**The maGIc OF InDia**

Its the land of my dreams... the land i love... to which i pledge my alligiance each day... n in whose lap i sleep each night.

who am i?

its the land of broken dreams.. shattered hopes... of open dumps n silent cries... its the land of religions, not people.. its the home 2 politics, fashion, food n economy.. its the land of the homeless too.

its the land of changing times, adaptive trends, of bunglows n 7-stars n life in apartments...

its the home of riots n orthodoxy, of stubborn ideologies n ever-persistant differences..of slums n villages n of naked, hungry children..

its the land where i was born... the land that is mine.. n the land that i shall always have.

They say its a magical place.. but where is that magic?

i look out n try to breathe... i smell a heavy, regular waft of air...sumthin told me of frsh samosas bein fried... of the streets being washed... of the baby blooms on the marigold tree beyond my balcony... that was something i had never noticed, or maybe had become so accustomed to, that it ws just a regular fragrance... nthn more

i closed my eyes n could hear a noise... the rag-pickers singing alien songs and the children fighting... sumone was playing the latest songs from singh is king... my mother was talkin to the maid...sumwhere a group of mainas were chirping away...

what could they be discussing? were they too, worried bout the lost magic?

i opened an atlas... n my eyes went straight fr the blue, white and red flag.. it looked so nice n glossy...

but sumthing pricked at the corner of the page... sumthing safron, white n green... sumthin that though my eyes could not see.. they knew it was there... sobre n earthly... hidden amongst the many flags.. yet ever visible

but where did the magic go?

i traced the path to a restraunt so i cud buy sum burgers fr the lunch....

but a small eatery with its pani-puri stall caught all my senses at once.. and i rushed to hav sum...

unable to resist the taste that i knew so well...

i read of articles that say we spend the 15th of August n the 26th of January as public holidays and nothing more... and i agree with them from head to toe...

yet i fail to understand why my hair stands on end each time i hear the national anthem...

i see sadhus n babas n say "its trash, i dnt believe in jyotish!"

yet i steal a glance at the horoscope each sunday to see what all's in store for me...

i choose hide 'n' seek over parle-g

i pick skirts over kurtis...

i go for harry potter over hanuman chalisa...

i keep God in my heart than in a decorative temple..

i have 4 friends, 1 is a christian, the other a punjabi, the 3rd a muslim and the 4th a south indian...

yet we all love the same songs, the same clothes, the same food...

i see foreign documentaries n get mad at why they always show india as so poor and dark?

i see the way we copy them and get mad at why we cant accept us as we are?

The magic... m still on search....

i go to my coaching centre... and i see how hundreds of children mug up, study, read, revise and prepre for the same IIT's and IIM's...

and i hate it why there's always the OBC and the SC-ST seats cuz of which so many of us will never gt a place in those colleges..

The day ends.. and i cum home.. tired and sleepy... and i change into my pyjamas...

my eyes go wearily onto the mirror and the person beyond it...

The magic, its still on my mind...

and as i turn to go to bed, i can feel the cold floor 'neathe my bare feet...

a step, and i recall the beauty in the smell of India...

another, and i recall the music in the sound of India..

a few more steps and i remember the flavour in the taste of India...

my 6th step and i see the colour in the sight of India...

i bend to pick a book... and i count the senses... 4...

hmm.. i turn around ad stare at myself again... what's the 5th sense?

where du i find that?

the magic... its present in everything abut India...

i smiled... i had found it... but then why was it so hidden... where is it lost?

my eyes stare at my reflection... and my hands go for the hand in the mirror...

i touchd it... the feeling of a soothing cool creeps up my warm fingers... and i suddenly go mum in surprise...

it was the 5th sense... the touch n feel of India...

it was right there.. always had been...the missing piece of the puzzle...

had always been "ME".

the true India.. is right here...

not only beyond us... but truly within us...

without us, India can never be a land of dreams, the perfect haven, the success story...

what it needs is us... and our belief...

That night, the search was over... and as i stood staring at myself, expploring the possibilities i held...

The MAGIC was... complete.

Death.

Ever wondered why we work so hard?

why we make friends? why do we love? what for do we keep racing against time?

just why are we born?

sumtimes.. its just too hard to know... what the next moment would be...

1 phone call.. shock.. and the sudden emptiness that has nothing to do with your empty stomach...
who knows when life would never b the same.. n it would vanish, escape from our hands like mercury thats broken free of the glass.. leaving us numb, cold, n silent.

sometimes i wonder why ppl die.. n nobody in the world cares...
they'd cry, mourn, say things... n thn its over.

