The Poet in me - 8

Why we are, what we are,

Why we are, what we are,

Why we are, how we are,

Why we are, who we are,

We think public roads are our Vihar,

We want to be ahead of the Traffic,

We have the freedom to abuse and be violent with people in the Traffic,

We think we are right,

We think others are wrong,

We have the freedom to be indisciplined,

We have the freedom to be irresponsible,

We are free, we are Indians,

We are chaos, we are rich, we are poor,

We are, what we are, we are free, we are independent!

I want to reach the unreachable

ಕಾಣದ ಕಡಲಿಗೆ ಹಂಬಲಿಸಿದೆ ಮನ...

My heart yearns to hit the sea one day, the sea that I can't see,

I wait to reach the shores, while I am at the sea,

I want to see the depths of the sea, that I can't reach.

I dream of dreams, that can never come to life,

I aspire for heights, that I can't reach,

I hope to retire right now, but the work won't retire me,

I long to write stories, that would never hit the stores,

Blessed with love, companionship, laughter, friends, happiness, skills, every struggle seems worth!

The Door stopper

When I become a symbol of resistance, I am the door stopper,

When I rebel, I am the door stopper,

When I carry the weight of my responsibilities, I am the door stopper,

I am holding back my emotions behind the door,

I am hiding my strain behind the door,

It's taking the juice out of me, it's still fun to have a purpose,

I hold doors on all possible floor types,

I am the door stopper, trusting my grip to hold the door,

I am bonded to my door, I have no choice but to hold the door,

Praying for strength for each of us to hold our doors, and continue to be efficient door stoppers!

The doors that I have

The doors that I keep'em closed,

The doors that I keep'em open,

The doors that I hide,

The doors that I am ashamed of,

The doors that I boast,

The doors that I shy away from,

The doors that I let some in,

The doors that I let everyone in,

The doors no one knows I have,

The doors that even I am not aware of,

The doors that are locked for ever,

The doors that I hate to open,

The doors that I am forced to enter,

The doors that I am willing to break,

The doors that I can't break open,

The doors that I can barely hold,

The colourful doors,

The happy doors,

The dark doors,

The secret doors,

The fantacy doors,

The damaged doors,

The doors that has no walls,

The doors that opens to more doors.

What doors do you have?

Question of question

It's a question of right to question,

It's a question of freedom to question,

Questioning the questionable,

Questioning the kings,

Questioning the Gods,

Questioning the myths,

Questioning the unfathomable.

The audacity to question,

The hurt ego when questioned,

The question to hurt ego,

The question of a hurt ego.

Sangeeth ki talash mein

एक समय की बात है...

Dhoondne chala mein ek avaaz ki talash mein,

Ek tarfa pyar mein jo gira,

Utha liya mein ek Guitar ko,

Socha tha dard bhare geet gaunga,

Magar patha chala mere andar Sangeeth ka Sa bhi nahi tha,

Pyar na milne ka dard toh mit gaya,

Mere andar Sangeeth na hone ka dard cha gaya,

Isi gham mein liktha chala gaya mein,

Likhte likhte pata chala, khalipan aur niraasha phail raha tha mein,

Aur andhar khoj ne se, Sangeeth phir bhi nahi mila,

Mila tho sirf shabdhon ka khajana.

Khudh se pooch

Kuch khoj ne nikla hu...saath chaloge?

Ek safar tay karna hein..saath nibhaoge?

Safar lamba rahega...aakhir tak rahoge?

Samandar paar karna hein, terna nahi aata...sambhaloge?

Har mod pe mushkilen milenge...hosla badaoge?

Ruk jaunga, haar mantha jaunga...Josh bharoge?

Iss safar mein, teenon ka "Haan" zaruri hein...teenon ko pooch:

Uss se pooch..

Khuda se pooch..

Khud se pooch.

Life Experiences - 2

My Strange Mind and it's imaginations

I found myself in the Jail's visitor lounge...there was chaos, people crying, anxious to meet their relatives, the officials denying entry to many.

I somehow could get in easily. Though I struggled to fill a form that was very complicated, my application form was immediately approved and was asked to enter and wait inside a huge hall.

