hadn’t managed in 6 games in the PL so far. Chelsea started badly. Defensive errors continued. Closing down players was not of the usual Chelsea standard we expect. Fabregas is a terrible mate to have for Matic. Last season Chelsea had a lot going on , going forward. But this season the backline is vulnerable. One look at my Twitter timeline will tell you have bad Fabregas was. At this time last season he had the leading assists and now he is struggling to pass the ball accurately and seems to slow the game down terribly. Amongst all this, what I don’t understand, is the JM’s per...

Human mind is a strange thing. How does it process information that is morally wrong? How can someone go ahead with an action such as stealing or murder? The mind knows that it is wrong. At what point does the mind tide over the right and wrong question? I am sure that the mind provides a justification behind which every immoral action can hide or it probably provides a confounded logic as a platform on which can lie this act of immorality. The platform shields the mind from the ethical question and all the debate there is. It just provides a blanket go ahead. What a dangerous platform! But another way to see it is – you break the platform you break the person’s confounded logic. There might be hope yet. What is pleasure? How do we experience it? Pleasure is skin deep. It is felt through the cursory senses. The touch, sight, sound. Pleasure is response to stimuli. There are things that provide you pleasure. There is no right or wrong question. You cant deny the things that provi...

Go stand in front of the mirror. What do you see? Describe that person. How accurately can you describe him/her? Is your description right? According to who? You? We live in a world where there are absolutes and relatives. The absolutes make our lives better. For example science and technology. The relatives keep us hungry. For example, the need to be better, the need to be appreciated, the need to be included. The absolutes set you on a quest where you can find gold at your destination. The relatives will set you on a quest where you will find just another quest at the destination. What’s more important? Should we put our trust in the absolutes only or should we put our trust in the ongoing quest of relatives? I don’t really know. I guess, there is no absolute answer to it. What do you see in that mirror? If you see a guy or a girl with hair on the head, a nose in the middle, 2lips, 2 eyes and 2 ears, you see the absolute. If you see a person who is beautiful, a person who h...

It is just fun to gaze. I think, as I exit the airport into the only swift roads of Bangalore. A few fleeting moments of seamless movement before I get enveloped by cars and surrounded by the cacophony of car horns. Jo Nesbo is awesome company on a flight I realize. He has a knack of making the pages move. Somewhere between the smooth roads of Bangalore and the hangover of a few pages of a freshly read Nesbo I write this. The temptation is to get philosophical but I feel my philosophical logic is flawed at times. I also feel it loses relevance under certain circumstances. That kind of philosophy is actually no philosophy. So I will stay clear. We move past cars and brightly lit hoardings. These billboards promise a great life. They have everything from a great home to a great loan for it. The idea seems as far as the boards. Bangalore traffic is weird. The traffic rules of this city is perplexing for a new driver. One of such things is the one way toll booth that we are approachi...

Taking a cue from the football leagues transfer market, why can’t we have an employee transfer market for comparable businesses? Today an employee quits from one firm and joins the other. The parent company doesn’t benefit at all from this transaction. The maximum it does make is the notice period buyout which isn’t commensurate with the value in terms of currency the exiting employee can potentially create in a new firm. The exiting employee can make a fair bounty at the new place of work but the parent company is only at a loss. Attrition is a huge problem in today’s world. Companies struggle especially with the loss of their A+ rated talent. Instead of fighting this talent exit war in a futile manner why not benefit from it? If you have a Ronaldo in your team shouldn’t your company earn 80 million pounds? Why don’t you make some money out of your attrition? There are a lot of details that need to be worked out here. Ronaldo has Jorge Mendes as an agent and so does most of ...