The Girl In Pink

One summer afternoon on my way back
Seated in the third row from the last
Alone I was good company I did lack
My bus experience had been bad in the past

It was 20 minutes into the journey that I saw her
Sitting a couple of rows ahead of me looking ahead
She wore a blue jeans and a jacket of pink fur
She turned smiles were passed though nothing was said

For a full 30 minutes I kept thinking what to do
Then mustered up the courage to go and talk
As I moved up to her my intrigue grew
Mesmerized by her beauty I continued my walk

Reaching beside her I asked “is this seat taken”
Looking up in all her glory she said “please by all means”
One thing led to another and soon an hour it had been
When suddenly mid conversation into my ear she leans

In a sad voice she told me that this was it
The journey was about to end and so was our time
Confused I was initially but then it hit
I implored that leaving something so beautiful was a crime

Even before she said I knew what her answer what be
Special as it was she did not want to spoil the memory
However reluctantly her point I could see
Never could we recreate what we shared being so free

As I watched her go sadness filled my heart
But along with it there was a different feeling too
Unhappy I was that we had to part
But happier that someone like her fortunately I knew

Anonymous our brief meeting was kept on her request
Confident I am we shared a bond some special link
I looked for her north south east and west
Places I went looking but every time my heart did sink
Now every time I board a bus hopeful I am to meet the girl in pink. . . . . .

Broken Glasses And Shattered Dreams

There was once this little girl who always used to look out of her bedroom window and gaze at the trees surrounding the little house she lived in. Innocent as she was all she wanted to do when she grew up was live amongst the trees and never leave their cool shadow that protected her from the harsh sun. Then she grew up and moved to the city where the trees were replaced by tall buildings but she never could forget her childhood home. So one day when she was old enough she expressed her desire to go back to her old home and so she did. One Sunday afternoon she went back to the village along with their mom only to discover something that would change her life completely. The house she grew up in had changed and so had the village. The family living in their old house did not care a bit about their surroundings and all the little plants she had nurtured were gone. But what shook her most was that the trees which she fell in love with were nowhere to be seen. All of them had been cut to make way for some fancy new shopping mall. Her memories had been shattered like the broken glass of her bedroom window and that day the little girl left crying silently to herself. When she reached back home she asked her mother just one simple question. “Mom why did those trees have to die”.

Now I know most of you will just read this story and forget about it or not even bother to read it but let me tell you something if you really did read it just go back say 15-20 years of your life. Try and remember the evenings that you spent running around in parks playing hide and seek behind the trees breaking of branches from trees and using them as swords. Think of the afternoons spent in the shade of the trees the swings tied to the branches tree climbing competitions. Today we live in an age where less and less concern is given to preserving nature. On a personal note the college that I am in had immense greenery when I joint but now all that I see is a concrete jungle. I don’t say don’t make way for new complexes, that would be being impractical but what I say is that at least do it in a planned way, in such a manner that the balance of nature is preserved. Saying plant a tree for every tree cut is also impractical but we can make that to a ratio of 1:10 to say the least. I am no expert in this field and I am not aware of any such plans but I believe what I see and it is not good. Speaking as a lay man what I see is nature being destroyed. I am no social activist no famous personality that I can make a speech and people will listen and hence forth I would change the world. I know I am no one. But what I do know is that if all of us do our part even if we plant one little plant in our houses, that little girl out there might just get a new hope.

