Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

- William Ernest Henley

Here I am

Long time...havent written nething.
Got busy in new job, its become old now.Gone rae the days of endless waits,life is moving at a fast speed.Its been nice.Again a roller coaster ride that life usually is.Now is like being on the top.I keep frequently having these rides in my life.Quite a few of us do, wont say all coz there are always those few lucky ones :D

So its a good feeling being back in business of going to work, earning a buck, splurging on your near and dear ones, on yourself.But the best feeling is knowing that you hae potential, being recognised, basically for me the best thing is WORK.Already gettting tagged as a workoholic, but I like it.I dont understand people you run from work, I mean yes there has to be a balance but at the same time there has to be ownership in whatever you are supposed to do.Whatever you do, work for excellence.Whether its office or home.I am not a very good homemaker but I try my bits.Ultimately at the end you should be satisfied..

Some blabber in my brain.Will keep blabbering at this place often henceforth..definitely ;)

Raindrops in my balcony :)

After a long dry spell, I woke up to the pitter patter of rain drops yesterday morning.
I was dying for the rains, the heat had become unbearable.For the past 7-8 years I have always associated monsoons with only one place that is Pune.
If you have lived in Pune, you cannot miss Sinhagad on a weekend in the rains.I still cant have enough of those kanda bhaji and chaai at Sinhagad.And as I keep telling anyone who cares to listen Pune is the best city in the monsoons.Overnight it turns into a hill station.This belief is supported by the fact that I have always lived in areas like Pimpri and Pashan in Pune.Both these places are far off from the hustle bustle of the city and turn into a mini hill station.Well that actually brings me to THE hill station near Pune,Lonavala..Even this place is worth a visit during monsoons.But I guess with it becoming a mini Bombay every weekend it is fast becoming the traffic, pollution and chaos capital among the hill stations in Maharashtra.

So that was just a part of the monsoon nostalgia.Will surely write more on it someday

So this year I have been missing pune like never before.I was never so nostalgic about a city, especially since I have stayed at almost 6-7 places across India.But yes my longest stay has been in Pune.So yesterday morning I woke to the pitter patter of rain in my balcony.That was reason enough to cheer me up.The newspapaer screamed its heart saying 'Monsoon comes knocking on AP's door '

I put down a few words in that euphoric mood

It rained last night
and she smiled
She smiled for those
old rainy days
Days when time flew by
Moments that still linger on
She smiled in the memory
of those days
She smiled for the new
rains and new moments
For the new plant of hope
the rains planted in her heart

It rained in the morning and not at night :) and yes I did remember the good old days of college, Sinhagad and fun in the rains.

P.S : As I write this the rains have again taken a break :( Just hoping and praying for the rains.Pray for the farmers, pray for the crop, pray for the rains...

Morning news

Switched on the TV and tuned into the morning news.The headlines :

1)Earthquake near Andaman,tsunami alert called off
2)PM calls a meeting to discuss the drought issue
3)5th Swine flu death in Pune.Toll in India rises to 8

So that was my morning cup of tea.It set me thinking.The first weird thought or rather a natural thought in my weird brain "Is the world coming to an end??" :(
With all the technological advances of the 21st century, where do we stand as compared to say a 100 years ago?
All right we have new drugs, improved communication, faster travel and blah blah blah but we still cant predict if nature will wipe us out clean in the next minute, hour or day.We have earthquake predicting systems but it still is not enough to prevent the damage.We have amazing irrigation systems, dams and water harvesting but we still cant protect our crop.
In spite of all the vaccines and medicines we have, we still cant prevent outbreaks of new diseases every year.
So ultimately even after all these advances we remain at the mercy of nature.
The very same nature that we have gone about mercilessly destroying.Are these droughts and diseases nature's way of teaching us a lesson?
A lesson that says: This is just the beginning.

Will it be enough if we try and become a green planet today or is it already too late?
Will we survive as a race or become a part of the extinct species ??

What lies in the future? A better tomorrow or an arid planet?

After SARS, bird flu, swine flu, what next?

