Friday 15 November 2013

The way out.....

The way out was always there,
somehow, I never had the option .
So that step was not taken
and boundaries confined me in them.
Many a times when I watched
the birds flying away in the sky;
I  wondered , how it would really feel
to be free; at least once in life.
Its not as if I don't like this restraint
a large part of it is self afflicted.
But why should I bother
about all those vistas never travelled.
They were there,waiting to be walked
while the choice was always mine .

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Lonely evening

The rain stopped
after slowing down in a drizzle.
Leaving the sad afternoon
to cope with its own loneliness.
The humid  weather sat still
like the burden of expectation .
A few birds flew away
leaving the lonely afternoon
to fade slowly into a dark evening.
A rainy day thus ended by itself
with its own story, untold .

Monday 14 October 2013

Egyptian Delight

#Mishawr Rahasya 

Mishawr Rahasya was an eagerly awaited movie to me for many reasons . Firstly it was a Bengali movie shot in Egypt . Secondly it was based on Sunil Gangopadhyay's Kakababu character. Thirdly #Prosenjit plays the role of Kakababu. Fourthly #Srijit Mukherjee is the director and I have liked his direction in the previous movies. So it was with that eager anticipation of a teenager that I reached the theatre, along with my better half.

The movie has many positives to its credit and has been mounted on a big canvas of Egypt , more particularly the Saharan desert. It has awesome visuals by Indian standards be it Bollywood or Tollywood and the camerawork has captured the moods of the sand dunes perfectly. Prosenjit has put up a very commendable performance as Kakababu, the intrepid adventurer who inspite of his physical disability , is always ready to face the challenges of varied nature along with his nephew Shontu.


The international feel of the movie will make the big budget Bollywood directors envious.Sometomes you may feel like watching a Hollywood thriller. Srijit has really created a very dynamic movie. Barring a few places where he has gone overboard with his experiments with jerky camera work and editing by montages, the end product is a movie which holds you onto the story with the suspense but never has a boring moment. The story itself is simple advrnture but the treatment by Srijit has turned the narrative into a wonderful thriller.

The storyline has been slightly modified and the characters made more uptodate with the times .The recent events in Egypt has been blended very well into the narrative. Shontu even has his girlfriend tagging along with him on the journey to decipher and find the meaning of a hieroglyph message . But the theme of the story has been kept intact. Kakababu and his adventure would have been liked by the creator Sunil Gangopadhayay.

Srijit is very strong on getting good music for his movies and his song picturisations have been brilliant in the previous movies. Here also he scores but I could not wonder , if so many songs were really necessary in this movie. The action is not of Allan Amin variety as most of the conflict is shown to take place in the mindspace. But action fans will not be disappointed . The camera moves very fast and the scenes too.

The packaging of the movie hs been done in an international format with very good editing and an interactive dialogue . The subtitles are really meaningful and retains the flavour of the dialogues with an universal appeal.

In acting everybody hs done well. Prosenjit as Kakababu Raja Roychoudhury has obviously got the central role and has done justice to it. But if onr has to single out good acting then #Indraneil Sengupta would be my choice. #Rajit Kapur has also proved himself once again.

I have come out of the cinema with the feeling of watching a good movie and would recommend the movie even to people who do not understand Bengali. It has its few weak points but no one will regret watching the film .

Sunday 29 September 2013

Those times spent in loving you

Those times spent in loving you
the bygone days now forgotten
How keen I was in my passion
to bind you in my arms.
Then how easily we reached
the point of no return .
I let you walk away because
I read somewhere and believed
that love demands sacrifice .
Read it somewhere in a tale.
never thought it had to happen with me
in this vast world , no one else.
I spend now my days with the world
laughing, crying and breathing
like a most normal human being.
Then as I wait into the deepness
of the silent dark nights,
waiting for oblivion in slumber;
I look up the sky and count the stars.
As memories rewind in my dreams
playing hide and seek.
Then even as they break
suddenly in the dead of the night,
leaving me with  a deadly thirst .
I find you , walking away from me.
I try hard to mumble goodbye
but find my throat has gone so dry.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

I love you because I have to
what else could I have done ?
And once I have loved you
why shouldn't I say that to you ?
Let the whole world know it
now or never , that I love you.
Without you, life won't be same
so I can only keep on loving you.
All my prayers will  be answered
on the day you say - I love you.

Thursday 5 September 2013

Sushmita Banerjee

Sushmita Banerjee was a brave woman. Many may not know her. She wrote the novel 'Kabuliwalaar Bangali Bou' in Bengali which narrated her story of marrying an Afghan national and life in#Afghanistan. She chose to remain in Afghanistan with her husband.

I have read her book. It was not a great piece of literature but a detailed account of life and travails under #Taliban rule. It surely has documentary and historical value. People like her remain as small footnotes to history but enrich our lives by letting us have a peek into history. I think this book 2ad translated in English as "Escape from Taliban." But ultimately she could not escape.

