I used to feel bad all those years back when my cousins spent their hard earned money on fairness cream. They wanted to get rid of their tanned skin, who am I to opine otherwise, though I always believe tanned skin is healthier than the fair ones? They believed in the myth that fair skin is the most sought after. So, they lavished on fairness cream and using them made them happy and turned them confident women. That’s what eventually matters isn’t it?
A decade or two back, women were obssessed with beauty parlours, every street had a small parlour, untidy, unhygienic, but served the purpose. Beauty care got cheaper then and almost anyone, rich or poor can indulge. The affordability, made women more confident. Trimmed eyebrows, waxed arms and "U" type haircuts, bleached faces became common. This was during late 1980s.
Later during initial orkut days, when online romance started to brew up, women who were ready for long distance relationship, started to use Photoshop designing tools to add some whiteness to their skin, some redness to their lips, some blush to their cheeks, few pounds off their body, lushier lips and posted photos in networking sites.
These days photo shopping editor is just an app away and can do everything and anything for us. Easy to operate.
I tried to edit a photo of mine to check how it works and here you go! After everystage, I have captured the image and from being erm plump, I can make my face look slightly thin? Whether it looks good or bad is something else altogether.
Every new innovations has their challenges and advantages, you win some and you lose some. I seem to have won a fairer skin and thinner face but lost being natural and slowly starts to believe in this make believe world and believe the mirage.
Beauty is only skin deep they say… It has now turned into a only a Photoshop tool away…
My facebook wall today is filled with 90s kids and the 100 memorable things they did and the post made me think, what did I do as a kid during 80s?
I am not having any particular number or order. Listing whatever comes to my mind.
1. Doordarshan, the strange vibgyor streaked screen saver that appears most of the times and the doordarshan logo spiraling with the background music, thu dum... tu tu tu tu. The eager faces ready to watch the Malgudi days, Buniyad's Batki, Chitrahars, Nukkad, Rajini, Oliyum oliyum, Malarum ninaivugal, Tuesday dramas, Rangoli, Hum log, surabhi, S. Ve. Shekhar Vanna kolangal, Crazy Mohan's Maadhu, Cheenu, Janaki and towards the late 80s Ramayan and Mahabarath epic serials but frequently interrupted with, "rukkavadh key liye kedh hai" / "sorry for the break" / "thadangalukku varundhugirom" and the absence of remote, for that matter absence of channel themselves, left us quite frustrated and waiting for the familiar flicker of images again.
2. News in DD was a fixture in everyone's life young or old, especially when there are no choices, you are forced to see everything including vayalum vazhuvum, kanbom karpom and vaazhkai kalvi definitely News is better than other programs and was hosted by famous faces like Shobana Ravi, Sandhya Rajagopal, Varadharajan in regional news and Chandrasekhar, Komal G.B. Singh (personally great fan of her looks and jet straight hair), Minu, Neethi Ravindran (who used to look like female version of our news reader Varadharajan). Usha Albuquerque whose eyebrows drawn with pencil, thin and quite stylish and Sunit Tandon his eyes smiling and his beard trying to hide that smile.
3. Sunday national film at 1 PM, mostly those slow regional art films, where an old grandma would walk slow from the well at backyard to the front corridor and stand outside the house, holding her hand to shade her eyes and the postman cycles by and she asks "chitti?" And the post man answers "nahin daadi ma" and the woman turns back and start walking back tracing her steps... a break... time for the news for hearing impaired. Do we move away? No! we watch the middle aged woman gesturing by hands and exaggerated lipsync on the top right corner of the screen. We wait continue wait to watch the rest of the film. Patience was their in abundance in all the 80s kids.
4. A special mention for Commercials, Lalithaji and surf, Onida - neighbour's envy, owner's pride, Nutramul dada, Lifebuoy evidamo arogiyam avidamae, la lari la la Lyril bikini model, Kusbhudham antiseptic cream Boraline, Nycil prickly heat, Goldspot the zing thing, Chyavanaprash, Hamara bajaj the pride of dads and few Rajdoots and Enfield Bullets pride of young men. Dabur lal dant manjan, Washing powder Nirma, Paan paraag, Hajmola sir, Roohafza, Vicks ke goli and the list goes on...I dont remember seeing jewelery advertisements then.
