Her smiles breached the horizon.
He whiffs,
She flutters.
He twinks,
She winks.
Entwined are they
In a dream beyond reach
He never said,
What he felt.
She always felt,
What he never said.
Thus the story of love,
between the Breeze and the Dew.
-!nversed Poignancy!
In mute protest
Of being confused
Until am left with
A blank expression
-!nversed Poignancy!
The other day I was reading the personal blog of an old acquaintance of mine who’s currently going through a rather painful breakup. She’s in her mid-20s, has been married once before and has children , so clearly this is a road she’s at least a little un-familiar with, which is why I was so surprised by her recent breakup confession. She wrote on her blog that the hardest thing she’s done so far — that one thing that has made this breakup “real” in her mind — was changing her Facebook status from “in a relationship” to “single.” Really? I thought. It wasn’t telling him you can’t see him anymore, or getting the key to your apartment back from him, or returning the clothes he kept in the corner of one of your dresser drawers that made you realize how over and done your relationship is? It was changing a line in your Facebook profile that sealed the deal for you and made it real?
Maybe I’m just out of the loop. Since the time I signed onto Facebook a couple years ago, I have never got an opportunity to make any kind of a transition from my being "single" status (*Lolz, thats confession!!*) , so I missed out on any potential Facebook-related relationship anxiety. The only status updates I’ve made are from “none” to “songle”, which was met with a chorus of sarcastic “congratulations” and bland question marks. I guess the public notice of a relationship that’s gone in the opposite direction is met with its own chorus of comments from the peanut gallery — comments that while perhaps well-intended can make a breakup seem more devastating than it has to be?
All of this has me wondering about how and when a person decides to update his or her status to “in a relationship.” I imagine that could be as nerve-racking as changing it to “single,” right? Like, what if you haven’t defined your relationship yet? What if one person thinks she’s in a relationship, but the other person disagrees? Is Facebook sort of like a passive-aggressive way to make a point with the person you’re dating that you’re ready to be exclusive? Or, is it more like a way to announce to people that you’re off the market? Those of you who have navigated the waters of awkward or painful relationship status updates on Facebook, what have been your experiences? Did Facebook really provide the closure and answer you needed to move on?
Why dont we have some research in this regard :) :)
Ok, seems like I am beating around the bushes. Hmm, let me come to the IET- I had a short chat the today with a friend of mine over the phone and that triggered some sort of an idiocy in me and made me go bong over "what actually missing someone means?". Is it like you are having a deja vu and amnesia together? or is it like the past suddenly oozes out of your grey matter and stings that portion between your eye and the brain- causing unplanned patterns to hover over and towards your eyes?!. Or is "missing someone" just a matter of some mere hoaxical illusion which was a result of either you having a good memory-unit or a bad processor pipe-lining. But,what I felt was that missing doesn't always relate to "missing someone/something" neither is it a some sort of a "yearningness" or "craving". Its something else. Something more than all of these.
I was wondering if my feelings like "I am missing my 'hi' and 'hellos' with a friend with whom I am hi-bye types" or "Thinking about some chick in my class who never seemed to be one when she was around me" or "Just a lame voidness over someone" is a inference of the "Real Missing feeling"?.
I actually felt that I badly missed being struck with those millions of "hi" and "bye" that were thrown upon me during my school days-*from a few of them specifically ofcourse :P*. I felt like I wanted to talk to that little girl from the other school who only said "Hi" all through our facial bombardments and I missed hearing a simple hello from her again. And now sitting here, I am just thinking as to how many people have crossed my life and somewhere all of them have left an impression. Some are the ‘best things’ happened to me. Some have made me to cross the road, taken my hand and then hidden somewhere...where? I don’t know !. And some of them who have been the limits of my para-emotional integration and derivatives of my ortho-emotional derivations. But,the best thing is that I hardly remember even a handful of them at this point ,but, I do miss all of them.
