Perspectives and perceptions

Indian Weddings and ceremonies are known for their traditional and elongated processes.... and yet there are people (and families) who manage to combine ingenuity and tradition together! I'm going to be attending a wedding in Calcutta, and it's a wedding of my friend's brother. All of us were just watching the engagement video and then there is this ceremony when all the women of the house are supposed to perform an aarti of the bride-to-be and apply a small tikka on her forehead and feed her something sweet. Considering the number of women, the amount of sweet that she has to consume is huge! This family found a unique way, that was non-messy, already small in proportion and sweet, guess what?? GEMS! It may sound like that's silly and all, but I think it makes perfect sense! :) Reminds me of the changes that we all seem to be undergoing. Everywhere we see, brands are changing, CEAT, Vodafone, and so many other companies are hell-bent upon increasing their latest brand ...

For a long time I've been thinking, there are so many little things that we notice each day. I'm going to start writing them down as each day goes by... Day 1 (Thursday) I'm on my way back from a meeting at Malad, and in the train, on one of the stations, a transgender walked in. Most of the times they're loud, garish and overtly obvious. She was different. I would call her 'she' because she was one. Graceful, beautiful and very feminine. Clad in a short kurta with pants and a duppatta, she was dressed like any tall big woman would be. Of course she didn't hold herself in the way women would, she was comfortable the way she was. I think that's what matters. Her eyes were the most striking feature of all, sharp, deep black, kind, tender and smiling. When a fellow passenger was attempting to get in, she was looking at her just like we would and she mildly reproached her. I think, with that small an interaction, not that I spoke to her, I was merely obser...

One of the most talked about movies, one that I saw a month later than most... It's a movie, that introduces a sensitive issue to all, one for which there is no awareness, that of dyslexia. A simple story line, revolving around the life of a 9 year old boy, a character beautifully essayed by Darsheel, who has a learning disability that no one diagnoses. He's tormented and hurt by friends, school teachers and most of all by his own father. His mother and brother, try to support him, but without knowledge of his problem, they too are unable to understand him. Shunned into a boarding school, where he faces the same opprobrium, he is lost, unhappy and terribly hurt, when he meets his temporary art teacher, played by aamir khan, who diagnoses his problem and strives to help him. Through creative methods, songs, and most importantly by allowing him to express himself through his wonderful drawings, darshan soon transforms into a boy who's comfortable with himself. Knowing what he...

There's nothing so comforting as the sound of the train wheels gliding on its rails, The pace, the slight noisy chugging, not of the steam engines but of the engine running on electricity, The changing landscaprs, trees interspersed with habitation, slum dwellers having houses stacked up on one another, garbade dumps and huge skyscrapers striving to live up to their name, The movement of compartments which have a slight sway, speeding across their rails, held together by the energy that binds us together, There's group, that was featured in the news recently, IRFCA , Indian Railways Fan Club. This group is very knowledgable about their passion for the love of the Indian Railways, and are present at most unusual sightings for engines, locals, long distance trains, etc. What is it about the railways that so many people literally 23 million each day use this mode of transport to commute to work, schools, colleges amongst most purposes. Apart from being the cheapest, quickest, and...

Since childhood, I've heard my mother say this to me very often, Don't ask me questions, Do it because I say so! It was my father who always told me, Keep asking questions till you're satisfied with the answer. Obviously referring to being satisfied as in being satisfied that your curiousity is justified. This being the base, I set off on my journey... Somewhere I lost track and then now have taken up that path again. Intelligence is not only about giving the right answers, it's about asking the right questions too. We tend to overlook this aspect almost completely, until realisation dawns upon us. Why don't people ask questions then? Does it mean that they're not curious about anything? Does it reflect their attitudes towards things? Does it indicate their insecurity? Does it show their inability to handle the responses? All this and more... I think to begin asking questions, the primary base is that, you don't accept what's in front of you without thin...

