The Art of Life

The Art of Diplomacy

You need this to win people . It's all about the knack of playing well with words at the perfect time. All great leaders are great orators first. The right words have remained as the spark that ignited rebellions and also the ultimate weapon that had ended many wars! Ever since language took shape as the means of communication, humans have fallen for words, women in particular. There can be nothing as seducing as a beautiful conversation. It's about telling what people want to hear, as my wise friend always says. Arguments are fine, they help you drag people into a conversation. But you are in serious trouble if you do not know to end it well. It is said that, truth can be stated in a thousand different ways. So why not be diplomatic and choose the nicest way to say it?

The Art of Pretending

This gets you viral. It's about how you showcase things. You had one wreck of experience that day, but you post it as a "hilarious adventure".  You are boiling with nervousness inside at your interview, but you pretend to be confident. Your sweet friends have planned a surprise party for you and you pretend that it was a great surprise. You well know that it was not funny, but you just smile away.. You pretend that you don't care anymore.., you pretend that you are okay.., you pretend that you are over it.., you pretend that you are happy..,You pretend, pretend and gradually you become!  The art is about being nice, making your first impression look good. This of course is just a time being mask, but it definitely helps you to start with, to quickly settle down into newness. Once you sink in, you can always be completely yourself. 

The Art of Choosing

Life is a tricky gamer. Haven't we all had times when everything happened at once. When all doors open at the same time and we didn't know which one to go for?  Making the right choice is a challenge always. There often comes a tug of war between following passion and fulfilling commitments. Not only when things are at stake, its equally important to take the correct decisions when everything is going good. And we need not always choose the "road not taken". We don't have to play the "being unique " game, forever. What is the point in doing "out of the ordinary" if that doesn't make us feel right? At the end, the art lies in choosing what makes us happy. It's about what we prioritise in our everyday routine. It's about knowing which reins to hold on tight and which to let go... 

The art of Patience

Sometimes all you can do is just "wait". It is during this time that our brain works tremendously. We will have bunch of ideas sparkling and all of those will seem fabulous. But we are badly tied up and won't be able to execute any. That is how time tests us.  It cripples down all the excitement. The wait for a result is hard. Even harder is the wait before we begin something. And the worse is the in between halt. Something that was started, but it took a pause even before it hardly reached anywhere. This holds true, both in work life and relationships. The art of patience is about how composed we are during that wait. It lies in working out endless number of times in our mind and never getting tired of it. It's about keeping the inner fire kindled until The Day actually arrives!

The Art of Acceptance

Everything gets down to this. The ultimate key to happiness. The first step and complete process towards self love. The Art of Acceptance. Say you played all the drama nice, you worked hard and smart, made the right choices and waited patiently. But still sometimes things don't work the way you wanted. Then is when you keep calm and learn to accept. Grass may or may not be greener the other side, but you have to quit bothering about that side and accept the way it is your side. And once you enter this realm of acceptance, infinite possibilities unravel. You bestow yourself with unmatchable power and master immense peace. Like nothing can pull you down.  You become the core of happiness and radiate pure joy. And that draws the entire universe towards you!

On another "Happy Valentine's Day"

The beach is brightly lit, red carpets drawn and round tables are beautifully set. Guests breeze, cameras click, gossips and giggles fill the air. Music is enriching the space and yet it's less soothing than the sound of distant waves. Like pearls, the bridegroom gleam upon the oyster white stage. She blush, he smiles and inside both adrenaline gush. Their long planned "destination wedding" was happening that day .

She is proud, she is tensed, she has all emotions at once. " Happy Valentine's day" he whispers as they exchange their wedding rings.  The crowd cheers and the party begins....

While back at home, her crony parents anxiously wait at the door, because their daughter still did not reach from office that day.

What to say, its just another "Happy Valentine's Day" !

100 days of motherhood 🥰

Room smell milk! and eventually you will get used to live with it. I once had some spicific likings, specially with coffee. I preferred it customized for me, with that thickness of milk, not too high or low, just excatly enough strong, aquduate jaggery and with not even a thin layer of cream. But now, just anything to quench thirst and sooth hunger is fine.