Reports say she was killed by the Taliban today. Pray for her departed soul.

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Do your lips still tremble
in eager anticipation.
When you pin a flower
in the braids of your hair.
Or when you stand alone
in front of the mirror
and check out yourself.
Do you miss me behind
waiting to give you the hug .
Time takes away all of it,
the stolen moments of love.
Try hard as much we can
what we lose never comes back.

Monday 26 August 2013

If you really want to end

If you really want to end
with a goodbye then
let it be so .
I will walk into the sunset,
and dissolve into the horizon.

But don't expect me 
to comeback again 
on a bright sunny dawn.
Just because you need 
someone to wake you up .

Saturday 24 August 2013

Madras Cafe - Chronicle of a tragedy foretold


I would have given "Madras Cafe"  a miss because of my low energy  level and personal problems . But then after reading my friend  Ram Pratap's   two line review, I decided to see the movie with my son and luckily managed the tickets . i have to first thank  Ram Pratap for helping me make up my mind and then John Abraham for producing this movie . His previous two movies as producers were both  Hatke types and "Madras Cafe" is no exception. But still it exceeded my expectations and surprised me with its treatment of a topical issue of our generation in a very non partisan manner through the eyes of an intelligence agent in a well knit  thriller.
The achievement of the movie and its director is to present an engrossing thriller whose climax is known to everyone. The plot though claimed to be fictional borrows heavily from the incidents of the Indian involvement in the ethnic Tamil conflict in SriLanka and its fallout culminating in the assasination of the ex Indian Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. The names of the protagonists and the places have all been changed but it will bring up the memories of the news paper reports which made the names and places like Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Jaffna, Karuna, Anton Balasingham, Jayawardene, Elephant pass and above all Pirabhakaran so common to our daily lives for more than two decades.
The first half of the movie is a great experience in terms of action, cimematography and locations. The scenes move fast and do not allow the viewer any opportunity to relax . The photography and the action keeps you riveted just like any A grade Hollywood  production.  Its so nice to see Indian movies matching upto international standards. The scenes are graphic enough to show the devastation but never lingers to show the blood and gore . the action also is more restrained to create a sense of reality around them . The locale and the people look authentic and blends with the story perfectly. All this and without  even a song and dance routine .
The second half of the movie is actually better than the first half and instead of action and war scenes the story shifts well into the thriller mode where the main protagonist tries his best to avert the inevitable and fails. As expressed in the movie by the words of the RAW chief - We lost. But director Shoojit Sircar wins . Without a song or dance he has presented us a believable version of the events in a fictional format. And the movie scores in another front too. It has not tried to be jingoistic or take sides. All the parties whether India, Sri Lanka or the Tamil rebels, all have been shown without trying to create heroes or villains out of the. Why even the main character, played by John Abraham , the producer himself is not the typical hero of the Hindi movies. He is caught,  he fails, he is frustrated at the end. He does not sing, does not run around the heroine, actually has no heroine worth the name. He is only a protagonist. Can you imagine this with other heroes who produce movies. I am not a fan of John Abraham  and even now would say he is not a great actor. but my respect for him has increased many fold after watching this movie and I can vouch that he has some grey matter of sensibility and sense in the space between his two ears.
This movie is not about acting and actors as there are no long dialogues or stylised scenes . This is rather a simple story told in a gripping narrative with suspense holding you till the end . The perfect example of a director's movie.  very rarely will director get the freedom which Sircar has got and he makes the best use of it by a disciplined effort, never going overboard with creativity or emotion. The movie is a success story for the casting, locale,screenplay, cinematography and direction. Acting , dialogues and emotion takes a back seat , very unlike a run of the mill Hindi movie. Even a major part of the dialogues are in English  and lot of Tamil has been used. But it doesn't create any problems with the narrative .
I have really not found any major flaw with the movie. Some people will contend that it has glossed over facts . But that creative liberty has to be taken by a director . He has presented a thriller . And it is thrilling, no doubt about it. I will end with the review by Ram Pratap, verbatim - If 'Chennai Express' was made for those 90% idiot moviegoers, then 'Madras Cafe' is for the rest 10% intelligent audience. Go, watch it!!

Thursday 15 August 2013

#Independence

Nothing or nobody is independent in the real sense . It is the thread of inter dependence which can only bind all of us. Pursuit of independence beyond a level is just plain selfishness and can never be good as it always provokes retaliation by others.

Instead of trying to look for independence for ourselves it is time to realise how much dependent we are on others for our survival and be grateful and thankful. Also take a lesson from this and nurture others who are dependent on us to grow.

This is the meaning of independence on a personal level, in my view.

Saturday 10 August 2013

Didi Oh Didi !!!

The Gorkhaland agitation has come as heaven sent opportunity for Didi.

Does the above statement seem to be out of place or somewhat funny. I'm sorry. The joke is on you if you don't see the scenario unfolding.

