Hello! Sharing another poem here. I had composed this for the Rochester Indian Association's proposed literary magazine since so many complain about the Rochester winter :P
A Departing Summer Personified
In the warmth of my days
A cold-blooded illusionist breeds.
Treacherous tulips, fair-weather fragrances,
Conspiring colors, evanescent greenery,
All too fickle for eternal stay.
With ruthless insolence and conceit
A Rochester-ian's longing,
His adoration, his summery fancies
Quickly deflated in shrewd mockery.
Cherish instead those trees
Whose foliage bleeds away colors
As unfettered winds whistle at their death
And yet like modest mortals they await
Being rotten under the white's weight.
Those intricacies of exposed dendrites,
Those 'cotton bolls' - ornaments on pines,
Beautifying the fate of woods stripped naked;
Those loyal birds and steadfast squirrels
Gracing abandoned, unadorned silhouettes,
Ghostly remnants of what used to be their 'home'
And with admirable allegiance, they still call it so!
Every flake that kisses the timeworn streets,
Those patient drops on the tips of stalactites who
But melt many a times faster than the human heart
Yes, cherish them instead.
Even winter has in store songs of mirth
Festive choirs singing X'mas carols
Hot chocolate, warm friendships, cozy cuddles,
The tenderness of grandma's knitting,
A father's frosty windshield, proud
With his toddlers' scribbles on display.
As childhood innocence revisits,
To counsel long-bewildered adults -
Snowmen stand witness,
The passionate grip of trustworthy hands
Reassuring a hesitant, novice skater,
Friends falling on skis, smiling still,
All renew a common promise, which
To a monochromatic wintry canvas, can colors lend -
‘There is more love, learning and loyalty
Amid this icy-blight, than any of my summery days’
What is worse, now think again -
The 'callousness' of a frigid winter's night?
Or the transience of my habituating radiance?
If you remembered - Seasons are Sojourners
These questions could afford oblivion.
Nature's course is evolving,
While yours naively obdurate.
Bear in mind, its beauty is fleeting not!
Only your immutable definitions make it so.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
If not now, when?
Stumbled on an inspiring video... below, I've typed the lyrics in case its slow/non-functional.
Similar to the sun screen and 'Lost Generation' reverse poetry videos which most of you have probably watched.
Robert K. Cooper, PhD presents "Priorities for Life"
"Things which matter most should never be left at the mercy of things which matter least." -Goethe
Stand out from the crowd. Stop Competing. Start excelling. No one has to loose for you to win.
Be grateful for every... act of kindness. new breath. meal.
Loosen up. Lighten up. Keep showing up. Know when to come up for air.
Challenge the boundaries.
Don't settle for being what you used to be or have been.
Keep reaching for what you can yet become.
Don't... gossip. nag. tailgate. take good health for granted. postpone joy.Keep reaching for what you can yet become.
Honor the greatness and uniqueness in others.
Each day you have exactly the same number of minutes as...
Aristotle. Michaelangelo. Mother Teresa. Mozart. Galileo. Keller. King. Da Vince.
Wave back at children on the school bus.
Laugh at least a hundred times a day. Don't wait for things to be funny. Laugh anyway.
Remember you'll never get new results from repeating old habits.
Don't let cobwebs form around your Big Dreams.
Call Home. Go the extra mile. Stop to smell flowers.
Avoid ruts. Once you're in one, it's hard to get out.
Encourage children to... look up at the stars. play in the rain. run through puddles.
...Every once in a while, join them.
Each evening, talk about the funniest thing that happened today.
Don't confuse -
time with money.
money with success.
success with happiness.
happiness with contribution to the world.
Never forget that your attitude and feelings always attract exactly what they convey.
Take charge of your energy. Eat snacks. Sip ice water. Turn up the lights. Ask questions. Stretch. Laugh. Keep exploring.
Never...
give up on anyone!!! (<3)
give up on life's possibilities.
take away another person's hope... It may be all they have!
Talk to children at eye level. You'll both learn more. Fall forward.
