Father wants to be safe, Son wants to be helped.

4 yo Son: Police Jeep or Ambulance?
Me: Police Jeep. You?
4: Ambulance. 
M: Why Ambulance?
4: Because they help people going to Hospital. Why Police Jeep?
M: Because they make me feel safe.

Ness Lion

He said pointing to the video: "No Appa, thit is lion and thit is ness lion". It took me a minute to understand that he means Lioness. For now, I'd let it be that way. I'm sure he will not grow up calling it Ness Lion.

 

Silence

Our palms knew each others'

Like it were one's own

The sight of each other

made emptiness unknown

What once took two of us 

together to stop the time

It now takes the two of us

to keep oneself away from other

Waiting For An Indefinite Amount Of Time

“He’s just barging into me!” she complained to the man with her as they made their way to their seat in the aircraft.

As they sat in the emergency exit seat listening to the customary instructions by the air hostess, the person at the window started laughing and soon she and her partner joined as well. The laughter, much to the amusement of the people in the adjacent rows, lasted well after the hostess finished her discourse.

Weird things were happening around her this evening and she had started to believe that she attracts weird events and actions from people. The recent one was a few minutes ago on her way to the airport, the instance where what she thought was a truck coming towards her was actually two motorcycles and hence passed right through her. Thinking that nobody had laughed at the air hostess when she says the windows need to be open at the time of take-off and landing, she concluded this could be the last for the evening, a few minutes later she would dismiss the thought.

The baggage never seem to arrive and she was with only a couple of people who were waiting for the baggage near the empty belt.

When she went to the baggage services, she was told that she had to now wait for an indefinite amount of time as she was in a dream and the person in whose dream she was in, had woken up for the day and there was no certainty if he'll see the same dream again.

Exchanges at the airport

person1: I was here before you were

person 2: No, I went to counter 23 but someone else came back and hence I am coming here.

person 1: I didn't see you before me in the line

person 2: Thats because I was in 23 and neither did I see you behind me when I was in the line

person 1: I already have a boarding pass

person 2: I also have one. They give one to every one who does a web-checkin and that does not make you any special

***********************

42 year old: Please stand in line

31 year old: Hello, I was here and I went to bring the tray for laptop

42 year old: That doesn't matter, you should go back to the line

person 3: (to person 2), thats OK, you can stand in front of me

31 year old goes and stands behind 42 year old, but is very, very irritated. 

31 year old to 42 year old: you get 10 points now that you are ahead

42 year old: *smirking* what 10 points?

31 year old: you can go and tell your mother that you won today in the line competition

42 year old: Learn to give respect!

31 year old: are you going to mention the 10 points also to your mother? It may make her proud

*************************

Laila Vaserman Asks If She Can Trust Jignaes

Jignaes gets an email from Laila Vaserman from an email ID that ends with .jp. She asks all in innocence and seemingly candid, "I have something to share with you" and signs off with "Please let me know"

Jignaes' imagination runs over time. He thinks like the young surd in the new Coke commercial that seeks to blend in with times with their #openhappiness hashtag (youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kbYSUS7o3pE)

In Jignaes' mind he is holidaying with Laila in a place that is mid-location for both of them - Bali. He goes to refill his drink leaving Laila to get her tan. He had no idea that it would work out so beautifully. 

In all earnestness, he emails her that he can be trusted and as an evidence, he sends her his half marathon certificate and his photo of running. Somewhere in his mind, he thinks people who run half marathon or more can be trusted. He signed off with trying hard not to reveal his excitement "Look forward to hearing from you"

Unfortunately he didn't ask if Laila can be trusted, because, in Bali, when he came back after a refill, Laila who was getting her tan was not to be found.

Dead Tea Person

She: at work?

He: yeah. at the graveyard

She: quite some company you keep then... ;)

He: yeah. no interruptions. I ask them if they want coffee whenever I'm having, all I receive is silence

She: that's what you think. I'm sure all the dead love their coffee and drink it when you close your eyelids to blink shucks. i'd be a dead tea person

He: hmm.. when I blink they drink. whats a dead tea person?

