Birthdays and celebrations....

The only good part about birthdays according to me are the in numerous calls and greetings. Unfortunately, with facebook colonizing our lives and minds this part too seems to be lost. Now all we see are mere half hearted 'wishes on the wall'!

Birthdays never excite me. Never got the feeling that this was 'my day' or anything remotely special. Not because I am traumatized by the thought of growing old but for a simple reason that what exactly be considered special in a day which comes again and again in each one of our lives? 
OK, you might defend me by saying that it marks our arrival into this world, in the lives of people around who consider you special yet I have my own beliefs which drag me to the other side.

This year however it was slightly different. As soon as the clock stuck 12, there was this episode of calls and wishes which lasted till 1.30 a.m.
As I hit my bed, pretty tired and 'least' excited sleep was no where in sight. Usually its my habit whenever sleep eludes me on a night I either sit up with my diary and pen, scribbling and rambling or if am too tired I simply lie down and introspect on mysterious paths of life. I chose the latter on this day too. My mind was conspiring with my heart of how to feel special about growing up or rather 'the day'.

It was quarter to 4 now and suddenly a thought hit me. (yes, such are the occasions when this phrase exactly fits in coz sometimes certain thought literally 'hit you up' !)

 I realized that our birthday is the only day which is FIXED yet TRANSIENT in our lives. Fixed not because it comes each year (all dates do) but fixed for it will always be a benchmark of all that I learn and become. Like a ray, with a fixed beginning but no ending
.
 And transient for it makes me realize that age IS time. It comes and goes and never comes back again. We can never so accurately and fairly take account of time and age as can we do on this day- our birthday.

It may sound contradictory to some. It may also appear as bickering to some.
But for me I don't celebrate my growing up instead I celebrate the fixed and the transient moments embedded in this day.

What do you celebrate on/about your birthday? Do let me know! :)

'Tryst with a night'

This is not the first time that I sit under the open sky admiring its vastness. Stars like dew on delicate petals attract me ever since I learnt to recite 

'Twinkle, twinkle little star

how I wonder what you are

up above the world so high

like a diamond in the sky'

Back then and even today I genuinely wonder what they are? Keeping aside the elaborate and complex explanations presented in the physics textbooks, that's not alluring in the least!

I visualize them through the depth of my eyes and the window of my soul. I trust them more than the complicated and ever changing theories of physics. However it still is a mystery. A mystery that unfolds every night. Night after night.

To me its a different world. A world so serene, a world so secure. Why can't the stars and the mushy breeze stay with me, within me forever?

They say that after every night comes a bright day but it never sounds pleasing to me.Instead I want to be blanketed in the laps of this night. Caressed by the winds and protected by the sky.

This tryst with the night is ever so beautiful, so fascinating and so mysterious.

Plunging into the colossal sky I experience freedom and let my mind wander with those mysteries. hugging them tight.

Walking over the known and the unknown together is a passion infinitely pleasurable.

Gossiping into the ear of night those little words of joy and sorrow, the turmoils of the sun.

I have trusted this tryst with innumerable songs. The soft winds press upon me kisses so enchanting that I touch the divine and the divine swathes me.

PS - Written on one such night....this tryst continues till the suns ray breaks my reverie....

Social networking- our lives

Remember your recent trip to Goa or the get together with old pals last week? Your first kiss where you kissed again and again until the camera accepted it as 'worthy of being shared'? Your kids first birthday or your 15th marriage anniversary? Whats that one thing which remains common on all such occasions?

The one and only, the show stealer (literally!) - thy 'camera' *applause*

Each one of us lives either inside our Facebook and twitter profiles today or the phone inbox and whats app messengers. Sharing every gulp of water, every beat of our heart,each step we take and all moves we make has now become a subconscious action or to put it more bluntly, an obsession, a compulsion!

We fail to pay attention to what happens right before our eyes because updating the latest 'nail paint' colour seems more important.

Its been ages that one saw a sunset or a sunrise (rainbows are confined only to books anyways) because tweeting a random PJ is a priority.

But in the vicinity of all these updates flashing out at a lightening speed, a question worth pondering exists. That is - 'WHO REALLY CARES'

Who cares whether you are in Goa or in your bedroom? whether it was your 15th or 25th anniversary? how old is your kid or of what shape was his birthday cake? your nail paint colour..blah...blah!

of course YOU do care and a few, very few others who genuinely are interested in you ( I dare say, your nail paint colour) .

And the next, even more potent issue is - are those real, blissful moments of your life worth only a few 10s or 100s of 'likes' and vague comments like nice, awesome, fab, amazing, love or <3, wow , 'Epic'?
ERR!! I hope not! :/

Then WHY (why for Mark Zuckerberg's sake!) are we so keen on 're-taking' our first kiss, going in for picture perfect make-up, flashing the most camera friendly (fake) smiles instead of 'living' the moment and letting the happiness seep in?

Frankly speaking the concept of facebook appears to me to as nothing but a vast room where each one of us is shouting every single personal detail about themselves, least bothered to hear or pay attention to what others have to say. Why are we then so fascinated to be a part of this selfish and moronic world?

This reminds me of an Urdu couplet by Allama Iqbal

'hai dil ke liye maut machin'on ki hukumat

ehsaas-e-murawwat ko kuchal dete hai alaat'

( Rule of machines is death to our hearts

They are weapons which destroy all feelings and emotions)

Truly, technology is nothing but a double edged sword. It can let you be the master but all the same time it has a power to kill you too. And we all know that such a sword can never rule without harming the master.
have we reached the stage of self destruction or have we not?

Do not Google this...ASK YOURSELF!!