My Facebook Usage!

Zuckerberg's college project
Took the world by surprise,
On this shiny laptop screen,
Were glued all eyes!

When Facebook was born,
I was fifteen,
By the time it became a craze,
I had a mind too keen.

I registered an account,
No money or documents required,
And Zuckerberg's army was increasing,
Software engineers at whooping packages hired!

I talk to my friend miles away,
I see my cousins traveling across the seas.
A social networking mania kicked off
Which was never to cease!

One evening as I log in,
I have a friend request,
It is from my mother,
And I thought I knew her best!

My father soon follows in,
More active than me on Facebook!
And so more photographs and posts,
I had to look.

This is just the beginning,
Of a complete virtual social world to come,
Where we will meet our future generations also on the screen,
Till then I will sit back to enjoy my brandy and rum!

In Memory of Arushi Talwar...

I did not know you,
Till you were killed,
And with that happened one night,
Many beans have been spilled.

But I know now that,
You were a young girl like me.
Who wanted to live her life,
The way she wanted it to be.

Your parents are tried,
With all explanations and reasons,
With all will and power,
They have fought in all seasons.

But it is horrendous to believe,
That they were the ones,
For in every fresh report,
A new song the CBI hums.

I do not know who was it,
I do not know if the decision is right,
But all I know is,
The officials took the load light.

The road is rocky,
Case will not soon cease,
But there up above,
May your soul rest in peace!

An ode to my mother..

I held my mother's finger as a toddler,

When she rejoiced my first step and my first jump.

Pictures were clicked quickly

When into father I would bump!

My mother held my hand 

When into my primary school we walked,

With no understanding of life,

On it my innocence mocked!

We did not hold hands

As we stepped into my college.

Of life's responsibilities and duties on my shoulder,

I carried a heavy baggage.

We hugged when I got a job,

Adding to my family's income.

With loads of over-timings and insomnia,

Success and promotions was the expected outcome.

Now I hold her hand 

When in the park we take a walk

This results from the irony brought by

The moving hands of the clock!

When she grows weak

I'll lift her in my arms.

With the same love and care

With which she protected me from all harms.

The mania of the maniacs!

Chetan Bhagat mania is fast catching up amongst the Indian youth. But has Chetan Bhagat been successful in luring the crowd towards writing?? To some extent yes, to some extent no! I say yes because of the ever increasing pile of books by young college graduates I see every month when I walk into the bookstore. I say no because baring a few, all these books are written on 'love', a topic of Chetan's interest for his 5 consecutive books! It is just a personal view that Mr. Bhagat too could not write all of them in the same ink. And then, he had to change the ink's colour to that which spoke about other, and for me, more important issues of the youth. But the newbies are still wanting to generate newer versions of five point someone with much lower success rate! So, am I going to write a love story in future? Well not really! And do you ask me why? Let me assure you that it is not because of my desire to stand apart from the crowd and become a Chetan Bhagat of an altogether different domain. It is because, I think love stories are only interesting as long as you come to know of them through reading or watching movies. 99% real life love stories have a sad ending. And I would always want to all my write-ups, big or small to have a happy ending! Optimism! Well, that keeps me going! I have written as a child, I have a written as a teenager, I am writing as a youth, I will write as a lady, I will write as a mother and I will write as a grandmother!! Well, I guess, by that time, I'll lose the energy to hold a pen or press these little keys on the keyboard. But! Oh yes! What will I write on? Well, I am an aquarian by birth and at heart too. I am a happy-go-lucky person (am I blabbering?? Even if I am, continue reading further!). I write on what I like and what strikes me at the moment. I have written on love, I have written on relationships(and please do keep in mind that there are other relationships too besides having a soul mate!)  and I have written on life in general. I go by what my heart and mind say in unison. So, when in future you see my photographs clicked when I am releasing my book, please don't categorize me as a writer of a specific genre. I will always have a surprise for you. And well that will have its own share of advantages too! I will be read by people to know what have I written every time I write a new book! So for now, I'll let Mr. Bhagat do his own job and hey! the newbies! I have a small advice for you..please look at life from other lenses too..or rather..'through the looking glass'!!  

Diwali Gift

Every year Diwali brings new clothes, lots of fire crackers, sweets, etc. But this year, it also brought with it a larger than life experience. My brother had reached home just a day before Diwali. Having reached before him, I was waiting for him to come and then go shopping for the fire crackers together. On the eve of Diwali, in the afternoon, we decided to go. In the market, he gave me some money to buy the crackers and got busy on his phone. He told me to buy the crackers and that he would return in a while. After I had finished, I looked around but couldn’t find my brother. My brother is of a very silent persona. He generally keeps to himself or his small group of friends. He hates beggars. When I or my mother stop to give them alms, he gets irritated and starts cribbing. I kept searching and when I couldn’t find him in the rush, I decided to make a call on his phone. But the call went unanswered. Lots of thoughts crossed through my mind. There were hundreds of people there. It was difficult to search for him. Suddenly he called me up and asked me to come where the car had been parked. When I asked him where had he been he just made a few excuses and didn’t make an eye contact. I suddenly realised that he didn’t drive back to home. We were going ahead into the city. I kept on asking him but he didn’t reply. He suddenly stopped outside a narrow lane and took out a huge packet from the ‘dicky’ and asked me to accompany him. I couldn’t help except for giving puzzled looks. We walked further and saw lots of huts. I then came to know that my brother had left me there to buy crackers for the poor children living in this area. Now he was busy distributing them to him. I just stood still and kept smiling. I had never in my dreams imagined that such a change could dawn on my brother. We having got late in reaching home, my parents were calling us. My brother was still not answering them. He was busy with the children. But I wanted to be back home quickly to share with my parents what I had witnessed!

Forever Young

**This is just a parent's expression to his child.**

Birthdays come and birthdays go,
Children grow young and parents old.
So shall we and so shall you.
So dear child,
When you went to school,
I enjoyed a game of pool.
When you with your friends make merry,
I enjoy a ride of ferry.
With your partner when you’ll romance,
I’ll also enjoy a rain dance!
When you’ll teach your child to write,
I’ll teach him how to fly a kite!
However old I may be,
Existence of my inner child shall never cease.
In you I’ve found myself afresh,
You’ve brought in my life a fresh breeze!

The yellow roses

It was that day of the year again. I knew he would be waiting for me. Yellow had always been his favourite colour. He always brought yellow roses for me when he met me. And today, it was me who was taking them for him. It was raining heavily. We had loved rains. We held hands and walked in the downpour. He used to hold me tight when we laughed. My car’s tyre got punctured. But I had to give him the roses today. I take a bus. My raincoat is getting dirty because of the mud. But I take care that nothing happens to the roses. I hold them close to my heart. He helped me enjoy the beauty of the world. The bus halts and it is still a mile’s distance where he would be waiting, still waiting with great love and affection. I walk, I run, I want to be there as soon as I can. I finally reach him. I know he is still smiling. I lay the roses on my grandfather’s grave on his 75th birthday.