Zero Posts Left #ATOZCHALLENGE

I confess that I am in a hurry here. I am a day late and currently rushing to complete the A to Z challenge. It has been such a wonderful experience. Every day, the letter I had to write for the day was always at the back of my mind. I was looking for inspiration everywhere. Sometimes, the posts came from the discussions at work while sometimes they were based on the words suggested by my friends. The learning has been immense in the challenge. There were a lot of new readers and it has become a morning ritual to check my blog for new comments. 

Before I paint a completely rosy picture, I must admit the downfalls of having to write a post a day. Sometimes, I had to compromise on my sleep hours while sometimes I had to compromise on the quality. But the encouraging words from the comments section kept me going. Thank you readers. 

I am here finally, with zero posts left to write for the challenge. It has been a great challenge, testing both my preseverance and writing skills. But I pledge to continue to write, atleast a post a week. Adios!

You #ATOZCHALLENGE

You. Yes, I am talking to you. You know that you are awesome, right ? No matter what the societal norms dictate, you are indeed awesome in your own way. Our society tries to judge an elephant by its ability to swim and a fish with its ability to climb. We judge people without knowing their full story. I am not being preachy here. I have done it innumerable times myself. What I want to emphasise here is it does not really mean much what others think of you. In the end, all that counts is what you think of yourself. It has the power to change the way the society perceives you. If you look carefully, one trait you will find among all success stories is the self-confidence. It is given different names - conviction, self-esteem and sometimes even arrogance. But then, it is the underlying factor in all of them - knowing that you are awesome. 

Xerox Shop #ATOZCHALLNGE

He loved the Xerox shop. Every time, he landed at the Xerox shop to take a copy of the study notes, he went into his land of imaginations. He always had to wait in line, staring monotonously at the wall. He had gotten into the habit of letting his imagination run scot-free during the wait. He had a small book with him where he took note of the ideas that came to him during the wait. It ranged from starting a xerox shop, offering competitive prices to this one to building a global brand for micro finances. 

Years later, as he sat down in his cubicle turned into yet another corporate slave, he let his imaginations run scot-free as he stared at the code that was compiling. Buried under the code files and excel sheets, his business plan lay waiting, patiently for his patience to run out. 

Words #ATOZCHALLENGE

Words. 

Some are short

Some are long

Some are common

While some are rare

But no matter what

They flow endlessly

Through my keyboard

On to my very own space

On the internet

With a hope 

That you will find it one day

Before this darkness that engulfs

Consumes me completely

Turning my dreams 

Into Ashes

And I am no Phoenix

Though I wish I was one

Vixen #ATOZCHALLENGE

She was a vixen
One of those untamed souls
Always head held high
Shoulders squared and ready for a fight
Retorts on tip of her tongue

But to him, she was a dream
Gift-wrapped in bright colors
With glittering eyes and sharp edges
Stares that could freeze lakes
And a smile that could melt rocks

He worshiped her contours under the stars
Striving to memorize her shapes
Like the sky, she could never be fully his
Though that one night he had
Was enough for this lifetime of his

Unknown to you #ATOZCHALLENGE

I wish I could tell you,

How much I adore you.

Every time I see you,

A smile blooms.

Every time I speak with you,

My lips curve.

I try not to fall,

But I already have.

I try not to show,

But I miserably fail.

I try not to love,

But I really do.

I know this is wrong,

For you belong to someone else.

I know this is impossible,

For fate will have the final laugh.

I know we are not meant to be,

For anonymous I will always remain..

P.S. : This is something I had written years back. I kept coming back to this every time I started thinking about the letter 'U'. It was like I had hit a road block and I had to climb over no matter how much I try to find my way around it. 

Try until you succeed #ATOZCHALLENGE

He was determined to play with his brother today. But as usual, he and his friends were ignoring him. They were not passing the ball to him. Being a two-year-old, it was bound to happen. Amma always told him stories where the hero never gave up until he succeeded. Today, he was also going to try, try and try to reach the ball and kick it. With this resolve, he ran  towards the middle of the playground hurling towards the big football. 

