Mind Frame

Aunts

2012-01-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

It was funny, we hugged more often than we spoke.
Our smiles exchanged more than a warm handshake in the winter cold could.

And still all unsaid was said with a single momentary unison of feet tapping to a rhythm that played on till the clock struck 12.
Aunts are special.

Life

2011-10-29T03:07:00.000-07:00

It was sudden. As he pulled her up, he realised something had changed. It was not the same closeness he had experienced before. She did not hang on like she did earlier. Thinking about previous times, he realised how each physical encounter was a warm snug affair but this time it was not. It was cold and temporary. He wondered what had changed. Nothing had. If something really had changed, it must have been him. Each time he had chanced upon her and tried her she gave him the same feeling. The feeling of distance. Something was amiss this time. And it was then that it struck him.

It was his waist size, and hence the lack of intimacy. She was a size 32 pair of denims and he a bony waist of size 30. Life can be mean when you are down but meaner when naked and cold in a trial room (add the thought of being spied on)

(The above documentation is a chance encounter of my realisation of lost weight in a trial room. Humours as it may sound it in no way is. Please treat with utmost respect and pathos)

Wander

2011-09-02T01:59:00.000-07:00

Money will never buy me,
Milestones will speak where I have been,
Images will never store me,
My minds knows what I've seen.

(Image courtesy:travel.paintedstork.com)

(If you have not been to Hampi, you have not been anywhere and If you have been to Hampi you need not go any place else)

Bedse Caves – Outdoor Craving Appetizer

2011-08-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

Casual mornings can have active afternoons like how the weather can sans notice. Last weekend we realized that the monsoons had finally come in full stead and as a family who treks religiously during this season decided to inaugurate it with a short hike.

Taking off at half past one we headed towards Talegaon.

An hour’s drive from Pune on the old Mumbai-Pune highway. At the Kamshet exit we pulled over towards the road that leads to Pawna and took the following route towards the village – Bedse. At the base of this village begins the small hike of a few hundred steps to third century Buddhist caves named after the village. Our visit began with the rain tearing into our faces soaking us to the bone, just the way it is supposed to be. The village known for the caves along with its dense population of snakes was also peppered with mango trees at the initial stages of the climb. The rain knocking on our heads and giant fresh water crabs making a dash for the nearest exit were the customary signs that these were indeed the monsoons and a good way to begin them.

The climb was not really a climb like the ones you experience at Rajgadh, Visapur or Harish Chandragadh but similar to the one at Lohagadh. Steps leading to the top make the hike fit enough for a man even if he is age 90.

After 35 minutes we were at the caves. Carved in the side of the mountain into with three sections the cave is placed on a platform as its foundation in the mountain. The three caves stand on fresh water wells that can be accessed at their entrances.
The caves first section opens with two grand pillars in stone nearly 35 feet in height. At the top of the pillars are idols that resemble Indian deities. Inside the cave stands a huge Stupa nearly 20 feet in height. The most appealing part of this cave was this section which has pillars that surround the Stupa except at the entrance. We having reached at mid noon gave us the sunlight beaming straight into the caves in all the three sections. Taking a few picture we moved onto the next cave that appeared incomplete with rooms carved along its circumference preferably for those who were travelers or just monks at the religious site. This cave, unobstructed by an entrance like the first one opens up into the sky. Once the rain had stopped and clouds scattered we could see the national express way to Mumbai snake its way across the plains. The final cave was a small shelter near another entrance to the underground well.

Taking a scale of the age and art that these caves had, they cannot be compared to the ones around Maharashtra. These do not measure to the impeccable size of work bestowed on them. However these caves lie away from the public eye and do not attract any footfalls. So if you are one of those who prefer the greens to get away from the crowds Bedse is a must visit destination.

Heading down towards the village which took us lesser than what it took us to climb up. The walk downhill was also coupled with a hectic mango plucking. Let’s say the plucking was not as easy as its dictionary definition, but we managed a few mangoes sampled by parakeets.

.

Views

2011-08-30T04:39:00.000-07:00

One man's stick is another's thorn,
One man's fair weather is another's storm.

