waiting for the rains

the air is muggy

and a tiny rivulet of sweat

finds its way down my back.

i can smell the approaching rains

as dark clouds speed

across the heavens.

the parched earth within me

thirsts for the cloudburst.
its been a long drought

after the week-long flood.

you had saved me

from drowning then.

now i wait for you

to quench my thirst.

the young shall rule the world!

that should actually read as 'the younger sibling shall rule the world'!

its twice in the last couple of days that i have been part of a discussion involving the younger sibling in families with two kids. (i am sure this is equally for people with more than two kids :P )

ok, here's the theory.

the younger of two siblings is always tougher, more independent, more assertive and more aggressive than the older one. they seem to have a mind of their own and typically will not get bullied by the elder sibling. on the contrary, it is more likely that they are the ones terrorising the older one!

do you also agree with this theory? if you are a parent of two kids do you believe this is true in the case of your kids? even if you are not a parent or a parent with only one child, have you seen evidence around you which proves this theory?

i was trying to understand why this is the case? and here's what i could come up with -

1. the parents of the second kid are usually are usually self-proclaimed veterans at child rearing and are far more sacked-out! (have you seen at any gathering, when kids play and end up fighting or bawling, the single-kid parents are usually on their feet trying to resolve the problem. while the two-kids parent continue munching on their bhajias or sipping their drink... confident that whatever the problem, the kids will sort it out among themselves!)

2. the older sibling is told by the parents that they have to protect the younger sibling. what the parents don't realise is that they take this very seriously but it is the elder ones who typically need protection from the younger!

3. the younger ones learn all about life (which basically means getting their way around and knowing the weak spots of the parents, siblings and friends) pretty quick and usually from the elder siblings.

like i said... the young shall rule the world. how do i know, you ask? well i should.. i was the eldest among three kids!

today i meet my destiny

i woke up this morning
and i knew
that today is the day
i'll meet my destiny.

how do i know, you ask?

i just know, and i know

you will know too

when your time has come!

i'm going to light up

1008 lights to light your path

and welcome you back home,

where i'll make an offering of gratitude.

we were destined to meet

for thus would i be fulfilled.

this was destined to be

for you are my destiny!

i wonder

right in the midst

of plunging through

this hectic roller-coaster ride

i wonder.

what if we had both met

in some earlier time,

another life,

a different world?

would we still be friends

or sworn enemies,

or lovers maybe?

or would we just be strangers?

and pass each other

on a lonely street

without noticing each other?

or would we still connect

inspite of ourselves

and inexplicably

like we do today?

playing games

waiting is a game

played alone.

waiting is not what i am built for,

redemption is all i seek.

but i need it here and now

and i have no patience

for the promises of eternity

in the after-life!

of girlfriends & lovers - II

big boss's colleague narrated this anecdote to her (which she in turn related to me, and i am now relating to you!)

his son, who's in the sixth grade, was waiting for him to come back from office because he wanted to tell him something. and this was apparently one of the first times he wanted to share it with his father and not his mother!

he then explained that one of the boys in his class had proposed to a girl in the same class that day. and he went on to add that this boy (let's call him P for proposer, for clarity) was part of his (and we'll call him S, as in colleague's son) group. all the groups members had helped him write out his 'love note'. so it was some kind of communal effort with the entire group trying to play cupid.

then came the issue of belling the cat, viz. reaching the note to the object of his desire (let's call her O). now P might have wanted his romantic correspondence to reach O but he was not so that he would want to hand it over himself.

so now for the messenger they requested a girl (and lets call her M) from the same group to do the needful. i guess they must have impressed upon her that it was her bounden duty as a group member to do such tasks for the sake of the emotional well-being of another groupie.

so M went and dutifully handed over the note to O. but the story doesn't end there! M then proceeded to go up to the class teacher and inform her about what had just transpired! :P

we can only imagine what P and O would have gone through! but the teacher apparently did not make too much of a fuss about this incident and only told the entire class that they have enough time for such pursuits later on in life. and that it would be far more sensible to use their time in studies and enjoying life!