5. Star trek, Giant Robot, UFO, He man and the masters of the universe, Mandrake the magician, Phantom comics, Amarchitra kadha, Ambulimama, Gokulam used to be Kid's lean time activity, while prime time were atleast 3 to 4 cricket matches in a narrow small lanes and renting hour cycle (also fondly called our cycle) 50 paise for one hour and roaming around doubles, triples whatever. Girls meet up with friends playing indoor games, a few seen playing Badminton, throw ball, cocoa. Content and giggling always. Yeah and those sly glances at boys playing cricket and your friend's whisper "udanae paakadha, but avan unnai paathaan" and you can't help but to look at him udanae and find him immersed picking visible threads from his bat handle and look at your friend who adds hurriedly "God promise di".
6. Carefree sanitary napkin ads, girls knowing smiles and boy's curious glances. When I was 10, I thought the packet contained the polka dotted salwar the model wears. Nirodh ad, several years, I thought it was the stainless steel blade men uses to shave, but why the man and woman taking a stroll on a rainy day under a pink umbrella (now please dont ask me why pink?), holding hands and looking at each other with so much love? Questions were asked by my elder cousins, but they were either shouted up on or shooed away adding mystery to this small square pack . And, there is this ad almost during the end of 80s, a man at a chemist keeps fumbling and trying to ask something, gesturing wildly and this handsome guy walks in with a sexy smile and even sexier voice asks for "moods please" and his smug smile towards the other poor creature.
7. The Digjam guy with his beard and proud smile marching forward and a bunch of people following him behind.
8. Asian games an important event during 80s, the appu mascot and the VIPs running carrying torch for a freedom march. The BGM still fresh in my mind and P.T. Usha all the time sprinting somewhere, either on the track or commercials. Kapil Dev, Gavaskar, Srikanth, Lendl, Boris Becker, Martina and Steffi playing with so much vigour and style. Bupka pole vaulting. The list goes on.
9. The eternal "milae sur mera, tumara... tu sur banae hamara".
10. The TV antenna that we keep adjusting, mom watching drama driving us to the terrace to check is a Crow is sitting and turned the antenna.
11. Election times used to be blessing in disguise for all movie lovers. On the day of counting votes, a movie marathon constantly interrupted by election status happens.
12. Some super hit songs from music albums of the time, Hawa Hawa, Made in India and ofcourse Boney M heard everywhere. Casettes recorded, re recorded several times, sometimes stuck with then famous new fevicol and till today stacked away somewhere inside a card board box residing on a dark corner of our lofts.
14. VCPs or VCRs hired on a rainy day, for a movie marathon, cousins or friends always included, hot bajjis and coffees circulated liberally. I don't remember eating popcorns while watching movies. Taking turns in playing hosts, it was much more fun. I remember watching James Bond movies and blushing and looking at the kissing scenes through half closed eyes. Rajini crooning "kadhalin deepam ondrai", Sathiyaraj's sarcasm "thagadu enganae thagadu thagadu", Kamal's sci-fi Agniputran and the strange achappadi ichapadia dance, the sexy dimple kapadia, the nerdy Prithi, the martyr ambika. Not to forget the tall arrogant rich girl Radha, Rekha and punagai mannan's kiss, Revathy, prabhu, nambi annae, Mr. Chandramouli fame Karthik, the man with a microphone, Mohan. Ever College going Charlie, chini jayanth, Murali. Whoa! it's really to tough to stop.
So much to tell and I know it rushed out in a hurry, the excitement reliving those times and typed out hurriedly through an app that has limited options and my laptop screen broken, I don't want to wait and this post will go live in few minutes with typos, lack of proper punctuations, may not be coherent for readers who are not familiar with this period but am sure 80s kids will definitely relate to.
When the moonlight shone on the trees tonight,
The wind whispered a song so wild...
The breath caught and moaned in pain,
The love forbidden rested deep in my mind..
