"SHE"...... The Dream Along....

The phrase “Driving me crazy” always came across to me as a ‘negative connotation’, something that we guys are very comfortable with. However, it’s only recently that I realized that there was a positive angle to it as well, a rather surprising discovery. So did a lot of other phrases such as “Butterflies in my stomach”and “Going Pink”. Does this deep thinking make me a literary fanatic, or a divine enthusiast? I’d rather not say so. After all, these thoughts were driven into me, a poetry hating mortal, courtesy a SHE

“SHE”, another overhyped, overrated, complex word (that’s what I thought previously) that normal guys like to avoid found its way into my world, my humble abode. Since then, life’s seems to have taken a U-TURN. My guidelines, “CASUAL”, “EASY-GOING”,”DON’T CARE”, my rules till sometime back have been replaced by “THOUGHTFUL”, “WISHFUL”, “DREAMY” characteristics. Should I be worried, hell ya. After all, I find myself doing the same things I “PROTECTED” (at least I tell myself so) my friends from indulging in.

How has this entire thing affected me?
• Well, for starters, my dream-world seemed to have expanded its boundaries. After all, I find myself lost in it thinking of all the sweet gooey emotional moments that I would like to spend my “SHE” time in. What follows is the yearning that “SHE” also thinks of me the same way. Next comes the never-ending saga of questions: does she – does she not?
• Secondly, my “SET-IN-STONE” resolve of not making a girlfriend or getting emotionally attached for fear of hurting the other or getting hurt seems to have melted. That bastard who stood, unfaltering and fearlessly, beside me all these years traded places just to accommodate that “SHE” into it.
• Last but not least, comes the self-confidence; this quality, my best friend for life, vanishes the moment “SHE” appears in my vicinity. All I’m left is mumbling like an idiot thinking of vanishing into the dark whilst secretly wishing more time on my hands

Finally, where does that leave me? Well, on one side, stands the Rohit that I always was, denying all such things outright, obviously my preferred destination. But the more I come to think of it, the more I think of the “THOUGHTFUL”, “WISHFUL”, “DREAMY” me, all the thoughts that have been following along. Then there is the prized possession, “SHE”, that I might stand to know at the end of this all.

Inspired and cautioned by Frost, I set on the road never travelled by, to know “SHE” and see if things could work. That way, I won’t be telling with a sigh that the road I did not take made all the difference. Have decided not to mind a few bumps along the way. After all, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride !!!!!!!!

The Women who Lived……… The Women who Loved

People get all the prizes in the world for 10-15 years of 8 hour/day services. I wonder if there could exist anything for people who have served for 23 years: 24 hours/day, especially if all they’ve done is love you with all their heart, and expect nothing in return. I had the privilege of having such a special person in my life, at least until recently, till I lost her to the 23rd hour of 11th September 2011. Having only heard of such losses until I feel it as I walk down that familiar path without that person to welcome me, hug me, cuddle me up, and listen to my endless crap, that pinch seems like it’s always been there forever now……….

I was told I met this guardian angel when I was 3 months old, and cuddled in her arms immediately, as if those arms were born to carry me. Since then, there has been no looking back. Those memory flashes I so very frequently have now remind me of how, as a kid, I kept her working all night to get me to close my eyes for a few moments, or how I got her to roam around the city to get me a cereal of my choice, or how I took her for those endless walks, or how she sat mending my toys every other day so that I could get 1 more shot to break it into pieces. Her recollection of every bruise, scrape that I ever had told me of how much it hurt her mentally, even though most of them hurt me a few seconds. I still remember how much she cried when she learnt that i jumped off the 1st floor and got a few stitches, and how she almost fainted when I jumped off the same floor in less than 24 hours after that. The fact that she fondly told her grandchildren/me every memory associated with me/them or that she went hungry on occasions to ensure that we had the spoils of our choice says everything about this godmother whose world began and ended around her family.

Nostalgia surrounds me as I stand outside her lair, looking inside hoping to see my damsel run out to greet me and yell to her daughter-in-laws to start making delicacies of my choice, delicacies which could always feed a battalion. Instead, what greets me is her flower crossed picture and her family (my family) kneeling at it, longing to see the wife/the mother/the grandmother jump out of it, hoping all of it is just a dream. After half a day of running around hoping to catch her in a corner, the kick of reality finally sinks in as tears start pouring out of my eyes to honor the women who changed my life, my world. Recollections of occasions where she talked of me to family/friends, of how proud she was of me, of how she was waiting to come down to Bangalore to see me, of how much she wished she could spend time with me make me wish I had the opportunity to tell her what she meant to me too.

