Life in a small town!

We often hear how the people from metro cities describe 'small town' and how they are not ready to shift if given an option. I believe shifting is a far fetched though for them, I don't even think they are comfortable when they have to travel. I have had several experiences where my friends asked me about things that I do on weekends and after work. It is amusing for them when they hear the stories, just how amusing it is to me when I hear about Life in Mars. 

Some people are bound by the family situation and others are bound by the financial soundness that they would get in their birth city (which happens to be a b-town) compared to a metro. It is never easy for anyone to take a call of shifting back to a small town after living the life of a big city for substantial number of years. When I say LIFE, I really mean living it to the fullest wherever you are. Staying outside in a big city and living in your own cocoon is not what I call life. Meeting new people, meeting people who come with varied thoughts, meeting people who have different passions in life is what I call living life. 

It is a complete new world for a small town person when he moves to a big city. People go to get education, to seek better opportunities and to become what they aspire. But most of the people who shift are not living but surviving. Even after spending 5-7 years in big cities, they still feel happier when they are in a smaller town where they can adjust easily with the mentality of people. It is strange to see how the country is divided for such people where the only motto is to earn a better salary. My question to such people is, don't you think you are wasting your life by doing this? If you are there then might as well live it to the fullest. Get out of the cocoon and see how amazing people are from different streams. 

Honestly, life in a small town is very tough for a person who has 'lived his life' and has seen the world. But then, there are situations that prevail, which makes a person choose one thing over the other. There is always an age when you start to think about the family, that's when you decide to either pay back by moving back or keep it due for next life by living your life away from your family.

But today I want to answer my friends who seek those questions about life in small town - Weekends hardly hold any meaning, a Saturday night is as good as any other night but yet, I feel happy to return home after work and sleep on my mother's lap and live a life where money of a person is not as important as the soul. I am happy being back home but yes, I will always miss what I have lived. 

Chance

Sometimes all you need is a second chance because time wasn't ready for the first one. A consistent performer is always the one who brings back glory. It is not always important to be on the top, sometimes life gives you a second chance so that you can prepare yourself to achieve something bigger. 

Standing at the cricket pitch and scoring a six from the first ball sounds magical but no one really evaluates the hard work and practice that goes behind to get that level of confidence. I don't want to relate life with cricket coz life is surely not a game, but it's a stage where you perform and earn credibility, fame, money, people and many such things that make up a complete world. Not everyone performs fair and thus we come across people who take the wrong path to achieve the artificial glory. 

I have gone through failure and I have also felt the happiness of winning but both the feelings taught me lessons that govern my personality and actions. Winning gave me confidence of being the best in a certain thing among certain performers but the failure taught me that there is a bigger world that is outside my cocoon where I have people who are better. 

Getting a second chance is not just a coincidence, it's a signal from the top that there is surely something that was lacking during the first performance. I hope my gest is accomplished with these small little chances that my life keeps offering at every turn and I make a better use of them to be a better person, a better human. 

A Dream

Dream is one sweet imagination and creation of instances and thoughts which we see in the pictorial form when we are subconscious (sleeping). One can be a King but one can be prisoned for lifetime in his or her dream. One can go decades back but one can also live in the futuristic world.

Dream can take us anywhere and give us that moment of happiness. Have you ever got a chance to meet someone whom you have lost forever, I have. But on the other hand, it can also show us the most cruel things and make us feel miserable - I have killed someone in my dream. It has that power to make u meet people who no more exist and take you away from people who are sleeping next to you. It has the power to make you meet your ex and it also has the power to make you meet your next. A dream can take you for a world trip and it can also take you to a war land.

For me, it's the seeding of an idea that blossoms when we are in the subconscious state. Sometimes the seeds are infected which gives a nightmare and sometimes the seeds are of a quality that can inspire your real world. People who don't get to dream are the unprivileged set of people who can't enjoy the unreal world.

Dreams can be graphed on a daily basis to evaluate the inclination of a person's thought process. Though it may sound freaky but in real, psychiatrists use these graphs for people who get negative dreams, which can spoil someone's following day.

I wish that I had the power to control my dream so that I could meet not only people who are stationed in different cities and countries but also people who have been a part of my life but now they don't exist in my dream world.

I wish you A Happy Dream ;)

The Sugar Cube

I saw her from far but never went closer,
she was dressed in black and appeared sober.

I could see the smoke and I could see her eyes,
I could see her lips which kept me mesmerized.

