Angel of Love

God sent an angel from the heavens above,
To end all the hating there was in this world.
She was to them the meaning of timeless beauty;
She was to teach them how forgiving it was to love.

So astounded by her beauty all of this hell was,
That one and all was overcome by love.
All by the same consuming love for this angel,
That each fought to death to win her heart.

Shattered and helpless this eternal beauty was;
She wept and wept till God wrapped her into his arms.
But overcome by a sudden wrath and fury God was,
That he cursed each in this world for once and for all

"Thou shalt always be loved by one ye leave behind,
And falleth for one who leaves thy love behind"

So cold, but true these two lines are;
They mean much more than they just tell

To relate to these few words yours needs to be a broken heart.
But you will, for an act of true love is now but a dying art.


P.S: Yes, it's the same old wine in a new, stupid bottle.
I just love the maxim* so much that I had to come up with a story for it :D

Do tell me if any corrections ought to be made in that 'curse of a paragraph'- I really am not a user of classical English! :P

*" You always leave the one who loves you behind;
Just like the one you love leaves you behind"

True Friends

Friends- you don't know what they're worth.

Not until they're beyond your reach.
Not until you realize you're alone even in a sea of faces whom you smile at.
Not until you realize that no one wants to go with you, no matter how badly
you want to go.
Not until you come to that lonely weekend, and you don't have anyone to be with.
Not until you wish you could just spend your time being with ones you miss.
Not until it's the end of the day and you slowly realize you're just alone- again.
Not until you feel lost in a place where just about anyone else would die to be.
Not until you can't do something you like, just because there's no one else who
wants to.
Not until that thing gets to you- that damned quarter-life crisis of yours.
Not until the people you'd love to be with are anywhere but here, near.
Not until you want to break free of everything, but inside you desperately know
you just can't.
Not until you wish you were a few years back in time, the only way to be back in
those golden years.
Sadly, not until it's just too late.

A true friendship is among the biggest of things that matter;
for it's just knowing the smallest of things that matter.

Friendships are the maps that take you to your destiny.
With it, you'll always be guided the right way;
Without it, you'll probably take every which way.

Friendship is like your cell phone.
It's what keeps you stay connected,
You mostly take it for granted,
You don't miss it till you don't have it.

( Just couldn't resist the last one :D)

Cal family

When the skies above,
Open up onto the grounds below..
When the tears from heaven wash you down,
You know you'd give anything to feel this way again..
For by that one moment of your life,
You know how how much freedom means to you in this life.

(The mark that the night of the 20th of June, left in the hearts of all the PGP-1s will last forever. It was one night which gave me back some hope in life, which taught me to smile again, and most importantly- never to lose faith again..)

Changu.

I love Changu. She's perfect as a sister, perfect as a friend, and most importantly she's perfect as herself. She's one person who made life in Bangalore fun, one person you could always talk to, and what made her top on my priority list was that she was one person whom I could bitch to about ANYone. And she'd just smile. :)
You could call her up at midnight, and she'd talk to you. If you didn't have anyone to go with to the movies, all you needed to do was call up Changu. Tired as she might be, you could convince her to come. Need company for dinner? Need a break from the drab hotel food? Well, there's Changu if all you need is some good-intent, but badly cooked home-made food(Kiddin- she cooks well too). :D
She was the perfect boy's sort of girl. Had you been restraining yourself from commenting at that good-looking girl, well Changu would take herself to the task. And you'd find that she's pretty good at it too, trust me! :)
Then of course, there's her sense of humour. She has a poor one. But she appreciates humour- even the slightest tinge of it, even if you hadn't meant anything! ;) She'll laugh at even the slightest hint of a joke, however dumb it be. Even the WORST of our sleaziest jokes have fetched at least a rolling-eyed full-strech grin. And she can embarrass you laughing SO HARD at a PJ, that you'll have to tell it to others and suffer the consequences. Hence, more often than not, you find her to be the only person laughing at her own jokes. :D
Her 'strong-point' is her maths. When a person has difficulty dividing 100 by 10, you know she's gifted. Well, put in her words, things like those belong to her long list of 'the small things in life which don't matter'. A really long list.
She's smart(arguable), she's really cute and very understanding too. I've whined to her about people I hate, and talked very fondly of the same people the very next day to her. She'll listen to everything you have to say- eyes twinkling, and with a gentle smile. She'll smile as if she's panscient. Ah, that 'I know you, my boy' smile. How I miss that. How we all miss that, Changu. Well, that's another one down from among us. I wonder who's next. I wonder when. Never mind- we'll see.
Have fun Changu, and live happily forever. We all love you.