-------------------------
talking of love notes in school, i remember the amazing innovations some of my class-mates used to adopt to declare their undying love to their lady-loves when we were in school. (obviously i never did no such thing, and i'm not saying that just because the big boss reads my blog!!!)

the most hilarious one was when a good friend thought he could make use of some basic principles of aero-dynamics to do the job. so he wrote his note and converted the note into a paper aeroplane and launched it towards the lady in question across the row of desks in the tuition class.

but aero-dynamics was not my class mate's strongest subject and he had forgotten to factor in the cross-wind and the impact of the bent ailerons on the flight pattern of his love-missile. suffice to say that the missile crash-landed on the maths tutor's shoulder instead of soft-landing onto the lady's heart!

and to rub salt into his wounds the tutor decided to read it out to the rest of the class!!!

touche!

'touche!', she said
with a smirk
and all i could manage
was a wry smile in response.

i don't even remember
when we started sparring
and why and who
had started it?


this is a game i'm
no good at playing,
but play i must.

i'm not playing to win,
for in losing you
there is no victory.
but if by winning
i win you forever,
then losing to you
is not an option!

its that time of year

its that time of year
when tender mangoes
hang in clumps
in the mango groves.

and the fragrance
of the blossoms
hangs heavy in the air.

the plaintive cries
of the koyal and the mynah
rent the air
as they are driven
by nature to seek their mates.

its that time of year
when all of nature
waits with bated breath
with me as i wait
for a sign from my beloved.

a sign that will
fulfill me
make me complete
and rejoice my second life.

therein lies
my liberation.

of girlfriends and lovers

our son is suddenly interested in girl-friends. he's all of 7.5!

it happened at the dining table and in the middle of his description of some arcane cricket fundas. he suddenly asks his mother, 'mom, who is a girlfriend? isn't it just a friend who's a girl? thats what i told k (another boy in the complex who's one year older) but he told me that a girlfriend is someone you love'! before the big boss could allow this to sink in and collect her wits to come up with some meaningful response, he had already moved on and was asking her if she knew who played 6 down after chaminda vaas the sri-lankan one day cricket team!

big boss and i looked at each other and raised eye-brows :)

he brought it up with her again soon after. and asked her the same question. he's also been getting curious lately about marriage!

this time the big boss was much better prepared and she patiently explained to him that he was right when he said that girlfriends are only friends who happen to be girls. but once people get to a marriageable age, then they might develop a special relationship with a girlfriend and then want to marry her. this explanation seems to have resolved whatever doubts he had internally because he is now back to his non-stop chatter about all things cricket!

i have this theory (actually everybody has the same theory, so its no big deal!) that girls grow much faster and are a lot smarter than guys at that (its a different matter that they remain smarter for the rest of their lives. but thats not the point i am making here, so don't bring it up and confuse the issue here). and i saw concrete evidence of this fact in the same week the above conversation took place.

i saw two young girls, who are my son's age, playing badminton while i was on my way to the garden in our complex. i saw them suddenly stop, point, whisper and giggle. i innocently asked them what they were up to. one of them, without missing a beat, said 'nothing uncle' (please ignore the 'uncle' reference here) and moved away. the second came up to me and said in a conspirational tone, 'we were looking at that boyfriend and girlfriend. we see all of them but watch from a distance.'

that's when it hit me that these girls were aeons ahead of my son (and i think this would true of most boys of his age) about their understanding of friends and lovers and the distinction.

anguish

have you experienced
anguish before?
i am sure you haven't.
not the kind of anguish
i'm talking about.

the kind which
rubs your nerve-ends raw,
gut-wrenching.
and every breath
a painful reminder.

while i wait
for a glimpse,
a whisper,
some clue.

anything that would help
me get through this day
and make it to the next.
with a dream to span
the night.

inspired living!

i am thick-skinned... nothing shakes me. (the boss prefers to be more direct and says i am incorrigible and hopeless! )

i used to be a skinny guy in school. and i used to be embarrassed with my own body. and i used to keep fantasising about putting on a few kilos. and i did :)

well, maybe more than a few kilos. but i'm still proud of myself. it took a lot of hard work... eating, sleeping, lazing around, and not exercising....

the big boss kept trying to pierce through the thick skin with well aimed barbs about the bad shape i was in! i even agreed to wal every morning if she gave me company since i am pathetic company to myself! and this just didn't work out, which suited me just fine :P

and then disaster struck! and how!!!

my daughter, all of 3.5 years, and my own flesh and blood made the unkindest cut! oh how can i ever live this down? let me explain and then you will surely sympathise with me!

my daughter is friends with another girl in our complex where she spends time almost every other day. (her parents are good friends). they were expecting their second baby and the expectant mother was visibly pregnant.

