Miss you...

These meandering roads
Meander my thoughts to those
Days of love n happiness
Where we celebrated togetherness
Chillness of the wind
Beauty of the snow
Those days of ours
Moments that were so true
Miss u today n wondered too
Why the distance between us two
Sipping the coffee so hot
Hand in hand on the street
Times when we never thought
A day would come when we would never meet
I still wait for you, all my life
For u showed me what it meant
To be in love; n to be loved
I live in those memories n yet
A faint hope in my heart,
for my dear dreams to come true.

Situations make me pen these lines....

A long way ahead of me,
A treacherous path filled with obstacles,
I have to go, I have to wake up
With the wounds still new
And the hurt still deep
I lay alone, thoughts deeper
It is not about reaching there ahead
But it is about reaching there for myself
Yet I lie here alone, unable to move
And face this cruel world,
Of joyous people from other’s melancholy
Accomplishment is theirs,
When I give up and refuse
But my eyes are blinded
For my destination is invisible
The path of life leads me to it
But the fear of life stops me from it
Fear in my heart, confidence in my eyes
I wake up…
Wake up to see those dreams
That is on the other side,
Of the path of life, I need to walk ahead
For the way of happiness and the reason for it
Lies in my journey, through the hurdles,
I have to wake up…
For the passion of life is finding the unknown...

To my grandmother, With Love…

My dear Fatty,

I woke up with the sound of the early morning talk show that you had on the TV. Faintly I could hear the maid, our neighbor and you talking loudly, discussing people, life et all. The curtains didn’t quite keep the sunshine away from my face and the room had gotten warm with the Air Conditioner turned off early dawn. I pulled my blanket on my face and turned to sleep a little while longer. The maid walked into the room to clean it. Left with no other choice, I got out of bed to the living room where you were watching TV and segregating the freshly bought vegetables. I heard the pressure cooker whistle loudly and could see the freshly washed clothes hanging in the clothesline adding a color to the room, along with chill sea breeze in to the house.
A bright wide smile, you sat on the sofa, adorned in a freshly ironed and starched cotton sari with a matching blouse and pretty jewelry along with glasses on your nose. With a hint of sarcasm, you greet me with a “Good Afternoon”. I smile shyly and sit on the sofa. You made me a hot cup of “Bouvi” (As we used to call the beverage Bournvita).
You said, “Rice, Dal, Garlic Rasam, Beans Curry, Curd, Pickle, Fried Papad…how does that sound for lunch?”
Slurp! Unbelievable! “Yay!” and I hug you tight with a peck on your cheek.
I open the newspaper to read as I sip on my morning drink. I join you to converse about the soaps that start in the regional channel from 11.30 am to 2.30 pm after which I get a chance to watch a movie of my choice. Of course if there were a cricket/tennis match or even WWF, you used to be glued to the TV.
Days of my school and college passed by this way. With a yummy snack including Kesari, Paayasam, steamed groundnuts or even coffee in the evening, we used to chat and engage in a game of Chinese checkers.
An amazing game that I have played only with you. It was a routine every evening to have tea and biscuits after my mom arrives from work to sit for a game of Chinese checkers. The 3 of us would concentrate and play games that sometimes seem never ending.
Dinner would follow after the game along with the prime time soaps that kept you engaged. You slept to the music of All India Radio and a room colder than the coldest days of Madras.
My life till my 3rd year undergrad was never devoid of your presence. Until we let you go.
The routine, the monotonous days that I just scripted above were the best days of my life. Even today after almost 4years of your physical presence being inevitably absent, I am never devoid of your presence in my thoughts, dreams, memories and heart.
I do not enjoy WWF anymore coz I don’t have you to laugh with. The Chinese checkers lies among dust and cobwebs in the attic and the house filled with the vacuum of you, your voice, and the soaps you watched and your strength.
I want to thank you for those days and moments of my life. The colors you added to my life’s painting are the best. Be with me always and never devoid me of your presence, I need you and your strength for my life has just begun.
Love You,
Ajju

LIVE THE MOMENT, FOR NOSTALGIA

Songs have a strong tendency to bring tears to your eyes, smiles to your lips and memories that you cherish!
Any song, whether you like it or not, but have heard it a lot of times on some occasion, you tend to go back to those days when you listen to it.
There was a TV serial title track that I remember listening to. My grandfather used to regularly watch and I actually have my eyes filled with tears, thinking of my grandfather, however have no memory of the song/serial per say.
Certain songs I remember my grandmother playing it on the Veena and her singing them. Those old Tamil/Hindi songs that I listen to now, is dubbed by my grandmother’s voice in my head.
Songs continuously played in the radio while on one of those long drives, songs that you would have never heard otherwise, but still enjoy it today just because of that memory and those days it takes you to.
And there are times, when suddenly you just want to keep listening to them and enjoy those moments of nostalgia.
That just happened to me today. I am sitting here smiling with my ears plugged and body swaying to the tune that takes me to a world of my own, where reality is far behind. Where happiness and present is all that matters and no thoughts of what happened, and what is going to happen.
Strange, how we remain happy for a few seconds in a world so far, so far away from reality and refuse to come back to the world we have to live in. Strange, how we know what we are doing is taking us nowhere, but still enjoy those moments of fantasies, dreams and nostalgia.
Songs not only bring me smiles and tears, but also take me to a world that I really want to be in. It takes me to that past that I lived like today, but enjoyed much later in life.
Today may be a day I may remember a few years later and listen to a song that brings me back to today for me to feel nostalgic. Thinking about it, did I enjoy today the way I would enjoy today 10 years from now? Hard to tell aint it?
I wonder if any of us really enjoyed those days we miss now – did we live the moment? …..
Hard to answer, coz I would go back and say those were the best days of my life and today sucks. Not far away from me saying, 2009-2010 were the best days of my life and today sucks!
Live the moment…and don’t forget to enjoy the nostalgia!

