Point of no return

Dance
like nobody's watching
or the way you should
the way you would have 
when your sound of music 
grips you—momentarily 
—if not forever
this carries you on  
until that instance when
neither you sweat anymore
nor your heart beats loud
you are grounded yet
your spirit reaches high
higher than you've ever been
higher than your wings' gaze
and that's when you'd stop
to absorb the chaos around
to free yourself from life
slowly but gracefully
no steps kneaded by your joints
you aren't stairs anyway
you are you—finally 
so you do what you always wanted to
but couldn't: float. 

Timeless

You
are
the
reason
why
the
sun
wakes
up
on
time
but
the
moon
hides
behind
the
clouds
not
letting
us
know
when.

Eureka!

Isn't it amazing how certain hidden aspects just flash in front of your eyes when you least expect them? Last week, i was at Kurla and repeating what i'm an expert at: waiting for my train home. And while i was it, the entire platform was rehearsing Kumbh Mela. The only problem being nobody got lost! In this chaos, i reminisced the poster of American Beauty. For no peculiar reason. It just flashed and i vividly noticed the rose on her belly. Very suggestive. Very appealing. Very thornless. Yup. It just struck me that there are no thorns on that stem of rose. It was almost as if the thorns were photoshopped away for a reason. It got me thinking because i must have noticed it earlier too since i love film posters but i never really gave it a thought. In fact, a film might be horrible but as far as the art of film posters go, seldom do we come across a terrible one. By the time i got into the train—don't ask me how—i had received the answer for myself. The thorns were absent because beauty doesn't always have to accompany pain. American or no American.

Hidden message

His best friend left him today without any warning. Perhaps it was high time they went their separate ways! Besides, a four-legged being might have a destiny different from a two-legged one. However, what’s intriguing is there was no sign of grief at the tail-end. And just like that, a trial separation took place. Posters shall be up on the streets by tomorrow but they’d be pointless. Like their heading, the guy’s missing the point too. His friend isn’t really lost. He’s simply hiding because he’s tired of selfless love and everything that it’s supposed to entail for humans. 

N.B: My shorter-than-short story is in the top-4 list this week. Yes, they've clearly lowered their standards.

Those lines on my palm

In the first week of October, my phone crashed. Like Launchpad always did. Similar to him, it survived as well, but with more-than-visible damages. The fractured lines running on the screen created a wormhole in my throat after i found the courage to pick up the phone from the floor. Goes without saying that the sound that our smartphones make after hitting the ground is the closest we’ll ever get to hearing a heart break. Needless to add, i slipped into semi-depression during the following hours. You know when something like this happens to you, you start reminiscing EVERYTHING that happened before the very moment your phonescreen got kissed by gravity. You should have seen my face by the way—‘cause i couldn’t—when i held my poor phone in my hand. We both looked at each other in a language that screamed of unspoken horror. Since the touchscreen was working and there was no real internal damage to weep on, i was trying hard to convince the Buddha in me that it was alright. But whenever my eyes met my phone, i couldn’t forgive myself for letting such an atrocious thing happen to a dear friend. The design in the resulting crack suggested domestic abuse on my part, as if I punched it four times with each knock leading to epicenters of confounding streams. One such knock happens to be on the very point where my notifications are displayed, obstructing the view. Hence, “more-than-visible-damages”.

What you just read was the sad part.

Two nights after the Grand Crash, i was in a local train happy to have bagged an imaginary fourth seat. I usually avoid taking a seat unless it’s near the window but that day, i was feeling old. I was fidgeting with my phone as usual when a co-commuter’s dhakka led to Grand Crash 2.0. To my expected misfortune, the phone once again fell flat on its face. However, since i was marginally used to the drill now, i calmly picked it up to inspect the crash site. The fracture lines were deeper. And some distributaries had joined streams on the screen, elaborating the art that my smartphone’s dumbface now showcased. On noting the impact his dhakka translated to, the guy responsible for it apologised profusely: “Sorry yaar, galti se haath lag gaya…” I interrupted him by saying, “Koi baat nahi.” I almost heard Ennio Morricone’s desert music in the background when i help up my right hand to deliver the three-word dialogue. The relief in his eyes was worth the melodrama that we avoided. Who would want to pay for something they didn’t want to damage in the first place? I’m sure my response restored his faith in humanity, if not his ability to commit expensive mistakes. I felt blissfully young that evening to play that prank on him as well as myself.