So, what started as a voidness, then turned into a "IET" ,finally turned into a nice little blog post :P and a nitty conclusion which says
May be the purpose of the entire process of "missing" and "voidness" is a well wrapped element of higher order 'process resynchronization' with each of their entry into your life being acknowledged by you missing them. May be they have taught us what you needed to learn, may be they have nothing more to give…and so they leave.May be they’re moving on to be part of a different plan, just as you and I move and influence others.But, at the end of the day its all a kind of a realization behind a simple one-liner --
“You can never replace anyone because everyone is made up of such beautiful specific details”
Ever since I’ve known Chomy(Yup!, thats 18 looooooooong years now! :P), she'd always wanted to find the man of her dreams and get married. I’ve rarely met someone with that objective so clear in their mind! I remember She and me watching the movie "Life in a Metro" together and me telling her how much Konkona’s character reminded me of her.
Over the years and our 'singlehood', Chomy and I have had many discussions on finding "the right one". One question she often had was how she would know for sure when he came along! How does one know, really? Much airtime has been wasted (or not) in discussing the lack of good 'ones' (really, where are these lads and lasses?!) and the fact that our good years were slowly fading away.
I mostly enjoyed playing an elder brotherly role and (in my infinite wisdom!) usually tried to impart, what I hope, was good advice. You will know, when you meet him, I said. Things will fall into place. When the stars align everything will work out! And so on and so forth. Through our heartbreaks and setbacks, I often told her that things that are destined to happen, will happen and surely they would happen to her too. Very soon. "You can’t rush things", I said, they will happen when the time is right. I even remember Shylaja Aunty(Chomy's Mom) took us to the some temple and had gotten our futures read to assure both of us that good things were in store.:P
Over the years, despite all my outward reassurances, I must admit that my own belief in love and romance, the institution of marriage, in happily wedded has received quite a knocking. Much as I would like to believe I have also seen so many signs to the contrary, resulting in cynicism creeping in and the rose coloured spectacles I wore when I was younger getting clouded. From being let down, from expectations not being met (and what is life without some expectation?) and from a lot of disconnect. Do I expect too much or are people just not interested? :-p
I would, of course, like to believe in love and romance, in finding "the one", but it’s difficult to muster that blind faith anymore. When I was eighteen and starry eyed, yes. But older and wiser, as they say, and things don’t quite seem the same.
So despite it all, it gives me small pleasure that eventually "Chomy-Dumbo" did meet the man of her dreams and now is about to tie the knot. While I watched — sometimes in admiration and sometimes in fascination at how fast things can move in someone else’s life (at least compared to mine!), I was thrilled to see Soumya's and R's relationship develop, mature and go straight to the altar!
I for one, am so glad that she is finally hitched. At least that way we will now be spared of her existential questions (and multiple smses) like, "err..bw does it happen in fairy tales..?", "Where's my man?!" and "when will I ever meet him?" and "ho!-c'mon- tell me Bags!"... These kind of questions, as you can imagine, are quite hard to answer ;-p
Through these years, Chomy never gave up hope though. She went about her mission with admirable enthusiasm despite the many roadblocks! I think one thing I admire her for is her single minded focus about what she wanted. And maybe that worked in the end. She did find the man and she did make everyone including herself happy.
Meanwhile, I still wonder sometimes about life and love and its related complications. Infact, one thing that Padma Aunty(Poo's mom) complains constantly about the "single status" of both her daughters, I jokingly ask her "why change what is working fine?" I try and convince her that at least we’re happy. But I realize that her goal is not our happiness, but of changing our status.
I still remain unsure about marriage and wedded bliss. (Or it might be for the simple reason that no one’s actually asked :-). Have I been on my own for too long now and gotten too used to it? What I do miss though is someone being an intrinsic part of my life and sharing and doing things together. And that is a partnership that is so much harder to achieve.
But a friend’s wedding always makes me happy. It’s a time for celebrations, for love, laughter and friends to get together. And to reinforce some of those faded beliefs.
