Get Well Poem

Five years ago, my newly married cousin got really really sick. I just stumbled upon the get-well poem I wrote for him then.

The last few days, for you, must've been hell,
Even 16 km away, I can tell,
That you'd rather be sitting as was pre-decided,
In wa bar with dim lights and tolling bells,
Drinking to bhabhi's, my and your own health,
Caring a fig about health being wealth,
How does it feel, Vishal Bhaiya, to lie all day,
With an aching back and nothing to say,
Staring at different ceilings in different houses,
Dreaming of boots, shirts, or doing self analysis!
Studying the activity of spiders and their ilk,
Being force-fed pills, tablets and milk,
Periodically being resigned to four people plunging,
Your body in ice-cold water and sponging,
But all this is the darkness behind the candle,
Or to be more scientific, the penumbra mantle,
All your worries have been replaced by just one,
To get well soon, and go out in the Sun,
So how does it feel, Vishal Bhaiya, to lie all day,
And having your meals while in bed you stay,
A week-long break with nothing to do,
A nd a million people calling and asking after you,
Getting silly get-well cards like this one,
And being bombarded with good wishes, on the run,
Having somebody staying up nights for you,
If you carry on like this, you'll have a crew!
Getting so much attention, it makes me jealous,
(Don't raise your eyebrows, I've always been callous,)
Anyway, enjoy your convalescence, and take your time,
To plan out an ingenious crime,
People have done great things while they were recovering,
So why not you?? Take advantage of what's occurring!

Ode to an Umbrella

This one's real - I wrote it after a friend broke my umbrella and then never replaced it. Apparently this wasn't effective enough, because he still hasn't.... on the bright side, I have something to always yell at him about.

Ode to a Broken Umbrella
(2007)

Oh, how I miss thee!
Thy colorful shade,
Thy tawny haze,
That offered protection against the elements,
Burning heat, icy sleet,
Those rare snowstorms as well.

Though most may not have appreciated thy blinding beauty,
Nor admired thy serviceability,
But when I held thee in my hand,
I felt like a long lost ship that had reached land.

My foul-weather friend thee was,
When all had walked out on me,
Through dreary days, and watery ways,
Thee kept me as dry as I could be.

That fateful day,
When that fated hand swung you to and fro,
And I watched in horror as thy torso snapped,
And I mourned your demise with woe.
Thee lies buried in my corner drawer,

While I dream of happier times,
And when the clouds burst, and I am forced to,
Cower under an ugly black trash bag,
I think to myself…someday…
Someday...I will have my revenge.

My life...

...as a stupid, rebellious teenager :)

IT’S MY LIFE
(2004)

The wise old woman sat back in her chair,
The sun glittered lightly on her snow-white hair.
‘It’s a big bad world,’ she said to me, ‘so remember what you’re told,
Humour the young and listen to the old.
Follow the rules, not your heart.
It maybe hard, but it’s a start.
Let your future lie in the hands of others,
They’re all your friends, or sisters and brothers.
Happiness is living in society,
So push aside thoughts of freedom and liberty.’

Lost in this labyrinth of old - world wisdom,
Rambling in the darkness under this blanket of dogmatism,
I seek my way out, out of this cage,
And walk into the waiting world’s enigmatic haze.
If living means breaking the rules, then I’m a rebel.
If society is heaven, then I’d rather live in hell.
I have my desires and my goals,
That I want to pursue, without any holds.
Choices are on my side, Time is not.
I want to reach infinity, where my destiny was forged.

I want to chase the receding horizons and rise above the clouds,
To conquer the skies and make my country proud.
To live and love and fight and die,
To surge ahead before the world goes by.
To watch the beauty, not the strife,
To fulfill my dreams, because it’s my life.

Give it up...

This is a particularly awful moment.

The propulsion final today was a disaster. Which made me realize that the word 'fail' is ingrained in 'final'. It was such a pain taking the test, that I have, temporarily, lost all interest in continuing with Aerospace Engineering. The interest will, of course, revive after a good night's sleep. Once I clear my bed of the millions of papers - all propulsion-related.

I thought of having a propulsion-paperwork-burning ceremony - but I'm not sure if that'll be a good idea, since a lot of people will want to save all that stuff for next semester, in case a repetition is in the cards...

I want to give-up. No, you don't, my super-ego tells me. My superego is my mom. A few years ago, when we were both having our poem writing/publishing marathon, she was churning out poems like 'Try Try Again', or 'I Can' - while I wrote something like this:

GIVE UP!

Are you facing one of those days,
When the sky is black and the clouds are grey?
When the world around you is moving ahead,
Leaving you behind, alone in your dread?

If you put in your best and failed,
If you’re the victim, whose dreams have been nailed,
Don’t curse your luck or wish you were dead,
“Just Give Up”, as somebody rightly said.

Just Give Up, it’s not so hard,
Your confidence, at least, will not be scarred,
Don’t think that you will lose your glory,
You can still be a Winner in your life’s story.

Courage, they say, is holding on,
Fighting in the darkness, till it is dawn.
But it takes courage to let go too,
And stand outside that ambitious queue.

If the tunnel is dark and you see no light,
If the battle you’re in is not going right,
Give up and go against the tide,
Break the rules, and hop off the ride.

Because he who fights and runs away,
Lives to fight another day.

I got the last two lines from an Alistair MacLean book. 'The Dark Crusader' I think. Although they say it's one of those stock phrases.
This poem didn't make my mom very happy.

For some odd reason though - I don't feel that bad. I suppose I'm more used to doing badly on tests than I was two years ago. All I know right now is that the world hasn't come to an end, I'm still fit, my family and friends are all okay, and I still have internet access, facebook, and youtube.

I have been amusing myself by watching old Aamir Khan coca-cola advertisements. I just decided that it would be awesome to meet that guy - he truly is my favorite actor. He can pull off any role - a tour guide, a Japanese tourist, a Bengali father, a Punjabi farmer, a crook, an English millionaire - anything.

That said, I feel the need to talk about the many virtues of youtube. I've been able to watch all the old songs I used to wait for forever to be telecast on TV while I was groing up. Maybe I'll write an ode for youtube someday. Right now, I really should get started on my two projects.

Fun fun. I can't wait for the next AerOnion.

Unreality

A sequel to the 'I hate...' rant I posted on my friend Malvika's blog a month ago.

Some things are hateful. Like overcooked broccoli. Tedious lab reports. Homesickness. Unrequited love.

But a lot of things aren't.

Walking down the street today I realized,
How beautiful life can be,
With a cool breeze, and a cloudy sky,
And no troubles (as far as my myopic eyes could see).

My hair was blowing behind me,
My clothes hung loose on me,
I felt invisible, and strangely content,
I had no responsibilities, and nobody to please.

The green in the trees,
Was just the right shade of green,
The blueness of the sky,
Was clear and pure and free.

People around me were smiling,
Their faces glowing in the fading light,
Talking excitedly about,
The shooting stars to be seen tonight.

My feet carried me on,
The world was just so right,
I felt fit, and I felt fine,
While reality stayed out of sight.

My inspirations always come at the wrong times. I should be sleeping right now, and paying off my sleep-debt that I've been in for several years now.