My Melodic Communiqué

Childhood/ School:

- The sound of wind when I first learnt about the word breeze
- The sound of allah-ho-akbar early in morning @ 5.10 that woke me up to dress for school
- … of trucks moving on early winter mornings made me think how people start working from the wee hours of the day (just like me :)
- … of those footsteps of the neighbour’s guard who would steal flowers from my garden, I used to listen him walking, from the loo
- … of my school bus’ horn honking from a range of 200 meters at 6.15 am
- … of fart in a silent class
- … of rough chalk running on the blackboard to create immense irritation to ears
- …of Principal’s stick on disobeyed hands accompanied with an echo sound ‘Why don’t you Talk in English’
- … of dusters banging the desks ordering ‘Keep Quiet’
-… of those 10 statue bells smacked by the peon to control the chaotic movements and sounds made after lunch followed by pin drop silence.
- … of that sabziwali calling out everyone and the little me sneaked out from my old home in Civil Lines that got replaced with a posh society without any street vendors
- …of that unripe little mango mistakenly dropped down while plucking from the tree to make a thump on neighbour’s tin sheet in those naughty summer afternoons
- … of the pages of a book flipping by the winds at the time of evening terrace studying


Adolescence/ Profession/ Post engagement:

- The sound of the peon in our media institute calling from the classroom’s window to the hostel’s room ‘Sir agaya’
- The sound of the insect on a lonely night on the top of the hostel’s terrace
- … of Richa’s bold voice waking me up ‘Tina chal khadi ho ja’
- …of the boss calling out your name in front of the staff giving you goose bumps
- … of chat message that popped up always at the wrong time when boss is around
- … of typing, printing and murmuring in a newspaper office
- … of the train crossing by from nearby lane @ 3 am registering its presence
- … of the guard’s whistles forcing me to keep awake @ 3.15 am
- … of the chirp made by the birds sitting outside my window asking to be fed
- … of my phone ringing after a long wait for two little words ‘Love Morning’
- … of my sister’s old Luna that I wanted to be silenced with a scooty
- … of kids howling in the society on a holiday eve
- … of the cat under my bed in labour pain
- … of that old fan mocking from above when I used to rest in my father’s office
- … of chaiwala in an overcrowded compartment of a train
- … of silence while meditating with a group of 25000 people

Post Wedding:
- The sound of his snores on first night…
- The sound of the pressure cooker’s whistles calling me to put it off knob
- … of the alarming wake-up alarms of really early mornings
- … of the out stationed husband over the phone who’s half asleep
- … of the FM blaring from the father-in-law’s room
- … of silence in the empty summer afternoons
- …of half hanging newspapers stuck on the glass slider of a new house waiting for curtains
- … of the doorbell and continuous scary knocks, when I am unwilling to open the door in a lonely flat.
- …of the elevator reaching my bedroom tearing all the doors and window panes

Family:
- The sound of my father scolding someone that threatens the victim to pee in his pants
- The sound of my dad’s vehicle that always told me about his arrival and that I have to switch to the study table
- … of the mild shivering cries of the new born baby at my home
- … of my brother’s limping footsteps he took before getting bedridden
- … of that scream just before bhai used to go into fits
- … of his coughing I heard on his last day while leaving for office
- … of my mom’s sobs over the phone after bhai was gone
- … of my father’s rare laugh

Clearly Cluttered!

At first I thought it's a writer's block again, but I draft a post almost daily on different topics and the moment I try adding more words to a post, there're other things that arrests my mind. They say, we should also be written. I decided to wait and write this first.

I have experienced and heard about writer's block but I don't know what term is it for what am experiencing now..may be Writer's Fix...? I don't know. It's like I have so much to write about, so much to share, but the output is a drafted incomplete post longing to get published. Though my diary gets updated almost every 3rd day, am stiffly reading books of various genre, am not watching much of movies lately, am travelling a lot to observe and experiment more about things and people, that way I must have so much to write on. But see...am still going no where.

What's it called?? Is there a specified term?

Well, I think writer's block is better than the current situation, atleast there you are on a break to spend time with blankness, here you feel so clearly cluttered that you know what you want to write i.e on various topics at the same time but then you end up with nothing solid to be served!
This makes me feel so incomplete and full of guilt. Every morning before opening the laptop I decide to finish atleast one post, I open the document, re-read it, think, write 2-3 lines and close it suddenly to write on yet another new topic.