Never be ashamed of...
bold ideas.
honest tears.
a loving heart.
Complain less. Live more.
At home... sing out loud. talk to your pets. dance in the halls. put your feet up on the coffee table.
Be original.
Be passionately romantic.
Be 100% alive.
Keep your promises.
Keep in touch.
Keep growing.
Never miss a chance to show someone how much you care.
Never refuse homemade food.
Live so that when children think of kindness, courage, ingenuity and caring... they think of you.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Lead by example.
Love as if you will live forever.
Work as if you have no need for money.
Dream as if no one can say no.
Have fun as if you never have to grow up.
Sing as if no one else is listening.
Care as if everything depends on your caring...
and raise a banner where a banner never flew.
If not now, when?
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Solitude - Part I
I used to intern at cshl which is a 15 mins drive from my home in Long Island (LI). However, since we had just migrated to the US and didn't have a car yet, I used to catch a bus from home to the railroad station, hop on the train for 2 stops and then ride on cshl's shuttle. 1 hour but no big deal. However, public transport on LI isn't that great and the buses run on an hourly basis at night (this route is also not bike friendly). On my way back from lab, the schedules worked out such that I always ended up at the bus stop ~10 mins after a bus had left. Following a long day, that was like a 'can-wait-for-the-food-to-be-
I spent last summer in the UK. Friends traveling with me on the same program were mostly US citizens or had applied for a Schengen Visa (neither was true in my case) and could travel across Europe w/o any restrictions. Of course there is so much to explore in the UK itself that I had no regrets about not being able to travel outside. On one of the few days I had to myself when they were on their Euro tour - I managed to finish labwork by mid day, spent most of my afternoon walking up and down Oxford street*, then walked (1.5hrs) to the Thames/London Bridge where I spent the rest of my evening. ~9 hours at one of the busiest cities in the world.
Spring Break 2011. I had spent spring break '09 visiting relatives, the next on a Habitat for Humanity project in Erie, PA and the third...? Quit guessing, nothing exotic. For a while I thought I would spend it showing my parents around Rochester but those plans didn't materialize. I worked long hours at the lab and studied for the GRE until Thurs when I finally decided to dedicate the day to all the other things I had been putting off. I boarded the first bus to campus and worked at a table in Starbucks till the last bus I could catch to return home. One full day at an on-campus cafe that is bustling even during college breaks.
The purpose of narrating these is to highlight a state common to all three incidences - solitude. You don't need to go to the edge of the world to look for it. You end up finding yourself alone in the busiest and noisiest of places, whether a few bus stops away from home or in a different continent altogether, as long as you stop and and have the time and courage to peep inside...
*This has nothing to do with the town/Uni of Oxford. It is the busiest shopping street in central London (think 5th Avenue, NYC).
Saturday, April 2, 2011
April 2nd 2011
A non-traditional post but this day deserves one.
On my way back...
The suitcase is heavier [1]
And so is the mind.
But my heart is light
And I am as happy as a lark!
I will remember this day vividly <3
[1] from all the unnecessary booklets I got at the conference
[2] thanks to several interactions, new acquaintances & memories
[3] from a sigh of relief, sense of accomplishment & re-instilled belief in my friend's words that "everything does work out in the end"
[4] because India WON the World Cup!! (although I wasn't there to witness it live, I will forever be proud!)
On my way back...
The suitcase is heavier [1]
And so is the mind.
But my heart is light
And I am as happy as a lark!
I will remember this day vividly <3
[1] from all the unnecessary booklets I got at the conference
[2] thanks to several interactions, new acquaintances & memories
[3] from a sigh of relief, sense of accomplishment & re-instilled belief in my friend's words that "everything does work out in the end"
[4] because India WON the World Cup!! (although I wasn't there to witness it live, I will forever be proud!)
Thursday, March 10, 2011
String Theory
Strings. So much of life is in these strings!
that not all 'strings' start and end in our two hands
but that there is someone at the 'other' end -
a parent, a sibling, a friend, a God, a belief,
a boss, a dream, a milestone, a life partner [30]
Separating from a cord, the first breath breathed.