The song I sung inside my mind,
Slow, taunting echoed through miles...
The passion dance in my song,
Moved my soul into a trance...
Gently I drifted, through those miles,
Sliding through valleys, plains and wild trails...
My thirst for you not quenched,
The hunger remained unspent...
The darkness didn't scare me,
From within, you guided me...
The torch so bright not wavering,
Led the way amidst dark and grey..
There were times, when the mist fell...
The dew hid the view of you,
It made me crave for you more,
And, I held you even closer than before...
This night my eyes refuses to close,
The song inside me is out with force,
Holding out my arms, for you to come closer...
Held together, we walked those spaces.
Will you sing again for me?
For just my ears to hear your feel...
Will you dance a step with me?
Our souls closer than our midnight spree..
You left, taking the colours with you... What remains is shadowed hue. No one want to test the depths. The remains,hard, crisscrossed and shred, Feelings avoided and afraid to claim. Stood at a corner shunned and faint... Every twist you left inside me... Bled, dried, carved chisel free!..
I wish you stayed tonight,
The music felt so right,
I hummed and started to sing this song,
The forgotten emotions loud and calm.
Slightly swayed, hugging myself
I heard you singing my thoughts as well.
Your voice touched like breeze on autumn leaves,
Your rasp, turned the pages inside me.
Your name not far away from my heart,
Upturned and tossed around but intact,
I see you slowly dissolve in wind,
Tears unnoticed, forgotten and spent.
I wish you stayed tonight,
The music felt so right,
We could have danced all night,
Smiling, swaying, holding tight.
Having waited for a week to watch Vishwaroopam made me restless, curious and eager and I was at Sathyam Escape Cinemas one hour before the show time on 14th february. Though a weekday, the mall was crowded being St. Valentine's day. All the men walking behind, beside their women, with foolish smiles, scary smiles (especially when they stretched their arm and point out to a shop). Everywhere valentine day posters, special programs, hearts seen from toffees to stuffed toys to cakes. Shopkeepers busy uttering a silent thanks to our saint.
I grabbed my cold coffee, popcorn with extra butter, a piece of creamy cake and potato wedges. Mind it was for two people and not one. And this boy had a hearty appetite unlike me.
We entered the theatre 10 minutes before show time and settled in our seat to watch the film.
After all the hiatus and hiccups, finally I started to watch the Vishwaroopam.
It was a new experience. If not for the Tamil dialogues, it moved with the same pace, style like a nicely shot Hollywood action thriller. I might be naive, when I refer to English films as Hollywood films. From the land of Bollywood, Gollywood, Tollywood, I am quite religious about the woods.
I expected a strong storyline, but I got nicely made sequences of shots.
The kathak song and dance by now older Kamalhassan (tried to identify him with the elder kamal of salangai oli. Man! ageing is beyond our imagination) is good. But, somehow the expressions are lost behind those wrinkles on his face. I think the hardship of shooting such a spectacular film shows the strain.
The movie shifts between flashback and present just like Hey Ram and there are places if you are not attentive might miss the shift.
There are loads of action perfectly shot. At one place when the Jeep fall on a man, you can't help but gasp. There's this other place when the remains of a body land before Kamal Hassan after a bomb blast. For us, who never used to grumble but watch, when they show cardboard boxes for computers in Doordarshan Tuesday dramas, this is sheer luxury.
Humour laced through out the film, not jarring but makes us smile. Thank god! Err.. rather Kamal for not having seperate track for humour.
Andrea, shekar kapoor had very less role to perform, almost non existent. Hope to see their performance in the part 2. Pooja Kumar and Rahul Bose stood out and whoever lent the voice to Pooja is amazing, for once the Brahmin slang is perfect and not exaggerated.
I loved the scene when Pooja climbs the stair and lie down on her bed, Kamal snoring with his eyes open. The expression on his face is priceless. The expression on Pooja's face after she witnesses her husband's valor is priceless too.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy a joy through out. BGM definitely needs a special mention. Doesn't go overboard.
Lots of characters are shown, to imply the depth of other characters and for us to determine the nature of other character. The lady doctor, Rahul's wife, his son, even the Horse that's shot by Kamal Hassan. Not sure if this would reach all audiences.
