120 minutes, for those who matter!

For those who matter the most

Time, in its truest form is something which is rarely invested in subjects most important to us. Well, money and work, both go hand in hand and the reason why we work to earn money is never actually attributed to that reason. We rant that we work for our loved ones and for our needs but sadly, at the end of the day, the ones who are least rewarded are the same people!


Quoting Jesse from the 1995 movie, "Before Sunrise" -
"You know what drives me crazy? It's all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But, what good is saved time, if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work."

Makes sense, right?
So If you had two extra hours in a day, how would you spend it? Look at your life, Technology definitely gives you more time but you spend it by doing even more work. You have Washing Machines, Computers, Vehicles and other machines that do your work instantaneously and thus gives you more time, which instead of using for even more work, one must actually spend on themselves and their loved ones.

If i had 2 extra hours in a day, i would "waste" it all in the company of my family, love of my life and in the lap of mother nature- because they are the 3 most beautiful part of my life and actually everyone's life. I would fulfill all their wishes, keep my promises, make them feel loved, cared and most important of all, give them what they want the most from me - my time. I would take my family on a car ride to see the beauty of nature and teach them to appreciate it. I would just sit with them, let them talk, be there to listen, be there for them.

All this is a fiction, no one's giving you 2 extra hours because basically you don't need them. We all have those 2 extra hours, 120 extra minutes, just that we haven't realized its importance yet. By default, we have programmed our self to "invest" that extra time that we have in doing more work and earning more money instead of "wasting" it on our loved ones, the ones who really require our spare time, if not our already occupied time.
The sooner we figure this out, the better for us because work can wait, even money can wait...but time, you know right? Time and tide waits for none!

Born to shine...

Sitara and the Cloud

It was one of those nights - cold, stormy, dark and scary - the one which could frighten any human being. For the stars, it was like a dream come true. Nothing adds more to a star's beauty than the darkness, light and darkness are like Romeo and Juliet, they just can't leave each other alone.

So, this star, they called him Sitara was twinkling happily in the dark night sky. Slowly, as the Humans went into an inert state by switching off their bedroom lights, darkness started replacing those lights. Sitara, encouraged by the darkness, started twinkling with more energy and frequency, he was loving it, loving the fact that he was serving the purpose of its existence. He rejoiced at the fact that he was a good star, his friends and family were all proud of him and it meant everything to him. He was a good star, who had good friends and he was proud of them, his most prized possessions.

Life has its own way of teaching us a few things. You might not want to grow up, you might not want to be mature, but you have to, eventually. The best thing about life is that no body can force you to grow up...the worst part is that it's not your call, fate can do wonders, forcing you to grow up when you least expect it being one of them. And it happened, suddenly a big white cloud, gaining momentum from the stormy winds - taking various deceptive forms - started blowing and obstructed the view of Sitara. It was the same cloud. He tried to control his nerves, it wasn't the first time after all, but stars don't like it, the fact that they can't do anything about it makes it more unbearable for them. Sitara was one of them but now he had enough.

He said to himself, "No, not again. What is his problem? Why always me. Well, this is it, i can control myself once or even twice, but i just can't let it become a habit."

Everyone told him to calm down, they told him there was nothing Starringly possible that they could do.

He answered them, "We are stars, right? We were made to shine, to twinkle and to make everyone watching us happy...and i won't let anybody take that away from me, cause that's what i was born for. I never did anything bad to this cloud, then why the fuck he has a problem with me. I won't let him take what's mine, i won't let him shatter my self-respect, not every time. This is it, i will fight. I didn't ask for it but since that cloud asked for it, i won't disappoint him. The war is on."

They warned him, "You are just a star, you don't stand a chance against that cloud. That cloud is like that, ignore him, besides he is more powerful, you will lose, you are nothing."

Sitara replied, "That's the problem. Just because we have taken him for granted doesn't means he can play with our emotions, not with mine at least. I will try 20 times - i don't care if i fail 19 times out of that - but even if i succeed once out of those 20 times, that's enough for me. Because this not about supremacy, not at all...but it is about self-respect, and even once if i succeed in hitting back, those 19 hits i receive won't mean anything, cause i would have earned my self-respect."

They understood there was no use trying. Finally, the gave up and said, "Okay then, go ahead. We will back you up, let's see what happens. Don't worry about anything, nothing can happen to you till we are here. You just..."

He stopped them midway, " I know you all care for me. I know we are a family and i am a part of it and you care for me. But this is different, this is my war and i will fight it alone. This cloud has a problem with me and it will be only me who will deal with this. Just be there to take me back home in case something happens to me but no one will join me in this war, i will fight alone. He started it and i am gonna end it, period!"

