anticipation

I stepped out of my house, barefoot and unawares

And felt the dewy pebbles on my feet.

Around me, the birds chirped

Perching on the rooftop of the coop.

This was no poetry; this was real

I even saw the sun peaking out of the clouds and the mountains

In all its splendor, in royal orange mixed with a tinge of crimson red

Its rays fell on my hair, I touched, and it was warm.

I tiptoed towards the wind house

Built with bamboo, and leaned on one of its poles

The star shone down on me

The star we hosted on a bamboo, against the sky

Indicating Jesus’ birthday, the bulb still on.

I looked down and saw men in khaki cleaning the roads and trimming the cherry trees.

I remembered we planted those as part of our school activity

“Cherry trees grow fast” said our teacher,

I now know, he spoke some more facts apart from the school textbooks

I also saw my neighbor, an aunty, pulling out mustard leaves from her garden,

ahh! The seasonal vegetable growing activity I had forgotten

This is December, mustard grows this season, and beans in July

Pumpkins in April and corn in August

While still counting, I heard music coming from the other neighbor’s house
"Joy to the world the lord has come” filled the morning breeze
I sang along in alto.
Another one started at a distance: “jingle bells, jingle all the way”
Jingling aloud for all to hear!
I became conscious: “what if the neighbors complain”?
But remembered that this is how things are here
This is home.
People see no awkwardness in playing loud music,
Especially in this Christmas season.
So with the mixed bag of music echoing into my ears,
I gazed towards the tiny villages on hilltops
Glittering with starlights,
Breaking into day with the sun now rising higher
Warming my body and my soul.

sheep counting

My pillow feels harder tonight as if the cramps on my feet are not hard enough. A heavy tummy after savoring a plate of steak and some guilt, and this heart with some burdens of my own whims, sleep seems afar. I try to think of you but I only see that ‘look’ you gave me when I told you “I miss you”. I’m sure I sound absurd sitting right beside you and missing you. But I do. I long for your care: just a ‘look’ or a gentle touch is what I want. And when you do that, the pillow will seem soft, the cramps will be ignored, feel thin and sleep with that smile on my face. That smile you love.

You see, I’m as simple as that! And you still have the guts to call me complicated.

depression

Like dew drops

Falling off every yam leaf

Is my zeal for life.

moments

I catch myself smiling when I think of the way you tilted your head and innocently told me that I’m not beautiful but cute. And when I gave you that puzzled look, you struggled to come up with your own definition of “cute”. You said it was a combination of beautiful, smart and a charming personality! I vowed never to look up the dictionary for the actual meaning.

haiku

Winter is here!

Time for coal and cold

With you gone

Tears roll down

Burning my bare cheeks

And my heart

But I will

Be healed and held

And be loved.

pics

I'm posting some pictures which cannot be simply stored away unseen in an old computer. These pictures were taken by my friend fat boy slim on a trip to Srisailam (a dam) about 200kms from Hyderabad. But since he doesn't have a blog or any other platform to flaunt his good work. here I take the privilege:

and when the gates open....

It flows!

a hut in the jungle...notice the smoke? I can imagine a mother cooking for the kids outside

see? must be deliciously yummy! :)

reminds me of Wordsworth's lucy..."a violet by a mossy stone..."

into the wilderness...

the rugged road they traveled!! no wonder you came back with your back pain.

this one makes me miss home.

prayer

I wait upon you

for your will to see me through

Sweet hours I decline.

Will you let me be

in your arms? while strength I ask

To rise. Victorious.

Had we but world enough, and time.

Her petite body wrapped in a mauve flowing gown

Lay in a dark, heavy coffin

With red roses and white carnations scattered over her.

The diamond pendant on her neck sparkled

reminding him of the night they shared their first kiss.

Death did not take away her beauty, neither his love, their love.

*the title is borrowed from the poem To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

Hyderabad...still a home for all.

Hyderabad is my second home. I simply love this place. I’ve been here for 7 years and I‘ve only come to love it more and more over the years. This is the place where I found love, discovered the joys of friendship, of eating out, movies, shopping for secondhand books and so much more! I had my two siblings here for vacation when I was still a student. I had the second batch, i.e. my parents and the remaining two siblings last Christmas. And they all LOVE Hyderabad.

My parents sleep in peace even though I’m 5000 miles away from them. When they came here, they saw that I had wonderful neighbors, and friends who love me dearly. They even found the auto drivers “nice.” My dad was so impressed with their honesty and demeanor that he even started to tip them generously.

Now when the city that we love so dearly is bombed and attacked, my heart aches. When they heard, my parents cried not only because they were worried about their children, they were also shocked by the way the safe home had been attacked and shaken. This is the city where they left their footprints, the city that gave them so many beautiful memories to take home. My family prays that Hyderabad rises up from this calamity and once again proves it to be the safe home that it has been for their daughter and so many others.

From the kukkers mouth...

It’s a lazy day and I decided to browse through Kuknalim, a home for the Nagas away from home. This is a website visited by Nagas living outside Nagaland everyday. We get to read all juicy news, or chat with friends and strangers, participate in forums and talk everything from politics to philosophy, religion to technology, sports, music and silly things like “You know you are in love when...” I found this really cute and got some here just for smiles. Have fun :)

People at Kuknalim say:

• You know you are in love when songs seem to have deeper meanings than it earlier did for you.
  
  
• You know you are in love, when you call him up just to hear his voice even though you are still angry with him.
  
  
• You know you're in love when you treasure even a simple conversation with her and keep rewinding it in your mind.
  
  
• When you wish that the day gets longer as you spend time together
  
  
• When you ache for him/her very badly
  
  
• When other women don't make much sense...
  
  
• When other Men don't make sense at all…
  
  
• U takes an hour and a half to finish a 12 page book
  
  
• You don’t know why, but you like spending your entire day with her
  
  
• When your heart can manage to skip a beat!
  
  
• You keep telling yourself, "that special someone is just a friend”, but
  you realize that you can not avoid that person's special attraction.
  
  
• When you come across a field of mustard plants, imagine her, and you want to sing ".....tujhe dekha to yeh jana sanam..." (bollywood style)
  
  
• When you start giving names of your unborn babies and feel no embracement in adding his surname
  
  
• When you get a call unexpectedly from him (long long distance call) and pass the day with that stupid smile on your face
  
  
• When.... All your passwords are related to him.
• When you suddenly become a poet, a lyricist and a fairy-tale author

reminds me of my teenage years :)