Soft Smiles

Warm golden sunlight,
Strong brewed malt
Sound of silence
And soft smiles

Mild summer breeze
Salty air through hair
Sea engulfing sun
And soft smiles

An arm around her
Her head on his shoulder
She leans in closer,
And soft smiles

Perfect conversations
In wordless silence
In slowing time
And soft smiles

Pangs

And the pictures lifeless,

The smile distant

The frozen moment lost

All in the bygone past

Still, the feelings strong,

Where I belong

Beckons with a pang

As my heart dolefully sang

The Journey

As I walk this path alone,
Feel very weary and worn,
I look ahead, I look behind
And wonder where you I would find
I walk on yet, all alone
And signs from you, find yet none!
Everyday I cry a little
And day by day, we die a little!

Illusions

Beckoned me with it's beauty
Beauty all promising, seemed everlasting
It's scent too, all pervading
The rose seemed a gift from heaven

Too good to be true, it seemed faultless,
Blinded was I to even see the thorn
Seemed so blurred then, now so vivid
Seemed so harmless, now so hurting

Reached out to it in all earnest
Numbness all gone right after the prick
Stunned and hurt, so unexpected
From a beauty so pure.

Trust lost I cling on to faith
Yearn I to feel the rose again
For it is but my gift, my beauty
And it beckons still...

It's beauty worth more than the hurt
It's very presence, so comforting..
But once bitten and twice shy,
To reach out again, I can only try!

The Phoenix

When twilight turns to night,
Pitch darkness all around in sight.
When the darkness fills the home,
the mind and also the soul
When the soul begins to weep
And knows not what to seek
When melancholy is more than a mere mood
Feelings ablaze, those really crude
and when this fire begins to burn,
encompassing mind, body and soul - in turn
and when the soul sheds its final tear
Then the ashes rid it of its every fear, because
When you see the remains of ash
A speck of flame steadily begins to lash
A flame that brings dawn to the vicinity
Yes, the very same of rebirth and purity!

B&W

There is something very comforting about the music from the black and white era. It is 1 AM and I feel less tormented than I have been in the last few nights, I seem to have found my antidote for today! I marvel the lyrics that are so meaningful are not just written to rhyme. I applaud the musicians for these evergreen tunes. I respect the singers, who sang seamlessly in continuous recording sessions, with no modern technological aids. I am writing particularly about Kannada music, because that I what I am listening to right now, but this would extend to any other language as well, I am sure.

As I write this, and listen to these songs, I also wonder how many Kannadigas of my age group themselves have heard lest enjoy these songs. I am no expert, I do not know the movie names or further details about many of the songs. But, I have grown up listening to them and certainly love and appreciate them. It is like most of the people I know who have grown up listening to old Hindi songs, except it was Kannada in my case. It would be nice to see comments on this post if you are a Kannadiga and you grew up listening to these songs as well :)

Think before you Link

Information spreads like wildfire. Irrespective of whether it is right or wrong or verified or not, people just post, email, text anything they read. This actually goes a long way back. When in India too, I would invariably receive 1 text at least everyday asking to contact some number if our blood group was so&so type and also more importantly to forward the message to help save a poor life. I do not even know if anyone, even ones who probably belonged to the required blood group, tried calling those numbers. I tried calling those numbers every time, just to check the authenticity and not a single time did the number turn out to be valid. INVALID every SINGLE time!!!

What really cracked me up was this:

“This October has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays all in one month. It happens only once in 823 years.”

That October, scores of people on my Facebook shared this status message, and not once without even thinking about i for a minute. Instead of getting to the nitty-gritty details, I would say read this blog ashe has already expressed it amazingly well:

http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/this-october-has-5-fridays-5-saturdays-and-5-sundays-all-in-one-month-it-happens-only-once-in-823-years/

These are instances that we just pass on because we think it is interesting and cool and like in the SMS case, we care about someone else and although these bits of information are wrong, they do not particularly harm anyone.

