Rose and Gold Icing

I saw the pair dancing on a cake
They looked prettier than the rose and gold icing
White flowing gown, a tiara adorning her head
Smart suit, one flower in his pocket and
The other on his arm

Oblivious of the noise and mill around
Lost in a daze they swam above the rose icing
Her mazed eyes looking at his
With careful steps, he led her into
A world all their own

We ducked for cover; a bang rang in my ears
The glass in the window, shattered, rained on us
When the turmoil halted, we rose
Trouble makers had done their task and
Killed the pretty dancing pair

My glassy eyes strained to look
No one danced above the rose and gold icing
The music went blank, no bells tinkled
I held on to the outstretched hand and
Looked back once just to make sure
In the tumult and agitation
I had not missed to see the dancing pair
But they were gone

What a waste

This is a scene on Bangalore's Bannerghatta Road. This water tanker drove for a good distance in front of my vehicle and I noticed a steady stream of water dripping from the pipe at the back and this is not the first instance. I have noticed 9 out of 10 tankers leaking precious water onto the road and the amount of water wasted over a kilometer, I am sure would be enough for a household of 4 for over 2 hrs.

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has a fleet of about 25, 6000 litres tankers and about 23 18000-20000 litres capacity tankers.

I was reading an article in the Hindu dated 24th August : http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/24/stories/2006082425230300.htm
It is indeed a very good step on part of the government to make water available in areas where the pipelines have either not reached or are under maintenance. But I would suggest that the tankers be checked and water loss be prevented, unless ofcourse it is by design. And in case it is by design, I feel the design is flawed!

The third picture shows an autorickshaw letting out thick fumes (not very evident due to the poor resolution of my cell phone camera). Yet again this is not the first incident of a polluting vehicle on the roads. I must commend the Bangalore traffic police on their efforts at checking rash/drunken driving, dazzling headlights, worn out tyres, etc. I am sure they are keeping an eye out for polluting vehicles as well, but somehow this one and a few others escape their notice.

IIMB

I wandered into the corridors of one of the seven fabled IIM institutions - IIM Bangalore. Unlike my usual Saturdays, I got up early to meet an ex-colleague and mentor. What better place to catch up than his alma mater.

We went from building to building, peeped in a classroom, talked to staff and faculty, and even went to the extent of imagining my name written on one of the place markers in the classroom! As if that was not enough, after looking at his name on the honour scroll, we construed my name written on it! The campus is beautiful with green trees, gray granite, two huge ant hills, and unbroken peace.

Why is it that some people make it to this institution and others don't? I have spent thousands of seconds pondering over this puzzle.
Some people are just born with the talent to crack CAT questions. Some people sweat on their conventional skills and make it through the 2.5 hour test, others like me sit back and wait for the nth hour to work on their quant abilities. The third category of people usually end up short of the cut throat cut offs while the first and second make it to the corridors I was talking of in the first paragraph.

Those who aspire to get into one of the IIMs and the institute is at an accessile distance to them, they should definitely visit the campus once. It does a lot for your yearning to get through the test.
The competition is tough, and it is so only because of the number of people appearing for the exam. Don't give up. There's still time left!

Rain Washed

Rain came down heavily last night
Lightning, deafening thunder in its wake
As I sat to count the drumming of the throbbing in my head
It struck a million times, sending brilliant flashes all around
I drew the curtains, turned out the lights, fearful lest it strike
At times it flickered somewhere in the distance
Like an innocent candle,
Suddenly it cracked in all fury, pouring lakes of water
I was drawn out, to witness its greatness
Its might and power, I stood rooted gazing
At the red, yellow, orange and silver whip lashing
And gallons of water to drown the fire
Morning sang a different tune
Skies were rain washed, green shone all around
Blue overpowered the gray and red of the night
All sorrow, tears, heartache, and fear
Faded away in the warm morning light

Eyes

Your eyes speak volumes
I wish I could read the meaning behind all the shadow games they play
It was only yesterday, I could fathom some of their depth
They would light up, at the slightest sign of rain
They would sparkle the moment they saw me in the crowd
They would sadden, at the lightest chiding, or a rebuke
Today, I am all lost
The games still set out at the smallest provocation
But hold a different substance
They suddenly light up, sparkle, darken
Only yesterday I could fathom, what’s now a riddle
The crowd grinds the streets to dust
I walk the same road, lost in the same crowd
Looking for an augury of that light
That rhythm of the sunshine and rain
That turned around all misery of the day
But I walk on for miles, nothing beckons me
I remember it was only yesterday I out ran the crowd
To see that sparkle in your eyes

Reflections of a Tree

I wonder where they carry truckloads of cut tree trunk
It’s not that I am unhappy in the forest,
I just wishThere were more of us to share the sun.