She: when I'm dead, id drink tea instead of coffee that's a dead tea person... duh!!!!!!!!!!

Fight Club

He and She used to fight a lot when they were in touch. I'll never speak with you ever again kind of fights. He got married (to another girl) and went on with his life. After two years, he gets a call from she and is told that the fights are missed. He tells her that the fights are now in-sourced and are available in plenty at home. So, there really was no need to bother her. Both laughed. Funny at one level; a connection at another.

**********

I watched Fight Club the other evening. I was blown away by the concept. If you haven't watched it, you must.

**********

At one level, I don't want to fight. At another, I want to fight myself.

Jignaes is Born

She: What can you see from the window?
He: A gentleman wearing a suit with an incredibly fashionable tie who goes by the name "He"
She: How cool. What colour is the tie?
He: Tie is rhombus patterned with the ends of the rhombus in different dark blue - almost black colored and the rhombus themselves are - funnily enough - alternate between beige and silver colour


********
She: You like the letter d? Or do you like the position of the corresponding key on your keyboard?
He: The letter d has many characteristics to it. More than anything, it stands for deep thought.
She: This is deeply profound. Please condinue.


********
He: Oh. My bad. Just see what I count as accomplishment and what I consider trivial. Actually, it says something about you. And you must be thankful for it.
She: I want to know how many people have influenced you to write about keyboards...
He: Many.
She: Really!
She: name a few
He: That awkward moment. Sometimes, I live for these awkward moments.
She: can't wait to see. Accomplishment!
He: It appears as if you are a successful person overall.
She: I m humbled by your extreme praise.


**********
He: Not yet. But you must know, as a general knowledge, I hate a certain set of manner-less idiots don't know from where they come.
She: Call them Jignaes
He: Jignaes? Incredible, I tell you.

what happens now?

I have been with this feeling from the last three or four days. Something seems to have changed. I couldn't articulate what, neither could I point it out. The poem below, by William Thomas Moore captures the feeling perfectly, to the T.


what will happen 
now? she asks. 
now, i say, 
now, 
the dishes will pile 
up in the sink 
and there will 
only be one 
pair of shoes at the door.

My Boyfriend Strongest

It was the battle of strength. Either the bisleri 1 liter bottle cap or him. It all began when her slender fingers couldn't open the cap of the new bottle. She turned at her man who was smiling at her attempts to open the cap. The bottle found its way to his hand and he opened it in a jiffy. Only that it didn't open. He tried a second time. Fourth time. He tried drying the hands and opening it. With a cloth. Ugh. Slowly, with the face of defeat, he turned to her. She was beaming. It was her turn to rescue him. And she opened it in a jiffy and said "My Boyfriend Strongest"

He and She ("Classic" Alert!)

He:
Questions on the future
Ghosts of the past
Steal the here & now,
not letting the moment last

She:
Questions are meaningless
The ghosts lead me to you
I live in your arms
And this is true

Union

The fire that binds, originally uploaded by Aditi Patnaik.

The romance in the ritual
Making of two smiles into one

The music in the chant
Timeless wisdom in the here & now

Her unflinching love
His fear of being held captive

Oppression gets registered,
Beauty goes amiss!

(thanks Aditi for the photo)

Coffee, Cupid and the Verse

On the table, there's order for coffee,

under, his knee almost touched hers

an exhale, a sigh, a call to be

he writes poems that are stupid

she smiles, puts up with it and

blames it on cupid

his struggle is to make the verse rhyme

she loses herself

in the moment sublime

in being who they are,

he fails to see the verse they make

beautiful... not rhyming by far!

The Girl Who Was A Dream

"Can you give me a window seat towards the rear of the aircraft?" I asked. The pretty woman behind the counter made a face. Before she could say anything, I asked "window seat anywhere in the aircraft?" She smiled. I smiled. Seat 4A it was.

Joy has its own reasons. Sometimes, it comes when you notice who ends up sitting next to you in the aircraft. This time, the occupant of seat 4B. She was like heaven sent. It was 0530hrs and I had spent the night at the airport. Food or water wouldn't have been as energizing as the sight of this beauty, for this 28 year old single man.