The film shot in the US and Afganistan, the location and scenes are well framed and neatly arrayed.
I still am quizzing for the reason why the film was banned. Only bad was shown as bad makes me quiz even more.
But, why is that when the film ended, I sat for few more minutes... Did I expect more? Hoping the second part happens and even if it does, hope it doesn't get chopped off for reasons that cannot be explained.
One has to agree Kamal is an entertainer and near perfect in what he does. It was worth the wait. But, mera dil maangae more kamal sahab... :)
When I look at your eyes,
The wild depth calling out to take a dive...
If I can find a way to lose myself in you,
My heart may wanna a sing a song for you...
Many a miles I would strain,
To watch you gimme your lovely smile.
Oh! Baby when I see you smile,
Am breathless as if I ran a mile,
Let's live for tonight,
Let's live for this hour...
Let's live for all the nights to come,
Let's live forever...
See how beautiful it is,
Waking up and find the other asleep,
It's so easy to be together,
Why spend time away from each other?
Even before I begin this post, I had to confess that I am NOT a movie buff. If at all I watch films, it probably mean that, I want to spend some time with my companion and movie is just an excuse.
But, there is one man in Indian cinema, whom I would love to watch on the screen - Kamal. The aura of intelligence, that reflects in every frame of his films. Be it an innocent chappani or an ignorant Kalyana raman, womanizer in Manmadha leelai, rebellious youth falling in love with an older woman in Apporva raagangal, handsome and charismatic Kamal in Vikram, quite obsessive Guna, Velu nayakkar in Nayagan, blind young man in Rajaparvai, fun filled youth of Sagala kala vallavan, Ninaithalae innikum, the dancer in Sagara sangamam, love starved hero in Marocharitra, Punnagai mannan... Delightfully thought provoking movies like Anbae sivam, Hey ram, Indian, Kurudhi punal, Alavandhan. Humour comes to him easy as well, Savaal, Michael Madhana Kama Rajan, Panchathanthiram, Thenaali, Pammal samandham, Pesum padam, Avvai Shanmugi. Be it drama, be it romance, be it thriller, be it humour, he is ultimate.
Recently there was this private TV channel that celebrated 50 years of Kamal's filmdom. One of his co-stars, mentioned how she got goosebumps, when he looked at her softly during a romantic scene. She was sure that he had a soft spot for her. Only to realise later, that even if a buffalo stands in her place, he would look at it as if it is the only beautiful creature in this whole world.
I remember the first time I stepped into the theatre; I was in class 7. "Sattam" was the film's name. I watched Kamal in white blazers or was that a suit, I can't recall. My heart skipped a beat. Love at first sight?
Since then, I almost watched all the films acted by Kamal Hassan. Not great ones, awesomatic ones... If not in theatre those video tapes. I had a friend called Benita and she used to be the sponsor. They had a "deck" (the mount to play the video tapes) at home and there was a video library close by and we pool in our money and watched films. I sponsored only Kamal's film, the rest I'd ignore.
When we lived in Teynampet, close to his the then residence at Eldam's Road. Not sure if he is still residing there. I had occasional glimpses of him, but just like a dream. If I could recall, there was this sky blue Maruti 800 he used to drive. May be he did, maybe he didn't, maybe it's just my memory playing a trick on me. I was too young.. (now you gotta believe me, I was young once too).
Now, why did I all of a sudden writing this post about Kamal Hassan? I can't help but admire his decision to release Vishwaroopam in TV. I still wonder, how none of them thought of this before. If he can pull it off, then that's one another great achievement from a great actor, producer, director.
Wishing him luck and hoping to meet him once in person just to look at him and make sure he is indeed not a figment of imagination. If my tongue doesn't get tied, probably I might have a couple of questions to ask him. A friend of mine, told me that he will somehow arrange for this meeting. Time only can answer. But, all said and done, please don't come to a conclusion that I am half in love with Kamal. Coz, it is difficult to love him pieces :)
Waiting to watch Vishwaroopam in the giant screen.