For Choms & Mr R, wishing both of them loads and loads of happiness and good times together.
Chomy babe — the singles club will miss you! *Hugs!* :-)
Mr. R : I’ll be there when you need a shoulder to cry on dude:-p
Err..! Its finally happened. My brother at last has divested his 50% in himself ;). Its been a super mid-week bonanza for me with hectic schedules and hyperly-hallucinating minds (Yup!, I'm hallucinating about my exams which are a week away and the fact that i am yet to buy "text books"). But, even amidst all these mid-week bonanzas and hallucination quibbles there were this ever oscillating emotions in me of nostalgia,depressions, sentiments,happiness, excitement pride and some hues of nervousness too (lolz!, BTW the nervousness has no symbolic link to my exams :P).
Infact, at the uninitiated spur- I was "awestruck!". Man!, this little guy with whom I used to fight, play,eat, learn, break-window panes,glasses, souvenirs and what not, is getting married!?. Shit! I still thought that we played and broke the show-case glass just yesterday!, I still thought that just a week earlier he was sitting right besides and teaching me "6th Grade Chemistry" involving what hypothesis, theory and equations were; And dint he teach me my 10th grade 'C programming' earlier this week?! I couldn't help recalling the feeling of long summer days playing with him inside the house, right there in the living room or even those days when we used to play table-tennis on the dining table or those hours we spent trying to plot a ploy to take as many kites as we could, that flew by our terrace. Lolz! my thoughts are getting thumply whetted by the droplets of nostalgia and Gosh! guess what?- there's nothing quite like a sudden rush of nostalgia. Not that's its particularly unpleasant but the desire it raises inside to go back to a simple time, is often overwhelming and for the briefest second, you can almost believe it is possible to go back, just once.
Just as these weird thoughts pushed me into a sea of past memories, there came a dosage of depression amalgamated with sentiment( Well, i know that most of my intra-circle friends associate me to being a rather "idiotic saint"--Ahem ahem, yes guys and gals- This time i was slightly away from the normal pH). And if you ask me as to what pushed me into depression?! Well, yeah!- Its simply because I also need to end up divesting my stake on him, specially those that I purchased as an IPO. Yup!, I realised that next time I give him a punch, I would have to tackle two punches coming from the other side :( ; The next time I call him by names i would have to end up getting belted twice over! ; More trucingly the next time someone calls me "uncle" I will have to bear it all and accept it (*Darn!,Phew!,Errrr!*)
Sans punches and boot-kicks- Let me move into a rather exciting and happiness provoking aspect of this bulk divestment. Hmm...well,did I hear someone talk about the increase in my channel capacity and my contention index being doubled?!; Err, the answer to that would be a simple straight face! :-|. Actually, there's more to it than just that!- There's this tsunami of happiness that took away all those hues of melancholy that I spoke about a bit earlier ; And thats the induction of a new dimension into the family. During the past two decades, my bro has been one of my role models (Perhaps,its a common phenomena that you have your sibling as your role model) and I feel that I have inherited a lot of characteristics from him. Now, whats exciting is that from now on I would be inheriting a newer eclection of his; Every decision he takes and every move that he makes will now have two discrete components and two mutually dependent dimensions and its really exciting to take em all, learn and store em in my kitty.;)
And finally the element of pride and with it some tinge of nervousness..;). Pride essentially because he'd now be a family man, and breaking his head and "Tail" on what would seem like some really crappy issues to me and more so because for some unknown reasons he'd be fully serious and stuff (*lolz*)..Hehe..That would actually be some real fun..holy cow!, I just cant imagine him being completely mumphed in voice and keeping is funny sarcasms and puns at bay!; On the same lane there's that speck of nervousness, which does exist for obvious reasons..:)
PS: Perhaps, most of you would be familiar with my "blog-post pricing index" and someone might even ask me about the pricing of this one. Well, the answer for that is pretty unanimous and unambiguous- its "priceless" and the fact that I am typing all this sitting crouched on the third tier of a second class sleeper should say more to it than just words..:)
Foot Notes :
1. The reason I remember '6th Grade Chemistry' and '10th Grade C Programming' is because I was poor at them initially and because at a later point I excelled at them be it for bagging a centum in International Chemistry Olympiad or for winning the Junior Code Wizard '07 ;) (Perhaps, a way to convey a gratitude).