She didn't smile. She had a long nose, yes and in my imagination, her smile was the single most beautiful thing to have happened to me, for a long time now. The black sweater and the shawl she wore, made her look like a queen. I was sleep deprived, had no energy to smile or even lift my hand. The subconcious took over and the next thing I know is in the next stanza.

She started talking
She asked me to sing
I refused to stop
She let the idea drop

She wanted to keep her head on my shoulder and sleep. Pune to Nagpur is a 75 min journey, but, what do you know, my friend, with her head on my shoulder, it seemed infinite. And then we spoke, spoke, and spoke. The stewardess brought things to sell. To my surprise, she didn't ask either of us. Neither did we bother to look up and say "No, thanks". We drifted off to sleep.

I woke up. She was still sleeping. I found that she was more beautiful than I remembered. She was still wearing the black sweater. There was a certain sense of poise in her that seemed to say "nothing of what you think happened, happened". I was aghast. It was because, I couldn't distinguish between the dream and reality. Just as you couldn't distinguish between prose and poetry earlier. I had to tell myself, it was all a dream. I had a very tough time in trying to think what was a dream and what wasn't. She didn't even notice you, let alone talk.

And it was time for me to go. The aircraft was headed to Delhi. I realized I had to wake her up for me to get off the aircraft. I barely managed "excuse me" which didn't even reach my years. I then sat down, brought myself in what I thought was an audible area for her. I feared I'd say "you're beautiful" aloud. I heard myself say "excuse me". Thankfully, she heard too. She saw me and stood. I did the same, left and didn't turn back.

When She Came..

I sit in the balcony,
with the stick lit

talking to the hills
in deep silence

along she comes
calls out my name

completes the picture
with her beauty and life

Memory (microfiction)

Sleeping., originally uploaded by Daniel Morris.

She can't get that tune out of her head as she watches him sleep. The one he woo'd her with, seventy years ago.

(Fiction inspired by Tiny_Fiction)

You got to hide your love away!

I sit by the phone
disguising my wait
with work

To hear your voice
and your laughter
outside my head

And outside my head,
I hear The Beatles*
comforting me

*this song

He & She (Standing under the shelter)

He: How 'bout me dropping you in my bike, in this drizzle?
She: I'd love that, but, do you want to trade standing here under the shelter, watching the drizzle with that?
H: hmm.., thats also true... and you're looking beautiful...
She: *smiles*
He: that smile, and the little curve it leaves on your cheek, makes it just perfect.
She: ....
He:...
She: Its so nice when you hold your gaze like that...
He: very few people in this world understand what it is to stand under a shelter when it is drizzling
She: I agree. And as if to reinforce, that guy there walking with his green umbrella obviously doesn't know what he's missing...

Liar Who?

he: Finally, you sent it!!! I had to ask you a thousand times for you to send it.

she: no you didn't ask a thousand times

he: yeah, 1126 times to be precise, thanks for correcting me.

she: you've now earned the title "Big Liar"

he: Big Liar. Thats you. My computer screen is also shocked and it went blank for a while. I had to sprinkle cold water on it to work properly. Please don't make statements like these okay. It will send the world into a spin. I'm sure because of your tall claims, there must've some natural calamity happened on the other side of the planet.

she:because of ur lies this side of planet is in danger :-P

u r a BIG LIAR ( yes i'm shouting )

and if urs screen fainted mine is already in coma and on life support system :-P

all because of u and ur lies !!!!

he: Yes, please feed hot coffee to the life support system. It is unable to bear your shouts and is communicating with my laptop that it is in deep troubled environment. Please don't make the life support system need another life support system!!!

she: :-P

he: Only a smiley came all the alphabets have evaporated. See? Its already happening and nobody can stop it now. Please stop the lies!!!

she: it was not a smily

thats was the only reaction to ur big lies

:-P is my tongue out to ridicule you ha ha

he: All those who ridicule me with their tongue outside are LIARS.