I write this letter to you to share with you and to this whole world about ours "yours lovingly" moments, "not talking to you moments", "nee yaaro naan yaaro moments", "Pragati computers moments" ;) and "hey! avan enna paathaandi moments"..
I am starting this with a huge smile and am sure I am going to end it with lol moment.
So, where was I? The day my dad thought am too much trouble to my very pregnant mom and dropped me on your laps at Teynampet, Postal colony. You looked down at me, with hands on your hips as if saying, I am your big sis and you got to listen to me and me alone. It was then I started to blindly adore everything you adored and hated everything you hated. If you fight with opposite flat Kokila, then I didn't talk with her too and if you found Ayyar mama's son Sekar is a good boy, I prostrated on his feet and worshiped him.
If you had toothache, I took leave. We got our first bell bottom suits. My dad's gifts for us. Your's green striped and mine, Navy blue stripes...
Ah! how can I forget Ravi's wedding? Periamma got me both of us the same colour pattu paavadai. navy blue with orange border. My first pattu paavadai and the huge jimmiki (ear rings), which was perfect for you but oversized for me, yet I wanted to wear the same design, same size..
I remember us always clone twins, soaping our faces together, looking at the mirror, wondering who is fairer. As you stepped in to teens, you slightly got busy with your friends and found me little younger, while ruthlessly followed you, whether you wanted me or not. I know, I know am such a dumb ass with no tact.
Somehow, after I stepped in to my teens, you started to consider me as your equal and we discussed about everything. Boys.. that good looking lad in your computer centre. The handsome boy in my maths tuition Lovely ain't it? and how can I forget Dr. S's son? Who always followed me and made sure that I reached school and following me back home in the evening - my personal body guard.
Meenakshi College, your principal, her eccentricities and my brilliant sis, who believed that reading out the lessons loud will keep away the distractions and walking that huge hall at the backyard of our house in Vadapalani. The red oxide flooring, you walking too and fro and studying loud. While I didn't share your belief and read my lessons silent. The advantage being, I can day dream as much as I want, till you ask me questions and pinch me or twist my ears. After being punished, I was made to walk and read loud too and I kept looking at my feet and carefully measured every step and forgot to read at the same time and when I still was not able to answer the questions, you decided it is sheer waste of time to teach me and devoted your time on other cousins to my biggest relief.
All our cousins (too grown up for me), I remember Sesha, Madhu, Vasu and you murmuring about UFOs and murder mysteries(I remember Hitchcock name and H.G. Wells Invisible Man), Didi's comedy show, Giant Robot and till today, whenever I hear these words, I remember those days, when we sat together, you guys talking and I listened to it raptly. Couldn't understand much, as I was the youngest member. But, I should say that you were the guys, who invoked in me the interest in literature and books. A big thanks to you all!
Whenever Srikanth and I come home, periamma, put one extra glassful of rice to cook and we used to laugh about it (remember, I was barely 35 kgs and Srik was 20 odd kgs. We were very poor eaters. I request Srikanth a.k.a Srinivas Vijayaraghavan to revive his blog by writing a blogpost on these flashbacks and he might have lots to share about you, Vasu and Sita Periamma)..
Ah! all those group photo moments... You are a pathetic lier usha.. you always led me to believe that I looked gorgeous and when I look at the photos now, I find that it was a lie and I look like an ugly duckling next to you, the most beautiful woman in our family.
One of those group photos, you in brown sari, Sreeram athimber, and me in Saffron coloured standing next to you and Ravi and Manni, Sita periamma, sridevi manni, Vasu and lovely lovely neices and nephew (now all of them married and a couple of them made us grand aunts too, at such an young age like ours :P)
The day arrived, when Sreeram athimber came to see you, I was at office. When I heard that you spent your first conversation at Marina Beach talking about buffalos and cows, I couldn't help but laugh and laugh. What a weird conversation to have with a fiancee...
