A poem I had read in one of the editions of the chicken soup. Feel like sharing it with everyone. I don’t know if I am violating any copyrights here, but it is what I felt I should share, in response to the violence we are seeing around us recently.

Finger paints and crayons.

By Cheryl Costello-Forshey

With chalk in hand she wrote her name across a board once bare,
And then she sat behind her desk without a single care
And for fifteen minutes she did not make a sound
Until the final student had finally settled down
Then she stood before them, and told them all her name
And then politely asked, each student to do the same
Then without hesitation, she took papers from a sack
And placed them in two piles, one white, the other black
And deliberately, quite slowly, with a mischievous smile
She began handing out the papers, up and down each aisle
And once each student had a piece; she continued within their sight
To gather two piles of crayons, one black, the other white
And then she took a painting from behind her walnut desk
Then placed a painters smock, overtop her navy dress
And to no one in particular, she spoke in peaceful tones
“I have been working on this painting, for years in my own home.”
She stood staring at the painting, its brilliant colors mixed as one
Upon the vast horizon, the presence of a sun
It was indeed not a Rembrandt, a Picasso, a Michelangelo to say the least
But it nonetheless was beautiful; its presence spoke of peace
And no doubt that lovely painting, had taken so much time
For every color known to man seemed to intertwine
And so it came with wonder, what they witnessed with surprise
The act that took them all off guard, done right before their eyes
With finger paints now gathered, and opened on her desk
She smeared the colors upon her hands, in an entangles awful mess
And then as though she had lost her mind, she smeared her hands across
The painting once so beautiful….now a total loss
It did not make a bit of sense, they did not understand
As they sat and watched their teacher wipe the paints off her hands
And then she took the crayons, and went up and down the rows
And handed to each student, the colors that she chose
“Now”, she told the students, “I want you to create
A picture filled with beauty, devoid of any hate.”
Mouths dropped open widely, mumbles filled the room
and students looked to one another, as unasked questions seemed to loom
For the students with white paper, were given crayons the same shade
And the students with black crayons, had been given a raven colored page
And how could one create splendor, with no colors to mix and match
The students were quite certain, their teacher had left out most of the facts
“Teacher”, a student’s voice was heard, “I am not so sure I can”
Staring at the white crayon and white paper in her hand
Silence overtook the room, it eerily crept about
Causing the teacher’s gentle voice to erupt into a shout
“You each share the same problem, you each possess the power to resolve
But only the students with open minds, will have the ability to solve.”
Minutes ticked away, the class was nearing to an end
And not a single student knew quite how to begin
And when the bell rang out, and they hurried to their feet
Their teacher told them commandingly, to return back to their seat
“Before you leave this classroom, I think you each should know
For this assignment, you receive a failing grade, for you have no work to show
And tomorrow, and the next day, your assignment shall be the same
And those who fail my class will have only themselves to blame.”
The next day, and the following, the students weren’t quite sure what to do
Until at last, a solution, began to surface through
When one student with his crayon, and paper both in black
Turned to the student behind him and asked, “May i borrow that?”
The student hesitated, but then gave up his crayon made of white
And ultimately the assignment, no longer seemed a plight
For students all throughout the class switched crayons, up and down the aisles
And certain they had found the solution, their faces lit with smiles
And just as every student began to draw, across an empty page
The teacher whom they had all began, to see as certainly quite strange
Collected all the pages and crayons, without a single mark
And then spoke aloud, “Thank you for bringing hope into my heart
You see, I wanted you to realize that in order to create
A picture filled with beauty, devoid of any hate
You needed first to recognize that a problem did exist
And that a practical solution could be found, within your midst
And that racism is a problem each of us must face
Working ll as one, before it is much too late
And with open eyes and open hearts, we must see the person, not the color of their skin
And come to the understanding that racism has to end
For together, we are a family, we cry tears, we all feel pain
And thought we may not look the part, that’s exactly what we do
For crayons are just colors, that’s all our skin is too.”
Students looked about the room, a variety of colors on their skin
As the point she was trying to make began to settle in
The looks upon their faces readily explained
That they each were trying to contemplate; that indeed, they were the same
A nervous shuffling of papers and coughs throughout the room
Portraying the vital image, that fighting over crayons was a stupid thing to do
It was then each student realized, the purpose of crayons and papers the same shade
Was to prove that they needed to other color, to help fill their empty page

Silence seized the moment, as one student raised his open hand
And then spoke in hesitation, “I just don’t understand…
Why your took your painting, the one you seemed to enjoy so very much
Gathered up your finger paints, to destroy it in a touch.”