My friend said, it doesn't make sense to write and "crib" about the problems that festivals create without offering solutions in return. Justified. So here goes, Festivals in Bombay are definitely many, being a secular city we're bound to celebrate all the festivals associated with the various religions in our city, we'll have Ganesh Utsav, Diwali, Durga Puja, Id, Christmas, and so on... Political parties aiming to be projected as the party for everyone will support these festivals to gain a double whammy, political mileage and votes. People will accept their support because they too have a justifiable desire to celebrate! How do we, ensure that amidst this chaos, we prevent damage to our environment? Let's start with the resources used to erect these festivals, Mandals are created, Idols are sculpted, Flower Garlands are utilised, Colours (or rang /gulal), Crackers, Diyas, Lanterns and now so often used the electric versions of lights and the likes. What does...

have you ever had a pet? I do... I lost my dog today in an accident in the elevator, by the time we rescued her, she had already died... it made me stop and think, about the multitude of things that we do, and the pace at which we work. made me realise the importance of slowing down the pace, because these moments that we live are precious. a beautiful dog she was.. when she was a pup, we'd brought her home from the streets, she was a tiny little thing, only 6 inches long and could barely walk straight.. her eyes hadn't opened yet, obviously the gardener had snatched her away from her mother while she was still weening. when she grew, she loved to sit at our window sill and bark away to glory.. thinking about it, makes me smile now... she was so tiny, she would slip under my divan which was barely 6 inches high, and she'd curl up there and sleep.. the first time she did that, we had no idea where she was, and it was crazy trying to search for her, the small thing that she w...

the ups and downs, the lull after the storm, the wave tha recalcitrates, only to unleash again... the building up tension, and the mounting desire, the subsided understanding, the silent wait... the knowing of the present, the acceptance of the time, the wait to steer the sail, in sight of the wind's tail.. each moment, each day, brings back every second, all those times that went by, and all the times that we will...

Much has been said about the necessity to ban smoking been shown onscreen, the directors are asking for creative liberty and the censor is citing social responsibility as their flag! While i watched LCMD, there was a scene where Rani is having a paan and she spits on the edge of the pond (there are these steps leading to Ganga) and that struck me, was that really necessary? I mean, wouldn't it have been also better to show Konkana chiding or stoping Rani from doing that? Or rather, show another character doing it and have both of them, chastise, get disgusted and ridicule that person! I'm just amazed that people just have no respect for their surroundings, every day goes by and women continue to throw plastic bags of nirmalya into the mahim creek, and every day, it's a war with them... Trying to explain to them to throw it in their backyards, to dispose it off in their gardens instead of the creeks! There is blatant political powerplay involved in the arrangement of festiva...

Just yesterday, on my way back from a day trip to a resort, I was playing Antakshari with my mum and i realised that i was still singing the same songs that i sung when i played with her years ago! Is it because i haven't played antakshari lately that i'm unable to sing any of the new songs, or that the songs aren't singable in the first place! It was agonizing to try and recall songs from new movies, music albums that would match my requirements and i was literally able to only remember "Barso Re" from Guru, and "Piyu Bolo" from Parineeta and "Ankhon ke Sagar" by Fuzon! All the other songs were from DDLJ, and assorted movies way back! This complete lack of singability of new songs is quite unnerving, maybe i should see one of these Antakshari programs to see what they are singing, :) hehe.. i'm sure they too must be stuck on the oldies... They have a beautiful charm to their songs, it's foolish to even compare, "Haal kaisa hai jan...

lying in bed thinking of you, silence came up and said "hello, I want peace", said he, and asked me if that's who he could be, I said nothing, just gave him a smile, acknowledging his desire as mine, the power to be, to live, to stay, to love while doing just that; to be, he spent a while and thought aloud, "why isn't there an awkward sound, when does someone feel uneasy, all this while I thought the reason was me, but now I see that it isn't true, for you are who you choose to be, I ain't pushing anyone around, so why should I worry about the crowd?" "merci", said he as he got around, lifted his chin and made no sound, out of his past, he arose, and embraced the now for all it was, and softly hummed the sounds of silence...