Correct me,if I'm wrong but there are about 42 seats of Loksabha up for grabs from West Bengal in the forthcoming elections. The results of the recently concluded panchayat polls in WB have shown that the Left Front is reeling from the onslaught of the TMC tit for tat medicine dished out to them, in good measure. They are not in a position to effectively counter attack because of their own mistakes of discarding the grassroot problems. In two years they have not been able to launch any worthwhile mass movement. And being out of power, fundraising is also a problem they face now.

Congress is nowhere in the picture. Other than Adhir Choudhury localised in Murshidabad as the last man standing,the whole party in West Bengal resemble a trash bin. They are in a hopeless position and Didi has got their votes transferred to her own TMC.

Given this backdrop, the Gorkhaland agitation will only help her to whip up the Bengali sentiment to stoke and inflame parochial passion. The hills may burn. It doesn't bother her. Anyway the votes from the hills do not matter in the big picture. They are not even enough for deciding the outcome of Darjeeling constituency which has a big part of Siliguri subdivision and neighbouring areas in it.
But by staking that one seat, TMC stands a very good chance to sweep entire West Bengal and can even get all of the 41 seats. CPM and Left front know this very well. They are in a classic dillema. If they support division,they lose mass support in WB. If they oppose Gorkhaland , Didi gathers steam and makes it her own strength. She has stolen their pet line - neglect of West Bengal by the centre.

And she knows very well that 40 seats will make her the kingmaker ,if not the queen after the election. None of the other running horses from the different states can boast of so many seats . Amma, Behenji, the wily Bihari, the UP pehelwan , the Odhiya gentleman , no one. They also know it as do BJP and Congress. Note the silence from both Congress and BJP on Gorkhaland. They are not taking any chances and keeping the options of a post poll alliance open.

This analysis does not take into account whether the demand of Gorkhaland is right or wrong. This is just an understanding of the ground realities from a politician's perspective. And morality or foresightedness is never a virtue with the present breed of power hungry politicians. If the hills burn,let them burn. If people die ,so be it. The people from the hills will also feel the backlash of the plains and their leaders,most ill equipped ,are just riding the tiger. They are themselves a bunch of greedy village level politicians who neither have the exposure or the qualities to run a state.

Bimal Gurung is grossly  mistaken if he treats Didi lightly and thinks that he holds the aces in this game. His earlier days of bonhomie with the lady will prove fatal for him . Remember a person named Kishenji and his end . Or another person called Chhatradhar Mahato . How she used these people and then discarded them as trash. I have a feeling that Gurung is right now being used by her , as a convenient puppet to divert attention from the misrule of TMC in the whole  state. She has already sent an ultimatum to the GJM and she herself knows the language of agitation too well. By using all political tactics , lumpen party machinery and force of the state under her command,she will make life difficult in the hills and bake her cake on that fire.

Make no mistake, the lady has the genes of Machiavelli in her. Laugh at her,feel angry with her antics,froth from your mouth and dry your throat ranting against her. She has the masses with her , for now . And,there is no one to challenge her in West Bengal. That makes her one of the front runners in the race to unfurl the national flag from the Lal Qila on the 15th Aug 2014.

You think its a far fetched fantasy. Just wait for the elections to happen. It will definitely be a fractured manadate and a hung parliament with no clear majority for the two main political formations. And then the famous Indian horse trading season begins. I hope you have not forgotten two eminent gentlemen named Gowda and Gujral . If they can,why not she. And with the present insipid MMS in charge for the last decade, we deserve more fun at the centre.

Viva la Didi !!!!!

Thursday 8 August 2013

Rest in peace – Anuradha Bhavsar

Rest in peace – Anuradha Bhavsar


I have never had the opportunity to scold her, applaud her, harrangue her or align with her proffessionally. Neither did I had any inclination, time ,reason or interest to know her personally. She was one of the faces which is lost in the crowd of people you interact in the course of your daily grind. Slightly built and of below average height with a medium complexion and non descript features . There was nothing in her appearance that made her stand out in a collection of people. And she always remained at the background. Because of her status in the hierarchy, maybe because of her position within a group of highly ambitious people with overall level of higher IQ. Maybe because of that feeling of not getting integrated to the people with whom she worked with . And she was a young kid. Just 21 years or so. Even younger than my own son.

But she did her work dutifully and with dilligence. I noticed her stay up very late sometimes on a heavy day even as many others have left. I often wondered what such people would be thinking in their minds as everybody left home and they continue to work on their workstations with heaps of unfinished work. But again on the next day, one would find them typing out on the keyboard right in the morning.

I had not much interaction with Anuradha Bhavsar. Neither did I recollect her instantly when a friend mentioned her. She joined as an executive in Axis Bank and was working in the Treasury department inside the Dealing room. Her job was the lowest in the chain within the Dealing room, sending routine mails in the morning, typing out letters for the Head ,performing routine jobs , attending to phonecalls and entering deals in the system on behalf of other dealers. I have officially interacted with her very sparingly , mostly connected with sending advisory emails to clients or getting some documentss scanned or copied, because the scanner /printer in any office always remain an object of mystery to me.

