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1 million times i fell,
1 million times i will fall,
1 million attempts i will make to get back up
Like a phoenix, then i will rise and stand tall.

1 million smiles i saw till now
1 million more will befall
1 million times i will get sad
But seeing others smile i will laugh and stand tall

1 million bad deeds i have stood against
1 million more i will stall
1 million times i will fight injustice
With indignation and courage i will stand tall

1 million i have given
1 million more i will give without pall
Please let the world be a better place
That's the only 1 i will ask in return from you all

-Anonymous

FLIGHT

Who doesn’t want to be a superhero? Everyone, and I mean everyone with an above average imagination level yearn to feel the breeze flow over their face, feel the villains jaw break under their clenched fist, feel the adulation of their innumerable fans. But reality crushes this concept like any scared man does to an innocent cockroach. The cockroach doesn’t know what hit it until what hit it, hit it. Our imaginations are crushed in the same manner.

            But there are a few who are able to recover from such a hit. They realize what a boner reality is but they don’t forget their imagination. It is this that gives them power. What makes a man, a superman in the world of reality is enthusiasm, belief in self, belief that although he may never take off from the ground he can still make others do. Rise and the world will rise with you. Push and the world will help you push harder. Joke and the world will laugh for you.  Don’t just sit there and relax. GET UP and run forward. Run like you have never before, run like your life depends on it, run fast, faster than the wind and at this point you will take off. Run……..

            This is all Sanjeev had to hear. He got out of his couch, out of his house, onto the street and he bagan to run. It was midnight, not a soul in sight except for a single mad man running.  His slumbering spirit had woken up with a jerk, a jerk that shook every foundation of his existence. Fear, anger, depression, hate, envy; had all these been human would have trembled at the sight of his spirit rising like a phoenix. Sanjeev had gone through this phase countless number of times, but this was different. He could feel the thrust that his exuberance imparted. He felt light, slowly leaving the contact with the ground. All materialistic attractions faded away and felt hollow, tensions and frustrations scurried into their holes with their tails tucked between their legs. He was running towards a light growing in form and intensity. There was a thud and then an eerie screech and Sanjeev was off the ground. The truck that had hit him veered off control and came to a thundering halt, its rubber all worn out. Sanjeev was indeed flying. 

The boy who felt good feeling bad

            What a party it was with all the merriment and the dancing and the activities. Suri, as he would be called lovingly by his friends was having a bash. He was kind of a guy who would love to be the center of attention and at the same time act humble about it. He loved being appreciated by all but acted with an air of disregard for his appraisals. There was no doubt he had a plethora of talents, the list of which never seemed to end, but his actions were always backed by a selfish motive.

            Anyways, the party was going on really well. He had won a couple of prizes and a couple of hearts. But the prude that he was, he ignored the situation completely and continued the merriment with his male allies. He was happy as an early bird with its first catch as he was aware of the attention he was receiving, circumspect that he was about such activities around him. But he was not feeling good. He was happy!!! And yet not feeling good about it!!!

            Now it was the same guy who would try to become the sun for all the planets around him. He would do anything to make others like him. He would sense dislike and try everything in his might to overturn every vote against him. Why was he feeling bad? It was this realization that opened his eyes to the reality around him. He had stooped to such a low that he would have to dawn the role of an experienced mountain climber to scale back up.

            He realized that the only way to know he is on the right track is if there exist people who hate him. This led to the corollary that all these days he spent happily he was not. And hence the only way to be happy is to be not. Thereby he came to be know (only to himself) as the boy who felt good feeling bad.

POEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, i like to try different things now and then. So, i said i'll do it, when my friend came up to me to ask me to accompany him to a poetry recital contest.Well what he meant was to just accompany him till the foot of the podium and i took it seriously and prepared myself a set of poems so that i would give him company even on the stage. Sadly though none of our poems got selected, so,.........here it goes......

Fly with me

I kept one foot out on the balcony

And pushed as hard as I could

I saw the ground beneath me shrink

As towards the heavens I took

I felt the wind blow through my hair

And over my back it swept

Under my belly it did a tickle

Through the air I crept

I raced the clouds

I raced the birds

I raced to the lords abode

I saw bliss everywhere as the mighty wind I rode

I was at peace

I felt blessed

I felt like ruler of all

And then was pulled back to the earth

When she cut the call….