What you just read was the funny part.

It’s been several weeks since and i’m no longer bothered by my phone’s sad appearance. I’ve never been into appearances anyway. I always felt nothing remains the way it currently is so it’s a lot easier for me to accept change. Yes, I almost sounded like a husband in a broken marriage there. Well, it’d be a lie if you don’t accept that your phone is your constant companion. Your dearest friend. Your confidante. Your lifesaver, if shit happens. It’s your reason to believe that others are worth keeping in touch with. It’s not just an electronic device. It’s a partner. And to those who might wonder why I never got my screen repaired, I’d rather buy a new phone instead of spending a penny more on this slick-buttery-piece-of-trash-that-didn’t-think-twice-before-slipping-out-twice-out-of-my-firm-masculine-hand-FUCK-YOU!

What you just read could have been you.

Mundane promises

Ever wondered how the not-so-privileged families manage to stick together inside an 8x8feet room? Calling this kind of accommodation inconvenient is actually an understatement. Such little houses include the kitchen as well as the bathroom with no question of a bedroom. Everybody inside the house sleeps on the floor. And there’s no dearth of similar style—for lack of a more suitable word—of habitation in Mumbai. Of course, it’s a matter of choice for an individual whether s/he wants to stay back and fight for their space in the city or go back to where they hail from. But still, everybody has a relatable story to share. Like the family in the picture above. Here, the husband runs a laundry service—with considerable help from his housekeeping wife—while his two sons attend nearby school. They all stay inside a room that’s barely 64 sq feet in area. But the man of the family hopes to see better days ahead as he is ensuring his kids get what he or his spouse couldn’t: education.

PS: Happy Universal Children's Day to you, too.

Clap of shame

Television indeed affects the social behaviour of aam janta. I say so because of an ongoing TV campaign by the government, which implies that shaming those who litter by applauding them in public might work in the country's favour. After all, cleanliness hasn't really been India's—let alone, an overcrowded city like Mumbai's—forte. However, a recent episode inside a local train on the Central Railway caught our attention along with fellow commuters'. A gentleman, who was travelling with his family, crushed an empty water bottle before slipping it though the window of the running train. On noting this, three college students who were standing on the aisle started 'applauding' him by clapping together in sync. Not a word was exchanged between any of the involved parties. It was as if time stood still for a while, allowing the clapping noise take over. This left the passenger embarrassed while his wife and kids took time to gauge what was going on. The whole incident lasted less than a minute but it was something that made one individual aware of his error while educating others of the dangers of repeating what he did. Not bad. Not bad at all.

J-factor

It's easier to say that we aren't supposed to judge others but it's like breathing. Very involuntary in nature. The whole judging business. And what better way to get one up against yourself by proving yourself wrong? It was during my early days in film journalism and being a rookie, i used to be shit scared before a celebrity interview. My fingers used to tremble—which later turned out to be a physical ailment, not psychological—before shooting the first question. Nevertheless, once i got into the Q&A groove, i almost always strike a fine balance. My propensity to laugh like a primate helps a lot too. So, i remember once taking a lift to the 34th floor of a building in which a Bollywood star resided. Famous for his outspokenness, i was told he can be a difficult fish to fry. To make things worse for myself, i'd never been a fan of his acting skills so i had my spirit low while i was counting the changing numbers on the indicator inside the posh elevator. Within seconds, i was standing at the entrance and the star—or has-been star?—himself opened the door for me. While allowing me in, he gently patted my back, asking me whether i wanted something to eat or drink. As an unwritten journalistic rule, it's best not to have anything during working hours so i politely denied. He shrugged and directed me to a lovely room, pointing me to the huge sofa against the wall set perpendicular to the open gallery. During the course of the following interview, it became apparent that he's undoubtedly one of the most genuine personalities in the otherwise soulless industry. One thing in particular that he said with his left arm flailing around violently still rings in my head. I remember his hand halting to point at the window  showing me the poor settlement outside on the ground. He said he came from that part of the world and today he is up above where he was, away from the very people who made him the star that he became. In fact, according to him, as he grew more and more prosperous, the farther he moved away from them. He might had said so for the theatrics of a tête-à-tête but it was undeniably honest. When it was time to leave that room, i was his newfound fan although i didn't let him realise that. Besides, who was i to judge someone who had judged himself long time back?

