Spring came knocking
Bringing orange mornings
Petals dipped in dew drops
All the birds and the bees,
Deceptions of a beautiful world
No birdsong,
No forecasts of raining joy
With blissful westward winds
Nothing could draw this fallen Angel out
Her clipped wings crushed by the strength of her fingers
She sat weeping to her favourite rock
Making one last coffee for the visitor,
One last comfort
All promises broken
Sold by God in exchange for a bright red convertible
Worse than hell
Stuck on a thriving earth
Seeking sympathy from people
In a world defined by apathy
He holds her hand while she cries
And promises her a better world
And as the world shuts her out
And life moves away
The Devil holds her tight,
And promises never to let go
And her crying turns to wailing
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Sizzler – 12th October 2010
Me and my friend have been sitting in this café tucked into a corner of nowhere somewhere in this city that for all practical reasons, I refuse to name. This is probably the last thing we’re going to eat here, the unwelcome end to a rather uneventful trip nonetheless.
After a while, you figure out that every major city in India offers exactly the same things. A mall, KFC, McDonalds, Barrista, Café coffee day, Pizza hut, that just being the food, coupled with shopping malls that make you go ”Oh that’s nice” and then walk in the opposite direction when you see the price tag, and not to forget all the superficial people…
Pack all of this together and you get a major metropolitan city in India.
So we thought, let us do what we actually came here to do, which is what we’ve been doing for the past two days, which is what most college students do, when you let them loose in the midst of a city like this. We eat.
And so it arrived, our chocolate brownie fudge something sizzler.
You felt like you were crammed into a bakery and denied departure.
Heads turned and mouths watered and you felt like it was judgment day and you had passed with flying colours.
Chocolate sauce dripped over a perfect piece of chocolate brownie that was drowned in sizzling hot chocolate. It was an explosion of chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top that gave the unique sensation of having something that is simultaneously both hot and cold.
Alluring to all five senses, the mixture of watching it arrive on that perfect wooden base, with the sound of it sizzling in hot chocolate to the hot cooked chocolate smell, with the taste of it melting in your mouth and the feeling of a burning tongue subdued by the refreshing cold of vanilla ice cream is TO-DIE-FOR..
And there you sat, feeling fat but not caring, slightly sleepy and you begin to hear “Hello…is there anybody out there…………..IIIII have become…….comfortably numb…” and you think right! So this is what the guy was actually talking about.
After a while, you figure out that every major city in India offers exactly the same things. A mall, KFC, McDonalds, Barrista, Café coffee day, Pizza hut, that just being the food, coupled with shopping malls that make you go ”Oh that’s nice” and then walk in the opposite direction when you see the price tag, and not to forget all the superficial people…
Pack all of this together and you get a major metropolitan city in India.
So we thought, let us do what we actually came here to do, which is what we’ve been doing for the past two days, which is what most college students do, when you let them loose in the midst of a city like this. We eat.
And so it arrived, our chocolate brownie fudge something sizzler.
You felt like you were crammed into a bakery and denied departure.
Heads turned and mouths watered and you felt like it was judgment day and you had passed with flying colours.
Chocolate sauce dripped over a perfect piece of chocolate brownie that was drowned in sizzling hot chocolate. It was an explosion of chocolate with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top that gave the unique sensation of having something that is simultaneously both hot and cold.
Alluring to all five senses, the mixture of watching it arrive on that perfect wooden base, with the sound of it sizzling in hot chocolate to the hot cooked chocolate smell, with the taste of it melting in your mouth and the feeling of a burning tongue subdued by the refreshing cold of vanilla ice cream is TO-DIE-FOR..
And there you sat, feeling fat but not caring, slightly sleepy and you begin to hear “Hello…is there anybody out there…………..IIIII have become…….comfortably numb…” and you think right! So this is what the guy was actually talking about.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Food as only Mummy could cook it – 30th July 2010
As she poured the chocolate cake mix into the round non stick dish, we watched in amazement. In less than an hour, you could smell the rich chocolate saturating the air so that you breathed delicious hot cake. The oven would open, the cake would come out, a little puffed up but perfect nonetheless. And we stared unblinking as she stuck a fork in it to make sure that it was cooked well. And Aley would run, pick up the phone and call her friends to inform them about the latest developments in the event of the day. This would be followed by the quick arrival of a bunch of 9th grade boys, shy at first, with alarmingly widening eyes as they gazed upon the treasure with watering mouths. She must’ve done this a hundred times in the course of our lives so far.