And see, now on the spur of the moment I believe I have got the solution to this disorderliness...my mind says, the only way to come out of it is, in stead of starting with something new, finish writing the ones that are facing the pause and then start afresh :)

Alright then, am back to finish writing!!

Cheers!

The ‘F’ word, just too much of it…

A Page From My Diary...


“Oh! He’s my best friend”, “C’mon Mom she’s a great friend, I won’t stand a word against her”, I have heard it a lot and they define it as “A friend is someone who cares, loves, annoys, makes you feel happy, blabber about anything on Earth just to make you feel comfortable and just so much he does that, that kind of bookish friend hasn’t encountered me yet!! I mean, why you believe so much in friendship that you sometimes forget that, the one whom you call your friend could change his apparel any moment.
I really haven’t met such a person till date for whom I could sigh like that. I believe I have almost crossed the considered age to make experiments on new friends now. In fact I very strongly don’t feel the need to have one, because then comes that burden of sharing, caring, bitching, shopping, exclude the feeling of unconditional friendship. And you know what, I have lived them all already, now no more, can’t afford it. Because with the entire sharing caring thing comes another bunch of complementary stuff called cribbing and complaining. Atleast I have had a kind of bitter experience in all those relationships I named as friendship. Possibly that’s why this word always turns me off.

But I have been thinking on it since quite a long time. Why does everyone almost everyone around me believes in it so much, in spite of getting betrayed, hurt, insulted, ignored a number of times. Do they still want to try or continue experimenting? Or they are just too afraid to walk without a mate?
I have heard people saying, he’s my true friend, have heard myself saying, “he could be my true friend”, I have heard them saying for me, “she’s a true friend”, dude I don’t have a clue about what it is! This word ‘true friend’ somehow annoys me, irritates me, sounds fictitious, fabricated and bookish and I pungently feel there’s nothing called a true friend. I have always been surrounded with people, mostly good ones, whom I tagged as friends and unthinkingly traveled on the same path of fiction. Assuming them as people I could confide upon, whom I could call at midnight and ask for help, who would realize what the matter is, just with a glance of my face, but all of it was worthless and simply my imagination. At one point of time most of them failed turning me to an atheist to friendship.
I know this post would cheese off many people but for a while just try to analyse this term friend and ask yourself with closed eyes who’s that friendly angel of your life whom you truly want just for yourself, not to freak out with or for the world to show off. The one who’s always there for you, anyone? For some of you, there could be some, well in that case I would say, am just unlucky hmm? My experience says that real or true friendship is history now. Lately, it’s like, call them for a movie or a beer, they pop up from anywhere they would be, but call them when in need, the replies you would get would remind you of this post. Just try it.

They say friendship is an art, an easy one to know, understand and follow while I really am poor in arts, I find it hard to decipher. Could be a problem with me too! But telling you out of the experiences of the people who shared with me their grievances (mistakenly imagining me as their friend) have walked through the same path as I did.

So, I hereby swear to eliminate the word ‘friendship’ from the glossary of my life because I have been dragging it since years now and the increased weight has become too heavy to carry. And this is for the people whom I am close to or the ones, who are close to me, “Am not trying to be frosty or getting you off the hook, just spare me with that ‘f’ word, I don’t believe in it anymore. Hope you understand, and if you don’t, even that doesn’t matter anymore J”

Cheers to the unfriendly me, a Friend For-never!!

The Spitter’s Saga

Yaaak Thooo…HolyDove! Make way for the red shower to reach it’s goal..Thhumpp! and it sticks to the wall forever. You ask what?? Well, something that’s beyond Government’s Unique Identification Number or Voter Id card. Something that identifies Indians as Indians. Something that is national passion and favourite pastime. And that ‘something’ is ‘Spitting’. The nation has an ancient fondness for something called paan -- a betel leaf wrapped around a varying mix of areca nuts, cardamom, lime paste, tobacco and other flavours and after it is chewed, there are two places it could go, down or out!.

Art of Spitting

Armed with a mouth full of saliva mixed in discharges from the respiratory passages, they leisurely shoot it on all the walls, may it be walls of post offices, railway stations, bus stands, streets, adjoining walls of some residential/office building, bazaars and why not the hidden wall behind the elevator? If you haven’t noticed it yet then do it next time you climb an elevator and press a button before exit so that it explores some other floors while you check the copper-stained-walls-behind-the-elevator that have been rusted from the infected saliva of spitters. The guthkas and paans are to be blamed that lure these innocent people who are in a habit of constantly chewing paan and after few minutes just like the itch needs to be scratched, the spit also has to be smacked out.

