The lady on the stairs..

She stood there shaking. Tried hard not to..but couldn't help it. A pale coloured sari which may have been of a brighter shade once upon a time... it was as crumpled as her skin. Her blouse was torn at the shoulder..but alas it made no fashion statement. Her straight, white hair contrasted against her tanned, wrinkled face. Long ear-lobes with widened holes...a mocking reminder of heavy gold earrings she once owned. Green coloured plastic bangles adorned her wizened hands..no sound they made when they clinked against each other. She needed a stick for support..but that would cost her a month's meals...holding onto side-bars was cheaper. And chappals? She last owned a pair 4 years ago.
Amidst the crowds, she stood alone. In a land where madness drives peoples' lives, she strove for her sanity. Where rushing is second nature, she fought to stand still. Stairs of Platform 1, Western railways, Dadar station. Thats her permanent local address, until she's shooed by the railway police to some other desolate spot. Young collegians, middle aged office-goers hurried past her, but she knows it will take a kind-hearted lady or a god-fearing senior citizen to be her next meal-provider. till then she waits...killing herself and her dignity.
I wouldn't have spared a second thought for her. I couldn't. I shouldn't. How come I did?? Coz she looked a lot like my own grandma. But shamefully, thats all I did.

But he ain't that bad!!

I wait for the day, when I tell my dad.
I met someone special, a really nice lad.

So furious he might get, it will drive him mad.
Argue will I, "but he ain't that bad!!"

"His family, his job, what does he do?"
The questions will pour without much ado.

"Is it for sure? Will he stay true?
Is he what it means happiness to u?"

"A brave heart, a cute smile and a warm hug,"
"He is all that n more," I say with a smug.

"And a lil' promise of a together tomorrow,
Of an eternal journey through joy and sorrow."

Dad's heart would melt and eyes would well.
"She grew up so fast, and how the hell!!"

His eyes say it all, I know he's glad.
A smile on his face, I know he's sad.

"If thats what you want, he better be a nice lad"
"Dont worry Pops, he'll be the son you never had!"

If tomorrow never comes..

Books always stir some emotions within us...and I distinctly realised it this week when I finished reading 2 books which evoked exactly polar feeling within me...

Starting with the later one coz i just finished reading it some 10 minutes back.
Love Story by Eric Segal.
I know I needn't say much after that.( but they apparently forgot to teach me how to keep mum! :D). Aptly described as a book for anyone in love, was in love or hopes to be in love, I first read this one in 10th std..but what I feel right now comes nowhere close to what I felt back then. I was actually thinking of him while reading..recognising myself as the sarcastic 'Jennifer' n him as the competitive 'Oliver'. I know, I know...we all have this incorrigible habit of putting ourselves as heroines in chiffons/heroes in designer jackets romancing away in Switzerland!! And this is what this book exactly compels you to do!! Those verbal duels, that gaali-galoch (my most fave part) and lastly the tragic end...all endears you to 'Jen n Ollie'. Just when you think it's a 'happily ever after'...jenny dies! Just like that! No Hindi film melodrama! No financial crunch that she cant be treated..no prayers coz 'usse davaon ki nahi, duaon ki jarurat hai' crap..not even Oliver's amitabhseque confrontation with God saying,' maine aaj tak tumse kuch nahi manga..par aaj mangta hoon'!! And sadly there isn't even a coming back to life..a la miheer virani, which I was soo fervently hoping for. The book just got over. N that's what makes this story real. Tragedies happen in real life! Something totally unforeseen can strike any day...so cherish all that you have right now..loved ones, friends, family. Set things straight with them..a heavy heart can get a tad bit difficult to die with. As he once told me, 'Put it down. Don't carry the burden with you'. So true :-)
As for the book, 'Love Story' has a sequel named 'Oliver's Story' which I am yet to lay my hands upon..but I am no rush to read it. Jennifer-Oliver seem far too closer to me this moment and imagining Oliver with someone else wouldn't quite appeal to my conservative sentimentality. So this very moment, I just prefer to sit back n reminisce this tragic love story that nevertheless brought a smile to my face.

Its about me..

Hmm...a self-confessed and publicly-labelled tomboy, someone whose best friend describes her as, ' a total tomboy (refers to 'bai'lya muli (read :gurlie girls) as toxic)'..well that would be me.
But to think of it..there ought to be some reasons for this general presumption and off-hand i could come up with the following few..


1. adventure-freak..love outdoors, trekking, anything that gives me an adrenaline rush (no, do not wear designer jeans on treks, sit/squat on railway platforms n yes, do NOT carry mineral water along)

2. Love sports..(captain of class Kabaddi team, play cricket, volleyball, throwball, badminton and nething else where they do not ask me to stand at the boundry-line n cheer)

3. Carry my college bag on BOTH the shoulders.

4. Hate growing nails...in past 21 yrs must have applied nail-paint not more than 5 times!

5. Do not manicure/pedicure. ( wat?? they are clean already!)

6. Carry my own bags n baggage, chivalrous guys can take a hike!

7. Have more guy-friends than gals as close buddies.

8. Absolutely detest any sort of baby-talk in public!! (eeeuw...on second thoughts...make that eeeuw raised to 100)

9. Indulge in some major 'gaali-galoch' when around friends...my close friends being the most abused (verbally!!) ones.

Well there you are...my reasons why i got 'slotted'. Don’t really remember how and when this label came n got stuck to my personality, loved it initially..no, infact for many years until recently it dawned upon me that I don’t wanna get slotted. NO!! don’t mistaken this post as a tomboyish girl’s wake-up call to the myth that she wouldn’t receive enough attention from the opposite gender till she has a ‘Jassi-to-Jessica’ makeover. I am pretty happy with the attention I get ;) But its about having more to one’s personality than what a mere label of ‘tomboy’ could ever describe!!

