Swings of a rhapsodic mind

As she lay in the winter gloom devoid of hope Love took bold steps, It drew her out of slumber Taught her of hope And as she took toddler steps, she stumbled She lay once again in despair Her inner clock whispered "Life in memories " and everything became clearer The gloom faded into sunshine Her slumber gave away to new dreams She had lived her life of love The angel within had blessed her in disguise!

My aita's place (grandmother) has always been my personal favourite. I have spent all my vacations during my school days there. It's a remote village located in the banks of Brahmaputra. What makes the place beautiful is its resistance to change. The village aura remains intact till today. As you wake up in the chilly morning, you are sure to find a hearth sending forth tall frames which keep the house warm. The morning air is infused with the smell from mustard fields which overlook the whole village. The tall bamboo grooves run across the village which serve to build thatch houses which you spot at far off distances. Unlike our closely clustered suburbs, you find open fields in the village separating houses across distances. My aita (grandmother) is a robust old lady who milks her cows, takes stock of harvest, has abundance of mustard in her fields, fishes in her pond and a opulent granary. She came to the village as a bride when she was barely of ten years and today af...

Social media seems to be taken by storm by the very recent ten years challenge where people have been posting photos from ten years back with that of the present to highlight what they have come to look like from what they used to be. I can't help but get amused at the fuss people have created around this whole idea. We all grow over years, outlining our sleeves. Our physique changes drastically. A lean teenager becomes a pot bellied man, a gap toothed kid develops fine jaw lines, it's all a part of the process we call life and life goes on. It doesn't stop with the so called ten years challenge, it's beyond that. What those pictures fail to project are the struggles that perhaps define those ten years, years of pain, of dejection that don't find an outlet to get ventilated. You smile at the lens, at the world but you don't often smile from your heart. Your heart knows about the pain it endures. To shun your life by comparing two photographs linked together b...

Do not promise me of roses, I have seen them wither. Lure me not into loving shiulis They make no return in summer. I love mustard blossoms, They shy away into seeds. And fill the shelves of my kitchen. They remind me of my grandma Her saree smelt of mustard. I remember her say, "Keep some mustard, the devil won't eye you" I would smile and say, "I prefer meeting the devil" She would smile through her gap tooth And place a handful of mustard in my palms and say "Here, carry it to your bed " Little did she know those seeds slipped my hands way back Little did I know, she would slip away with time. In the dust filled corners of memory, mustard fetches her warmth.

My cousin who is a sports freak got his hand fractured yesterday. He came home in the evening all covered with sweat and dust ecstatic about his victory over a football match but didn't mention about his hand which had by then swollen. It was a few hours later when I spotted his hand which by now had swollen profusely. I kind of rebuked him but he in his cheerful self remarked, "It's just a sprain, I will be okay by tomorrow." Today the first thing that striked me after I woke up was to reach out for his hand which he had hidden under a blanket. It had swollen even more and I squinted my gaze and told him in a jocular mood that this perhaps wasn't a good start for 2019 as he had twisted his fate, he looked at me for a while and his usual cheerful composure remarked, "Maybe this is a good start for my fortune would swell like my hand". I was taken aback, I hadn't expected this from a child. This bit of positivity made my day today!

"Baba, ek cup cha paka ta",  I heard my grandpa say. "Hazur ",  I complied. My grandpa is in his 90s and anyone who meets him for the first time leaves dumbfounded by the storehouse of knowledge he has . He chants slokas from Geeta just like we would spell abcd. From Marx till Bhagat , he has read everything.  I have keenly observed him from my childhood days and except for his skin which has frayed, he still seems so young like yester years. He calls me baba and not by my name for he still treats me like a kid. One ritual that I fondly perform for him whenever asked for is preparing a cup of black tea for him.  Today as we sat basking under the sun, he took a sip from his tea and mused: "I didn't think I would make this far" . I knew he had a plethora of emotions surging. He has seen not only life but also degeneration . He has experienced everything from being a son to a father and now a grandpa. To hold a family together within a roof, I realise...

The sun has taught me to love It's been in love with the Earth But unlike a lover beaten in love, It never complains Miss Earth falls for the moon The stars too  chase Earth's fleeting feelings The sun smiles and lets it pass For it is meant to love and that is all that he does!

I am a lazy being, I accept that with full honesty but within a lazy nerd is a travel freak who can easily forsake a good night's sleep for a sudden travel plan. All that you need to promise me is food, good company and my bit of solitude. 1st of January, 2019: A sudden outing to Kaziranga marked the onset of this year. The sun rays peeping out of a foggy morning brought in a cool wind along as I rolled the windows of the car. Everything was beautiful. I could hear the birds,  delve deep into the blue of the sky, trace the lovely horizon getting blurred in the fog. I knew the world hadn't changed overnight, yet everything was fresh, it carried the aura of newness precisely. Kaziranga, never fails to mesmerise me for it has a dense green belt and is home to a large variety of birds and animals. The jeep ride brought me closer to nature. As a child, I believed I was special for I smelt things from  far off distances, fast forward today I know that it was stupid of me back...