now my daughter's friend, with a lot of pride in her voice, announced that her mama's tummy is big because there's a baby in it. and my daughter (oh the shame of it!), not one to be left behind, promptly piped up and said that we too are having a baby because my papa's tummy is also big! and this is in the presence of my friends. well you can imagine the ir reaction to this announcement. and then this obviously reached the big boss' ears who lost no time in relaying the news to me.

and she expected me to see the humor in this situation!!!

well, that broke me and my resolve completely!

its been about two weeks now that i have started walking every morning with the same friend who gives me company. (so i don't even the excuse of not having company)

second chance

how many second chances
do i get to start afresh?
why do i not get it right
the first time around?

four nights
and three days
i burned in hell
before i could admit
to myself

that i need you more
than you need me.
and it would take me
seven lives before i am
freed from your clutches

and that is what
gets my goat!

inexplicable

this morning i woke up
to a completely new world
from the wrong side of my bed
and saw a new face in the mirror!

and had no clue if
i was dreaming or
if i had just woken up?

am i sleep deprived?

i think i must be 'sleep-deprived'!

no i don't draw this conclusion based on my the intelligence levels of my conversations or the topics of my posts. but most people tell me that i must be sleep-deprived. but for most part of my life (which is quite a bit.... but i am not about to tell you) i have always been up so late that i'm convinced that i'm a direct descendant of an owl!

staying up until 1 or 2 am everyday was understandable during your college days which meant that you were carefree and footloose. either that or you were up pining for some girl in college and you were sitting up all night scheming on how you are going to pass on your 'love letter' to her the next day! you did this for a couple of weeks after which the letter seemed a bit lame and so you drafted another passionate one and then fretted all over again... you get the picture?

but i still stay up till 12.30-1 am, on an average. and no i am not writing 'love letters' and scheming! i am usually writing such posts or watching some movie or reading a book.

but what gets my 'big boss'' goat (actually many things get her goat, this being only one of them :P) is that when i have to read a bed-time story to my kids i doze off mid-way into the story! it is such a chronic problem that my kids protest violently when i suggest that i read them a bed-time story! they believe that their mom is the best story-reader in the world (apart from being the best mom/cook/masseur/doctor/hugger/kisser/...).

but she's not easily fooled. she's convinced that i've purposely and very carefully built this image that i suck as far as story-reading goes.

but that's not true at all.... in fact i think i have cracked the problem. the point is, the minute my head hits the pillow i feel drowsy! i think i should put this theory to test and try doing it differently.

will keep you all posted :)

mind-bender quiz

here's a mind-bender. can anybody decipher the following message?

"i'm hungry and three and need some done room. can you get of something to numbi on up way good? or maybe u can tops up a quick neck? what about u? u know what i'd love. smart dual. he u order at the deli they'll deliver it good. i'll in good n take a quick shower, bomb my hair n them get ready for my neck. i want u to john of for an enjoyable neck."

(hint : assume this was an sms from a technologically-challenged hubby to his wife on his way back from work.)

---------------

ok, here's the solution :

I'm hungry and TIRED and need some FOOD SOON. Can you get me something to MUNCH on UR way home? Or maybe u can TOSS up a quick MEAL? What about u? U know what I'd love. ROAST DUCK. IF u order at the deli they'll deliver it HOME. I'll GO HOME n take a quick shower, COMB my hair n then get ready for my MEAL. I want u to JOIN ME for an enjoyable MEAL.

(solved using predictive text option on a nokia phone :P )

ziah cracked it fully (almost!). and the people who came close were prats, thinking aloud, and tys on ice. the funny versions were from gazal and preethi! and some of the others who wrote in include ~nm, swati, and jayashri.

let's all hear it for ziah! (there ziah, you just got your prize! i'm such a cheapo :P )

thanks for participating. that was fun! now let me think up something equally inane in another post :P

pssst.... creativity in 'full flow'

this post is inspired by 'writings on the wall' by 'tys on ice' and 'why'' by prats.

one of the biggest challenges faced by public administrators in indian cities (and also by the superintendents responsible for cleanliness in trains and by the members of the 'cleanliness' committees in countless housing societies) across the vast indian sub-continent is the scourge of defacement of public property. specifically the literary outpourings of sundry love-struck romeos on numerous walls that stand stoically while such above-mentioned mischief is being perpetrated!