The joke's on me

What are you supposed to do when an intern from crime department walks up to you and asks, "Who's Shakti ma'am?" I don't know what you'd do but i couldn't stop myself from laughing like i did. Undoubtedly it turned out to be one of the most memorable episodes of my time as a film journalist. Oh, by the way, i told her that Shakti ma'am committed suicide after learning about a botched sex change operation.

OK. I didn't. 

I barely said anything while i was busy laughing as if fondled by the goddess of humour herself. Also, the puzzled look on her helpless face added to the confusion.

That was then.

As of today, we both avoid eye contact in the hallway. 

Weird.

Arrogance of love

Before you judge me i must say i'm not an expert on human relationships but i've learnt a bit about it. THAT still doesn't make me a scholar on the subject. I accept. Regardless, you've got no choice but to dispense yourself with what i'm trying to espouse. Shall you excuse moi while i pretend to be a professor?

You see, i've come to an unsteady conclusion: Relationships fail because of love, not in spite of it.

Let me tell you why.

When you love someone dearly, over a period of time, your love—no matter how selfless or unconditional it is in practical nature—you create a bubble of arrogance for yourself. And this creation is self-sustaining more than anything else. It is seldom vile but when unchecked, it can lead to ruin. For instance, when parents adore their kid, the latter grow along with the former, and eventually lead to a point where they develop immense pride in him/her. There's arrogance in their relationship but nobody sees it unless all the parties involved reach a situation where one of them has to leave the nest. It could be a divorce or the kid moving to college. If it's a divorce, both the father and the mother would be of the opinion that they are best for the kid's future. There's arrogance in their love towards their ward but they are conveniently forgetting the love they once had for each other. If the kid is moving out to build a nuclear life, the parents have no choice but to rest on the arrogance of love they have for their faraway kid. Love can be a brutal force that can make or break a person. 

Speaking of which, this A-word i'm constantly proposing here applies to two individuals in love. Many a time, what happens is that each one of them assumes that s/he love the other person more than the other way around. Since you can't measure love, it becomes a figment of one's belief system. The girl thinks she loves the guy more while he happens to believe the vice versa. This benign looking arrogance might keep the relationship strong but if it fails to do so, then it might hurt badly too. After all, both the individuals led a life thinking they were emotionally invested in the relationship more than their partner. They thought there was no insecurity on neither side. But weren't they mistaken for naively coming up with a thought that eventually led them to fall apart? It's human nature perhaps to compare everything only to go with your own analysis. Just like every employee in a company tends to blindly accept that s/he's the hardest working person in the building. Thankfully, there is no arrogance of love involved in a professional relationship. Maybe that's why it doesn't affect us much while we hop from one job profile to another.

Unoriginal sin

Adam and Eve were strolling in the garden when they chanced upon an apple tree. They kept staring, each wanting to know how it tasted like. Being a virginal naked man with nothing to hide his hard on in, he plucked one to impress his lady. Before they could realize, both were stuffed. There was neither serpent nor God; only two beings who had no choice but to lie down on the grass before dozing off. Oh yes, the next day, they tried pears. But it was only when he ate her that he found out fruits are totally overrated. 

PS: Read some really short stories here. No, not shorter than your attention span. 