I wanted to talk but the opportunities died,
so I went aside and started my poker game with chips and dice.

Every time there came a Queen, I saw her by my side.
I got the signal for the night but couldn't gather the strength to face the sparkling eyes.
So I gave up my try, thinking that few things are just meant to die.

Few days later I see her request,
I went crazy but tried to suppress.

I started my conversation with a random 'Hi',
and waited for the most awaited reply.

The boat started to move and it crossed few tides,
I felt comfortable and kept on with my strides.

We started to chat, we started to fight.
It seemed right so I gave up my pride and asked her for a date one particular night.

Few beers and few cosmos gave me the lift,
and the rest was written to progress with a swift.

Her smile gave me a reason to pull up my heart,
the song and the place added the spark.

She blew my head and she blew my heart,
I felt like diving without any guard.

She gave me a reason to smile back again,
she greased up the space where rust had made its place.

I feel happy to have you Sugar,
You just make my coffee a way more sweeter, a way more smoother.

A Coin!

I found a coin today lying on the ground,
it's not just a coin but something precious that I found.

Dropped coins come from heaven, that's what my grandma used to say;
angels toss it and drop it in the month of May. 

How I used to love those stories and await for the summer month;
and collect the fallen coins to feel the lucky one.

She used to say - 'when angels miss you, they toss a coin down,
sometimes just to cheer up or make a smile out of your frown'. 

Now I am on streets to earn the real coins,
realising that they have lost their charm to the Gandhis' of the soil. 

Smile and feel happy when you find a fallen metal(coin),
give it to someone who would value it more than a tea kettle.

Don't pass by that coin when you are feeling blue,
it may be a coin from the heaven that an angel tossed to you.

Someone..

Someone thought about you today,
but that is nothing new.

Someone thought about you yesterday,
and days before too.

Someone thinks of you in silence,
Someone often takes your name.

All Someone has is your memory,
and a picture in a frame.

Your memory is a keepsake
from which Someone will never part.

Someone had you in his arms,
And now, Someone has you in his heart!!

My Voyage with Friends..

We tend to get buzy and forget about the relationship which is the sweetest on this planet.. I just want to share my journey and the people I met at different ports (you will get to know why am I calling it 'ports') of life.. There were lods of passengers who boarded my fship cruise but very few stayed back till date.. This note is for all those who are still paying the price of boarding the Cruise. 

School was fun and I cherished my first 2 passengers - Garvita and Pallavi; and then the herd became bigger and my cruise became popular and many more fabulous people such as Shreyansh, Ankit, Prince, Nishant, Radhika, Swati, Neha, Anannya, Shobhit and Vasundhara got in for a ride, possibly they dint know that I wont let them get down, ever. 

Then I moved to bangalore where I met Ansul and Pooja, who just changed my perception towards everything and made me someone who was strong enough to face the brutal tides (cruel world). Mohsin, Hardy and Shivani were like the anchors on whom I could always lend my weight. Rishi, who later became one of my closest pal was the first member of my casino hall. Sunny, Manu and Urvy were the sweethearts who were just destined to meet me, thanks to Hardy!! Prateek who was totally different from everyone just happened to be with me during my good and bad times and made me learn that knowledge from books is not the only parameter to be successful in life. 

The voyage took a different route and I reached Mumbai where Ketan, Divyata, Prerana and Nitin boarded and booked their corporate suits on Ogilvy's name and guided me on my path. The journey was smooth and steady and suddenly the most charming and fun loving person boarded - Akash. He made me realize that two brothers don't need blood relation. The crusie took a turn and parked itself in Mudra Communications where Vaibhav, Noor, Radhika, Anil, Punnet and Jay gave me the most comforting stay and I just forgot that I was away from my family. They treated me like their younger brother and called me with all the weirdest names possible, 'chikipedia' being one of them. 

Life wanted me to go through some strong waves and eventually that got me to Delhi where Shilad has been the one for everything I think of. Neha, Puneet and Bhavna are few more sweet people who joined the league and have helped my voyage to be the most memorable one. 

I am stranded now, and miss u all a lot. Whether we in touch or not, this is just to tell you people that I will always be there for you and you guys always be ready to receive my call when I am in deep shit.

I Believe!

I can believe things that are true and things that aren't true and I can believe things which nobody knows if they're true or not. 

I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Beatles and Tiesto - I believe that people are perfectable, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkled lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women. 

