To all my friends..........

Hurt and lonely in a crowd I stood,
Wondering what it was to feel good;

Searching for the ones I love,
Running away from push & shove;

Where are the ones who love me?
I need them now, right beside me;

Trying to ignore the ones that don't care,
The ones that snub, the ones that glare;

Don't wanna fight, don't want attention,
Just want to live in peace, no tension;

Brooding over such thoughts so I was,
Sitting in the woods, pensive and cross;

Sudden sound of laughter, coming close,
Curious, Startled, from the grass I rose;

There they were, loving & smiling,
With open arms for me, waiting;

Rushed into their arms, there I happily lay,
Thrilled to bits as I heard them say,
"Dear, We missed you,
couldn't wait to see you";

Later that night, looked up to the silvery skies,
To thank God, for blessing me with friends so nice!!!

When you miss a true friend...

When you were here and I shed a tear,
I was sure you'd wipe it totally clear;

Your presence beside was not a must,
Your voice, the words I totally trust;

Never have you lied and tried to please me,
It was always about being true to me;

In your place I wonder if I'd be half as good,
Whether your problems I've ever understood;

You never expected anything from me,
Or were my eyes too tightly shut to see?

Have been selfish and am sorry for that,
Will be there for you at the drop of a hat;

You're my friend, so am lucky and grateful,
I promise, to you I shall always be truthful;

Never dreamt I'd be so close to you,
That the slightest thing wanna share with you;

An anchor, a support, a friend you're and have been,
Whether near or in faraway lands unseen;

Now it just doesn't matter where you are,
I know you're there for me - near or far :) :)

Perseverance... :)

Perseverance is the key,
It's what sets you free;

When you're totally down,
It'll help erase the frown;

When things go totally wrong,
It'll help you to be strong;

When you're terrified and can't cope,
It'll fill your heart with hope;

When your body with fear turns cold,
It'll spur you on to be bold;

When your breath stops and you feel crushed,
It'll pump the much-needed adrenaline rush;

The lesson is to go on, confident and strong,
Undeterred by trying times that won't last long;

It'll calm you, inspire you to be brave
It's the strength internal that God gave :)

To you...the best I've known :)

You gave me strength to get through the dark, lonely night

Though miles away you are busy with your plight...

Never once you question why I call only you,

Always saying "I'll be there for you"...

You surprise me by calling when I am excited or low;

How do you know your call makes me glow?

You give me the utmost happiness and also the greatest sorrow;

Knowing as I do that we may have no tomorrow...

Yet I say...You are the best I have known,

You are probably the best I will ever know...

For you... :)

If you hadn't been so understanding,

If you hadn't been so caring,

If you hadn't been a dear friend,

If you hadn't been a confidant,

If you hadn't been an advisor,

If you hadn't been a great listener,

If you hadn't been a motivator,

If you hadn't been my mentor,

If you hadn't been so lovable,

If you couldn't read my mind,

If you hadn't been so trustworthy,

If you hadn't been so nice...

Maybe I could think twice...

Before falling in love with you over and over again...

[P.S: Written on 13th Nov, 2009]

A stitch in time...

Ah wonderful rain!!! Welcome to Mumbai!!!

Well, I must (and I do) admit it's a slightly delayed welcome since it started raining at least 2 weeks back. But then I'm a "little" late on most accounts. All my friends would be incongruous to this claim; they would point out that coming 30-45 minutes late when we're meeting up to have fun or going for an outing is not exactly "little", by any standard;-))

Flashback…..
I wasn't always like this. On the contrary, I was very punctual earlier - be it at school, karate classes, music lessons, junior college and even as long as the first two-and-a-half years of engineering, I was definitely "there" before time. Ironically, I hated people who came late and I loved lecturing anyone who would listen, about punctuality and the value of time.

Then, the inevitable happened. As they say, peers are highly influential. I spent most of my time in the company of one of my bestest friends, Sajjina aka pushti aka don. She loved coming late. Late everywhere, every single time. Her 32-teeth-baring smile, the non-stop banter even after arriving late and the complete lack of remorse at making us wait was, I must say, infectious:-)). How else can I explain such a transition in my case?

We used to travel by train together to and from college and one of those times, I remember confronting saji about her “punctuality” or rather trying to convince her not to come late. However, what happened that day is here for all to see ;-)) She convinced me instead that reaching college on time (that too, only for the sake of attendance) required us to give up at least 20 minutes of sleep. And, sleep seems to be at her beautiful best every early morning ;-) So, according to her, it was definitely better to sleep for 20 more minutes and reach college close to half an hour late. I was a convert very soon. Within the month, I overtook even her record of coming late;-))

Thinking back in time, I wonder how in heaven’s name I had the guts to request my professors to let me in when I came 45 minutes late (for a lecture of 1-hour duration).

That reminds me of a funny incident. Once, I was very late for college and the first lecture was to be taken by one of our best as well as strictest teachers. Somehow, I ran up the stairs and threw myself in front of the classroom door. I could feel the whole class’s eyes upon me. I put on a sweet, honey-spread tone my usually loud, harsh voice could never match and asked the teacher if I could get in. She looked at me first for a full 5 seconds (that felt like an hour) and asked why I was late. I mumbled something about the trains being delayed and promised that I’d never be late again (but then, promises are meant to be broken, right?? ;-))..) She allowed me in.

The whole class was muttering and whispering and I presumed it was about how I could be let in so late :-). Then, ma’m looked at the class and said, “Why are you all talking?” (She should have stopped here but didn’t) and she looked at me before going on to say, “Maya never comes late. This is the first time that she’s come late, that too because the train was late.” Oh God!!! The laugh riot and the din that followed this statement of hers, was so uncharacteristic of our usually well-behaved class ;-). Even I burst out laughing and I can’t forget the look on Sujatha’s face as she giggled and snorted holding her handkerchief pressed tightly over her mouth;-)) Tears were flowing freely from our eyes and our abdomens were full of pain from laughing when the bell rang signaling the end of that lecture.