Interpreting tension in reigns as parental commands, a childhood instinct controlled.
Getting a 'rakhi' tied, a promise renewed.
Exchanging bands, a friendship reassured. [5]
Tying a 'kalava' from a puja, a religion embraced.
Making new knots and undoing old ones, a superstition continued.
Tying a 'kalava' from a puja, a religion embraced.
Making new knots and undoing old ones, a superstition continued.
Struggling like an animal on a leich, in captivity toiled.
Dancing like puppets on a string, an authoritarian obeyed.
Soaring high like kites on strings, a passionate dream pursued. [10]
Cutting a ribbon, an endeavor inaugurated.
Abstaining from 'no-strings-attached' sort of relationships, a self worth realized.
Merely stringing and unstringing instruments in hesitation, a conversation deferred.
'Tying the knot', a lifetime committed,
Wearing beads on a string to manifest that commitment, a trust instilled, [15]
And winding a spool around a tree out of that trust, a tradition sustained.
And winding a spool around a tree out of that trust, a tradition sustained.
Passing along life's secret code on molecular strings, a parenthood dawned.
'Tying loose ends' before we 'leave this place', an unexamined life reflected upon.
Strings. So much of life is in these strings! [20]
In tangling and getting tangled in mortal quandaries,
In resolving dilemmas like knots in neglected hair,
In trust, the kind of trust -
a gymnast has on her Mallakhamb rope,
a dangling spider has on its silky string, [25]
In hope -that not all 'strings' start and end in our two hands
but that there is someone at the 'other' end -
a parent, a sibling, a friend, a God, a belief,
a boss, a dream, a milestone, a life partner [30]
Some like colorful embroidery decorating the fabric of life,
Others weaving into our midnight's slumber, plucking strings of unrest;
but each one making it worthwhile to hold on patiently to all those STRINGS!
Others weaving into our midnight's slumber, plucking strings of unrest;
but each one making it worthwhile to hold on patiently to all those STRINGS!
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Notes:
non-Indians - [4] look up Rakshbandhan & [6] Kalava
[13] comes from Tagore's poem Waiting
Notes:
non-Indians - [4] look up Rakshbandhan & [6] Kalava
[13] comes from Tagore's poem Waiting
"The song I came to sing
remains unsung to this day.
I have spent my days in stringing
and in unstringing my instrument. "
[14-16] An Indian marriage/related customs...
[14-16] An Indian marriage/related customs...
[15] beads on a string = 'MangaLasutra' (मंगळसूत्र/தாலி) in case you didn't catch that.
[16] alluding to the Maharashtrian vat-purnima custom
[17] DNA, of course.
[24] Malla-khamb - link for your viewing pleasure (& for me to reminisce my childhood!!)
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I'm sure you can think of many more strings - tangible ones from computer science, physics, medicine, music, and many more philosophical ones. Try contributing in a format consistent with parts of the poetry, when time permits (?!) Better yet, what is your definition of a String? :P
Any comments/critique welcome :-) Thanks for reading!
Any comments/critique welcome :-) Thanks for reading!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Short Stories
I rarely receive email fwds aaaaand finally today I did. It struck me as quite interesting... Below are two short stories w/ a thought provoking(?) message directly pasted from the email. It is followed by a third I'm trying to recall from what I heard a friend narrate.
" 1. The Turtles
A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last!
For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell.. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.
Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, 'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.'
[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.]
2. The Pretty Lady
Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river.
The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. 'How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk. But he kept quiet.... The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her. All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet.. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.
Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. 'How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite The big monk looked surprised and said, 'I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?'