A few people stop outside, stare to the endless wails and babbles of people talking of how she influenced them and ultimately walk away. To the world outside, it might have been just another passing away. To them she might have left this world. To us, she was a legend, a guide and a believer in faith and the power of love. She will always remain embedded in the qualities she imbibed in us, in the values that she inculcated in us. She will be missed, but she will never be forgotten.

Rest in Peace Dear Mother

A Trip back Time.........

14 Months into the Corporate World and there are a lot of things I’ve learnt in this time, some sure and some debatable. However, there is 1 thing I’ve learnt for a fact – It is very difficult to remain in contact with friends or make new ones. Despite my best efforts, I feel my relationship with my best friends gradually slipping away owing to lack of time to catch up and meet. Even the weekend evening meets seem hazy. Not surprisingly, all of my friends felt the same way. Therefore, we’ve decided to get out of B’lore this weekend and take a road trip to Ooty, to relive some of those moments of our college life.

It’s started the same old college way, with each of us turning up without making any transport arrangements. Therefore, we have been standing here for the last 2 hours. I can already feel the college air.

Wish us luck for the same. Will update you once I’m back

Happy New Beginning - Mom And Dad

A New City, A New Home

Leaving home and coming down to a new place is always a difficult thing. But leaving home to come down for your first job just takes it to a whole new level. The usually disregarded buzzes of mom and dad, relatives and everybody else on the DO’s and DONT’s of office life can actually scare a newbie to death in this case. This was precisely the phase I was in when I was coming down to Bangalore for my first step into corporate life. Such was the extent, that for a period of time, it even overpowered the fact that I would get to see new places, meet new people, make new friends, probably stare at hot girls and a lot other things which are usually a 21 year old guy’s driving force.

My first official tour of Bangalore came on the 2^nd day of my arrival, and, accompanied by my “protectors” (as my dad and his friend liked to call it), set out to explore the riches of the city. The two day long excursion took me to different corners of the city where I came across big shopping malls, 5 star hotels, fancy apartments, posh restaurants, widespread roads, AC buses to the roadside stalls, 1 room dormitories, brick houses, roadside thelas, uncemented roads and tempos giving me glimpses of its developed cosmopolitan life as well as the rough and tough Indianized way of life. This two day “joyride” confused me as to how a city with so much variance managed not to tear itself apart. It’s not that variance does not exist in other metro cities. But its (variance’s) high growth rate gave it an entirely new perspective here.

The next few days turned out to be hectic, only to begin with me rushing to catch an auto, skipping traffic signals in a vain attempt to get to the office on time, and ending with me waiting for an auto back home while looking out at its (the city’s) rollercoaster life. Before I realized it, a month had passed.

Today, after the countless fights that I’ve had with the auto drivers, after the countless friends I’ve made, after the countless girls I’ve stared at, after the countless times I’ve missed getting down at my bus-stop, and after my numero lunches at different eateries in the city, I’ve finally realized why this city still stands strong.

Though how perplexed it may sound, the answer to this question comes from the city itself. It comes in the form of a reassuring smile it gives you when you are upset, it comes in the form of a helping hand it gives you when you are lost, comes in the form of reassurance when you are troubled, company when you are lonely, support when you are low, courage when you are broken and many other things that it personifies.

I’m not saying that it makes life a bed of roses. In fact, it tortures you, tantalizes you, irritates you, fails you, and makes life unfair for you. But, even after all that, it still provides you hope, a sense of homeliness, and a feeling that that no matter what happens, it is there to support and guide you.

It’s that mystique that resonates all around the place, giving it its charisma and its charm.

It’s the same aura that keeps the bond between it and its inhabitants alive.

This is its enchantment, its magic.

The LGBT affair

They've been instances in our evolution where we've attempted to address issues that've turned out to be way beyond discussion.Similarly there've been issues that've been widely debated and questioned only to discover that they were'nt even worth consideration in the first case.The latest issue to have carved its way into the latter category has been the Delhi High Court verdict decriminalizing homosexuality,commonly known as the LGBT affair.

The LGBT affair,used to connote Lesbians,gays,Bisexuals,transsexuals has since time immemorial been a contention widely in discussion.But owing to the stigma surrounding it,did'nt find the support contemporary thinkers.The rallies,strikes in the West must have caused an article or two being penned down by its protagonist,but was quickly drowned out in the plethora of other social issues before it even had a chance to cause any repercussions.

