I Am Back!

Yeah. I am back! Well, I know you all wouldn’t  even consider this an excuse but , I was busy (earnestly). And for Aischa jan, all I can say is, she can fend  excuses herself.(i am not gonna cover up for you Aischa!)

So now I do have plenty of time to blog, but the only hurdle that sets in is that, I am really at a loss with what I should be writing about. I therefore decide, that what I should  write ,should be what I love the most and which is close to my heart.

There are some moments  from my and Aischa jan’s past that I recently have been reliving and revisiting. And this I do by going in Aishca’s poetry records and read over and over again, a piece she had written long back (at least it seems so) for me. And since it is so close to my heart and because I am running out of words I am sharing it with everyone who reads this blog:

Your Friendship

– Aischa

I am grateful for your friendship

This is one of those things

Which keeps this year from wasted

There is actually something

Worthwhile that I have tasted

When I am writing this

I know I am not killing time

You are special and different

Not found like a dozen a dime

Moments spent with you

Will always be treasured with care

You may not realize it completely

But you are one of the rare

Brave, smart and fantastic

A rebel with a cause is the core

Luminous like the light

Original, exquisite and nice

You always stand up for right

There is something you never knew

This hits me quite out of blue

I will always be proud of you

Just like us, individually

Together too, we are a class apart

Some blind fellows can’t see that

Nothing changes, they bark or they fart

Insanity lurks around in plenty

Your good sense is in jeopardy

You are not victim, but the fighter

You are not the mute audience

You are the valiant survivor

And I have no qualms absolutely

Vanquish it, you will,

Victorious You can count on me always

Together we shall stand glorious.

–

Who else but,

Raeha

A letter to my mentors

A Letter to my mentors. Love, Aischa

 

Hi Kermeen..(and Parag)   I am in Mumbai and my train to Kota is scheduled tomorrow in the evening. Its tough to be away from MUWCI..atleast right now. I am not used to not seeing MUWCI people. I find the sight of TV soaps and advertisements annoying…all the more stupid and melodramatic than ever before. I see people throwing away their time into idleness…not knowing of how rich and amazing and packed a life can be..a MUWCI life =) And most of all..I am s’posed to once again explain (and defend) MUWCI to people..which is very hard. I am also trying to explain them that how MUWCI is not just any college…its a way of life.   Thinking of you, inevitably, as I think of the little world on the hill..to which I have come to belong.   What else but yours, Nandini

Aischa! we are Waiting!!!

Hey! I know many of you are tired visiting this site and finding it NOT UPDATED! but then you should direct all of your foul temper over Aischa!! Its her turn to write! And she is the one too lazy to do it ….and just like you i am waiting for her next piece work too !!!!!

P.S. common on Aischa!! wake up from your lover’s dreams!!!!!

Undoubtedly

Raeha jan ;)

Yes, I guess I am LUCKY!

Since it was just September and our Economics course was already in the lead, the teacher started up with a ‘discussion’. Saying she didn’t want to hurry up with the course when we already had so much time left with us.To me it was a real bad idea.The reason? Well, There were two.

Firstly unlike theirs my course was lagging behind, thanks to all the classes I had bunked this month. Secondly I really think (I might sound critical) the people in that class don’t know what discussions mean.(not their fault). Because everything is so much forced, so much cliched, so much fake, passe, and everything so censored, that discussions are not discussions. Their essence gets lost (By the way thats not what i wish to talk about). So when she started up with a topic -DO YOU BELIEVE IN LUCK? I didn’t even bother to look up from the score of work that was lying in the Q for me to attend to.

She was acknowledging different views when this guy (i dont even know his name) who stood up to give his views. What he said was – yes he was really lucky! and satisfied! thats because he said he had got everything he could have asked for. Thats when I did look up and felt like standing and yelling -’blast such a luck!’ What actually hit me that moment over his statement is what I have expressed before: people really dont know what they talk about.

LUCK, DESTINY, etc. These, always, to me have been excuses. For me it is the way Jennifer Love Hewitt has put it in the movie ‘IF ONLY’-”No one creates your destiny, nor any thing forges your luck. Everyone has been given good  and equal enough chances to define their future, contour their destiny, and outline it. And that you do by the ‘choices’ that you make.”

Future is neither decided before you take birth and nor by what you have been provided in life. But more of what you have made out of your life. Yes I say it now ‘I AM LUCKY’. You know why I say the same sentence. The same one I just spelled as absurd? Because this time I know what I am talking about. I made choices I am proud of. What I chose my dream to be. Who I choose as my idol. Who I chose as a friend. What I chose as my integrity. My morals. And essentially – what I chose to be! Yes I say it again. I guess I have made the right choices.They were difficult to make because times are difficult both for me and Aischa and there were moments when we doubted our own verdicts. But right now, at this moment, I respect them and I can say I am proud of them! So now you see? Ultimately no one else is responsible for what I am and who I am right now but myself.

I have nothing but respect for what Sean Covey has got to say-

Whether I fail or succeed will be no man’s doing, but my own!

                       I AM THE FORCE!

Raeha

Proud of You

I am proud of you.

I know this is your intended post to be. But then, we can have a Raeha version and an Aischa version of this.

This is a day I wish I could behold in Raeha’s shoes. Or just as me. But I am so far away. I am so proud of Raeha. I am proud of us, as a team. Yesterday was her shining moment in our (my ex) school. And guess what she chose to address the assembly with? With this. And she actually told them that this was written by a close friend. I wonder how many people would guess that right. She told me of the wonderful effect in her oration which was peppered with all the right ‘aggression’. There were many takers of the “article” after the talk. They actually wanted to paste it on their wall and stuff like that. She also gave the address of our domain to save time and energy. What does that spell? I don’t know!

