Believe...

If you want to fly; first learn to give wings to others

If u want to run away; think of a destination...no point running aimlessly

If u want to quit every monday morning; find out what u will do with your time

while u r doing that, also make a plan B, just in case ur kick-ass plan A does not work out

If it is support u r seeking; learn to be supportive

If u r looking for trust; first become trustworthy

If it is happiness u r after; learn to spread cheer

More happiness? then set ur mind free of all assumptions and expectations

If u r seeking good health; listen to ur body

Dreaming big? make sure the foundations are on earth

Want a friend? first be a worthy friend

Need advice? learn to listen...to ur inner voice; nobody, but u, knows u better

Need a shoulder to lean on? try ur own

Need a helping hand? you have two

Want someone to wipe away ur tears? reach for a tissue

Looking for peace? reach out to ur soul

Always remember...what goes around, most certainly comes around...make sure its something u r looking forward to!

Smile and the world shall smile back, make a happy world

Believe in urself and the world can follow.

Enjoy the journey, destination is not running away.

You know best...

What if...

A broken heart made a noise?
Pain could be seen and not just felt?
The shattered pieces of ur life were visible?
Broken promises could shatter the silence?
Broken trust could draw blood?
Depression had a color?
Tears could sting the eyes of the person who gave them to you?
Shattered dreams could make themselves heard?
Moans of a broken soul could be heard?

Would that ppl more careful...to love, to promise, to cherish, to nurture?

What if we could have a choice?

Would we always choose...

Right over wrong?
Happiness over sadness?
Light over dark?
Perfection over imperfection?
Truth over lies?Good over evil?
Peace over war?
Success over failure?
Winning over losing?
Sweet over bitter?
Pure over impure?

But then how would we ever...

Know one without the other?
Appreciate the good without the bad?
Be thankful for the dizzying heights of happiness without knowing the depth of sadness?
Be grateful for success without tasting failure?
Bask in the glorious sunshine, without going through the darkness of night?
Cherish gaining something, without knowing the pain of losing?
See the the beauty of imperfection over perfection?
Be appreciative of peace without going through the ravages of war?
Look forward to the right, without experiencing the wrong?
Treasure the myriad hues of life, without knowing the black and white?
The pureness of affection without the impure?

For what is life? If not one over the other? To appreciate life, is to accept it all...

The sweet and the sour, the bittersweet...

Be urself

When u lose urself in the crowd, don't lose ur identity.

In a cacophony of noise, listen to what u must & say what u have to.

When lost for directions listen to ur heart, in a sea of options listen to ur mind.

In the dark ignite ur fire, in the light leave ur mark.

When u need to rest listen to ur body.

When u reach high dont lose ur humility, when u r at a low dont lose ur sense of humor.

With a child let go of the child in u , with the elderly keep ur patience.

Lend ur voice to a cause. Listen to someone making a point.

Keep ur counsel, free advice is seldom appreciated.

Lend a helping hand. Pause in the middle of a hectic day. Take a deep breath.

Log off, u wont miss much.

Keep the faith.

Trust ur abilitites u will surprise urself.

Get out of ur comfort zone.

Trust a stranger, maybe u'll gain a friend.

Of all things beautiful, ur smile is the most beautiful...smile often, frown does not suit u.

Be true to urself, rest will fall in place...even if it does not all the time...no problem, u still have ur smile!

Uff yeh toh too much ho gaya

Alright, so the house runs like a well-oiled machine. No jarring sounds, no squeaks. Just a little tinkering from time to time and all is well! Or so I thought… until very recently. Food is cooked, clothes are neatly ironed, the fridge is stocked, groceries are replenished in time, the maid works like a pro and everything is spic and span. There is a place for everything and, miraculously, everything in its place. So what happened suddenly, how did the near-perfect world collapse around me? Well, what I was missing was that no matter how well-oiled or sophisticated the machinery, it won't do its job without human intervention. My mom, in this case. For a while she had a sore throat, dull pain in the body, listlessness. Oh well, I thought, nothing that an adrak chai, Crocin and a good night's sleep can’t take care of. Boy was I wrong? And how!

The morning after...the house is in disarray. Suffice to say our so called machine has broken down and refuses to budge. Clam down; I manage to comfort myself. Cornflakes or muesli for breakfast, now that's one meal out of the way. Maid helpfully cooks one veggie for lunch, rice and dal for dinner, end of day one. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow comes with a huge question mark...the same rig-ma-role of breakfast, lunch, dinner needs to be addressed. Oh my God, how do I handle this situation? What have I gotten myself into? What do I do first? Do I shell the peas? Do the laundry? Make the bed? Answer the door? Supervise the maid, who has a missed a glaring spot on the floor? Wait wait wait… the milk is furiously boiling all over the kitchen platform. Good morning to me! Oh God! Give me 20 hands and 48 hrs in a day please. Won't you? I promise I'll be good!

OK, so somehow the cooking is managed or better still, gotten out of the way. Now why the hell is the fridge empty and what happened to the groceries...finished already? Really? How much do we eat anyway? Oh well, I pick up my wallet & a cloth bag (environment friendly, you see, so no plastic, I carry my own bag thank you very much!) and gingerly make my way to the sabziwala. I pretend to select the tomatoes, imitating the other auntyjis around me. I can feel the subziwala's eyes boring into me. At any moment, I am afraid, he would pounce on me and say "gotcha, u fool no one, can't tell cluster beans from french beans can you now?!” Well I am not waiting for any such eventuality, and quickly deposit my selection of (some kinda) beans onto the measuring scale. Haan Bhabhi hogya ek kilo...he says, I look around, who are you talking to?? Me? Bhabhi? Oh well it had to happen one day, might as well have been today. I quickly pay him, and carry my purchases home. The washing machine has just completed its cycle.