During informal get togethers of the colleagues over samosa parties or birthday cake cuttings also she tended to align with the other colleague of her rank and they would stand at one of the corners at the edge of the gathering. In such gathering where light banter and wisecracks are applauded with laugh all around and people try to impress others and more particularly their bosses, nobody cared for their views. Actually this is an universal problem with high energy centres like treasury dealing rooms of private banks . You have a collection of young , intelligent , ambitious, career oriented and performance bonus oriented people trying to race ahead of the next seat colleague . People play all types of games to be in the limelight and the feeling of being left behind is a curse you carry with .

But within the oasis of such people with above average salaries and high bonuses are patches of deserts in the form of executives and messengers who are needed to maintain all the logistical hassles. They are not paid too well and when compared with the people they work with the gap is too yawning . That probably makes them a little diffident . Overawed by the workpressure and the importance of the deals exuded by others they go into a shell . And perhaps no one cares to break through that layer. I myself never did . And I doubt only a handful of the colleagues will be able to say where Anuradha lived. But she was there , everyday .

Yesterday , when a friend asked me whether I knew Anuradha, I could not recollect her at first. Then I got the news of her death. And I had a faint recollection of her. When I saw her face in the newspaper article today, I remembered her for a moment of sadness. It is always sad to learn about a death. She was not a near one. Only someone who was a colleague in the same department without too much interaction. But she greeted me with a Good morning or nodded to me whenever she passed me by. As I said earlier, I have never had the opportunity to scold her, applaud her, harrass her or align with her proffessionally. Neither did I had any inclination, time ,reason or interest to know her personally. But I feel a sense of loss today. To die at such an young age ! And in thse circumstances.

A sense of outrage grips me as I read this newspaper report. But this too shall pass. I will return back to my daily routine by afternoon. Colleagues will speak about her on Monday in the coffeepoint . Maybe there will be a small memorial with a minute's silence to honour her . We will all pray for her soul. Then we will forget her.


But she did not die naturally. It was a case of criminal negligence on the part of the doctors. One can say it is a sort of murder. The whole story is really scary and whoever learns it will feel uncomfortable We tend to read these things often and dismiss them from our minds saying – These things happen. Only when we find something like this happening to someone we know, it jolts us . Anuradha's death is tragic. Even more tragic is the sense of alienation that we carry within us. Not reaching out to people. Not understanding them. Not being able to be of help to anyone around. Not knowing people. Not keeping track . Not being able to recollect .  

Thursday 13 June 2013

Send me a wire.

Telegrams were always associated with urgency and more often than not, emergency for us during my childhood. My first recollection of anything to do with a telegram when I accompanied my father to Suri Post office from where he sent a #telegram to his office or boss intimating his inability to join work after the sanctioned leave period with a request for extension of leave. Natural , because we had been to our mother's place during my vacation.

Two telegrams are very close to my heart. One sent by my uncle which read - BABLU P 1ST DIV.That was about me clearing Matric board. Naturally again , I was enjoying the summer and the mangoes at my mother's place.

The second one was from #SBI informing my appointment as a PO and directing me to join Alipurduars branch for my first posting. That begun a chain of events leading to my nomadic existence till now.

Well, in those days money was transferred by telegram messages and these were called TT in short. Only authorised officials of the bank, generally not below the rank of Accountant could authorise the TTs under a code which was generated by an instrument resembling a toy with sliding layer of metals with holes on them in rows accompanied by a metal spoke. It used to be kept in the handsafe under the #custody of the designated officer along with a book of codes , which if not maintained properly could wreak havoc. Such was the aura and importance of the TT code and the responsibility ascribed to it that lesser mortals , meaning junior officers avoided it but craved for it internally.

Me ,the eternal fool always treaded the ground which the angels didn't . So naturally , with my uncanny gift of landing into trouble,uncalled for and unnecessary , I found myself gravitating towards Mr Badal Choudhury in the evenings while he affixed the codes to the TTs prepared by the Head Clerk. Mr Choudhury , may God bless him,was the accountant of SBI #CoochBehar Bazaar branch and the most powerful figure at the branch off course after the staff union secrtary. The Branch Manager , poor soul was always kept on the tenterhooks by these two persons, whom he considered villains in his otherwise tranquil life of exile away from the powercenter of #Calcutta.  Actually the BM had confided this to me, in a moment of unguarded anguished moment when he lectured me on his glorious past.

Digression aside, Iet me return to TT . Now BC spotted the eager talent in me thirsting to be fitted on to higher responsibilities. He was at his #avuncular best as he took pains to introduce me to the world of TT messages and its codes. Bursting of self importance I learnt it in no time and within two days,I was able to gain confidence for myself and the accountant. BC stroked his thick bushy beard and congratulated me for being the first person he had met in his service life with such a reservoir of talent. He then went to meet the BM.