Whole house gets rearranged. Your room will now be surrounded with baby towels, sheets, toddler toys, wash cloths and wipes.  The security pins, wallpapers and screen savers, display pictures ..all gets changed. People's routine alter with just this one new member at home, specially that of the mother's. Your parents blash at you if you are not on time for him and you only laugh at the turn of things. "Sucks" feel exactly like the word means. But there is no better bliss when it pacifies his shrilling cry. There is so many times of feeding and changing during a day that you forget your left and right, the time, day and date. You are grateful for online shopping now than ever. A random advice from a friend or family would work magic for you and you would then wish that you had had a word with them earlier.

Sleep when the baby sleeps they say, but sleep doesn't come that way. Your watery eyes are mistaken for sleeplessness and you are glad about that. It's an emotional roller coaster at times and trust me , its just postpartum stress. Atleast when you blame it on that and it will feel a lot better. You get loads of personal time but you better think nothing then. Day used to start and end on phone screens. But now there is no difference between day and night, one starts and merges with the next day and gets over unannounced. Some mornings break so much unaware that you forget to brush. Dresses don't fit. Either you look like father pope or the top is as if you are pierced into it. Sometimes you get frustrated,  you look at yourself in the mirror desperately wanting that "you" back. But next moment he makes sound and gestures to look at him and you just forgive yourself for thinking so stupidly.

 Initially everything does hurt, but it's worth it. Every milestone is a struggle for the baby too. But you see him doing it, every single time he pushes so much hard without giving up. That inspires you. Your tiny tot teaches you so much. They teach us to forgive and forget. One moment they cry and the very next second they forget it whole and are with all smiles. Each day is a new learning from them. You draw strenght from him, for him. At the end "Anything for him" and that's only an understatement! 

What it feels like?

What it feels like?
To love but never being able to prioritize it..
To suffer pain but not fruits of it..
To see your foe just getting away lucky..
To get mislead when you almost reached..
To be the middle sandwiched between extremes..
To quit just a step before success..
To free fall and hit the bottom..
To confront with your demons..
To slip a step and fall of the cliff ..
To find all hopes turning into deception..
To feel your heart aching at a climax..

What it feels like
To love but never being able to prioritize it, and still feel immensely loved in return.
To suffer pain but not fruits of it, but grow stronger after every hit.
To see your foe just getting away lucky, but your friends stand by you always.
To get mislead when you almost reached but your instincts kept you going straight.
To be the middle sandwiched between extremes, and a handsome hand pulled you out.
To quit just a step before success, but your boss held back your resignation.
To free fall and hit the bottom , and not shatter but bounce.
To confront with your demons and not fear but tame them
To slip a step and fall of the cliff , and stretch your wings and fly
To find all hope turning into deception, when mum woke you up from a bad dream.
To feel your heart aching at a climax and that movie has a part II !

The Stars

Most melancholy are sung under moonlit nights because the sun superior is too bright to confront. But then, what if even Mr. Moon fails?

Thats why we have these scattered bits of undying hope called " Stars". Not with scorching blaze, nor with creases and wane but a spec of atmost shine they are. Eyed by all and yet they seem so undisturbed. Clouds and comets may come and cross, but they are the ones that stay. And the best part, at a comforting distance they stay. ...

They say people die and become stars. This could be true as they are much relatable to mankind. Like every individual, each one grabs its space and dazzle distinctly bright. Group within groups they too form, as beautiful constellations our early dreamers had drawn. And as a whole, they decor the dark, just by being in there, like people are supposed to.

When all envy their beauty, I envy their timing. Its night for all of them at once. There is no "meet and move on" for them. They get to twinkle on the same time and they are always on the same sky. The same vast sky where there is no "two different roads" and hence stars don't have to take different journey during their lifetime. And I envy that. 

The Five Places in Life

I am your hometown. Your precious childhood was lived here. My memory stays untainted where ever life takes you further. And that is brushed beautifully alive each time you revisit me.  Roads and path appear shorter than it was then, buildings look small, the simple temple at street corner would have raised by then into a splendid structure. The boy at the little box shop would have grown and his shop is now a big store. You like it here with me to just be and do nothing. You know me by heart.  You don't have to be here to feel me ,to write about me. I am where you are heartiest. 

