To my Septuagenarian Mother

Mom

Born as the 5th Star amidst July rains

Into a family that traded precious grains

They had their journey to make, her aside 

Leaving her with siblings to adore and abide

 

Care was plenty but guidance rare

Had to gently fight for rightful share

Grew up curious, to unlatch the door

Hatching a plot to explore the more

 

School was an option, not a must

Raised her voice lest door stay shut

Gathered her troops against naysayers

Found herself voicing assembly prayers

 

Knowledge meant freedom, philosophy beckoned

Will keep going back for more, she reckoned

With her friends, it was mayhem every second

Pre degree, Degree and Masters she did ascend

 

Wedding bells was her signal to flee

Found a job that brought her glee

Ringing in her time in Delhi, Banked

Met a man she knew was God sent

 

They spend their best years bonding 

Bike rides and long strides confiding 

Fell in love amidst graceful candour 

Promising to share her endless banter

 

Wedding bells sounded musical this time

Though they still feared the need to flee

Waded through the resistance that ensued

Making it official, was the goal they pursued

 

Love grew and they accepted parenthood

Inviting twin boys to their caring hood 

Home tucked away in sweet city corner

Fascinated to see them two grow taller

 

Him and her, together moved to cities new

Packing their kids along as they grew

This life was too good to be true, she felt

That feeling was vindicated Overnight

 

Shaken faith, Broken bones, and his funeral 

None of these She hoped she would ever feel

As she drew the line before and after

Made up the rules for life there after 

 

Told herself to pick up the pieces and stride

Shocked to see friends turn foes in the tribe

Sympathy and few echoed “She is Doomed”

Clearing out froth from milk amidst the gloom 

 

She put her life on hold to see us through

Tough times she navigated, often alone

We would testify, she aced motherhood 

Holding his love and transcending his principles 

 

She let us be, but gripped an end of the string

Steered her boys to becoming responsible offspring

Her faith grew back, as she saw glimpses of him,

His values and our will to hustle to the brim

 

Said goodbye to see us grow and soar

Beamed with pride, as we chased our goals

Her prayers and guidance gave us flight

We never looked back and were up for the fight

 

Married her men to adorable hearts and homes

Effervescent when they adorn family chores

A Grandmother, she had her next milestone

Tanvi, Zoe and Aryan now her cornerstones

 

Today, as she looks back through these years

She will pat herself and say well done my dear

Her life is an example, an inspiration for it is 

one being lived on her own terms without fear

 

This year as she turns 70, hope she is reminded 

often enough that she is our most precious grain,

Knows we would be nowhere without her and 

how glad we are that she chose us to be her kids. 

 

20 years today

Miss you Dad…

Childhood you gave us was golden years

Taught us to dream and chase them down
Dad was the best role you ever played and

Your shadow was the safest place we had

You lived in 47 what people fail in 74.

Car crash took you away from us

Back to my senses, you looked okay to me
Did not realise you were hurting inside
Scars, stitches and broken bones  

Nothing hurts like the empty driver seat

I know you took one for the fold
Bonafide super hero when you left our side.

Could not measure the loss, when I lost you.
Had not sunk in that you could be gone.
I pray to god not to take you away,
for you could linger around to make good

Time we didn’t have enough to share.

Hope you were around to see us now,
Shoulder to Shoulder Side by Side.
Mom was our light we followed through.
She put on hold her life to see us through.
We would have celebrated having you.

I wish one day I remind people of you

Be the dad you are to us, to your grand kid.
You gave us the best of everything

Including screen grabs to peek at

And a template to live life by

I still remember

The Life lessons,

The Road trips,

The Swim lessons,

The Skating lessons,

The Driving lessons,

Oh and our first plane ride

That every time I fly, I feel closer to you.

Miss you Dad…

On Papu's Birthday....

First Love

I saw you the other day strolling into the classroom

All I did see was a girl with long locks chirping away

A sudden urge to ask – Hey, will you be mine

Send a messenger who returned with a bad line.

The days I tried to steal a glance

And changed my path to cross you by

All this I tried just to hint a smile

As I moved away to the floor above

A year vanished and you changed your mind

I was timed to make that first of many calls

Then started the beautiful saga of love

Love strengthened with every ounce of time

Spoke for hours learning expressions of love

With every word the love grew beyond

All we did was to wait for that next time

When we can share those moments apart

We fought and made up for the umpteenth time

All in the name of that strong bond we love

She earned a spot away from me and home

And rode away alone to build her Rome

Distance between us but never away

We loved even more with lives apart

And came the time to live our life

The way we loved in our PURI days

Had each other to be loved and cared

Home and time, together we shared

Would like to live those moments again

For it was bliss till the moment I left

She followed me around to corners unknown

Hiding a smile within and wearing a frown

Letting me know she will be forever my own

And promising to trek along to every dusty town

Together we are today some years gone

Came the day she was born twenty seven years on

I didn’t sing her a song or buy her a gown

Wished her from far and heard her drown

Couldn’t be by her to wipe her tear

And to tell her, I am here forever near

To whisper in her ear “I love you dear”

Will be with her this day every year

Come December we shall be hitched

Memorable start to our young love etched

Together we thread the miles stretched

To write a fairytale love story to be sketched

Want you to know that u r my world

And without you I have nowhere to head

All I have is you and your love to hold on

Hand in hand we shall walk into sundown.

