Have you ever felt

Have you ever felt?

Being a part of the crowd
But still standing out..

To be one amongst the many
But finding ways to peep 'out of the box'  that are uncanny

To wear all the masks
And still feel your skin breathing beneath.

Going with the flow
But, to pave your way, upstream you go

In a garden of roses
Still courageous to become those mosses

Have you ever felt?
Or, you still haven't felt like this before?

Wilding

Get me the Moon and the Stars,

And all the things that have led to Wars

And, take me to the lavish lands unseen,

Coz' I'd wish to be as wild as I could be.

Why did I grow up?

Adolescence! When I googled its true meaning (after getting its spelling correct in the 5th time!), it stated this-

"The period following the onset of puberty during a young person develops from a child into an adult!"

Now, for the first part of the definition- 'onset of puberty'- I can relate hitting puberty with the colour RED! Yes! through my red, inflamed acne-scathed face and also the red that flowed as my dead egg, through the commode!
For the second part of the definition- 'growing from a child into an adult'.. all I can say is... IT HURTS!

I'll tell you why..

Twelve years ago, I was this carefree child who used to play gully cricket with the kids of the society. Then, 4-5 years later, I was determining the minimum velocity of the ball for the batsman to hit a six! And, mind it guys, its not speed, its velocityyy (with an arrow on speed's head, always pointing from left to right, but having different directions every time, that is left for us to determine).  Life has to be tough for adults, you see.

After in numerous instances of mud-eating and puddle-bathing, trying to kill insects with bare hands, tying dragon flies from their tails, my mother's perpetual thrashing finally made me believe that I am a HUMAN (and, that I should act like one)!
And, when that was finally setting in...I suddenly realized in the Biology class that I am a freaking HOMO-SAPIEN! Why would they call anyone that?
(Homo-Sapien sounded more like the name of a pet snake to me than that of a human's. Imagine naming your child Homo-Sapien in real, he'll never evolve into a human just because of that name!)

Later, this Homo-Sapien turned into an IT guy who as a group constitute more percentage of the World than water bodies (not an exaggeration, consider Bangalore and then re-scale it!).

In my childhood, I was leading a life where everything was Hunky-Dory! Later, while preparing for CAT, I had this question which was like- there are two friends- Hunky and Dory. They both start to run across a circular field with velocities 'a' and 'b' respectively. When will they meet?
Sadly, my Hunky and Dory never meet..

Adulthood in boys is more or less the same phenomena, but, there's a highlight. Adulthood complicates everything there. Right from the texture of their voice to the words of H.C. Verma's physics problems. And, the irony here is- both of them exist because of an APPLE! (their Adam's apple and the apple that enlightened Newton!)

There are some perks of being an adult that we cannot ignore as well. For instance, we get to vote (never judiciously), we get to drink, we get to drive, we get to drink-drive! We get to roam around the city till late hours (and, then get molested, or even better, we become a molester).
The list here is also a long one. But I'll cover all that up later.


Till then, my friends, I'll always recommend, emerge out of that monitor for a moment and just try- not being an adult for some time! Life will flow..

Mirrors

Yet again I wake up to this dummy World-
Full of mirrors that say without a word,
So when I pass by the narrow lane,
I can see my image from foot to mane.

Some show me stout,
Some show me too tall,
Almost like the funny ones in the circus, I recall..
Then there are some that find me dramatic,
Some tell me I am a wide-mouth,
And then there are others, at me they shout
For what I wore,
Or to where I head,
They always try to show me 'the way' in stead.

Then there are some that show me so puny,
That before them, I feel like a looney .
Coz these are the ones who suppress to be above all,
Always looking down on others, in the fear to fall.
And this is their fear that created the reflection in stead..

Coz now I know it's not me who's stout
Nor tiny,
Nor a wide-mouth!
But the blemish in themselves that  made up the faux and how!

Coz I have a few ones whose images I can trust.
That always show me the right one..no matter what else I lust.
Coz when I am culpable, they show me my dark
And when I am capable they show me my way to embark.
Coz these handful are my North and South,
No matter if the mirrors call me tiny or whiny or a wide-mouth!

Here is a short story I wrote for a contest at my company. The occasion was Women's Day and the  topic was 'My Pledge for Parity'. Had to keep it below 250 words. Hope you have a good read. :)

 ‘All men are the same!’ exclaimed a disgruntled Miya while narrating an anecdote about a flirtatious colleague at office. She went on to describe how she, with the help of other female employees, managed to throw him out of the company.

Though the issue seemed to be valid, but, I was taken aback by such a reaction of hers before Rishi, her boyfriend, who was also giving a baffled look to her.

‘I am not the same!’ he might have thought.

We were walking towards the café, when suddenly she took a pause before the main door. Before I could make out what happened, Rishi hurried, leant towards the handle and opened the door for us. This occurred again at the lunch table where she pretended to be busy with her phone until he pulled the chair back for her to sit down.

My ex-classmate continued with her speech over various aspects of feminism. It had been 3 years since we had last met. Since then, we had remained connected mostly through social networking sites where one could find every other post on feminism and women empowerment in her profile!

We had had our lunch and I had had a good enlightenment on women empowerment, at large, when the waiter brought the bill and kept it in front of Miya.

‘So, you know Sonakshi, it’s our life, our rules…and, and, we are at par with men..we are equal….and..’ she continued jabbering while sliding on the bill towards Rishi.

Just as Rishi reached out for his wallet to pay, in that short span of 30 seconds, my heart realized that it had had enough. It signaled my hand which grabbed the bill back from Rishi and slid it back to Miya.

‘You are so right, Miya! Indeed, WE are equal to men. SO, WE MUST PAY EQUALLY! ’

And, my heart basked in its feministic glory when the pseudo feminist sheepishly reached out for her credit card while the real one grinned back at his counterpart!

The Journey Never Ends

From kindergarten to this lofty building,
From desks and benches to this seat so yielding,
Life is a ride with crooks and bends,
Never give up on yourself, because the journey never ends.

From a nap in the lap to the jetlag,
From home cooked food to that coffee in the cab,
Life is what you make from the glee you lend,
Never give up on yourself because the journey never ends.

From P.T. meetings to formal greetings,
From stupid childish fights to arguments heating,
Life is made from what you received and what did you send,
Never give away yourself because this journey will sometime end.

And, then you'll realise how far you've come,
Leaving what memories to others and keeping to yourself some,
Don't chain yourself to that stuff in grey, its high time it should be red,
Never give up on yourself coz the journey never ends.

The Path to Glory

In the midst of all the gloom,

The lines on my forehead speak of my doom,

I am here, clueless, on the black rocks I am lying.
Oh yes! I am dying!

Pregnant clouds, all black and bound,

With swirling winds gushing all around,
(A sudden flash, a sudden sound!)

A ray of hope, a call to urge, just in time,

Oh yes! With joy, I am crying!

I get up and ascend toward the guiding light,

Towards the call that gave me the urge to fight,

My feet still bloody, my sweat still shine,
Oh yes! I am still trying!
Oh yes! I am still trying!