Go slow, my lovely moon...

Make morning into a key and throw it into the well,
Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly...

Let the morning sun forget to rise in the east,
Go slowly, my lovely moon, go slowly....

Go!

The hunger within...
driving your dreams;

Reminding your soul...
of the battles ahead!

The thirst for life...
never quenched;

And the quest for a goal...
but, never attained!

Go, my heart go...
there is yet a world unexplored;

Hearts to be won...
and souls to be touched!

This life is but a small journey...
so much to do, so little time!

Tragic death, worse aftermath

An extremely moving article in the online edition of the Sunday Indian Express. It deals with the gruesome murder of Manjunath, the IIM graduate. Makes us think ... and question our own value systems. Excerpts:

"Manjunath will be 28 on February 23.’’ A birthday reminder flashed on our e-group. There was a sinister irony in this. For today was also the day the chargesheet in Manju’s murder was filed.

I deleted the reminder but not the memories. I went back to the day I visited the petrol pump where Manju was shot. As I stood in the eerie silence of that sealed, deserted pump, I could really feel the death he must have died. The kind of death that nobody should die. All alone and cold. On a dusty road, in UP’s hinterland, in the dead of the night. Dying with just one thought. It’s all over.

Manju’s parents stand with me, their sorrow merging with the silence. I feel an indescribable pang. Manju’s mother Pramila asks the police escort, ‘‘What were Manju’s words when he saw Monu Mittal pull out the revolver?’’ She explains, ‘‘Monu Mittal always behaved like a friendly dealer. He’d come home once, when I was with Manju. I had even served him coffee.’’ ...

I have been their interpreter all day. I had taken them to the Mahauli police station first to meet the constables. The constables who’d spotted a vehicle in the dead of the night, given chase and nabbed Monu’s henchmen red-handed. Without them, the case would never have come to light. In fact, the adulteration mafia had planned to dump Manju’s body and weave a story around it—portraying Manju as an unstable, wayward drunkard who got into a brawl and died.

I failed as interpreter, though. It was beyond me to translate into Hindi those outpourings of gratitude. Manju’s parents’ expressions, their tears said it all—the debt we owed the constables. The head constable said, ‘‘We were on patrol but we went to have tea and saw the car. They immediately offered us a bribe of Rs 2 lakh—to let them go and dump the body at a spot nobody would locate. But their crime was so heinous I wouldn’t let them off for Rs 2 crore!’’

This overpaid IIM graduate doesn’t think of a lakh or two as a big amount. But even this MBA begins respecting the value of Rs 2,000 when the head constable says, ‘‘Sir, can you help my son find a job? He’s just completing his B.Sc, even a job for Rs 2,000 a month will help a lot. You will help an honest boy.’’

''When I first heard of Manju’s death I used to wonder if it was worth it. If Manju lived, he could have served his parents in their old age, gotten his sister married and so on—all the things every well-bred Indian takes pride in doing. So I wondered, couldn’t Manju have done the slight paap of going a bit easy on his values—with the long-term punya in view? Was this death worth it really?''

In response, a reader had written something that made me hang my head in shame.

‘‘I don’t understand why for everything in life we ask ourselves— was it worth it? There are some beliefs, actions and motions that are above this ‘‘deal evaluation’’ exercise that we apply on everything. Like in love. It doesn’t matter if you can or cannot justify the effort and time spent in chasing a dream. What is important is that you believed in the dream and the need to take the journey. Let’s not trivialise what Manju did by even pontifying on whether it was worth it or not. Let’s not demean a believer! If you need to do anything, try dreaming the dream that he probably had.’’

Honesty is like love. Inexplicable. Unjustifiable. Just do it.

Joy and colors???

The colors all in place...
The design not too much though!

Parched earth drenched by the skies...
Yet the thirst remains!!

Humans decked in all colors...
But white & colored remain!!!

Spreading joy all around...
Sorrow, yet follows its ol' friend!!!!

Twas meant to be a union of mankind...
Sadly, all that remained was blood!!!!!

Limits

Go higher...go faster
The sky is not your limit ... there are skies beyond!

Jump up, touch the stars
The stars are not your target ... the Sun's beyond!

Roam around the earth...
But remember ... it's not the end ... the Universe's beyond!

Touch ... touch your limits ...
But remember though ... there are no limits!!!

Waves

Standing by the shore, I asked the waves...
"Why do you come back when you have the sea ahead of you?"

Sighed the waves; "How would you know? You are but human! We come back coz this is where we belong"

Then back went the waves, only to be followed by another...
"Why do you come back when you have the sea ahead of you?"

"How would you even realize, dear human! We come back coz we who go out have to come back"

Back they went, only to be replaced by another...
"Why do you come back when you have the sea ahead of you?"

"You never realize, do you? We come back coz this is where it all began ... and this is where it must end!"

Ah! Now I realized ... this is where my story began ... and so must it end here ...

Search for joy

Searching for myself...by the seashore all alone;

I look for silence amidst the roar of waves...
I look for calm in the chaos of mankind...
I look, I look for a little joy in the throes of sorrow

Then comes the voice from within...promising hope as always;

Look, it says, for silence, in the shells...
And for calm in a child...
Look, look within yourself, you fool, ... for that is where joy resides ...

Wings to fly...

The Sun scorching the sky
Rains soaking the earth though
Love in my heart
Yet none to show the world

Where am I headed?
There's no road ... the destination, yet clear

With dreams in the eyes
And ambition in my heart
I set off for a utopia
Will I find it? I do not know
Yet happy I am
That I aimed for the sun
Unlike mortals that aim for the treetops
And die in the sorrow that
Their lowly goals were but achieved!

A new day, a new beginning...

"Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves: will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?"

Was going through some sun signs and compatibility funda on the net. (Primarily due to lack of anything useful to do ... I never in my dreams imagined I would be reading all this crap! ) The site had pretty detailed info, I must admit! The surprising thing I saw was that they had mentioned that some signs do not match.... "not destined" was the word! I nearly burst out laughing!

Destiny!!! Aren't we the ones who shape destiny? Is it our fault that some bugger classified our birthdate into some stupid symbols/signs and decided that this was compatible and this was not!? And yet I find many of my friends hooked on to these predictions....

And yet that word Destiny, set me thinking. Is there something beyond us..a force, a God, a power??? I looked back at so many things ... just the two years I was here at IITM. My memory's pretty weak to remember a great many things beyond anyways!!! So many different people ... so many relationships ... built and broken! I have enjoyed my life in the company of people, some of whom I would have never interacted with otherwise! People of the likes I would have kept away from ... but not anymore! These are now an integral part of my life! Some friends are now far away, and others are closer than friends have ever been! Surprising? Very. Destiny? I don't know!

And now, two months from now, we will move on! Every one of us! I sometimes imagine how it would be if AG just disappears! No news of him ... not present for the convocation ... not in touch with anyone at all. Will some friends remember him? Will some even give a thought? Or will we move on ... on the path life and our work takes us? I like the opening lines of Troy (quoted above!) Forget centuries ... will our own friends remember us? Will we look out for each other? Search for the times we spent together at IITM?

I doubt it! Maybe I'm being too skeptical. But think of it this way. One part of the story is over ... the other part begins ... and it is a new beginning! The actor in us is always in search of new roles ... new directors ... new heroines!!! And he will move on .... perhaps that is his destiny!

College ke gate ki is taraf hum life ko nachate hain ...
Us taraf life humko nachaayegi!!!