Jingle Jangle

We braved the hot winds blowing across our faces,

To lay our hands on the target, we fought the fiercely competitive races.

For, to conquer is equal to surpassing many hardships.

Quoted price – 400, negotiated for 200, bought it for – 250

Our hearts do a small salsa dance along with words of admiration puckered on our lips.

The diagnosis

One evening while coming out of a suburban train station my eyes caught hold of an image. Among several images that I subconsciously happened to chance upon and then discard, this one had to be given a second glance. It was a normal summer evening with lots of hope and wishful thinking for some cool breeze but alas my wishes remained unfulfilled. Replacing this wish for the cool wind was this picture in front of me. It was sudden, refreshing and kind of unbelievable given the surroundings or the situation. It was a tree, but not a normal one. The tree had blue leaves!  a blue bordering on green. The leaves glistened through and caught my maximum attention. I was in awe of what I saw .I simply could not believe it. It was straight out of some fantasy film. My mind wandered for a second thinking maybe I was in some LA-LA Land. Finding myself there I was thrilled and content. Sure there was a spring in my step. The sparkling blue leaved tree gave me happiness so much so that I forgot where I was and missed a step while getting down the platform bridge. Smiling sheepishly I continued my downward spiral almost feeling like an intoxicated drunkard.

The onward journey to my apartment continued. My happy thoughts were interrupted when I saw a swanky sedan by the road side which apparently had an engine break down. “Wait a minute, how could this be possible?”, I seemed to almost ask out aloud. This car looks brand new and must have a ‘no engine breakdown’ guarantee of some sort. The owner looked towards me, almost as if he judged my thoughts. In a very displeased manner looked away instantly. A bad day he probably had, I thought. Carefully moving along, avoiding the cement left over adorning the roads, admiring my skillful hop-jump routine, I almost bumped into someone. Ready to use some cuss words, I happened to look upon. A familiar face stared at me. Both of us were trying to recollect each other in the mini seconds that we had. The conversation started with the ‘H’ questions

A: “Hiiiiiii. Long time (Yes, because I cannot recollect your name). How are you (seems important to ask)?”

B: Hiiiii (should I also include a hi-five for more drama?)I am good

A: Blahh Blahh

B: Blah Blah

A: Bla Bla

B: Bla Bla

A Nice J

B: And some more Blahhhh

A: Bye.

B: Bye.

Feeling overwhelmed and guilty for not able to still recollect her name, I walked the ‘walk of shame’ almost sprinting to get out of the situation. All of a sudden it dawned on me that we were ‘friends’ on a popular social media website.

Happy that I was able to recollect the roots of our ‘friendship’ and glad to be back into this aura, I walked and walked. I suddenly felt hungry. I wanted to have a cheese cake since long. Sure I knew a place that housed some sweet goodies. There it was the perfect blue berry cheese cake sitting inside the cute butter paper that wrapped it. The cake looked so perfect. Its different colored layers nicely complementing each other. I bought it hastily and bit into the seemingly perfect piece of heaven. After the first bite came a startling sense of disappointment. It tasted horrible. My other half of myself seemed to argue meekly “It did look good though”.

Chucking away memories of the bad cheese cake, I made my way inside my small little world shell shocked at the way I managed to keep my apartment so untidy.

That night over a cup of hot chocolate I pondered over the day that was: The breakdown of the luxury sedan, the awkward minutes of my life spent chatting with my ‘friend’ and the disappointing cheese cake. Something seemed very right at first about them. But every bit of these experiences left me at some level, disappointed and unsatisfied.  It was at this point that I was yearning to know if the tree with blue leaves was for real.  I simply could not wait any longer, grabbing my house keys I rushed out. After a few minutes I was in front of that magical tree. I looked carefully at it. Yes the leaves were blue. My optical focus shifted a few meters downwards. There stood a medium sized hoarding with tube lights inside it. I was a tad bit sad. It was after all the neon rays of the hoarding that gave the leaves all its magic. For the magical tree with blue leaves to be simply a tree with leaves all it needed was a shift in focus.

Feeling content with my genius diagnosis I turned back. One question popping up in my mind “Is it what seems to be or is it what it is?”

Teile / Parts

                            Teile

Herr  geht morgens spazieren. Seine Frau fragt wozu ?

Braucht man keinen Grund  zu haben, keine Antwort , kein ‚Dazu‘

Ein Muster ist nicht alles , was gemacht wird.

Es macht das Leben lebbar – Das Wirr – Warr.

Teile des Auges reflektiert das Kaleidoskop,

Teile sind manchmal schöner, nicht das Ganze !