I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in India is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state. 

I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that Mumbai is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Delhi is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste. I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like martians in War of the Worlds. 

I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with his girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. 

I believe that anyone who says sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too. I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system. 

I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it...

Confusion – A State of Mind!

The word confusion is so dramatic. I met someone recently who tries to stay in a constant state of confusion just because of the expression it leaves on his face. I encountered it for the first time during my school days when I was not sure which shoes to wear for my friend’s birthday. But obviously the confusion was short lived and I finally decided on one out of the two options. But I never knew that confusion was progressive and directly proportional to age (atleast till 25, something that I have experienced).

The level increased and became more complex when I entered college - a different city, new people and many more such things which made me unsure of what to do and what not. Everyone seemed artificial. I was in a situation where I had to pick the right people with whom I had to spend 3 years of my college and life after that (incase they were worth it); people call it confusion. I met the extremes, people who used to call their family every hour and also people who lived in solitude and never wanted to speak to family or talk about them. Was confused again, what was the right approach?

But never knew that it would be nothing when compared to the confusion that I would have to go through during my career planning. Everything looks glittery, every industry looks potential. Every morning I get up, I think of doing something different, something new. I don’t know if it’s just me, or everyone at this age goes through this.  But this confusion kills me every night and gives me a birth every morning. Off-late, life seemed even more of a guessing game than usual. Hope this mystery gets a solution soon.

Sometimes I go in one direction when I am sure it’s right, and it’s not…. and the next time, I am Confused.

Welcome to the world of Confusion!!

Merry Christmas

I look at everyone rejoicing around me and wishing Merry Christmas to each other with a bottle of champagne or a  cigarette in hand. Not sure if this is how Mr. Santa wants all of us to enjoy this day.

But what I really miss is the pair of socks that I used to hang outside my room along with the wishlist, hoping that Mr. Santa will come and fulfill all my desires. With my age, the size of the socks started increasing and so did the wishlist. I still remember, on one of the Christmas Eve's, I had hung my sister's slacks so that the entire cricket bat could fit in. Thank you Jesus for such wonderful sister who always gave me gifts more than what I desired.

Today I sit alone in my room, waiting for the same Santa to give me a magical wand so that I can make my life simpler. I miss my childhood when my ignorance used to get me gifts whereas today my knowledge about the same makes me sit alone and create a wishlist for which I would have to be the Santa and fulfill.

Merry Christmas!!

Life is...

Once upon a time, there was a girl who could do anything in the world she wanted. All she had to do was choose something and focus. So one day she sat down in front of a blank canvas and began to paint. Every stroke was more perfect than the previous, slowly and gracefully converging to build a flawless masterpiece. And when she eventually finished painting, she stared proudly at her work and smiled.

 It was obvious to the clouds and the stars, who were always watching over her, that she had a gift. She was an artist. And she knew it too. She felt it in every fiber of her being. But a few moments after she finished painting, she got anxious and quickly stood up. Because she realized that while she had the ability to do anything in the world she wanted to do, she was simply spending her time moving paint around on a piece of canvas. She felt like there was so much more in the world to see and do – so many options. And if she ultimately decided to do something else with her life, then all the time she spent painting would be a waste.

 So she glanced at her masterpiece one last time, and walked out the door into the moonlight. And as she walked, she thought, and then she walked some more. While she was walking, she didn’t notice the clouds and the stars in the sky who were trying to signal her, because she was preoccupied with an important decision she had to make. She had to choose one thing to do out of all the possibilities in the world. Should she practice medicine? Or design buildings? Or teach children? She was utterly stumped.

Twenty-five years later, the girl began to cry. Because she realized she had been walking for so long, and that over the years she had become so enamored by everything that she could do – the endless array of possibilities – that she hadn’t done anything meaningful at all. And she learned, at last, that life isn’t about possibility – anything is possible. Life is about making a decision – deciding to do something that moves you.

 So the girl, who was no longer a girl, purchased some canvas and paint from a local craft store, drove to a nearby park, and began to paint. One stroke gracefully led into the next just as it had so many moons ago. And as she smiled, she continued painting through the day and into the night. Because she had finally made a decision. And there was still some time left to revel in the magic that life is all about.

An Evening With Friends

It was an evening with friends when I spotted her on the adjacent bench.
She was wrapped in pink and was holding a drink.

Her lips blowing the smoke and her eyes twinkling in the night. I approached to talk but the words dried, so I kept quite and admired the sight.

