Of Cabbages n Kings

On my trip to Mumbai, the solitude of the empty coupe made me seek the company of the pen and the amazing landscape. What follows next is my train of thoughts as I look out to draw inspiration. While the clear skies, the hint of green and the majestic Western Ghats have stories of their own to tell….

With the belief that tomorrow will be better… Presenting the original script (which was inspired by and penned down in the course of a small bus journey :P) in all its crudeness, yet simplicity:

Walking on your streets alone,
faint memories in my heart,
A new attempt to meet you again,
I feel, last morning was just a start!

Through dew covered panes on your window,
In the morning breeze I hear your song,
You lifted my soul like never before,
and my heart longs for yours to belong.

And then my eyes meet yours,
my silly smile, your conscious “Hi!”,
while I stammer for words to speak,
my stupid heart screams, “again!!!…WHY?”

May sweet Lord forgive me,
I forgot him for some time,
as you sat right next to me smiling,
Ohh, what a moment sublime!

Specks of sunlight dance around
as you gently ruffle your hair,
While I lose myself in your presence,
No better moment than being there.

And murky silence fills the air,
then your smile runs across as your lips part,
You look this way for a stolen moment,
and I KNOW, last morning was just a start!

People end up laughing when I, with all seriousness express my feelings for animals and how I find them a level above us! But let us not bother about them, like they say in your language - “dogs bark!, let’s ignore” (hahaha)

I am yet to find any dog alive as loyal, as homely, as friendly and as caring as Tillu. Sometimes, I find myself belittled by the degree of your love. Can a human possibly revert even a fraction of the love that you happily give, as if you were here on earth solely for that? From the most notorious puppy (who ended up tearing the seat of my Activa to shreds), you’ve grown into the most sober, silent,most loving being around me, and I love you!

From following my mother to the shops (to ensure that she is never alone) , running after my bike for kilometers (till I noticed you in the mirror) , digging up holes in our garden to make it comfy for you to sleep in the winters (for which you got scolded, more than me - for once!!! You being the apple of my mother’s eye ) to sitting right next to me and listening to me blabber when I am in emotional turmoil (and I KNOW, that you understand every word of what I say), You have always shown me how selfless love actually is and how beautiful you make it. You’ve been on the streets, but as if you sense whenever I am in need and you leap over walls to be there. Words can never express my love and gratitude, still this is an attempt.

This year you turn 6, and our love and camaraderie thickens each day!

I’ll be there when you need me.

Cheers to the friendship,that I’m proudest about! And thank you God for giving me Tillu.

At the Crossword bookstore, I stumbled upon a telescope perched elegantly on its black frame. With a 6 inch dia. reflector and a 4 lens eyepiece, it was indeed a thing of beauty! But more than anything, it reminded me of my childhood fantasy of growing up to be an astronomer and brought back some really special memories.

The night sky and the stars have always fascinated me and I remember spending “quality time” alone staring at the sky even as a kid. We had a generation old collection of the Popular Science Encyclopedia at our place and it was in one of those books that I read an article on building telescopes. I was in standard 8 back then and it caught my fantasy right away. Soon enough I wanted to build one for myself (the ones for sale were way too expensive). The next few weeks were spent doing extensive “research” reading books in the school library and making notes!!!! A  new notebook (titled “Top Secret”) was used to jot down notes about building telescopes :-P (Incidentally,I still have it in my possession… :D).The internet back then was dial up phone connection, we did not have it; Google was unheard of, so finding out things wasn’t as easy as it is today. But the idea of having my own telescope to look at stars from my roof was just too appealing to give up on.

After weeks of hard work I finalized my design and made a list of things that I would require. I showed my father the notes that I had prepared and told him about my desire and intentions, and he was as supportive as always. When I look back at those days now, my heart is filled with immense gratitude for my parents. How I, with my father explored the narrow streets of Aminabad and Kaiserbagh (on the beloved LML Vespa) to look for the right reflectors, PVC pipes of the diameter I wanted and the Newtonian eyepiece (which I could never find!!)… A lot of hard work went in,but not all attempts in life are successful :-( .  Unfortunately we could never assemble the whole thing together (for the lack of eyepiece and the concave mirror of desired focal length). The PVC pipe still lies in our storeroom (with the markings that I made for the eyepiece and stand locations), telling a saga of its own !

Not everything we attempt gives us the reward the way we expect, but all attempts are rewarded in a way that suits us best. When I look back now there are so many fond memories to cherish. I got my reward in today’s moments when I transformed back to standard 8 and relived that month of September 2001 in a minute’s time. I called my father after that and it felt really good to hear his voice in the backdrop of the memory of this tale and a deluge of nostalgia… I guess, some memories are too special!

While I type this, my download window shows its current status as - “the star map - 68% completed”. It will be fun catching up with the stars and gazing at Andromeda, Orion and spotting the Betelguese!!!! All this, driven by today’s events and the memories from a decade back! Eventful night ahead. :-P

Thank you Crossword!! :-)

PS: And someday I am indeed going to build one for myself!

It’s been some time since my last post…. Well, I was occupied with a few things (do I feel important making such statements??… a definite YES :P)…

Anyway, it turns out my culinary skills seem to be fine tuning with the taste of the world. My recent exploits in the department didn’t turn out to be catastrophic (humility…humility…humility :P). Today’s Mutter-Paneer (in the pic) turns out to be my best by far… To add to the party, the mushroom soup wasn’t too bad either! Happy moments for now… and always!

Penned down a few lines to celebrate the mood:

” There’s Something to cheer about, some success to celebrate…

Life is so much fun my friend, If you are ready for a little wait!

Small peaks to conquer daily, deep abysses to pass…

Let’s live in the moment for now, and tomorrow is ours!!!!! “

SO…. When are you coming over?

My recent attempts of getting up early to go jogging seem to be bearing some results finally! Not physically of course (my waist size is still 34) but more in a contemplative sense. Yesterday’s sunrise at Chandni Chowk (captured above) made me take the risk of missing my office bus to spend an extra 5 minutes jotting down a few lines…

Far as I see, I feel your presence,
You are the air,the water, fire,earth and heaven.
You are the doubt, the answer, the poem, the prose,
You are the starlight, the darkness when my eyes close.
You are the truth, the false, the fame, the farce,
You are the anger,the calm, the hatred, love in my heart.

Where do I begin? Where do I end?
Why am I here? What further pends?
Show me yourself, take me to your love,
I dont want the heaven,hell, i dont need the earth!
Take me by my hand and teach me what’s true,
because You are all that I am and I’m a little part of You.

PS: For the record, I managed to catch the bus as well.