I came and touched

I came and touched
Gaily ruffling his hair
Gently caressing his soft skin
Swirling around to care.

Curled up under the window
Unaware of the world outside
He stretched his small hands for me
And gave his million dollar smile

Was it his soft curls?
Or those innocent eyes?
Or was it that beautiful heart
That had me so tied?

I was drawn to him
And the beauty that he held
He had given me all the love
And wiped out a lifetime of despair

He laughed with delight
When he saw me there
And shone his bright eyes
To see me – the Butterfly.

I nestled on his tiny feet
Allowing him to stare in awe
And as he came slowly to touch me
I flew to his delight

We laughed and played
The baby and I
As we curled by the window
Unaware of the world outside



This piece is dedicated to my little nephew.

And she flew

She rested snugly in her bed of leaves,
As the night fell
And smiled as the others said
“You have done well”

As a young bird she had learnt good
To give up was something she never would
She worked hard and she worked fast
To fit with her coloured friends
She was always there for them
For they were her only friends

As that night came, came the unexpected
The winds and thunderstorm were never like before
They struck hard and with a vengeance
And they struck till they got her down
Leaving her broken and torn
Through the night till dawn.

The morning came
And it was no better than the night
For here she had lost it all
And had no strength to survive

She tried with all her might
To fly back to life
But her broken wings was a disgrace
To her only coloured friends.

As she perched on the tree that night
She felt her heart sigh
For though this was a life she had come to known
She had never felt more torn.
Is this life
Or is this what I believed it to be?
Is this life
Or is this what I made it to be ?

In pain and anguish she flew
Till she could fly no more
Through the woods
Over the sea
Up the mountain
And on the low green fields
And flew she did
And she wanted to stop no more

For as she flew
She re-lived her longing to fly
To feel the wind in her wings
And the leaves dance at her feet
To wake up to nature
And the smell of life
She re-lived her love
She re-lived those dreams
That she had buried
Long before that fateful night.

She now saw her world
Where she lived those dreams
Where everyday work was not a task
But a fulfilment of those dreams
She now saw her world
And lived every moment of it
She felt life in her
Life like never before
Oh! Life like never before.

Pages in my life

Where do I go from here?
I don’t know
Was I supposed to be here?
I don’t know
All that I know
Is that you made my journey till here
As cherishing as a drop of water
In the noon of the desert

The care you showed
Was more than can be told
The happy faces we had
Followed by the uncontrollable laughter we shared.
The endless mindless chatter of ours
And the discussions on those later on….
This is what made my day
As beautiful as the sun’s rays.

The short fighting sessions
But the longer lunch and dinner sessions
The long walks watching the sun set
And the ever failed attempts to watch the sunrise.

With us – we were just us.
As smart, as silly
As troublesome, as patient
As childish and hardly ever adult-like.
And as freaking mad as we ever wanted to be.

Where do I go from here?
I don’t know
Was I supposed to be here?
I don’t know
All that I know
Is that you made my journey till here
As cherishing as a drop of water
In the noon of the desert

Every page in my life has all the colours of life and I love reading them over and over again.This piece is for my family and friends who have filled the pages of my life.

My Love for Outlook

I can bet that atleast 70% of the corporate world uses the Microsoft Outlook or Lotus or a similar package that allows one to send and receive mails. In my first job, a responsibility at work was to interview a new employee every week and write a piece on him or her. This would be circulated to the entire office. It was a kind of ‘Know Your Colleague’ scheme and I called it “Day in the Life”. Nearly every employee I interviewed would have a standard reply of how they started and ended their day at work – by checking their mails.

The ‘You got mail’ feel had managed to get everyone hooked up. It felt kind of important to see mails in your inbox. It meant, all these tasks need your attention. You are required that much in our company.

One would hear of an occasional “You know my inbox got jammed because I dint come to work for a day. Now I have to work extra hours just to check my mails”. I can bet all of you would have heard such remarks. It is a different matter that half of these mails would be forwards, jokes, updates of the latest movies to hit town or other mails that should have been directed to the junk mail category in the first place.

Recently, I had to leave my job since I was moving out of country for a while. Unable to get a job because of work permit issues, I somehow made up my mind to use this time for better things - like upgrade my skills. For someone who is used to working – sitting at home can be the worst nightmare. And so it was for me. But I dint realise that there was something worse. And that was – No Outlook.

It killed me, made me feel jealous almost when I saw someone flip open their laptop to ‘quickly check their mails’ or to ‘just respond to one pending important email’.
I nearly died every time someone did this. I felt like I had no purpose in life. No – I was no longer required. No one wanted my opinion or my help. My decisions – however small or insignificant, did not matter any more. I was faceless without an identity. I was suddenly a Nobody.

I now wanted a job, desperately, just to be able to receive and send mails. To hear the alert sound when one receives mails. To segregate the mails into folders. To look at the number of mails you have responded to and feel that one has accomplished a lot of work for the day.

I never thought I would be infected by the ‘Mails makes one feel good’ virus or experience the ‘Mail depression syndrome’ – but I shamelessly realise that I am one of them. One to be caught in the web!

Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna

Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai
Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai
Aye watan, Karta nahin kyun doosra kuch baat-cheet
Dekhta hun main jise who chup teri mehfil mein hai
Aye shaheed-e-mulk-o-millat main tere oopar nisaar
Ab teri himmat ka charcha ghair ki mehfil mein hai
Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai

When Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekar Azad and Ram Prasad Bismil took this oath to save our country they took a pledge and stood by it. They were ordinary citizens like you and me. Today, when anger simmers in us and we talk of saving our country, do we have the intention to stand by it? Will you and I stand by to save our country and question anyone who wants to spread terror in our home? What is the difference between those three young men who changed our history and got us independence and us? Is not the situation much alike? We are not cowards nor are we intellectually weak. What we are voicing at this hour is not about talking big for today or for this week or for a month. This voice is about taking charge. We have the right to question, to lead and the right to change. This is our home and we have to save it. The question is – are we ready to do that? Stand united against terrorists – whether insiders or outsiders.

Are we going to go back to our work stations tomorrow and gossip and complain about the system or take charge to change the system? We don’t have to go to the parliament house and throw paper bombs but we can make our voice heard.
I see the media taking some responsibility. From sensationalizing news to a bit of sensitivity in reporting was seen by all of us in this tragedy. Will the media support us to make our voices heard? Will the media give one hour of their time to save their country rather than to show us loose talks by the vote grabbing politicians?

No system is rigid or set. It is what we make it to be. Why have we accepted the politics is for scoundrels and let these politicians trade our lives in the name of power, religion and money.

As a citizen of India I request all of you not to sit back. The going may be tough but we are not cowards. Let us stand united and fight back. Write, talk and spread the message of the fight against corruption and terrorism.

Let us take charge and lead. Let us take the pledge today to flush out this terror that trying to get us.

The Grasshopper Story

The grasshopper story started a few years ago and since I can’t recollect the year – let’s say it started in 2003, the last possible date, since this was the year when I had completed my graduation and had moved to the University to do my masters and this was the year of my grandpa’s first ceremony.

I remember vividly one sunny day back during one of the years of graduation that my friend told me the grasshopper story. The tale of how the spirits of those you love come back every year on the day of their ceremony in the form of a grasshopper. I listened, I smiled and thought – that never happens. I would faint out of shock if I ever saw a spirit in whichever form it may be.

My grandpa left us just after I completed my graduation and entered the University for my Masters. My grandma had expired when I was barely three so I have no recollection of her. But I was fortunate to spend my 20’s with my grandpa who was nearing his century. It was one of the best days of my life. Coming home to hear my grandpa give me beauty tips that he saw in the afternoon T.V. Feeding him everything from Maggie to Limca to icecreams to his totally mashed vegetable filled semi-solid food, combing his hair, making a French beard which he so loved – my sisters and I used to freak out completely. So it was but natural that on his first anniversary I suddenly remembered the grasshopper story. My sister and I decided to keep a look out for a grasshopper to validate the story. My father had gone back to Chennai –my grandpa’s home to perform his ceremony. We saw no grasshopper on the day of the ceremony and were a little dejected. But on the morning of the day my dad returned back – we all saw a small grasshopper sitting on the kitchen- balcony door as if listening to our conversation. My sister and I smiled and gave a hi-fi. My dad and mom shook their head in amusement.

The grasshopper story is not about that day but for that day every year hence when it came home – during both my grandma’s and grandpa’s ceremony days. Now it is not only me or my sister but dad and mom too who have become accustomed to the visiting grasshopper who makes it appearance only two days in a year – not more – not less. I have always found it in my kitchen – balcony door. I never remember the grasshopper at any other time of the year but never forget to look for it during those two days either. And all this is from someone who never believes in supernatural. I was happy to know that in this world what you see is what it is. But I had a special liking to the grasshopper and it felt nice to know that your grandparents were still there looking at you.

One special year that shook all of us went like this – as usual we were cleaning the house getting ready for the ceremony and there was no sighting of the grasshopper still. I lamented a bit to my dad on this and asked him why the grasshopper would miss coming this year. As I just said those words, I bent to pick up the tub below and my fingers touched something on the inside of the rim of the tub. Out of shock I flung the tub and as we turned it to see what I had touched, I saw this beautiful large green grasshopper sitting in the inside of the tub. I jumped, danced and went mad because for me it was not the grasshopper now, but the fact that I could have held the tub anywhere along its circumference. But something made me hold it there – there where my fingers would touch the grasshopper and I would know that it was with us this year too. Guess it proved a point that in this world there is more than the eye can see.

I don’t know the significance of a grasshopper coming during a ceremony of a loved one nor have we checked any scriptures. All I know is that it is too much of a coincidence to have a grasshopper sit on your kitchen-balcony door every year only on those two days of the ceremony.

All I know is that if man ever thought that he was the One – the supreme power – then he needs to think again because he is just a frog in the well.

And if you ever thought that you were alone in this world – think again – there might be a grasshopper waiting for you somewhere to give its love to you.

There are some things in the world that cannot be answered by science. They are best left to be answered by belief and love.