Hope Floats

Relaxing on my smoothened couch,
I ponder upon the intricacies of life;
Why is it that some receive happiness,
Whilst others have to face strife.

The Utopia which we dream about,
Very seldom does it materialise;
An iota of joy comes only after,
Enduring a sea of sorrows, I surmise.

But always being beseiged by grief,
Is arguably everyone's biggest fear;
Sure enough, a few wretched souls,
Intermittently shed a dewy tear.

It's just law of averages I guess,
And no one can be joyous forever;
So maybe the best we can do in testing times,
Is to try and keep our act together.

At the end of it all I've just realised,
It doesn't cost much to be sanguine;
For, surely, the gloomy clouds would,
Give way to bright sunshine ...

"25"

A quarter of a century has passed me by,

All of it just in the blink of an eye ...

It's been a roller-coaster of a journey all the way through,

A never-ending adventure starting each day anew.

Today, I take some time out and ponder about it all,

Of transpired events in these 25 summers, winters, springs & fall.

I look at what has been achieved & what's yet to be done,

There've been a few regrets too, though I'd hoped there'd be none.

It's not just about things but people too that I've met thus far,

The people that have either left an imprint on me; or left a scar.

It's all about loving your parents & family is what they say,

With their blessings & His grace, success has always come my way.

How could I forget the friends & foes that came into my life,

Some gave me happiness, whilst others just brought me strife.

I sure have caused a few heartbreaks; and got my heart broken too

A tryst with love that I've been waiting for, is now long overdue.

Yet, I am content with the way life is moving right now,

And there's a burning desire to freeze this time somehow

I don't want to move forward so there would never be a past

The present : all i hope and wish is that, it would forever last.

Yet, I know that the future will be here all but in a few clicks,

Today I have turned 25, and tomorrow I will be twenty-six :(

As I said, it's been one helluva blink of an eye,

And an entire quarter century has just passed me by ...

Unsaid Words

Try as hard as I may,
I just don’t seem to find,
Words that could go a long way,
In helping me to make you mine.

Moments have been spent thus far,
Without ever letting you know,
Just a smile of yours lights up my day,
I just couldn’t tell, I just can’t show.

Feelings that I’ve tried to hide,
My eyes always did reveal,
Yet you never took notice of them,
Never looking beyond the veil.

Hope to tell you what’s there in my heart,
Before the day when I’m gone & dead,
Yet nothing seems to come out ever,
And just three words remain ... unsaid.

Out Of Hibernation ... With IPL & IPL !!

Truth be told, I have been a bit lazy and have been putting off posting something here for quite a while now. Thought it was high time that I did post something or the blog might start feeling ignored and neglected :) So, here goes...

Well, was thinking of something suitable to write about and as it so happens, 2 things have gripped the nation this past month or so and a lot has been written about both by my fellow bloggers as well as newspapers / magazines etc. For those who may not have guessed it by now, I'm talking about IPL and well, IPL!! Confused? Don't be. I mean, of course you know about THE IPL that’s currently on in South Africa & is nearing its business end what with the semi-finals and the grand finale coming up.

 A lot of jokes were cracked when it was announced that the 'Indian' Premier League would be held, not in India, but abroad. It isn't hard to understand at all why this lucrative event was shifted rather than being cancelled or postponed. It is money that's driving the game today and nobody who's associated with the IPL (that has the backing of the cash-rich BCCI) would've liked a damp squib after the success of the league last year. And so, off the circus proceeded to the Rainbow Nation.  As for me, I really don't care whether they conduct the Indian T20 league in South Africa or Solomon Islands. So long as I'm getting my share of the entertainment... he he

Anyway, am glad to see that Delhi Daredevils have performed well in this edition thus far and have already made it to the semis. Hope the team can go one better this year and win the league rather than stumbling in the semis like last year.

Now, as for the other IPL that you may be wondering about, it's the bigger and more important circus that played out closer home – the Indian Political League. In what is the world's longest electoral process, Indian went to polls to elect its new PM for the next 5 years (hopefully!). The past one month has been entertaining to say the least, what with most major publications carrying articles day-in, day-out speculating about who will form the new government at the centre.

Delhiites voted from their respective constituencies on 7th May. For a lot of people, it was a once-in-a-five-year chance of bringing about a difference to how this country should be run (yeah, right!), for others, it was merely a holiday. Well, I know a lot of people - friends, relatives et al - who went and cast their vote and felt proud afterwards, I on the other hand, did NOT vote in case you are wondering. Ummm ... let's just say that Indian politics just brings out the cynic in me and rather than voting for someone with a history of crime, someone who can’t write his own name or someone with one foot in the grave, I simply choose to not vote. I know that some may criticize this decision of mine. As a counterpoint, I'd just phrase something here that my Mom once taught me - "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". To conclude, I feel that till the time the Indian political system remains a quagmire as it is right now and till the time that 'one-eyed' person comes along who's worth voting for, I'll be an abstainer for sure.

कल ही की बात है ...

कल ही की बात है, जो तुम हमारे थे

ना जाने क्या हुआ, हम हो गये जुदा

दोनो में आ गये, क्यूँ हैं ये फ़ासले

खुशियाँ थीं कल मगर, अब हैं शिकवे-गिले

कल ही की बात है ...

कल ही की बात है, तुम थे जब मेरे पास

कुछ भी नहीं है अब, जो तुम नहीं हो साथ

तनहा अब तेरे बिन, लगती है ज़िन्दगी

दिन तो कट जाते हैं, रातें कटती नहीं

कल ही की बात है ...

कल ही की बात है, आँखों में ख्वाब थे 

चाहत के सँग-सँग, दिल में अरमान थे 

सारे सपने वोह आज, अश्कोँ में बह गये 

टुकडे अरमानों के, बाकी बस रह गये  

कल ही की बात है ...