The hall was dark, scary & intimidating. While I was slowly walking towards the seating area, I was regretting that I didn't bring him anything, either to eat or as a casual gift.

He was sitting in the corner, dejected, disinterested, angry, frustrated. I was there to visit a friend from my school days. We were never close, we never met regularly, we don't even have each other's Number.

He didn't even make an eye contact, yet he knew who I was.

"Why are you here?"

"I really don't know...something called me"

"What the F@#£, we have hardly met a few times after School!"

"I know it sounds strange, but something in me pushed me to come here...or something in you called me here... it's a calling which I couldn't resist or ignore"

I woke up to this strange dream, which made absolutely no sense. I don't know why that poor guy was imagined to be in Jail.

I can never understand the strangeness of how our mind thinks, imagines. I don't know what transpired for my mind to create such a scene. My mind is a stranger within me that elopes myself from me. The sudden spike of anger, behaviour, reactions, responses are just not so me!

Process of getting Old

I am at that age where I feel everyone else of my age looks older than their age, except me.

While the reality is...

My wife seems to be becoming younger with her thoughts, her choice of music and she finds me 100 years old with my choice of music, travel options. She likes crowd, people, hustle, and I hate people, love seclusion.

I request them for growth - the earnings refuse to grow, my hairs deny to grow, but my best buddies are my tummy and debts, they keep growing without even asking me!

I instruct, I preach, I correct, I find mistakes, I am angry, I lose temper, I get stressed, I get frustrated, I get irritated, I welcome myself to the process of getting old!

The unexplainable unease

In the thick of action,

Busy with the hectic life, unending work,

Eternal struggles,

Amidst the daily marathon,

Running around to fulfill duties,

Busy living life,

Despite getting respite from breaks, vacations, friends, there's always this empty space, that needs to be filled.

The unexplainable unease, unanswered questions, and when the empty spaces get filled, that's the contentment one needs.

The power of manifesting

A good friend of mine strongly believes in the power of Manifesting. He says he was able to fulfil one of his biggest dreams, mainly by manifesting and things started happening.

I have personally experienced the power of help pouring from unknown quarters and getting me through a tough phase, when I had made up my mind to get through at any cost.

When I shared my biggest dream with him, he said just Manifest and see the magic, not half hearted, not half baked approach, go all out, give your everything.

I can relate to his belief, as I believe in the power of imagination, than the power of knowledge. Knowledge teaches, tutors on foregone conclusions, based on someone else's experiences and understanding.

While the power of imagination makes me do things that I never knew. This can be over simplified by few and call it "self learning".

How many of us do things at work, that we have learnt or been taught? How do you prepare for a question or a problem posed by a client in a meeting? Do we go prepared? The ability to imagine the problem and the probable solution is what we do.

Do you Manifest? Do you trust your imagination?

Indianness

The Pride

The pride in calling ourselves as Indians at times, and distancing ourselves from rest of India at times to suit our convenience, to suit our situation, is yet another proof that we are a Union of mini countries within a country.

As more and more states are seriously considering reserving 100% jobs in their own States, proves that it's a farse and superficial to identify ourselves under one Nation.

We are so used to the concept of reservations, as we started with Caste, Sub caste, Religion, Gender and now based on Language, that eligibility, merit is literally shown middle finger.

Imagine every State bringing in this law, and Business, employment and opportunities are limited to our own States. What if every Company decides even Vendors will be within the State, then our play area will be restricted, and competition within the small region will kill many smaller companies! Kudos to the idea of reservations!!

Should I think as an entrepreneur, employer or a Kannadiga!!??

Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day, Happy Independence Day...the wish is peppered all over, to spend this Off day.

Today it's supposed to be a moment of pride, feel patriotic, feel the oneness, feel proud to be Indian. The leaders unfortunately are political and lead the nation based on their personal, ideology based agendas.

The executives, officials work to amass Money. We citizens live for ourselves, we are selfish, we want our problems to be solved first, we feel we are privileged.

Probably only the Military and Defence are the real Indians who proudly, without any expectations, with absolute respect for Nation and Borders, put their lives at risk.