Encounter with a Stranger!

One cold evening, my professor decided to let us go early. I wanted to go back home soon and sleep and started walking towards the door to the bus stop from my school. As I walked out I realized I had at least 5-10 mins left for the bus. It was around 30 degrees outside and I did not feel like being in the cold for long. I walked back inside. I was not sure when exactly the bus would come and was certainly sure I did not want to miss it. As I walked around contemplating in my head what I should do and was wondering where I could get the bus schedule from without actually walking out of my school (we could get one from the library). As the thoughts traveled in my mind, I let myself take a tour around my school. Just then an old man, with white hair and white beard, a bag on his shoulder, a scarf around his neck, a thick jacket covering his torso and an umbrella in his hand was walking past me. He looked at me nodded and gave me a smile. I smiled back and suddenly realized he takes the same bus as me. I have seen him a couple of times waiting for the 4.29 bus, in the stop opposite my school every evening. I turned back and said, “Hey…” and smiled and waited fro some sort of a reply from him. He looked puzzled, forced a smile back through his beard and looked me. I asked him, ”Are you taking the bus now? The bus number 530?” He smiled and said, “Yes I am…” I enquired the bus timing and he said it should be there in 3-4 minutes and said it is better to go early than wait another hour for the next us and it made sense to me. We walked together to the bus stop and started talking. He initiated the conversation and asked me what I study at Syracuse University; I explained to him that I am a grad student, major in Advertising. So we started talking about the advancements in advertising and how it can make/break a Brand. He explained he was a web developer and I started probing further on his field of work. I was specifically curious about the types of codes he uses and how the graphic designers play an important role in web development. Many criteria including browser compatibility, fonts, graphics as such, choosing the right code, using cascading style sheets against the old school of web designing are some of the concerns for a web developer. He explained that he has been in this field for really long and has grown along with the advancements in technology, but also added that he quite often sticks to the old school of development. As we drifted topics slowly tot the weather, the snow, how bad the winter would be and slowly moved towards talking about the place – Syracuse. Having been here for 30years, and having grown up and attended school and college in New York City, he has seen two extreme cities (If Syracuse can be called a city!). He said that having lived in NYC, he believes he can never be intimidated by any other city, yet says that he has got so much accustomed to Syracuse that he prefer this type of a quiet environment. We spoke about India, the food and compared the spice levels of Thai and Indian food and moved on to how colorful and fun the Indian weddings are and how much of culture and tradition affects the various types of weddings. I remember him mentioning about a road in NYC where Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi restaurants were all located nearby. I smiled to myself to think that in Asia all three countries cannot be said together, but in an alien country, we are all Desi’s! As we drifted to a closure of a conversation with my stop coming closer, he said, “You will be getting off here right?” I nodded and got ready to face the winter wind. He put forth his hand and said, “I am Jeff” and gave me a warm smile. I shook his hand and introduced myself teaching him how to pronounce my name. He made my day and said, “Pooja, It was really nice chatting with you. Considering that we would be seeing each other a lot since we take the same bus.” I smiled at him and returned the compliment.
People are how you perceive them to be. Till a second before 3.20 p.m this evening he was a total stranger whom I would not have even smiled at. In hardly 20mins of waiting for the bus and reaching my house, we grew to discuss an array of topics even without exchanging each other’s names. Without realizing I even invited him to India and ensured him I would call him for my wedding in the future where he would witness true Madras Tam Bram wedding (Not that he understood much, but still).
I was pretty happy to have chatted with someone…felt like home suddenly where you just start talking to random people and feel nice because of the conversation. He would probably be older than my father and I may not even chat with him this much the next time. Yet, this conversation made my day.
Strange it is, how strangers turn to be known in no time! An event to remember, my encounter with a stranger!

After all the procrastination....I wake up!

Well, I started blogging early this summer because I HAD to in order to get an A in my class. I was introduced to blogs long long ago "when the world was young" (my HOD used to love this phrase!). Yet I shunned the idea of blogging. "Its like a diary where you write what you feel" my friends used to insist. Yet I smiled and said I prefer writing in my diary than posting it up here for the world to see. Slowly time passed and I decided to pursue my higher studies and entered the United States of America to make myself a part of the niche area of academics - Advertising. So first class in summer I am introduced to blogs - How blogs form a part of not only your personal life but also in the business world. Social Networking Sites and Blogs, an integral part of Web 2.0, where we all "network" and share our "interests" are not personal sites anymore. They are platforms to connect Globally with people and business. So I learnt the concept and the importance of blogs, yet decided to stick to it only with my academics and did not really pay any attention to it. Soon I started working with a professor of mine on some teaching guides and the first topic I had to research on was - Importance of Blogs in Advertising! So i do a research come up with a fine report and a colorful presentation and he is all praises for me. Yet, I did not try my hand at blogging. When I wanted to apply for some jobs on campus and for internships, I contacted a senior who said, "Hey, just throw out your site you know...your blog or something so they could find out more about you...It would be great if you had your works (designs, photographs, may be some research and insights?) up there! It would be perfect!" I stammered to say - Great Idea! And the heights of it all, that also did not probe me to start blogging! I wonder myself, what made me blog today..what pushed me to type blogger.com on my window and sign up, not for academics but just for myself...I really do not have an answer, but all i can say is that i enjoy writing and I have procrastinated enough to start a blog...So here goes..Words, Thoughts and Opinions from the Madras Girl!
P.S. Now I can throw out my Blog...I joined the league ;) Finally!