After 10 minutes or so , the BM called me and asked me to take temporary charge of the branch# accountant as BC was proceeding on leave for seven days due to sudden illness of his wife. I was flummoxed by this sudden googly. Later I realised why BC was so generous to me. It gave him the opportunity to take sudden leave by passing on the onerous charge of the #branch accountant. And naturally , he always extended his leave , that too ,by a telegram.

Of all the TT codes , two were very common in #foreign #exchange transactions. They were YHACA and YJGUZ. One meant sale of foreign currency and the other purchase.

They have now decided to do away with telegrams. Maybe they are right in doing so. In these days of betting by WhatsApp messages, the poor telegram is a misfit. Like the postcard and the inland letter. I have myself not used any of them maybe for the last 10 years or maybe more than that. Other than reasons  nostalgia and antiquity, they are not relevant in the modern life. 

So after sharing our joys and sorrows by giving us the news of births and deaths , informing us of the imminent arrival of unwanted guests, keeping us posted of important personal milestones and being used to create innumerable dramatic plots for novels and movies, the telegram brings us the news of its own demise. Rest in peace.

Saturday 8 June 2013

The (ir)relevance of LK Advani


The ( ir) relevance of LK Advani.

Writing this caption in the 90s would have been nothing short of blasphemy and surely would have invited derision,castigation and attacks from well meaning educated upwardly mobile middleclass Hindus who had found their messiah in him. I must admit that I myself was one of the persons who saw in him the strong personality we needed to run the country. And I really admired him. Even discounting the strong fanatic and retrograde forces of ultra Hindu philosophy of VHP and Sangh Parivar.

After about two and half decades of the BJP lotus blooming through out the country, the credit of which must go to Advani ji to a large extent, lot of things have happened. Advani ji came within striking distance of being PM but always remained the man who would be PM . As if he was never destined to be the PM. But he kept on being the most important person of BJP after Vajpayee ji as long as he was there and then assumed the mantle of leadership of the party easily and naturally . But after the defeat of NDA nine years ago and exit of Vajpayee ji from the scene it was a mixed fortune for BJP and they have slowly lost ground , unfortunately to a most corrupt and inert Congress led UPA.

This period of powerless inactivity as the premier opposition leader coupled with advanced age and dilution of the culture within the party made him slowly distanced from the people and their aspirations. As an opposition, BJP was not able to provide any hope to the people and as a ruling party in some states the local leaders started getting assertive.

The Central leadership of BJP was always more central and not regional as the leaders owed their position more due to their proximity with the different organisations within the Sangh Parivar. So it was natural that the weakness at the Centre and the strength at regional level was playing its own dynamics and altering the equations quietly at first but then like all irreversible reactions, pretty vigorously afterwards.

Advani ji missed the signs. Or even if he understood then he was not prepared to accept it because his own ambitions and aspirations were still aflame like the molten candle . Maybe he has made himself believe in the make believe of his own destiny as the PM. Meanwhile time has not stopped for him . It has flown its own course . During the last three decades, people like me who firmed the strong supporter base for Advani have greyed and now are in their fifties and sixties . These people are more cynical, more tolerant , more fatalist and more corrupt than what they were in the nineties . They have seen things fail.They have known that their very own Ironman has actually feet of clay. And now they are more or less convinced that nothing will change majorly if the Congress is replaced by BJP. Nothing wrong or strange about it . This is the way of life.

But then the new generation of BJP supporters are a new breed altogether. They are more materialistic , more internet savvy, more impatient and want more of everything. They are not bothered about the means but want the end to be defined. They are in a hurry and they have found their hero in Narendra Modi. The telltale signs of his ascension to the centre of power are visible and right now his popularity in BJP supporters match what Advani had in 92. But then Vajpayee rode the Advani wave . That is a different story.

How times change. Today the news of BJP supporters agitating in front of Advani's house makes me shake my head in disbelief. The comments on twitter and facebook on Advani are so acidic . And these are not by Congress supporters . The people who are spewing venom against Advani are all BJP voters. They just don't want Advani any longer as they are impatient to annoint Modi as their leader. Some of the comments remind me of those which flooded the social media after the demise of ex Maha CM Deshmukh .

Everything and everyone has a shelf life. Advani has ignored this. He is paying the price now. Strangely, even after building his politics on the plank of Hinduism , he seems to have forgotten the last stage of the happy Hindu way of life - Vanaprastha.

All said and done , one must credit BJP for the internal debate on leadership . This upholds democratic traditions. Other parties may jeer them for the perceived disunity but can any other political party in India can claim of such transparency and debate on leadership. This itself puts BJP on a higher notch than the pathetic one (wo) man parties dotting the political canvas and makes them stand out, giving us some hope

P.S. I am not a Modi acolyte and believe that he should remain as the CM of Gujarat. Nothing more than that. Let the Gujaratis enjoy his leadership till eternity and prosper thousand times. But please God, let the country be spared of him as the PM. We would rather remain as we are.