What is the idea of India? It's a union of States, each State very distinctive in culture, language, practices, history, aspirations and no reason to be accommodative to someone from another Indian State. We want our Water for ourselves, our land for ourselves, our jobs for ourselves, our resources for ourselves.

The idea of India was formed during the freedom movement. The freedom movement was all about ousting a "foreign" ruler. Should we accept someone now, who doesn't speak my language, whose ideology I don't agree?

PS: Now = all PMs since 1947 till date.

We are indisciplined, we give a hoot to people and lives, we want our job to be done first, we have all the right to abuse and hit someone, and even funny we have loopholes to getaway with anything!

And yet I am obligated to express great pride and emotion, especially today, because it's become a Fad!

If one has to be proud of the Nation, there should be clarity on the idea of the Nation. Should we continue to be proud of our definition so far - unity in diversity? Or should we start feeling pride with the new definition being pushed - Hindu rashtra?

I would say, things are very fragile. Language, religion/caste, Political barriers are so solid, strong and the pride is towards these than the nation, these three aspects can put down India to it's knees in a blink of an eye. A Mob can just turn a town upside down, vandalize everything and it's freedom.

I am forced to pay heavy taxes for even breathing, but no freedom to question how it's being spent by our Leaders.

An unruly guy can drive most dangerously on the roads, abuse and even hit me and run away, but I don't have the freedom to cross 60 KMPH speed, because I will be fined.

Why am I highlighting only Negatives and downside of our Nation and not the Positives? Everyone else today are highlighting only positives, good speeches, I am highlighting the other side, so that balances out.

Happy Independence Day - Now what?

The day to wish "Happy Independence Day" on all WhatsApp groups and posting Status is over.

The moment of pride, feeling patriotic is over. I wonder if those wishing "Happy Independence Day" are really proud with objectivity or just emotional just because their favourite leader is giving a speech.

The political push for celebrating Independence Day is more of their opportunity to stand and give speeches.

For India to progress, we were always looking out for a visionary leader, and we trusted and believed we got one in 2014. But he again turned out to be just another Politician, but with better oratory skills. He has been good at coining new terms "Ache Din", "Amrit Kaal", "Viksit Bharat", but the hopes remains a hope.

How can we progress as a Nation? Before that how can we become a better Nation, that each of us are really proud of?

I feel the no.of Languages, States, Religions, Castes are the main culprits that is stopping us to move forward.

Education, Poverty are not the real reasons for one to be indisciplined and disrespectful. Being a Human being is a good enough reason to be civilized.

I have realised this during my visits to a few countries from the last few years.

The discipline, respecting others, being mindful, sensible, considerate has nothing to do with Education or Poverty, it's just engrained in their Culture.

We do not have commonly accepted social sense, morality and ethics, each of us have our own definitions.

Unless we inculcate discipline and social responsibility and make it a basic quality to live in a City, we will not progress.

For India to become a better Nation, we citizens should improve our quality of behaviour in society as Step 1.

The politicians must focus on generating Jobs, improving infrastructure outside the Citys to ensure people stay in their hometowns.

I still will not have hopes of any changes, because our Language and Religion differences will keep pulling us down, and Politicians can't survive without fingering these two!

If every citizen follows law to the word, traffic rules and stop littering, without being policed, half the battle will be won!

Basically, we are not ready to take criticism positively and this quality of ours will keep us where we are forever.

Multi linguistic problem

Another instance of Hindi Vs local language conflict, where an auto driver was made the villain.

Not sure why the immigrants expect the less educated, born n brought up in smaller towns to know and learn another Language, while the educated, migrating to other states in search of white collared jobs, can't learn any other language!

It is a worldwide phenomenon and a problem/conflict faced by many countries in the world, and not a unique problem within India. Recently, Sweden announced a $34K payout offer, if immigrants decided to go back to their home country.

We Indians have to first accept the reality that "India" is a union of mini-nations, with individual identity, culture, heritage & language.

India is a loosely knit nation, as our idea of India is the State where we reside.

