The Times They are A-Changin'

I was listening to The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel last night, when a friend happened to call me up. He asked me what I was up to and I told him. And he goes, “Ugh, Simon and Garfunkel are so GAY! What’s wrong with your music taste? You need to listen to some REAL music.”

I was so furious that I couldn’t utter a word. REAL music?! REAL MUSIC!?! What does he even MEAN by real music? What does he even KNOW about real music? First of all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Second, Simon and Garkunkel are not Simon and Garfunkel for no reason, you know. And if he thinks that those meaningless dhik-chiki-dhik-dhik beats spread across various patterns of minutes, which is enough to give you a nice headache is REAL music, and the beautiful lyrics, the velvety voices, the soulful tunes of Simon and Garfunkel is not real music, then thank you very much, I prefer to listen to all the unreal music in the world.

I mean, I sincerely feel you need a lot of depth to appreciate music like this. He even disliked Yes. HOW can you dislike something like that? How can you dislike ‘The Dangling Conversation’ and 'And You And I’ and ‘Scarborough Fair?!’ I mean I listen to all this and I feel like drifting off into space in another place and time.

Okay I need to relax. I’m just livid because I love them too much. Moving on to nicer things, the weather is perfect. Just perfect. It’s the right amount of cold and the right amount of sunny. I have to go through another ten painful days of appalling, creepy crawly, nightmare inducing exams and then I’ll get a juicy stack of a glorious ten days of holidays, spending the most stupendous time with my most favourite people in the universe. Ever. And after this, I’ll have just ONE more semester to go. One. The final one! And people, pwease pray for my exam on the 18th. I am jittery  petrified! *teeth clattering* :O 

All in all, I have this warm glow somewhere inside me. It’s basically because of a singular powerful, um, reason. It’s like a little yellow sun burning inside of me, somewhere in my heart, keeping me warm and protecting me from all the cold outside. (Jeez, was that cheesy or what!) I have a very strong feeling everything is going to be just fine in the end. It is all going to work out. It has to. And if it doesn't, it won't be the end. I’m finally coming to terms with my past. The hurt is gradually receding into a vague indifference. Yes, it’s hard to believe, but it’s happening. It is, it finally, finally is!!


Oh run away time, skip away, hop like a bunny! Hop! Hop! Hop!  


And the others, check out this timeless piece of awesomeness:

"Then take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind,

Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves

The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach,

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands,

With all the memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves

Let me forget about today until tomorrow."

-Bob Dylan

Tangled up in blue!

I’m starting to love Bob Dylan. And The Smiths, Muse and Nirvana.

I don’t like being alone in an empty house. Which, um, happens every day. Then I try to do things to keep myself busy so that I won’t start to sulk for stupid reasons. So I tried to moonwalk gracefully on Billie Jean a while back. And invented funny steps while dancing to Jailhouse Rock. Invigorating!

Really, everyone should try it. Just be stupid. Be crazy. Make yourself laugh. Let yourself go. Do those steps which make your hair fly and make you feel all pretty and glamorous. Pout, blow kisses into the mirror, catwalk, play an imaginary guitar, sing into an invisible mic, try to look sophisticated. Try. You need it during stressful times during exams.

I read a lot of blogs of people in their early twenties. Man, ALL of us sound the same! Stress, uncertain future, studies, friendship, doubts, misunderstandings. It was like I was reading my own thoughts expressed in different words. It was uncanny! It makes me smile to think that there are so many out there like me who fuss over little things, get cranky and confused and depressed over piddling issues. And then I read about QLC (Yes En, it does sound cool :D) in En’s blog. Makes sense. Makes total sense.

I’m extremely sleepy but I’m just whiling away time because I’ve to go over to my friend’s place in some time to study for tomorrow’s exam :/ Statistics. God, these exams will be the death of me. They’re making me corrode inside. I can feel it. 

Volcano

What do you call wrath of the highest order possible? Burning, scalding, fuming, boiling, erupting, fury? Volcanic teeth-gritting, violent, uncontrolled, heart-burning, explosive, mad, murderous, Kolaveri rage?