The baked Italian chicken filled with fresh spinach mixed with a number of cheeses came out of the oven. The cheese shamelessly overflowed from the sides of the oblong chicken pieces .The best part was when you poured the faint orange sauce over the pieces of chicken. She would watch as we sliced our forks through the chicken and placed the piece dipped in sauce in our mouths and an expression of nirvana crossed our faces. Except papa who was impossible to read only if only about his wife’s food. But you could tell from the speed with which he ate and his sniffing nose that he enjoyed it greatly.
And the Biriyani.....I think maybe I should stop. Strange as it seems, I feel my laptop growing jealous of its natural inanimateness and therefore inability to eat.
Some things and some people are too personal to write about. Words seem rather inefficient. They really fall short. So I wrote about food instead and I really do love food.
The baked Italian chicken filled with fresh spinach mixed with a number of cheeses came out of the oven. The cheese shamelessly overflowed from the sides of the oblong chicken pieces .The best part was when you poured the faint orange sauce over the pieces of chicken. She would watch as we sliced our forks through the chicken and placed the piece dipped in sauce in our mouths and an expression of nirvana crossed our faces. Except papa who was impossible to read only if only about his wife’s food. But you could tell from the speed with which he ate and his sniffing nose that he enjoyed it greatly.
And the Biriyani.....I think maybe I should stop. Strange as it seems, I feel my laptop growing jealous of its natural inanimateness and therefore inability to eat.
Some things and some people are too personal to write about. Words seem rather inefficient. They really fall short. So I wrote about food instead and I really do love food.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Vengeance - 25th June 2010
The act filled her with a deep sense of both satisfaction and cold justice. She felt particularly proud of herself seeing how she was the one to serve this justice. The blood on her arm only amused her slightly. It reminded her of her achievement. The quick, skilled move of a practiced killer. He had got her the last time but defeat at the hands of an enemy only drove her to revenge. And boy was it sweet.
She was watching him for some time now, observing how his movements displayed to the untrained eye, a complete lack of interest in her. But having been struck before, she knew he had an unquenched thirst for her blood. Having tasted it once, he longed for it even more. He ran circles around her, whispering things meant to confuse her. But this time she was ready. She had learnt her lesson the hard way. She knew that all it took was a single moment of distraction, a single mistake and he would win again. So she waited patiently as he moved closer, his whisper louder, perfectly in tune to the sound of her growing heartbeat. He touched her skin, went for her blood and she killed the mosquito.
She was watching him for some time now, observing how his movements displayed to the untrained eye, a complete lack of interest in her. But having been struck before, she knew he had an unquenched thirst for her blood. Having tasted it once, he longed for it even more. He ran circles around her, whispering things meant to confuse her. But this time she was ready. She had learnt her lesson the hard way. She knew that all it took was a single moment of distraction, a single mistake and he would win again. So she waited patiently as he moved closer, his whisper louder, perfectly in tune to the sound of her growing heartbeat. He touched her skin, went for her blood and she killed the mosquito.
Kerala and the Rain - 19th June 2010
I woke up today to the strong smell of rain outside and for a second I thought I was home, where I come from that is. I don’t have particularly fond memories of Kerala, at least not of the people there. My good memories of ‘Gods own land’ consists of exactly that, the land. Staring out of the window as we traveled back and forth from our house in Pala, it often occurred to me that the place that I so detested, the place where I spent two and a half months of my summer vacations every year simply because I was forced to by my parents and not by choice, it often occurred to me that the place was actually beautiful.
And then I felt at home. I felt strangely honoured to come from a place that was as green and as peaceful, if you were in the right place in Kerala that is. I mean, take a ride through Kottayam town and you could smell the combination of vehicle and industrial pollution in the air. A smell so strong, you risked choking to death or at least you are haunted for a second by that ridiculous fear that sometime in the future you would be told in a doctor’s office that you shockingly have lung cancer and two months left to live and at that moment sitting there, you think that you will think back to the day you rode through Kottayam town in an ambassador car, eating up the pollution in its fullest. But this thought is quickly brushed from your mind. Point being, you find yourself in the right place in Kerala and thoughts of tiny paradise fill you up like coconut water and you start thinking romantic thoughts about a nadan chekan that does not exist… or maybe he does, but then that’s another story.