I paused for about seven minutes when I first saw it, wondering how they actually do it! And how on earth could the ‘impossible to reach’ part of the wall i.e between the two floors could ever be stained. Possibly the elevator constructers were too pissed with the contractor and they retaliated by decorating the walls with grime, I concluded the thought to leave. Or it could be the job of spit-haters who love to part with our bodily fluids and ‘thoo’ it on the walls, I thought again later.

Recently a columnist explained the whole concept as the biological make-up that enables them (the spit-haters) to produce so much of stuff that seem to be forever having to get rid of and expel it from the body lest they fall sick and die. It’s funny that the spit is not only crimson or blood red but also transparent and green! Don’t ask how. You must have seen the streets and public toilets patched with thick cough like phlegm ridiculing at you as if you have been commanded to wipe them off with naked hands.

These Do No Good Too

Nevertheless the ‘Do Not Spit Here’ sign post do no good, rather, itself gets bathed with the sputum yet stands still in a (S)pitiable condition. If spitters are at the bus stand, they will spit at the stand while they are waiting, on the steps of the bus while boarding, and through the window on the road while riding. The auto-rickshaw-wallah will slow down while spitting, the taxi driver will poke out his head and spit in the air, the truck driver won’t even look while spitting. (Seems like there is some big spitting marathon going on in the country and everyone’s in.)

“A tourist friend of mine from Netherland initially got horrified to misunderstand the red spit as blood and got impatient to know why so many people suffer from almost the same disease and still be unnoticed. But soon it dawned on her that the terracotta haze is nothing but a filthy, unhealthy, smutty and stinking habit that many Indians acquire, Isnt’t it petulant?” asked Akanksha, a bank employee irritably.

How About this

It won’t be surprising if Indians approach the International Olympic Committee with a proposal to introduce a new sport ‘the Spitathlon’. Since most Indians practice the sport, it is sure to get huge viewership and fans. Millions of tobacco companies would sponsor and zillons of money would flow in. Doubtlessly for Indians to become world champs.

“Though my teeth are stained and my mouth smells but I make sure to get rid of the first juice of paan that is dangerous for health so I spit,” comforted Jagpal, a businessman. But Where? Where do you spit? “Ah! That’s not a worry, there are many places.” he winked. Okhay!!

This Would Do!

In China and Dubai, chewing and spitting paan, especially in public places, is prohibited. Dare you suggest that we take the same approach here in this country, soon some bleeding heart liberal sena attacks on you and declare it a person’s human right to spit on the pavement.

Let’s start a secret campaign of saying ‘yukk’ to the people spitting around. Make ickiest face looking at the blob of gob spitted by them. If this doesn’t work, maximum we could do is to make sconces like brackets on the walls with a door to cover. Two motives are fulfilled here, one the spit is out as usual on the wall second the wall still looks clean and beautiful. Atleast the distemper and paint expenses would be limited to four walls of the sconce. Spitters beware, all of this is a flabby ‘something’ to annoy the people but once they vow to stop you, the maroon infected sputum would go down, not out.

CAUTION: Effects of chewing paan are very similar to that of chewing tobacco. Many people think that chewing paan is safer than smoking tobacco. But studies have shown that instead of being safer, they are equally, if not more detrimental to one's health. This is because, paan with betel nut and the other spices is kept in your mouth for minutes at a time, causing more harmful chemicals to enter your body than when you smoke - you just shift your lung problems to your mouth.