I gathered some courage to walk up when I saw her settling the bill. She gave me a look and It felt like falling 100fts from the hill.

Finally we spoke and we spent the night. I enjoyed her craziness and her dancing strides. I was living the moment when she made me realise, that she wasn't an ordinary girl with whom I could easily survive.

She threw me out of her flat at 4 in the night, I walked all the way home thinking what I din't do right.

We met again and spent a fabulous time. Was up till 11 in the morning and wished to spend my lifetime.

A weekday at work suddenly became special as I had a juvenile smile. But the happiness was short lived as she asked me to delete her from my mind.

I sit here, miss her and wish to see her again. Hope she comes back to me and we can share the craziness again.

I Resign, Yet I Remain..

Resignation, a word that makes people miss a heartbeat. It is not an easy decision to make, especially for people who are married and live an EMI based life. But still, an average resignation that this country receives everyday is close to 3000; this indicates the scope and opportunity that India offers.

Companies are working hard in reducing the attrition rate but they are underestimating the opportunities that are available for a job seeker. Web portals like Naukri, TimesJobs, Monster etc are adding almost 25,000 unique visitors every month and the number is surely going to increase with Internet reaching rural India.

I have had an experience of resigning only once but have seen a lot of resignation letters because of my colleagues who have moved to a different company either for a better designation or a better work life. It’s been a year for me in my current company and all the people with whom I became friends have moved out (or on the verge of moving out). My lunch sessions, which used to be full of gossip gossip has turned into plain vanilla session of eating food (and missing old ones).

There has to be a good reason for an employee to put down papers - something that companies need to realize. No one likes to get out of his or her comfort zone and change a company over micro issues. A workplace is like a second home and the people with whom we interact are no less than family members. And when family separates, it not only makes the house empty but also curbs the enthusiasm of the remaining members.

Resignation is not an end; it’s a beginning of a new fight. I miss my friends (call them my ex-colleagues or my family) and hope they accomplish all the goals they have set in their life and make it big.

Athio sas. I Resign - yet I Remain!

Oh my sister..

Your love is pure, your heart is true.
When it comes to respect, I think of you.
We had crazy fights but the love was infused
I love you my sister, one thing I truly do.


Your presence was a pain, but your absence made me cry.
You got married and I had to say good-bye.
Our room became mine, but the keys had your sign.
I love you my sister, we have had some crazy time.


You spoil me with gifts, you help me make good choice.
Whenever I think of shopping, your approval is what comes in my mind.
You have always been supportive, even when I was going through the worst time.
Oh sister, you are an angel, I am thankful to have you as mine.


Our scooty rides, Our wiper fights,
Our dancing bets, our complexion tests,
Makes me wonder, why were we always so restless.


I might get busy with my work, I might not call you everyday.
But oh my dear sister, I miss you every single day.
You have been the one, who always pushed me to win my gest.
Here I am, working hard to become what you have always dreamt.

Boss Is Always Right!

It's a stupid saying, that 'The Boss Is Always Right'. But friends, people who actually consider this statement stupid, can never find themselves happy at their workplace.

Every working person would have experienced that; something that your boss does at a certain point of time would not have been acceptable if you would have done. The other day, I was in a meeting where my Boss was reading and giggling over an article published in one of the magazine while we were discussing some work. Suddenly, I happen to get a call from a client, and taking that call was followed with a dirty look from my boss and an indication to hang up, as we were in the middle of a meeting. Now who wouldn't take a call when it’s your client?

When you hear the word 'Boss', do you think of a controlling officer at work? Mr. Controlling Officer likes to make a command and snap his fingers to get his work done in a jiffy. Did you say, 'boss I think…..'? The Boss says, 'when I want you to think, then I will tell you!' Ugh, do not go and pull a patch of your hair out because the boss is not always right but you need to be in the right place at the right time to prove otherwise. Boss is the one who makes or breaks your career. A good boss can take you to new heights whereas a bad one will only show you the regular course of the river that is deprived of an end.

People define BOSS as Born to Oppress and Sworn to Suppress. But in actual sense, he is the one who influences your working style. So follow the footsteps (if you feel he/she is worth following) but keep your eyes open because Corporate Manholes are meant for juniors and not for bosses. So play safe, because the 2 Rules of corporate world are......

A walk through the slum!

