Bidding adieu to 2010 !

365 days ago we met

on a wintry and windy night

the town dazzled and skies lit up

and you entered in my life.

unaware, on unknown paths I traversed

erasing and creating memories

for gifting me a bag you said

"these are your share of gratification and grief".

you 'connived' with time

some shells of wisdom I did find

and then the days flew off

on remains of relations that I lost.

months crept in and our bond cemented

experiences inter-weaved- bold, new and vivid

a lonely b'day and some dark nights

I embraced all with amazement and delight.

I apprehended,

people we meet are like stars

millions of them in a galaxy

who alter their path suddenly

never returning back onto the trajectory.

I explored,

the vastness of my city

travelling alone, far and wide

free, like a young bird

who has just learn to glide.

I observed,

in astonishment the sea of faces

around me in malls and buses

each one so diverse and different

yet with a heart that beats in rhythm.

I progressed,

a step ahead in accomplishing my creams

a dream to serve my fellow beings

entering a world of distress and pain

devoting myself to the selfless lane.

I march,

ahead with a belief in heart

when its your time to depart

that I will stack up your memories

like leaves entangles the breeze.

Finally I say,

goodbye year 2010

goodbye my dear companion and friend

I will miss you a lot but I regret not

the gloomy, harrowing experiences you brought.

Letting you go with,

our parting wish that this new year

will bring in more enjoyment and cheer

not just for you and me

but all those who welcome it with glee!

A very happy and prosperous NEW YEAR to everyone :)

This post has been written for Blogeshwar and Anubhooti

The Magic of Greeting Cards :)

My winter holidays have just started and the first thing that comes to my mind apart from enjoying a good 10 hours sleep everyday is cleaning my cupboards..yes! that makes my mom happy too!


The first one, on which I lay my hands every time is a stockpile of my best-loved, most-treasured memorable possessions. It accommodates everything from those old-nostalgic smelling favourite books of mine to the lovely creations of home-science classes in school. On one hand there exists a neatly-made doll house for my childhood friends-Barbie dolls and on the other hand is a pile of cards...i usually don't open them because unveiling them runs a wave of nostalgia and bursts out all hidden emotions within me which either breaks or makes my day.

Cards , specially those hand-made ones have been my most prized possession. I love sending and receiving them. and who doesn't? 
Every year on my birthday I used to count ( I do it even now) the number of cards I received, each one with a different note and lovely quotes made me feel special and loved. For, it really takes a lot of time to go and search a card which perfectly describes the occasion and the person in question.


Sadly, the era of hand made greeting cards had ended long back now. No one has the time to buy a chart paper and then personally make greetings for anyone, or even buy one, attach a stamp and walk to the nearest post-office. 


In the world where time slips off so fast it is well understood and no one today complains.


Fortunately, technology greets us with an alteration ..the E-cards. Although, they do not bring in or out the same feelings as the old cards did but something is surely better than nothing. There are lot of sites like www.123greetings.com and archies own website which have an exhaustive collection of beautiful and meaningful cards for every occasion.I'm sure you wont be able to resist yourself from sending out at least a few E-cards every time you land up there. They are not just easy to send but also come with unlimited space to pep up the card with your own message and quotations.


Christmas and New year's round the corner, I urge all of you to check out these sites and as the archies tag line goes ' cards spread love. make someone feel loved today .' you never know, it might just make someone's day a little more warm and bright :) 

so, to whom are you addressing your love this New Year? 

Where are we heading to?- A toothbrush to let you know your 'marriage style' !

On one of these days, I was waiting anxiously for an important message from a friend, checking my mobile almost every 30 secs as the screen lit finally, I swiftly picked up my phone only to find someone else has messaged me, half miserable I pressed the view button only to get a little more miserable in fact pissed off at what I read.

 The message said- 'select a fruit and I will tell about your marriage'…what the hell???

When did fruits started forecasting our future?! I mean God just turned frugivorous or what?

And even if he did, wasn’t the nutritional qualities of fruits enough that he handled them another and that too such a crucial and momentous job? I know this seizes to make sense but what makes even lesser sense to me is how educated people can be so immature and moronic so as to -

1)      Create such messages in the first place (yes! Someone told me that  their exist people who create SMSes)

2)       Read, believe, vouch for answers and then forward them to others.