Garage Gas and Grease

Sunday mornings most people laze around relax catch up with some pending work and do something or the other which they had been waiting all week long to do. But I know a kind which waits the whole week just to do one job and one job only. The kind I am talking about is known as “Grease Monkeys”. For them their ride is their beloved. Be it a car, a bike or even a scooter this breed does not differentiate. Their vehicles are treated like you and I would treat our girlfriends. While they wash and clean they also speak to it pat it even pretend to listen to it! It is as if the engine of the car itself was speaking in a language only they could understand. Putting their heart and soul into the task they eventually emerge filthy sweaty smelly but with a smile on their face and a satisfaction that nothing else can give. Even on the road they are a race apart. When we see a new car we just look at it once and go on about our work. Not them. Rare are the cases when they do not know about each and every car on the road and even those which are not yet launched. Dare to ask and they will tell you each and every thing about the ride, right from the wheel base to the engine capacity to the price. And god forbids if they do not know a certain something about a vehicle! The whole world will be forgotten and you will see them immersed in some magazine or some website checking out the details. Trust me when I say it is not just some hobby. They are a cult! If one of them meets another they start speaking in a language a person like you and me would not understand. Not only do they preach but they also practice. If a layman is stuck on the road with a car that has steam billowing out of its hood he would look for a mechanic but not them. Straight away pop the hood and start tweaking a knob there twiddling a wire here and in no time they are back inside mission accomplished. But then again all of us have some kind of an obsession and this is theirs. They love their cars and bikes and actually care for them. You should listen to them crying about a mere scratch on the vehicle which is barely visible. It is like the end of the world to them. Some of us have a certain pillow or a jeans or some bracelet that is very near to us, for them it is their ride. So however gross and smelly they might look on a Sunday morning know this that this grease stained face that you are looking upon that seems super happy, well it is the grease and the smell of the gas that keeps him alive and working the whole week only to come back to his love the next week.

The End?

Everyday I wake up to a thought
Do i really deserve the chance that i got
Life has given me nothing but failure
Did i even have a reason to be here
Set backs and losses came in every battle
I am but the black sheep in the cattle
Every chance every opportunity i took
But everytime got hung on the hook
Lost my love twice in my life
And everytime it cut like a knife
My friends and family told me not my fault
But after some deep thinking i came to a halt
Maybe i was the one not meant for love
Maybe i wasn’t destined for the white dove
I’m sure it’s something that is wrong in me
For me love isn’t just meant to be

Then again i thought let it go
I consoled myself saying they will reap what they sow
I started concentrating on my own self
I put all those thoughts on a shelf
Concentrated on more important things
Started working for a life like a king
Fate had something else in store
It lured me in and thew me out of the door
Dissapointment and failure greeted me like old friends
I started thinking and wanting it to end
Wherever i went i met ruins
I imagined it was all because of my sins
Nothing was going according to plan
I turned my back and i ran
Tears kept streaming down my face
I guess i had lost life’s race
Met dead ends wherever i went
My life force it seemed was spent
Even though i tried my best
My mind i could not put to rest
Every endevour that i undertook
It ended even before i could take a proper look
With family and friends it all seems fine
But solitude reminds me what could’nt be mine
I try to forget all that is the past
Try to mould myself in a new cast
I think and want to reform
But this is just the silence before the storm
She keeps coming back to me every night
I keep blaming myself to new heights
Blaming myself is the only way out
It is in me that i have a doubt
Maybe i was the one not meant for her
all those thoughts in a depressing blur
Everyt thing i did I could not manage
All the walls came in of life’s cage
I had lost my dignity and self respect
It was starting to show it’s effect
I was scared to do things i knew i could
what if again a failure i stood
Then again i thought once more
Was it the beginning of the end. . . . .

Growing up

Life beyond these fences is unknown
Everything seems so easy when behind
Once I stepped out of the boundary I saw
It is the world infront and i’m alone

Thought of so many things while protected
How easy it all seemed back then
Now that I am facing it all upfront
Scared to find out where these new roads led

Opening the gate and stepping into the light
My foot trembled and my heart clenched
Facing the new challenges in store for me
The mere thought had induced a fright

Then again my thoughts led me to a place
My friends and family came in sight
It was something in their presence within me
That i put my first step forward with dignity and grace

Looked back on the fence i left behind
Memories of those days came rushing back
Simple and easy were the solutions in those days
It was in those memories did solace i find