Old man Green Crown perhaps knows the secret
He was telling us of the town on the outskirt that grows
Tall cuboids with square gashes called windows

They carry away all the trunks, pulp them
Roll them out under gigantic pins into what’s called paper
Cut them up, dry them and write on them in the printer

We can’t run away and hide, they know all our hideouts
Their army is increasing steadily, while we lose
Slow down humans
We can’t walk, someone go tell them we want truce.

Hover is dead

She was just as big as my thumb. Pretty beyond words, she would dart about the fish bowl and race her companions to grab as many food pellets as she could. She loved to watch TV as much as she enjoyed washing her fins over the stream of bubbles.

I will miss you Hover.

Mundane Story Retold

Bills - electricity, credit cards and phone
Chill me to the bones
Last minute rush to drop a cheque
Or add the biller to the online payee's 'deck'
Work on Mondays, work on Tuesdays
I wish we had more holidays
Atleast they could have managed
To give us some Wednesdays
Life, home, dreams, and wishes
Why do they pounce all at once
If only they were more civilized
I would serve them in order of precedence
Worry, anxiety, loneliness, and woes
Do they really need a place under the sun?
Why do they have to bother anyone?
They should be forever gone!

Sunrise, Sunset

I had learnt this song at school, and was hunting for the lyrics. Finally I found them, though a little different from then. Here goes...
Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older
When did they?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he get to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears
What words of wisdom can I give them?
How can I help to ease their way?
Now they must learn from one another
Day by day
They look so natural together
Just like two newlyweds should be
Is there a canopy in store for me?
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

This day last year

This day last year, I was pretty much in the same state as I am in this year. Long chats over the internet, enthusiam, trepidation, and sudden bouts of homesickness. The only differences is that I added one to the count of the number of years I have spent happily here. Over the past 2 weeks I travelled to a few places, met lots of people, had myself over fed by my mom. In short I was on a vacation. Back to Bangalore.

While I am here

इस पार प्रिये मधु है, तुम हो
उस पार ना जाने क्या होगा?
- हरिवंश राय बच्चन
Read these lines so many times since childhood. We have grown up adoring Amitabh Bachchan and so have our parents!
I recently came across his "much in the news" blog, and the first lines staring me in the face were these.
Very apt and true. While we are here, we have so many things to live for...family, career, love, home, town, politics, school, college, academics, sports, books, dance, painting, music....the list is endless. When we leave here, we don't know what awaits us.

Loch Ness' Nessie

We watched the movie 'Water Horse' recently. It rekindled the wonderment I had felt as a child regarding the existence of a magical creature somewhere in far off Scotland. There isn't much scientific or photographic evidence to support the theory of a large water creature or the Loch Ness monster. We humans have a consistent attribute - Fascination for the inexplicable. Something within me wants to keep the legend of the monster alive.
What if it really has all the magical powers it is supposed to possess? I wish I could see "Nessie" for myself. Maybe one day, I will journey to the Loch Ness armed with a camera and a week of leisure at my disposal.

How long do we have?

Days appear numbered. I remember watching "An Inconvenient Truth" quite sometime back.
A few facts related to the phenomenon:
1.. The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years.
2. Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level.
3. The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade.
4. At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles.

If global warming continues unchecked the consequences could be fatal:
1. Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years -- to 300,000 people a year.
2. Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide.
3. Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense.
4. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often.
5. The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050.
6. More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.
Source:http://www.climatecrisis.net/thescience/

Having stated the facts, I wonder if we can do anything to stall/defeat the imminent catastrophe.
Bangalore has never been so hot. The sun starts scorching early in the morning. For a change, this evening as I walked back from work, I was caught in a downpour.
I am sure all this will not last long, if we don't wake up and make an effort to save the planet. A fallout if this would be our skins will be saved.

I wish I knew how much time we have. In an attempt to add my 2 penny worth of effort in saving the earth I try to do the following:
1. Save water ( Never leave the water running)
2. Carry my own shopping bag wherever possible - this reduces the consumption of plastic bags.
3. Drive a fuel efficient vehicle.
4. I throw trash in designated bins.
5. Try and minimize electricity consumption in my house.
6. Save paper

What I plan to do in the near future:
1. Get a bicycle for short distance errands

Unnamed

Proximity, inexplicable errors, distance
Never had I lost cool zillion times a day
I will not think of all this now…maybe another day

Rain knocked on the glass windows
Fish playful and swift, came together,
Quarreled and vied for colorful food pellets
I’ve been watching them for quite sometime now
Every evening, I have seen them dart about
The fish bowl, sometimes a home
Sometimes a foe…They fight their reflection!
I often do that myself
My world, though unaccountably larger than theirs
Presents similar characteristics
Struggles within, longing, wanting, dreams,
Endless waiting, lull, sudden ripples
Little curling waves, survive for while
Then dash against the shore
Animation, spirit, enthused one moment
Killed the next, incomprehensibly

I had determined, I will think of all this another day.