When Sure came to see me, I trusted you to take a peep at him and tell me if he is handsome or not. I missed to tell you that, I already took a look at him from the balcony, even before you saw him. The yellow and maroon sari (contrast to Sure's lavender and baby pink - OMG weird colour, yet looked good on him) you draped me in and you taking so much pain to cut the mangoes crisp, without making them pulpy and that fragrant coffee(till today Sure is a big fan of the coffee you make), as Sure's family didn't believe in eating sojji and bajji.. Wow! only you can be so caring and little bossy too :)
Usha, when I think about those days, to me it is a huge smiley... beautiful memories. We lost our thatha, patti, athimber and periamma but I can never cry over their deaths. They gave us so much life, they are still part of us and I atleast dream about vichoor paati and seetha periamma once a month. Their life was the most colourful canvas, where we all kept adding colours and it became one huge myriad of sunny colours, too too happy and cheerful. Whether we will be able to provide our kids, such a joyous life is doubtful. When compared to ours, their lives are bleak like Scotland winter.
Have I ever told you that you had been a wonderful Sis? I refuse to call you my cousin. You are always my sis and however the world terms our relationship, till the day we leave this world, I will call you my sister and the only person whom I can pick the phone and talk to 24*7..
Love you loads di...
Yours loving 'younger' sister,
Srimathi
PS: There was one jealous moment in our life, when we went to Radha's wedding and you had lunch with out calling me with Viji (?our second cousin), she was your age and I was not aware of that and waited for you and when I called you, you told me that you had already with Viji. I cried a little and didn't have my lunch at all :( Now it sounds so silly, yet another beautiful memory got added.
Piano looked grand and the black and white keys looked so inviting and whenever I got a chance, I never hesitated to run my fingers and press keys in random and those blaring notes were music to my ears and with a flourish like Tom and Jerry, I end my show.
But, that was before I started to take lessons for playing Piano. As a beginner, I am writing this post. This journey made me ecstatic at times, frustrating many a times and there were times when I sat before my Piano and wondering exactly like the man in the picture with a stupefied expression not knowing which key to touch. I used to stare at the sheet before me and I was told that all those musical symbols, we've seen on CD racks has meanings and that too complicated one at that. After 21 years, I started doing my homework, classwork and practicals and tests too.
There are loads of notations for almost everything. Whenever I raise my right hand to eat, I see it as "Treble clef", the lovely symbol that we see everywhere... the symbol that always attracted me towards music. Now left hand is altogether different, the symbol actually matches my doubts... 'a question mark followed by a 'colon'. I seriously contemplated of having two tattoos on both the wrists of my hands. Right is Treble clef and left is bass clef. But, it got trickier. Not just hands, every finger had a name/letter. Since, I started with my right hand, I am quite confident and comfortable playing with right. Left hand is little awkward for me. I kept addressing my left Index finger also as D instead of B and got confused if G comes before F? It does when I play those keys. If I am logically sound, I shouldn't have such doubts as there is another octave before and it starts with a C and G comes after F :O Now! now! don't leave yet... please... I didn't even start on semi breve, minim, crotchets, quaver, semiquaver, dotted minim, dotted crotchet, stave, time signatures and Rests... rest is taking pauses while playing and they have notes too... :O
Let's not get too technical, as it is tough on me as well :) In short instead of having two tatoos, I decided to tatoo every finger with the letter they denote. But, to my horror, I realised that there are 88 keys and seven octave plus. OMG! now should I ask someone to lend their hands? not practical. So, I decided to follow my teacher methodically and I was so attentive at times, the keys and the sheet which held musical notes zoomed in and the rest out of focus (including my teacher). Zooming in always have problems. The note becomes big and I end up pressing one and half a key instead of one. But, I really really admire her patience, there are times when I clearly read notes wrong or start with a wrong hand.
All said and done, I did finish my first book and now play around 20 nursery rhymes and vande mataram and learnt to play "thandavam" theme music. Am I happy? Yes, I am very much. But, is my teacher happy? She says she is happy and I trust her words. I end this post, in an optimistic note that I would laugh my heart out when I read this post after a year. If I don't then I will silently delete this post.
There are those who love Jobs and those who hates him. He brings about extremes of emotions in people, it is either love or hate and nothing in between.