The earth is turning and nights will fall,
Its even Stevens at the end of it all,

Steps

2011-08-23T07:32:00.000-07:00

It was meant to be a walk.
It ended up being a conversation.
She smiled while I spoke & I gasped while she did.
I wanted to walk on but we ran out of street.

Growth

2011-08-20T14:09:00.000-07:00

Its important to get ahead in life. For that, you may have to leave views, opinions and judgments behind. As long as they are not ethics. Getting ahead means leaving stuff behind - is all about setting an order of 'progression'

रात

2011-08-02T03:03:00.000-07:00

दिन का सदमा झेल चूका जब रात को घर लौट आये,
और तारे चमके, निंदिया बिखरे, सिराहना सिमट न पाए,
बादल बिसरे और मेघा तनहा चादर पर शीत लेहर बरसाए,
उठ खड़ा शरीर नीली रतिया मैं बह जाये.

अवाज़ फिजा की कानो मैं कोयल सी यह कह जाये - जो है अभी है - कल यह नहीं है - सूरज सब ले जाये.

रात में तू सपने ना देख, जब रतिए सावन सहलाये.

कामयाबी

2011-07-29T02:27:00.000-07:00

कामयाबी एक जासूस है.
पीछा करती है पर बतलाती नहीं.

Rythms

2011-07-24T22:12:00.001-07:00

Over the last 6 months, I have been hearing some great tracks that keep me entertained and occupied. Just thought that I must share it:

1. Strobe - Deadmau5
2. Spacebound - Eminem
3. Teri Yadein - Anonymous
4. Written in the stars - Tinie Tempah
5. Black Room Boy - Above & Beyond
6. Aik Alif - Saieen Zahoor and Noori Produced by Rohail Hyatt
7. HR8938 - Deadmau5
8. Sound of arrows magic
9. Tujhse Naraz nahi Zindagi - Masoom
10. Mujhko Yakein Hai - Jagjit Singh
11. Rolling in the deep - Linkin Park
12. Airplanes - B.O.B feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore
13. Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal
14. Society - Eddie Vedder

Hope you love them!

Speech

2011-07-21T00:02:00.001-07:00

When pictures dont show emotions and pens dont speak the words..
All the world's a hell and out come the swords...

Fling

2011-07-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

It was only a fling, an annual thing.
She came to sing, binding soil & leaf like string,
Olive was her shroud when it touched the ground,
Grey when it was when she roamed amongst the clouds.
It was sweeter than birds of spring, when she began to sing,

It was only a fling, an annual thing.

(Monsoons in the western ghats in India)

Space

2011-06-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

Hain saanse parinda,
Pinjra jism sa,

Sama ik sadi hai,
Utarta ik shan sa...

(Our breath is our body imprisoned like in a cage, Moods are like seconds descending from time)

And then there were none..

2011-06-14T03:58:00.000-07:00

Is it true? She asked me, clutching my finger almost draining it white as though hope would drip from it. I said 'yes-they have gone' only to see hope fade from her eyes. Where did they go? She asked next. I said,' I wish I knew. Had I know, I would have tried calling them back'
Have you met them? She attacked in all earnest. I smiled. 'Unfortunately-no, but I feel good that I didn’t. Why regret missing them once they have left’

She stuttered, why did they go away? 'Their friends took them for a walk in the bush, gradually all of them were lost- until there were none'. Did they not try finding them? – she gaped.’ Its not fair to not find missing friends she protested.

‘Tigers stay outdoors; I just hope they will find back their way one day’