Making a move on

She was once in love with a guy who was very much into bikes. She remembers pillion riding with him and dreaming of a future together while wrapping her arms around his torso. Turned out they fell apart even before he could change the gear. Today, so many years later, she believes she has moved on to a slower but a more fulfilling place. But has she? After all, whenever she comes across a speeding biker or a wrecked bike—neither of which isn't a matter of dearth in this city—she thinks of him and his love for machine. Well, she doesn't stop there. She silently prays he's safe somewhere and reaching—if not reached—wherever he was meant to.

A dog nose

My real-world fame may be restricted to street dogs but it’s not restricted only to those in my neighbourhood. I’m quite popular among a few near my office as well. Like this gentleman in the picture. He knows me for almost a year now. In an ideal world, we are friends with bonefits. But being an independent person, he doesn’t expect much though except a gentle tap on his hand or a scrubbing palm around his neck. In fact, unlike his eternally hungry counterparts in Sanpada, he hates Parle-G. Anyway, the reason why he’s featured here is he is turning blind in his left eye. I noticed it today. And i’ll do something about this mutual admiration because it’d be nicer to hold on to a four-legged friend whose eyesight is at par with his sniffing skills.

Stranger than non-fiction

If you’re vella enough—which i’m sure you are—you can zoom into the above picture and note a guy in blue shirt. He was about to cross the railway track this morning. So engrossed was he in a conversation with the guy he’s standing next to that neither of them paid attention to the approaching train. I’ve seen people walk into death and i’m certain he too would have had i not screamed at the top of my lungs. To put it very immodestly, i saved his life! And this is not the first time i’ve done this. Each time i've done it—like any other Mumbaikar who must have done the same for me earlier—there’s a weird catch to it. The stranger whose life was saved won’t go around thinking that you did him/her a huge favour because that’s how we function in a city. Life is cheap and time, too precious. Dead ironical, isn’t it?

I for me, V for us

Relationship is about finding the common denominator. Love is not giving a shit about whether you found it or not. Am i right?

Relationship Status: Damaged beyond love.

Relationship status: Still stuck in a one-sided affair with Natalie Portman.

Relationship Status: Attracted to whoever isn't attracted to me.

Relationship status: Conquered by the infinite magic of words.

Relationship status: "I'm seeing dead people."

Relationship status: Waiting to bump into an alien.

Relationship status: Committed to mistakes.

Relationship status: Mistaken and forgiven.

Relationship status: We get each other's typos.

Relationship status: A seamless conversation.

Relationship status: Changing passwords.

Relationship status: *typing*

Relationship status: "Ditto."

Relationship status: Now.

Relationship status: Updated.

Relationship status: Lonely weekends.

Relationship status: "Stay."

Relationship status: "We'll be fine."

Relationship status: "Happens."

Relationship status: Uncomplicated.

Relationship status: “You.”

Relationship status: *discussing everything except bowel movement*

Relationship status: *sitting on the fence enjoying a random conversation*

Relationship status: *raring to fight*

Relationship status: "Long live internet!"

Relationship status: Jealous of everybody in your vicinity.

Relationship status: *bliss and all that jazz*

Relationship status: *caught between asterisks*
  
Try establishing a good relationship with yourself first. Others can wait. Am i wrong?

Bro code

My brother and i were like this. Close and fond of each other. I never protected him—it was the other way around so let's not go in there—like elder ones are expected to. Neither did i help him with his studies nor ever included him in sports. Moreover, he unquestionably used second hand books throughout the school years without a word. Perhaps his dislike for academics helped! Having said that, i vividly remember feeling proud of him while holding his hand on our way back home from school as well as tuition. Of course, this was long before i set out on a let's-please-others journey that made me a bona fide asshole.

Dance like the wind ain't watching

At a gurukul in the sprawling shade of trees, a disciple interrupted the gathering by asking his master a rather inane question: “Are the leaves moving the wind or is it vice versa?” The master, without even gazing at the branches above him, replied, “Neither. It’s your mind that seems distracted. Pay attention in class.”