Today, I remember him as the great man behind this product called Apple. Trying to imagine the world without those beautiful square icons adorning the phone screen. How good it is to touch the screen and to see them spring alive. Every time I play a game or use an app in my friend's iphone, it never cease to wonder on the simplicity and user friendly UI of Apple. Pioneer of smart phones...
Every product release were carried out with style and grandeur, yet not garish but quite simple. It piqued the interests of people all over the world and the mile long queues on the day of product launch can be called as "standing" ovations for his products. Should we call him branding guru?
To create a product or trash it to promote another product needs guts. Jobs had the guts to go to any extent to do anything to make his product success, including killing few of home product itself. Should we call him God?
I salute Jobs and remember him today. Apple had seen few new product launches and few law suits, yet it still tops the list of smart phones.
Kudos Jobs! Life is beautiful with your products.
I have one thing in common with you Jobs and that is my black turtle neck t-shirt.
My friend Namita Sreekumar, clicked this photo at England... beauty indeed the lights play on the plants... scribbled few words on this photograph...
Partly shadow; partly real,
The daring bird, braving the stormy clouds,
Flapping its wings, flying yonder...
Seeking a glimpse of those golden rays,
The sun playing hide and seek,
The old cottages witnessing the scene...
Day dawned beautiful and bright,
Nothing amiss, everything right...
Set to walk with my camera aloft,
Waited and the long wait added spark....
Sun running his hands through sea and sky,
His magical brush, swept across valleys and plains,
Dusted blue and oozing green,
Dramatic black and whites in between...
Wind playing through the leaves,
Thistles whining from the breeze,
Streams gurgled and flowed merry...
Birds chirped, enjoying their wild berry.
My mind cheery and running riot,
I packed and chided my mind to be quiet...
Alas! things didn't happen as I wanted,
Will wait for the day, when my wishes are granted.
At dusk, I kept telling myself,
Cheer up! Things would right itself...
Keep moving, putting things behind,
Life is too short to complain...
When you walked down that path,
Tra la la la la...
The music didn't stop,
Shakalakaaa...
With a swig I started to walk,
Ma legs begging not to stop...
Wanna a dance that lazy dance
Wanna a try that naughty step
Wanna hug those crazy hips,
Hang around like a naughty witch...
If you gotta temme something...
Temme before the sunset,
Temme before the sea turns yellow,
Temme before your face turns silhouette...
Wanna see your eyes dance,
Wanna see your lips draw,
Wanna memorize your every expression,
Wanna earn how to hide emotions...
When you walked down that path
Tra la la la la
The music didn't stop...
Shakalakaaa...
Begging you not to stop
Begging you not to halt
Begging you to stay tonite...
Begging you to be kind.
Gotta watch those ruthless hands,
Gotta hold it firm and strong,
Gotta keep a watch on the clock,
Gotta keep the doors locked...
What if I refuse to let you go?
What if I wanna follow you close?
What if I wanna try another step?
Would you teach me till the world rests?
Let's dance the night's dance,
Let's not halt our passion's trance...
Let's join the chorus of nite,
Let's turn wild and not so right...
When you walked down that path,
Tra la la la la...
The music didn't stop...
Shakalakaaa...
This photo shot by my nephew, Vijay Soundararajan @ Seattle, Washington... Beautiful ice clad hills and one green little sprig that escaped the snow, begged me to write a poetry...
Love emanating from two little hearts,
Desire emanating from two great bodies,
Hatred influenced by a broken heart,
Death influenced by a rebelling soul...
Be it! the little green sprig,
Be it! the massive mountain chest,
Be it! the you; who observes the truth,
Whoa! nature shows us no proof...
White fluffy snow, when influenced by mountains,
Turns as hard as flint, though an ephimeral stint...
Hard flinty snow, when influenced by the Sun,
Turns in to a glaciers and drum the rock and dent...
This little sprig, refuse to bend,
With undaunted, fiery rebellion,
Neither losing its colour,
nor the space it stands,
Those little roots minute,
Ready to fend itself in those gusts...
Every joy has its reasons,
Every sadness has its reasons,
Exaggerated when held close,
Dismissed when heart forces.
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