But the recent High Court ruling seemed to have awakened all the LGBT's who've pitched this to be their do-or-die endeavor.The weeks surrounding the rulings have witnessed a lot of debates and discussions,mostly ending up hostile,between the open minded aficionado's and religious fanatics with the latter claiming " Nature's way to be the only way of life ".

I start my analysis with the antagonists who claim " Nature's way to be the only way of life ". Their flagrant claim that it increases the chances of people contracting HIV/AIDS and instances of child abuse is rubbished by doctors and medical experts who believe that HIV would come down as now people would take more precautions than they did earlier because of reduced social burden.And regarding the child abuse claim,i'd like to remind them of their so called success rate before the law was decriminalized and ask them how far had they been successful in mitigating it.Moreover the child protection laws we have are more than legislatively enabled to deal with such cases.

Now coming down to the LGBT's ,i believe that they have the right to display their affection, emotions and feelings irrespective of creed and sex.Just like other people they have the right to personal freedom and deserve to live their lives instead of the discrimination and harrassment they are constantly subjected to.I'm perfectly cool with the fact of having to live with an LGBT as my neighbour and see no reason why someone would not feel so.Furthermore,the affection they recieve from their partners makes them confident individuals and their children emotionally secure and responsible future citizens(am sayin this confidently because i've interacted with a few LGBT's and their families).

Coming down to the end,inspite of all discussions and country wide debates there will still be two sides of a coin.Their are some issues one side claims support of to reject the verdict while their are a lot other issues which help favour the supporting side.Inspite of all issues,there is one thing that has to be accepted:-LGBT's will continue to live inspite of whether the society accepts or rejects them.So its best if we end worthless discussions and instead focus on accomodating them in our social sphere coz they will be here,ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

Fantastic Federer

There are some things which look great only to die down in time.

But there are some things which go straight down into history books.

Andy Roddick's miss-hit at the baseline is the quintessence of what would

go down in history as the biggest miss-hit of all times and possibly the

most celebrated one too (at least by fedex fan's).The epic final, possibly the greatest Wimbledon one ever, stretched on for 4 hrs and 16 mins before the great man broke Roddick's serve , the only one in the match ,to capture Wimbledon 2009 ,the 15th Grand Slam and reclaim the

World's no. 1 rank

It all began in the afternoon with Roddick winning the toss and serving, both men quickly establishing that they meant business. Fusillades of Cross-court forehands and backhands, dive returns and tiring long rallies were some of the characteristics seen from the start of the match. Breaking Federer's serve, Roddick took the first set 7-5 .Quickly down 2-6 in the tie breaker of the 2nd set ,Destiny's child showing nerves of steel by holding on to Roddick's serve with the adept backhand slices ,took home the set. Taking advantage of the shell-shocked Roddick, Federer took the 3rd set in the tie break, 7-6(5).

Fuelled by loss in the last 2 sets, Roddick jumped up his play and with extraordinary serving and hitting ,snatched the 4th set 6-3 , blocking Federer's attempts to try stop him. Now came the apotheosis to the final. Inspired by the presence of the pantheon's of Wimbledon, (Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Rod Laver) the champions raised their game intriguing the entire arena. Both men held on to their serves for the first 16 games firing a fusillade of aces. There were some anxious moments as Andy got 2 match points in the 17th game on Federer's Serve, but Federer prevailed with some hard serving. Who would have thought that this would turn out to be the turning point of the game.

It was finally in the 30th game that came the break, the crack, when the Swiss maestro got an advantage on the American's serve, eventually breaking it to seal the set and the match. Federer's instantaneous reaction said it all .The exhilaration ,the euphoria of success which seemed to burst out of the calm and serene champion ,indicated just how much the Swiss went through ,both mentally and physically , before reaching this juncture

One can not help but feel sorry for the American, Andy Roddick, who in spite of giving his best ,lost at the critical moment. As he sat there probably thinking about the second set and the 2 match points he lost , one could not help but salute the man who nearly derailed the Swiss

giant. Federer might have outlasted him ,but he certainly did not defeat Andy Roddick.

But the Swiss, 6 years and 68 titles later, managed to keep his date with Destiny. He certainly silenced his critics by showing us today why he still is the champion. Pete Sampras declared “Today an icon is born ".

Now, probably staring at the title, Fedex would realize that the only man standing between his way to achieving further greatness is staring

back at him-HE HIMSELF.