At that exact moment, his brother kicked the ball in his direction. The ball took a huge curve and landed on his face. Thud! he fell to the ground, trying to grab the ball. Soon, his brother's friends surrounded him and started fussing around him. Throwing a huge tantrum and thrashing the ground, he again reached for the ball and caught it between his tiny hands. He was about to kick it when Amma picked him up. She was annoyed that he was now covered in mud from the head to toe. But he was happy that he got to hold the ball for today. Tomorrow is another day, he thought with a sigh as Amma doused him with a bucket of water.

Summers and Books #ATOZCHALLENGE

Growing up, summer holidays were my favorite part of the year. Those care-free days. Those endless badminton playing sessions. For me, it was more special since I spent my summer holidays with my grandmother at Bangalore. For a kid from Karur, Bangalore was this big city with gardens, parks, apartments, wide roads that were perfect for playing badminton. It still is, but a little more polluted and hotter than ever. I remember spending hours under the sun, with my grandmother calling out for lunch and tea. It was perfect. 

Then, the plague of summer classes hit. Suddenly, everyone was doing something or the other during summer holidays. I returned to Bangalore one year and was surprised to know most of my friends had taken up some computer class and were now speaking a different language now. Not to be left behind, I rushed home and told my uncle how I had to join a computer center immediately. Thankfully he refused and gave me books to read to instead. And as they say, rest is history. I am a self confessed bookworm now. 

What is your summer tale ? Share your experiences in the comment section below !

Revenge #ATOZCHALLENGE

She sat in the corner sulking. All kinds of thoughts ran through her mind. She had wanted to pounce on him. But, she had behaved maturely and let it go. As she waited silently for him to reach his room, she imagined the look on his face when he opened his cupboard. 'Serves him right for being a tattletale', she thought, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. She could hear his footsteps now. His scream reverberated through the house, as the cold bucket of ice emptied on him from the cupboard. She took the saying 'Revenge is a dish best served cold' quite literally to the heart. Well, all is fair in love and war, especially when it's between siblings!

Queues - Lesson Learnt While Waiting in One #ATOZCHALLENGE

Queues. Something that we as Indians will never really understand. The concept seems positively alien to us. Tell people to make a queue and wait for something and you will see leadership qualities evolving all around you. There will be people telling you why they should be prioritized over others

. 

My most recent encounter with this annoying attitude that we seem to possess as a nation was at the Aircel Chennai Open 2016 Finals at the SDAT stadium in Nungambakkan, Chennai. The event management and planning was very poor, inefficient and chaotic. People, who had bought online tickets had to get validated and get actual tickets at one counter while the entrance itself had a long queue for the security checks. 

Now there were three counters open where tickets can be collected. With people being people, there were three long queues at the counter with lot of people trying to barge in the middle, some through friends while some were more bold and just joined in the middl. Anyone who have studied queuing theory will know that single line is the fastest model. Yet, we see this happening almost everywhere. We have to give credit to airline and bank industry in this regard for they have somehow managed to curb all natural instincts and successfully implement a single line system. 

There are occasions when we realize how too much use of something good can turn sour. This was one of them. After collecting the ticket, we headed towards entrance to see another long queue. To their credit, it was a single file. But as we neared the entrance, we saw a lot of people who were stepping aside and letting people move front. It was then I realized that the famous Indian Jugaad instincts had kicked in. People who came in groups split among themselves and were trying to reach the goal simultaneously. Lot of people near the gate were waiting in the queue without getting their tickets from the other counter ! This is what you call resource optimization. 

Picture #ATOZCHALLENGE

Thinking about topic for P led to thoughts about a dear departed friend and then my head became too murky to write. So decided to go for short fiction instead !

#1
Pictures speak louder than words, her mom said.
She wondered what the fuss was all about
when she recited the poem the boy from the picture taught her

#2
She looked picture perfect in her wedding dress
Only he knew her imperfect tattoo
That she had unsuccessfully tried to remove after their breakup

#3
Picture yourself in a happy place, the yoga instructor repeated.
It was always in his arms,
Even after all these years, they refuse to let her go.