Resentment so intense that all the disgusting, ghastly, horrifying, terrible swear words of all the languages in the entire world combined cannot substantiate? Hatred, so deep, so dark, so sinister, so red with extreme loathing and repugnance and detestation that every bone and every RBC in your body screams murder. Anger that would put all the angry birds to shame. Anger that bubbles over and makes you shake and scream and cry and wish the world’s greatest miseries may befall the appalling creature. Anger backed by an abysmal, atrocious, mind numblingly excruciating history. A staggeringly painful past. Inhuman. Unspeakable. Inexcusable.

What do you call that feeling? More importantly, what do you do when you feel like this? I feel so angry like I will explode like a volcano. The only good thing about the entire situation is, I’m glad that for the first time ever, anger is all I feel towards him. Pure, unadulterated, burning, scalding, fuming, boiling, erupting, fury. And beyond.

Awakenings

It was a regular exam day. I, as usual, was running late and was hurriedly revising my formulae during the last ten minutes while frantically searching for my socks and looking for my hair band.  Mom barged in my room and asked whether I had breakfast. I blabbered irritably,”No mom! I don’t have time.” She was in my room ten seconds later with a plateful of gobhi ke parathe and a glass of milk. I whined, “Moooooooooom, I’m studying.” She just said “Am I asking you to do anything? Just chew!” In 5 minutes, she fed me the most appropriate mouthfuls of hot, yummy parathas with chutney and butter; breakfast was done and off I went to college.

I finished my exam early and as I let a guy sitting next to me copy my answer, I just thought about that wonderful, loving gesture. How selfless it was! And how I just took it for granted. How I just hurried out without so much as saying a thank you or giving her a hug. Breakfast is ready every day, clothes are washed and ironed, the scooty is refilled and cleaned. Everything is so easy, right? 

These are still bigger things. Recently a movie made me think about how we take everything in life for granted. The beautiful mornings, the birds, the flowers, the moon, the breeze. We’re all too busy to take notice of such things. I read in a book that if you’re sitting in front of a lake and you don’t notice the rippling water, the patterns of light in it, the soft touch of the grass you’re sitting on, the gentle bend of the branches of the trees, then boy, you’ve got problems.

The movie that I saw was Awakenings. First thing, it was based on a true story, and I knew before even watching it, that I was going to like it. It was a story about a nervous, self-conscious and a kind doctor, played by Robin Williams, who comes across a drug that could cure patients who have been in a coma for over decades. It showed how he actually made a man, Robert DeNiro, who was practically just a vegetable, come to life after thirty years and how he adjusted to his new world. It was heartening to watch the lifeless patients awaken and experience the simple joys of living again. Robin Williams has convincingly played the part of the doctor while Rober DeNiro was simply astounding. Plus, he has the warmest, most amazing smile anyone could have. 

We don’t ever think about these things. What if we didn’t have limbs? What if we had a debilitating disease? What if we were crippled for the rest of our lives? What if we can never walk or run or see again? It’s like how the boy’s mother says in the movie, “When I gave birth to a healthy baby, I never asked God why was I so lucky to be blessed with such a beautiful baby. But when I got to know he has a disease I screamed over and over asking why he had to do this to my son?” 

Instead of being thankful for what we have, we’re always upset because of something we don’t have. A broken relationship, a past incident, a big fight, misunderstanding with friends. If you think about it, problems are relative. Fine, we all have 'em. Pfff big deal. When I'm feeling low, I talk to someone depressed and it makes me feel so much better! The thought that everyone goes through shit. It's okay. Laugh it off! Have fun with them! Use swear words and cuss all you like! It’s your thinking that makes all the difference. (Oh and never, ever forget to listen to some great music)

But we still find it easier to crib about our problems. Basic human nature. I do it all the time. But I also make a point to count my blessings, feel grateful for what I have and just feel lucky. Life is too short, I’ve realized, to cry over what’s already happened. And we only get one life, and we should make the best of it. ONE life! Can you believe it? And after that, you’re just gone. Before we die, our life flashes in front of our eyes, we need to make sure we like what we see, right?