No one said anything, they understood it was inevitable.

As fate had it, a war was raged and somebody won. No one knew who won, nobody cared to know actually...but they all knew one thing, that there was a star who had to fight, against his wish, against his philosophies and against his principles. A star who refused to remain dormant, who fought for his self respect.
Sitara, a star, who was born to shine!

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Playing in my head - "Winds of change" by Scorpions.

Happy Birthday SAM

Tonight, as i type this post...even the music of Dire Straits playing in my headphone is finding it difficult to give me any type of comfort. This is something rare, cause music rarely betrays anyone. Tonight, it is different, because the clock shows the time is past 12am, its his BIRTHDAY, it is Sam's Birthday.

Sam, during our last party in Vikas.

Sam, or Samanyoya Kulari, his original name, was as strange as his real name. He was of the kind which is impossible to ignore and impossible to hate. Our friendship developed during those 2 years in Vikas, from where we passed our High School, and those 2 years were enough to make us very good friends. The fact that Vikas was a place where friends were the only thing you prized most and needed most, made it easier to develop that bond among us and many other guys and resulted in a friendship that will last long enough, longer than us i guess.

All smiles, before separation!

The best part about our very own Oriya Stud Sam, that forced me to dislike him for the first time, was his attitude towards everyone. No matter how much a guy pissed him off or how good a guy was, his attitude was same towards them. His approach was different only towards his close ones, his close friends. I mean he seriously didn't knew how to hate buggers and big assholes. I was actually kinda envy of him, i seriously could never behave normally with someone i hated the most. That's why i didn't really liked him at first, but later when i came to know him completely, i understood that it was his nature, it was his attitude to not let others guide his senses, which was actually pretty good, something which we all lack. He meant it when he said "why should my mind even think of someone who is even more useless than a  used matchstick".

During our semi reunion in 2008(Jamshedpur)

There was nothing that came in between us, once i understood him. You ask everyone who knew him, for some he was a "love guru", for some he was a "chill guru" and for some he was a true friend...for me, he was that part of my life, which taught me some important lessons of life that no textbook or teacher could ever teach me.

He was a good student, a very bright student, not that it matters, but it needs a special mention. He was the reason i started hating DEATH so much, he was the beginning of the realisation inside me what a cruel thing death was, how we can't control our lives, how our life still has to move on without the ones we love, how difficult it is to lose something you can't replace! His and a few more precious lives that i lost, led to this poem i wrote a few months back on death.

Sometime, during my second year in college, in 2009 i guess...one rare day when i forgot to take my cell phone to class, when i returned back from the class, i saw around 20-25 missed calls and a dozen texts, some asking and some telling me about Sam's death, he was in college only that time. I remember my first reaction was that it must be a joke, i mean how can it happen out of nothing. They said he met with a Bike Accident last night and i started to think that the news was real once i talked to Bunty(a close common friend) but he was also not 100% sure that time but soon, after a couple of more calls, it was confirmed, Sam was not with us anymore. My mind started racing, thinking of how we met in Vikas and then i suddenly realised that we chatted online (thank you Gtalk)  the very night before his accident and i logged in to my Google account and i read it for about 20-30 times continuously. It was impossible to convince my mind and heart that Sam was dead, like i didn't wanted to believe he was dead, like i wanted to change everything.

Enjoying...was so good! bunty, sam and me :)

All said and grieved, you feel life is such a bitch, when looking back in time you see that, no matter how much you cried, no matter how much you cursed everything, no matter how much you wished for this world to end, this life goes on, you move on with those pains and you live, you are forced to a lifetime imprisonment to life, and that sucks, more than anything else.

Memories!!!

  Life, You Suck!!!

Memories

And it all began, when the end was near
now it ceases to end, there's only pain and fear
i tried too hard, fought back to stand tall
it wasn't my choice, i never wanted to fall
stand up, move on and fight back i was told
is that even an option, can memories be sold ?



you can't come back, you have gone too far
you told me this and gave the deepest scar
but too many things left unsaid, this isn't the end
i will wait forever, even after my back bends
standing up against all the odds, i rise to fight
to hold you again and keep forever in my sight.

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Playing in my head - "Falling stars" by JET

Dhoni and Nehra, u SUCK...really ?

I HAD TO WRITE THIS ONE.

i didn't plan to write this, but the moment i opened my Facebook page, i realized i had to write this. not to stir your souls or to make a point...i am writing this for my own sake, for my mind and for my soul.