Sadness filled her face, as a tear trailed upon her cheek
And in slow and heartfelt words, she began to speak
“To show you each that colors can be beautiful, but they also can destroy
Everything we love and work for, everything we each enjoy
And the destruction of something that i loved, was to make a point to you
That racism destroys the beauty in us all,
And that fighting over colors, is a destructive thing to do.”

Yippee..I have been tagged.. again… by kaps a.k.a moonriver (again )

Its a game of eights.

EIGHT THINGS I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT

1. Doggies
2. Foooood!!!
3. Music
4. Good stuff to read
5. My future
6. My views about relationships ( oooo i like using that word )
7. My Blog
8. World Peace !! ( m serious…the world is going to the dogs…Indians who have seen/read the news the last two days will know what I am talking about)

EIGHT THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE

1. See that everyone around me is happy with me. (tough one, i know)
2. Learn to box
3. Learn to Bar-tend
4. Skate properly on good roads.
5. Punch each and every person who ever gave me even the slightest amount of pain
6. Amass the best music and book collection I can
7. Learn Malayalam and Japanese/Chinese fluently
8. Send the ones I love on a world tour. (i know i am giving typical answers…but i mean all of it)

EIGHT THINGS I OFTEN SAY

1. Doggieee!!!!
2. Bussss!! (When m waiting for a bus to come at the college gate with a heavy bag on my shoulders)
3. Sheeesh
4. ooopsy!
5. Life balances itself (thats a new one i just started saying )
6. Baluuuuu (when i see a cute baby)
7. Yikes and eeks ( tie )
8. hehehehehe (snort snort) hehehehe

EIGHT BOOKS I’VE READ RECENTLY

1. 11 minutes (just finished)
2. Shantaram (awesome…reading)
3. 3 mistakes of my life (reading)
4. Blue Dahlia
5. The Valkyries
6. A Thousand Splendid Suns
7. Witch of Portobello
8. The Romance of Tata Steel

EIGHT SONGS I COULD LISTEN TO, OVER AND OVER

(these are subject to change)

1. Abhi nahi aana - Sona Mohapatra
2. Its only love - Sheryl Crow
3. Always on your side - Sheryl Crow
4. Girl from Ipenema - Frank Sinatra
5. Burn - Deep Purple
6. Somebody to love - Nelly Furtado
7. Bombay theme music - A. R. Rehman
8. You’re the inspiration - Chicago

EIGHT THINGS THAT ATTRACT ME TO MY BEST FRIENDS

1. They are always there for me if I feel the need to call on them
2. They listen to the utter rubbish I reel out..all the senseless talk included
3. They make me happy no matter what..even if I am rolling on the floor begging them to stop
4. They don’t gossip
5. They know when to hold my hand and when to be harsh
6. All the nice moments we have shared and crazy things we have done
7. They need me as much I need them
8. Aur kya reasons sochu yaar……. just am glad i know people who let me be me

EIGHT PEOPLE TO TAG

m gonna break this rule maybe… and i have to mention PAB here…miss reading ur blog gal..where r u???

ok… i tag ithink,nishi, pinksocks, akshar, delta1(if he wants to do this one ), raji, maverick (if he can find the time :P) and PAB…i don’t care when she does it, but she has to do this tag

Those of us blessed with a weak memory are truly lucky. The happiest man is the one with the weakest memory. Heard this on T.V yesterday.. A man can do something really good or really bad when he is not concerned of the consequences. The brave martyrs who fought for our country’s freedom and the suicide bombers have pretty much the same motivations. No thought of self, of future. Only one aim in life. But the rest of us here are mere mortals with all the vices you could probably think of. One of them is probably the inability to let go. Probably the most difficult thing to do is walk away from someone you care about. And perhaps even more difficult, is to have someone walk away from you. We use this term, forgive and forget,  but apart from the alliteration effect, I don’t think the two words match much.

Some experiences shape the person you are. You can chose to forgive, but there is very less you can do about forgetting. Some will call this holding on to the past, things that happened years ago should not come to mind at present, but they do… not in the form of memories, in the form of people you meet, situations you face, decisions you make (or rather decisions you choose to stick to), and then there is a big confusion. Is this nostalgia? I don’t think so, fond memories, yes, but do they make me happy??

Then what is it, that prevents us from forgetting, while it is a lot easier to just forgive? I am still to find an answer to that. It is possible for some to be indifferent. I have seen a lot of people who don’t need anyone to lean on, or rather are afraid, or unwilling to be dependent on another human being. Call it self reliance if you may, but I call it misrouted arrogance. And there are others who cling to the mere fact that there are people who care, and find that reason enough to live a happy life. Are they really stronger for being able to face their inner fears and realize their strengths and weaknesses? Or is it all kiddish pretense, another way of boosting your own image for yourself? But then aren’t those who face the world solo fooling themselves too? Will there not come a time when you will look around and find no one  at your side? How will that make you feel?

I turn one year old as a blogger today.

So..After one year of blogging, 67 posts, and 321 comments………..

• How do I feel???
  
  Goood

• What future plans?

  Continue the mad raving and occasional musing.

• Learned anything?

  Well…Just that it feels good to express yourself. And maybe even better when you find out that there are other nutters like you out there, who can relate with what you say and comment about it.

• Anything to say about blogging?
  
  Yes. Blogging totally rocks man! I have made so many friends, and this is like a parallel world to me, where I can be whoever I am, say want I want without fear or shame.
  Cheers to Blogging!! And a big THANK YOU to everyone who has ever visited my blog (sniff sniff) Love you guys, rock on.

P.S. Jaane Tu is awesome…. I wont waste my time writing a review about it, I am probably the last to watch it anyways

Its Hilary Duff, so its a bit cheesy and teenage-y but I like it all the same…

In a moment, everything can change
Feel the wind on your shoulder
For a minute, all the world can wait
Let go of your yesterday

Can you hear it calling
Can you feel it in your soul
Can you trust this longing
And take control

Fly
Cover up the part of you that wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons why you can’t in life
And start to try, cause it’s your time
Time to fly

All your worries, leave them somewhere else
Find a dream you can follow
Reach for something, when there’s nothing left
And the world’s feeling hollow

And where you’re down and feel alone
Just wanna run away
Trust yourself and don’t give up
You know you’re better than anyone else

Any moment, everything can change
Feel the wind on your shoulder
For a minute, all the world can wait
Let go of yesterday

Fly
Over up the part of you that wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons why you can’t in life
And start to try
Forget about the reasons why you can’t in life
And start to try
Cause it’s your time
Time to fly

Any moment, everything can change

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands

If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it,  if you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.

I wonder where those phrases come from. I never find lonely deserted towns to be dusty. I never find villages sleepy. Instead I find them a lot more vibrant and fresh than any of the cities we live in. Going down a road that is used by cars, buses, trucks, bullock-carts and people alike, I found myself feeling things that I would never feel otherwise. I think traveling does this to most of us. There is a certain clarity of thoughts. I think that is one of the reasons why most Paulo Coelho books say that travel plays an important role in discovering oneself. The road to Santiago may or may not be a reality, but it is a dream journey.

Acres and acres of green fields stretch out on both sides of the road that keeps twisting and turning through valleys. We travel alongside rivers that are meandering their way through the path of least resistance. Come to think of it, the river has carved out the very valley we are traveling in, it has that power, but yet it chooses to lengthen its journey, to sweep along the the valley like a sparkling snake, taking its time, savouring the extra twists and turns. Do you believe in omens? I do, I believe anything, and object, any incident can be interpreted to become some sign that relates to your life.

The occasional doggie, crossing the road completely brown in colour because of the monsoon. Where the population is dense enough, ( a cluster of houses), a couple of chickens scurrying along the side of the road. We passed many bullocks standing tall, tethered to their carts, at full height even taller than our car. Feels so weird, seeing there powerful creatures being tamed by humans who are plainly a lot weaker. Maybe it is a matter of convenience, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. You ensure I live a secure life, and I will serve you with all that I have.

And then comes the most pleasantly surprising sight. A group of at least 20 girls, dressed in the most funny uniform that I have seen, but nevertheless, obviously on their way to school. 20 girls! That must be the entire girl population of the village, all traipsing along the road, that doesn’t have a building in sight for at least 4-5 Kilometers. What does education mean to these people? Only one of these girls will probably see any city, or live a life that does not involve her village. Then why do you need an education? I realized with a shock how difficult it must be for the Government to plan out the education of a country where on one hand, you have students murdering other students with guns stolen from their parents, and on the other hand there are these 20 girls, walking up and down two hills and valleys to get to their school. What does a good education mean to me? It means I can call myself an Engineer, that I can apply my talents and hopefully enrich my lifestyle, and my standards of behavior and living, along with doing my bit for the society. It also means another obvious thing - A means of making money; of making a place for myself in the rat race, or rather, developing a career. But what does it means to these people. It is here that education takes its true meaning - Progress. They need to know how to handle a bank account, about how the world functions, about what rights they lawfully have. They need to know how to handle transactions. They are not thinking of careers, they are thinking of adapting and progressing.