If every mini-nation focus on developing infrastructure, creating job opportunities and yet co-exist with mutual transactions, that's when we can superficially call ourselves "one nation" and welcome each other for transactional purposes.

Let's Celebrate - Part 4

Tata Airplane

As you enter/exit the Delhi Airport, there is this beautiful and imposing stretch of wide, well made Road and the passersby can get stunning views of Flights taking off and landing.

And people park by the side to take pictures, selfies & for Reels.

What caught my attention however is a group of people standing on a small heap of Mud to get a better view of the Flights. With each sighting of Flight they were clapping & waving, the innocence was a happy feeling, with no Mobile clicks but were consuming what they were witnessing with an ecstatic feeling.

It reminded me of our younger days in the old Bangalore Airport, where we could have similar sightings of Flights up close behind the Gallery as we waved Goodbye to our Uncles even as they entered the Flight.

The excitement and elite feeling was there as we started travelling by Air, but as we all become frequent flyers, it's only a pain to wake up early, stand in long Queues, those security checks, impatient copassengers, long walks, knees and legs begging for space, neither can you sleep or sit, yet one guy will be snoring aloud!

What does Krishna mean to you?

He is my source of strength, he is my source of belief, he is the light, he is the music, he is Love, he is an emotion, he is the calming sound of the crystal clear waters of the Yamuna river.

Krishna is exquisite, he is a friend, he is a Guru, he is a bliss. Krishna is my protector, Krishna is my saviour...I feel him, I connect to him, he knows me, I know him!

My Frustrations - 1

Why do people follow someone blindly?

This recent Hathras stampede incident again prompted me to mull over this craze of fan following of individuals, hero worshipping. Be it a Gyan Guru, God Man, Politician, Actor, Artist, one can get inspired but they have their own life to lead. I fail to understand their hyper emotions towards their Heroes.

Be it this Baba, the free Gyan preachers, Modi, Darshan, Dhoni or a SRK - they all do what they do for a living, but what is the need for a common man to get emotional about? I always found this aggressive passion, obsession nauseating, but pity them as well for their mental weakness. I always wondered what goes in their mind? Why do they make their heroes their life agenda!

The psychology behind this fandom is a good case study, to understand how their behavioral, emotional aspects get altered. A fan could be experiencing a deep emotional attachment, sense of belongingness, sense of entitlement, which eventually leads to toxic obsession.

Do I admire anyone at all? Ofcourse I do admire a lot of daily heroes, achievers, but am I a fan of anyone? No, I am not!

Does the fan following represent weak minds? Finding Solace? Egolessness?

Not following anyone, not emotionally invested in anyone, is it an Ego? Or is it just busy with our own lives?

The Tax Collectors

While at one end, small companies like mine are being harassed by Govt, to collect some old interest dues of Rs. 22,000, on the other hand one man is spending Rs. 5,000 Crores on a wedding, doesn't this raise any question at all??

While at the outset the celebration indeed looks like a Circus, vulgar display of wealth....Ridiculously, mindlessly splurging money, a lot of people are making business out of this event, be it caterers, event organizers, media, Hotels, Cabs, which is the only good part about this wedding.

Rs. 5000 Crores! Wow, that's a lot of money wasted! For what? To celebrate son's wedding!? Every Indian celebrates weddings as grand as possible, but the celebrations are with, for, of the people they love, family, friends and relatives. What is this joy of celebrating with stars, International stars? who don't even know them, they are there just because they are paid in Crores!

Those few stars (Kohli, RG, Tapsee Pannu, Kareena Kapoor) who skipped the event are real heroes now!

The nonsense Budget

Done with Budget anticipation, anxiousness...both sides reading similar scripts, supporters praising the budget, the other side calling it a nonsense budget.

Whether something is in there for us or not, we have to just helplessly endure whatever is thrown at us. The diagram describes we are just kaput!

The markets have clearly shown disappointment, and all of us lost money.

The perks of supporting a party to form Govt is clearly visible, as 2 states won the lotteries.

Living to their principle of Continuance of policies, even in this new Budget they have ensured Poor remains poor, rich remain rich and the middle class shown the middle finger!