Saturday 25 May 2013

Waiting for the miracle.

One of these days, a miracle will happen,
I am eagerly waiting for it.
Politicians will stop lying
and you won't  be able to bribe the police.
Trains will be less crowded ,
people won't relieve themselves along the tracks.
Pakistanis will make peace with us,
Dawood will be rotting in a jail.
There will be no T20 cricket matches
and we will win the FIFA  world cup.
There will be jobs for everyone.
No more suicides by farmers.
All these are possible , yet they are not.
So there is not much that I can do
except hoping for the miracle
to happen one of these days.

Monday 29 April 2013

Climbing trees

I remember,when I was young, the trees looked so big and I always wished to climb the larger trees. Tarzan was a role model for me then and I always fantasised about swinging from the branches and roots of trees.

There were a lot of trees then around the place we lived and we also had many trees in our compound . As children we played and climbed on some smaller mango guava and jackfruit trees at home but were not allowed on the bigger trees. My uncles could climb trees and during the season of blueberries (jaamun) they used to take me along with them on the bicycle to collect the fruit. They would climb up the tree and shake the branches and I would pick up and collect the jaamuns fallen on the ground in the bag. I was always in awe of their ability to climb the trees . 

Also when I went to my mother's village during summer or winter holidays, I found the children there climbing trees with such dexterity that I envied them for this. I particularly liked the ritual of getting the Tad (tal) fruit plucked, tamarind collected and the setting of the pot on the date palm to collect the juice. In the eyes of  the small boy that I was, these were the ultimate exciting things to do. Sometimes one of the farm hands would perch me up on the nearest branch of the big mango tree and I would sit there feeling so thrilled with life.

All these are now just faded memories. It's difficult to believe that I had spent those days. Even to me they seem to be stories of my past birth,how can I blame others. Nobody can relate to these stories in this era of TV shows of extreme adventure sports and daring stunts. Children now do not play those hide and seek games involving bringing leaves and flowers of plants and trees and climbing up trees or terraces. That is considered too risky and off course it is. But how simple it really looked then. And we seemed to have endless reservoir of energy to play those games. Now when I look down from highrise existence,I discover that the trees look smaller.

But I still cannot climb them .

Monday 15 April 2013

Fly, my birdie , fly away,
if you really want to. 
I can not stop you 
nor want to cage you. 
You came to me 
from the heavens above
and gave me some moments of joy.
With all those fond memories
of togetherness, I now set you free.
If you return again 
to wake me up on a fine morning , 
be my guest and call me .
I will wait for you.

Thursday 4 April 2013

Silence


The power of silence is unique really; it persuades, it can also negate. Lost in the void of speechlessness are the strands of emotion. To understand silence is to decipher an unknown language, very ancient. What passes of between two souls in silence is like something electric which transforms people at the two ends like charged poles. There may be attraction or repulsion, depending on the unsaid thoughts which pass through the minds of the two persons.
Silent feelings are fascinating if you can understand them. Sometimes a thousand words will not describe the story which a silent look can author in the space of a moment. All of a sudden there is the indication, the signal which was being awaited for days and hours. A veil covering the restlessness within just like the calm before the storm.
Like anyone or rather everyone, I have witnessed silence in its many facets. Sometimes with a smile on my face, sometimes with fear and trepidation eating away my innards or with the resigned acceptance of the tragedy faced. Whatever it was, I think silence defines our existence as it punctuates the sound and cacophony of the world around us .Because ultimately its not the words that are spoken by us or about us that matters but the depth of the silence which we leave behind that matters .   

Friday 29 March 2013

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Wednesday 27 March 2013


On this lovely evening of spring,
I'm just waiting for the phone to ring.
To hear your sweet voice on the other side,
Asking me to go with you for a long ride.
Because you promised me it as a treat,
You, not me will be in the driver's seat.
I'll be the jester and play the song,
maybe tell a few jokes as we go along.
If you really like this idea , after all;
Just pick up your phone and give me the call.

Tuesday 26 March 2013


Transient memories,
whereabouts unknown,
where have you all gone ?
Grab my hand now
and take me along,
I'm waiting for your call.

Thursday 21 March 2013

Strands of time


Those strands of time that held all of it together,
gets buried everyday by the sands of time.
Even if we try our best, still time prevails, always.
Binding us by its strands, again setting free,
taking us in its stride, throwing us away,
sometimes drowning us in its wake, in waves.
Time leaves its marks, time obliterates;
wipes all deeds to oblivion, also reminds.
Love, hate, expectations are points in time,
just milestones of our journey.
Walk along, till it lasts, and the sands of time
covers you, buries you , claims you forever .

Sunday 17 March 2013

The world is drying up.........