If i were the master, i’d have paid attention to a theory my friend proposed recently. Things move because of intention. Science may have its share of endless corollaries on momentum, acceleration and velocity but they all fall short when it comes to the movement of stuff inside our head. What makes our thoughts move? Anyway, the point being there’s no uniformity in place. Chaos rules. For instance, when somebody is dancing to a song, who’s moving whom? Is it the music that is making the body groove or vice versa? I mean, if you push two individuals to the dance floor and hit the play button, wouldn’t they be dancing differently—considering they haven’t practised steps before—despite hearing the same piece of music? Is this true to nature too?

Which brings us to another inane question: “Which leaf is moving which way and how does the wind feel about this discord in choreography?”

Funny but real

There’s a scene in Kung Fu Panda (2008) when the rotund protagonist drags his poor ass up the long stairs. By the time he reaches the plateau—where the fair is going on—everybody gets in and the massive door closes on his face. Needless to mention, the heaving loser is incredibly frustrated. So he tries to get a peek of what’s going inside through a peek-hole window on the doorside. To his misfortune, an acrobat kicks a ball in such a manner that the window too shuts down on our hero’s face. If that wasn’t cruel enough, an announcer inside screams about the acrobatic performance to the audiences, “You haven’t seen anything yet!” Our dear panda outside the door resonated with that line the way nobody else did as he said, “I KNOW!”

There are days when life is like that. Only you haven’t seen anything. And only you know it.

Why?

Why not "best morning"? Why aren't we bored of oxygen yet? Why not mention 'Survivor' on our résumés? Why are they called strangers when they aren't strange at all? Why overestimate our right to be wrong? Why do you think therefore you are? Why are all the breaking news sad? Why wait for tomorrow to avoid what can't be done today? Better still, why wait for tomorrow when today is waiting for us? Lord, why have you not forsaken my enemies yet? Why let your inner child grow up? Why get hurt and then inked instead of vice versa? Why pretend to be something we can easily be? Why run when we can take a walk...together? Why be an asshole when you can be a phenomenon? Why blame your heart when your lungs are at fault? Why not lose yourself to someone who'd overlook your shortcomings? Why let the distance come in your way to the destination? Why isn't there an i-don't-know-what-to-say emoticon yet? Why is it that we chase the ones who don't really care about us and shun those who do? Why not be those lovers who neither meet in the beginning nor live happily ever after in the end? Why worry about stuff that doesn't even exist? Why play a supporting role in YOUR movie called life? Why isn't there any tax on emotional baggage? If nothing lasts forever, why should the rules be any different for sadness? Why is your question?

Raddi

“I won’t leave anything behind,” thought the boy before piling up all the newspapers in the house along with a ream of useful magazines, used notebooks and useless papers. No, this had nothing to do with the PM’s call for cleanliness. The money he’d derive in exchange for raddi would be buying him his favourite comics. To him, the news didn’t matter nor the trends because the world he escaped to was filled with coloured sketches and words trapped in bubbles. And this escape route just happened to pass through the raddiwallah’s shop at the end of every month. 

N.B. The above piece was written for the heck of it. You can read a lot better tales in here. Also, you can write too on a given frame. Won't hurt. Promise.

Seating disorder

Railway commuters in our city fight for seats as if they were ancestral thrones. Furthermore, most of them behave as if they've never seen a seat before; let alone sat on one. This whole conundrum about wanting to be seated—no matter what one’s age is—tells us something about our priorities. Who knows? We could have built a far better city if our inhabitants showed half of the passion in other stuff what they do in winning a place to rest their butt on. No surprise why there are heated arguments in crowded local trains for space to either stand or sit. Which also explains why a window seat is treasured so much despite knowing that the journey can’t possibly be long—or smell-free—enough to enjoy it thoroughly. But then, being hassled commuters, we tend to pretend that the journey shall go on forever just because we’ve bagged the windy position. Against such a melodramatic setting, it was a pleasant surprise to find a young man who wouldn’t take a seat despite having several chances. He preferred to stand in the aisle between the benches and continued to read a book he held in his right hand. On being asked by a fellow commuter to make the most of the available space, he zenfully replied, “Office jaake baithna hi toh hai.”

