Tale of tiny leaf

Image credit: Google

Tiny leaf,

fragrance of life in all its forms and expressions.

It stood alone in a thatch of mud.

Spotless.

Fearless.

Braving storms.

Unblemished like a Queen.

A whole journey can be traced,

through the lines.

A force that draws us,

to its sheer beauty.

A friend to lonely hearts,

the leaf adds color to existence.

Caressing it,

it strikes the heart and soul.

Sensual.

Layer of dreams.

Comfort.

Harbinger to wind of change,

it's nestled on branches,

falls off its perch.

Mighty.

Scars cannot overpower it.

Divine force.

Magic.

Healing touch.

It brings hearts together,

singing tale of love.

Simple

yet mesmerizing leaf.

Glory, gloom and doom

How I wish!

Crystal ball rolling and tilting to one's deep wishes. 

To struck gold.

Life sway to my tune.
How I wish!
Holding the magic wand,
transported to the gud ole' days.

Madness, like fury,
holding us back.
Petrichor of cloud, often makes us become all gloom and doom.
Our extraordinary loses its shine.
We shall shed bucket of tears,
ravaged by regret and curse.
A life worn and shorn by past glory.
It hurts the senses.
Bruises the ego.
The mind goes mad, nursing the wounds.
How I wish!
To conquer old victories.
It was not meant to stay forever.
Nothing is permanent.
Success is an illusion.
Failure is just another name for greatness.
Past laurel is like mud.
Getting dragged and sucked into.
Be a torch bearer.
Stride ahead with elan.
Start again.
Carve new ground.
Conquer failures,
for nothing taste like sweet victory.

Love
Vishal

National Train Day: Railway memories

The National Train Day is celebrated on May 14. I haven't been a frequent traveller on Indian railway except during my Mumbai-Pune days and of course, was a daily traveller in our life line in Maximum City, Local. Let me try to go back to those days in Mumbai and Pune where I was a regular train traveler.

It was in 2005 when I booked a second class ticket (unreserved) in my favorite Deccan Queen. It was early 8 a.m when I had to meet someone in Mumbai. The family visited for few days and it was a do or die situation. I scampered inside the train when few guys were cleaning the berths. They asked me to give them a handful of notes to sit on the berth. I played along. It was much later I realized that the train was half empty and would have got the seat anyway. It was window seat and it mattered.

The train rattled and loved the sight as it whooshed away from Pune station. Chai was ordered and samosas to fill the empty stomach.On the menu, reading the Times of India and peeping through the window, admiring the picturesque view at Lonavla, Mahabaleshwar and of course, the tunnel ride at Khandala. I would get off my seat to stand near the door, watching the train speeding its way inside the tunnel. It suddenly became dark but a ride totally worth it. 

Image source:https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ISMEQWp0Zac/maxresdefault.jpg

It was a three-hour journey spent in peace and admiring the scenery. There was an envy to smoke and looked furtively around, where I wondered whether I can take a risk? Of course, I did hanging near to the door and curled smoke to be lost in the valley at Lonavla. Travelling by the Indian railway has such a romantic feeling where you could weave stories at the back of your imagination.

The train slowed its way on the track. It made me smile. I can see the yellow-and-black cabbies. It's Mumbai. We are in the outskirt. My heart started to dance. The feeling of stomping on the feet in Maximum City. Soon, our Deccan Queen suddenly sprang to life and zoomed with speed on the railway track. I felt like a King getting down at the iconic Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). Whatta feeling.

I was supposed to get back to Pune on the same day. No booking was made and pining to get a free berth on the way back to Pune. I got the shock of the life when I boarded the train coming from Hyderabad and halted at CST on its way to Pune. It was jam packed and hardly any space to breathe. My legs pained. I was like, how on earth gonna bear the voyage for three hours. I moved to stand inside the toilet. Trust me, it was quite a breather to get some space to stand and breath free. Finally, the journey was done and the moment I got down at the Pune junction past midnight, it felt like the skies and clouds conspired to make me walk freely. I felt like a free bird, evading from the cage where human masses and thick breath covering the cloud. I became the cloud. 

A train journey full of tribulations but totally worth it.

Postscript: This post was inspired by Sharukh Bamboat who blogs on IndiaDestinationsBlog. Check his incredible post on luxury trains on National Train Day. It brought back my days being a traveller.

Mom's World

Wake up on time. Avoid oily food. Take medicines for upset stomach. Always reach exam hall in time and keep a couple of pens in case one goes Kaput. That was Mom to me during college days in Mumbai and Pune during our phone conversation. I just wanna yell, Mom!! I am a grown up now. Something that been oft-repeated to the 10 and 16-year old self.

Revisit Mom in 2012 where I reached 30 plus. I could have been married with kids but I am not. Wake up early to catch the bus to work/interview. You cannot trust those buses, they are never on time. Have your tiffin on time. How many times should I told you to switch off the lights?! You are not serious at all and you will never be. Mom's oft-repeated phrases ring a bell in my ear. I so wanna yell, Mom! I ain't a toddler and a grown up adult now. Or, she slowly walks to check if I am sleeping past 2 a.m, her dozing off interrupted by Baba dearest. Guess, some things never change with Indian Moms, scattered all over the planet.

I still hide and smoke, be it on the balcony or inside my room pulling the window wide open while she is watching TV. Still getting caught to an earful of the harmful effect of nicotine inside the body, not without being chided like a teeny weeny teen.

You must be wondering 90s same story, 2000s a repeat and 2016 a revisiting same dialogues. Guess!! The perks of staying with your Mom and trust me when you get married, it won't stop. The heart of a mother is still like the Nirupa Roys of Deewar or Subhash Ghai's Khal Nayak, Oh! Ma Tujhe Salam'. In outlook, they may have donned the mantle of a Lilette Dubey, sweet Reema Lagoo, Ratna Pathak, Dimple Kapadia or Jaya Bachchan but their heart remains in the right place laden with ladoo and gulab jamun the emotional way.

That's Mom on Mother's Day when I yell, Happy Mother's Day. She turns with 'Oh! Really!!' before mopping and making the Ghar ka Khana. That's my Mom. Teary, emotional, strict and lovable that what Moms do for we never grow up in front of their eyes.

Come fast and the food is getting cold. I think I better go before I hear the refrain. What your Maa moment this Mata Diwas? No!! I didn't post selfie on FB how much I love my Mom.

Love

V