2 : QLC stands for Quarter Life Cycle!. I just put that in to make sure that all those preps that I underwent for my IIM interviews doesnt go waste(*Lolz*)
3. If by chance my bro is reading this; I am sure that he'd be pissed seeing this looooong post. But, if soever he reaches this point- Here's a "Thanks" that I need to offer ;)
Other things that I learnt and still remember:
* Cycling in 1992 (Phase 1) and 1994 (Phase 2)
* Flying a kite during the summer of 1995
* Spinning the top in 1996
* How to weave a 'maanja' thread for kite in 1996
* Playing with water on the water thats poured on the terrace to cure the concrete in 1996 (I think that this was the time when the 1st floor was constructed)
* The word "Gee" and "Schedule" (To be pronounced as skedule) in 1997
* Some small Sanskrit verses in 1998 ( He was in his 10th Grade at this point)
* Playing "singleton" cricket with the wall as the bowler in 1999
* Electrostatics, Current Electricity during 1999 ( I learnt this when I was writing his Physics Lab Record! )
* Learnt how to write the "integral" symbol and also learnt how to apply "differentiation" in 1999 (Differentiation, I think, is his favorite topic in math)
* Learnt about circles and stuff when he was preparing for his CET and IIT-JEE exams during 2000.
* Learnt about Side view and Front view Graphics in 2k1 ( This prompted me to realise at a later point that engineering graphics dint require drafter and a drawing board!!- Guess what?, his drawing board was a "tea-poy" and drafter was my uncle's "Try-Square" (!))
* During 2k2 I learnt logic design. Courtesy his Logic Design Assignment which I wrote (!)(!) [I think i learnt something about synchronous and asynchronous propagations]
* During 2k2/2k3 I learnt C programming and I used to try and write C programs for his lab programs and then again debug my logics by comparing with his.
* 2k3 to 2k5 I was under a sabbatical, more so, cos of my 12th Standard exams.. BTW, I still remember learning about "packet switching networks" which was what his final year project was based on. (I also remeber learning how to make a report. Guess what, the day before his project submission I was also awake along with his friends and he till about 2am!(that was perhaps my first night out!!))
* 2k5 onwards, I have learnt a few trick of the trade in Core banking Solutions (Which after 2 years helped me to write a complete algorithm for my friend's company which worked in provided BBS to a small-sized bank. More over, I had already learnt a bit what a Perl, SQL and stuff meant :P)
From the moment she hears her child’s first cry, she is immediately encouraged to perform the role of long-suffering, ever-vigilant, hyper-nurturing and self-sacrificing mother. It begins with the breast or bottle debate and doesn’t end until she's are put to rest. Each decision she makes is put under a microscope and analyzed to see if it fits with the social construction of motherhood.
Instead of bonding over our common struggles, women often take the opportunity to rip each other apart. A school of piranhas can sometimes be more friendly than a group of mothers engaged in a “more motherly than thou” contest. We seek to find fault with someone else’s behaviour in the hope that the little mistakes and regrets that we make on this journey are somehow not so bad.
