The devil's deputy advocate - 1

Frankly, I am a little tired of the numerous "social networks are making us unreal" articles floating around on the social networks posted with tags like "So true", "Absolutely agree", "Check this out" etc. Okay, I get the frustration that these guys have about people losing their real faces behind an imagined reality or about people getting so sucked into the virtual world that real life relationships are forgotten and authentic face to face conversations are lost.

To all these people, I just want to say - duh. And here's why.

Reality is most times a grave and boring ritual to me. I find it such a relief to be safely behind the internet in so many cases. I am not a social butterfly in any sense of the word. However, that doesn't mean I am an introvert either. I enjoy good, witty conversations. I enjoy meeting people I genuinely want to meet. But I still say social networks are a dream come true for me.

I can have all the conversations I want on a chat client and still spare myself of the ridiculous judgmental tones, pronunciation errors and sarcasm filled sentences which I would otherwise have to politely deal with. Its easy, because I just choose to ignore the absurdly constructed smileys (sometimes even the sentences) which are supposed to convery sarcasm and similar sentiments.

I can let the world know that there has been some development in my life without actually going through the rigmarole of listening to them analyse and give unasked for opinions! Its easy, because I just pretend my internet was down when they sent me that message that contained advice filled with concern towards me.

As for the complaints about sending text messages when 'they are just a call away'. Right! As if we dont know it! Why would I want to call up a person and talk for hours when all I actually want to say is 'Hey maybe later, a bit busy now(yeah, right!)' Its easy, because I just choose to keep my sanity and their sentiment. Why is that so bad?

More importantly, I am sure all of us on these social networking sites have two kinds of people on our friends list:
1) Those that you know, love and would keep in touch - social networks or not.
2) Those that you are supposed to know and be polite, though you couldn't stand them for more than 4 lines even on your chat client!

These social networking websites, I think, are a blessing in disguise when it comes to dealing with the second category of people. You dont get rude, they dont get mad. You hide your irritation under a " :-) " and they under a " :-| ". And as for the precious few who come under the first category, nothing in the cyber world can stop me or them from sitting next to each other in a cozy cafe and conversing endlessly for hours!

It is a total win-win I say!

Ever grateful to "social" networks,
Gargi

Poetry & writing contests

1) To all those interested, 'cha' is conducting a poetry contest for Feb 2012 issue, last date being 15th Jan 2012.
Theme: Encountering
Details here:
http://asiancha.blogspot.com/2011/10/cha-encountering-poetry-contest.html

2) And there's another:
http://www.sampad.org.uk/learning/opportunities/competitions/
Theme: Tagore

Gargi

The unspectacular quirks.

The Rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you – Sadhwi (sadhwi.wordpress.com)
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Quirks:
1) I have always felt that my hair has a mind of its own. It never settles the way I want it to. Ever.

2) Its extremely rare that I can sit through a movie completely.

3) I have a very deep, almost maniacal regard for: humility, kindness, capability and courage in the same order.

4) I hate falling ill. The most important thing that cures me when I am ill is the fact that I hate falling ill.

5) Most people I meet, find me cold, aloof and almost arrogant and therefore I find it very convenient to actually make an effort to befriend the ones I genuinely like and let the others remain thinking as is :P

6) I have a very wild desire to win the Booker prize someday for my 1st book and my 10th book (sigh!).

7) I don't care too much about rules and hence the addition of the 7th quirk and of not tagging others.

Gargi

Sins and Forgiveness

A certain summer's morning,
a little flower foolishly flew
a little away from the tree
not knowing mistakes came with a fee.

It flew with no direction
only to find sunken void spaces
only tempest winds and sullen seas
all full with empty thoughts where life ceased to be.

It came back a little later
back to the all encompassing tree
hoping to find the same warm groove
where it could cuddle safe and finally be free.

Alas there was no groove no love
it was received like an untrusted dream
only to find its place was now fully taken
by thorns called resentment and animosity.