And of course the answers….they are even more obtuse and mindless.Coming across such things I see all the tech advancements and literary achievement fritter away, we stand where we were ages ago when malaria was supposed to be spread from bad air and banging a broom on head would unleash the devilish spirit within you. 

The world is still blind, still dumb and still in the darkness. We are still driven by things that somehow appeal us; it makes sense or not is none of our concern. And when these messages somehow reach people who have a slight part of their logical brain in place and working (that's important) they can do nothing but infuriate and vex at where the mindless world is heading too!

I got another of these 'mindless forecasting' message yesterday (which drove me against the wall, ceiling, floor and what not,finally landed me on my blog!) it was a step ahead and read something like this : 'Tell me your toothbrush colour and I will tell your marriage style'. (By marriage style it meant love or arrange or love-cum-arrange etc.) Truly speaking, I felt like shooting off that sender from the face of the earth or banging my head and killing myself. It fails to enter my mind how can any xyz create such an SMS? How?

This in my opinion is the lowest of the lowest height of being intellectually basal and foolish.

Can these empty-headed creators and propagators please realize that a toothbrush is for brushing our teeth no matter what damn colour it is (in any case we do not use a single brush all our life, that way our marriage style should change every 2 months) and fruits are meant to be eaten and relished. And stop over-anticipating your marriage and life live it just the way it comes without these sick forecasts! 

The era of chain SMSes did not disappoint and infuriate me this much because I felt that our society was over-whelmed by beliefs, religion and morals which tend to dim the reasoning lights inside us but this wave of insensible SMSes sure makes me fret on the ultimate black-out that it could lead to. And if that happens we will neither be left with fruits nor toothbrushes, only these muddle headed morons foretelling our future!

3WW- God and Me !

'I created everything with a reason,your mind is too shallow to judge me'. said the proud God.


'Really? then how do you justify the creation of the night?' I quibbled quickly.


God smiled and said 'the moon is beautiful, for its safety  i ordered  'Let nightfall' and it was night! so that the moon can dazzle brightly for you to admire it'! 

posted for 3WW. Prompt : judge, safety, nightfall.

She sees it all.......

She sees it all,

In scattered letters and unveiled cards,

myriad of memories found and lost,

moments flash. some brewed together others distinct and unattached.

she sees it all,

In an empty glass,

showered love and sleepless nights,

lullaby on lips and hands that care.

she sees it all,

In fallen leaves,

a broken family and loved ones so grieved,

quelling all dreams,

the spirit fell through,

like tattered clothes that never sew.

she sees it all,

in the deserted house,

her mother's essence in every bit,

untouched jewellery and a sweater half knit,

each little thing speaks her words,

empty kitchen sings voices unheard.

here,she rests on the green grass,

recollecting hazy,misty appearances,

with scattered letter and unveiled cards,

she sees it all, lives it all.

The dark souls.........

'Take care of yourself, eat properly,follow the rules and attend your classes on time and don't forget to call us everyday' Mrs.ray instructed her daughter Raveena in an apprehensive tone.
' I have spoken to your warden, you will be staying in dorm no.-2 , don't worry we will be visiting you every 4th Saturday' added Mr.ray hugging her daughter.
 'I'm a big girl now dad, i ll be just fine and stop crying mom' she pleaded kissing her goodbye. She stridded off to her dorm on the 2nd floor of St.Martin school's hostel.

'how are things going along'? Raveena turned her back to see who it was on hearing a sudden voice in the 45 feet long empty dormitory. It was a middle aged women clad in a salwar-kameez, her hair neatly tied in a bun. As raveena gazed at her, she smiled and said 'I am Geeta, one of the care-takers of your dorm.madam told me that a new girl has joined the hostel so i came up to have a look'. she said while making the bed next to Raveena's.
OH ! hello aunty, Raveena smiled back warmly and continued transferring her belongings from the suitcase.
'why didn't you go for games'? asked Geeta in a concerned voice.
'I wanted to put my things in place before the weekend ended so it gets easier for me to settle up'.
'yes! i can understand, i am off duty now so let me help you a bit'. remarked Geeta picking up a hanger from the opposite side.
                                    

