HibernationLetters (RM)

Dear RM,

This one's for you!

Going back to that one afternoon during the humid Summers when I reached your place all drenched with sweat, is what I do often while remembering you.

The glass of drink you made me complimented the weather. My throat was so dry that I gulped it all in one go only to realise later that we didn't clink our glasses to “Cheers” and also that my head had started swinging.

Oh, I miss those days now especially in this heat. I miss when we went to the club and just lay there reading some hilarious pieces out of “Mother pious lady” and soaking ourselves under the Sun, getting naturally tanned. And how can I forget when MnM & I returned exhausted from work and you took us for a Thai spa!

That was one heck of an adventure, now you must be recalling it I know! Hahaha.

Those summers were beautiful when spent in your company.

I've come to the mountains where the winter prevails for a long time so I'm missing out on some warmth. But there's no looking back for now as I decided on this journey on my own to see how high I can climb, till which peak of it I reach. And when I achieve the goal I'll put a flag there in the name of our friendship and I promise not to forget ‘raising a toast’ this time.

That afternoon was the first time you allowed me to your bedroom where you don't invite anyone easily (also because I already had mine separate at your place).

We played every season from the Coke Studio playlist and sang along with it. Roaring our voices, imagining ourselves on a hypothetical stage and being under God's grace all that time for the neighbours didn't call the cops, filing a complaint for noise pollution.

Now when I remember that day, believe me we had a narrow escape!

Or else

We might have ended up in jail and that would have been another exhilarating story to tell!

We should think about more such new ventures before my hair turn grey as I am collecting all these stories for the next generation. Why should they have all the fun? Huh!

P.S. The alternative to this letter in my mind was plucking every petal from a Rose and counting- You miss me! You miss me not! Jeez...that seemed so outdated 😏

You already know that I love you, right?

Whimsically sane in this insane world

Auldrin

Different faces

'An oops' OR 'what if' ?

The moment when you gather all the courage

For a second all your fears are removed

Just to make that 'one' first move

That breeze which makes you shiver

You wish the wind to hold on a little longer

Motivating heart but brain begs to differ

Everything doesn't have a happy ending

Still you decide to jump off that cliff

The only reason you are thinking

An "oops" is better than a "what if"...

~VK©

What is it about the bus rides? - Glimpses...

Summers or winters, have you ever enjoyed the morning bus rides? Is it some fantasy or curiosity I dont understand but even now everytime I catch an early morning bus say around 6-8am, I rush for the window seat. The air is very fresh at that hour, maybe because the vehicles haven't hit the roads with their smoke yet. Or maybe I like exploring the outside world while the bus travels from place to place.

Strange it is that, I actually prefer long rides in a bus, which normal people unlike me don't! I put on my favourite earphones (the red ones) with my favourite music and as I cross every new place I just observe, from the roadside 'dhabas' to the big city malls. On the way there are many sweet shops, but then that is what Kolkata is famous about, Right? Those cute children playing at the field, and the ones walking towards school with heavy bags on their backs, to them it is like a burden of the whole world, they have no idea how its going to feel when they are out of the school, entering into a dramatic college life and when they will be away from home.

As the songs are playing, flashes of memories strike my mind, some old fainting some old but still sharp & recallable, remembering people or moments linked to it, or that guy who sang for me. Yes, he did, in a public vehicle, "pehla nasha pehla khumaar", just for me, and no one actually stopped him because his voice was very melodious. Had he stayed with me for some more time, I would have fallen for him! There is also this another song "jaane tu ya jaane na" title track of the same movie, me and my best friend used to sing it all the time and relate ourselves with the characters, I was 'meow' and he was 'rats', this must be somewhat 10yrs ago, we are still together and counting though we didn't end up like its in the movie, but we are still happy and laughing at our childish behaviour.