The tree had judged and shrugged,
and welcomed to the groove thorns anew
There was forgiveness there for all..
for all - except for the flower that flew.

'Tis the most tender part of love, each other to forgive.

 

Gargi 

Our forgotten friends

Too many mouths,
often offering advice.
Two honest ears,
forever deciding between virtue and vice.

Too many self proclaimed evangelists,
with long 'you-should-do' lists. 
One forgotten friend,
forever listening, patient and wise.

Too many books reciting experience,
all pretending to have been in the same strife.
One hidden heart,
to have actually lived your life.

Too many men depending on other men,
all appearing with intentions seemingly nice.
When all you only need for the right call,
are two ears, one friend, one heart and a disillusioned mind.

Best,
Gargi

Green thoughts

My work place recently conducted a slogan writing contest about 'going green'/'green IT'. I thought up a few quickly before sending the least crappiest one. Rules said it had to have only 4 words. I thought I should put the rest here :P

1) Keen to engineer green
2) Lets engineer operation 'gogreen'
3) Engineering operation 'go green'
4) Turn your hearts green
5) Engineers keen on green
6) Live the green life
7) You green at heart?
8) Engineering a green tomorrow
9) 'Green'ing technology, honing lives.
10) We dream of going green
11) Green-way or the highway
12) Green globe, clean globe

I know I could've done without the word 'green' too, but somehow it felt nice having it!


Gargi

Update: I won it! :D

When the ocean meets the sand

My thoughts, illuminate, turn inward.
My breath, my seraph, takes a pause.
My mind, tempest, rests in peace.
My soul, evanescent, stops and belongs.

The blue of the ocean,
this is what it does to me.
Drifts me away from the trodden path,
trudges me along to where I belong.

My heart, my jobler, beats to a different tune
as if having met a lost acquaintance.
My feet, unconcerned, just too stubborn to move
as if having found their destination earth bound.

The sand in the desert,
this is what it does to me,
Takes me to idyllic lands of liberty,
My eyes, they understand, they capture this instant - for posterity.

Gargi.

Poetics of Poetry

As another weekend departs, my love for poetry deepens. In an effort to bring some structure and method to my study of poetry I've penned down a few poems in different styles. I don't claim them perfect in technicalities - they are only some words and rules I played with.

Syllable : A small unit of pronunciation that has a vowel sound either by itself or surrounded by consonants. Example: River is a word with two syllables (Ri-ver).

1) Haiku - Rules for English Haiku are not as forceful as it is for Japanese Haiku. A Haiku generally has 17 syllables ( 5-7-5). Various other forms and variations also exist. They are based mainly on everyday nature and ordinary objects and experience narrated in not-so-everyday ways.

Vast blue sultry skies
Quivering deep emotion
His extraordinary eyes

Special sizzling spice
fresh coffee aroma announces
Mother's arrival home.

2) Diamond poem - This cute technique requires building a diamond using words (1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 3 - 2 -1) Opposites are generally chosen as the topmost and bottom most words. 
                             
                                                          Humility
                                                 True            Beautiful        
                                       Reviving       Beckoning     Succeeding
                             Success          Friendship           Warmth      Life
                                       Sickening     Scathing        Friendless
                                                 Commonplace  Pompous
                                                          Arrogance

3) List poem - List poems are organized around an idea. All sentences describe feelings and things that we relate to that central idea. 

A bygone friend suddenly discovered
as gentle as an evening sunbeam
as reminiscent as a long forgotten dream
as a much desired companion in life's lonely path
as a ringing bell singing its sweet song
as a panacea for past's wrongs
sweeter than solitude, the sweetest song.

These were some of my favorite styles. Remaining styles remain for another day.

Best,
Gargi

Love - like it has never been.

Love - like the rainbow that piercingly splashes the atmosphere,
like it stamps the skies with its signature - colors that some adore and some fear.

Love - like the madman who starts his passionate unending unrelenting riot,
like he knows of nothing - but the burning desire in his heart.