I am that town which you luckily left. A place that holds some void which you never got to understand. A silence and quietness which you did not deserve. I only made you to quit. To step back. You were too young to realize that it wasn't your fault. I gave you a world that was too narrow to live in. You just existed here and know not that there was other way out. I suffocate you with lacking. I shape you into a perfect misfit. I push you into an uneasy oddness. I set your inner demons to a level of wildness which you fail to master. Years pass slow but u easily get old here. I am where you never belong.

I am your city of study. Every people here are  at their own business, driven with passion, having a purpose. You are not on watch and imagine how much freedom that gives! You develop your own style here and learn to carry yourself well. I am unique and I gift you the same. You learn to make choices here and grow independent. May be you should enter here at right age to love me full.  I give you space. Space for your inner child and older self. I make you lone and that calms you down. Sitting here, you self reflect, you miss people and places and all  that is a beautiful feeling. I am like a beach shore, a stone bench inside a rose garden, a moon lit night on terrace. I am where you transcend.

I am your work place city. You like me for my rawness, for my tough vibe. Having filled with unceasing energy, I mold you for living, for a better life. You cry and get cured here. Every people here are at run and you too learn along. This busyness builds you, keeps you on toes. I surround you with chaos and hold your demons with my reins. You are so much familiar with the transits across me that you can travel eyes closed. People take different lessons from the same lecture I offer.  Some learn and fly away, some step back with all due respect and few get too much clinged with me and hence never leave. I hold a mixed culture and much richer history. I am where you attain glory.

 I am your final place of halt. Having lived a haste life, you sit back and relish here.  You shred all sophistication and set a simple routine here. This getting disturbed by any means, leave you stressed that whole day. It's all small deeds like watering your plants, dusting every rooms, every furniture, arranging shelf, daily market, evening walk, bed time books and Fm radio. You prefer to do things the more time taking way. I make you feel rested. Everything is at a gradual phase but with no complains about it. My this passiveness does not bore you. Time for everything is just enough here, not too less, not more either. You understand me and I respect you for that. I am where you retire.

Life and people, as intended..

Our life is beautifully weird, people we meet  are incredibly unpredictable and our relationship with them turns out to be strangely twisted. 

Some are like a "wrong forecast". We would have expected a thunder storm, but they just happened to be a lovely passing cloud. We admire them but don't keep them beside us always and nudge. We set them high and always look up to them. We are not sad that it ended, but just feel light and happy that it happened. We don't complain if we don't get to meet them again, but also we will not miss a chance to sit with them for a breezy rewind over a cup of coffee.

  

Within this "wrong forecast" type, there is one more kind. Where we might have wanted an unceasing wave, but unfortunately it turned out to be a brief cyclone. It started so well , but turned other way somewhere in between and so had to meet it's dead end. We miss those good times and do wish it had not ended the way it did. We can't continue as if the mess did not happen and  it feels awkward to start over again. We want to have them but know that we can't. And so it gets done and dusted once for all, leaving quietness around us and few unforgettable events as memories inside us to muse upon. 

Rarely there are people like "once in a lifetime bloom". We never did expect to meet them, nor there are any chances of crossing them again, but that one time remains hitched into ourselves. Something about their voice, eyes, face, features, attire or words instinctively hit on us like, forever. We will have no reason to talk about them with anybody nor they will have any significance in our life events after that single instance and yet that small memory space was meant for them in our system and so shall they remain... 

Then there is the "seasonal kind". With them you will have your season of spring, scourging summer, withering autumn and cold dormant winter. And if destiny allows, there will be spring again. They will come back into our life just as they left. And if they do so, we will receive them without questioning (at least not immediately ) why they left. All concerns, complains, curiosity and gossips that were hanging about them will be quickly wiped off and we just make way for them to sink in like before. 

And very few are our "perennial ones". We just happened to meet them once and they happened to be travelling along with us since then. We don't remember how it all started, we can't name and  categorize them into one single bond and  we just don't bother what is keeping us tight. Here we have our space and longings ,we have our expectations met, similarities cherished and differences understood.  There are few days of fights or feeling distant, but that gets waved off and  they only go cemented stronger into our life block every time after that. With them we have this unexplained comfort and unimaginable coincidences. Every relationship can be blamed on "time" or "destiny" , but for this one rather than blaming, we are immensely grateful and somehow confident of never losing it. 