Step forth in the world with courage and might
But then failures met me on the road
I was broken and alone with no where to go
Strength had left me and i couldn’t put up a fight

I wanted to go back to that sweet place again
To that fence and through that gate
Turning back i saw that all of that had begun to fade
I was lost on this road among unknown men

Men that word struck a chord somewhere
I couldn’t always live by those that had past
I was not a child anymore living behind those gates
The brunts and bruises alone i had to bear

Closing my eyes it all came rushing back
A smile played across my face and tears in my eyes
Opening my eyes i moved forward again
Knowing in love and support i would never lack

A realisation dawned upon me that day
No one could live in the past for ever
One day or the other all of us had to leave it behind
What i felt i know everybody felt in their own way

Growing up was something all of us had to do someday

Memoirs

The summer breeze in my hair made me nostalgic
Closing my eyes i began to day dream
Remembering those days long gone by
The rustle of the leaves and the trickle of the stream

Some memories came back into the light
Some episodes and occasions long forgotten
A smile played across my face
The moments that i had shared and the places i had been

I had become a kid once again playing in the mud
My mother scolding me and taking me for a bath
The smell of the damp soil and the touch of her hand
Life being much simpler and the only problem being math

Remembering those mild afternoon showers
The sheer delight of dancing in the rain
The taste of the sizzling pakoras and tea
And then the tucking in the bed which soothed every pain

The afternoons were always spent on the streets
The heat didn’t really seem to matter
When the home gully team was in a fix
We played with all our mite even when our parents called us mad hatters

Remembering those school days of innocence
Those lunch breaks of eternal fun
When the lunch box was the bat alluminium foil the ball
What mattered was the enjoyment not who lost or won

The evenings were spent among our bicycle gangs
Roaming the streets as if they were our own
Racing each other around those sharp turns
Not once did we even think that one day we would be alone

Night fell at 8:00 pm sharp and we were sent to bed
Asleep by 9:00 in our fantasy land curled up under our quilt
The nights were full of dreams about Sachin and Scooby
There was no trouble back then no sorrow no guilt

Then we grew up and things began to change
Those boats in the stream and those planes in the air
Vanished with the flow went away with the wind
Those enjoybale evenings changed into nights of despair

Memories will remain just memories the times will not come back
The innocence of childhood was what i missed the most
What my dad told me i accepted without question
Scared i was of the spirit not some past memorie’s ghost

Those days are now long gone by that is now the past
I am afraid to move on fearing what i have to face
But then i remember those days those times again
The wind in my hair a smile on my face

I am strengthned again by feeling dad holding my hand and my mothers embrace. . . . .

Ghosts of the past

Ghosts Of The Past

Let bygones be bygones is the general way to live
But sometimes when alone the mind tends to drift
To those moments spent and those memories created
You go back to the days you lived through letters cards and gifts

For some the dwellings are like the sweet summer breeze
Others treat them like the serenity of the autumn
Old wounds resurface and so do rememberences of joy
Some revell in the hapiness and some drown in scotch and rum

Solitude brings about a string of thoughts
Often leading to some reverie of time gone by
The moments precious to your heart
Or instances that made you cry and wanna die

Time surely is an enemy of sorts
It can make a man or lead him to destruction
Most chose wisely and go ahead with their lives
But for some it leads to depressions and even guns

There come instances in your life which you wanna preserve
Then some come along which you wish never happened
In the end what amtters is those are things of the past
Whatever went down good or bad did come to and end

Life is too short to be lived by the strands of some memory
The way to live is to embrace the future coming up fast
Back tracking on some road already travelled leads you nowhere
Eventually it is tomorrow that matters not some ghost of the past. . . . .

