Have you ever felt the smell of time?

Have you ever felt the smell of time?

Do you remember the fragrances of vine?

Past, which will never come back

But will always be there with us awake

Do you remember the smell of that afternoon

when birds used to sing and croon

Do you remember the smell of that tree

under which you sat free

And waited for your rickshaw puller

because that day school was fun 

& at the same time hectic and fuller

Slowly reaching your sweet home,

as it was too hot a day for 

rickshaw puller to pull it alone

There were other mates also sitting in it

And it smelled like a nest full of birds 

chirping gloriously in the jungle of concrete

And then suddenly comes a huge cloud 

and embraces sun like a lover hug's

and behaving himself as a smug

Abruptly ambience started smelling good

I was floating in the glory of cloud's hood

It was a mirage & was misunderstood

The sun was indeed very strong

and it can not never go wrong

Still its rays were piercing our skin 

and I was smelling of chagrin

I cant look at the sun

as if it is a part of some sin

It will go and send the moon soon

till then I may smell a bane or a boon

Moments fly like this, and days pass 

Smells become brighter like a wrasse

Fleshy lips, powerful teeth & brightly coloured

And then smell changes to colour 

Which will always be there with us 

till we are alive & jive 

it will always be our saviour

'The smell'

#Memoirs of GONE

Bloom

I know a female who shared this story with me and I expanded it as a thought, a thought to be considered as it is related to future youth. 

My Friend is married with two sons and she also 'claims' that her husband is very loving, loyal, efficient, caring, independent & trustworthy. Sometimes I feel funny when she lists so many qualities of her husband.

How can a human being have so many qualities that too when his first name is HUSBAND! :) Anyways here we are not concerned about husband. Idea is to give a thought to youth and future brigade. Let's give a name to my friend, lets say her Gauri.

Hmm! Seems I like the name.

So, one day Gauri went to a toyshop in a nearby market to buy some gift for her kid's friend. After looking at many gifts she could barely decide on a stuffed toy for the kid's friend. The lady sitting on the shop had very small eyes, reminded her instantly of Bollywood actress #Sridevi, portraying hugely big eyes in most of her work.

Somehow we remember someone similar when we look at the person but the case was different with Gauri. She starts visualizing opposite features when ever she meets some one. People with long neck reminds her of Cricket player from England #Gladstone small with a very small neck, virtually invisible. A person with short height reminds her of Bollywood legend #Amitabh bhachan. Opposites attracts, I guess!

Any ways the lady shopkeeper started packing the gift. She hairy, round and fair complexioned face. May be her parlor visit was due. 

The lady started conversation with Gargi.

"Which school does your kid go to?"

"ABC public school." Gargi replied.

We shall avoid taking school names here. Why to give them free publicity when they deserve nothing of it. 

"Oh, and the younger one?" She said with a glimpse of sadness.

Gargi wondered what’s going on in her mind. She seems to be in talking mood with her customer.

"The same one." Gargi said.

"Oh Didi, I must tell you, remove your sons from this school. It is good for nothing. This school is useless." She told Gargi as if sharing the most vulnerable information on the planet.

"My daughters are going to St. XYZ convent school. It is the best school in this locality." The lady disclosed so proudly that Gargi felt like a snail. 

While holding a nice gift pack in her hand Gargi was feeling like a brain less mother who has sent her kids to worst school of the area. But the truth was not this. 

"Like Diamond, truth has many facets."

On the very next day she went on to meet her son's 'ex tuition teacher'.

 The word 'Ex' is very commonly used and misused now. Unfortunately teacher's community is also untouched by this use. After explaining issues about her health and telling her what kind of religious activities teacher is indulging herself in, discussion centered on kid’s studies. It was a natural move but gave Gargi a brain storming session.

Teacher asked Gargi if her kids are still going to ABC public school? She advised Gargi she should put her kids to St XYZ School or PQR international school or EFG international school. Gargi told me what the teacher said to her, and I found it really strange. Teacher told my friend as her kids are boys, present day schooling will matter most to them once they are grown up. If they have a label of convent school or International school then chances are they will get very good and educated spouses.