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'Do you know they say this hostel is build on a graveyard and spirits rome here every night' spoke Saumya in an undertone. 'what nonsense Saumya! i don't take your single word, these are just silly made-up stories' replied an exhausted Raveena. 'now come, lets complete das sir's assignment'.
Although she had mingled with all the dorm mates and was enjoying her stay in the hostel. Saumya had become one of Raveena's closest friend, they shared adjacent beds and were in the same class too.
Geeta aunty was amongst her favourite ayahs. she would bring her food when off duty and she along with Saumya chatted with Geeta aunty on the weekends for long hours.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It were faint sobs that woke Raveena up in the middle of the night. As she glared around the long dark dormitory ,she saw someone sitting on the corner most bed just before the washrooms. She got up at once and walked towards the dark figure. The dorm was quiet and everyone was asleep.
As she marched forward she realised it was Geeta aunty, surprised and suspicious she called her from behind 'aunty...aunty...is that you? what happened'? To her surprise Geeta aunty didn't moved. 'Why are you crying aunty'  she again called taking little steps towards her.
and suddenly...as she was 5 ft away from her.....the figure vanished. no one! no sound! Raveena was petrified...she stood their still and almost uttered a cry of horror. She ran back to her bed and immediately shook saumya still in disbelief and horror.
'Geeta aunty..geeta aunty...there...crying....vanished...'she was too horrified to make her words appear sensible. 'What happened Raveena, why are you so frightened' ? Saumya asked anxiously rising from her bed. Raveena was still breathing heavily and tears down poured her face as she finally caught her breath and narrated the whole incident to Saumya.
Saumya too froze hearing hearing Raveena but they both finally lulled each other to sleep and vowed to find out the matter the next day.

Raveena slept bad that night and was the first to wake up in the morning, seeing the sun throw upon its sunshine on all corners of the dorm she heaved a sigh of relief. Not long, Raveena narrated the complete incident to one of the seniors who almost fell in a state of shock. After a few moments of silence she told

'but Geeta aunty had left the school 2years back! I think you are mistaken'.
'how could i"? asked Raveena perplexed and frightened. I have joined the school just some weeks ago and she had been with us all through my stay here'.
to this she had no answer....on asking the warden and others this is what they came to know

Geeta had died six months back because of tetanus !!!

Raveena was shocked,horrified...she was not able to decipher anything, other girls couldn't understand her plight and they refrained from talking to her.Raveena stayed on her bed all day, Geeta's face flashed and clogged her mind and thoughts. Saumya was the only one who consoled her, she was trying her best to bring her out of this and did all she could to make her feel comfortable and happy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a Saturday evening and Raveena and Saumya were enjoying a stroll on the pavement in their games time.Almost a month had passed since the incident had happened and Raveena was feeling much better, she was succeeding in forgetting that nightmarish episode.
In their talks they forgot to keep hold of time and distance and walked away too far, almost at the end of the girls hostel where data- office was located.

'oh no! its already 8;00 pm...time for dinner'. exclaimed Raveena as she saw her watch in the light of little bulb that shone in front of the small data-office's gate. 'let's run or else we will get late and that barbarous warden will scold us'. 'but am thirsty, cant walk even two steps. let me see if there is water inside the office. you stay here' instructing Saumya, Raveena tip-toed inside.

She found a tank in the right side of the entrance. As she filled her bottle, Raveena turned to see the board on the right corner that doned 'remembrances'. She rolled her eyes and suddenly....she was appalled.crashed! Raveena had fainted at what she saw on the board.

Saumya chatterjee

1992-2007

died of tetanus

the next thing Raveena knew was waking up in the hospital.she could feel her left foot numb. The doctor came up to her and smiled warmly.
'so you finally survived a major tetanus infection from spreading in your body but i am sorry we had to cut off your lower left limb'!!!



This post is purely a work of fiction.
image courtesy - Google image search
this post has been written for Blogeshwar and anubhooti