The biggest example of whch i saw a month back.. one of my schoolmates.. a child in the 10th standard met with an accident n lost his life.
n nobody seemed to evn remember it, that very day as the school got over.

i stood there, standing silently, listenin.. They all walked past.. laughin, sharing jokes, planning things... the same ppl who had prayed for the boy that morning..

i seemed to hate them, that very moment.

but i learned soon enuff, that it is just another part of life..
maybe death seen is more pronounced than death heard... or maybe we just never wish to realize or face it's stark n naked presence...
that its a truth we are born to meet.. a destiny that we have to be a part of...

we hav a very short time, and a tremendous amount of work to do...
but one day, whn all of it is over.. there would b no more hurry, no more opportunity.. just a sticky, hollow void.
n all that ne1 would do is cry... n say words.. n that will b all.. it will b finished in no time.. n we wud b out of their world.. just a picture on the living room wall...and life shall go on, as they learn to walk bye, eyesd adjusted to the frame as they are to all the other paintings.

Let us all be more of a person than a being.. lets just
reach out, smile, laugh, love, support n forgive a little more... so that when
this roller-coaster comes to a jolting halt.. we dont jump off shouting that it
was such a short ride and had no thrill, but b the ones who have shouted,
roared, puked and are dizzy to their bones, but still jump off with huge smiles
and go.."That was great!"


Today, a very close friend of my father's lost his life.. for no fault of his own...
but i know that he was successful in doing gr8 works in his life...
cuz i remember him today, as 1 f the very few "humans" i had evr met in this race.

In respect n love...
i shall miss you.

~~MaTH..MuM n Mice....~~

Banging my head against my maths book, wishing only but pure escape from the umpteenth trignometry problem i was attempting... little did i expect a loud scream that shook me off my bed onto the floor with a loud bang!

Nope, aliens dd not invade, there was no bomb blast neither... it was just my mum, at her regular session in the kitchen...

As i tried getting back to my feet, dad came rushing to my room ushering me to the kitchn...

The site of commossion: i spotted mum wrestling sum teeny-weeny mice that had just been born..

I instantly pickd them up into my palm, away from my disgusted mum(who was now shouting at me for touchin the tinies) and my dad who was laughing hysterically at my mum fr being so disgusted.

it was a morning full of mixed emotions... my mum who was having a headache trying to clean and wipe her kitchen to twinkles, my dad who was having a jolly time helping her as he winked behind her head, asking me to bring the mice a lil closer so she would inch closer to him each time... n i, smiling and giggling as the baby mice rolled n crawled n sniffed around my fingers...

Lesson Learnt: No matter what life shoves our way, it is our choice to take it as a problem(mum's theory), a possibility(dad's theory), or just a passing smile(not my theory really)...

heehee... for the time being notty, totty, lotty n hotty(as i've named them) are enjoying a warm cuddlly sleep in my porch... after which i hope they'd b discovered by their kin n kind n probably will grow up with stories of those three strange humans...

makes me smile now as i sit attempting logarithms, having givn up on trignometry completely as a bad problem, still worse possibility and an exceptionally horrifying thing to smile at, though very passable..really.

EXAM guru...

hmm... 11 years' worth of studying, muging up and the tireless effort to bear the pain of having to write papers... n you'd think i didn't learn anything?
think again...

to begin with you have these strange species of copiers spilled out all over the exam room...then there's the prowling varieties of invigilators frm the nosy i-know-what-you'r-thinking type to the what's-that-you-said-? types...

ofcourse it's a darn dull time trying hard to concentrate and du your paper well, only thing you need is these chipmunks disturbing you and your heart thumping that you'll get caught fr "allegedly providing alms to a copier"

Here's 7 diff types of species of copirs i'v cum across..

1. Ever wondered what's that tingling sensation on the back of your neck? well... don't turn around... just budge a bit sideways cuz the dodo behind you wants to copy...

2. They'd put their head down.. look around for all clear...and then they go "Ppssstt!!" Yup, they'd irritate Albert Eisnstein out of you! How to tackle?

just cross your fingers.. n go "Psst!" right back atchem

3. Next come the paper droppers...they'd drop anything, from the answer scripts to the eraser to the pencil and even their desks till you tell them the holy answer

how to avoid????

All time hit formula: Ignore yaar!

4. My personal topper of the chipmunks is this species... they r lucky they sat behind you, n they're exceptionally talented with their legs..

get the picture? well... i've had quite sum time with these kicking donkeys.. all i can do is pray for your respective behinds in case you're fortunate enough to land in front of 1

5. The sign-talkers...you'd never know whether they're flexing their fingers or actually hinting a question at you..the most talented of the species can deliver answers through tap n drum codes right across the room!

the best part of it? Just dont brag bout your knowledge... show that you're a novice in the art they'd simply pity you for the ignorance... heehee

6. The blessed Foul-Mouths! one encounter with this highly populating species and you'd dobt your affected by alzhiemers!

Their questions start with *#*@!

and end with, you know, @@#&*

They look at you and you go "Oh, there goes my A grade!"

Best way to encounter?... show that you'd help at the end f finishin ur paper... if you're lucky enough, they'd bully sum1 else by then fr the answer and get it.

7. Now these are the exceptionally rare kind... The "Mast teeping types"

What are they scard of? NOTHING!

what do they know in the paper? NOTHING!

what do they care? NOTHING!

They're the ones you'd be lucky you dont meet

cuz you'd never know whn they'd vanish your sheet from your desk n copy it down, only to return it 5 minutes before the bell...

you'd wish they kept their magical ways outside the hall... but its fascinating to see them at work.. Dont miss the chance if you get 1

So that's that... But always remember, Charity in any form is good.. so do your papers well, n help others do the same if you can..

(in case you've discovered more of them.. do let me know!)

Happy Exam-Giving..

m sure u'll survive

Cheers!

Lost n FounD....

a girl f sixteen.. n the burden f college n frns...

imagine havin 2 run to school n coachings.. rushin 2 parties n barely reachin at frns' on time... duin the grocery fr mum n tryin 2 b dad's "beta" n helpin him at office plus remembrin 2 gt gifts n cards fr my brother who studies in delhi...

wid all that hurry, its but obvious u'd rather always find me lukin frantically fr my scooty keys, which ofcourse, r safer 2 b termed 'lost all the time'..........

it was just 1 f these moments whn i tuk a breath n tried to remember where i'd left 'em last.. the fridge, i'd stopped by to steal a chocolate...the cupboard, yes, i did luk fr sumthn there... maybe the bedroom, i'd gone there to place sum papers....

that's whn my eyes wnt to an old card frm sum long frgotn frnd

...where exactly had i left him?

yes.. we'd been 2gether since childhood..ofcourse we had shared secrets.. thn he'd left town fr college.. hmm.... i did mail him 1ce a week... ... wht hppnd thn?

i closed my eyes n tried to remember his face.. nthin but a blurred image ..

.....where did i lose him?

sumtimes in life.. just like d keys n newspaper n those important documents, v place our freinds in places to keep em safe while we get too busy racin against tht eternal to-do list, very sure tht we'll definetly find em where v left em... but just like the keys, ppl 2 are ever illusive...

m nt sayin 2 stop... just take a breathe... n try 2 link all those threads f ur relationshp 2gether...remember all those things u shared..wht u used 2 du.. whn last u had met o evn comprehended.. what all had ur relationshp travelled thru...

m sure u'll find out where exactly had u left that person behind n moved on, very sure that he'll b right there whn u'll luk, n probably u never lukd again

frnshp, is not fr one to lead and another to follow.. it is nt about dragging along or dumpin behind either... Freindship, afterall, is all about walkin 2gether.. frever n more.

m sorry i frgot u dear..

but m sure i'll track u down again...soon

n i'll never leave u behind again.

......Oouucch!!!what did i sit on?

oh! there they are! My runaway Keys!

Tears..

who ever said life is a tragic comedy.. was probebly the only owl up all day.

when u trust sum1 the most.. n du all in ur strength to take care f that 1 soul to keep the closest to urs... it bcums inevitable that he shall b the 1 who'd hurt u the most.

Had i known this frever?

i dunno... cuz whn life throws the dice, its never hw much u know bout the 6 six sides... but hw much u believe that the 1 side u want shall fall fr u

just hw many tears did i shed? no idea.

just hw much du i care... nothn at all...

1 thing i learn frm it was tht its nt hw much u cry o fr whum u cry... its just why u cry that holds all the answers.

i might b all teary 2day.. but 2morrow, i know i shall have my smile back.

i forgive u...cuz i love u more than i can ever cry.

Laughin it off...

I remember sum1 called it the worst day of my life...
well, to be honest, it started with a road block on my way to school... so i had to travel an extra 5 kms n reached late only to b reprimended by my class teacher...
had chem practical 2day... well nthin less than 4 diff solutions f concentrated HCl, sodium iodide, sulphuric acid n sum strange ammonia solution was religiously poured onto me, one by one, by my lab partner... lucky m still alive :)
as if that wasn't all, my classmate actually banged the desk corner in my arm thats all black n blue now
n to top it all i have a 102 fever n i have a project thts to b compiled n submitted by 2mrrw or i gt an F...

cum 2 think f it actually... i feel like laughin nw...
wht a day God!
... wonderin who lablled it the worst day...
oh yes, i remember, it was me!