But somehow these days it seems that things are going just like they were supposed to be. No tagging loose ends on which we just might trip and land on the butt. Life is challenging for her, as it is for me. Such a welcome development. We had been waiting for so long.

Aischa

Raeha. Aischa. Nothing less.

If I am blogging tonight, I know I am doing this for myself. I am recording my thoughts, memories and recollections about those to whom I render myself impressionable.

I am celebrating my friendship with Raeha. I am paying tribute to the life that has shaped me into who I am. There was a time when I wasn’t so fond of my name. I liked others’ better. Well, I was quite a kid then. But I have now grown to admire this person who identifies herself in my name. Raeha has another story about growing to like her own name.

A couple of days back we talked about how this blog was no longer about having or not having a “visible” audience (referring to the readers who’d actually take time to comment). Its about her. Its about me. About us. There will be breaks and stagnant spells. But we keep coming back because without having said something, there is an empty void which demands attention. Sooner or later. Even if it means that from hundreds of miles away, I must continue editing Raeha’s updates. Her posts are unarguably commendable but the formatting literally sucks.

Yes, we talk about giving this space some publicity in reliable circles. But “being read” is not the focus. The focus, is and has always been Raeha. Aischa. Nothing less.

Disclaimer: This is NOT to discourage comments (which I absolutely adore).

Aischa

Winters

I love the winters. I don’t know why some people don’t like it. Ironic for me, many poets have criticized it.

It just reminds me of how on the rockiest roads you find the best in your soul and the best of friends. Friends of a lifetime. Memories of a lifetime. I found my best friend and my first crush (if you have stuck with me for a while, you know who they are.) in this beautiful season.

Cold intensifies the warmth in you. For once in a long time, you are protecting this warmth. You are holding it close to your heart. You give more, embrace more, drape around arms (or let yourself be draped). And you love. Internal cold fizzled out from the external chill. So nice, so good.

A hot shower, a cup of steaming coffee, a bed with a quilt, a warm hug to rush into, a camp fire, a shawl to drape around the cold shoulders, a lazy holiday, late mornings, early nights, closer to home, closer to heart.

It ain’t even November yet. So why am I talking about this. It is mildly cold over here. It is mildly cold over here anyway, thanks to the 24*7 drizzling. And I don’t know why but somehow the conversation of two close friends hundreds of miles away, drifted off to the welcome kiss of winter. And I wanted to share it with you.

Aischa

I will go on and on (Positive Peer Pressure)

Will you remember me, like I remember you?

Do you realise you are going too far?

And entering a world just apart from this

And all this comes to my thoughts

Because just now you and I have fought

And you abruptly cut the call

You did it then; please don’t do it again

You don’t know but my feelings get slain

 

And once you are gone

I will be doing all my chores alone

Guarded by one sudden loss

With which I will have to cope on my own

But I will go on and on

Remembering all those times

When together you and I had laughed

 

I intend to tell you what it means

Your friendship, like sliding doors

Shows me the way to my goals

And tell me that despite everything and all

Out there is so much more

That’s why I will walk on and on

Despite the loss of a close one far gone

 

There will be times

When I will fail

Might take the wrong turn

Over this set upon boulevard

But unlike other times, this time

Won’t make it a dead end street

But shall look forward to another way

For at least yours and therefore

My own sake

Farewell! My Aischa Lady.

I guess this should be considered a milestone in our friendship. Yeah, our friendship an year ago was one. And now this day is another one.

Aischa and I bid farewell to each other on the eve of 27th. On 28th morning she left for MUWCI, set upon for a different life in a unique and well chosen pursuit.

Our last meet, rather Matinee (The last time spent together in person was 3-6 pm), as we allegedly classify it, couldn’t have been more memorable. With Aischa and I taking snaps and video recordings (seeing some of which you could die laughing) of each other.The three and a half hour moved all smoothly. The hard part came with the  hour of valediction,  which was just not thought over by either of us. Both of us stood there, outside my apartment complex, looking at each other, wishing whatever was the reservoir of our creative writings, would actually even provide us with words that would fill in the empty space. Every moment  was getting tough. No emotions. No words. Nothing came. Thats when Aischa came up with the appropriate. We launched into a long hug right in the middle of the road.  A farewell that was finer than a goodbye said. And from then on we started walking away for different directions but looking over shoulders over and over again till we lost each other’s sight round the corner

During this I had joked about if Aischa would cry over, but also knew throughout deep inside that had we stayed a little longer, I would have been the one to breakdown first.

Hey MUWCIers all I have got to say is: I am sending you all a precious gift for which you are indebted to me!

Raeha

(Aischa: Hear it from me that Raeha prides herself in never having been a crybaby)

Not Sensational. Not Censory. But Sensitive

Today I met a loving grand-aunt of mine. Her name is Lata. She is 61. Like my grandmother. She was my dad’s english teacher at one time, in his high school.

It was such a pleasure to talk to her. She is a kind of person you wish you could be. A kind of person you would love to have in your family. Her perspectives, her attitude, her life, her writings, her love, her courage..in short everything is fascinatingly magnetic.

Her youth, back in the 1960s is far more lively than that of a youth of 21st century. To listen to her, talk about the life she has lived, is a almost an out-of-the-world experience every single time…

Today she said that I was about to start a new chapter of my life as I am to leave for Pune. And that my attitude would count the most at this point. That I need to be not sensational, not censory but sensitive.

The profound wisdom in these words is amazing. Like avoiding the two negative peaks and residing in the middle which is the abode of empathy. Wow..my stange explanation sounds quite over-the-head philosophical!

But it was a L-O-V-E-L-Y experience even as I gave her a ride to and fro the vegetable market in the drizzle of August. She thinks I have made good decisions with my choice of education and field trips :)

Aischa