Smile

Hey, these are things that really make ME smile. And I hope, they do the same to you too. But if you want this to work, make sure you think, and spend some time over each one of the crappy things mentioned below. PLEASE do. You could just read through it and move on to the next one, but that's not the point. Make sure you spend a minute pondering over EACH of these. Cos if it applies to you, you'll smile(I guess).

You'll smile if:

01) You think of all the fun you had bunking classes.
Think about it.

02) You think of your sibling's baby.
Think about it.

03) You think of hot, steaming chocolate/coffee on a freezing day.
Think about it.

04) You're in love.
Need to think about it?

05) You think of Changu and Gachu
Think of those two.

06) You try to REMEMBER ALL the crushes you had
Think about it.

07) You think of all the 'COOL' things you had thought of doing to impress each of those crushes.
Try to remember those small stupid things.

08) It's 5:00 p.m. on Friday, and you can smell the weekend coming.
Hope you notice it.

09) You have a friend whom you can call up and talk to after months, like you'd called yesterday.
Think about it.

10) You have a friend who earns the highest, but still adds 160 and 110 as 170.
I'm sorry, but you might not have a dumb friend like this.

11) You call up your Mom and Dad when you're alone and feeling really lonely.
Try doing it.

12) You can remember the times when you were dead worried you'd flunk an exam, but thankfully passed it.
Think about those nightmarish exams.

13) You notice a fleeting glance towards you from the cute girl you've been constantly glancing at too.
Think about it- that girl at the other table, in the restaurant, eat-out, somewhere.

14) You think what you've actually done to try to impress a crush you had in your class at school.
Think about it.

15) You think of those lazy afternoons when you were walking down the Rajpath, headed to class, cursing an attendance shortage(Rajpath: provided you've studied at NITC)
Think about those post-lunch classes.

16) You think about how the old flame who's already married.
Just make sure it doesn't still hurt.

17) A beautiful girl smiles only at you, when you're with a gang of howling friends.
Think about it- or imagine it!

18) You think of those scenes in the movies where you've imagined yourself as the star.
Maybe it was a romance movie, or an action movie.

19) You think of all those wasted Valentine's Day Roses and cards.
Think about it.

20) You have the kind of friends I do.
Don't even think about them.

Love

What love is, we all know. But is it something we all express? If not, I think it's probably because you don't know what it is. Befuddled, or just think I'm crazy? Then open up a dictionary and look up love. You'll find a bunch of definitions like:
Main Entry: ¹love
Pronunciation: 'l&v
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lufu; akin to Old High German luba love, Old English lEof dear, Latin lubEre, libEre to please
1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
2 : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion <love of the sea>
3 a : the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration
4 : a score of zero
and lots of similar ones. But do any of these 'definitions' (esp the 4th one!:D) do justice to that wonderful feeling? Obviously, NO! For it is the one feeling which keeps you up all night smiling, which makes you spend the whole day dreaming, and it's THE ONLY feeling which makes you feel you've finally got what you've wanted all your life.

Just think- why do we talk about love so much? Simple. Because it's undoubtedly ubiquitous. Look around you, look inside you- you'll find love- for there's someone or at least something that everyone loves. There's love in mom's food, there's love in a friend's teasing, there's love in Dad's phone call, there's love in a lover's gift, there's love in a sibling's hug, you see love when you see the couple who're holding hands, etc (and of course there's love in ALL Bollywood movies!:D). All said and done, love is still a word which's usage is severely restricted. Don't agree? Read on and maybe you'll get my point.