Supposing that nature has some way of keeping track of all the harm done by human beings and then it does a simple give and take. And one day it unleashes all its wrath on this planet. Sound funny but then nature IS unpredictable ...right?

In the end I just remembered the Chinese curse(This is what wiki calls it)

"May you live in interesting times"

This was my morning cup of tea today.

Charminar

Here is Charminar on a windy Saturday afternoon.
This was my first visit to Charminar and I am sure I will keep coming back :)
The best part is the view from the top of the crowded streets below, especially the bangle sellers on thelas. There is plenty of color, vibrancy and liveliness here.
But the stairs to the top can be a little scary if you happen to be even a bit claustrophobic.They did scare me initially but the height isn't much so could manage.
Next trip definitely plan to visit the Masjid next to Charminar, it looks lovely from the top and there are no religious restrictions.

For the first time in all these months saw the old world charm of Hyderabad.
So in spite of the heat I am beginning to love this Nizami city :)

Wrong Turn?

Two roads diverged in a wood, and
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
...Robert Frost

Was Mr.Frost really right when he said this?What exactly was the context of this poem by him? did he literally take the road less traveled?

Hehheheh hahah weird thought in my mind.I have always loved these lines and the other Frost poem, "Promises to keep" is one of my favorites( though I am not much of a poem reader :) )
I started writing this post with something else in my mind and here I am blabbering about Mr.Frost.
Yeah so the lines about two roads..Hmm does it happen with any of you that after a crucial decision is taken you look back and wonder if it really was the right choice.
Something like driving on a road, one wrong turn and then you look back and curse the moment you took the turn.I mean yes this turn can be frequently traveled or less traveled ;)
I am standing on such a highway, where if I look back I see two roads that diverged and I see the other road.I wont say I regret the turn that I took but yes I cant help and think if the other road would have been as rocky or more rocky or...
The choice was to shift base to a new location to be with my husband post marriage.
The choice was to quit a decent choice in recessionary times.
The choice was to sacrifice the lovely moments of being a newly married couple together.
And I quit.I know this is not a road less traveled, but yes it was definitely new for me.A year ago the very thought of quitting would have been sacrilegious for me.
But in the newly married days, the choice was made in minutes.And of course there was always the confidence of finding a new job soon.
But its been four months, not being used to a sitting at home, to a slow paced life and most importantly missing the high of being in the work place is killing me:(
There are times when I wonder, what if I would have stayed back?

After a long distance courtship we would have had a long distance marriage with weekend visits.

Home would not have been home for me

I would have never known my maid so well;)

I wouldn't have seen Pather Panchali and the dozens of movies that I have seen in the past few months

I wouldn't have rediscovered my love for drawing and painting

I would have never discovered that I can be a great cook

Yeah I would have had a paycheck and a career, which anyways I will have soon..But come to think of it the pros outweigh the cons.

And anyways at the end of the day being with the one person you want to build your dreams with is reason enough to say I took the Road less traveled and that has made all the difference :)

Dreams do come true

I wrote these words a few months ago in my diary.No specific connection or meaning attached to them.These just came out one of the days.I have a habit of writing stuff in my diary in a great hurry.I dont know if it happens with everyone but with me there are times when things just pour out.And I still cannot use blogger for that :D I need my dear old diary.Always a safer option to write any crap straight out of the heart.
Its so much fun turning back and reading such pages.You cant probably recall the thought or the incident that sparked the outpour, but the intensity touches you from those stupid words :)

So here are a few words straight out my heart :)

Cant even classify them as prose or poetry,because they dont fit anywhere.

Just words :D

Behind the dark grey clouds,
There is a land of our dreams.
Where its you and me
and the whole world in a freeze
Where there is a reason for being.
Where life doesnt seem like reel.
Where the beautiful sunset
and the sparkling moonlight
please your dreamy eyes.
Where dreams of long lost shores
and green paddy fields
come true in the morning light.
Where your thoughts are free from pain
and the burden that they gain.
Where you have eternal peace
on your lips so sweet.
And when you open your eyes..

Dreams do come true...

I cant believe I am actually posting one of my crazy creations here :)

Cheers to me

Song Playing : Annies Song