[This very old Chinese Zen story... reflects the thinking of many of us today. We encounter many unpleasant things that make us irritated/angry/bitter/jealous .. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go.. we keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us.] "
(-fwd from Mridula)
Thoughts on the above are welcome and so is commenting with another short story!! ;-)
Also, yes! I will write what I promised to... sometime next week when I don't have classes at least. This post may seem like a pathetic attempt at 'keeping up with blogging'... believe me its not that it becomes out-of-sight-out-of-mind but its just difficult to pen everything down in a form that can be shared (takes time & effort to make it cryptic, indirect & politically correct, jk! :P). Anyway, I'm determined not to go on a hiatus this time! Look forward to reading lots next week. :-)
" 1. The Turtles
A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place. During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last!
For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell.. He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.
Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years... then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, 'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt.'
[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.]
2. The Pretty Lady
Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river.
The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. 'How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk. But he kept quiet.... The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her. All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet.. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.
Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. 'How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite The big monk looked surprised and said, 'I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?'
[This very old Chinese Zen story... reflects the thinking of many of us today. We encounter many unpleasant things that make us irritated/angry/bitter/jealous .. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go.. we keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us.] "
(-fwd from Mridula)
Thoughts on the above are welcome and so is commenting with another short story!! ;-)
Also, yes! I will write what I promised to... sometime next week when I don't have classes at least. This post may seem like a pathetic attempt at 'keeping up with blogging'... believe me its not that it becomes out-of-sight-out-of-mind but its just difficult to pen everything down in a form that can be shared (takes time & effort to make it cryptic, indirect & politically correct, jk! :P). Anyway, I'm determined not to go on a hiatus this time! Look forward to reading lots next week. :-)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Valentine's Poem
In spirit of the upcoming holiday, thought I'd compose something while putting my German to good (questionable haha) use!
Blinken nicht die Augen...
halten Sie sich fest, um dieses wunderschöne Traum!
Aufwachen dein Herz...
aus dem Schlummer seiner dunklen Mitternacht!
Lassen es seine Türen öffnen und erkennen, dass -
jemand neu definiert "Liebe", wenn -
Alles in eurer Welt scheint erweitert, transformiert und aufgehellt
und Zeit macht unbekannte, unerwartete Erfahrungen
Würdig Gekritzel auf den Seiten von Ihrem Tagebuch!
Um Ihnen und derjenige, der dich am meisten respektiere, Happy Valentines! :-)
This is |not| a puzzle and neither is it autobiographical to any degree. Well, make what you will of disclaimers :P On a different note, please excuse and correct mistakes (except capitalizations!) if you can. Can I require all comments to be in Deutsch please? haha just kidding! Although http://translate.google.com/# is a useful tool (barring grammar :P) if you're up for the challenge/seeking a quick translation. Do share your thoughts!
Tentative upcoming/pending posts to look forward to for the next 2 months:
- "Food for Thought: Thoughts on Food" (had said I'll post this today, but Valentines takes precedence over food labels and nutrition statistics :P)
- "Merits of Mental Math in Oblivion: Calculators Germinating an Arithmetically Challenged Generation" ...what I've been fuming over since the last 5yrs. (hint, this is my 5th yr in the US :P)
- A poem from my old list...
Monday, January 31, 2011
Religion & Practicality: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Disclaimer: If you find critique on 'religious' rituals/practices more offensive than thought provoking, proceed with caution. ;)
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Ok. I have a very intimate relationship with what I believe is God (for the lack of better word sometimes). The deepest of insights I have searched for with eyes wide open have often dawned upon me only when I closed my eyes in prayer. Yes, I do 'close my eyes' in faith, in devotion, in the name of religion, in an attempt to focus; but that does not enable me to 'turn a blind eye' to the rituals, practices, expectations and unwritten rules that are not rooted in pure reason, practicality, logic and a scientific attitude. To this day I might have only inched forward towards defining and uniting with my God, but I have made leaps and bounds in realizing that because religion is meant to be enlightening, obscure practices cannot be justified as a form of worship. Following are some such observations/anecdotes and my opinions/reasoning about them -
- Milk on a stone's back (think water on a duck's...)