I am not a miser, its not about the money also but yesterday I just walked 1.7Km to get to the main road only to take a bus instead of cab. I was exhausted but it felt good (maybe I lost some pounds, hahaha). The bus I boarded stopped in the traffic jam for quite a long while, and still my eyes kept looking here and there exploring, in search of something new, AND to my surprise I saw an "akhada" with many big-big hatte-katte pehelwans just wearing boxers, I laughed at myself wondering for this I left the cab but I was amazed to see how these pehelwans workout, God its tough!!! You know what even the busiest of the roads and traffic have their very own way of providing entertainment like today I saw, how at one side of the road there was a couple fighting, screaming at each other while on the other side, one newly wedded couple just snogging on the roadside with all those cosy PDA's.

I also saw an old lady standing outside a pricey saree shop, just staring, maybe she didn't have the money, or whatever but it gave me Goosebumps, I remembered my childhood, my parents started a life out of scratch, but never gave up on the struggle so they earned every bit of it. It gave me a thought, my mum must have also liked a saree someday somewhere which she couldn't buy or didn't tell papa about, due to financial crisis, but that was the past, now I felt stronger, working harder, earning well enough so that she just has to look at something, like it and it will be hers!

What is it about the bus rides, I am still comprehending, why have they become so exciting to me, is it because I never got this much freedom of travelling alone before, or am I finally becoming confident, trying to stand up on my own legs, Or maybe 'that one day' is the reason behind this race that I have joined in, the day when I asked him to get down the bus, and leave me, pain in eyes, both sides, but the tear glands turned dry, just as he got down the bus, I started getting up on my feet. He knows this, he wouldn't say it, but somewhere deep down he too is proud of me, and what I have become.

"C'est la vie"...Yet I know whenever I decide to halt, when I get tired or frustrated with everything, even if its for a little while, where will I want to go, there in the laps of my MaPa, to get the strength again, to run again & to be strong again because that's the only place where I find ALL my peace!

So I am ending this up asking you a question dear reader, do you have your own memories of riding in a bus? Or it may not be the bus, but something else which catches you by surprise every now and then with flashes of memories of the past.

2️⃣ Aaj mera shayari mood😃

Gharwalon ka mashwara tha
Dono mile, jaan pehchaan karlen
Par uss pehli mulaqaat ki sadaqat
Aankhein kya ladi, haya hi kho gayi
Hawa me dilkashi si chhaayi
Dono ki nigaahein jab takrayi
Wo jo ab tak bhaag raha tha 
Na chahte hue unme kaid ho gya
Aur jiske pas mauka tha
Wo chahkar bhi faraar na ho saki
Wafa toh do tarfa honi hi thi
Par wo mohabbat hi kya
Jisme koi ilhaam na ho
Ab teen dafa khane ka shauk kahan
Jo roza rakhke iftaar me tha maza 
Ishq se badhkar junoon tha sawaar
Insaan nhi, khuda ki razamandi thi unpar
Ek taraf janaab khayalon me mashroof 
Rehte the bekhabar iss qadar
Wo uski khushboo thi
Ya uski aqeedat, jo jaan lene lagi
Dusri aur wo dua karti rahi
Usse ab mile wahi, aur koi nahi
Apni hadd se wakif the dono
Faasley kam hone lage
Par jo bhi tha unke darmiyaan
Sab kuch ek daayre me
Qasoor kisi ka nahi, apne sapne
Khud jeene ki khwahish rakhte the
Bas duniya ke rasmo rivaazon me
Unse ho gya tha gunaah jaise
Itni shiddat dekhkar hui sabko hairani
Aur logon ko manzoor nahi hua
Isliye wo bhi bankar reh gaye ek kahani...

When we have to choose...

There are times in our lives when we have to choose, maybe between someone or a decision has to be made, what do we do then, how do we think?? Should one opt looking for benefit? Or should one sacrifice? Or should one try to be wise, harsh but still wise, keeping little bit of the future in mind and decide. Finally decide!  A short verse below...

Everyday was splendid until the fall came
Suddenly to them she was a trophy of fame
Both quarrelling, She will be mine!
She being righteous, at the same time
Lost her true love & best friend
Those silent tears & broken hearts never met amends!