Airplane angels

She reminded me of my grandmother - most cute old ladies with pearl-white hair do. They were a bubbly group, on a journey across the world. From London to Singapore, Kochi to Mumbai, Agra to Dubai and then back home. One leg of her journey coincided with mine and just for that brief flight to the city I call home, our universes collided. She sat in the aisle seat, I squeezed in my 11B. The middle seat. The arch nemesis of air travellers. But not this time. This time I had my sister to my left, my book in front of me and I didn't know it yet, but a sweet story to my right. Isn't there always something fascinating about elderly women who sport a naturally white, fashionably cropped bob and trendy spectacles? There is. There certainly is.

She was on this cruise and tour of Asia with another two dozen or so people. Surely my book started to lose its charm. I was drawn into conversation. "You must come to London. There's just so much to see and do over there!" I admitted I always wanted to. She was delighted to learn that my sister and I were huge fans of a British rock band (duh, Coldplay). "You must walk down the streets of Colaba. My city has an energy you can't miss" I added, amazed that I still felt this way.

I requested an extra sachet of creamer for my tea. I always do. And delightfully stirred my chai till the powder turned to milk. This caught her eye and she gave me a smile that made me confess, "Umm, I like my tea extra milky" to which I received the most prompt and hearty "Oh I can see that!" She also wondered out loud how one could read on a device. "I prefer real books. Isn't this heavy?" I assured her I belonged to the same camp, that it was only my second book on the Kindle, that my paperbacks would get destroyed while travelling. She weighed the device in her hand and head, "That's true, this is convenient"

She thought I looked much younger than my age. Asked me about my favourite places in Europe, told to me she'd love to see New Zealand and advised me with a grandmotherly sparkle in her eye - "Have you been to Russia? Oh you must go to Russia. If you liked Budapest, you'll fall in love with Saint Petersburg. It's all so magical. Oh.." She was 73, had lost her husband a few years back and had no children. "Oh I love to travel. I make it a point to get out as often as I can. If not now, when?"

"Aren't you excited? We've landed. We are in Bombay", she gushed to another friend of hers. I hugged her goodbye. I'll never know her name. But every time I travel, I'll remember her spirit; when I go to Saint Petersburg, I'll think of her.

Tantrums

I woke up before my alarm today

And let Mother pour oily love into my hair & tie two silly plaits

My uniform hasn't looked neater, my shoelaces knottier

My homework is done, I licked my mug of stinky Complan clean

At school also, everything went great!

In the free lecture, I revised for the class test next week & munched on potato shells

That's just how I celebrate. Disciplined. Placid. Constrained.

"Chal na, bunk karkey throwball khelte hain!"

They winked. I refused. It was too risky.

But by the time I got home, my hair was a frizzy mess

The coffee had gone stone cold & files had plagued my desk

My online payments are overdue. My credit card is frozen

I'm out of breath, perpetually out of time. And the alarm clock is broken

Too tired to sneak out an extra Toblerone from the fridge when Mother isn't looking

Counting the hours of sleep I'll get, incessantly groaning.

Cussing the sunshine. Sometimes, even the rain. And rickshaw waalas.

When will I ever play a sport again?

And what about that trek? And that long drive to nowhere?

And walking in the rain, instead of tip-toeing over the muck?

And sipping on masala chai for the taste, not just to stay up?

Adults ought to learn to throw tantrums

And stop being so overworked in the head

Starting today, I will breathe slowly, smile generously

I will NOT go to work today

In fact, I won't even get out of bed.. :)

On making a comeback

This would've been a lot easier if I was the elder of the Kapoor sisters. Or Mrs. Bachchan Junior. Or best, Madhuri Dixit Nene. Yes, I'd even prefer that. Comeback Queen, she is! But well..

My writing habit eluded me in the midst of a year of exams, interviews, training sessions in communication, management, MS Excel (heck, I love Excel though) & incidents involving: strangers, grammatical errors, kitten heels, libraries, BEST buses (& my love for the double decker type), the sea, the beach, driving, board games & some crazy birthday celebrations. Small scribbles in my diary weren't enough & eventually, those died out too.

I convinced myself that it was okay, I could always write later & tried to focus on the conventionally important things instead. Soon enough, I realised that the most important thingsin life..aren't things! (hehe..run of the mill gyaan, you're welcome) & that my writing, however juvenile it may be at times, is my meditation (along with long drives, especially on highways. More on that later!)

Clearly, a lot has been left *long pause* unwritten. Thankfully, I have slayed the monster I call Procrastination & emerged victorious, back here. So hello to all, & to all, a good day!

You will hear from me soon. Yes, you.

Healthy. Wealthy. And almost Wise.

Sooner or later, one is bound to realise:

• That there is no joy in actually 'paying' a person to tell you to run on machines, which have ridiculous rotating motors in them, when you'd rather run at the beach.. And to cycle on cycles which take you nowhere really, when you'd rather cycle to your best friend's home & watch TV together..
• That Health is what you have when your sides hurt, laughing with friends - outside class. But mostly inside of it.
  
• That there is much joy in sharing food. With friends, strangers, street-kids. Food & even smiles. Infectious they are, really haan..
  
• That 'the more you give, the more you receive'.. Just like Principal Sr Marion said at the School Assembly in Primary School. It is the only Wealth - being able to give, expecting nothing in return (except a smile maybe).. Maybe..
• That Wisdom comes with age. But sometimes, Age comes alone. So being nice to Uncle Wisdom already will not be such a bad idea. It'll get boring with just Age to keep me company after a while.
• That the greatest Wisdom right now is - Final CA is ginormous. At various levels..
  

Gotta get cracking. And I'll realise - sooner, rather than later.
*poof*

Love affairs of a Lifetime..

With the benefit of hindsight, Pop will be your childhood sweetheart - merely a funny, yet memorable mistake..

House and Trance could be your melancholy whores - pleasurable for but a young and reckless evening or two..

Rock 'n' roll will be your quarter-life crisis companion - fueling quiet thought and rebellion alike, to stick it out with you for life..

Alternative Rock will be your other best bud, introducing you to Club Rock at a party.. or Classic Ballads on your first (second, third..) heartbreak..

Jazz and R'n'B, many might fancy, as the secret love affair when they start taking Rock 'n' roll for granted..

Easy Listening will pillow-talk with you when no one else will.. & is most certain to walk into the sunset with you when your ears are too weak to listen to any more Music, of any kind..

No matter what your Genre, it's the Lyrics that will shine on.. With you, forever..

Save the Lyrics. Only 1409 meaningful songs left! :)

PS: Dedicated to Music. Lyrics. iPods. Baz Lurhman. And also to Jack Johnson - the new age Bob Dylan & my hero!


Cheers. Keedas. Peace. I'm back ;)