My problem lies in the limitations that this word brings with itself..it cant/wont ever describe me completely...it kills my other 'talents', if i may haughtily say so..fails to describe my gurly aspirations and any conscious attempts i might have taken to achieve the proverbial 'multi-faceted' personality!!! Eight years of Bharatnatyam training, my passion for cooking...my sensitive side (i know my friends are ROFL now!! :D) do not fit into the expanse of this word.


I know one shouldnt really get affected by what others think of you. Easier said than done..it did n still does affect me..its jus one my glaring flaws which i will have to live with.

There you go!! i said it aloud..what i have been wanting to, for a really really long time!! n frankly to loads of people...starting with myself! Just another case of.."dikhave pe na jao, apni akal lagao" na?? :-)

Now or never !

Its 18th of may 2007 today

1st mock CAT - less than 2 months from today

Havent even started with Maths..or anything of significance ..for that matter

Dont ask why..I have loads of "excuses"

Still dream of IIMs

"Bah!"..you would say..

But now..a promise to myself..

Have to get there..just no other option

Time is running out..

Opportunity slipping out of my hand..

A face in the crowd or someone people look upto..

'Thane-dadar' all my life or that terrace flat at SP I always dreamt of..

A decision-follower or a decision-maker..

to watch a dream being fulfilled or sigh saying "may be I wasnt cut out for that"

The choice is for me to make.

Even tougher is to believe in myself n sticking to the desicion

The way I see it..Its not gonna be a cakewalk!

But man!! would be worth all those efforts!!

A fight now or one all my life??

Neways..got to go..have dreams to fulfill :)

Its one of those days today.....you know the ones...when you think every thing is gonna be jus alright!!

You watch a crappy movie with your once-broken-up group of friends...embittered relations dont seem so bitter today....a feeling of hope creeps in and makes your heart feel lighter..aakhir umeed pe duniya kayam hai!!lolzz..

A school friend scraps something really, really silly..so silly that it makes u laugh so hard that u actually fall off from the chair!!(yes that happened!)

A dear friend suggested scrapping instead of chatting...we end up writing really silly stuff for the entire world to see..wat d heck!! even that was fun!!

A friend who had stopped talking, buzzed (after many months!) and small though it may seem..we did converse.

Aah...rare are such days in my life these days...the ones which leave a smile on your face without a hint of doubt...give you a feeling of being truly blessed!
Just one thing to say, " I am stuck like dope, on this thing called hope!!"

Edit :
Whoa!! it turned even better....trek friend called up and ordered to be there for the kalsubai trek (aye nalayak, mukatyane ye kalla naa!!...were the inviting words)

Muah..in love with my world :))

The randomness of my life just doesnt cease..I do things I dont know what for. really arbit things excite me when i need to be really studying hard for my exams which loom large only a few days ahead...Exams..the test of our knowledge..or is it??
I mean..just right now..I am reading some random blogs of people I dont even know and even more random posts on PG when i havnt even started with my CAT prep...all this while my head n hair stinks of an obnoxious concoction of curds, coconut oil and lemon juice....why??? well, lets just say my mom had loads of free time at hand and I, being her first-born, happen to be her favourite guniea pig!!

Watched Babasaheb Purandare's "Jaanta Raja" yesterday at Shivaji park. And yes, the Queen's language would fail to do any justice to this topic..so lemme start in my mother-tongue.
Kaal "Jaanta Raja"chya shubharambhacha prayog baghitla...pan "baghne" ha shabd ithe faar chukicha vaatto...toh ek experience hota...ek asa anubhav jo pratyekane ekda tari anubhavava..
te baghtanna..manaat ek chaos hota...thakk karun sodnaara ek chitran hota te..pan tyahunhi vichaar karayla laavnare anek prashna hote tyat!!

Shivaji maharaj he maharashtracha daivat....tyancha abhimaan pratyek marathi mansala aahe (ho, high-lighted kes ani kaanat dul ghalnarya marathi mulala dekhil!!) Pan maharashtra la swarajya ani surajya milvun denyaat eka stree cha sinvhacha vaata aahe...

Jar Jijabainni swarajyachi swapna pahilich nasti tar??
Adilshah chya darbari ruzu aslelya aaplya kartabgaar pati che 'sardar' asnyaatch tyanni dhanyata maanli asti tar??
Shivba var jar tyanche sanskaar naste tar kharach pudhe jaun Shivaji maharaj....neetivant, kulvant, varadvant, samarthyavant zale aste??

Aaj jya maharashtrat aapan svattahachi janmabhoomi samjun rahtoy..tee aapli rahili asti? maharashtra ek hindu rajya rahila asta?? ki adilshahi, nizamshahi kinva delhi chya mogulanchi jahagir zali asti...ekhadi Islamic state?? aani kaal jya maidanat "Jaanta Raja"cha prayog pahila..jithe majha balpan gela, tya jagecha naav Shivaji Park asta??

Pan apan kharach 'nalayak' tharlo...Shivaji rajanchi aathvan varshatun ekda kaadhto..te hi janma tithi var vaad ghalayla....sarkari sutti milte mhanun..nasti tar tehi kela nasta.(Shanivar-ravivar la jodun yeil toh divas tharavatat..ka tar.."soy" mhanun). Shivaji raje aata fakt "soy" mhanun rahilet ka??
Pu La jase 'Hari tatya' madhye mahanale hote....aaj-kal chya modern kutumbaat..10 divsanchya ganpaticha lodging-boarding parvadat naslyamule toh 1 1/2 divsaanvar aanlay..te tari ka tar..mulanvar changle sanskaar na ghadlyacha aal yeu naye mhanun. Rahile fakt upkara karita...saarkhach aata..rahile fakt soyee purta!!