Mr MS Dhoni, what was the need to face 37 balls and score a MERE 12 runs for your team, anyways that would have just pre-poned our defeat by an over, right? what was the need to stick on the crease for so long when others were throwing their wicket away like they were used condoms? what was the need to use Nehra in the last over when you had Harbhajan Singh available?

Mr Ashish Nehra, why did you bowl the last over? why did you go for a six and an UNLUCKY four in your last over when we wanted to win the game?

from the TV room to the lobby of snack shack where i witnessed the last over of the match, i kept hearing people blaming them and what's worse, abusing them. well, we are good at abusing others. i mean when we don't spare our own friends, why should we spare these mere mortal normal human beings who are trying to make us proud by winning a effing cricket match for us. i am one of them i admit, i also take a lot of pleasure in abusing others, i guess thats our way of showing love, isn't it?

tell me guys, did it ever cross your mind...why dhoni wanted to bat till the 50th over? why didn't he tried for big shots in the slog overs like others did? 

lemme answer this. i believe that he wanted to bat till the last over to add whatever he could to stretch our total.as he pointed out later - "The second powerplay, what is important is you don't play for the crowd you play for your country. We should have batted the full fifty overs". he wasn't at his best, i admit it too but so were Pathan,Yuvraj and Kohli. but just think if these 3 would have played sensibly without throwing away their wicket and added a minimum of even 5 runs each, our total would have been 311 and i am not adding the contribution by the lower order cause i don't expect them to do miracles when other so called specialist batsmen went down. and don't you think 311 would have been better than 296 in any damn case?

i reckon most of you hate Dhoni because he isn't playing his natural sparkling game any more but that doesn't means you have to blame him for everything. yes, he makes mistakes cause he is nothing but a human being like us, but he shouldn't be cursed for all the mistakes that the team makes. and as far as choosing Nehra over Bhajji is considered, i am sure you all will agree that to whack a spinner is easier than hitting a fast bowler. too bad that it wasn't nehra's day nor dhoni's and so we lost but still to blame Nehra for this defeat is like acting like those kindergarten kids, the way they blame the floor for hurting them every time they fall down. this coming from someone who was never a big fan of Ashish Nehra.

Basically, its all about India. you all want that India wins, just like me. times like this are the one when our team needs us the most. instead of blaming them and abusing them, show your support cause there is always a next chance and we learn only when we fall.

secondly, we don't deserve to say anything. they have earned their place in the team and we are just sitting in our tv rooms without feeling the pressure the way they have on their broad shoulders. please don't over burden these shoulders with your curse but extend your support to their tired shoulders, they will surely accept a fresh pair of hands to support them. after all, JEETEGA TOH INDIA HI, kisi bhi haal mein!

cheeers guys...for INDIA!

here is a quote that crossed my mind from the movie Robin Hood -

''Rise and rise again until lambs become lions''

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PS - i am not a big fan of DHONI or NEHRA. i have loved SACHIN and DRAVID always, they are my fav players.
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Playing in my head - "Nightmare" by Avenged Sevenfold

A Proposal for DEATH

a gift of god this life they say
too much to learn and too much to see
drama without a script and our part we play
dirty game of fate impossible to flee

we come, we love, we bond and we thrive
with a fear that soon the bells may toll
steal our loved ones and leave us to cry
death they call it but time still rolls

death, i won't bow my head before you
wont let you take my world away with you
won't give up till words happily rhyme
you feel lonely, let me be your valentine


death, they fear you but i am not afraid
whatever may come i will stick to what i said
won't let you steal for whom my heart beats
you feel like a butcher, let me be the meat

death, why can't you leave their soul in peace
do you like it when they curse you for the deceased
i don't fear you but to lose who are my own
you feel like a hang man, let me be the con

DEATH, i hereby propose you a partisan deal
cut my throat, let me bleed, do whatever you feel
take my life a million times but leave them in peace
head held high, i will suffer your wrath unleashed.

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Playing in my head - "Save Me" by A7X(Avenged Sevenfold)

A World Not Too Far

i have heard from people too wise

about a world they say is not too far

a world free of pains, hues and cries

where no one dies and there's no war

so i look for it around every single shiny night

as darker days are spent in hiding from my plight

a world where no one fights for a shrine

where no one cares about borders and dime

where black and white are just colors of life

where speaking your mind out is not a crime

a world where dreams don't come at any price

where growing up on numbered streets wont smear you bad

where fate won't even dare to steal a love from your life

where singing a serenade won't brand you frantic and mad

a world where making mistakes is just fine

where even satan would struggle to survive

where every gentle soul would happily thrive

where life is a bliss and humanity smiles

so i look for it around every single shiny night

as darker days are spent in hiding from my plight!

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Playing in my head - "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins