Rewards & Recognition!!

Ok! It’s that time of the year to acknowledge, appreciate and encourage and boy, am I delighted to do the honors!! First, for a little bit of trivia – related of course, a) These awards have been personally conceived and designed by me, b) I have achieved intermediate editing skills on Adobe Photoshop in the process and c) I have lifted images off the internet whenever some copyrights were mentioned but have camouflaged them successfully …hopefully!

As for me, Vinnie the Pooh having completed six months of probation on blogosphere, I must offer my heartiest gratitude to all my fellow bloggers and readers (forced at gun-point) and accept my permanent anchor-ship in blogosphere. I hope that you love your awards and do me a favor by putting it up on your blog space, though not doing so is entirely at your own risk – risk to life n limb or risk to lose my coveted readership. Ok. Now lets move on to the point:

1) ‘Young Writer’: This award goes to Senorita, my friend, philosopher and guide, who has now also turned into a ‘Young Writer’ with her work ‘R ki Shaadi’ being published in an E-zine. This award is in joint association of me and The Writer’s Guild, since along with the burden of being my offline buddy, she now dons another hat of ‘online writer cum bottoms-up buddy.

2) ‘Lazy & Crazy Blogger’: This award, no doubt goes to ‘Wobble bubble’ who in his own words says that he tries to look at this world with half sleepy eyes and equally sleepy mind…Now what can one say, with no water and clothes in that barren desert, Life must be pretty tough! How he manages to enter blogosphere is indeed a mystery!

3) ‘Picturesque Blogger’ : This award goes to the one and only blogger Ruffled Soul aka Sawan for his outstanding pictures which most often speak louder than the words on his space! Not that his words are of any less worth, but we readers just love to see images, don’t we? Even as I compose this post, I see that he has metamorphosed into a whole new skin – so colorful and beautiful – welcoming the new year!

4) ‘Young, Witty, Crazy Sweet Blogger’ : This award goes to our ‘Youngistan’ – emerging hero. He is not only creative to the core but also a simple philosopher who can reach lower frequencies to teach higher frequencies with his wit and sweet charm. I’m sure he will make our country proud one day, so it makes sense to serenade him and bask in his reflected glory!

5) ‘Pure, Eternal Poetess’ : This award goes to the highly acclaimed poetess that I know of – Scrawler. Though she hasn’t published any of them, her poetry is pure and takes one to eternity. But I confess that most of the times it touches my brain box at a tangent and I wonder at my courage and audacity to read and appreciate such sublime words.

6) ‘Blogger of Substance’ : This award goes to Father Jerry who writes ‘Substance’ and makes me all red when I look at my posts! Though we started blogging at the same time, he is way ahead in the race at 64. I do not hope to compete with him for reasons known entirely to me.

7) ‘My Blogger Buddy’: This is in recognition of tolerating my awful posts and commenting to compensate for ‘sensible’ words in my space. Right! This goes to all of you again…Yippie! Yey! Congratulations, my sweet blogger buddies, you have received this one from my heart, Promise!

 P.S: For readers who want to be in my privileged circle of ‘blogger buddies’, please convey your gratitude in my comments page and put this gift on your blog space. No need of any exclusive permission from me. Just grab one!

Eternal Quest

A mere speck of dust,
I imagine myself to be
A negligible fraction,
naive mathematicians foresee

Eternity, my inner form;
Cosmic, my divine state
I float forever in His grace;
in unceasing, constant debate

In exploit, in rhythm, I rise;
in silence, in void, I remain
One tiny grain of matter,
but mighty self in vain

I drift across thy chartered course,
In a chaotic hope to repay
The infinite debt of thy womb,
my reflection so to say

As in dark ocean depths,
hide secret desires so often
Every trifle of dust or spot of grain,
Longs an oyster to relieve from thy pain

To free, to reignite the ancestral shine
To create, to sow pearls of wisdom divine
Me, my essence and the eternal quest
Remains unanswered till the final test!

on the Wings of Prayer

Just close your eyes and Open your heart,

and feel your worries and cares depart

Just yield yourself to the Father above,

and let Him hold you secure in his love

For life on earth grows more involved

with endless problems that can’t be solved,

but God only asks us to do our best,

then He will ‘take over’ and finish the rest.

So when you are tired, discouraged and blue,

there’s always one door that is open to you,

and that is the door to ‘The House of Prayer’,

and you’ll find God waiting to meet you there.

And ‘The House of Prayer’ is no farther away,

than the quiet spot where you kneel and pray.

For the heart is the temple when God is there

as we place ourselves in His loving care.

And He hears every prayer and answers each one,

when we pray in His name ‘Thy will be done’.

And the burdens that seemed too heavy to bear

are lifted away on ‘The Wings of Prayer’.


I have carried this little poem with me right from school – so many changes, so many purses but this little piece of paper still remains with me! I don’t know its significance nor am I an expert in the power of faith healing, but reading this poem in times of solitude, grief or pure devotion, has only lifted me higher. Maybe, it does have some power after all. Today, on this beautiful occasion of Christmas, I share this simple yet powerful poem. Celebrating the birth of the holy Christ, may this poem help one and all.

Tagged ! Six crazy things while watching movie:)

OK! Thanks to Karthik, I have been tagged with this contagious bug. The bug wants me to confess about 6 crazy things I do while watching or going for a movie. I hardly watch movies other than animation but still…and without my knowledge these bugs are tagging Senorita, Sawan and Scattered Thoughts! Guys, This is a crazy bug – it makes you confess here in your personal blog and beware of the virtual gods…if you lie, you will be severely punished, so say the gods!! . Senorita, you will be locked up in a dungeon and Himesh Reshamiya will be your partner singing in infinite loop ! As for me, I do want to go for a date with George Clooney, so here goes…and yes, for the guys its Catherine Zeta Jones!

1) Take my own refreshments – See, I’m a good girl, I listen to my mom. She says not to eat ‘’outside’ food, so I don’t buy anything during the intervals. I carry my own refreshment - a few chocolate bars! See, these are slim, long and can be easily hidden at the bottom of my purse. The ‘chota’ packs can be kept inside the zip pouch or inside jeans pockets! Yey! I clearly remember an incident that would have ‘happened’ before the movie ‘Hari Puttar’, if not for my innocent nieces. Me and my two little nieces, with 3 packs of big 5-star Munch and 3 packs of small Bar One and Perk filled in my jeans pocket, one in little Dia’s frock pocket, one camouflaged under a handkerchief in my purse, one inside the zip pouch! I stood in front of the lady security, unzipped my purse, lifted my hands in the air and challenged her. She smirked, signaled me to take my purse and let us go! My knees finally stopped shaking and I was able to pass through the metal detector. I suspect it was the nieces who are well versed in giving the innocent look or that the lady was kind enough to not deprive us of some chocolate! Next time, I swear I will not let my pockets bulge!

2) Popcorn pellets – See, I’m not a movie person. I hardly remember the story or the sequence in the story except for a few funny jabs and chaps. I’m very restless during any movie except animation! I keep changing my position. I hate popcorn but eat it if I have to. So, once me and my crazy friend Jas, started throwing popcorn at people in the front! Now they were all guys, when they looked behind angrily, we gave them our big ‘Cibaca’ smile. Cibaca smile is the one which shows all 32. These guys were amused and forgot all about the movie. I think that was the debut movie of Arshad Warsi – Naseeb Apne Apne..but again I’m not sure! Later, when the movie got over, we didn’t leave the hall until they had left. They did wait quite some time for us to come but soon realized that our ‘popcorn-throwing’ was the effect of the movie alone and had nothing to do with them! That was the last time I ever bought popcorn!

3) Forced Curiosity/Imagination – Yeah, I never go through the trailer or read any review before going to the cinema. If by chance, I happen to hear particularly bad reviews, I program my mind to convert the bad into good. It works for me! I also realized that it works the best when it is Hrithik Roshan. No movie can be rated with one or half star which has my heartthrob, can it? This habit may not be categorized as crazy after all. It’s the most sensible thing to do when the hero overshadows the storyline, the cinematography, the score or the dialogues. I always imagine myself opposite Hrithik. The whole movie watching becomes therapeutic and I’m healed at least temporarily from love sickness or ‘Imaginary Boyfriend Syndrome (IBS)’. I confess, I imagined myself dancing with Hrithik drenching in the rain in the movie ‘Koi mil gaya’ in my little pink skirt! Idhar chala..main udhar chala..jaane kahan main…kidhar chala….areeyy pisal gaya…..

4) After the movie ? This may not be so abnormal after all. I usually make my plans for the evening or for life during movies. It’s something about the ambience, I say! After being fed on so many of reels of ‘never-gonna-happen’ events, I get inspired to work on real events for which the probability is always greater than 0. It also helps the mind in the logical reasoning box. If so and so can happen in the movie, chances of it happening in real life is always 0 and vice versa! In fact, a friend and me had quite a heated discussion regarding survival strategies and the avoidable or unavoidable situations for using the F word….during the movie ‘The Sixth Sense’! Manoj must have made this awesome movie in an unusual style, but the pace it went at, I could almost see my nails growing!

5) Lip sync dialogues – I love doing this especially for the villains and it usually is so predictable that it comes out beautifully! ‘Kutthe kameene …main tera khoon pee jaunga…’ or ‘Kal moohi, kahan muh kala kar ke a gayi…’. Now, sometimes we also put in our own funny dialogues into a serious situation, much to the amusement of the folks sitting nearby! Sadly, I cant remember any right now. Also, I have this crazy habit of letting my ears catch neighboring dialogues. In case of a funny one meant in double entendre, I force my brains to not process it and respond with my mouth for fear of getting caught! But I did get caught big time during the movie ‘Dilwane Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’. It was during the song ‘Main tere saamne…’, relating to some bathroom joke for Kajol!

6) Short course in Fashion/ Interior Design – A cinema is the best platform for a short course in fashion design or interior design. Don’t you think? Irrespective of whether the hero’s character in the movie is of a poor guy, the hero will most definitely break into a song-and-dance sequence in designer clothes in the most coolest interiors or exteriors possible. The roadside tapori in torn, faded jeans will be shown in designer trousers in a designer office et al. I remember a scene in Vaastav, in which Sanjay Dutt, an encounter specialist and his prostitute girlfriend – Namrata Shirodkar are transformed into two decent lovebirds…all complete with his suit and her saree singing away to glory in ‘phoren’! I usually note down the latest pattern in salwar kameezes and accessories to match for shoes!

Hope, I win my date….

Friend Ship and the sea of life!

I woke up early at 6 in the morning to the December chills in Mumbai, with a frozen head and a wish for a wee nap. December chills just give a taste of the coming New Year chills and Nature’s way to encourage hapless souls like me who tend to freeze. Some major thawing with a hot cup of coffee is the best de-freeze! Talking about coffee and the caffeine in it, maybe some other day….for now my day continues…The juices in my head began to dance and I could add 2+2. And what do I see – a mini beauty parlor session! My nieces had their annual day in school and these kids each had an item to perform. Hia looked her part as the Bharathanatyam dancer with her ‘extra long hair and kohl lined eyes’. Dia was part of a kick-ass group all ready in her shiny hot pants to perform ‘Move your baadi, baby’ (body in written English)! To think that their head-mistress is a lady reputed to be quite stern and ancient! Anyways…my head was still entangled somewhere…just couldn’t point a finger, where?

I avoided the news, the bad news rather what with all news channels focusing only on terrorism, scandals, corruption and other ‘live’ footage crap happening around the length and breadth of our country. How about some Good News, guys?
So , I watched some Old School re-runs on Zee Café, and felt a tinge of sadness ‘why don’t they make such sweet serials anymore?’, especially ‘The Wonder years’, the li’l heroine is also ‘Vinnie’!

Later, I scanned the entire gamut of channels, none of it made up for the ‘missing’ link though. Switched off and began gazing at the lone almond tree outside my window. Just this monsoon, it was a beauty with fresh leaves and twigs spreading new hope and dreams, but now the little dry leaves that hung on the branches were in the get-set position. A slight swoosh and there they would ‘go’! A little nest was vacated too…

After a necessary bath though winters sitting at home don’t mandate it as ‘necessary’ but for the sake of the family, I sacrificed!, I did some CTRL f in my mind folders, still couldn’t trace it. At around 11:30, I got a call from A asking whether I’m at home and Can she visit me? I was thrilled, you know A and me were somewhat inseparable until she ‘fell’ and got married to S. In 5 minutes, she was home!

Now, God knows if there is a way to welcome old friends or not, but we couldn’t care for that… we started chatting right away. I was in Chennai and she got married, job roles had changed, house roles had changed, common friends had changed.. In fact we were so engrossed in exchanging the past 2 and half years…My mom had to take care about the juice and stuff! After some time, I was light and happy and she too looked renewed! She wouldn’t have left if not for her mom who called up for the umpteenth time! ‘A’ was visiting her parents who stay close by. So lunch was at 3 pm and the juice was forgotten!

Later P, an ex-colleague calls up to give some news and I inform of A’s visit. That set us up…We chatted again and shared another set of common cherished memories! The oldies still remembered me as the ‘Masala chai wali’! He too wouldn’t disconnect had it not been for his weekend job of teaching college kids! By now, I was more than delighted and waiting for more!

Then I come online to know a status of a course I have yet to complete. The email ID registered with that university was a very old one, so I logged into that account. Yes, I did remember my password after some rattling though! And, who sends a ‘Hi’? N, of course!
I cant believe my eyes..N and me have climbed trees, chased dogs, invented new strategy games, saved little kids from the bullies, went through the same school and college and majored in the same subject! He was starting his day in London and I was waiting for more!! Somehow, I knew it was my day today. God has been kind to me. N and me had a long catching up to do…he was dead busy but came up with new views for my life! He too wouldn’t log off, had it not been for a deadline. But, I was in Nirvanic bliss!

These old friends had made my day! They healed me, they entangled the mess, they found the missing link for me! I was reminded something about friends being gifts, we give ourselves! I was also reminded of the 4-part series of Karthik with F for friendship! Friendship is surely the best investment for a healthy life. For investment tips, please read the series at ‘Youngistan’ in my blog list. Thank you, friends!

Har Blog kuch kehtha hain...

Ok! After this huge fiasco had ended and we both had decided to move on, I looked at my blog and tried to see through his eyes. Why did he want to see my stupid blog, even after I had threatened him with dire consequences if he does so? What's the big deal if he follows it and why am I so possessive anyways! To solve this mystery, I transformed into a third identity, this time an un-named one though. Now, this third identity or character enters my blog for the first time...she digs up my precious archives and notes down any and every little thing of no significance whatsoever! By the time she starts from July and ends up till date, she is completely exhausted and her notebook is filled up till the very end, but her face is glowing with a kind of discovery that only Columbus must have felt on seeing land after so many months at sea!

I was quite taken aback with her expression and also sad that I couldnt see the same. She handed me her notebook and vanished into me! I was back as Vin, with her notebook in my trembling fingers and an anxious itch in my mind. What has she unearthed? What will I get to know? Will I ever be able to put down my thoughts, crazy or worse? But, there was nothing about my posts or my blog or about my beautiful template or my wonderful writing skills! She had noted down only about all her feelings and the little emotions triggered in her in the journey through my virtual life.

She felt warm tears welling up when she saw frustation, she felt joy when she saw happy moments, she felt a sense of despair and strength during the terror moments, she felt content at sheer creativity, she felt healed by the inspiring quotes. She had even learnt so much from my co-blogger's, they gifted her the spices of their life, they encouraged her by sharing their experiences, they in turn added a different flavor to my posts which were otherwise quite boring! She thanked me at the end for sharing my moments here. I felt hollow, stupid and almost in tears...but enlightened!

To think that I wanted to close my blog once upon a time and worst still deprive a 'thirsty' soul, I feel healed now that the blog is up and running in all its glory! I made a final agreement with him and have invited him! He has promised not to communicate with me in any form!! Thank a million, Sen and folks...you guys stopped me from committing the gravest sin ever, forever in your debt! I can sleep in peace now! If my stupid blog can bring someone a little happiness, then why not?

A Fool's Paradise!

I chanced upon this path
Misfortune, some folks say!
I trusted his honest eyes
Betrayal at its best


Enticed by his promise,
the undying, undiminishing
togetherness to eternity
I muted 'The Voice Within'


Destiny, she drifts across
a new course, undecided
I bow in reverence to thee
my despair hasn't subsided


The Lord acts strange
The Lord acts wise
I am his li'l puppet
Happy in a fool's paradise!

Cyber Stalker

Ever heard about stalkers? Yeah, those 'dreaded species', most celebrities are scared to even think about! But, I'm no celebrity, am I? I always make it a point to stay away from flashlights, men-gossip and strutting my feathers, strongly believing that If I did that, I could successfully build an 'un-interesting/ utterly boring' image in such minds. No one would dare be interested in my nothing-happening-at-all LIFE. I thought my strategy was right; I thought I would be safe from 'prying' eyes'! Alas...not to be!

My case is a simple open-and-shut one, here I know 'my stalker's identity'! That’s why the blog went 'Entry on invitation' for some time, but this way even my readers were affected by this so-called stalker, what with sparing a few minutes for reading my crap posts, now the pain doubled - they had to login too!!! Since, it was private for many days, I thought he would get the point of 'Access Denied' to mean ‘Leave me alone’ or ‘Let me breathe’ or ‘Let me go!’, so I made it public and there you go, my stalker returns in clockwork precision and sticks on like a leech….and that’s an altogether new story. This 'stalker' keeps refreshing my blog URL like a 100 times each day to 'analyze' my thoughts, to read my 'underlying' feelings for god-knows-who! He reads my posts and all your comments and my replies to your comments. Then he does the same with all your posts. He is abreast of the latest happenings in this 'new' gang more than the gang itself! Utter nuisance for me but utter Timepass for him, I say!

A little background check on this stalker-jerk. It is obvious that he has no work to do in this life. He lives only for himself, but keeps blabbering about 'sacrificing, giving and living for others' all the time. Yeah, Right! At the moment, he is alive only to torture the hell out of me, what with my already happening life and the divine selflessness I'm surrounded with! I am done with the usual boorish contempt show, the bickering, etc. to clear any miscomprehensions he may have about me. I became the ‘ice maiden’ – not at all affected by the ‘pain’ and ‘torture’ that I AM inflicting him! (mind it, I say)

He is a big loser in all aspects of his life, isn’t that the case always! He cannot face the real world, he cannot face the ‘rejection’ brought upon him by his ‘own folks’, he cannot decide whether to stand up for a friend or let her get insulted or better still molested!! He makes a song and dance professing his undying, un-diminishing love, I-will-live-for-you-forever types. He emails, phone texts me. He tries to convince me any which way he can. See, I’m not as stupid as I look! I don’t understand why anyone would still linger around my space when I've shot point-blank a 'LEAVE ME ALONE". Can anyone tell me what language do 'stalkers' understand?

I have two options with me: a) Close my blog and b) Enforce restricted access.

Firstly, I was in pain and so decided to close my blog- no life.. no blog, luckily smart sense prevailed, my blog stills sees the light of the day and also of the tubelights! See, I have no other social life except for this virtual space! That explains the new theme and lively color… Vin was getting geared up for her new life!

I did enable restricted access, which kept him at bay, unmistakably also clarify my stand of ‘Let me go… let me breathe... But, fortunately, for him, it also kept at bay, many others who didn’t have gmail ids! I made it public, believing that decency demands, self-respect and ‘i-will-sacrifice-for-her-as-usual’ will keep him at bay.

But, my widget for 'Live Traffic feed' clearly proves the fact that he has stripped off all his decency, he has broken once again another rule of friendship (I doubt there was any!!), he has again stuck like a leech! All his denials are vain attempts to hoodwink me. He is stalking me again…I’m choking! Thank God, I’m miles away, but here it’s just an ‘enter’ key so how do I prosecute trespassers?

An Ode to Classical Ragas

My eyes are full of tears like raindrops,
yet my mind is still thirsty (for love).


This insane heart will not know
what game is being played.
This song which is full of sadness,
appears on my lips and
takes me to a far away place.
Although I have forgotten everything,
but I still remember few things.
My mind is still thirsty (for love).


The story is old.
I am trying to remember you.
I still cannot forget the swing of “sawan” (The monsoon season).
The seasons come and go
while leaving behind false comfort.
My mind is still thirsty (for love).


Many years have passed since we left each other.

In the sky, I can see the lightning as the streak of time

and I saw you in that lightning.

Hope and despair play the game of hide and seek with my mind.

My mind is still thirsty (for love).




Sounds familiar? :) thats 'Mere naina sawan bhado, phir bhi mera man pyaasa...' sung by Kishore Kumar in 'Mehbooba' in Raga Shivranjani which is known to evoke the moods of romance and sorrow!! My one and only favorite sad love song. 

Today as I was humming it, my curiosity took the better of me, I realised a strange happiness in humming it...so began the research, was led to this link http://dr-narasinha-kamath.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/06/mere-naina-saawan-bhado-sung-by-dr-kamath-dedicated.htm, and i'm glad I found this beautiful article...am storing it in my space for eternity....

A Brief!

                 'Imagine this world with the same concept of living but with a slight difference and this difference would be that of 'communication'. What if, mankind spanning the entire globe expressed themselves using a single protocol. How would life be if we humans spoke, wrote, heard a single universal language? Would it be called a language in the first place? No, It would probably be the communication protocol for humans!

                 In real terms, this is not possible, but virtually it is. Electronic mail is the communication order of our times. What if, you wrote your mail in Hindi, but your bong friend received it in Bengali without you having to learn Bengali? Then, probably you wouldn't learn French just to impress that beautiful French blonde you met online or maybe send an 'I love you' in all possible languages to your beloved!

                The possibilities are endless and so are your choices. And providing you with these choices is our challenge. We, at GlobalLanguageMail.com introduce ourselves as the worlds only portal for providing free email service in a language that you prefer."

Most successful start-ups were born out of an idea. Young college kids, fire in their belly's, bored of studies, put on their thinking caps one fine day and came up with this - a free email service provider which supports multi language conversion and unheard of in those times! And, what an idea! The kids tried for quite a long list of possible domain names, but sadly, all were taken except for this : 'GlobalLanguageMail'. So, that was it. The kids registered and again put on their thinking caps to plan, innovate, co-ordinate, delegate and most of all market!

Some things happened, some didn't, God knows best! The kids didnt find a VC. For the sake of non-dotcom folks, I would explain (in brief!) who or what is a VC? See, most brains rot when it succumbs to loads of money in the pockets, such brains cannot function any further. Hence, such brains 'steal' from brains which sit on top of 'empty pockets'. We call them VC's or Venture Capitalists - these guys capitalise on poor guy's venture and capitalise they do, big time! The kids were poor, they were still on pocket money (read neglible chillar); technology and time waits for no man or kid, so the 'idea' died off...The DOTCOM idea busted!

Today, as I was sorting some old papers, I came across this write-up that I had conceived years ago. Yes! I was the official Content Developer cum Designer, me being the English literate and the one member from Venus, the other three from Mars! Forgive me, guys:) Plain logic that girls are better at creating or designing content than 'developing code', 'strategising', 'building core competence' and other inane, perfectly avoidable tasks.

I put this here for the gang: me, P, S & B, so that when we reflect upon the past, we are reminded of the many things that 'could have been'; the many paths that 'could be taken' and the many friends that 'should be made' ! Thanks gang for crossing my path...

Thank you, God!

Hello God,

If you happen to stumble upon this post, an event for which I believe the probability is 0.00000000009999 since its titled and labelled with you, so that means you 'will stumble upon' my post, I want to let you know quite a few things. Not that I fear you or expect any favors for entry to heaven, but nevertheless, you need to know what Vin really thought about you and thinks about you, albeit you seldom do much in keeping with her wishes. Still...

Let me refresh your memory, in case you rely on such human tools. I belong to a wonderful set of 'family', for starters we are a group of 'self-styled combat warriors', the only pinch is of the uniquely distinct styles each one of us possess. So, lets not talk about how the family chariot moves on with all the wheels pointing in the ten directions, so anchored as a rock, just as you! So, now you know who I am. Lets proceed further..

When I was little, my mom said 'God is watching all our actions and will punish us for our lies'. I thought 'Let me not take a chance... I never lied'. Meantime, all my elder siblings lied and went scott-free from mom's cane, whereas me would be decorated with long red bumps. I wondered then, 'Why is God not punishing them?'. Gradually, the questions increased, every time i joined my hands in prayer at the small temple at home, I saw an image of you smiling away to glory. I didnt know it then, the reason for your smile, but maybe now I do! Nevertheless, I trusted you and prayed to you and begged you for a new set of crayons, a new drawing book, a new story book, a new dress, a new shoe... more quality time with my 'ever so busy' dad! But, you only smiled! Some answer to a little toddler's prayer!

The toddler grew up, the prayers continued but you only smiled! I prayed, i stuggled, i worked hard to make both ends meet, while you were smiling your glorious smile! They say 'God alone knows', so maybe you do know, when exactly i stopped praying or rather my style of praying. Maybe, you felt bad, because you stopped smiling at the temple. But, you know what, I had begun to worship people. They were the ones running this 'loka', they were the real heroes, each one of them striving towards achieving their desires, while joining forces to achieve collective desires. We, the people were running the show!

But with two elder brothers living the spiritual life and me living the 'doubtful' life, a debate was inevitable. I was lectured about your cosmic laws and stuff. I failed miserably in the debate followed with the toughest questions, 'Why are the successful people, always the ones who believe in themselves, believe in the power within?', 'Why some things never shape the way you want?', 'Why some street urchins go on to become major contributors to society?, etc, etc. You must have heard it in my home, if you had happened to tune in, what with my entire neighbourhood tuned in! Then, I realised who is the real hero..who is the script writer... who is the pupeteer..who is calling all the shots ??? Then I realised why you only smiled your glorious smile.

So, here I am at your doorstep, with hands joined humbly, Please forgive me, God. I will never stop praying again. I have a lot to thank for, yes, i really do. You saved me from evil, you carried me through my disbelief, you tolerated my anger, you even sent me friends who did the same! You opened a door when all others were shut on me. You are a tough coach but now i know why! So, Thank you, God and trust me there's no sarcasm here!

Yours Gratefully,

Vin

Who me ?

..........You are a thinker, philosopher and an idealist. You have an even nature with a clear and sound mind. You are jolly and charming. You may not be very forthcoming with your feelings towards other people. Friendship means the world to you. You work well in groups. You have a deep interest in the psychic and occult sciences. You strive to do a lot for the mankind, given your planets favor you. You are artistic. You are diplomatic and can get your views across without hurting anyone. You are sociable and talkative and good company. You are quick witted with a very good sense of humor. You make friends easily and have no trouble keeping them.

Holy Christ! What a pack of bloody lies! And one would wonder who actually 'buys' all this stuff? I was tempted enough to buy the software; see, it said such good things about me. Naah..an ego booster this, just a trick as old as the hills - said, my inner voice. Or wait a minute, the machine can't go wrong, its only 'computing' what its been fed! So, I checked and re-checked all the stuff that needed to be fed: my date of birth, place of birth and the time of birth. The place of birth also needed the exact longitude and latitude mentioned in degrees. Oh no! everything was right... Indeed, the output had to be an accurate one!

My dear friends, philosophers, guides and the permutations/combinations thereby possible with these three roles, as you all know by now, I am not blessed with most of the aforementioned qualities...well, almost!

Does the software have a bug then? Or is it coded with only positive vibrations? Or better still, is it scripted to 'build the right self-image' , to see themselves in a new light and not their own perceptions? Or come on, am i that good? BS, i say!

Mathematics can never deviate. Coded with only positive vibrations - almost next to impossible. Built to boost self-image -- why on earth would an astrology software do that! So, by the method of deductive reasoning, one may deduce that the only reason remaining would be this...The output is accurate and in keeping with the qualities of Vin2. And did i say Vin2? One may ask, "Vin2.. who?" Well, Vin2 is the alter ego of Vin, thats me, the one who is typing now. Is there a need for a formal introduction? Naaah..We all have read the qualities she's endowed with. Soon, she will have her own space...her own blog. Entry is free but restricted. Watch out, folks!

Nameless..Faceless..

upon the grass i tread, as alone as the sun
fresh hues of green paint the countryside
and little drops of glittering wet diamonds
tease my naked feet, chill the fire within

specks of dust shining through the rays,
as guards protecting the celestial gates
the horror, the hurt, the throbbing pain
how do i beg thee for a wee bit of grace!

deep within were enflamed buried desires,
long lost and forgotten in mindless pursuit
i look more closely for signs of content,
but the carcasses lay, scattered eerily all over!

envious no more of the calm without
nameless, faceless pangs of guilt and doubt
i watch in silence, fearing to intrude
my conscience is eroded, self misconstrued!

My Dear Mumbai

She welcomes all
A warm embrace!
‘Gateway of India’
Her beauty ‘n grace!


Trusts her children
No matter the race
Balances unceasing greed
Never once doubts a deed!


Her heritage they destroy
Merciful heart is burnt
Their veil conceals, terror dictates
Sadly, no guts for a mutiny!


Wanders around her lone self;
Is love a contract or a bond?
If this be indeed gratitude,
Need it be paid thus?

This is my contribution to this week's 3WW (Three Word Wednesday). Help spread the fight against terror.

A sincere appeal

Dear Editor,

Sir, I wish to introduce myself as a 'Common Mumbaikar', who after years of indifference has become numb to the vagaries of a Mumbai Life! The recent massacre has led me to believe that I am indeed ‘Impotent’. I wonder whether I have a right to celebrate on Jan 26! This letter to you is a desperate appeal to help me and the one billion Indians that are feeling equally miserable.

Where was I when some people, we label as ‘terrorists’, killed my brothers and raped my sisters? Why couldn’t I hear the horrified screams of their orphaned children? Well, Sir, as I’ve already mentioned that I stay in Mumbai, which is so ‘very far’ from these rotten things, you know the places where these rotten things are a norm- Kashmir, Assam, Orissa..and sometimes Delhi, Bengalooru, Hyderabad…So I thought ‘What have I got to do?’, I have enough screams to hear and enough orphans to deal with here in Mumbai itself! Every now and then, there is a bomb blast and the system breaks down; the authorities go into hiding and inevitably the courageous Hero would be the ‘Common Man’.

Well, Sir, I have brought the ‘Common Man’ intentionally here. As a reader of your esteemed newspaper ‘The Times of India’, I am a die-hard fan of your daily strip ‘You said it’ by the greatest ever cartoon illustrator: ‘R K Laxman’. It so correctly depicts the Common Man as a silent spectator of the system. In the cartoonist’s own words, the Common Man symbolises the mute millions of India, or perhaps the whole world, a silent spectator of marching time! He represents the hopes, aspirations, troubles and perhaps even foibles of the average Indian. I gather you know what I’m coming to.

My problem with you is this: Just as the Common Man, Sir, your newspaper too stands as a mute spectator all these years! Whenever a system crashes down, your esteemed newspaper would be the ‘first’ to bring us the ‘esteemed news’. And then in the race to be the ‘first’ to bring the next big news, Sir, you forget the burning past. I agree, Sir that you are the highest English language newspaper and in your own words, ‘very liberal’. But, it has occurred to me lately that you represent the masses. You are considered as the ‘Fourth Estate’ not for a rhyme, but for a reason. You, Sir should be publishing the ‘voices of us, commoners’. You should personify the woes of every Indian not just in a cartoon. You should take the lead in asking the ‘Why’s?’ from all our leaders, irrespective of which party they belong to or which party you support.

Our nation, no doubt invariably follows a pseudo-democracy. Where is the ‘For the people’ part? Why it so happens that, after the people are chosen by the people, the ‘chosen people’ easily transform into ‘politicians’. Forgive me, Sir, but ‘politics’ isn’t about managing any more, it has become a ‘murky thing’, and all this while you, the Fourth Estate just looks on…refuses to act. With all the powers that make you what you are, you should be the one to bell the cat. Yes, Mr. Editor, the time has come for you to actually put into practice, your sole purpose of starting this esteemed newspaper.

We Indians need to start a revolution now with an apt war cry. And so, we need you to voice this war cry. For if we don’t start now, there won’t be any Indians left! And then I wonder Sir, who would read your ‘esteemed newspaper’! Is this asking for too much?

Yours Sincerely,

Vin

Essentially Mumbai death statistics!

The recent spate of events in Mumbai have sparked a rather disturbing but funny trend analysis in me. Given that it all started since 1993 blasts, I sure have collected pages and pages of data on the said analysis on a Comman Mumbaiite. So, let me introduce a Common Mumbaiite, one may imagine R. K. Laxman's Common Man. Yeah, a picture is worth a thousand words but I'm no cartoonist. Please bear with the words till I hone my cartooning skills!

Common Mumbaiite - The common man/woman one sees walking in the streets, who never indulges in any kinda warfare; who believes in Ram, Christ and Allah, who visits Siddhivinayak temple at Dadar every Tuesday, St. Michaels church at Mahim every Wednesday and the Haji Ali Dargah on Friday; who breathes the heavily-polluted air all the while jammed in heavy traffic; who pays his taxes before time and also 'haftha' to the local hooligans, petty civic workers and/or police; who finds 'bomb blasts' utterly passe; who worships 'Sachin Tendulkar' as a Hero; who dreams of becoming the next 'Dhirubhai Ambani'; who mentally and physically prepares to face the fierce monsoon lashes; who casually saves another life, putting his own in danger or losing it altogether while the authorities look on....;who dies of body but not of spirit.

Here are the statistics on the causes and the likelihood of death for a Common Mumbaiite:

What is the probability that a Common Mumbaiite dies from the pollution he lives in, given that he inhales as much CO as he does O2?

Ans. 0

...... dies from toiling his a** out in order to combat the ever increasing cost of living, vegetables and real estate prices?

Ans. 0.1

...... dies from heart disease given the high levels of stress, fast life and fast food?

Ans. 0.2

.....dies from brain disease given that he 'has to' use most of it in his survival strategy from the authorities and the so-called law and order system?

Ans. 0.3

.....dies from the 'malaria' caused by special Mumbai-bred mosquitoes given that these mosquitoes have mutated over the years just like him?

Ans. 0.4

.... dies from crossing the railway track since the 'authorities' forgot to build the 'foot over-bridge'?

Ans. 0.5

....dies while crossing the road given that he has to break pedestrian rules as he is already late for work due to the f***ing traffic?

Ans. 0.6

....dies when a local corporator and/or police barks at or bites him given that he deals with them almost right from his food, water, clothing and shelter to a kindergarten admission for his kids?

Ans. 0.7

....dies when he is considered a threat to the ruling party and inadvertently comes in the line of fire given that the 'Z' category security of our beloved ministers, VIPs shoot almost anything that comes in visible range?

Ans. 0.8

...dies from a bullet given that he is always ducking them in trains, buses, temples and crowded places and is now a trained expert in the same?

Ans. 0.9

.....dies from a bomb blast given that a blast has occured just inches away from him decorating him with shrapnel and blood, his own and some others, most of his life?

Ans. 1

P.S.: This trend holds true only for Mumbaiites. In cases of death other than Mumbaiites, the trend would be reversed! And, yes, no more beauty tips from the kitchen, I'd rather give a beauty tip from my soul.

C for Courage: No beauty is complete if there is fear within. Courage is the only answer to the Devil. Stand fearless, the world salutes thy soul!

Betrayed

of what is and what isn't?
this i shall not ask,
of who did and who didn't
this too i shan't ask

they sweared on oath
they loved her most
and when she beckons-
would protect her post

she lay there still
betrayed and torn-
no voice to bring
alas, of her own!

while under siege
she held on hope,
the humbuggers all,
"look, who bears the oath!"

Unnamed, incurable, embarassing, chronic mental disorder

Vin was the most brightest star in this side of the hemisphere and an apostle of the innocents, until the bugs got her. The bugs of the 'Untitled, incurable, embarassing, chronic mental disorder'. One may ask 'What? Who? Where? How?'. All answers lie ahead...Read at your own risk!

The seeds were sown in kindergarten itself. Tiny, innocent toddlers like me were taught to associate new words with similar stuff to aid memory. Little vin enjoyed this game, little did she know that the seeds were germinating!! Every new word had a little relative. One fine day, vin was no more a toddler..she had blossomed! Now, can one blame her for what occured after that, she associated 'interesting' words, of course to aid her memory, alas now these memories wont fade soon...Associations should be technically based on sound, color, feel, smell but here they were usually baseless, illogical, totally irrelevant ones. Some are her own associations while some of them have been transmitted unawares. Nevertheless, she struggles with these growing collectibles and posting them ensures a light wink in her eye. So, here goes...

All teenagers dread this emotionally depressing monster, I did too. I'm talking about 'pimples', Only my germs associated it somehow with 'nipples', dont ask me why. The germs have multiplied and now only associate in one lane. Side effects include utter disgust at all 'pimple reduction/control/removal' creams. One horrible incident: a guy asked for solution for his pimples, I eagerly said 'Just have a lot of cooling stuff, your nipples would disappear!'

I wished to disappear...

A dear friend is always 'associating' the word 'prosecuted' with 'prostituted'. No logic, right? Wrong, the germs know better. These germs are 'gems' in illogical, embarassing link-ups. All boards with 'Trespassers will be prosecuted' becomes 'Trespassers will be prostituted!', whatever that means. Holy Christ, I will never trespass! This dear friend has associated another gem. A question like 'What are the pros and cons of this method?' becomes a story about prostitutes and conmen!! He sure loves our munni bai's and munshiji's from bollywood.

Another dear friend, this time a 'she', has compelled me to forgo one of my favorite musicians - Kenny G. Not her fault though, its her vernacular tongue.Our most popular, beloved three-lettered word 'sex' becomes 'sax'. When I listened to Kenny G, I usually imagined him with his 'Saxophone' in his mouth, but after that it only looks like an instrument of 'Sex'!

The germs are in their most active state.

Once I saw a very beautiful painting of two pigeons. Only later I realised to my horror, that the beautiful painting was actually a topless woman!! The germs are busy at work. All mentions of pigeons in prose, poetry, peace talks, images of them carrying twigs and paintings especially make me sore. The topless woman scares me! Am sure the germs are winking now.

All sutra ending words associate automatically with the 'Kamasutra', the germs know better. I wonder how i'll ever wear the Mangal Sutra.

Kohinoor Continental is not just a 'Gem' of a hotel in my area, its rather an embarassing one. Even while taking an auto, I have to tell the poor chap 'Kohinoor Continental Hotel jaana hain', lest he take me elsewhere. The germs have etched the kohinoor ads with permanent marker. That chap might be innocent, but my germs arent na!

And, did I say this is an extremely contagious disorder? The malfunctioning germs from the writers cranium immediately transmit themselves onto the readers cranium via brain waves during the process of reading. This survival strategy ensures healthy (read embarassment-causing), more effective and treatment-resistant progeny.

Congratulations, you've caught the bug too!!

P.S: Now that I've infected you, I better compensate with my beauty tip from the kitchen.

B for Besan: Besan is the hindi equivalent for chickpea flour. If the fallout of a sunny day at the beach is an unwanted tan, fret not! All you have to do is mix besan, a few drops of lemon juice and curds. Apply it to your face and other tanned parts of your body. Leave it on till it dries and rinse of with cool water. Repeat this procedure for 10 days.

Oh, BTW....Besan is dead effective against pimples!

An invitation from Mr. Black Cobra!

Yeah, you read that right. It all happened about a month ago. It was 5 am and I was as usual lost, lost not on the god-damn roads without billboards (am directionally disillusioned, remember??), but lost in slumberland!

He stood right in front of me, all black and shiny, now dont ask how a snake stands?; so he balanced himself upright on his coiled rear end and hissed an invite, quite an enchanting invite though I havent learnt the snake lingo, I knew for sure that the enchanting feeling it gave me was indeed my call from above !!! chalo bulava aya hain, mujhe matha ne bulaya hain.

I was glad that at last some-body/animal rather reptile has invited me to its den for some electrifying exchange of thoughts and/or theories, at least thats what I thought it meant. Come on..what else could a shiny, black cobra want from a beautiful girl like me? why else would a shiny, black cobra scare the night-lights out of me?

So, this woman of substance AKA Smart Alecca, does an innocent U-turn. She confides to her mom. Now, as all moms are, her mom was too! One may ask what? TERRIFIED, I say!!

She drags Smart Alecca all the way to the family astrologer, a Mr. Know-it-all, dont we all have one? Incidentally, he also happens to interpret dreams/nightmares whatever. That trip called upon urgently for another one...only this trip would be another 1000 kms plus from Mumbai - the trip to the Kukke Subramanya temple only 100 kms from Mangalore, where my roots are!

Here, Lord Subramanya is worshiped in the form of a Cobra, so that was indeed an invite; a call from above! Legend has it that sarpa dosha (curse of a snake) may be pardoned here by the Lord Himself provided the appropriate pooja is performed. We performed one of the poojas as prescribed by our family doctor errr family astrologer!!

Guess what I prayed for, rather humbly and naively:

Vinny ki tammana hain ke Hero use mil jaye

Chahe meri jaan jaye, chahe mera dil jaye

P.S: I'm obliged to add useful footnotes for having wasted your precious time thus far blabbering about snakes, God, Snake-God, beliefs, superstition and the likes. So, here goes my A to Z tips on Beauty from the Kitchen!! (given that men too are beauty conscious)..For all men who aren't, just ponder on the SAKA fairness cream ad - EVOLVE!

A for Aloe vera: It is the perfect cooling remedy for a sun-burnt skin. All you have to do is pluck a fresh aloe vera leaf and extract its gel. Apply it to the sun-burnt area and rinse it off after it dries. Repeat the procedure for some days. (a tip from the garden rather?)

B for ?(check out next post!)

Love, pain and other catalysts!

I often wonder as to what is the secret formula for an average Joe / Jane to turn into a ‘somebody’? (and now even more after the huge, emotional marathon of comments on my theory!!) How and when do they find that formula? Is it the urge germinating after years of being tagged as ‘average’? Is it a ‘natural trait’- like something which is inherited, like something which tells them ‘You have loads to give the world, so go on, get it out, what are you waiting for”? Or, is it some kind of inner transformation they go through, at a sub-conscious level, in the process of combating a broken heart, a broken dream, loss of a loved one or the general injustice/ imbalance prevailing in the world?

Well, I could come up with only my personal theories....err ideas!

I observed my own evolution; I observed the evolutions of folks around me; I read through autobiographies/ biographies and my conclusion was this:

All greatness was related to creativity, all creativity was in turn related to love, pain and other emotional catalysts !

Even a tiny piece of creative work comes from either of the emotions stated above, and immediately the average Joe / Jane would get tagged as great! The once-average-now-great wonders what happened to me? I’m only trying to overcome the pain - my sweetheart is no more; I’m only trying to survive – my dad’s no more! but what they don’t realise is this: In the process of overcoming , escaping or surviving pain, this pain serves as a catalyst in bringing them closer to their ‘inner self’, the ‘inner self’ – temple of infinite potential, wherein anything that can be ‘thought of’, can be ‘created’. When we look back at our roots, our parents and their roots and so on..., we see a chain of transformations occurring at major ‘emotional points’ – loss of a loved one or a beloved, separation from a place of childhood days, letting go of a much sought after desire, unable to live up to expectations of near ones, etc.

The pain is pierced at to let out to drip off....very much like the boil that is pierced at to let out the pus, knowing that not only will it cause more pain but also it is the only way to heal, the only way to move on! Leading to original, hereby unthought-of creations! Leading to better artists, poets, writers, musicians, dancers, singers, sculptors, inventors, etc.

Some of us here can undoubtedly relate this to their experiences while writing, is it not that the best piece comes from the worst pain?

Ending with two of my favourite lines from ‘Tujhse naraaz nahi..’ from the movie ‘Masoom’:

zindagi tere gham ne hamein rishte naye samjhaaye

mile jo hamein dhoop mein mile chhaon ke thande saaye

The Real Theory of Relativity!

OK! So, what’s this? Has Alecca the Smart, finally lost it? Is she hearing voices? Is she on unseen, unknown subtle planes? Or…has she started thinking!

Hah !

Not really, one may say it all just came to her – a million suns shone right through and a million sparks flew by! This theory just popped out amongst the peanuts she’s got in there! This theory which she wishes to share with the world - Let another million suns shine and another million sparks flow by…So here goes:

The Real Theory of Relativity
Dedicated to:

All who’ve known thy lover’s scorn,

Burnt thy fates unknown throughout

For true love, forgives none -

For true love, forgiveness knows not


L = T F square
where, L implies Love

                                                T implies Time and

                                                F implies Forgiveness

It all came when I was staring at nothingness or so it seems to my folks. Well, I cant say when or particularly pinpoint a time as one would note down for a newborn! But, It was more like an itch on the insides, no, not that insides, the grey matter insides where one dares to step on, who knows what devils are larking by? By thoughts, I was gloomy; by feelings, I was sad. But, by spirits, I was awake! Yes, and I say that for the record- my spirits were high, no not on RC or JW or Desi, rather one may imagine a high-spirited-euphoric-revelation kinda state, a state in which only the Divine Voices can be heard!

Having just gotten out of the cage, err.. I mean having come out of a relationship, I paused to look back, to feel the myriads of emotions once so intense, to take back all items of value, to wipe off all traces of selfishness, to mend all the broken dreams but imagine what I saw: A bright light with a silver-like hue ! and imagine what I heard:

“And all the blind with hearts of gold,

thine eyes can see but not behold

hath no rays that pass through gold,

hath no rays that pass through gold!

She stood before me, all naked but not cold –

the Truth as is forever to be told”.

And the Truth lies here…

Love is the eternal, the omnipotent; the ever stable life force. Time is the medium, the constant; it was, it is and it will be. Forgiveness is the multiplier factor, the more one forgives, the more it brings out Love. With Time being in a perpetual state of who-knows-the-beginning and who-knows-the-end, Love is growing or diminishing in much the same measure as does Forgiveness! As long as a single entity wishes to thrive, it must do so collectively in the absolute sense, thereby maintaining the Universal Equilibrium! So, my dear friends, waste not your precious time (in reading this!), but Forgive with a pure heart and Love would only have to multiply, etched on the sands of Time for eternity!

Credits: I would sincerely like to thank the below for saying what they said, for doing what they did, for just being there to cross my path, without which I wouldn’t have learnt this most amazing Real Theory of Relativity!

• All my lovers, past and present

• All I love, past and present
• When both of us were in love, only past… oops!
• Michael Bolton’s evergreen album – Time, Love and Tenderness!
……………….and last but not the least
• Our dear own, Mr. Albert Einstein, of course !