ALL ELUSIVE LOVE 
Love is in the air they say

Love is in every one they say

Within every soul and every cell

How far it is true I cannot tell

I don’t know how far it is true

For I have not experienced it till now

But from the definition given I can safely say,

Love seems to be describing god in every way

I have gone to great lengths to experience love

Only I know what I have been through and how

I will give the lucky ones an ovation, a bow

And will continue on my quest for this all elusive love

Love is experienced by species all over

But only a human can contemplate its worth

It is like a river on route to its, vast, blue, soul mate

Trashing and bashing its hurdles, bracing itself and gushing forth

Nothing can stop its invigorating approach,

Cutting through earth like a mighty plough

And those who are yet to achieve this feat,

Will continue on their quest for this all elusive love.

Will I

Ring Ring rang the bell

The fight between the two was raging like hell

One was a demon the other an angel

The fight between the two was raging like hell

No one gave up no one gave in

Both were in a tiff, determined to win

They were fighting for their own cause

One for the power of will

And the other for time to kill

Angel summoned the strength within

Raging with fire, burning the demon’s skin

Demon in turn, wielded its force

Fought without honor, without remorse

Just when it seemed the demon would win

The angel ascended in might,

Fire within it thundering bright

Covering the eyes, retreating in shame

The demon knew it had lost the game

Ring Ring rang the bell

Out of the comfort of the bed I fell

The power of will had triumphed

Laziness retreating but my head bumped

With head held high I awoke

As the sunshine from the window broke

And it dawned on me, a hard day at work

I looked like an idiot, I felt like a dork

Oh, I wish the demon had won

This entire headache, I would have had none…..

DEPRESSION

I am depressed within and without

I do not know why; not even know why not

So, I ventured in far, I ventured in deep,

Into my soul’s abyss, I had a peep 

I got so involved I couldn’t even sleep,

With depression seething inside me, let more of it, into me, seep

And then with a jolt, out of this nightmarish dream, I did a leap

I said, I have done 22 now, have at least 60 more to reap

Then just as it had come in, out it went in a fleet

But with energy inside me, all deplete

The seed of happiness inside me I had sown

Pretty soon into a flourishing tree it will be grown

I was depressed within and without

I did not know why, but rid of it I had got.

TRUE GOD....

          The earth trembled and the noise reverberated in every household as the construction of the temple in the centre of Chennai continued for two months. The purpose of the temple was to dedicate it to the learning’s of the great entrepreneur and philanthropist in his life. Everyone knew the agnostic nature of the great Saravan Subramanian and were flummoxed to hear that the same agnostic was building a temple. No one knew to which lord the temple was dedicated to but rumors went around that people will be able to see the true form of the Gods in the temple.

          After two months of enduring the cacophony of the construction for two months that seemed like decades to few, people were flabbergasted to find a humungous structure the looked like the pyramids of Egypt. On top of the pyramid was a traditional south Indian style structure found in all the temples. Sadly though, Saravan expired during the construction of the temple due to reasons unknown but his son continued the construction without a delay.

          People started to pour in on the day of the opening. They wanted to see what the grand structure which overlooked the whole of Chennai truly had within its walls. They entered to find a staircase with a spiral that had a decreasing circumference as it moved to the top. It was split into two ways for ascending and descending people. Along the walls were the carvings of Mahabharat and Ramayan in series of key events in these sagas. Towards the end of the ascent were writings saying that you will meet the true God at the top and made this abundantly clear to all. The temple interior was simple and had a very serene sanctity. By the time people reached the top they felt at peace. The entrance to the top portion of the temple was flanked by two pillars. On one of the pillars was written the word “BELIEVES” and on the other was written “REALIZE” but no one could guess what for. The entered the top room to find a huge mirror and seats in front of it. On top of the mirror was written

“Look into the mirror and you will find the true GOD”

I am Righteous

          We all are confused at a point in our lives, what we are to do with it. Only a select few do what they feel is the right thing. Sheel was in a confused state of mind. He wanted to do great things in his life. He wanted to live life to the max. He considered Richard Branson, the Virgin founder as a God. He tried to emulate his god but he lacked certain essential components. He knew that he lacked something but knew not what.

          So, one day Sheel took a general ticket and boarded the sleeping class on the Chennai Mail from Mumbai to Pune. He did this to so that he can have the comfort of the second class for the price of the General. The train left Dadar, Mumbai at 11.55 PM and was to reach Pune at 3.30 AM the next day. 4 hours of journey only, bah, what could go wrong? When he boarded the train he noticed that the general class had actually a number of seats vacant unlike the normal case wherein it is filled to its brink. This surprised him but undaunted he still boarded the sleeper class.