You-turn

The straightest of men turn gay when they are put behind bars. We don't even have to look into the pages of human history to understand why or how this volte face takes place. Something the ones flying the flags of bigotry as well as LGBT don't get it, do they? It's not about sexual orientation. It's much deeper than that. Much messier than what they assume it is on the other side of the wall. As long as everything is going fine, everybody has a topic to take a stand for. Once that cool awning is pulled down, then what? Desperation has always been the surrogate mother of  necessities. Once a man is cut off from the comfort of a society, he'll become his own. He fights for himself and not for some ideology he was willing to tolerate sunburn for outside the prison. Inside, he won't mind bending nor making others bend to his whims anymore. However, it doesn't mean that he's finally found himself. In fact, far from that. It just so happened that the person who was his desperate self ended up finding him stuck in a small room with a smaller window that lets in nothing but sunbeams filled with dust. When you're in there, you make the most of what you have whether your crotch likes it or not.

On a second thought, ever wondered why a staunch vegetarian like Pi fought with a ferocious tiger on a boat for his share of fish? To his fictitious credit, history is decorated with instances of civilized people turning to cannibalization to fill their stomach. So it's alright, i guess.

A matter of urgency

Week in and week out, we either witness ourselves or hear from others about a commuter losing his balance while either getting into a local train or while hanging on to the footboard or even while alighting at a station. People do fall because of several reasons and one can only hope the damage is minimum—if not fatal. According to the Kakodkar Committee, around 15000 people got killed last year due to trespassing on rail tracks in the country, out of which 6000 occurred in Mumbai alone. Be it any report, this city boasts of maximum railway causality by design. A reality resonant enough to make the authorities realise that urgency matters when a commuter has slipped or tripped. But more often than not, help arrives just like monsoon in India. Delayed and depleted. However, there was some improvisation last week as i saw people gather to save a life. People gather anyway. But it was more heartening to see how the railway workers responded on Platform no. 5 to a man who was unfortunate enough to fall from a running train. The stretcher was immediately called upon and the wounded man was provided relief. We can only hope this instance isn't a rarity.

That drowning feeling

Imagine you’re a woman in case you aren’t.

Imagine a horde of unruly men attacking your village.

Imagine them as cruel as you can never be.

Imagine horrible stories of them violating womenfolk.

Imagine watching them do the same in yours.

Imagine worse—with a tinge of bloodshed in place.

Imagine running towards the well.

Imagine your heartbeat almost choking you.

Imagine not looking behind at the ones chasing you.

Imagine diving in at once.

Imagine the water touching your body thoroughly.

Imagine thrusting your face out of the surface.

Imagine the circular well's mouth lined with silhouettes peeping in.

Imagine paddling your feet and balancing yourself.

Imagine how long you can carry on like that.

Imagine the moment your body begins to shiver.

Imagine the very instance your spirit gives up too.

Imagine the point when you finally slide in.

Imagine a flood entering your lungs.

Imagine your eyes wide open seeing nothing in particular.

Imagine the dilemma of knowing how to swim. 
Imagine the dilemma of being stuck in the well. 
Imagine. 

Lunar promises

Sweetheart, i know you never asked for the moon but why take chances?

Universally splendid

You think you’re bored and that’s why you’re here? NO. You are here to server a bigger purpose. You are here to make somebody rich(er). No, not me. Christopher Nolan and his team of gifted ones. You are here reading this crap so that i can let you realize that his Interstellar is something you can’t afford to miss. In case this world isn't enough for you, the epicness it exudes might make you understand that our planet is simply great regardless of what we're busy doing to it. It's not just about our planet. There's so much to unknow about the universe we are part of. Besides, why should we deny ourselves a chance to look beyond what is obvious. This behemoth of a movie acknowledges so many things at once. Also, it’s one of those films you shouldn’t download and ruin by watching on a 17-inch screen. Remember Gravity from last year? Good. This film pushes the boundaries—both physical and abstract—a bit further. There are cryptic clues with answers hidden in somewhere. And that could be your heart.