Obsessions #ATOZCHALLENGE

I am still trying to catch up to the challenge and spent hours yesterday contemplating on what I should write for the letter O. 

Finally, the inspiration came from an office discussion I had today. We all have our own little obsessions with things. For some, keeping the desktop clean is an obsession, while for some, not doing so is an obsession. I fall under the second category. I clean up my desktop regularly and then fill it back with all the downloads. Somehow, empty desktops seem to project emptiness into me and hence the obsession to keep it full. 

In the discussion I had today, I discovered many useful tidbits about people and the predominant obsession seems to be around cleanliness and orderliness of the surroundings. I do not know how people would be interested and patient enough to wind back the power cable of the laptop in the evening while all I seem to be able to concentrate on is getting home. I am not sure how many of you knew this, but apparently the toothpaste should always be squeezed from the bottom. I was ignorant of this fact and now I cannot stop thinking about it whenever I see a toothpaste. 

This set me off on a serious thinking mode about obsessions and I realized that this is the beauty of human nature. Every individual is unique and has his/her own ideals. As long as the obsessions do not become compulsions that intrude and trouble others, I think it is okay to indulge in them. 

Do share your obsessions, if you have any in the comments below !

Norwegian Wood #ATOZCHALLENGE

I am trying to catch up to the A to Z challenge. I missed a couple of days because I was travelling to home. Last weekend, I spent an entire day reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. 

Now, I have heard a lot of people talk about Murakami, but somehow missed reading it until now. I have seen numerous lines/quotes beautifully written and expressed on love, loss and life by Murakami. So, my expectations were riding high when I started the book. 

The story is about a boy who loses his best friend to suicide, falls in love with his best friend's girl, struggles to overcome the depression and meets another lively girl who breezes life into his mundane existence. The book is absolutely beautiful, filled with very memorable lines. But if you ask me if I will recommend it to anyone, my answer would be 'No'. The book is so brilliantly written that depression flows from the pages of the book into the person reading it. You can feel the intense pain, confusion and feelings that the characters of the book experience through the words. It would probably leave you sapped of your energy.

These are my most favorite lines from the book, mainly because of the optimism. It shone like a lone star on a dark, dark night. 

You know, they've got these chocolate assortments, and you like some but you don't like others? And you eat all the ones you like, and the only ones left are the ones you don't like as much? I always think about that when something painful comes up. Now I just have to push these off and everything will be okay. Life is a box of chocolates.

Indeed, life is a box of chocolates ! 

Mondays #ATOZCHALLENGE

Believe it or not, I have a thing for Mondays. Usually, I will be one of the few persons to reach office. On other days, I am probably in the last few, but not on Mondays. I am generally quite excited to get back to work after blissfully spending my weekend(read here to see how I spend it). 

A lot of my friends and colleagues are surprised by this. For me, the logic is quite simple. I absolutely love my workplace and I have an excellent set of peers. I cannot wait to meet them again on Monday, after the brief hiatus. There are stories to share and jokes to laugh at. Plus, there are tasks to complete as well. I like to believe that I experience this strange euphoria due to the fact that I live life on my terms without worries. Weekends are for rejuvenation and I am back to work, fresh as a peach on Monday. 

Feel free to share your thoughts on Mondays :)

A Letter to Love #ATOZCHALLENGE

Dear Love,

I have been meaning to write to you for sometime now. But then, I convinced myself that it had not been long enough. Not yet. Though you never really visited me in person, I was fascinated by your cousins whom I have met over the years. Remember your youngest cousin Crush whom you sent my way while in college. I will never forget the embarrassing moment when I subjected to life lessons upon admission. Remember the close cousin, Unrequited love who stalked me for a while. I am sure it was not your fault. But it took two years for me to realize that it was not worth the pain and finally let go. 

Since then I have been waiting. Patiently. For you to visit. I hope you are better than your cousins. I accept that they gave me wonderful memories. But they also left scars. Some scars so deep that my emotions seem to have fallen into them and have been trapped there ever since. I hope that when you finally visit, you would bring with you the pieces of my heart your cousins took. I hope you would fix those scars and rescue my emotions. I do not want to meet any more of your cousins. I have just enough pieces of my heart left to be able to function normally. So let us not risk it now. 