                                          Parts

The need to go for a walk in the morning hues need not be justified.

A reason, an answer is far from needed.

Whatever is done is never a pattern.

It defines life – The Unplanned.

It’s just a part of your eyes, that a kaleidoscope reflects,

Parts are sometimes more beautiful than the Whole. 

Ohne Sonnenschein

Es ist schoener ohne Sonnenschein- heisst es ,

Schatten ueberall auf der Erde.

Zusammenzuzucken brauchen meine Augen nicht.

Es gibt es nicht - die Sonne !

Woraus ich meine Kraft ziehe? - Der kuehle Wind, der kommende Regen, die gewoelkten Wolken

Ich warte geduldig -  ich , ein durstiges Ich.

KL- 9414

This June brought me a trip to my old buddy, my native roots - Kerala ! After a heart stopping scary flight from Mumbai to Coimbatore, I was very close to reaching Gods own Paradise. Yes ,  flights are scary. I believe people don't admit it. The mere thought of not having a firm grounding beneath, sends me scouting for banyan trees, behind which i can hide so peacefully! Take offs are adrenaline pumping in a bad way and landings, well they are just about finding ground and applying brakes way too hard . I will surely dedicate some day a detailed article regarding the nightmare called Plane journeys.

Coming back to my original story. I reached the winding lanes of  'Nalepilly', a small village near 'Palakad'. With open arms I welcomed the sounds of coconut trees swishing from left to right and then again right to left. The heat in Kerala reduced to a mere negligent level, it felt great to be a part of this side of the country.
I remember how we used to crib as kids during our Kerala trips. My grandmother lives in a very primitive house. Its so primitive that the mud house welcomes all kinds of creepy crawlies, has an anti - tube light policy, is far far away from any restaurant, far from anything city like. We as kids with our half baked Malayalam, snobbish attitudes of being 'Bombaykaras' (people from Bombay) , we used to wait desperately to return by the next available Kurla- Coimbatore express! These memories make me laugh so hard.

This time around it had been a little different. Beginning with my grandmothers tales of Mahabharata and Ramayana, i was once again a kid, listening with awe and an improved concentration span.
   I never really cared to observe the rich flora and fauna that my grandmothers place offers. It, being so far away from civil world, the birds in all shapes and sizes and colors flock the lemon tree that stands so tall in front of the house. I wish I knew which birds these were, just like my niece and nephew, who know all the different species of birds that exists ever! Really the birds were a lovely sight and so were the elegant lizards, the chameleons and even the dogs that were housed in the huge bungalows. The bungalows remind me of the short visits we made to all the relatives houses. 12 different ones (Ha! Beat that). Eating and drinking refreshments 12 times in a row, talking about the weather, the next kid to be married off, etc took a whole lot out of me ! I was exhausted by the end of it. A thorough pleasant meet i must say after these many  months.  Well we 'Bombaykaras' are after all real experts at making these flying visits.

I wonder how healthy the people in Kerala must be, for they breathe oxygen freshly produced from the greens around. They consume fresh coconut oil , do not eat junk food. God bless Kerala !

My cherry on the top of a white chocolate cake moment was when i spotted a snake gliding away graciously around the mango tree :)

PS :- Just in case you wondered what the title of this write up means- well its the number plate of the royal white ambassador in which we roam around since childhood whenever we are in wonderland Kerala !

One fine Morning

A hot summer morning- a cuppa in her hand,

Stretching the tired muscles she reaches out as high as she can.

A look out of the window with a slight smile,

 Sips of the morning elixir, smoothens the pillow creases across her face.

She peeks, bends over slightly to catch a glimpse of the little yellow flowers.

The little yellow flowers on the concrete pavement they lie,

So fresh so cheerful, so oh my my !

They fall from tens to thousands, graciously from their green abodes,

The world around them smiling- the good old dancing Uncle John tree,

 the chimneys and  the squirrels running from hither to thee .

O what a wonderful sight it is for her to see- the pleasing nature in all its glory.

She peeks, bends over slightly to catch a glimpse of the little yellow flowers.

The little yellow flowers on the concrete pavement they lie,

So fresh so cheerful so oh my my !

About ‘Being’!

About ‘Being’!

The sun shines hard through my window pane, but I am cold.

The colourful spring is on its way, but to me the world is all black and white

Am I alone, even if I am with someone?

There certainly is a difference between ‘I’ and ‘us’.

Is it for me to ignore or to realise?

That I am always going to be alone in this world, even when I am surrounded by many.