I read this somewhere, ‘If you start taking things too seriously, just remember that we all are talking monkeys flying on an organic spaceship through space” :)

P.S. I’ve been continuously and increasingly experiencing enormous and gigantic spurts for Chee. The ones that break through the ceiling and make the stars wet. I love being silly with him and listen to his stories of how his stomach wall gets eroded. I love his retarded high pitched laughter and how he calls me a bird. I love planning about having a plant called ‘Melancholia’ which will grow on our tears and we will cut onions and think of dead puppies in order to sustain it. I love how he sends me text messages which make me want to jump off my roof with mad joy.  I love how he scolds me and asks me to study.

Which reminds me, I have an exam tomorrow and I haven’t started studying and I haven’t slept all night. But I just had a delightful midnight snack of cheese sandwiches, potato wafers and coffee.  Boy. Life’s good! :D

P.P.S. I’ve been thinking whether obsessing over one person can be a good thing. Probably not. Oh well, too late.

Sniffly post

"Take me out tonight,

Where there's music and there's people  

And they're young and alive.

Driving in your car,

I never never want to go home  

Because I haven't got one anymore.

Take me out tonight,

Because I want to see people 

and I want to see life"

This is exactly how I feel right now. 

Loneliness is a very personal feeling. When you want to feel lonely, you will; no matter how many people you have around you, and no matter how many things you have the option of doing. 

Exams are on; though I hardly give a turtledove's ass about them. Every night I find myself snoozing cozily inside my blanket, with my notes strewn over my bed; cups of coffee and my phone the only things keeping me alive. 

Every morning I awaken to the most grotesque, disgusting, insanely disturbing dreams (of huge transvestites with giant purple nipples trying to bludgeon me to death) 

The problem which I was very hopeful of getting rid of, is still there. The persistent bitch. That's probably what's causing my hormones to be on a roll. You don't want to mess with me right now. This is how I am: Excited! Dead. Cheerful! Miserable. Singing aloud! Crying in bed. Hopping around! Lying like an injured toad. Laughing! Snapping the hell out of everyone.


PMSing much?!

After pointlessly walking on the roads like a fool, being a part of a completely uninspiring and inane conversation and flipping through channels of women rubbing a tube on their underarms and an entire TV crew barging into a common man's toilet; I'm finally going to drink some milk to ease my cramps and get some shut-eye. And hope I won't dream of slithering serpentine snakes strangling me to death.

Old Friends

I went out for a walk to take a break from studying. Walking amidst the fog, looking at people slowly emerging through the mist, puppies playing about, people on bicycles with faces covered with mufflers, and the sensation of the cool moisture against my face.. it was all so beautiful. The smell of winter and the fog goes so well with the song I was listening to. Old Friends by Simon and Garfunkel. It is, and will always and always be, one of the closest songs to my heart. It’s so beautiful I could die.

It reminds me of two pairs of naughty, twinkling eyes; shivers down my spine; clandestine holding of hands underneath a jacket; the most amazing conversation on a bench in front of one of the most beautiful monuments in the world; skipping and laughing about like little kids; and the feeling of all you had ever dreamt of, right in front of your eyes.

“Old Friends
Old Friends
Sat on their park bench like bookends
a newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes
Of the old friends

Old Friends
Winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats
Waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust
On the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy...

Old Friends
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fear


Time it was and what a 
time it was it was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences

Long ago it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you”

I love us. And I dream of us sitting on a park bench, underneath pink skies and wispy clouds with the yellow, autumn leaves falling all around us.

In your Face, book!

I love the chill of winters. I love how cold and pink my toes are and I’ve to wear colourful socks to keep them warm. I love how I’m all cuddled up in my quilt and the warm laptop feels good on my belly. I love the steam in the bathroom after hot water baths. I love my extraordinarily long fingers wrapped around a mug of hot coffee.

Ahh, winters are here :) My friends tell me it was foggy in the morning. I, of course, missed it. There’s something about it. It’s strange and mysterious and it adds this moody splendour to everything around you, don’t you think?

I just finished a tedious, tiring, eye-drooping assignment and I’m feeling good because I did not leave it until morning. Ideally, I should hit the sack because I have another pending task which I plan to do in the morning, but um, I won’t just be me if I sleep before 3, now would I? :|

I suddenly want days to become twice as long. 24 hours is just not enough. I want to read more, write more, see more, talk more and do more of constructive work, while at the same time having all the time to do all the nothing I want. 