The rain, nothing soaked through me as much as the rain in Kerala. The smell of wet grass and mud, the sound of the thunder, the cool nights, waking up after an endless night of rain to a faint morning that refused to let the sun shine. The rain in Kuwait where I spent the rest of the year, in our 3 room apartment was just not the same. It felt more like a shower switched on. But this rain felt almost mystical. Every time it rained in Kerala, it was as if it was a message from someone else, a sign of good hope. Maybe it was just a little way of feeling special, but I felt connected to another soul who stared out of his or her window at that exact moment, thinking exactly the same thoughts.
The rain in Kerala had the most hypnotizing effect on me and my sisters. I could stare for ages at it pouring outside our window. Just after completing another session of complaining to our mother of how much we hated it here, it would rain, and then we would be quite…
And then I felt at home. I felt strangely honoured to come from a place that was as green and as peaceful, if you were in the right place in Kerala that is. I mean, take a ride through Kottayam town and you could smell the combination of vehicle and industrial pollution in the air. A smell so strong, you risked choking to death or at least you are haunted for a second by that ridiculous fear that sometime in the future you would be told in a doctor’s office that you shockingly have lung cancer and two months left to live and at that moment sitting there, you think that you will think back to the day you rode through Kottayam town in an ambassador car, eating up the pollution in its fullest. But this thought is quickly brushed from your mind. Point being, you find yourself in the right place in Kerala and thoughts of tiny paradise fill you up like coconut water and you start thinking romantic thoughts about a nadan chekan that does not exist… or maybe he does, but then that’s another story.
The rain, nothing soaked through me as much as the rain in Kerala. The smell of wet grass and mud, the sound of the thunder, the cool nights, waking up after an endless night of rain to a faint morning that refused to let the sun shine. The rain in Kuwait where I spent the rest of the year, in our 3 room apartment was just not the same. It felt more like a shower switched on. But this rain felt almost mystical. Every time it rained in Kerala, it was as if it was a message from someone else, a sign of good hope. Maybe it was just a little way of feeling special, but I felt connected to another soul who stared out of his or her window at that exact moment, thinking exactly the same thoughts.
The rain in Kerala had the most hypnotizing effect on me and my sisters. I could stare for ages at it pouring outside our window. Just after completing another session of complaining to our mother of how much we hated it here, it would rain, and then we would be quite…
Friday, June 18, 2010
Good food and the danger of roads - 27th April 2010
Saturday Afternoon
Dodo:” I can’t walk…”
Me: “I know…don’t you just wish you had a hovercraft right now. Buzzzzzzz vrrooom vrrooom vrrooom. VEEEEEEEEE. ”
Dodo:” Hahahaha… Idiot! Don’t make me laugh. It’s paaaaaainful. Can you imagine, I actually have to climb stairs to get to room. Mamma!”
The rest of us:”Hahahaha..”
Me:”Idiot! Now who’s making who laugh.”
Earlier that day
The four of us, after suffering for sometime from an acute case of NITW mess food, decided to EAT “proper proper” food at an apparently proper restaurant.
Oh and eat we did. We ate like we’d never eaten before, like the world was coming to an end, like food was air and we were suffocating to death. Ok, getting way ahead of myself but basically I think you get the point.
So there we were walking back to college, literally dragging our feet, the “pleasant” weather making things so much easier for us.
Me: “Do you realize we are drunk on good food?”
Dodo:” Yeah, well think about it. What does getting high mean after all? It is a release of ecstasy in the body that makes one feel immensely happy or good and lasts for a short while so when you think about it this is an appropriate explanation for the condition we are in which means….that logically speaking we are high. ”
Devil/ angel: “Huh?”
Laughter followed by clutching of stomachs in pain.
All of us:”Ouch!”
The night before
Dodo: “Isn’t this the best grape juice ever?”
Me:”Yeah I know. It’s really good.”
Rizwan:” Mary, look at what you’ve done to poor Shine.”
Shine, the poor guy, was looking all depressed because a certain someone (moi) raised a particular finger at him earlier that day.
Shine turned his dejected face away when I called out his name.
Dodo:” FRIENDS is good.”
Me:” No it’s not.”
Shelton (looking at me like he’s going to reveal the most shocking fact of the century)cue in the background music, the tempo rises and the score has raised to a higher pitch, leaving the audience in utter suspense for what is about to happen next:” I left MY GAMES……… for FRIENDS!!!!!”
Yup. The music stops abruptly.
At that point I actually felt like changing sides because if Shelton left HIS GAMES for something…..
During the course of these two separate and unconnected incidents, there was also underlying danger at every road crossing.
26th Night:
Dodo:”BUS!!! Bus, bus, bus.”
Me:”Hold on.”
As Dodo held on to my arm that day and we crossed the road together, I felt thankful that I survived yet another episode of “CROSSING THE ROAD……………WITH DODO!”.
.
27th Afternoon:
Dodo:”Hey, I can cross roads by myself you know.”
An auto zooms past and misses her by inches. Dodo doesn’t even notice.
Looking at the expression on my face,
Dodo:” What? I can!”
I think to myself, oh holy mother of god, please let us just survive another episode of
“CROSSING THE ROAD……………WITH DODO!”
Life goes on at NITW. An occasional dose of good food, dangerous episodes of road crossings, but mostly and most importantly, a regular and steady supply of good company is what keeps us going here.
Dodo:” I can’t walk…”
Me: “I know…don’t you just wish you had a hovercraft right now. Buzzzzzzz vrrooom vrrooom vrrooom. VEEEEEEEEE. ”
Dodo:” Hahahaha… Idiot! Don’t make me laugh. It’s paaaaaainful. Can you imagine, I actually have to climb stairs to get to room. Mamma!”
The rest of us:”Hahahaha..”
Me:”Idiot! Now who’s making who laugh.”
Earlier that day
The four of us, after suffering for sometime from an acute case of NITW mess food, decided to EAT “proper proper” food at an apparently proper restaurant.
Oh and eat we did. We ate like we’d never eaten before, like the world was coming to an end, like food was air and we were suffocating to death. Ok, getting way ahead of myself but basically I think you get the point.
So there we were walking back to college, literally dragging our feet, the “pleasant” weather making things so much easier for us.
Me: “Do you realize we are drunk on good food?”
Dodo:” Yeah, well think about it. What does getting high mean after all? It is a release of ecstasy in the body that makes one feel immensely happy or good and lasts for a short while so when you think about it this is an appropriate explanation for the condition we are in which means….that logically speaking we are high. ”
Devil/ angel: “Huh?”
Laughter followed by clutching of stomachs in pain.
All of us:”Ouch!”
The night before
Dodo: “Isn’t this the best grape juice ever?”
Me:”Yeah I know. It’s really good.”
Rizwan:” Mary, look at what you’ve done to poor Shine.”
Shine, the poor guy, was looking all depressed because a certain someone (moi) raised a particular finger at him earlier that day.
Shine turned his dejected face away when I called out his name.
Dodo:” FRIENDS is good.”
Me:” No it’s not.”
Shelton (looking at me like he’s going to reveal the most shocking fact of the century)cue in the background music, the tempo rises and the score has raised to a higher pitch, leaving the audience in utter suspense for what is about to happen next:” I left MY GAMES……… for FRIENDS!!!!!”
Yup. The music stops abruptly.
At that point I actually felt like changing sides because if Shelton left HIS GAMES for something…..
During the course of these two separate and unconnected incidents, there was also underlying danger at every road crossing.
26th Night:
Dodo:”BUS!!! Bus, bus, bus.”
Me:”Hold on.”
As Dodo held on to my arm that day and we crossed the road together, I felt thankful that I survived yet another episode of “CROSSING THE ROAD……………WITH DODO!”.
.
27th Afternoon:
Dodo:”Hey, I can cross roads by myself you know.”
An auto zooms past and misses her by inches. Dodo doesn’t even notice.
Looking at the expression on my face,
Dodo:” What? I can!”