-Future Diaries (Circa 2030)Part 1

The Sighting

2011-06-06T00:29:00.000-07:00

It was half past 5 when I saw her again; staring at her like I had seen her before, not amazed but somehow distracted, the kind when you see a familiar face in a crowded street. I stumbled.
There were commonalities I thought we shared – lines of fate carved on her by the sands of time similar to those on my palms that had frequently prayed that a day like this come by. As I moved on taking deep breaths of air, I thought to myself what if this was the last? Had I seen her enough? Will I ever see her again? What if this moment was a present?
Provoked, inspired and defaulting on time I chased her taking in wholesome views of whatever I could. Romancing her by the touch of my fingers or by the fixed gaze of my eyes she provoked me with whatever little I could see in the failing light of dusk. So I moved on chasing her wherever I could see glimpses. Reaching out to her till I touched her on the roses in her hair or passed the temple cow she had prayed to for centuries. Her beauty unraveled with each curve engraved, she spoke of the times she had seen and the people she had met. And then with the sudden interruption of foliage of plantain leaves she disappeared, leaving me alone like a child in the middle of an unfinished tale.
Leaping into short chases I ran up a hill hoping I could see more of her- wishing in case I had luck by my side. Grappling boulders with bare hands and walking where she once possibly did, I reached the summit. With the bend of the earth where the cliff ran into the horizon I looked on and there she was – laying herself bare to the enchanted orange hues in the sky - the Kingdom of Humpi. The vast golden empire built in stone surrounded by banana plantations like ornaments praising the neck of a woman. And I knew it had only begun –an affair that I would only pray ran across my lifetime. For now I knew I had seen her in full glory unlike glimpses before. And it was only this that lilted me into the love I know that has existed unabashed – timeless and redundant. Humpi – I shall return to see you again.

2011-03-14T02:01:00.000-07:00

...and everythings alright.

Ever since a child I have been enamoured by the beauty the dawn brings with it. The cool night air brough out ideas and hopes came alive. Last night I sat outside at 4 just as dawn breaks and everything is sane and penned these few thinking of the beauty in black that is truly magical, mystic and in the best way put- simply mine.

Beauty stood in the face of dawn,
Just as dusk had told the night,
I have my stars with me he had said - now dust settles for light,
A myriad colour will fill the sky as dark turns blue to white.
The end is near the nights been long,
and everythings alright.

Google Sky Map Weds Karva Chauth

2010-11-30T23:48:00.001-08:00

For those of you who read the headline and returned to read the article after discounting it for its earthly Indian reference I do not blame you. A small anecdote here might explain why. Only three months ago I asked a close friend about the sensibility in purchasing a phone that would be android enabled. He laughed and said looking at the speed at which 3G is taking over the country your investment might show results during only the 15th five year plan. Return to present day India where multiple cellular labels are already readying their turf for the android phone market and several thousand women celebrated Karva Chauth a week ago. The application would have never found its way into the Indian domain in a manner so basic and surreal. At work and unable to know if the moon was out and my mother had broken her fast, the usual responsibility of finding out the direction and location where the moon would make its presence was a little easier this time around. The application installed on my phone made way for all the excitement to be narrowed and the curiosity to be put to rest with the Moon showing itself up in the described direction. Not to take any credit away from another application the Accuweather Clock informing me of an overcast night sky that would prevent a clear sight of the same.
What is wonderful is the fact that these applications are not only precise but of actual practical use unlike several others that prevail for time kill and entertainment purposes. On the other hand it’s amazing what technology has come to with the phone being dissected into a billion opportunities. Now I only wish if an application was developed to tell me the sun would rise a few hours than later, but then if wishes were horses beggars would ride. That being said I am sure looking at technology that one day they would ride for sure.

Accuweather clock for Android can be downloaded on http://accuweather-com.en.softonic.com/android and Google Sky Map on http://www.google.com/mobile/skymap/. Both the applications are highly recommended for Skygazers and astro-enthusiasts.