Sheel got a very chatty neighbor who went on rambling on about his adventures. The chatty, yet concerned neighbor told him stories of how he had travelled ticket less on many occasions and that such a thing was not possible now-a-days because of how the ticket checkers had become very strict. This led Shell into a frenzy and he went on pondering as to whether he should get on the general class on the next stop. He thought about being righteous and doing what was right and not getting caught with the wrong ticket. So, he got up and went to the end of the train closest to the general compartment in order to align it in the next station- Kalyan. He met a bunch of police officers on the way who appeared very friendly and offered a helping hand. They told that he would not require going to the general bogie and could stay with them for they were also getting down at pune. He considered the help but withdrew when one of them asked for some chai-pani (bribe). He was unfazed that he was taking the right decision and doing the right thing.

Sheel got down in Kalyan and immediately bore witness to the humungous crowd pushing each other to get into the general compartment. Well, skeptical about getting a seat, but yet unshaken he waited to board the last into the bogie. He got no seat but he was brimming with self respect because he had taken the right decision. He kept his head raised high. He was then getting extremely bored and frustrated of the pain that was building up in his legs because of standing for a long time. He took a book and started to read. After a while he got so restless and desperate for relief and sat on the cold metal floor. His ass was freezing but at least he was more comfortable. His raised head started to lower. Eventually it was completely down, resting on his neck. He was very sleepy. Just when he was to go into a trance of a sleep, the train stopped and it ushered in a whole lot more people, construction workers, mostly. They squeezed themselves into whatever gap they could find, leaving absolutely no space for more. He got a strip of space and had to make do with it.

It was harrowing for Sheel and couldn’t bear anymore. Over that he found out that the train was an hour late. That was the last straw. Then and there he decided that he would no more be righteous in his ways for it is those who were not that got the comfort and happiness that life had to offer. Thankfully the train was not late, got down and let off the steam that was building up in his bladder and took a rickshaw towards home. He felt good that he had such an experience was rid of it. It was a freezing night in Pune and as he was headed home he went through the whole drama in his head.

One thing struck him very strong. He was the first to make a mistake and not board the general class in Dadar in the first place. Secondly, he made his decision to be righteous only after he was warned by the friendly co-passenger. So, effectively he was wrong from the start. His righteousness emanated from fear and not morality.

Every fool knows what is right, but only the wise know how to do the right thing.

To moon or not to moon...final installment

The day had passed and still no communication about the moon mission was received. Sanjeev was lying down on the lawn, staring at the night sky at the moon. He knew, India’s first manned mission to the moon had taken an unsuspecting turn. He was the only one in India who was not listening to the radio or watching television. He felt that the hype media had created about the mission was too much and we were so dumb as to have a mission that would just go round the moon and back and not land on it. What was the point of such a mission?

          But he was staring at the sky, although he hated the over hype, he wanted the mission to succeed. He was wondering what it would be like on the moon. He felt a chill. He saw the moon narrowing down in his vision. He was fast asleep in moments.

          (Beep)… (Beep)…..Sanjeev woke up to a weird environment. There were blinking lights and beeping noises on a black background. He was right below a bulb like object that was blinking in a never-before-seen fashion. It was going on and off but it seemed as if the light coming out was black. He felt a black beam of light emanating from the bulb. He looked around and was astonished to find that he was hovering. He shrugged heavily and fell off on the floor once he was out of the scope of the black beam. He noticed a door and opened it into a hallway with four other rooms. He opened the first door and found the five astronauts from the hanuman mission suspended on thin air in a similar fashion as he was.

          He narrowed his eyebrows at this queer sight not able to understand the plight of his situation. He however, proceeded to the five with the intention of waking them up. As he closed on them he noticed their complexion was pale. Ignoring this, he tried to wake them up but soon realized the reason behind the pale complexions. They were dead.

          Petrified, he returned to the hallway to find two figures of no particular shape hovering towards him. He panicked and tried the second door. He opened it to find a series of cars, varying from Fords to Lamborghinis and Peugeots to Tatas, luxury cars to commercials ones all in a neat arrangement. He narrowed his brows further. Realizing the two disfigured hovering towards him went for the third door. He opened it to a party in a discotheque, and the dancers were only Bollywood actress in sleazy dresses. Finding his predicament fishy and yet not discarding it completely went for the final door. It opened to a bright room with echoes of his name being repeated in a thunderous manner by a familiar noise- his MOM……

          Sanjeev woke up in his bedroom to reality……a frustrating day at the office.