That perfect Kaapi pudi

The definition of good coffee started with Chamundi Coffee Works at Chamarajpet, in my younger days, though I wasn't in love with it yet...as we relocated to a different place many years ago, we switched to Srinivasa Coffee. I thought it was a perfect migration until we again relocated home down further in the city.

Since then we have tried Coffee day, Aruna, Chikmagalur, Kotha's, Malekoor, Janata...nothing seemed to work...we decided to go back to Srinivasa Coffee and went all the way to Gandhi Bazaar to get our satiating coffee pudi every month, now even that is not satisfactory!

The coffee that is served at relative's house seems perfect. It turns out even they get the coffee pudi from one of these same options... though I don't know the technicalities of preparing a good Filter Coffee, wonder why coffee at other's house always seems nice!

We have become so fussy and particular in picking our Kaapi pudi, it has become an explorative shopping exercise every month!

Attraction Vs Abuse

Who doesn't like the sight of a beautiful woman, an amazing god's creation, feels like God incarnated himself in those beautiful women.

A woman's shyness, her aura, her curves, her sophistication, her beauty, her sensuality, her look, all drool worthy, praise worthy and deserves all the admiration that makes any Man a shayar and can go to any extent to win her love, pamper her and woo her.

A Man is wired and designed to get attracted to a Woman, love a woman, but none of us understand the psychic behind these Rapes! Why would anyone even think of making such a godly, romantic act, a horrific and atrocious act!?

Is it really the desire, sexual urge, or just a narcissistic personality, or is it just asserting male dominance?

Whatever the reason, it's sickening, inhuman!

With so many Sexual assault cases being reported in India, it doesn't mean India is the most unsafe country and rest of the world is safe. Statistically speaking, India stands at 100th position with 2.6 cases for every 1 Lakh women. Supposedly developed, more civilized places like England has over 100 cases per Lakh and U.S reporting 40 cases per Lakh.

So, it's beyond religion, geography, poverty, education, principles, society, language, caste or colour.

Happy Gandhi Jayanthi!

Apart from thanking Gandhi for giving us a mid-week holiday, a break from work, the relevance of Gandhi seems to be fading, atleast for the next generations.

Besides what the history books, movies, his followers, politicians want us to believe, I still remember my visit to Sabarmati Ashram and he is indeed a great philosopher and preacher.

What was impressive about Gandhi was his firm decision to stay away from Politics.

Many parallels can be drawn between Gandhi & Modi. Both had evident abilities to galvanize large crowds, inspire people.

A narrative created by followers that everything good that happened in their era is because of them. The difference however is, Gandhi never did chest thumping and had "Me Me Me, I, I, I" in his speeches.

Gandhi's famous three monkey metaphor that one should not see evil, speak evil, hear evil. The funny yet interesting take these days is, but out of three, two can see evil, two can hear evil, two can speak evil.

The take away in the present context, if I shut my eyes, ears and mouth to keep the society sane, there are a lot more monkeys in our society to malign our ecosystem!

Free thoughts - 5

Wish we Humans didn't Speak!

How do I think? In what language does my thinking process work?

Do you think in English or mother tongue? I wonder how my wife thinks, since she literally has 2 mother tongues!!

Is it why Humans are more intelligent than any other animal, because we have linguistic skills?

Scientists with their research and experiments do not agree that our minds use any language to think. Human's efficiency is seen only because we have linguistic skills to communicate our ideas, imaginations to others. In fact, the scientists suggest it's additional activity for the brain to put words to the thoughts!

Our mind is indeed a strange thing, I sometimes feel, though it's part of my body, still works independently. While it keeps yapping and screaming inside, I can still hold a calm and smiling face.

With the chaos, traffic, irritations outside, I can simply put on a headset, a soothing music can keep it calm.

Ageing with purpose

Recently read about an elderly lady's inspiring story of how she outsmarted loneliness, by making her younger day dreams a reality.

The widow with both daughters settled abroad, now spends time meditating, going on solo bike rides and making Insta reels.

Human life is no less than a wonder there is so much we can do with our lives. It is so overwhelming, that we often find ourselves wondering the purpose and life objective. Which by the way keeps changing in each stage of our lives.