Love - not like those women who love just so the world can enviously see,
but like those - for whom with the lover, the world simply ceases to be.

Love - not with the colorless tiresome ordinaries of existence,
but with the belief that tests even the unimaginable idiosyncrasies of persistence.

Love - like the maiden who seeks nothing in return, no complaints they hear,
like she lives her infinite life, with demure brown eyes and determination they fear.

If you ever love, make sure you do so with an intensity that can overthrow all previously known limits of love. :)

Gargi

To be a bumble bee

Oh what a lovely affair -
to be but a little sunflower
unaware of its existence
yet beautifully alive
to not care a hoot of the world otherwise

Oh what a lovely affair -
to be but a humble bumble bee
fearless of any competitors
yet a content winner on the sunflower it finds
to care less about what the world would surmise.

Gargi

Baby blue bird

One night, a blue baby bird
she confessed to me -
how lovely it was really
to be forever flying free.
How exciting it is, the possibility
of exploring the realms of infinity.
She told me once, of the blood red stones
the ones she found when she flew alone
she spoke of how they glistened at nights
she spoke of the sea, the sand and the infinite land.
This bird, she comes so often to me
she speaks of miracles, magic, hope and glee
She kindles in me this desire deep and quivering
of love and life and unearthly ecstasy.
She is my happiness with god given wings
She brings to me the sweetest of things.
She urges me to break the walls and fly with intensity
She prods me to do what is deemed an impossibility
I have always thought she deserved a name of real beauty
From today, we shall call her serendipity.

For my favorite english word - serendipity :)

Gargi

Chasing Rains and Rainbows

Rain, the destroyer

Burdened sullen sky finally having its say
nervous trees keep swaying away
it has begun to rain today.
Evening's gloom has deepened itself
drowned in a spurt of the sky's regret
Old men are reminded of their failing affairs
little kids are robbed of their games again
The evening lamp has embraced death
not withstanding the wind tempest
Muddy waters and naughty stones
are showing their talents at impertinence
How far away have you gone from here?
Have you lost your way in this madness of rain?

Rain, the inspirer

Bountiful sky has begun the celebration
the trees have joined in joyous liaison
it has begun to rain today.
Washing the evening gloom forever away
Enticed by the sprinkles of water and earth
old men are reminded of their wonderful youth
little kids can make mud balls under the rainbows again!
The evening lamp has modestly given way
to the resplendent moonlight coming our way
Cleansed earth and purified hearts
now renew the love and goodness of heart
Here I live with no worries no fear
Knowing you'll bring an umbrella and a warm sweater

On a rainy evening,
Gargi

Love is:

Love is:
its own madness its own reason
its own danger its own rescue

Love is:
its own mission its own inspiration
its own adventure its own justification

Love is:
the old woman's only enduring memory
the little girl's lifelong dream

Love is:
the bride's precious anticipative anxiety
the widow's never-ending misery

Love is:
how the ideal world should ideally be
what unconditionally unites you and me

Love is:
what's needed at every step to infinity
what lets us ourselves be

Love is:
what keeps me warm and sets me free
what brings me home to none but thee

Love is:
what makes me write despite all reality
what we are and what we forever wish to be

Gargi

Last night

Last night we visited
the yellow flower atop the beckoning mountains
the one which the bee loves to tickle tease
the one which once was his first gift to me
Last night we sat lingering
under the charming wide canopy
we spoke of him and me; our legacy
and sung songs that dwell in possibility
I dared not venture even a casual touch
one touch could have woken us to reality
Soon we had to leave for the bell had struck twice
once for his mind and the next stubbornly for mine
Tonight we might visit the sublime blue sea
if only we both dream the same blue sea 

Best,
Gargi

I'd rather have you

I'd rather have your special scent beneath the moon and starry skies
than a bunch of scentless diamonds on a loony meaningless night
I'd rather climb the mountain for a glimpse of us in paradise
than climb onto a rich saddled horse for a life that runs on dice
I'd rather come thirsty and slogged to a place which has you home
than lie on a bed of satin quilts and a flowered garden to roam
I'd rather live only a day and love you with all my heart
than spend a lifetime in which you play no part

:)
Gargi

Still unsung songs

They surround me today
the long lost memories of yesterday
the paintings of people long bygone
coffee and conversations of yore
of the loving long letters I wrote
to forgotten souls living in faraway places
of the endless words I strung for poems
on the endless lonely moonless nights
of the days where nothing seemed all that right
and of some still unfair but perfect for me
of the bright purple dress I once had
with the pretty flowers on the hem of the hand
lot has changed between then and now
my heart still holds those silent unsung songs
of my undefeated love miraculously clearing the wrongs.

Gargi

Books or nothing

A long term dream finally brought to fruition. I have read numerous books. Some well known some akin to hidden treasures. Silly as it may sound I have never wanted to lose track of the jewels I have tracked.
Which is why -> http://booksornothing.blogspot.com/
( I am also proud to be able to take the photographs of the cover pages the way I want)

Now that I have a backup of the busiest part of my brain, I can sleep happy :)

Love,
Gargi

Tinkle thoughts

Uncle Pai is no more. I am sure all of us who were addicted to Suppandi's hidden genius will take a moment and remember Uncle Pai. He was the man who gave me my most enjoyable childhood evenings. All useless drama of a tiresome day was forgotten once I laid my hands on "Tinkle". I used to dream about Shikari Shambu in English classes! About how lucky he was to get away with anything. Few people have that kind of luck. Of course there was Kalia with his uncanny ability to foil Chamataka and doob doob's extremely well crafted plans. Maths classes were easier thanks to Suppandi. He is and always has been a source of inspiration. That's how I got through school! Doing everything like I was told without using an ounce of brain. Heaven.. :P Tinkle Tricks and Treats were enough to stimulate my lazy-from-textbooks neurons and "See and Smile" gave me all the humor my 10 year old self needed.
Today, I got a copy of tinkle digest on my way back home and I cant wait to relish  some Tantri The Mantri ideas (yea, he teaches you what innovation is, trust me :) ).

Thank you Uncle Pai for Tinkle and some amazing childhood memories.
You are super awesome.

:)
Gargi

Thought tapestry

Yesterday I tripped on destiny
who was engrossed in weaving some secret mystery
Didn't they say she was a perfectly abstract entity
but yesterday she was here composed to reality
She smiled a knowing smile, something on her mind
my smile was confused and curious  - a painted fake
I wondered whose tapestry she weaves
She refused disclosure despite my desperate pleas
She laughed a silent tune when all my attempts had ceased
I looked her eye asking if the weaved web was for me
She was gone abandoning me, all answers have a hidden fee
I was left looking at the web in all its decorative glee
Tonight when I was pondering the web with curiosity
I heard myself laugh the same tune with ease and simplicity
I realized  to who belonged the tapestry, who carried the mystery
I was finally set free.

Gargi

Too silly for a title :P

Climb up the rainbow
and come running down
Dance in the rain
in a pretty pink gown!

Play on the beach
Build a cute castle
Sleep a lazy afternoon
Without any hassle!

Win that challenge
Get raring to go
Nothing's difficult
We dont have to bow!

Not losing to failures
Brushing them aside
Dreams on our side
To efforts we abide!

Die hard optimism
That's the way to be
You'll get those stars
They'll be there to see!

Gargi
(On a perfectly boring Wednesday afternoon :P )

Will it have you

I will bring home the sound you whispered
The thoughts you wished for
The smells you trusted
The distant stars you wanted
The many colors you painted

I will bring home and lay them by you
If you only promise that my home will have u

Gargi 

Loneliness

In sultry summer's mornings
In winter's pressing gloom
In a room filled with laughter
In today, tomorrow and day after
In syllables, stories and poetry
In birth, death and later glee.
In presumptions, arrogance, conversations
In smiles, sounds, pursue me.

Gargi