while i whole-heartedly agree with the view that defacement should be discouraged and that such defilers should be penalised, i cannot help but appreciate some of the most humorous and insightful messages that i have come across over time. in fact, there is also a branch of graffiti including street/sidewalk drawings which is viewed as art.

the majority of the graffiti that we see all around us (lifts/elevators, public bathrooms, public transportation) can be classified as lewd and 'not for family viewing'. but the best graffiti are the pithy, humorous and politically incorrect messages that are like rare gems.

one of the best examples that i have come across (on the net) was about a line scrawled in a men's room which read : 'marie, if you can read this, its all over between us!'

and graffiti in school bathrooms sometimes aptly communicate the not-so-kindly feelings of the students towards their teachers. one of the best i came across reads - drive carefully - don't kill a child. wait for teacher.

sometimes the angst felt by the student community to the prevailing political situation also is reflected in these scrawls. i remember during the highly volatile situation in colleges during the mandal commission protests reading a message in my college men's room - (next to a line drawn horizontally) if you can reach this line join the fire brigade! (and next to another line drawn about a foot below the earlier line) this one is for sc/st!

and there were graphic ones which were usually designed to shock the viewer. some of them did have their humorous element.

one of the classic ones which i used to find in most schools and colleges was the one where you were asked to follow the arrows drawn in front of you while you were relieving yourself and which progressed up to the ceiling and even behind you sometimes. and then right at the end there is a line which says - watch out you fool! you are tinkling on your shoes!

so i guess i must confess here that i am a fan of graffitti and the pithy humor and wisdom most of them hold. but i prefer grafitti which doesn't deface public property. i prefer them on unused surfaces or on t-shirts and websites :)

p.s. i always used to wonder whether the girls in school (and the women in general) were as expressive and creative on the walls and doors of ladies' rooms? (i remember reading an article about men getting 'creatively expressive' on the walls of the ladies compartments in the local trains in mumbai and offending the sensibilities of the commuters. i still haven't come across a case of the reverse happening! i wonder why?)

one tree festival!

i was lucky to get some free passes to the 'one tree music festival' on the 9th and 10th of feb in mumbai.

the bands, like every year, were really classy. this year the line-up included joe bonamassa and the robert cray band on the first night. and gold spot (read what ultrabrown has to say about them here) and jose feliciano on the second night.

what i like about the one tree festival can be summarised as follows -

1. the music is not for kids. and so you will find yourself in the middle of an audience which is comfortably middle-aged (or should i say 'right-aged'). it helps when you know you fit the median on the age bell curve of the audience :)

2. these bands are classy acts and not like the used-up, burnt out popular bands which tour india since they don't get invited in any other part of the world!

3. i get free passes every year (i'm such a cheapo :P ), thanks to a dear friend. these music shows (including the teeny bopper bands and burnt out pop-stars) almost always cost a bomb!

but i've always wondered why these visiting bands always get a lot of big-name sponsorships (the one tree festival is sponsored every year by johnnie walker) while local bands and indian classical music have it much tougher?

p.s. i also attended the 'heartbeats' show organised by 'every tuesday' where the six gods/giants of indian music (zakir hussain, sivamani, viku vinaykaram, u shrinivas, selvaganesh and shankar mahadevan) performed together on stage! awesome experience. (and the organisers had managed to get a good line-up of sponsors too!)

suited and booted!

put me in a plane with a bunch of indians coming back from any of the asian countries and chances are i can tell you which community each one is from. if not his community, then i can tell you about his profession. and if i laid a wager with the chinese sitting beside me in each of these trips i would be richer by quite a few yuan! (no matter which flight you are on and in which part of the planet you will always find a chinese and an indian on the flight! check it out yourself!)

1. the software sales executive is usually carrying a laptop and wearing worn jeans and a cool shirt.

2. the senior executive is always checking his blackberry and is usually wearing casual formals (or is it formal casuals?).

3. the punju trader from delhi is usually wearing a loud shirt, carrying on a louder conversation with his fellow-traveller and is guzzling whisky and water like its the last bottle on earth.

4. the gujju bhai is usually wearing a safari suit and is calling up his wife before they shut the door asking her to send the driver to pick him up and also asking her to cook some good dal khichdi and roti saag for dinner!

5. and if the flight is from some gulf nation and if there's a mallu lady on board, then she's usually wearing enough gold to cause some serious overloading on the flight. (they get away because the airlines haven't begun weighing the people yet!)

and the usual expats that you will find on the flights to india are :

1. the tourist on a budget trip and who looks and smells like he's just landed up on the flight straight from bed!