The world is drying up , minute by minute.
Only we don't seem to realise it,
until the rough landscape hits us.
Faltering footsteps on these brown boulders.
These are the moments of truth;
the time when the heart demands
the touch of another heart
The moistness of the eyes , the wet feeling,
the life providing drip which flows
like blood in the veins , throbbing always
to create something , to feel something
needs the reassurance of another heart.
Because the world is drying up, we need
for every heart, another heart which understands.
Life is difficult to spend  all alone,
try joining your heart, to  another heart
today before the world dries up.

Sunday 10 March 2013

Do these things


If you care to smile now,
the sky would brighten up
with the brilliance of stars;
bursting out like fireworks.

Visit the garden of my heart
sometimes again to see them,
the flowers that have bloomed
there only to welcome you.

Hold my hand when we walk
and then see how I do change,
myself and make the world
a better place to live for all.

Love me once,if you can
without me asking for it;
then feel the difference
it makes to my life and death.

Saturday 23 February 2013

Wife's petticoat


Most of the males that I know  will feel very embarrassed if found to be hanging their wife's clothes on the balcony for drying or even picking them up once dried. This I think is an universal and though many males do it regularly, most  of them loathe it and do it grudgingly and try to be as quick and stealthily as possible. But why ? 

This off course is an issue of mindset and inspite of a lot of change in the social mores, the idea of a husband washing clothes of his wife and more than that ,taking time to hang them up for drying still elcits ridicule for the husband and his wife from the neighbours and elders . It is also a matter of amusement for others.  But is it really something so amusing , as in cities and rapidly increasing smaller families many males have to help their wives in kitchen  and other houseworks. But they still wouldn't like themselves to be caught hanging the nighty of their wife on the clothesline. 

Recently in the movie Special 26, there is a scene which tries to raise some laughs on the predicament of a henpecked husband washing clothes and the mirthy response from the viewers firmly establish that this is indeed something amusing to watch others do. I am also reminded  of the comments made by an erstwhile senior officebearer of the SBI Officers Association on the VRS scheme , when it was first introduced.  The statement made by the worthy and often repeated by his lieutanants to dissuade members from opting for VRS was -  “ These people after getting VRS will be of no use and spend their time at home washing petticoats of their wives” . Naturally such revolutionary statements garnered a lot of claps from the audience but sadly felt short of stopping people from applying for VRS . But that is another story altogether. What I mean to say is that there exist, in all of us, that sense of negativeness about men doing household chores and in spite of the so called progress, which is also visible, the society is still submerged in that old mindset of compartmentalisation between male and female bastions of work.

I think a large part of responsibility for this type of mindset to prevail in the society , along with many other notions of male preogatives , squarely lie on the females. If a mother cares to get her son accustomed to household jobs right from the childhood instead of segregating them into women's chores and men's rights, they would be doing a great service to their future generations . Women nowadays are quite open and often we find them in the forefront of protests and movements in social issues. They also have been given equal rights and theoretically match their male counterparts in any sphere of activities. But whenever we come across instances of gender discrimination and atrocities on women , we blame the men for it.  It is very convenient for everyone to shift the burden of social change on the males because of their dominance, historically.

Females  or for that matter everyone who complain about oppression and discrimination from other sections of the society should first try to introspect themselves and locate their chains before blaming the existing social system or making demands of more freedom and respect. If  someone does not respect herself and conform to the social stereotype by own volition even after a reasonable education and economic independence, they are not only spoiling the life for themselves but also for the others who are not as fortunate as themselves. 

The chains which bind you , my dear female species of human beings are mostly imaginary like the clothes line that hang on your balconies. 


P.S. : I know what I have posted above may be taken as controversial. I mean no disrespect to anybody, either females of any variety or males who hang their wive's clothes at the balcony.  I invite comments from everyone within the limits of decency and ready to accept all brickbats if  I really deserve them.


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Sunday 17 February 2013

Let's talk it over



Why don't we talk it over;
or give it a try at least.
For one last time,
let me have that chance
to make all those promises
which I have never kept.
I know for sure, you are,
really fed up with me.
This is the end of the road
you have declared.
I can see the fire in your
eyes and the tears too.
Even in this state that I am
I can realise it fully well;
something is wrong
something that shouldn't be.
I would like very much dear
to erase all my mistakes.
So just let me try once more
to make it work out between us.
To think of the chances
which I had everytime.
I have frittered them away
I know, I have always done
the same thing with my cards.
But let me tell you baby
this one little thing which
perhaps you know
but never acknowledge.
I may be really bad,a beast,
to treat you this way.
I have done all the things
which turn you off,  my love.
But darling with all my faults,
troubles and mistakes,
I come back at your door.
Because you are the only one
who cares to listen, because
I have never lied to you.

Monday 11 February 2013

Something that I lost...