On Amrita Pritam, For Amrita Pritam, Because of Amrita Pritam

Very lately I finished a book in Hindi (well yes, I tried my eyes on Hindi for a change), it's called 'Paanch Baras Lambi Sadak' by Amruta Pritam. Oh! quite a heavy one for someone who keep oneself distant from the deep thoughts, solitude and being too sensitive.
It carries a few short stories and a long story too, called 'Yatri'. Each story gives an idea on how drastically life twists itself within a span of five years and how, for some it's a long time while for others it's not the case. 'Yatri' on teh other hand was bit dragging and extremely saddistic to handle, but I read it patiently.
It proved a bit heavy to me for the reason I simply couldn't absorb the idea of someone writing so very well. I mean that's what I would call a perfect writer, Amrita Pritam had the ability to connect each and every word and thing she wrote, knew exactly what she wanted to express further, skilled to pour life into the dead and non living things. It took quite a long time for me to finish a book of just 180-200 pages because unlike other usual books, it forced me meditate it! Sink in. Within.
It surely weren't the stories in particular that swayed my thoughts but the pensiveness of the author left me hysterically wondering how..how could it be possible for a human being to think of something so sublime! And then I find my eyebrows raised with a thought 'it's just the first book of Amrita Pritam that I have read, what would happen if I read further?' The writer's soul within me says that her writing has a capability to deject a good writer and elevate an aspiring writer. And I decided to be an aspiring one. May be forever. May be till I finish reading all her books. May be till the day I become a writer like her.
I was experiencing a block recently, it wasn't the writer's block exactly but yes, something near to it because I knew I wanted to write but the cause was missing. Thankfully, it's over now. Amrita Pritam definitely added fuel to the tank of words, though she is all about Hindi, the language which is absolutely alien to me when it comes to writing, but her style of writing is brisk, sausy, novel, unused and fresh forever. Really believe it or not she was an awesome woman of thoughts and words.
Her writing is like...you are isolated? Not liking it? Read her, you will love your solitude and would want to be there forever. If you aren't isolated because you are afraid of it, that fear will go off once you read her, because you will start loving it. And if you aren't isolated at all for no reason, you should want to have a cozy corner in life where you could read her heartfully. The latter one goes with me!

So guys don't miss a chance to read her at least once if you want to try some serious reading or writing for that matter.
And as for now I am back to my very own shelf of books backlogging since ages, namely: 'At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks (more than half done) and 'Wuthering Heights a classic' (just started) and many more. They feel ignored, therefore, after a brief attention to them, I would be back to Amrita Pritam's Biography called 'Rasidi Ticket'. Yeah, I have already got it with me, courtesy to my friend Raj.

:)

Status updated!!

Did you update your status today? Dude, Dudette, Boss, Jobless friend, “C’mon! ofcourse we did!”

Dude @11 am
Gtalk status: “The sound in silence..boss snoring”
Yahoo status: “WTF, Monday sucks big time.”
Facebook status: “Me going to have a bash this weekend, are you coming?”
Etc…

Dudette @ 11 am
Gtalk status: “Why is that guy from the other cubie peeping into mine every 10 mins, huh! Oh! BDW my new boss is the dumbest person I have ever met, gonna kick this org soon.”
Yahoo status: “Things are getting better with him now..but could be worse soon.”
Facebook status: “Aah! Had a bathtub wash, emerged from the rich lather and showered in Palmolive bodywash…Sonu are you coming?”

Dude @ 5 pm
Gtalk status: “The smell of air..boss just farted”
Yahoo status: “WTF, shit Monday, shit Tuesday and shit office, gf…oh shit forgot to call her again!”
Facebook status: “Am sorry my darling babe..I won’t betray you again. Am coming…”

Dudette @ 5 pm
Gtalk status: “…but he seems to be so cute. And boss huh! He sucks the life outta me”
Yahoo status: “You a** **** get the f*** outta my life…I call off this relationship”
Facebook status: “The day doesn’t seem to be great enough, my pervert TL assigns me shit stuff, need a refreshing bath again.”

Boss @ 11 am
Gtalk status: “Understand fully what your company does for your living.”
Facebook status: “Don’t doodle or daydream at meetings. Work. Perform. Overtime. Perform. Target. Perform. Result. My Peformance.

Boss @ 5 pm
Gtalk status: “Dudette, you are FIRED” “Dude, come and meet me in my cabin.”

Some jobless friend
Gtalk status: “Work hard, party harder, letz go guys..”
Yahoo status: “Decent guy searching for a nice girlfriend..dudette are you free?”
Facebook status: “Ppl, there is this girl called ‘dudette’, just called off from her bf, try her. Mail id is….____”

Folks, I believe it’s high time to watch out for the zombie-sh status’ that we have had imbibed to update on hourly basis. Because someone freak (like the jobless friend or the boss in that case) might be secretly infiltrating into those of your cashew-nutty lines with a conclusive mind to FIRE you.
There have been already a few cases recently and before it gets accelerated let’s resolve not to update anything personal that could invite people (like that of the dudette’s), anything professionally offensive that could terminate you, anything frustrating that could give chance to people to talk about you or take advantage of that.