Enough of this hide and seek. Let's meet up as soon as possible, shall we ? 

Kisses #ATOZCHALLENGE

She eagerly waited for days. She had wanted to go and get some herself. Yet, she resisted the temptation. She was becoming too addicted to it and had decided to stay away for a while.

But now she could not wait any longer. He had finally arrived. Excited, she ran towards the gate to welcome him. She could barely contain herself as he spoke. She was looking forward to the magical moment as she stared at him wide-eyed. Finally he stopped talking and went back to his desk. Her mobile beeped.

She ran excitedly towards his desk. The email read 'Hershey's kisses at my desk. Valid until the stocks last !'


P.S. : Today is my 100th post on the blog ! A special moment indeed :)

Justin Trudeau #ATOZCHALLENGE

I had a very hard time choosing today's topic:  Justin Trudeau or John Oliver. Two people I stalk continuously. Justin Trudeau won in the end.

So  Justin Trudeau became the Prime Minister of Canada after defeating and hence effectively ending the ten year long run of Stephen Harper. The man is simply amazing. He has the looks of a Hollywood star. French genes definitely helped. More so, he knows where and how to use it. I wish we had more Indian politicians like him.

Ever since he became the Prime Minister, he has won hears all over the world time and again through his actions. His cabinet has equal number of men and women and when asked why, he said 'Because it's 2015'. He has people with appropriate qualifications in appropriate portfolios unlike India where ministers became ministers because they are the most loyal members of the party.

He became a sensation when he received the Syrian refugees personally. This was at a time when governments in Europe were setting limitations on them. After a little research, I did find that he had drastically reduced the number of refugees that Canada would accept. That disappointed me a bit ut the gesture scored big on the world scenes. And sometimes, a little hope goes a long way.

His most recent new buzz is when he announced that he would deliver a full apology to the Komagata Maru incident. I do not see any world leaders rallying to offer apology for the most blatant acts that they had committed during their own time and here we had a prime minister who is willing to apologize for something that happened a century back. Totally admirable. 

As you might have already guessed, I am having a fan girl moment and this is absolutely a fan girl post about a politician whom I wish was Indian. 

Now watch this video where Justin Trudeau explains the importance of diversity and why we do not have to choose identities to integrate with the society. We are big enough to co-exist. 

If only #ATOZCHALLENGE

If only we could have met a little earlier

We could have become lovers !

If only I had taken the other job at Mumbai

We could have remained strangers !

If only I had not said the first hello

We could have remained only just co-workers !

If only you did not sit besides me in Office everyday

We could have remained just teammates!

If only I had refused to get on to your bike that night

We could have remained alive !

Holidays #ATOZCHALLENGE

I have always had a very laid back idea of a holiday. During a holiday, I will be most content if I were to just laze around the whole day and just do one thing awesome in the evening. Who am I kidding?! I will be happy if I don't do anything the whole day.

From time to time, I make sure I give myself these days. I read from a friend's blog once how he takes off once a month, spends entire day doing nothing but stare at the fan rotating in his bedroom ceiling. I tried it and you have to believe me when I say that it is the most therapeutic thing to do in order to destress. A sense of wellness filled me up and next day, I was skipping on
my steps to work.

What is your favorite thing to do on a holiday ?  Let me know in the comments

Gokarna Road Trip #ATOZCHALLENGE

So the year 2016 started with a bang. Barring a weekend trip to Shivasamudram waterfalls, I had not really traveled anywhere much for the past three months. And so, I became an irritated human being. I knew I had to travel again. Travelling, for me has become more like a ritual, an addiction with withdrawal symptoms when I miss it.

After weeks of searching for accommodation, optimizing routes and estimating the cheapest rental cars, the itinerary was set. Adding to the already long road trip plan was the marriage at Chittoor which I decided to go in the last minute. I was overjoyed that I was invited to it and made it a point to attend.