2. the ubiquitous old white man with a young oriental girl wearing a skimpy outfit. and no, thats definitely not his daughter! (i guess i'm just jealous.)


but the person who never fails to amuse me is the tam-brahm mama (an elderly tamil brahmin gentleman) who will board the flight wearing a full suit and tie and the works! but he's either going straight from the airport to his hotel or has just checked out of his hotel and is on his way back home! (i think they do this because most of the tam movies in the 60s always showed the hero travelling by air in this fashion! but i might be way off the mark here. maybe one of you could enlighten me.)

and each of the flights, i have taken, always has a professional rip-van-winkle who can sleep off the minute the wheels leave the tarmac and wake up just as the plane is touching down. and that is i :)

education redux!

this post was prompted by a comment from 'thinking aloud' and a post by amit varma in 'india uncut'.

the most common comment i hear when people (usually the ones without kids) are debating about our education system is that 'it sucks' and that it needs to be completely revamped! and that this system does not generate leaders and that it smothers the creativity of the children!

i beg to differ!

school days were the best days of my life! though i used to count down to my vacations when in school and then count down for the first day of school during my vacations.

and we learnt our lessons in life, both, inside and outside school. and the manner in which we learnt most of the basic concepts in math and science are being abhorred today. but i'll never ever forget my multiplication tables which we used to chant by rote between periods (i mean, between the class-room sessions. that's what we used to call them, so don't blame me!). and i'll also never forget the fact that if the blue litmus turns red then the liquid is acidic. (my friends taught me the mnemonic 'bra' - blue-red-acidic)!

and i remember having this major crush on this one teacher. this was then later redirected at her daughter. you think that was being fickle? well how about this girl who i sent a note to (i think it was poetic version of 'can we be friends'?) who wrote back saying that she found my friend cute! now that's what i call fickle! (just a case of sour grapes, i know. so don't rub it in.)

this was also around the time when i suddenly discovered my love for music and choral singing. i was not able to convince my friends that it had nothing to do with the fact that the practice sessions were held in the girls' convent across the street! philistines and uncouth they were, my friends.

i definitely got a well-rounded education through this education system (though my wife will say that i need to lose a few pounds around my waist and around my head!). and i'm none the worse for it!

p.s. and now the japanese also want to adopt our schooling methods!

the quirkier (not murkier) side of me!

prats from 'Retrospections! Emotional ecology...... ' tagged me and i am doing something which i had promised i'll never ever do! but since this gives me an opportunity to rave about myself officially i decided to break the rule :P

The Rules:

- Link to the person that tagged you.

- Post the rules on your blog.

- Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

- Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

- Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

well, about the rules, i don't think i can stick to them since there's nothing about me that i don't consider important! so instead of playing by the rules, i'll just wax eloquent about my quirks.

and about tagging six random people, i mean why i would them to think that i consider them 'random'? :P

but what i'm going to do is this - i'm going to do a google search of bloggers and tag complete strangers! lets see what happens. and if anyone sues me, i don't exist ok? i'm just a robot blogger spewing out 'random' posts here!

1. i count the steps on any staircase and i try to land on the last step with my right foot!

2. i always lift the plate when i'm at a restaurant to identify the brand! (infuriates my wife, but i can't help it!)

3. i can't remember dates to save my life! read here.

4. i don't like to miss the ads or the traliers before the movies. even in the old days when they showed news reels, remember? its not only about 'paisa vasool', but i feel i missed out something really important. (i think my wife also shares this quirk... no wonder i think we are made for each other :P )

5. i want to try out all the modes of transport whenever i go to a new place. so i've travelled by bullock cart, horse cart, buses, trains, planes, gliders, bicycles, bikes (in some places you can pay people on bikes to take you from point A to B), auto-ricshaws, trams, jeepneys, tuk-tuks, hand-pulled rickshaws, cycle-rickshaws, trucks, etc. (have i missed out anything?)

6. i button my short alternate buttons from the bottom-up and then do the rest top-down!

so there it is... take it or dump it, but thats how the chips fall with me!

ok, now for my tag list :

1. anita bora from bangalore

2. anantha from new jersey

3. jaina from uk, i think

4. Kanagasabapathy Surendran from india

5. twisted dna - an indian-american

6. the mad momma - from bangalore?

lets see what happens now ;-P