Next trip Big Bazaar. I very confidently march in with a trolley and a list in one hand. My confidence flounders as I reach the aisle with all the dals. Oh hell, how many yellow dals are there? And which one is what? An auntie has been eyeing my confusion, I give up and ask her to help me pick out the toor dal, she smiles indulgently and points to a packet clearly marked "toor dal". Note to self: next time read the label, stupid! Out of the corner of my eyes, I see auntyji walk back to her husband, she whispers something to him and both look at me and smile. Oh come on people, I just asked for dal not information on birth control, get on with it!

Amidst all this there is just no time for self. Forget a leisurely bath; a quick shower seems like a luxury! Forget the body lotion and combing the hair, a clutch will hold them in place, the damn toor dal is bubbling over!!!!

All this while, know what my mom is doing? Resting? No Sir. She might be lying in bed, but has her eyes and ears open! She checks my purchase…why have you bought potatoes the size of hand grenades? They will take forever to boil! And why Big Bazaar? Is the neighbourhood bania not good enough for you? Blah blah blah. All the while shouting instructions to the maid! Mothers...I tell you.

The very sleep which was characterised by frequent dreams of vacations in the milky Swiss Alps is now marred with nightmares that have me standing in the kitchen where the milk is boiling away and flooding the entire kitchen! The smell of rotten vegetables has engulfed me, since I forgot to keep them in the fridge! In yet another nightmare, I am begging Shashank to stay at home with me and not go to office. I can’t hold this fort alone, I tell him! (Note how one person out of action makes a home a fort!)

Now I know what it takes to run a house, or so I think. Heart felt gratitude goes out to all the women who manage to juggle house, work, kids, and husband and still manage to maintain their sanity!

And Mom, get well soon and share your tricks and ideas for running the house, won't you?! This time I will listen I promise!

And thanks Shashank, for managing to buy and deliver vegetables in between client meetings and presentations. You do a better job of picking vegetables, I assure you that. And Meghana, for rattling off recipes for soups like the next Nigella Lawson. What would I do without you?!

At times like this I miss my sister Shweta...she is such a whiz in the kitchen. Not to forget my master chef friend Kajal. You make cooking seem so easy, you are truly blessed!

Big salute to all home-makers, you are not appreciated enough!

Be my friend

Don't judge me because I am different
I breathe the same air as you
My blood is as red as yours
I sleep under the same canopy of stars as you do
The same sun illuminates my day as does yours
A child in distress pains me as much as it pains you
The same tears that burn your eyes, burn mine too

So what if I want to walk off the map
So what if I want to blaze my own trial
maybe tomorrow it becomes a well beaten path

So what, if I want to question the status-quo
Is it so wrong to question? to wonder why not?
Maybe I find something unknown

So what if I want wings
So what if I want to fly away from my nest
I am not leaving for good,
besides its a different view from up there you know

So what if your right, is my left
atleast I can see you and hug you whenever I want
Its better being face to face
I can see your smile better
Its easier for me to wipe your tears

Don't lead me, I might not be going where you are
Don't follow me, I am not too sure where I am going
Give me your hand, take mine in yours. Hold tight
Just stand besides me, yes thats just perfect
Walk with me, be my friend

Life begins at night...

The day is burdened with things so mundane, that many a times it drags endlessly. Boring client meetings, presentations that just refuse to get over, office routine the suck the life out of even the most resilient of us. No wonder, the end of the day is looked forward to, with much yearning.

And like in relationships, the end of something dragging is often the beginning of something more interesting. The night, in this case. The dark creases of the night hold many joys, meeting with friends, to party all the night. Imagine partying during the day? Not much enticing is it, now? Wonder why all the concerts are at night? DJ’s spin their magic at night, pubs overflow at night, and cities come alive at night. The city never sleeps sounds much better than the city gets up early, doesn’t it?

At night time when the stars shine the brightest and moon weaves its magic, providing much fodder for the poets that lurk in each of us. More poems and songs are written on the moon rather than the sun!

It is at night, that the creatures of the night come out to play, even the demons of night are hard at work and encounters of the “spirited” kind are not too far away.

At night all inhibitions are laid to rest, checked at the bedroom door, if you will. The cloak of appearances and pretence is hung up to be worn the next morning.

To laugh, to shed tears of joy or regret, to smile unabashedly, without the judgemental eyes of others, what better time to do it but at night?

To renew promises to self, to gather oneself, to get the strength to soldier on, what better than under the cloak of darkness?

To slip into blissful slumber, to lose oneself in the private world of dreams, to get wings to fly, to let lose your deepest, darkest desires.

To unleash the subconsious to take a flight of fantasy, can the day offer such refuge?

And what about the best of all?

Night is the perfect time for lovers’ meeting. All inhibitions put to rest, the joy from someone else’s joy. To be entagled in a lover’s arms, to let the hand explore the bare skin, legs entangled, lips pressed against each other, and the explosion of bliss…can there be a better way to spend the night?

With so much going for the night…the day needs to surely pull up its socks!

The time is now...

when all expectations crash
when you draw the short stick
when all allies desert and u feel the only one on earth
when hope seems to be mocking you & despair reigns supreme
when all seems lost & rock - bottom seems just a blow away
when confusion engulfs you and you are pushed against the wall
when darkness surrounds you
the time is right, the time is correct, the time is now...
to rise like the phoenix to pick up the pieces of ur broken life
to wake up the sleeping giant
to pull up ur socks and tighten ur shoe laces, for u r in for a long run
to show the world ur true colors
to open the windows and let the sun-shine in
to reclaim destiny,
to snatch what is urs
to shake the cosmic balance and make ur presence felt,
to live the life that u chose for urself
remember u fight the best when u have nothing to lose
remember the stars shine the brightest on the darkest night
the time is now...