'Bahiya, andheri?', I was shouting outside my office gate where I could see dozens of rickshawala but none ready to get up and drive me home as it was 2 in the morning. 'Life can be so unlucky at times' is what I told myself and decided to walk. As I started walking my way home and took a slum way to cut my distance short, I saw an infant crying out of hunger on the street and his mother beating him to sleep, she quite obviously did not have anything to feed him. That very moment, the feeling of being unfortunate and not getting a ride back home seemed nothing compared to sleeping without dinner. At times we take so many things for granted and overlook most of the privileges that life offers. We need to share something with the under-privileged is what we think but when we actually have to play the role, we tend to run away from our game of thoughts.

As I walked ahead, I came across a drunk man beating his wife and abusing her (the reason was obviously unknown to me) while his son was standing at one corner looking at the helpless state of his mother, maybe this was not something that he was looking at for the first time. 'Do we marry so that we get someone to vent our irritation and anger?', that's exactly the question that popped in my head and reminded me of small little fights which my parents used to have when I was young. I think fights are a part of every relationship but one should draw a line and not take the other person for granted. Suddenly a storm of thoughts came in my head, I felt like doing something for the people who undergo shit everyday, everytime. 'What can be done?', is a question which is still in my head and the answer to which is still missing.

15mins of my walk made me reach the end of the slum and to my surprise, mumbai roads were empty. Maybe it was because of the chilly weather that Mumbai was experiencing during this time of the year, something what Mumbaikers are not used to. 

Suddenly I heard a very jittery sound coming from behind which was increasing with every passing second. As I turned, I saw a rickshaw coming towards me with a flickering headlight. 'Bahiya, andheri', I shouted again. He came next to me and slowed down, an indication in Mumbai by rickshawalas to jump-in. I got in while he was putting the meter on and this got an end to my walk, but a beginning to a new thought.

First Break-up...

Its very rare to see relations that lasts for long or leads to a marriage. We meet new people everyday, some we like and some we don't. 'First break up' is not something that happened for the first time, but its what Raj (name changed) felt for the first time when he saw his ex holding someone's hand and looking at him. Guys are known as 'Losers' when it comes to relationships as most of the break-ups happen solely because of the mess which a boy creates and the girl faces and eventually gives up. I am not stereotyping, I am generalizing my perception and my take on 'Relationship'.

There are a lot of relations that a man gets in with a woman/girl, be it friends, acquaintances, flings or lovers. Friends are for life is what people say but there is difference in how people live that friendship when its between a girl and a guy. There are times when one of them falls for the other for a very basic reason that he/she feels that no one can understand him/her better than that friend and eventually they take things to the next step but 8 out of 10 such relations end on a bad note. A person who is their to provide a shoulder when u weep, ears when u speak and a hug when u need may not be necessarily good for a relationship leap.

First Break-up is a story about a guy who is very jolly, fun loving and a happy go lucky but falls for every single girl (obviously she has to be pretty is what he says). Raj had numerous relationships, few serious and committed ones and the rest can just be termed as flings and infatuations. His relationships with all his girls were very different and he believes in one thing in which 99% of the people don't, friendship after break-up. Though the chemistry is completely different after the break-up, it has however worked for him. This never made him feel the pain of parting away from his ex's as he always used to keep in touch and be 'so called friends'. But someday he had to realize the meaning of breakup, the word which never existed in his dictionary.

It was a tuesday evening when he was all set and ready to meet this girl in town who was his ex from one of the city he use to reside few years ago. He had a lot of plans in mind as he wanted to cherish the memories of good old days that he had spent with this girl. As he dresses up and puts on the cologne which the girl used to like a lot and moves out of the house to meet her, he finds this girl holding hands and kissing a guy (possibly her present boyfriend). This sight broke all the charm and plate full of plans that he had in mind, glued at the crossing, for the first time that he realized that the girl has erased his name from the slate and was not bound to restrictions which Raj used to pose when they were seeing each other. As he meets this girl and the guy, Raj finds out that these few years have changed the girl's likes and dislikes and made him unsure about everything (even the fragrance that he was wearing for this girl). Finally he meets her but the warmth in her hug was missing and it was no more that special and she was afraid to be away from the sight of her new guy even for a minute which made things abnormal and made Raj uncomfortable.

Here he encounters his firs breakup, the word which was meaningless for him suddenly became a part of his life. The soul was weeping and the blood was boiling but he was silent and walks away from the sight of his girl who is now his Ex.