But last night, I saw quite a few status messages about a BBC NEWSFLASH, saying this:

BBC FLASHNEWS: Japan government confirms radiation leak at Fukushima nuclear plants. Asia countries should take necessary precautions. If rain comes, remain indoors first 24hrs. Close doors & windows. Swab neclskin with betadine where thyroid area is, radiation hits thyroid first. Take extra precautions. Radiation may hit Phil at starting 4pm today. Pls send to your loved ones.

Well now, this is serious. This is scary. The world, especially Japan is already in a state of Panic. And people tend to believe it. People tend to pass this information on. But what they forget to do is think about what they are reading, analyse it, check its authenticity. This hoax message passing around I am sure caused a lot of unwarranted panic amongst a lot of people. Firstly, it is very irresponsible of people adding to the existing panic by generating such false news. And secondly, it is again irresponsible to share it and spread the Panic. The Government of Phillipines had to release an official notice to calm the people. This is a whole lot of unnecessary business that happened and just got me ranting off and leaving with a hopeful note that people will verify facts before passing them on in the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12745128

Writing Poetry

As I sat at our usual lab table, I saw a black Parker Pen lying at the desk. I have always enjoyed writing writing with Parker Pens; the sheer smoothness they provide is magical. But every Parker Pen I ever bought would end up getting stolen or I would lose it! So, after 5 or so trials, I decided I was definitely jinxed and I stopped buying Parkers. And today, after so many years I see a Parker and I could not resist to use it and write my name. Well, I have obsession to write my name many times. I write it in many fonts, languages...and alright, let me not digress.

So i open the cap of the pen, and this one turns out to be an Ink Pen!! Now, again, I have not written with an Ink Pen since my 10th standard preparatory exams. You see, I was told by everyone that it is better to write board exams with Ball Point Pens, because, God Forbid, what if the evaluator spilled coffee or juice or water on your answer sheet! Your fate is doomed!! Your entire life depends on your board results, after all!

So it so happens, I resist change. I had never used ball point pens much and I was stubborn to not use them. But it also happens that I worry. So I worried that I might be the one singled out unlucky girl whose exam papers might have coffee spilled on it. And yes, I worry like that. But again, I am not the one who makes life altering changes such as these without weighing her options well. So, yes, I actually spilled coffee and water on some of my old notes to see how badly they were distorted. Now, I would have settled for an Ink Pen, had the case been that I could even partially read what was written. But anyways, finally, the Ball Point Pen won and I haven't really written with Ink Pens since then.

And so, today, it was sheer joy to write with a Black Inked Parker Pen, a triple treat. And so, just writing my name, felt like writing poetry!

Tatva

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin!

Anonymous

Found these lines saved in some document in my hard drive. Blogging it for posterity.

An Equal Music

But never either found another

To free the hollow heart from painting -

They stood aloof, the scars remaining

Like cliffs which had been rent asunder;

A dreary sea now flows between; -

But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder,

Shall wholly do away, I ween,

The marks of that which once hath been.

Excerpt from An Equal Music

Say, ‘This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me alone.’ That which I created, I can demolish; that which is created by someone else, I shall never be able to destroy. Therefore, stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creators of your own destiny. All the strength and succour you want is within ourselves.

It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. First, believe in this world -- that there is meaning behind everything. Everything in the world is good, is holy and beautiful. If you see something evil, think that you are not understanding it in the right light. throw the burden on yourselves!

Civilizations have arisen in other parts of the world. In ancient and modern times, wonderful ideas have been carried forward from one race to another...But mark you, my friends, it has been always with the blast of war trumpets and the march of embattled cohorts. Each idea had to be soaked in a deluge of blood..... Each word of power had to be followed by the groans of millions, by the wails of orphans, by the tears of widows. This, many other nations have taught; but India for thousands of years peacefully existed. Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist... Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it. We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is on our head, and therefore we live....!"

- Swami Vivekananda

February Madham

Some might say it is the month of February. Some might say Madhavan. Others might even say SPB Charan or Vairamuthu. Most might say ARR. I cannot pick on one reason why this romantic song, fresh since the year 2000, has suddenly taken over my Itunes again, making me waltz to this tune. Or even try to think why I was up all night just listening to it over and over again. Kadhal is playing Sadugudu with me surely I say!

Photo:http://newtamilmoviedownload.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html