I visited the RajaRajeshwari Temple at Rush, NY in Jan. 2010. All my positive experiences there aside, what sticks out the most even a year later is the gallons of milk I saw being poured on the Shiv Lingam. Not one, not two, not three, not four... well I counted six while in line. Less than ten minutes on one day. Six gallons of Vitamin D and calcium fortified whole milk on stone. I say just 'stone' because religion ends where thoughtless human practice begins. What a waste! I think I use less water to shower than the amount of milk used in the span of a day to 'bathe' the black stone :P. I am not going to bring up statistics about how many children are malnutritioned in India (highest world rate). A friend argued "Well not like they're going to ship it to India right now anyways" - thats not the point! Think perhaps they could've used it to make 'prasad' instead. And if you feel the need to follow a ritual, let the priest alone do it instead of giving each visitor the 'opportunity' to 'bathe' Shiva. To go one step further, I thought about this wastage of milk and the irony (or hypocritical nature?) the ritual brings to Hinduism - a religion that worships the cow. Perhaps vegans/animal rights activists do a better job in worldly matters than blind Hindu worshipers. (then again it would be weird to pour soy milk on the Shiv Lingam :P)
- Satsang (sat = true, sanga = company)
I recently visited one and was reminded that men and women ought to sit in two difference sections of the room to avoid getting distracted by the opposite sex while trying to 'link' with God's message. First, we're forgetting that the human mind is quite creative and physical distance can set no limits on the extent to which it's imagination can be out of focus. Also sure, living a celibatic life is big sacrifice and a bold decision. But what does sitting on the other end of the room mean? Does it mean you loose your attainment of 'Satsang' as soon as you step out of the temple and walk with someone of the opposite sex? You are implying that your company with the 'highest truth' is transient and blaming the opposite sex for it. Heres an analogy: say, you are determined to overcome your habit of over-spending at a mall and control your desires of hoarding. To this end you simply don't carry your wallet to the mall. Achieving your goal by avoiding the real challenge is not as credible! Can you keep from hoarding with a pocket full of money? is the real question at hand being 'avoided'. You'll never question your conscience because you are too scared to 'live on the edge'.
For the same reasons, I'd have ten fold more respect for the decency of a man who can sit right next to me during a 'Satsang' and still be one with God than someone who needs to sit at the other end of the room. The latter almost screams 'prevention is better than cure'... staying as far as possible from the opposite sex is better than risking indulgence and having to 'cure' yourself out of it. It screams gender discrimination. If someone as 'holy' as a priest cannot walk over to the 'other side' to share advice with/have a one-on-one conversation with female devotees because they 'hold the potential to distract him', that is not only offending women's intention of attending the Satsang but also questioning the priest's true 'control of his emotions'. All in all, true devotion is one that brings in its wake clarity of the mind, strengthening of a will, a moral character and silencing of the subconscious amidst all 'distractions'. While fleeing from 'distractions' to claim true devotion may be an informal acknowledgement of one's weaknesses and vulnerabilities, it is not a portrayal of one's effort to overcome them.
- Disrespecting a sign of fertility
Not allowing menstruating women (as if you can really distinguish and control this :P) to participate in religious activities simply makes me mock the stupidity of this 'rule'. There was always a method to His 'madness' and God must remember what he created when he sculpted the bodies of the two sexes. By that logic, someone with a natural phenomena in a God gifted body can is NO way offend religion! Also the argument of 'impurity' is obsolete with the sanitation available today.
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I have too many complaints but that is it for now. Going back to the title - our practices and rituals have separated religion and practicality so far that the two now exist as two sides of the same coin... its always one or the other :/
Thoughts? any that you'd like to share? Or perhaps convince me otherwise on any of the above?
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Next post will probably be "Food for Thought: Thoughts on Food". Yes, statistics! :-)
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Email: An Art of Conversation
Skip to the link at the end if you don't want to read my rambling but might be interested in some humor.
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Email blunders in my inbox irk me a bit... so just a quick post to vent my frustration.