It's very disheartening to see the usage of this wondeful word, used in a very narrow sense nowadays. SO narrow, that you'll probably have to think a hundred times before saying "I love spending time with you" even to a close friend. Hmmm, Imagine this. Your friend right from your childhood days is leaving abroad(And just to make you ppl imagine properly, he/she is of the opposite sex, u lucky @$$- thanks to Me and my BROAD-mind!:D). You don't know if you're going to meet him/her again in the near future. You're seeing him/her off at the airport. Would you be comfortable saying "I Love you a lot, take care", or would you rather say "Take care, I'll miss you a lot"? At least 90% of the people I know would use the latter, rather than the former. And why is that- is this just another friend you like? No, this is a friend who's been with you a long time, and hence, you more than 'JUST LIKE' her (I've had enough of using 'him/her'). But would you say you love him or love her? I guess that again about 90% of you would say NO.

Well, that's how restricted the usage of the word's become. Don't you realise that it's the 'love-for-you' that makes your Mom ever-concerned? It's also what makes your Dad ever-demanding and expecting. It's this same love that you give your Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother, Brother-In-Law, Niece, Nephew, cousin, uncle, aunty, spouse, etc(:D), and it's what you get in return too. Love always follows give and take- "you get what you give". So why is it any different when it comes to your friends? Couldn't it be that you love them too like your brothers and sisters? Or couldn't it be that you just love them, but not in the way a narrow-minded society sees love? I believe that the answer is yes. You could love anyone like your family, though they may not one of your them(YET!;)). If you agree with me on this, I'd say that you love your friend who flew abroad- a paragragraph back! :)

So what is it that makes things so restricted? Its simply the society we're in- the chain we're all links of. A link can't move the way it wants. It's movement is restricted by the links next to it, which in turn has it's movements restricted by the ones next to it and so on. But that doesn't mean that if most of the links twist one way, the rest of them don't. Twist it properly and the whole chain twists. Hope you get the allegory. (I'm sure most of you know this, but I still want to mention that the reason why Philadelphia is named so is because it literally means 'City of Brotherly Love'. At least they're concerned about brotherly/sisterly love, though we don't seem to be!).

So what am I getting at? Well, do you remember the times when your Dad used to hold your hand when crossing the road? Do you remember the times when the first thing you did after coming from school was give your Mom a big hug and a kiss? Now THAT is pure, unadulterated love. Do you still do that now? Do you hold your Dad's hand when you're crossing the road now? Do you remember your Mom when you notice her favourite show on T.V and call her up and talk? NO?! So where IS all that love now? You can never kill love- which means it's just inside you, all bound up and gagged. You don't let it out, you just keep it inside. And why would that be? Is it the discomfiture it causes? That people would think you're some sort of geek who doesn't know how to cross the road, or that some babe would notice you helping your Dad cross the road and would think it's not macho on your part?! If yes, screw the 'babe'.

Express your love, in words or by actions. The more you don't, the harder it gets. Appreciate someone's love if you're lucky enough to bask in it. For not everyone is lucky to be loved, or realise that they're loved. If someone lets you know that you make him/her feel special, it makes YOU feel special. If you tell someone that you really care, that person will give you all the care in the world too. If you tell someone that you love him/her right from inside, then that someone will definitely love you too. Said it before, saying it again- Show your love if you love someone, it really doesn't make sense otherwise.

Life is really short. Not just for me and you, but for everyone. A person whom you may want to hug today might be gone tomorrow. A person whom you may want to call now, might be gone in an hour. Never to be back again. And it might only be then that you realize that you'd give anything in this world to get that one chance back again. Sorry, but you can't. Cos that's how it is- 'Time, tide and wait for none'. Neither do the damn Mumbai local trains.


P.S: I've edited the blog to remove some glaring errors. It should've been error free in the first place, but was a hasty post, sorry!

Over K-I-L-L

Guess everyone out there already knows what KISS is. NO, it's not the androgynous band with the really talented clowns I'm talking about here(Sorry to all the hardcore KISS fans there, but I just couldn't resist that!). K-I-S-S is Keep It Short & Simple. This is not just a way in which things should to be convyed, but it should be the ONLY way things are conveyed.
So, this post is just to show you people why ideas should be expressed in a concise manner. And before I get into the whole thing, I bet u guys must be wondering what the hell(Yes, even I'd prefer to use WTF, but my family reads this- Sheesh!) K-I-L-L is, right? Here it comes.

K-I-L-L stands for: Keep It Loooong & Loquacious. But why in this world would a person do that? Well, if one follows the K-I-L-L style, there could be a lot of reasons, but here are the major ones:

Reason #1) You're so drunk that you really can't make out which the ceiling is and which the floor is, but you still want to communicate(Don't ask WHY!) .

Ever been with a drunk person(other than yourself, of course!)?! U start hearing a lot of things that gets you thinking as to what alcohol actually does. For example, I have a friend named Shyam(:-S). He's a cheerful 'happy and gay' guy, who even usually only follows the principle of K-I-L-L(Reason is Reason#3. Be patient and read on- it's coming). But it's in an altogether different league when he's intoxicated. *True life incident* A casual "You're a nice guy" became "There's something I have to tell you. I speak only the truth, man. Truth is all I speak. Truth is the only language I know. And you know what? You're SO nice you make The Pope look like Darth Vader"! I did accept and appreciate the compliment because it IS true. But then- seriously, of ALL people- Darth Vader?! I know it's a little of Reason#3 too acting up here, but this is not an isolated case. This is the case wherever there's alcohol doing it's work.

Reason #2) You're really jobless AND confused- but you feel you have something to convey. ONLY problem is, you don't know what it is.
People who have Reason #2 as their excuse really can't be blamed. I mean, just give these people their space. Let them do what they want. For what better way to find out WHY they're jobless?!

Reason #3) You're a sick psycho who likes being that way.
I'm sure this doesn't need any explanation.

Reason #4) You're in love.
Ah- Love! That feeling you get as you watch hot chocolate sauce being poured onto your favourite scoop of ice-cream already topped with fresh cream, nuts, and fruits(WOW- BRB!). Anyway, love is one thing that can ascend upon you in the blink of an eye, irrespective of whether you're 15, or 50. It's the one feeling that makes your tongue feel like it's made of rubber. And it's the one feeling that leaves you dumbstruck. But now, is that totally true? Guess all of you've been in love by now! And that you've written, or at least tried to write, a love letter(unless you're in 5th grade still). And I'm sure it was a 'beautiful' letter expressing your love for him/her, or something which describes the other person, in your "love is blind" proving eyes. And it inevitably reads something like:
"Your eyes twinkle like stars,
Your voice is plain music,
You are THE example of a callipygian,
You're more beautiful than the most beautful sunset,
And to love you I am chosen."
I mean, the poet in you is suddenly all blown and high. You articulate so well you could give a JAM champion a B.I.G complex. And who's responsible for this? No one other than the cupid- that sweet lil devil(?!)! And the only solution to these people's K-I-L-L problems is 'Get married and wake up to reality'!

There could be other reasons too. Reasons like you're working for some sick MNC, where u have to write a letter seeking permission EVEN when you want to empty your bowels. There you get used to the habit of writing long letters full of cr@p, and soon everything you write becomes really long- nothing is ever concise. Or another reason(more of an excuse) is that you're preparing/have prepared for CAT/GRE, and you're desperate to use those words you've mugged up somewhere. Where else would you get more unassuming victims, than on the net?!
There is no solution for people who have been affected this way, but then the K-I-L-L style dies off easily only among these categories.

So, what's been the whole point of this blog? All that I want to say is that I really don't get the whole point of beating around the bush and letting thoughts flow, when there really isn't so much to say. And things get even better when sentences are streched to the maximum leaving either the reader or the writer(or maybe even both of them) perplexed even though he's only mid-way through the sentence! On top of all this, the sentences get more interesting when abtruse words are used to express recondite ideas. So all in all, I believe people should use fewer words, and avoid redundant statements. Convey only the gist-brevity is the call of the day, pleonasm and verbage lead only to tumult and befuddlement. So, keep it short and simple. Don't blog for the sake of blogging like I am right now. People start cursing you!

Moral of the story:
"A small idea written over a thousand words leads to wastage of lots of time. Not just the writer's, but also the reader's. So don't waste your time writing/reading crap like you did just now. Get back to work AGAIN, you sick idiots!"

P.S: Remember the feeling that I had promised in my first blog? I hope I was able to live up to that promise. Happy blogging!