Sudanized

Sudan times

Hey, you are flying to Sudan tomorrow, declares my boss.

But sir, my home is here, I belong here, was my reply.

Had been through the pain of being away from my folks,

This meant, the pain I knew will wield its black sword.

How long will I be away from my folks, I wished to ask.

How long is the engagement, is all that I did ask.

Buddy, it is for a month and no longer, he said

And I knew, the month will be longer than a lifetime.

Ascended hoping I will ring the doorbell to my home in a month.

Facebook teased me, asking me my current location.

Reluctant, I persisted and told myself nothing has changed

Not knowing that fate had unapproved plans laid out.

The month closed in and my boss called in,

Buddy, we have to extend your stay, are you OK?

Nope, I have to blow a kiss to my love I miss, I wished to say.

Yes and an agonizing OK, is all that I did say.

Little did I see what was coming my way?

Retired to the fact that I am here to stay,

I knew I had to survive March, April and May.

The summer with no one along to play.

A thought crossed my mind, one in a myriad.

Should open up to the idea of living it up in Sudan,

Decided to make the hot summer merry n more

And take home something to remember Sudan by.

Desperate for company, head out hunting for friends.

Realizing, they are not easy to spot and befriend.

Stumbled upon a group of mixed expressions,

Them, I grew up to consider my conquest of friends.  

 

Life took a turn and smiling faces J kept rolling in,

Buzzing with energy and conversations over cups of coffee,

German guest house, dine outs and the Late night movies,

Football with kids and badminton amidst summer heat.

Generous kinds I met made the mistake of feeding me once.

Followed by invites to warm dinners fed with unlimited love.

Flooded with euphoria and friends who made me belong

And we floated into the orange Nile sunset with a song. 

Time is upon me to go back home to my mom n love.

Wished for something to remember Sudan by,

Got a phase to cherish and memories to live by,

Erasing the Sudan I would have lived to regret otherwise.

As cliché as it might be, I will miss this time and glee,

But for my mighty army of friends, it would not be thee.

Promising to stay in touch however far we may be,

Waiting to be home where my heart has always been.

Hope not to be missed and you will never let me,

As what is life with no friends to bug me? J

 

Cheers to our friendship and the good times we shared

And this land I will fondly remember with friends I shared.  

Keep bugging; Keep smiling; be nice and keep it simple.

An Ordeal

Partying all night, a movie with friends’ n folks, n then try n squeeze in some sleep before the long drive ahead. The Italian Stallion stood the test of time n endured to convince us it had what it takes to take us back home in a jiffy. Planned to start at 4 in the morning, woke up a half hour before.

And let the ordeal begin.

04:00 am:        Started the Italian stallion and he never sounded better. Sunny boy escorted us out of the maze called Bengaluru city to the highway.

04:15 am:        Touched the highway and the Y went wrong, headed towards the airport to return back to the highway.

04:25 am:        The journey actually started hoping to end by 11:00 am and make it to work post lunch.

06:00 am:        Smooth sailing.

07:00 am:        Started head banging not to music but to sleep while on the wheel and wisely for my age I decide to stop. Seats laid back and my back to it slept a sound round of quiet harmony. The vehicles rocked us to the deepest slumber when they whizzed pass.

07:30 am:        A huge n heavy Ashok honked to wake us up and showed us the sun brushed highway lying alone ahead and we headed north.

08:00 am:        Smooth sailing.

08:15 am:        Crossed Anantpur waving his board that read; thank you for visiting me.

08:30 am:        Y held something against me, taking us to a village called Gooty. Crossed the village and cajoled the highway again.

08:45 am:        The Italian stallion coughed and stopped by its food station- checked his tummy to find it full. Then he rose royally to take us forward.

08:50 am:        He coughed again and stopped but this time no food station around. We gave him a break and it slept. We forced him to rise again and again and dud no reply. We tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, no use. We tried talking him into life, no use. We complained to the almighty to inject some sense to him, no use.