It is sad that I can think of only 3-4 people I personally look up to - the promptness, conciseness & thoughtfulness of their emails continues to amaze me. I am far from perfect but I do spend at least twice the time and effort to read & respond than most people. Coming across as a good conversationalist might be NOWHERE on the radar for a lot of people but it is my personal goal & heres what I want to remember to ask myself before I hit "send" -
- A quick response sends a sense of virtual proximity & approachability. How often am I able to accomplish this? How confidently can my contacts count on me for a quick reply regardless of when they contact me?
- Am I forgetting to attach a document I've referred to? More importantly if I have attached it, have I changed the file name to include my name, date & an appropriate title - i.e. not something like "freaking Parkinson's paper" :P
- Mass emails: Am I CC-ing all the right people? when responding, am I cognizant of all the people who are going to read my opinion? :P Am I abusing the power of "reply all" & annoying anyone?
- Can I avoid emails back & forth by simply being more specific or providing more info?
- Have I exhausted all sources of independent learning before emailing to ask a question? And if I do still need to email, am I effectively conveying that I have infact exhausted all other sources?
- Is my subject short & relevant?
- Instead of composing a new email - could I perhaps respond/forward so the receiver can be reminded of an old conversation & the thread can continue without having to be redundant.
- Too many "...", exclamation marks or smileys? Am I treating emails different from chat?
- How hard is it to find the point I'm trying to make? Can I be more concise?
- (the most under-rated of all) Am I actually making an effort to connect with the person? Is he/she travelling or sick or giving a talk or has an exam or celebrates a festival - to try to remember something they had told me in passing/might not expect me to remember & throw in for example, "ps- good luck with... or Happy blah blah" To care genuinely, pleasantly surprise someone & show them that its not just all business! :-)
For your amusement - http://theoatmeal.com/comics/email ;-)
Monday, January 10, 2011
A Secret Admirer
Four hands employed in a selfless calling, (1)
Two graceful & nurturing, two unyielding &; muscular,
Playmates of a lifetime forging a dream by the shore.
A calm ocean and the morning sun watch along...
Grains of sand that once lay as a heap, orphaned & unnoticed, (5)
Now stand as a Castle. So handsome, stately &; grown in years,
Fast escaping the captivity of your architects' moist footsteps,
You spend the early hours coming to grips with your existence
To stumble upon a satisfying identity by mid day
At the sight of dancing sun rays - pearls on distant waters. (10)
With other waves I surge to catch your first glimpse,
But ebb reluctantly in low tides, as if confined by societal norms;
Cycles, as if those of an unfolding teenage,
Of stringing and unstringing an instrument,
Of gushing ashore but receding with an unsung song; (15)
An untold tale of excitement, for hesitance nips it in the bud,
Falling short all afternoon but getting closer each time
To something bigger, something better. A marvelous sand Castle.
Hopeful. If an entire lifetime were wrapped in a day,
Then dusk must have in store all its glory, and surely, (20)
As the sun paints the skies purple, marking an omen,
And reaches to the depths of the vastness of my vessel,
With a strangely determined momentum, in pursuit
Of a dream, of a reason, as if of a life partner,
On uncharted, unobstructed frontiers my spirit runs carefree (25)
But stops only to wash your majestic feet with tranquil waters.
Yes! then I turn around, to return merrily with other waves
Like a flock of girls, gossiping, chuckling, reminiscing, story-telling
Fondly of my transformation, my adventure, my affair.
For if I aspire - to break these confines, to grow more ambitious, (30)
Untamed, avaricious and demanding of reciprocation,
- To look you in the eye, embrace your walls,
Kiss your brow and whisper to you my secret obsession,
Such unleashed passions will leave you destroyed & myself turbid
Your tumbling, dissolving walls will mock the memories I locked away (35)
As the Pacific monster gulps your grains of sand,
My transient fascination will end in permanant broken reality
And on this dark, bleak night even the moon will refuse,
To reflect from my waters and beautify my miserable fate.
I will be left alone, in despair, only to find comfort (40)
In what was, but can never once again be -
The sandcastle of my dreams. The delicate love of my life.
