अंतर्नाद

December 7, 2012, Mumbai Cannot get out these lyrics out  of my head! Okay why am I listening to such sad lyrics when I am actually happy and elated! But then it’s how I work. Doing the opposite often keeps me neutral. Now you must be wondering and getting confused about actually I want to say. Why the lyrics and cry part? To cut a long story short (yep I love the Jeffrey Archer novels!) my visa got approved in the morning. One of my ‘suddenly’ cherished dreams came true. Like a normal person after waking up at 5 am, spending the complete day waiting in long queue, changing the numerous locals, going up and down the 16th floor, roaming half of Prabhadevi and Goregaon on foot I should be asleep by now, but still here I am at 12 am writing some silly stuff which is not at all lucid!  Ha-ha   But then it’s like a coded verse, few people read between my lines. (Oh, Prison Break fever is back again!) Too much of introduction I guess. Now hitting directly...

March 27, 2013, Arlington, Texas (Text written in 2010) Memories crowding ashore, leaving me all alone. Some sweet, some sour, a mixed bag all enclosed! I try not to open it, as it may leave me all soaked! # First Festival away from home (Holi) Wish you a very colorful Holi :)

(Text written in 2011) A new dawn is here to undo whatever was done the night before. It’s a new beginning, new start... a new realization to foresee what we  couldn't  see the days before; A new spirit to laugh out the silly world in which we were just before. No stuff is so much an issue as compared to our own happiness and we tend to forget that someone does find happiness in our happiness. Wear a smile; share a laugh because no sorrow is as great as a laugh. Shun all the stuff that was tearing you apart because wear and tear is only the games of heart. No need of wandering in the fairyland of past and tomorrow because living and dying in the same flow is not worth of a bravo. So just move on... just like the everyday dawn.

Had written this Marathi article for my newspaper after almost two years. Date: November 29, 2012 प्रिय वाचकांनो, पुन्हा एकदा मनापासून नमस्कार! आपली भेट जवळपास एक वर्षाने होतेय. कॉलेज आणि करिअरच्या चक्रव्हयू मध्ये  मी कधी आणि कशी अडकले कळलेच नाही. खरं सांगायचं झालं तर मला शेवटचा लिहिलेला लेख देखील आठवत नाही. आठवडयातून तीन लेख, मग दोन, मग एक, मग महिन्यातून एक,   मग फक्त स्पेशल एपिसोड करत करत फक्त काही पुरवण्यांची बांधणी आणि मग एकदम फुल स्टौप असा काहीसा क्रम मात्र आठवतो. माझी टीमशी चार वर्षांची ओळख जेवढी आकस्मित तेवढीच  अविस्मरणीय आहे. “वाचलेले आर्टिकल आवडले, काही चांगले विषय माझ्याकडे आहेत, मेल करू का” विचारणे काय, एका मिटींगला गेली काय आणि टीमची झाली काय! सगळंच एकदम थ्रिलिंग वाटलं होतं सुरवातीला. आणि हो, जाम सटारली पण होती. कारण एकतं एवढया प्रख्यात वर्तमानपत्रात लिहायचं आणि तेही मराठीत! सवय नाही की सोबतीला तगडा असा मराठी शब्दसंच वा अनुभव नाही. बापरे! कठीणच! पण हळूहळू कळले की हा तर एक संवाद आहे, लाखों का एक की जुब...

I never understand why people give so much importance to dates! Many asked me my placement date stating that it is one of the most important days. Oh really? Now you get to decide what is important for me! Whatever! I don’t remember the month leave alone the date in which I got placed. But I do remember that night, as clearly as it is. It’s been more than a year now, but still I do remember that day. Isn’t that enough? But ironically I remember every single day along with dates during the initial MS, the GRE-TOEFL dates, visa, and departure process. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t happy when I was placed; it’s just that it never felt right. Indeed I was happy but not excited. Now, I am realizing my dream, sitting right in the USA, miles apart from my lovely parents, friends and family still not excited. Today I have more than I could have asked for. But still I am quite neutral. Has the real excitement lost? Or has the process indeed drained me out? ...

Working as a freelance writer in a newspaper for four years has made me to elaborate the things so much! I always had ‘this topic must have about 800 words (sometimes 1000 too!)’ instructions. Before entering this field I had this weird concept that to be an appealing writer you need to write long verses and sentences and they no doubt should have heavy words. Not only that, he needs to be the one who knows all the words! Practically looking at it, this is not really necessary! He should be a great story teller, honest and true in his writings. The one thing that will hold the reader till the end without skipping the middle tales is the narration! If he is successful in capturing reader’s attention, bang on, got a follower! Indeed, a good vocabulary always comes in handy! The basic idea is to make a reader understand what you actually want to convey! There are so many minute concepts regarding writing all covered by those informational sites! The one thing a writer must ta...

Waiting! We do it all the time! We can always remember our crave for that one chocolate or ice-cream from parents; which was always a reciprocity of behaving as an obedient child or a studious student. It is one of those things which never end! One bad day, we wait for a happy beginning. Well, we wait for our ‘dream job’, ‘dream house’ or ‘dream life’! In reality, how much this ‘dream’ part gets fulfilled, varies individually; but the craze and the inputs given for the fruitful end always drive everyone for better results. This passion along with patience makes it all worth enduring. Yes! This waiting period is very frustrating! Anticipating. Maddening. Exasperating.  But then, we have to deal with it! When you look at it from the other side, it helps you to grow as a person. It makes you strong and all the more ambitious! It makes you understand your priorities and you know something of yourself of which you were always unaware, your inner self! ...

This is just another day. She boarded the regular 7 am bus, went to work. Somewhere, one other ‘she’ boarded her 9 am bus, went to work. Every other day she gets on her regular bus, scooter or any means of travel, leave for work! Monday through Friday/ Saturday, she follows the same suit! Meanwhile, she wakes up at 5 am, completes her everyday  chores   cooking, sweeping the floors, makes sure that everyone at home has enough water for the day and is certain that her family is all set to face a yet another day. She is a strong force influencing everyone around; a little sunshine who puts up a smile on everyone’s life; someone who is always around the corner; on whom we can always  depend;  who have faith in us when we have lost one. Indeed yes! She is a woman! A maid, a home-maker, a teacher, a cop, a surgeon, an officer, a pilot, a mountaineer, a politician, actress... many more roles! She is a daughter! A princess of her father and an an...