Phew! And here comes the 'awakening'. Teacher told her that when she will go out to find a perfect match for her sons she will be welcomed warmly by her future 'Bahus’, only if they are in these respected schools. And when they will come to know that they studied in Convent or International school then their families will also give you a hearty greet. 

Oh gosh! I was very much astonished & laughed out on this kind of idea. But it gave me a shudder down my spines when I realized the gravity of this kind of thinking process. 

“We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking.”

And I strongly believe " What I think moves on to next generation, of course with few individual changes here and there."

Very Firstly the thought of gender biased schooling disturbed me here. Being a female of course I have a soft corner for girls but also I am not a commando with a woman empowerment flag in my hand. I equally love boys. :)

Issues being faced by females are more or less similar as faced by boys in our society. Yes I know except some biological processes. One, the teacher is denying the idea of girls studying in convents and International schools. Second she is depicting short sightedness of future would 'bahus' and their families. Like as if, at the time of marriage will the girl see if the boy had studied in convent or not. What about his education? Boy might be working in country's top MNC on the top management position and did his schooling from Public school or Govt school. Oh sad ! He is not eligible then. And what about his honesty, loyalty, disciplined life style and caring nature? Will these Convents and Internationals give the guarantee to imbibe these qualities in ‘boys’? 

Well, it may be this teacher's lone thought but I am sure If an aged female teacher thinks like this then definitely there must be 100 other people who are thinking like this.

Second Idea behind this thought, which I could not reciprocate in the same manner, is Gargi's sons are very young and overlooking at their ability in academics, sports, or extra curricular activities, their marriage is linked directly to their schooling years ahead. Now, that’s funny!

What if they fall in love and opt for love marriage! :)

Give kids some time to settle and let them breathe. Let them germinate at their own pace. And please keep gender differences away from basic right of education.

I think that the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms, allow them to take the subway...let them be better people, let them believe more in themselves.

Too much of water and fertilizer before time spoil the beauty of plants. Isn’t it?

But I shall tell you that Gargi is still bewildered about her kid’s schools. J

“We must teach our children to dream with their eyes open.”
Harry Edwards

हैप्पी बर्थडे आरिन !

वो झिलमिलाती हंसी

वो आँखों में शरारत

वो नन्हे हाथॊ से

मुझे छूना ,

वो छोटी छोटी उंगलीयो से

मेरे गालॊन को सहलाना

वो तेरा तेज़ी से दौड़ना

और मेरे ऊपर जम्प लगाना !

वो तेरे ढेरॊन सवाल

और उनके  मुश्किल जवाब

वो तेरा टॉयज के लिए मचलना

वो तेरा टीवी के लिए रोना

वो तेरा चॉकलेट के लिए

झीकना

वो तेरा घूमने जाने के लिए

मनाना

वो तेरा लेटेस्ट फ़िल्मी गाने गाना

वो तेरा टीवी में देखके

डांस कॉपी करना !

वो तेरा हमेशा अपनी पसंद के

कपढ़े निकाल कर पहनना

और सारी अलमारी खराब कर देना

वो तेरे मीठे बातें बनाना

और उन्हें बार बार सुनाना

वो बड़े भाई से लड़ना

और फिरउसी के साथ

खेलना !

यह सब कुछ सालों में खो जाने है,

और तुझे एक समझदार और परिपक्व

इंसान बन जाना है !

पर मैं वहीं हूँ  अभी

जब तीन साल पहले तुमने आकर

मेरा घर खुशबू से भर दिया था !

मैं हमेशा यहीं रहूंगी

इन् नन्हे कदमॊ के साथ

इन् प्यारी बातों के साथ

इन् नन्ही  उंगलियों के साथ

इन् शरारती आँखों में

इस छोटे से आलिंगन में

सदा ही !