I think to myself, oh holy mother of god, please let us just survive another episode of
“CROSSING THE ROAD……………WITH DODO!”
Life goes on at NITW. An occasional dose of good food, dangerous episodes of road crossings, but mostly and most importantly, a regular and steady supply of good company is what keeps us going here.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Hyderabad, as I will fondly remember
Wandering the streets of Hyderabad at 4 in the morning, when not a soul is awake and you are left ambling about not knowing where you’re going, leads to the most wonderful exchange of information.
“Did you know that Google maps is one of the sexiest applications.”
This was followed by an illustrative example on how Google maps work.
“Oh wait! So that’s where we are right now?”
“Yup, and not only that, type in……….lets say Imblibandh bus station and…you get directions on how to get there and in how much time.”
“Cool.”
An hour later.
“Did you know that idli is considered to be the best breakfast in the world?”
The expression of the person in concern was one of utter disbelief. Almost as if I had said “the sky is red today”.
“By who?”
Never mind. I thought.
A half hour later.
“What is the difference between a tooth fairy and a phoenix?”
%#&*!
“There is a world of difference between a tooth fairy and a phoenix.”
“Ok then tell me ten differences between a tooth fairy and a phoenix.”
“Well, a phoenix is reborn from its ashes…”
“I don’t mean like that.”
“I think I get it. Well for one a tooth fairy is fairy tale meant for children, whereas a phoenix is myth.”
“Myth is just a fancier word for fairy tale.”
This conversation led to another virtually never ending disagreement that neither party involved would ever agree on.
We couldn’t even agree on whether it was a disagreement.
“It’s a discussion, a difference of opinion.”
“It’s an argument.”
“No, it’s not!”
Approximately 6 hours earlier.
12:00 a.m.
It was already way past my curfew which, even with late permission, extended only up till 11.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Ahhh lite! I guess I’ll have to sneak in.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
“Yeah but I don’t really have any other option.”
“Well……. we could go to Hyderabad.”
“What? At this time?”
“Well only if you wanted to….it’s a stupid idea isn’t it?”
“Lets go.”
3 hours later we found ourselves wandering the streets of Hyderabad, with not a soul awake and not having any idea of where we were going.
Now let me share an interesting piece of information with you.
It is often a single spontaneous idea born out of the heat of the moment that leads to experiences that define our life. And it is these moments that we remember forever...
“Did you know that Google maps is one of the sexiest applications.”
This was followed by an illustrative example on how Google maps work.
“Oh wait! So that’s where we are right now?”
“Yup, and not only that, type in……….lets say Imblibandh bus station and…you get directions on how to get there and in how much time.”
“Cool.”
An hour later.
“Did you know that idli is considered to be the best breakfast in the world?”
The expression of the person in concern was one of utter disbelief. Almost as if I had said “the sky is red today”.
“By who?”
Never mind. I thought.
A half hour later.
“What is the difference between a tooth fairy and a phoenix?”
%#&*!
“There is a world of difference between a tooth fairy and a phoenix.”
“Ok then tell me ten differences between a tooth fairy and a phoenix.”
“Well, a phoenix is reborn from its ashes…”
“I don’t mean like that.”
“I think I get it. Well for one a tooth fairy is fairy tale meant for children, whereas a phoenix is myth.”
“Myth is just a fancier word for fairy tale.”
This conversation led to another virtually never ending disagreement that neither party involved would ever agree on.
We couldn’t even agree on whether it was a disagreement.
“It’s a discussion, a difference of opinion.”
“It’s an argument.”
“No, it’s not!”
Approximately 6 hours earlier.
12:00 a.m.
It was already way past my curfew which, even with late permission, extended only up till 11.
“What are you going to do now?”
“Ahhh lite! I guess I’ll have to sneak in.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
“Yeah but I don’t really have any other option.”
“Well……. we could go to Hyderabad.”
“What? At this time?”
“Well only if you wanted to….it’s a stupid idea isn’t it?”
“Lets go.”
3 hours later we found ourselves wandering the streets of Hyderabad, with not a soul awake and not having any idea of where we were going.
Now let me share an interesting piece of information with you.
It is often a single spontaneous idea born out of the heat of the moment that leads to experiences that define our life. And it is these moments that we remember forever...
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