Augmented Reality – Demented Perceptions

2010-11-29T21:18:00.000-08:00

A few days earlier while returning home via the Deccan Queen’s meandering journey cutting across the Western Ghats, a civil argument punctuated the silence of my compartment. A Parsi woman in her mid-forties engaged in a verbal duel with the ticket collector who did not give his consent to a ticket that was being shown to him on a fellow travelers laptop. A few words and a fine later the matter was settled and the TC proved right from the rules displayed across the ticket of another traveler. What struck me was how long it would be that the Indian Railways would come to recognize the power of the digital. With geo-targeted social media and 23 million smart phones across India waiting to ride the android bandwagon, the Railways must listen up. The solution to the problem lies in the digitalizing of tickets. With Android enabled smart phones hosting multiple code recognition software’s this would make life one step ahead with the only cost borne by arming the ticket checkers with scanners enabled to do the same. It is important to note that these tickets that are already in vogue. In places like New Delhi’s metros they have been incorporated successfully. Bus ticket collectors in Mumbai & Pune are already armed with digital receipt dispensers. The technology ready for the taking only needs the initial push for solutions to come through at a national level for a transport system that carries on million Indians annually.
It is also important to note that the technology integration required is only one sided and does not concern the traveler. Well of course details like train-train number and date and time of departure will be borne on the reverse of the ticket like always. The solution will not only drive business solutions but also contribute to the reduction of the carbon contribution due to enormous truck loads of computer generated print outs at either end.
And, in a country like India where trial and error is the usual route instead of research and development this attempt might just turn tables on record of the past.

You could develop a personalized code on http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ & customize belongings, visiting cards and any items of identity with the same.

An old love

2010-07-30T02:10:00.000-07:00

It is something I have never written about here. But when an old friend mentioned that I must arrange for a snake to be brought home for a shoot I could not help but oblige. Its been nearly 11 years from Nagpur with my first encounter with a snake that left me speechless due to fear. Reading about them their species made me only grow more fonder of this misunderstood species. It was soon that I go into releasing them from the unsafe confines of my house each time one made its way inside (earlier they ended up getting killed. We rescued scores of snakes in that small tenure in Nagpur and on coming to Pune the entire activity stopped. Only once we relocated to Viman nagar I soon began chancing upon these gorgeous creatures.

So these are a few shots we took on his release while he swayed and stood in all gratitude.

FEW

2010-03-13T05:32:00.000-08:00

These are the few of those who have made an impact in the last 2 years to my world around me. Its funny that time spent will be memory now although the relations will run deeper.
Be it dinner at Shri or just a walk post class that is destressing, the coffee at the tuck or the wild gaping at the time tables...the angst against the system, exchanging travel plans, the meat at Kareeems...

Its been a wild ride and its just begun...

Thank you-Aru, Renu, Koshy boy, Venky,Sneha, Riya, Debby,Ritesh Arindam,Chintan,Mehul, DB

Women indispensable

2010-02-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

The lady with the eyes. Eyes that talk, eyes that kill, eyes that convey a myriad emotions. Her antics and talk keep the mood afloat. The kiddo, the supervisor, the instructor.... Loved by all..... Aarit !

The wizard with the tongs ! Neha I love you ! People meet my sister- the bully the baker. Her hands can stir up magic and sever meat - human and animals alike !
Love her IMMENSLY !

LOVE THEM LOADS !

Bangkwang Times

2010-02-03T04:20:00.000-08:00

Dedicated below these few lines are for the unrelenting spirit of a few of my colleagues:

You have been blooded, said the old man to his son,
It’s now that you are fit to fight,
I know you are now wounded; it’s only now your minds in flight.

The sound of a moist pen on the arid folds of paper,
Its crease on the wilted white,
Proved more firm than words on stone,
For you knew your spirit was right.

Write on, pledge every drop of blood to the color in your pen,
For I know this was not once, such battles will happen again.

Go on Bangkwang!

2009-12-02T22:53:00.000-08:00

A day before Diwali, in New Delhi...Saw her on the other side of the car window...

Sadistic the winter air beats across her bones,
Open palms,watery eyes & rags for what she calls clothes,
Blisters on her knuckles and a smile upon her lips,
A three year old by her side,a younger one on the hips.

Gods name she calls for alms to help her by,
Shadowed is her future as lights light up the sky,
Diwali is what she asks me for, gives blessings in return,
Her frail hands near the fire, shreds of wood they burn.

My hands search my pockets for remnants of her hope,
They too are empty, but at least am warm in the biting cold.

2009-09-27T02:14:00.000-07:00

2 year old Lara at the NGO i interned at in Dec 2008...
Somethings grow on you... the dogs did...

2009-09-27T02:09:00.000-07:00

24th April 2009....2300 hours outside Wilson...Macchican Hall.. Mumbai...
The city does not sleep.. My cellphone camera again..