Yes! hence I just turn around, to return merrily with other waves
For you were born to be a show piece
And I, a secret admirer! (45)
This attempt is quite different from the previous two... the first & obvious difference is that it is non-rhyming. But I've also tried to make it a more indirect style of story-telling by hiding it in layers of figures of speech.
To start: "Four hands" (synecdoche)... who they represent is hinted in their description (line 2), in the phrase "playmates of a lifetime" (3) & best in the word "orphaned" (5)... they represent parents :P (too much of a stretch? or is it used well?)
There are many more... can you find any? I'm very curious to know (a) how effective my use of metaphors/personifications, etc was & more importantly (b) what you make of them... so feel free to share your creativity. (I *might post this Sunday to give it away) As always, any feedback/critique is welcome... :-)
On a different note, the semester starts soon & I might not be able to write again for a while... but lets see, may be this time I'll have that 25th hr in my day ;-) Thanks for reading.
Two graceful & nurturing, two unyielding &; muscular,
Playmates of a lifetime forging a dream by the shore.
A calm ocean and the morning sun watch along...
Grains of sand that once lay as a heap, orphaned & unnoticed, (5)
Now stand as a Castle. So handsome, stately &; grown in years,
Fast escaping the captivity of your architects' moist footsteps,
You spend the early hours coming to grips with your existence
To stumble upon a satisfying identity by mid day
At the sight of dancing sun rays - pearls on distant waters. (10)
With other waves I surge to catch your first glimpse,
But ebb reluctantly in low tides, as if confined by societal norms;
Cycles, as if those of an unfolding teenage,
Of stringing and unstringing an instrument,
Of gushing ashore but receding with an unsung song; (15)
An untold tale of excitement, for hesitance nips it in the bud,
Falling short all afternoon but getting closer each time
To something bigger, something better. A marvelous sand Castle.
Hopeful. If an entire lifetime were wrapped in a day,
Then dusk must have in store all its glory, and surely, (20)
As the sun paints the skies purple, marking an omen,
And reaches to the depths of the vastness of my vessel,
With a strangely determined momentum, in pursuit
Of a dream, of a reason, as if of a life partner,
On uncharted, unobstructed frontiers my spirit runs carefree (25)
But stops only to wash your majestic feet with tranquil waters.
Yes! then I turn around, to return merrily with other waves
Like a flock of girls, gossiping, chuckling, reminiscing, story-telling
Fondly of my transformation, my adventure, my affair.
For if I aspire - to break these confines, to grow more ambitious, (30)
Untamed, avaricious and demanding of reciprocation,
- To look you in the eye, embrace your walls,
Kiss your brow and whisper to you my secret obsession,
Such unleashed passions will leave you destroyed & myself turbid
Your tumbling, dissolving walls will mock the memories I locked away (35)
As the Pacific monster gulps your grains of sand,
My transient fascination will end in permanant broken reality
And on this dark, bleak night even the moon will refuse,
To reflect from my waters and beautify my miserable fate.
I will be left alone, in despair, only to find comfort (40)
In what was, but can never once again be -
The sandcastle of my dreams. The delicate love of my life.
Yes! hence I just turn around, to return merrily with other waves
For you were born to be a show piece
And I, a secret admirer! (45)
This attempt is quite different from the previous two... the first & obvious difference is that it is non-rhyming. But I've also tried to make it a more indirect style of story-telling by hiding it in layers of figures of speech.
To start: "Four hands" (synecdoche)... who they represent is hinted in their description (line 2), in the phrase "playmates of a lifetime" (3) & best in the word "orphaned" (5)... they represent parents :P (too much of a stretch? or is it used well?)
There are many more... can you find any? I'm very curious to know (a) how effective my use of metaphors/personifications, etc was & more importantly (b) what you make of them... so feel free to share your creativity. (I *might post this Sunday to give it away) As always, any feedback/critique is welcome... :-)
On a different note, the semester starts soon & I might not be able to write again for a while... but lets see, may be this time I'll have that 25th hr in my day ;-) Thanks for reading.
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