PS: When/if i grow up, i want to be Nolan's ghost. You'll get why only after watching the film. 

What's your greatest fear?

When in doubt,

• When in doubt, evacuate.
• When in doubt, be cute.
• When in doubt, drift away.
• When in doubt, be harmless.
• When in doubt, reason.
• When in doubt, run till your heartbeat is clearly audible.
• When in doubt, be random.
• When in doubt, be still.
• When in doubt, don't punch.
• When in doubt, STFU.
• When in doubt, be gentle.
• When in doubt, confuse others.
• When in doubt, stay awesome.
• When in doubt, say "Beautiful night, isn't it?" to her.
• When in doubt, be irritating.
• When in doubt, invade her mind.
• When in doubt, blame the referee.
• When in doubt, play unsafe
• When in doubt, damn.
• When in doubt, kidnap.
• When in doubt, twitpic.
• When in doubt, ask and don't bask in ignorance. 
• When in doubt, get run out.
• When in doubt, say "kuch bhi".  
• When in doubt, don't get tattooed.
• When in doubt, survive. 
• When in doubt, pretend to be damn sure.
• When in doubt, blame it on bile. 
• When in doubt, have curd rice.
• When in doubt, open your fridge
• When in doubt, end it with a comma,.  
• When in doubt, do as the doubtians do.
• When in doubt, retweet.
• When in doubt, Pakistan.
• When in doubt, die.
• When in doubt, do the write thing.
• When in wonder, doubt.

That thing

That thing you do with your lips when you kiss me

That thing you say with your eyes when you see me

That thing you leave on my skin when you spoon me

That thing you add to my dreams when you hide me

That thing you make me go back to again and again

That thing you manifest in spite of being miles away

That thing you establish beautifully inside my head

That thing you create without worrying where we end

That thing you bring by not feigning to be anybody else

That thing you embody which is rumoured to be love

That thing called you

That thing called mine

Read between the lines

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A kind of guy

• He's the kind of guy who'll spit at you through his broken teeth after being punched in the mouth. 
• He's the kind of guy who won't hesitate to light his cigarette with a deep at puja. 
• He's the kind of guy who sticks to honesty tighter than Gandhiji to our currency.
• He's the kind of guy who'd say "Fuck you" when you sneeze.
• He's the kind of guy who holds your hand and doesn't leave despite sweaty palms.
• He's the kind of guy who does things his own way and often gets lost.
• He's the kind of guy who doesn't give a damn about giving a damn.
• He's the kind of guy who neither sleeps down nor wakes up.
• He's the kind of guy who pretends to be someone he is. 
• He's the kind of guy who laughs aloud at the universe's plans.
• He's the kind of guy who abandoned poetry before vice versa could happen.
• He's the kind of guy who gets inked just because he has skin. 
• He's the kind of guy who has little money but rich enough dreams.
• He's the kind of guy who doesn't chase local trains anymore.
• He's the kind of guy who avoids looking into your eyes lest he breaks down.
• He's the kind of guy who loves everything that won't ever return the favour.
• He's the kind of guy who seeks sincerity in cinema but is OK with its dearth otherwise.
• He's the kind of guy who is an idiot like you or me—and knows it too.

Push and shove

If you happen to be a railway commuter, you'd be knowing how precious space is inside a train compartment. Which also explains why the term dhakka—meaning push or shove depending on where you're standing—is as common as crowd. To be fair to the daily passengers who have accepted the harsh reality of congestion, nobody likes to have a quarrel and that too inside a jampacked train. But things happen and we often get entertained by two or more characters who wouldn't mind slinging expletives before taking up a more violent stand—no pun intended. However, many a times, these silly confrontations evoke either laughter or silent appreciation from people gathered around. For instance, a young fellow was apprehending a senior citizen for dhakka when the latter firmly asked, "Meri umar hai dhakka deneki?" This was before he added, "Dhakka lagne se aadmi aage hi badhta hai, peeche nahi."