All in all, I see nothing dusty or sleepy about villages. All I see, is a source a peace and calm, and a certain fresh approach to living. Is this what they call waking up and smelling the roses?

This post is dedicated to Adhiraj, one of my closest friends. I had told him I would write something about him about 6 months ago, and here it is finally. Adhi is one person who is capable of bringing a million expressions on his face without even making an effort! Most of them add comic relief to some tense situations and the others are enough to keep me laughing for hours. So three cheers for adhi and his humorous company!

In the bus, wishing people would stop taking photos

This is how an Engineering student looks while performing utterly boring pracs

Did anyone just say lets play games on my Playstation 3?

Please dont make me walk on the beach!

Say cheeeese!!

Thats him in Higher Secondary

Now thats a nice pic!

Heres what his orkut testimonial that I wrote says:

I’ve known adhi for abt 3 yrs now.. and he is a very nice person to know..
HOBBIES: bugging others(especially girls), teasing, irritating
making others laugh… he can make me laugh for abt 2 continuous hours..
playing video games..
F1, football
ASSETS: a face that has the funniest expressions
his CAR!!!
ability to imitate teachers
his “logical” mind
well.. adhi is a very loyal(he he), caring friend, who is always good company..

Many thanks to our common friends who provided some rare photos.

1. Which is better to channelize all those negatives? Anger or sadness?
2. Which is better? Knowing that you know only about half a subject and scoring accordingly, or thinking that you know everything and scoring 80% when you don’t really know anything.
3. Why does the need to write something come right in the middle of exams?
4. What is the difference between love and need? Is there really any difference? Is selfless love a myth? When we say I love you, don’t we mean I need you? Does that make us selfish?
5. How long will it take for the exams to test really what you know? Ultimately, why do all exams come down to testing whether you can learn about 1200 pages per subject by heart, without really bothering to understand any of it? Why is there so much pressure that even when you try to understand you just end up memorizing it because there is just no time?
6. What is it about the rains that make me want to sit down in the balcony and read a good book?
7. If who you are, are the people you surround yourself with, and one day there are no people, then who are you now?
8. Why why why are dogs so lovable, and why why why cant i have one??
9. Why do re-runs look so interesting today when you’ve got one of the most boring papers to answer tomorrow?
10. Where do the advert guys from Vodafone come up with such cute ideas from? (loved the one with the bucktoothed kid sharing a drop of ink with his pretty friend )
11. Sometimes why does instrumental music say much more than anything with lyrics can?
12. A year from now, will I look at these questions and laugh at myself?

We hear a lot about the youth of today going to waste. But at the same time there is also talk about youth doing wonderful things. We are growing up in a world full of such ironies. How many parents would like their children to take up the career as a social activist or social worker?? You want engineers and doctors, but you also want youth who care about everything else happening in the world, and believe it or not, these days , it is possible. All you elders were young too, at some point of time, and i am sure you can identify with our lives and our problems, but there is only a certain limit to which you can really feel what we feel. There is only a certain point upto which all the wise and experienced people can claim to have been there and done that.

I never thought I would quote Alanis Morissette on my blog, but here is something from her that I actually liked. And though it doesn’t actually represent how I personally feel or what i see among my friends, I think it pretty much sums up the so called problem we have with youth today.

Hand in my pocket - by Alanis Morissette

I’m broke but I’m happy
I’m poor but I’m kind
I’m short but I’m healthy, yeah
I’m high but I’m grounded
I’m sane but I’m overwhelmed
I’m lost but I’m hopeful baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything’s gonna be fine fine fine
I’ve got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five

I feel drunk but I’m sober
I’m young and I’m underpaid
I’m tired but I’m working, yeah
I care but I’m worthless
I’m here but I’m really gone
I’m wrong and I’m sorry baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything’s gonna be quite alright
I’ve got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette

What it all comes down to
Is that I haven’t got it all figured out just yet
I’ve got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving the peace sign

I’m free but I’m focused
I’m green but I’m wise
I’m shy but I’m friendly baby
I’m sad but I’m laughing
I’m brave but I’m chicken shit
I’m sick but I’m pretty baby

And what it all boils down to
Is that no one’s really got it figured out just yet
I’ve got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano

What it all comes down to my dear friends
Is that everything’s just fine fine fine
I’ve got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxicab…