It is a strange world indeed…

From the Ferris wheel I saw the gargantuan mountains and the Pacific Ocean; the park where synergy between the nature and wildlife is tantamount; the indigenous beings, no more than minions who cried during rides.

Up from above the world seemed big and beautiful and strange that it could consume you. We have the sea, mountains, forests and land. The nature that has endowed forests with its diverse species, sea with the beautiful creatures and land with similar yet distinct human race seem so different that one could deem it is impossible for them coexist; yet they do.

Simpletons travel seeking adventure in the world they think so unfamiliar to them under the illusion of courage. Simple pleasures make the earthlings happy, who are unaware of or pretend to be unaware of the universe filled with surprises and bountiful encounters that take your breath away if you live long enough. Mammals in barred enclosures disillusion the man, who driven by the delusion of grandeur and superiority takes pleasure usurping false obedience from the wild beasts.

What a strange world indeed! 

We have the sea full of creatures known and unknown; then there is forest complete with living organisms that keeps the canopy of trees alive day and night. Man is neither intimidated nor awestruck by the sheer enormity of its implication. He has no time to admire the beauty of sparrows, chirping happily on the lookout for breadcrumbs; rain that descends the earth; the prism of colors that the sunlight could shatter; instead he finds pleasure in buying stuffed animals and living virtual world.

What a strange world indeed!

Observing nature in its own milieu where combination of vulnerability and danger adds charm and chills the blood, churns you; makes you feel like you are the only one to whom the nature has unveiled herself. And the very big egoistical part of very small you find pleasure at that very thought!

It is a strange world indeed!

In the Crossroad of Desire and Destiny

When you are at crossroads it is the choice that would make a difference. It will be a choice of to be or not be; a chance to be someone or anyone; it is the determination to do or die; to possess enough guts to take that giant leap which has all possibilities or naught; being strong enough to sacrifice for that one single purpose of being what you want to be; it is the desire for the ethereal and the wish for the eternal. It is a choice that could make or break you.

The risk and the demands with so much at stake, the responsibility and the dream playing a tug of war, it comes down to the will and the duty that would decide the journey of your lifetime. Whatever the choice might be, it is the journey from then on that decides your course of life.

Fate and destiny, often interchangeable and as often abstract word, might not give the vocation or the calling that you thought you are meant for, but believe it will be the one you yearned, the one you are yet to realize and the one that made you who you are and make who you will be.

Love

Love… it means different things to different people.

Expression of the pent up affection for some…Romancing their better half for few…Something to be cherished for many…And it is just another word for lot of us.

Love, comes in various forms and flavours, each unique in its own way. It doesn’t have to be a Red Rose to symbolize and a kiss to prove. It could be just a smile which opens the door for great many wonders. So let’s revel in the beauty of the very feeling of love, for love can be for anyone or anything. Do not confine it, open up and you wouldn’t be surprised to find yourself in a place beyond your own fancy.

Overrated and overstated declaration called LOVE

This overused statement never lost the glamour status it enjoyed and still enjoys. There are many who wondered but only a few I believe have discovered the why, that is if at all they have. For the hopeless romantic, love is a driving force, a way to ennoble one self and one that deserves the greatest of honour by some logic that belies the rational. Even in a purely fictional sense one cannot deny the physical response of quick jolt of pleasure that makes your heart skip a beat, traces of pink that colours your cheek at unexpected hours or uncertainty that defines the word. But in reality it is the unpredictability which goes along with the magic word that attracts the heterogeneous population. The very possibility of challenge adds glitter all the more. As for me, it is more like an illusion of perfection it gives the bearer and the yearning it stirs in the onlooker that seals the definition of Love.  

The Land that lives... A tribute to Gabriel Garcia Marquez and his Macondo

Macondo, a land founded by the Buendias, who lived, died and died again, sometimes for a cause and sometimes for the illusion of grandeur. It was a land that once prosperous but fated to be buried under the canopy of dried mud for, the plague of incest and war was more than it could handle. Despite that, Macondo produced sons who exhibited valor and died for it; it produced men for whom the land meant everything; it made warriors out of women, without whom the strange town would have collapsed before the 100 years.

Yes it was only a town that faced and survived the plague of insomnia. It was merely a town that stood even after being ravaged by the biggest war that left nothing for its inmates except the land itself. It stood the test of time, holding on to the last threads till its creator, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, finally gave Macondo the peace it deserved.

Marquez created Macondo, which carried the echoes of the war and pain of the living-dead. He brought alive the world that was barely acknowledged yet plundered. He immortalized Macondo, a tribute to the land that gave him home and made him.

The man died but Macondo continues to live, as a memory to some and as the fallen legend to many!

Banality of everyday life

It is nice to sit in the patio and do nothing expect dream and reminisce about the past.

The rare breeze eases you from the entanglements of the present and on to the land of never return where time stands still and the clock never strikes twelve; a place where a magic never ceases. In the company of the fanciful and dreamy, you will live the life you dreamt of. Happiness and joy that elude you in reality will be a constant companion at least in those moments though ephemeral. It makes you wish if only those moments were longer, more real.

But this very banality of the real world, harsher, colder and much more complex than the dream pulls the reluctant self back into the abyss. You keep living in the chasm and never to be got out. 

Wish I could make time stand-still…

Wish I could make time stand-still, if only to revel in feeling of being able to do anything 

Wish I could make time stand-still, if only to laugh at the foolishness of adolescent years 

Wish I could make the time stand-still, if only to know that, that moment of contentment would never be yours again 

Wish I could make the time stand-still, if only to succumb in the realization of unrequited love 

Wish I could make the time stand-still, of the time where responsibility and maturity were mere words 

Wish I could make the time stand still, if only to bury myself in the happiness of the bygone days 

Wish I could make the time stand-still, if only to linger in the dusk basking in the last rays of the sun 

Wish I could make the time stand-still, if only to remember that life was meant to be lived 

Wish I could make the time stand-still, if only to live in my dreams

Wish I could make the time stand-still, so that there is no tomorrow… 

For the cliches and its its success

Those long hours in a flight beside a handsome man – every girl’s dream. But sadly it is reserved for cinemas and novels. Ajith and Anushka starring Yennai Arindhal was not any different.

Ajith as Sathyadev was handsome as ever with his salt pepper hair. Surprisingly Arun Vijaykumar was the main villain showing off his newly obtained six-pack abs every chance he got. (I’m not complaining). Trisha though comes for a very short time, looked her best and did her best in that short time. Trisha seems to me is G.V.M’s new muse.

There was nothing unusual about the story. Between good police and bad guys, love becomes a collateral damage. But what might have set the movie apart was the different faces of Ajith we got to see in the movie. As a son becomes an IPS officer so that he can avenge his father; as a police man he collars the gangsters; as a man who falls in love with a dancer and her daughter; as an unexpected father who nurtures and gives up his career for that daughter who had suddenly become his; as a friend; as a protector.

Ajith becomes every one of them without breaking a sweat.

Even with the cliched ending the movie managed bring in all the drama without being cheesy. So I guess it is a good watch. These police stories are fail-safe, not without reason. 

Until death do us apart

The ritual of doing same thing again and again till it becomes a habit. Humans never realize the bliss of that monotony until it is broken and becomes a part of life, only to be broken again. 
There are so many thoughts that floats around our brain that it sometimes mess our mind, dims our wit, blocks our vision and crumble our confidence.   

This world within our world takes a life of its own, known to our subconscious, oblivious to the self. Mere constancy of these surreal moments becomes more real than the reality we live in until we are trapped in a limbo from where there is no return – until DEATH.  

2014, A year that was

A Year that will be 

2014 was a year for discovery, for venturing into the unknown and to explore. It was also a year to leave the comfort zone behind.  

Beginning of the year marked my journey as an amateur writer for my office newsletter and running a daily mailer series for my team consisting about 50 members. I did it because it was fun and spiced up the mundane work. Enrolling into a journalism course was just a passing thought then and may be just a dream. I was drifting along. Then came March and with it the heat of summer and deadline for registration of ACJ. I registered. Then I went with my work accompanied by anxiety of possibility studying after a huge gap and being a software engineer for 4 years was drastic even for a person as impulsive as I was. I did it because I wanted a change and because may be because it was just right. I read The Hindu and Thugluk religiously. I started blogging and was surprised with the cult response to my blogs. I’m no usual rambler neither am I a philosopher but something between the two.

May dawned. I gave my entrance exam on May 11 and my ego took a severe blow for the question paper was difficult and felt I was out of my depth. I must have written well or may I just was better than the worst in the lot, I was selected for the interview process. The interview was scheduled for June 4. I hardly thought about anything else in the time in-between. There was nothing I could read which I had not read before nothing I could do which I had never done before. I decided to go with the flow instead of preparing. That was for the best. The minute I came out of the interview hall I knew I aced it. I felt I had given my best shot.

Never had five days seemed so long. I did all the usual work – going to office, cooking, reading and blogging – but I just couldn’t ease the anxiety. Though futile I kept checking the college website everyday hoping they would publish the results sooner than the said date, June 7. And they did. Sunday the June 6 the results were published and I got through. I knew then that I wanted to be accepted more than I let myself believe. That was a defining moment, may be a little stupid as some would call it later, because I was leaving the well paying job when I was in line for promotion and may be onsite to become a journalist. I was giving up the sophistication of AC room to run around the city sweating like a dog. I somehow quite liked the sound of it.

So I became a journalism student sniffing for news and poring over the papers looking for errors.

It’s December. I love this month of any year. It is cold, lazy and beautiful. For me every day that ends is a step towards that fresh beginning that is always around the corner. The future seems so bright and full. There is lesser room for doubts or uncertainties because that is always saved for the present. Endless possibilities and chances loom in front of us. Therein lays the magic of December.

It fills with you with hope, chance and miracle of a new beginning until next year!

Happy New Year!