The question remains a mystery: How do we derive meaning, purpose at the end of the road, especially when we find ourselves alone.

Done with the life race, what do I do to inspire myself, motivate myself? All the achievements, success, failures are worth when someone stands by you and appreciates, Or you do it to impress someone or for someone.

Is spirituality the only answer?

I have seen many people living in solitude, loving themselves, living for themselves, happy in their own world.

Would it be possible for the majority of us who have all our lives lived for the people, by the people, of the people and society?

I also came across a lonely middle aged man chugging Beers alone at a Bar Table. He was enjoying the music, dancing alone, laughing alone, taking selfies, yet silent most of the times...many of us in the Pub had one thing to say about him "What a Psycho!"

In the Grind, with a wish for Magic

"I wanna be a billionaire, so freaking bad"...I feel it, many I know express they feel it, do you?

Not that any of us want a short cut, we just know we deserve it!

They say money can't buy happiness, peace. But every bloody thing in the world needs money!

Atleast I do not have the lucky stars to turn gold everything I touch, slogging is part of our lives, not complaining though!

Be it PSY who created "Gangnam style" or the Ketchup Song creators became billionaires overnight. It doesn't matter what they did later, or if they still are active.

Not everyone, every profession has this possibility to turn around things overnight, neither do we have any extraordinary skills nor talent, so let's shut up and continue to grind!

The Saturdays in Mondays

Life is filled with Mondays, wish I get to feel a Saturday in every day, wish everyone in my life is a Saturday.

I am blessed to have Saturday in my friends, in my loved ones, but those dreaded Mondays spoil every single Saturday moment.

Aah, those beautiful Saturdays, the vibe, the fun, the frolic, the freedom, the goodness, the joblessness, the feeling of being stress-free, the laugh, the peace.

Music is my Saturday, travelling is my Saturday, Lying on a beach shack is my Saturday, a cozy farm stay is my Saturday, sipping on a aromantic Coffee with my people at Home is my Saturday, building some intelligent, creative Solutions is my Saturday.

Until a Monday calls and makes my Saturday get irritated.

Monday is so atrocious that it has sucked out everything out of Sunday. It has left Sunday so anxious that it has lost its sheen!

Who is your Saturday, What makes you feel a Saturday?

Hello Me

Standing in the middle of the road,

No passersby either way,

The long road doesn't seem to end,

I stand alone,

I am staying afloat on a boat alone,

With endless water all around,

Purposeless & aimless, I stand and wait to seek relief from loneliness,

I see myself walking towards me,

I smile and greet myself,

I touch the other me to see if it's a Mirror or my delusion,

I opened my arms wanting for life in my life, light in my life.

Am I happy to meet myself? Am I happy to meet someone like me? Do I need to change myself to become a better person to be a good company to even myself?

My Pie

I have taken my pie,

I have taken my piece,

I am holding the portion that I deserve,

I have taken only what is mine,

I have the right, I have the freedom, I am not to be blamed.

It's the Mindset, it's the adamancy to not see through things, it's the inability to think straight that's hurting society. It's the Mindset of People in power, the Hero worshippers, people in Queue, people in Traffic.

Expression of freedom, without being Mindful,

Claim of Rights, without compassion,

Logicless thought process,

Perceptions without Sensibility, sensitivity, empathy or sympathy.

Thoughts 36,000 Feet above

Looking down from the flight window,

Makes me think, thoughts flows like a river.

It makes one think above and beyond.

Thinking from the top, the dialogues within,

Perspectives from 36,000 Feet above,

Disconnected from the world, just amidst the bed of clouds,

The burden of inability to make the mind stop,

Unable to decide if it's thinking over the top, or thinking over and above,

Mulling over indecisions, knowing the difference between knowing things and doing things, acknowledging knowing what can't be done.

Everything seems like the open sky - endless, above and beyond.

Looking down at the problems like tiny objects from the top, Seeing life from a larger perspective, yet when you land to reality, the problem continues to be the unmovable mountains.

The Landing can either feel like coming back to the chaos from the dreamy run, or to have arrived like an angel!