I hate Facebook. I hate that useless, brain-damaging, pest of a site. People are just swarming all over it, all the time. They’re everywhere. What’s with all these new features man? For instance, take that creepy, crawly Tickr, which runs across the side of your screen screaming the tiniest detail of what everyone is up to. WHO needs to see that a friend of yours (whom you actually almost dislike and he's only in your friends list because he unfortunately happens to be your classmate) has commented "you looks to pretti" on another classmate-hence-FB-friend's picture where she's standing sloppily in front of a shopping mall?! WHY do you need to know some long forgotten junior you had in school took up a “Will Edward dump your for Bella and drink your blood and you will have tiny blood-sucking kids” quiz?

And I hate this trend of putting a god-awful godforsaken god-only-knows-why picture of puppies/teddy bears/hearts and then tagging all your gazillion friends like a mindless drone. Next thing you know, you have '47 notifications’ of all sorts of weird people commenting over the picture.

“awweee! Choo chweeeeet! Thaaankk yyeewww!! : * :*”

hearts hearts! kisses kisses! muah muah! 

Please! :|

'Liking' something has completely lost all meaning.

"Ahh, just had a bath"

23 likes.

"I'm an arrogant bitch"

56 likes.

"I fell in the gutter and broke both my legs"

73 likes.

Even the 'I hate Facebook' community on Facebook has a 17,381 likes! I mean, DUDE?!

And the kind of pictures people have started putting up! MY GOD! Artificial smiles plastered on shiny faces standing in front of a mirror showing off not only their clothes, but also their cell phone, their watch, their LED TV, and their Macbook. (Okay, you might not be that lame if you have a Macbook, but you get the point)

Everybody wants to show how much fun they are having; while secretly they’re all caught up in the web of their miserable lives. Oh come on, aren’t we all? Secretly, we’re all spying on to other people’s profiles comparing our lives to theirs, how many comments they get, how popular they are, where they went for their vacation, who they are going out with. Nothing is private anymore. Off on a trip, BAM! Your pictures are seen by your entire family, plus people you probably don’t even know. A baby is born, BAM! He is already on Facebbok, being koochi-kooed and getting his virtual cheeks pinched. Change your relationship status from ‘Committed’ to ‘Single’ and you get hoards of unwelcome, probing, sympathetic comments:

"aww what happened?!!” 

“oh dyyyuuuude, never mind. Plenty of fish in the sea.”


Someone you barely know shares something with you that would have made NO difference to you or your existence if it wasn't shared. Someone you don't even remember meeting did something that you don't even remotely care about. Nor does anyone else, actually. Some weird loony you met at a party pops a "Hye" every time he sees you green. Unknown people poking you. Obnoxious-people-you hate-but-sorta-have-to-be-nice-to throwing virtual pigs and ducks and porcupines at you. All sorts of whackos from Loserville asking you to become an online farmer or an architect. (REALLY?!) Click Click Click. Post Post Post. Like Like Like. Meaningless clutter. Jabber Jabber.

People copy and paste the same links, the same quotes, the same lines they saw on someone else’s profile and think they’re cool. It is all so fake it is depressing. I mean, what happened to the real world guys? Why do we need to share our every waking thought with the world?

What is personal anymore when Facebook gives you the option of writing ‘What’s on your mind’ to hundreds of people all at the same time? Your entire life, your image, your social circle is practically exposed on an online profile which you can demolish at one click? I sometimes long for simpler times. What happened to sitting by the fireplace, all alone, reading a hardback book? I remember I used to read MUCH more before I got lured into this world of 'social networking'. Ugh. 

I know it is highly hypocritical of me to say this because I spend a lot of time on Facebook, probably for different purposes. (I think) See, I like Facebook for a number of reasons, (hell, I love Facebook for a MAJOR reason) but I do not want to become, what is said to be known as a 'A Facebook addict'. No way, Jose. And now it has begun to irritate me. One day, I might just deactivate my account on a whim. Who knows? Let's just hope I don't have to reach to that stage.