Your Godmother

She comes like an approaching wave of laughter  resonating life into all your senses.

She fills like the juicy gheelicious cake to curb down those cravings of yours which you did not even knew existed.

She strikes like a sudden sky busters in your gloomy sky , just momentary but holds enough cheer to spring your mood.

She surprises like a bunch of red roses delivered at your doorstep. Out of the blue, one of those simple things that amaze your another everyday.

She pours like words into a famished poet. You can never force it. But when she comes, all you can do is let the joy flow through you and pen down before it wilts off.

She is missed like a faraway lightning and thunder. Though not near, you can still feel the breeze of a distant downpour. 

She talks your mind. Brings that astonishing feeling of being at home having nothing to mask nor to judge your own words or emotions.

Sometimes she just screams silence.. Like a pillar of poise absorbing your voiceless words. And she does that with ease, because only she has the strength to bare your stillness. 

Distorted Sonnet

To the broken hearts and empty glasses 

To half minds and ruptured adolescence 

To taunting emotions and mumbling tears

To reasons absurd and unknown 

To regrets and relief 

To frozen memories and deleted messages 

To battling guilt and confronting realities 

To past excitement and future anxiety 

To risen responsibilities and dissolved dreams

To biting arguments and slaughtering silence

To surprising success and unacceptable failures 

To the bunch of roses and bottle of rum
To bear hugs and butterfly kisses 

To those taken and all those mistaken..

Happy Valentine's Day !

Who Master's Who

I live in a very luxurious resort, with grass to play, winding stairs, sunkissed terrace, train track window view, glassy floors, spongy cushions, two big bowls, all time food, chains, ropes, yard, toys and with many more accessories of mine. Every morning, my day starts as i wake with a jerk, go scratch, lick and kiss my sleeping master a Goooood Morning! He then pulls and tucks me in, kiss me back, press my paws and brush my fur seeking all my blessings for the day. Later after a quick munch, he accompanies me down the road, breathing and coping up with me from behind. We wave past all our similar yet different pals during that stroll. The cow boy is too calm for his size while the cat fellow is too vexing. The birds chirp in no perfect tune and so I bark and help them enrich their morning raga. We reach host little tired and all ready for my Fooood! I like my bowl clean. Myself and my everyone here ensure the same. In between, my master steps out to fetch things for me and some for him and I just allow that. And when he returns, I can't help but run towards him because I well know that me would have missed me as much as I missed him. I jump and fall over him, we hug and pat and pacify each other and I ditch him till I see my crunching biscuits.  So that way all day I play, I stretch, I cuddle, I eat,... I hush, I dodge, I growl, I eat,.. I snooze, I sniff, I lick, I love, I roll and I eat .. 

Having filled with such happy routine, there do comes rare days when we are Left alone in the home. During those home alone sessions, my master pulls me close and sits in quite. He sometime weeps. I, unable to react to his out showered gratitude, just sit calm and caress his thighs. Inside those four walls, with he in my paws, I lay behind and muse ...about "Master". 

May be except for me and him, nobody here actually know "Who Master's Who".

    

Not Much Has Changed In Her...

Adventure" whim in her eye pools everyday and she does kindle all the naught out of you with just a wink, even now. She doesn't grand anything easily, be it at the verge of eternity. "Hope" looks at her with such long  longing, while "fear" awes in desperation. She keeps them both only at that "distance" till date. "Space " she needs from all and that has been so till now. "Time" yearns to stay little longer with her and she shows no sign of "Mercy". "Patience" would find his place right at the tip of her nose, ready to fall and break anytime during her deep sigh. "Arrogance" and "Pride" has overgrown her height and yet, not much has changed in her. "Smile" still sits heavenly on her lips and that same "Warmth" is somewhere latent between the gap of her lashes and lids.

Though  that "Smudge of Kajal" is now missing from her dark smoky eye line, not much has changed in her.....