So my journey started on March 24 evening 4 o clock with a friend in a Santro. After driving for what seemed forever in long straight roads, we finally reached Chittoor at 9 in the night. After a small confusion which involved us going in rounds in search of the lodge where we were supposed to stay, we finally made it to the wedding at 9 30. I had a bus that would start from Chittoor bus stand at 10 40. Now the thing is Chittoor is a relatively small town and I have never been on Andhra buses before. I had booked an Express bus from APSTRC and not knowing what express meant and went directly to the bus stand from the marriage hall. Express bus is more like a local town bus I realized. To put it precisely, I was like the Red Woman from the Matrix trilogy.

We started from Bangalore by 7 in the morning after having refreshing coffee and bournvita from a small Nandhini stall at HSR. We had rented a Scorpio from Autoriders, one of the newer startups in the space of rental cars. Luckily, they did not have speed limit restriction set up yet and we were already darn excited about this.

Our first planned stop was the temples at Belur. Though we were way behind schedule due to the hopeless tyres in the Scorpio, we were able to make it to Belur by noon. We had to literally skip to the inside of the temple due to the scalding sun. The architecture of the temple was just mind-blowing. I have never seen more detailed temple carvings before

Beautiful carvings at the Belur Temple

Our next stop was Chikmagalur. We were staying at a homestay there, a tacky pink colored building. The adage 'Never judge a book by its cover' turned true here. We had the most wonderful experience for a very reasonable prize. In the hot hot summer, we had camp fire and barbecued chicken. The delicious food they served added to the high. We had a very adventurous drive to Kemmangudi. The roads were narrow and the Scorpio was really put to test. We reached the peak just in time for a magnificent view. Sadly, the cameras were all out of charge by then. 

The next day, we started to Gokarna. On the way, we stopped at Sacrebyle Elephant Camp. We were on time for the elephant's daily water dip. We seemed to have a knack at arriving at the right moment. There is something magnificent about the elephants and I was damn excited seeing them so much up close. To add to everyone's excitement, a baby elephant actually played with us for while, posing for photographs with such elan. 

The friendly Baby Elephant

Our next pit stop was Jog Falls. I am still not sure if the falls are real. They looked like they can be just mists falling over the cliffs. I have never been more mesmerized. I wanted to just sit at the bench and stare at the falls for hours. 

Mesmerized by the Jog Falls

We really visited a lot of placed in this trip. The next stop was Murudeswara. Again, we made it just when the sun was setting in the background. The Shiva statue there looked majestic. After a visit to the temple, we continued on the last stretch of the journey towards Gokarna. We were really not prepared for the deserted-ness of Gokarna. Night had already fallen and there was absolutely no one on the road. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere when we finally settled down at the cottages we had booked.

Kudle Beach at Gokarna

I was up early the next day and I should say, I was eager to see what Gokarna was all about. I was awestruck by the beauty of this place. Deserted beaches. Cliffs and Rocks that lead right to the water. This place was a dream. We were staying at the Kudle hilltop. We trekked down the hill, across the Kudle beach and crossed over to the Om Beach. From there, we took a ferry that showed us the rest of the beaches and dropped us back at Kudle. 

Commercialization has not yet reached Gokarna fully and hence we happily enjoy the waters without being surrounded by Hawkers. I finally understood what a true holiday retreat meant. We spent hours jumping with the waves. After a particularly big wave, I decided to get retired hurt and spent rest of the time playing with the sand. No one bothered us the entire time we were there. It felt heavenly. I was eagerly waiting to see the sunset at the beach, but had to return to the cottage. But then, after a short walk up a hill that looked quite interesting, I  chanced upon the most beautiful sunset. In the night, we found refuge in the famous Namaste Cafe, the only Cafe with the television to watch the India Vs Australia match. 

After the most dreamy vacation, we started back to Bangalore. Driving at 140 kmph speed, 10 hours later, we were to HSR, ready to get back to our corporate life, but having visited the place where time can come to a standstill.  

P.S. : This is my first travelogue and I have really struggled with it. So thanks for reading if you have reached the end :)