Stuck on the highway, 290 kms from where we hoped to be and 253 kms from where we headed north. Sun was no more in a brushing mood, the sun lord smiled with all his 32’s. I asked the Italian stud, weren’t u better off with your food station by? Least had some human inhabitants.

                        Now we are stuck in the middle of nowhere, our phone almost ready to breathe its last, hungry, helpless, a flat bum would have been ok, but this?

09:00 am:        Let’s see now. Mobile phone a sleep but my navigator, like a star switched off hers to save some, called the “mech” at Hyderabad for help, his instinct said; can u help me find the Fiat highway helpline number? Hmmm ok I tot to myself there are people who needs help at this moment more than we did. Pulled out my laptop and the stick, looked for the number, got it.

                       Time to use my navigator’s masterstroke. Mob flashed calling 1800 145 145, technology answered the call, manipulated to reach a voice of stranger who could turn out to be our saviour, we explained and the to be saviour enquired which model of the Italy’s best do u drive, I said Fiat Palio 1.9D, Oh we don’t cover that pat came the reply, the helpline turned out not to be of much help as it was determined to help only those cars that wouldn’t need any.

10:00 am:        Google could show us the way to our hero I thought, and the search engine worked fine unlike the Italian’s. Looked for a local workshop and Google gave me the number, I dialled again, fixed an appointment for 10:30 am.

11:00 am         No sign of the mechanic yet and our stomach did a vuvuzela, thankfully our dear one packed us food for the road, ate.

12:30 pm         The mechanic showed up, by now we were at ease with the sun beating the **** out of us.

03:30 pm         Dismantled, explored, put it back together, did all that and after 3 hours declared “we have to tow it to the nearest dealership; 48 kms away” :), I had a smile on my face and I didn’t know why, may be that was the only thing I could do to make us happy.

04:00 pm         The tow party came and demanded as if he came to buy the car. Negotiated hard and put the car on tow. The person leading the tow didn’t look older than 18, what are we getting into, but did we have an option NOOOOOOO.

06:15 pm         Reached the dealership, imagine a 1 tonne vehicle without the power steering being pulled by a TATA ace through the highway with a deviation to take us off road and return to the four lane on all fours. To steer the monster was no easy task.

07:00 pm         Handed over the Italian to India’s grandfather brand TATA.

07:30 pm         Convinced the not yet 18 to drop us to the bus stand, but the opportune squeezed more cash out of the wounded, tired, sunburned, broke but still smiling soldiers for whom destiny had written this story for.

08:00 pm         Reached the bus stand to find out that the bus wouldn’t leave till 10:30 pm

09:00 pm         Ate, treated my navigator’s head ache, the basic needs were met; like to just leave it at that.

10:45 pm         Boarded the bus and set sail to Hyderabad.

I am glad and happy that this ordeal was shared with my bubbly, spirited, the “being with you makes me happy” girl in my life, my navigator for life. Thank you for making the ordeal something we could remember and smile about.

Life we had!!!

The dream destination with duplex fun

The home away from home – a perfect hideout

A cosy heaven with a 32” entertainer

A corner with cool gadgets – a perfect dug out

A friend nearby to get u in n out of trouble

A friend whom I know I will – Never Logout

A lovely mermaid to share it all with

My heart with whom I will – Live my life with

The life I had with my sweetheart near

The bouts that were meant to wear

The eat out’s we could never decide where

 The late nights with FIFA he lost fair n square

The mornings when we start to work late

Drove a friend inspired by the tortoise and hare

The beard and beer, A devdas like affair

English flew from the beard he would claim

Always had a jeer and a phrase to share

I would always cherish this lovely phase

That I got to share with my home, love n friend

Little did I KNOW!!!!!

I dreamt it all,

The white snow laden cloud hiding my angel

The dark smog laden foe hurting my angel

The sword hero’s war to save my angel

And their happiest days of lives’ ever after

N I never really knew.

I had it all,

My lovely angel whose wings I clipped

My little mermaid whose sea I drained

My sweetest sugar whose recipe I hid

My cute heart whose beat never skipped

N I never really knew.

I did it all,

To keep my lovely angel close, did I clip

To keep my mermaid dry, did I drain

To keep my sugar just to me, did I hide

To keep my love alive, I didn’t let her skip

N I never really knew.

But, the Fairy tale had a twist of fate

The one that they always lived to hate

The sword hero had to lead a new war

The angel was left to live with her love far

And their happiest days of life had to end.

Now I know, I had it all

As I know, tears came crawling down

I was happy, that I cried

As it told me, I am still human inside

Lump I had, was the love I have

For, my angel is all I have.

Wish her warmth n love to dare

The void I know I left her to bare

For I will be her shadow I swear

Be next to her whispering in her ear

We ll b together this time next year....