I usually update my status that’s either inspiring, or encouraging/sometimes discouraging too, or complaining, or preaching and etc that’s swimming in my mind at the moment…I try to avoid mentioning stuff about ‘what’s going in my life’, sometimes my updates surely connects to me indirectly and again it opens a keyhole for useless (at times useful) people to peep and make conclusions as per their convenience. But then it depends on how you deal with it. Back step or back fire. I don’t know how many people like or dislike updating their status, nor do I want to know but we need to understand that it’s not a private place at all. They say, it sometimes pays in public life to be a high profile ant worker. And it’s true to some extent.
It could be even otherwise, nobody cares for your status updates. There are many irritating ones who rant in long cluttered sentences, about every organism that passes by. You are not being read, so please quit updating. Because we simply don't care.

Anyway too much of gyan is prohibited I know…just this; if you have that itch to update your status then scratch it by renewing/ranting/criticising/playing/teasing but BEWARE you are being watched!!

So, Dude, Dudette, Boss, Jobless friend, did you just update your status??
“Forever…”

He made his ‘unknown’, known…

An exclusive interview with Saumil Shrivastava of Raipur, the debut author of ‘A Roller Coaster Ride-When an IITian met a Bitsian girl’ and share his experiences with the readers.

Everyone has a good story hidden in their head and there was a magnificent one in Saumil Shrivastava’s too. The only difference is some of these stories get the opportunity of being penned down while some breathes their last in the minds itself. And to avoid the death of that thought this should be followed ‘Write about it by day, and dream about it by night’.
This citizen of Raipur currently in Gurgaon has done one such thing, he has come up with a full fledged novel that took birth in his mind as an ocean of thoughts which he has shared with the whole country. ‘A Roller Coaster Ride- When an IITian met a BITsian girl’ had hit the book stores on June 15 and is playing well in the markets all over.
Excerpts of the interview:

1. What was in your mind when the thought struck to write a novel, like ‘can I really do this?’
Saumil: Honestly speaking, initially I was bit skeptical. I was worried about many things such as how the story would turn out to be and what will be the reaction of the readers. But thanks to Mili, my wife who pushed me motivated, I was able to complete my debut novel without many roadblocks. I’m happy that majority of the readers till date have loved the story. Infact, couple of readers felt that their life is like A Roller Coaster Ride similar to that of the protagonist in the novel. So it is really satisfactory.

2. I have read the novel and I liked the story but I wanted to know why have you portrayed the main character of the novel as extremely foolish in his personal life, like have you met such real life character ever?
Saumil: Not just one many. Right from my college days to my workplace, I have seen so many bright lads make a FOOL out of them going blind in love. It’s not that they were born foolish, but it’s just that when in love many times we tend to lose our identity.

3. Have you started thought processing on your next work?
Saumil: Yes, it should be out in the market sometime mid 2011.

4. How’s the response from readers, any suggestions they gave?
Saumil: My novel launched on June 15. It’s just been two months and the 2nd print is out in the market, so I must say that the response is really encouraging. On a serious note, one common feedback that I have got from different section of readers is: that the novel is "Interesting and Gripping". So I must say for my debut novel I am pretty much satisfied for now. Definitely, there are some loop holes and some scope for improvement. I would try to improve with every book I write further.

5. Who are the editors of the novel, you didn’t mention them?
Saumil: The book is published by the Srishti Publishers. They have their own set of editors who have done the editing.

6. Has Chetan Bhagat, by any chance inspired you?
Saumil: Not really. I always dreamt of being a script writer much before Chetan Bhagat launched his 1st novel. But his success did ensure that publishers in India started taking experience-based authors more seriously.

7. What are your passions besides writing?
Saumil: I am quite interested in singing. It’s in my blood. My Mom and my sister they are among the best singers in my home town. One fine day I definitely wish to improve my skills in this area.

I have also been associated with a World Peace Organization, NGO for the past 4 yrs, as I strongly believe when you succeed you should share it with others. So, community service is the best option. It is just a small attempt to return to the society I live in.
8. A message for the youths and those being fooled in love…
Saumil: Being in love should be the best feeling in the world but if it is not then don’t be in one. Don’t just drag the relationship for the sake of being in a relationship.
For those who are fooled in love, I would say “Get a grip on your life”. Be in love but don’t lose your self respect. Else when you grow older, you will realize you were such a big FOOL.



For more information about the author, book review and readers opinion check http://saumili.com - official site of the book.