This wasn’t an isolated episode. At college, whenever I came late, two of my best friends from IT, swapna and surekha glared (because I came late) and giggled (at my shamelessness) as they watched me from their classroom (which adjoined ours). What else could they do to me as I walked past their classroom to mine, bracing myself to try and somehow persuade the teacher to let me in for the lecture ;-)
Oh! I couldn’t count the number of times swap and sur (as we fondly call the two of them) tried to reason with me and later, reprimanded me. After a point, both of them lost hope; I knew that this was the point when they realized that their attempts at trying to convince me to be punctual were futile;-)

Fast-forward to the present (as there’s nothing more to add that is relevant to this post).

I’m afraid, though, that these incidents haven’t exactly taught me to behave myself and practice punctuality daily. I continue to be “slightly” late whenever and wherever. I somehow manage to board the office bus (thanks to my colleagues who board from the same stop and hold up the bus for me;-))…). I know, it’s a mistake, but then it takes time to improve;-)

I’d really like to know who said, “Old habits die hard”. It took just about 2-3 days of brainwashing on sajjina’s part to get me to come late although I’d been punctual for years together. I am not making silly insinuations nor am I holding saji responsible for my being a latecomer, although I don’t completely deny her influence in my transformation.

Sometime soon I’ll get back to being punctual and that really had better be sooner than later (for my own good). Not everyone would be as kind-hearted and as unnoticing as my wonderful professor;-))

Hmmm….Come to think of it, this should give all my readers (oh, there are people who read my blog too!!!) a fair idea of what nonsense I write, isn’t it? I started off this post welcoming the rains to Mumbai and look at what I’ve come up with;-)) I should’ve known better than to start blogging. But, if I’d known, you wouldn’t be reading this masterpiece ;-)))……..

Don't bump yourself off!!! Live your life...

Suicides. Why do people commit suicide? What can we do to at least try and minimize, and maybe even eliminate the occurrences of suicide? These are the questions that came to mind when I read a newspaper article on the recent spate of suicides in Mumbai.

It’s a topic I’ve thought about, at times. But as I considered writing about suicide, I thought I needed to be a little more objective about it and I hope this post will do justice to my thoughts and views as well as to those who are driven to commit this act.

Ever heard of the proverbs - “Think before you act” or “Look before you leap”? Well, I am sure that most people who commit suicide must not have either heard or understood the meaning behind the two.

Murder is universally accepted as a heinous crime. All of us feel that the perpetrators of such a crime must be punished in the severest possible way.
If intentionally harming/killing someone is a crime, then putting an end to one’s own life is as much of a crime; there’s no escape from this truth.

People resort to suicide as a solution to their problems, or rather the end of a life ridden with obstacles. But is it truly a solution?
NEVER. No one on this earth leads a problem-free life. If we don’t face any trials and tribulations in life, then it’d be like a sugar-cane with no juice ;-)
We all face different obstacles and challenges in different stages of our lives. Life is all about how we learn to cope with these and still live happily. What value would happiness have if we are always happy? We’d lose the excitement and enthusiasm of being happy if we’re happy all the time.

Suicide is not a solution. In fact, it raises more questions than it answers. The pain, anguish and grief that the family goes through if a member commits suicide cannot be put in words. Have the people who commit suicide ever thought what would become of their bereaved family, their dearest friends? If they do think about such things, they’d never be inclined to commit suicide. It’d only steel their resolve to do better, to excel and not run away in the face of an obstacle.

If you feel suicidal, ask yourself thus - is a failed exam, stress/prejudice against you at work, a failed affair/marriage, a spurned proposal or some such situation worth my life? If your answer is “No” to at least one of these questions, then read on, otherwise this article is not for you.

If a student fails an exam, he’d b naturally disappointed, maybe even afraid of facing his/her parents. But, trust me, any parent would rather see his child fail in every exam he/she ever wrote than the body of his precious son/daughter hanging from a piece of rope or lying in a pool of blood. The best way out is to go home, apologize to your parents and resolve to work harder next time.

Some students resort to suicide even before the exams commence, especially the Std X and Std XII students. I understand that they face extreme pressure on all fronts and even if they have supportive parents, the super-competitive scenario today does not let them breathe easy even for a moment. Relax. You have your space in this world. You may not make a million dollars a month but remember you are worth more than that to a lot of people. Stay. Live for them, if not for yourself.

Workplace politics are extremely common. Everyone wants to reach the top, and fast. What can you do? Be patient and wait. Your turn to shine will come too. There’s someone up there watching us all. He’ll definitely give you what you deserve even if your boss doesn’t.

A failed relationship drives many to depression. But there are solutions/alternatives to come out of your sorry state, only if you want to ;-). Meet up with friends or go for outings with close family members, and if you want nothing but some time alone, then treat yourself – go out shopping, listen to some good music, watch good movies; do anything but keep yourself engaged, don’t brood over the relationship/accuse yourself for being the cause behind the break-up. Get over it. God’s definitely got something better in store for you.

I had a highly prejudiced view of people who committed suicide. I thought they are heartless and selfish cowards. But, while writing this post, I have earnestly tried to look into possibilities that may drive them to it as well as suggested plausible solutions. I’ve also realized that nothing is purely white or black. There’s a grey everywhere J

Live your life to the fullest when you can! Who knows, you may never get another chance to live. So, celebrate your life!

Here’s a toast to life itself!!!