हैप्पी बर्थडे आरिन !

First step !

I write what I feel. I write what I dream. My thoughts can't make you happy, but can tell you who am I ! Life will be an alien if it is a thoughtless, wordless process. Life comes to a halt when there are no words to share, words, which are coming from brain and going straight to heart. 

Once there was a small kid of age 4 who most of the time kept on scribbling something or the other on paper. He used to do it on daily basis. He wrote many pages in few months and neatly kept those pages in a file. One day his mother thought that I should also see what my intelligent kid is writing on paper. She went to his room secretly, as he might object to her intrusion. She opened the file and saw the papers in front of him. She was shocked and at the same time amused to see no words. He was just moving pen in different directions and thus making beautiful designs out of it. It seemed some arabic or any other language for that matter. They were beautiful words with out meaning. Mother smiled and understood that her son is nourishing his brain by scribbling these meaningless words. As he is too young to write story or fiction or poems he is just putting pen and paper together. While doing so he was satisfying himself that he can also write and when time will come he shall definitely be a writer of his kind. She was indeed supportive and at the same time proud of her son. 

The turning point here is taking initiative, no matter how small it is. Once you start riding a bicycle there is no looking back, you can never ever forget to do so. To take a First step is the new mantra, if one won't take first step how will he/she complete his journey? Keep on trying and doing something that satisfy you, there is a soul inside each one of us which needs YOU.

Please dont ignore it! Do your bits and pieces and cherish that you are alive.  

So keep writing and sharing  

My color GREEN

Today is Green day in my 5 year old son's school. I sen him in green attire with green vegetables and fruits. then I went to the local park for a walk. I felt like nature is contributing its bit today on this Green Day in his school.

That mesmerizing smell of plants and wet mud always haunt me. Since our childhood days we only knew one color green and that is of our national Tricolor Flag, though we were surrounded with green as well. As if that green color is giving a strong sense of freedom to live and breathe, the breeze was very pleasant and exuberant and I felt like picking my car and go for a long drive. 

But then thanks to globalization & hike in petrol prizes because of which I keep myself at home. Not even me, others are also avoiding long drive. I am sure my long drive will change to a long crawl in the traffic jams on Ring road or Gurgaon - Jaipur highway. Well ! this is an irony that such a beautiful weather will be wasted because of car population blast. So I better should confine to the comfort of my room. Anyways today is CW Games trail, so moving out will be a foolish thing to do on my part. But this will not dampen my spirit to feel the ecstasy of this beautiful weather, enchant and enlightenment of GREEN.

SO GO GREEN !

T.V. - A true idiot box.

I wonder how beautiful were the days when there were few very good programes on TV, by some accomplished theatre personalities. We were plainly lucky. We used to wait for Nukkad, Dekh bhai dekh, Hum log, Buniyaad, Malgudi days & unforgettable Kaliganj ki Bahu.

These are way ahead of today's chotu bahu, baire piya, balika vadhu,na aana iss des mein lado,kumkum etc. They dont even deserve a capital letter ovation in my vocabulary.These soaps has turned their attention from kitchen politics to social issues and the treatment they give to these issues screw the whole process. Don't understand what our children will learn. Now Date rape,Child marriage,dowry deaths and few more evils not worth mentioning has entered our drawing rooms.People learn HOW TO BURN A DAUGHTER IN LAW, and what all is required to burn her.

Sometimes I think about people who regularly watch these serials.WHAT KIND OF MINDSET THEY ARE DEVELOPING. These are serial killers of our senses and dignity. And they call it ENTERTAINMENT. This is not entertainment,this is endangerment of art of performing on television.I really miss the story and performance part on Television and end up watching animals & beaches. Well at least they don't bitch or politicize things.

Well,well enough has been said about this , few NGOs are protesting as well. Let's see when we can see a nice story from our very rich hindi literature or for that matter English literature as well.

LET'S HOPE POSITIVE........