The four walls that create a space, engulfing, embracing the souls within, the emotion it takes to personalize, to create lovingly, aesthetically with grace, it is but a reflection of the deepest desires, of the personalities of the lives living within, the colours, textures, joy all emerging because of one singular belief; to live; to be, the light that plays with the cloths, the water that sparkles on the contours, the reflections that just tease you, the echos that the walls throw at you, a game, a spirit, a life, a mood, that space does it all, a personification, a manifestation, it's an expression of your life!

The beauty of a language or of an art or the sounds of voices is fully appreciated and known only by those who know its purpose, to express the fullest possible extent of all emotion. Right from birth, we speak the same language, slowly we learn more expressions, more clarity in terms of our thoughts and their usages. What hits us then is the realization when it comes to actual application of our learnings! Learning new words everyday and using them for the purpose of explaining your thoughts in fuller detail is just another high! When I mean simply clear, flowing, I can now call it lucid! When I mean extremely painful, I can call it excruciating! and when I reach a point, I needn't explain, I can hear the sound of silence which speaks a thousand words... The glances that convey much, more than expressions sometimes, those thoughts which are reflected on the face as though they're etched or carved for this particular purpose... The experiences that are the stimuli for the expre...

thoughts, emotions, expressions, ideas, concepts, questions, answers, undulations, waves, surges, gushes, ravines, flow, smooth, clear, perennial, time, timelessness, constant, captivated, united, one, complete, full, whole, me. the other side, dreary, facades, disparities, voids, pretenses, shuffling gaze, uncertainty, unsure, unhappy, fake, altruistic, grey, searching, lost, not wants but have to's...

To feel what you feel, and to be able to express what you feel, the way you are feeling it, is a joy that I have just discovered... Conversations have taken a different meaning altogether now, simply because each word is so accentuated because of the meaning and depth behind it. Communication where we learn that the best is to say something and be understood exactly in those terms knowing why you've used those terms is what should be the best scenario but it doesn't happen they say, it's impractical, like perfect competition! :) I know it isn't. There are so many perspectives, thoughts, ideas, emotions and passions, that more often than not, we're dwindling about what to do, until we begin to feel everything entirely, we accept all emotions, we open our eyes to set our eyes beyond anything we've ever imagined possible, and suddenly new vistas open up, things become so much more lucid, confidence mounts, and our body copes, pushing ourselves to strive to achieve,...

A feeling of bliss evokes inside me, a sort of shifting, restless, nervous energy, much like a bird who flaps its wings, with a pounding heart in it to comfort... all this to prepare for a new flight, reborn and free from doubt and fear, exciting prospects all around, moving so fast it's all a blur, for once when you are in the air, it's you in your actual elements, and then all you've got to take you through, is the knowledge that you are finally you...

For the past 2 months, I've been religiously going for my dance classes twice a week and I've never felt any better than this, and to what can i attribute this feeling to? Is is the effort that makes me dance better, is it my passion that culminates into a graceful art form or is it just an expression of my emotions through my body? Most of the times, when i'm sitting still i begin to rhythmically move my feet in tandem with the beats and not surprisingly after weeks of training they're all in sync! the beauty of dance is in fact in the way it makes you feel, once you get past the preliminary stage where you're forever staring at either your or your instructor's feet and you begin to feel the flow of your body like that of a river flowing inside you, all those beats then sound like rhythms and all those words become a symphony...

My first poem! (a cross-post from my older blog) Scrounging for topics high and low, At times I sit and stare out of my window, The nature is at its beautiful best, Making life like one big fest, A thousand thoughts flood my mind, So much so I become momentarily blind, It is amidst this chaos that I hear a calling, A calling from an inner voice who wants some reckoning, ‘I’ve been mute for far too long’ she says, It’s time for my constitutional right to be let, So I decided hearing my inner self wouldn’t be that bad, After all I can stand the pain even if it is just a tad, Although she started with stories happy and gay, I realized that the path is becoming grey, The world isn’t just black and white you know, Even through my gladness I could feel the sorrow blow, I don’t know when and I don’t know why, Staring at the clear blue sky, Listening to my inner voice’s cry, Made my eyes moisten and glow, For there was a tear glistening to show….