P.S.  This was written thinking about all those people who tend to live in the past hanging on to things that have long gone by and are unable to feel the rush and the  exhilliration of the uncertain future(I know this for a fact coz I was one on of them)

The way i am

The Way I Am

Every once in a while I sit and think what am i
A brother, a son, a grandson, a friend
In the quest of being what others want me to be
Maybe I’m everyhting maybe nothing maybe I’m just a guy

Right from the start I was told what to do
My clothes my habits my behaviour even my name
Did I ever think what I want what I could really be
Am I really what I am or what others made me into

Growing up my instincts began to develop
Realisation dawned upon me as to my calling
My place was not somewhere traditional
Wanted to break free from the shakles and see where life led up

Then came the all important career choice and I wasn’t even asked
It was thrust upon me like it was their choice not mine
Right from the start I knew this was not my place
They kept telling me to score but truly I was happy that I passed

College came and again I was standing on a crossroad
This time I mustered up the courage to speak out
My veiws were swept aside without a second thought
I was shattering to pieces here such was the load

Finding solace in the thought that I will still get my chance
I keep writing small pieces just to stay on track
I feel sick here coz I know I don’t belong
Given an opportunity I would leave without a second glance

I keep living upon the hope that someday I will get to prove
I was good I can be better just let me be “the way I am”

P.S.
This piece has been written while pondering over my books and thinking
“WTF” am I doing here during my sem prep leave

There was a time

There Was A Time

Back tracking on the years gone by I often feel
There were things I’d like to change in those reels
Chances lost mistakes made all I want to mend
Make myself stronger for today so I could defend

All of us have regrets of something done in the past
Some effects fade away while some last
There are scars of lost battles that would never heal
Times that made us bow and times that made us kneel

Dark days many have seen and for many endless nights
That one thing kept bothering no sign of a future bright
How you wish there was a chance some miraculous respite
Hoping it all happened differently so you could stand up and fight

You tend to think of ways to escape trying to cut lose
Irrational thinking starts when facing the hangman’s noose
There was a time when you could have made it all turn around
But then you think about the present you are time bound

Here comes the feeling what have I really lost
If I could bring it all back what would be it’s cost
The world that I see around me would it be the same
Or things would be different a whole new ball game

Those things mattered the most for us at that time
Re-evaluatuon seeps in now is it even woth a dime
Truly things would have been very different
But would you trade it for the time post it spent

Now comes the realisation of what was more imprortant
The things you have now or do you want o repair the dent
For some the past was their gem and they want it back
Others just keep it same on the top shelf of some hidden rack

All kinds of people are faced with this choice
What went by cannot be brought back
Given a chance I would not rewind
Thinking about It I have come to realise

Surely life isn’t always fair and wrongs have been done
But then if There Was A Time Again There Will Be One. . . . . . .

Change

Change
Today with the fast paced life that we lead
It’s hard to find time to even wipe a sweat bead
Running around frantically brains going haywire
Stuck in the stampede of finding someone who would hire

Less and less time we have for ourselves
The books unread stacked on shelves
There are places to go people to meet
Searching for a way to time beat

Pummeled by the winds of change
The world we once knew seems strange
You were not what you had set out to be
Looking in the mirror you wonder is this me

So influenced by the people around
In their definitions of you bound
What of the dreams that you once had
Of the ambitions of that young lad

Change is the law of nature very true
But so much so to forget who are you
Is something this era has made us do
This bondage today we break through

Let them know we are what we want
I am what I am and I will flaunt
No more will I go by tradition
I will succeed in my own expedition

I will sing out loud and crazily dance
To the music of liberation tunes of romance
Taking control today of life’s cart
Will live my life to the desire of my heart

Did I reach my destination remains to be seen
But the pathway I will surely make green
Hold no regrets to your doings and your acts
Life eventually is based on a simple fact

Change is inevitable it will come sooner or later
It is for you to decide how to the need you will cater
Will you go with the flow and let them change you
Or like me will join a revolution new

I pledge I will take my chances
Doing what I want no over the shoulder glances
Will take the coming time in full stride
With a belief of “I will not hide”
And with my wings spread like an eagle I will glide
Walk into the sunset with honor and pride