One would never realize that the first Sunday in May is for honouring mothers from watching the commercials that have been airing on television. Like every other supposed holiday it has been turned into a great consumer fest:
The greeting card, jewellery and flower industry go into over drive as they try to convince everyone that the best way to honour their mothers is to buy a card filled with words written by others, or flowers that will die in a week. The various industries play on your emotions, reminding you of all of the sacrifices that mothers make throughout the year to convince you that buying their item will be the strongest expression of appreciation and love that you can make
Meanwhile, now that the weather is getting warmer and park season has started, the community gathering and public shaming of motherhood has once again begun. How many times have we sat in the park and the conversation turns to how some woman isn’t watching her kids closely enough, or the kid with the grape juice stain on their shirt becomes representative of the various ways in which his mother is failing? A smudge on the cheek or some dirt under the fingernails can be enough to get you permanently labelled the neighbourhood slacker. It can make you scared to leave the park bench that you are sharing with these women as you know the minute you stand up, they’ll be gossiping about the fact that it’s been six months since you’ve had your second child and you are still carrying around the baby weight
Meandering from crimson to black.
.I decipher me.
Meandering from crimson to black,
Watching the tainted sky.
Regardless of the particular ingredients,
Making life is akin to making bread or beer;
Although soil-digesting bacteria like yeasts need warmth, moisture and air
Its a fact that they also need something to feed on
To keep them alive and growing.
Almost all of the practical problems associated with making life's stem
Form too much or too little of via these basic factors.
The plop, the pain.
Drizzle, thunder and the storm.
The plops gather,live and re-live.
Pain plops,lives,wilts and dies.
Drizzle- as she whispers in my ears.
The thunder,as I hold her to my heart.
"The storm"- Is something that happened after...
Love and Life!,
What are these ?
Pang?, Pain? or are they something above all these?
The contemplation is tough,
Do you know why a boat is wrecked by a storm?
Or do you know why storms are actually born?
Well, thats more of a life for you...
Why is it that a bleeding quill offers no resilience,
Until the entirety of the parchment is completely acquired..
Or why is it that the parchment bears the pain,
When it has nothing to gain..
Well, thats love for you..
Millions of distant worlds,
Haben sie brooches of flowers, fantastic?
Clear islands in the oceans hath thus seen?
Without end or bottom of the night..
Star lights pensive!
Star pupils uncertain!
Why are'th thou alive, O puerile ?
If not..
Why hath thou died?
If you is If I..
If a yes is If a nod,
If you is If mine..
Then, I will have to mine my looks
With that element of me that's you
To an element withing you that's not you
But me in you..
You break my nights into days
Me sleeping,still asleep and dreaming
And dreaming, still dreaming, Me awake..
My night's now,
Are just another eternal day!..
When some evenings become deep,
Full of flavor,
The sun in these evenings
Dark orange and brighter yellow
Also becomes beautiful and radiant,
(The Combination!)
Feels like..
Your pores on the skin,
Penetrate through mine
And each of those beam that hits me
Wakes me back to life..
A blast from the past..:)
Redefining Specialty..
Yeah..From the special Gang of "Angles and A Demon!"
Lolz!!
They've been there when my life was dipped in tear..
They've been there when I was in fear..
They've been there when I wanted someone dear..
They've been there when I was far and near
And Now,
They're also a part of me, when we're here having a "Blast with a Beer"..
A multiple-duplex gratitudes to
#Chubby(The Queen!,..Yeah, wish you the same dear!!)
#Gayu (Hugs and more hugs to you Princess..And Wish you the same DeaR!!)
*Yeah, we share the same B'day and Souls too!*
#Doggy!(Umm, yeah..He's "The Demon amidst the Angels"..But the "Buddy maga" of my life!)
#Harshi (She's the Angel of the Angels!, Thank you (yeah, treat..?..err..yeah..thinking! )
#Suchi!.(The Goddess..!)
#Chomy (Umm..yeah..My enemy!, But an Angel too..*hugs bebo!*)
#Swatz (Dumbo and Shameless..without whom I would be Null and Void..Thank you sis!)
#Poo..and Spoo (The one a Dumbo and The other a Shameless and Dumbo too..hehe..But umm..Hugs to both of you..The new angels into the kindgom of Friends!)