A Saucerful of Secrets

Sleep continues to elude me. Another night. Sigh. I don’t know why I’m always trying to determine whether I’m happy or sad. If only I stop doing that, I will save so much of time to do the things I want to do. And take care of pending tasks. I can feel myself retreating again. I’m withdrawing into my shell once more. Disconnected. Lost. Unenthusiastic. Indifferent. Dreamy. Listening to music, lying under the sky and gazing at the stars.

I guess these are the repercussions of settling back into my routine life after what could possibly be the two greatest days of my life. Two beautiful, magical, wonderful, fantastical days. Chee does it again. I don’t know how he does it, but he crosses a new milestone every time. It just keeps getting better.

But looking at my college life I feel sad. I’m asking myself questions like: Did I really want to do this? Really? Why am I not enjoying this? I might have taken a faulty step but it’s not like I’m kicking myself and regretting it. I can still correct it. There are a lot of possibilities that lie in front of me. Only this time, I’ll be careful in making the right choice.

I have to take care of my lifestyle or it will be the death of me, I swear to god. I get up late, I skip meals, I forget things ALL the time, I bunk classes, I sleep like a baby pig on drugs during the day and my class performance is seriously degrading. I will start looking like a zombie if I continue like this, not to mention I’ve started behaving like one already.

I’ve always felt like I have a lot of layers to me. Everyday a new shade of me. I change, all the time. Like a river. And I assume people are not going to understand me and so I don’t even bother. Like I like myself most of the times, but sometimes, all of a sudden, out of the blue I loathe and berate myself so much I feel like I can’t stand to be with my own self. You know what I mean? Not sure you do.

I guess I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m just a self-loathing narcissist. And I don't know who I am. I don’t know what I want. I don’t know what I’m doing. And I don’t know where I’m going.

In Rainbows

Missed classes, skipped assignments,

Messed up dates, forgotten tests.
Medication, notes, phone calls, pending tasks, unfinished meals.

Misunderstanding, misconstruction, misconduct, misfortune.

Loud noises, bumpy roads, painful memories, angry parents.

Game theory, industrial laws, business strategies, research designs.

Everything settles lazily, dismally in the background.

The hazy, crazy, unclear, uncertain, cluttered, spinning background.

The one true thing that stands out,

Is the emotion which you cannot even remotely come close to describing

The rush in your heart, the hurricanes inside your body, the stoppage of time.

The moisture in the eyes, the beating of the heart, the languorous smiles.

The feeling of forgetting everything else in the entire world in the bliss of that one moment.

The breath, the smell, the heavy sighs, the soft touch, the surge, the hidden tears, the lazy, contended elation.

The gush; more powerful than anything you could ever experience in a lifetime.

The feeling of losing yourself,

The feeling of finding yourself.

Of sinking,

Of floating,

Of drowning,

Of flying,

Of dying,

Of living,
Of reaching the peak of a mountain,

Of falling inside an infinite abyss,

The feeling of the absence of every other emotion other than what you are experiencing.

The feeling of being safe.

Feeling at home, at ease, at rest, at your best.
When it's your own world.
Your own unreal, surreal, dreamy, magical stupor.

The void when you’re not together, 

The gnawing pain inside your chest, the severe feeling of being deficient.

Of fear, of longing, of separation, of desperation.

The feeling of knowing that while you have this, you may never ever have to worry about the background.

The hazy, crazy, unclear, uncertain, cluttered, spinning background.

Time

Time.
Please fly.
Tonight, just for tonight.

A mistake.
Words that were not meant to be spoken
Flew away amidst the careless jokes
Carried away on the wispy winds of a winter night
Suddenly fell upon me like a glacier
The words that left me
Sleepless, shocked, in a state of disbelief.

Is it true?
I cannot help but shiver
At the enormity of the gesture
I cannot help but get lumps in my throat
At the thought, the effort, the love.

How am I supposed to sleep?
How am I supposed to react?
How am I supposed to survive the entire night?
I cannot feel my legs.
I cannot feel myself breathing.
The salty tears are the only silent spectators
The soft music the only company.

Time.
For once, please fly.
Just for tonight.
I cannot wait for the moon to go away,
For the sun rays to shine upon me.
I cannot wait
For the morning to come.
I cannot wait for the moment.

Time.
For once, would you please listen?