I searched every nook,
every little corner.
But couldn't find what
I was really looking for.
Where did I keep it?
When did I lose?
Don't even remember
what it really was.
Still I tried to find
what I thought was missing.
Here, there, everywhere
with a restless urge.
Something very important
that I seemed to have lost.
Was it an address,
of somebody very dear?
Or was it some letter,
that somebody wrote to me.
Maybe it was a gift
I received from a friend.
Could it be a heirloom
passed on to me by grandpa.
A forgotten bookmark I kept
in a book I never completed.
Haunting me now , a question
never answered, never faced.
I have got so much in life,
earned,saved and gained.
But still, what is this I've lost,
that I search for in a craze.
Craving for it, yet I know;
perhaps I will never find it.
It's gone ,gone away forever.

Saturday 9 February 2013

Special 26


Special 26 has shaped into a reallly good movie which entertains you. The movie itself is a comedy packaged into a thriller format and the director Neeraj Pandey has been able to deliver a punch in his somewhat oddly named cinematic product.

Neeraj Pandey, if you remember had given us that wonderful movie- A Wednesday which was also a taut suspense story told in a simple format. Here , in this movie also he has kept the storyline simple and uncluttered. The situational comedy with humorous punchlines have been very well executed by the actors . The editing of the movie is fast with jumpcuts and superfast montages. The music by M A Kreem adds up to the urgency and propels the pace of the movie. Very good camerawork and clever use of locations and props give an authentic touch to the story set in 1987 and brings back memories of the good old days .

The director and his team have done good homewoork to create the ambience of the period in which the film is set and makes the scenes look believable and realistic. The film speaks of a time when mobile phones and computers were not common in India and you will sometimes feel the difference of lifestyle it has made for us , particularly for the police while chasing fraudsters.

The story is about a gang of fraudsters committing a series of daring heists at the places of the corrupt and the rich by impersonating as CBI or Income tax officers. And in all cases , there is no report of the swindle made to the police because the people cheated out of their treasures do not want to report lest their extent of illgotten wealth is made public. How an intrepid CBI officers gives a chase to the gang and the thrilling chase and its culmination in a very different climax makes up the storyline. The suspense of the story is maintained till the end and unlike Talaash but more like Kahaani, you will like it because it will make you laugh .

The story has no moral pretences , no message to preach, no item number, no fight sequence, no sex scenes,no stylish sets and dresses,no stunts or action scenes . In short it is not a masala movie in any yardstick. But it is a wholesome entertainer which you would like to visit both with your mother and daughter and it will make you laugh. Strangely , you will bond with the crooks in the movie and pray for their well being. This is where the director scores on the emotional quotient.

Along with good direction and editing, the success of the movie also rests on the teamwork of the actors in delivering scenes in a manner which reminds you of setpiece movements of football . All of the actors play their roles to proffessional perfection and this is what makes the situational comedy stand out with perfect timing. Akshyay Kumar once again gives a very good performance as the mastermind fraudster and team leader of crooks. Manoj Vajpayee and Jimmy Sheirgill also have acted well upto their reputation. But Anupam Kher is simply excellent. He has again proved what a great actor he is. The scene where he, the crook, is interrogated by the CBI officer Manoj really stands out due to the acting coordination of both and worth remembering.

The weak point of the film is the romance angle and the heroine related diversions . May be the director planned the scenes involving the heroine as relief from the suspense and fast pace of the film. Or maybe he wanted to garner support for the lead character by showing his emotional compulsions. But the fact remains that the character of the heroine and her presence in the film is totally unnecessary and does not really gel with an otherwise very good narrative structure.

My recommendation will be – See the movie. Don't try to find any meaning or message in the story. Just enjoy it for a good dose of suspense laced with fine humour.


Wednesday 6 February 2013

I remember you


Nothing remains left in my mind
when I remember you.
Such is the passion of my thoughts
while I remember you.
People jeer at me and call me names
but I smile at all they say.
They never know what it feels like,
when I remember you.
I will walk thousands of miles to reach,
and cross all rivers and seas.
You become a magnet that attracts me,
when I remember you.
People fight on silly matters of faith
and armies go to war.
I remain oblivious of all these things,
when I remember you.
People toil through their entire lives,
to accumulate their treasure.
The wealth of love is bestowed on me
when I remember you.
Ministers lie,scholars cheat, doctors kill,
even cricketers fix their matches.
All icons show their feet of clay,
Still I remember you.
Sometimes I think what I would've done
had I not remembered you.
Then I find I have no other option left,
So ,I remember you.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Mistakes

How long was the distance
from my place to your gate;
never measured it.
That was a mistake.
What kept me from pressing
the doorbell to call you;
I could never understand fully.
That was surely a mistake.
How many times did I want
to tell you my feelings;
then kept silent and smiled.
That was another mistake.
How things changed over time
between you and me;
without any apparent reason.
Tell me was it my mistake?
Now I will never see you again
but carry the pain within;
like a hidden wound in my soul.
That will be my ultimate mistake.

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