Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Hands on Haiku

This is my frist attempt with Haiku, contrary to what most of us think, it is not at all simple to be simple.
Haiku is  a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities: Hope, Peace, and Harmony, as per Wikipedia. But for youknowthatblog it is a simple 3 non-rhyming lines of just 5, 7, and 5 syllables as per the theme of the week.
This weeks theme is Absence, and here follows my first attempt.


Join the fun!Never have, never will notice
all those years ago went missing  
love joy innocence around.


Shall I say what feels
within the insides of  me
crippling as times fly


But if I do say
presence can turn to absence
so let words be scarce 





Please give me your feedbacks, as I'm sure there have to be some miscalculations.


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Time life-line


Randomly Daily,
There was a time when I wanted to embrace you, death
But when the time came a couple of hours I had to ask.

Of all the things when you wake me up, alarm clock
All I ask for is some spare minutes, around 120 would be fine.

Last night when I was battling with you, insomnia 
Tossing right left and center
Wishing 2 hours would just casually fly away.


As a child,
When times were tough and testing, exams
In school I always prayed
Let these 2 hours stretch so long,
For me to study more
And score galore

On the ground though, playground
With friends and games,
Always warned you, time
Come not so soon, give me some grace
And come 2 fun hours away.

Mornings were the same, with the sun bringing light
And mom’s same music, yelling
To wake me, to take me on
The ride of the day
Why not some more time I ask?
What the big deal in 2 hours anyway?

Later in life,
When I was there, in college
There were moments,
When you could have helped,
Make it to class on time
Make it to finish line,
But you were most needed
When…
Those 2hours with coffee and her
Went like a blur,
But another 2 with just coffee
Were a curse.



As of now,
Always running short of time here, office desk
With files flying low while the works pilling high
How many wonders could have been worked
If you just gave me those 2 magical hours though?

Never have enough time to be with you, wife
Just stealing flashes from here and there,
Never have time to sit and chill, show you my love,
Give me 2 hours more on the house for thou.

At the park with my hand in hers, my child
I wished these hours would just pause for 2
Only for the cause of my love and joy
Is with you

Need to go out and pamper you, moi self
For health, care, love and spares
Want to travel, want to relax
Want to be whatever is to be.

Surf Excel
Give me 2hours you, but I’m telling
I’ll come back for more and more!


  









This post was written for Surf Excel Matic #GetSmart Contest on Indiblogger. They want to know what you would like to do If you were granted 2 extra hours everyday ? Do share your views here! 


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Monday, November 21, 2011

Surf 2 hours away


Lying on my bed,
No it’s still not late
Though it’s almost 10
But I got 2 hours to spare.

Till the moon cradles his head
And my eyes go droopy dead

So up I bounce,
Think on what to pounce
If Only it was a.m.
Fill shopping bags would be my goal
But as its p.m. closed is the mall

I had some unread paper,
But for that I am late
Coz by the time I’d get done
It would be another date.

New news waiting at the door
With all the things I so bore

I thought of my guy
And what all we could do
But nothing works with him
After he’s had his booze

Back to square one, with what to do
Cause today I have 2 hours to move

Then I do what I do best, 
Google about what to do,
And it opens a treasure
On things from head to toe

I settle down on paper craft
With a stick of glue and paper
But strike I hear the clock
Telling me, my 2 hour’s over.

Why does not it trouble me you may ask,
Cause I tell you, tomorrow 
I shall surf clothes again,
And be rewarded with a 2 hour gain!



This post was written for Surf Excel Matic #GetSmart Contest on Indiblogger. They want to know what you would like to do If you were granted 2 extra hours everyday ? Do leave your comments. And unlike me, don't waste this precious time whiling away. 




Join my blog's Facebook Page here.



Monday, November 14, 2011

Happy?? Children’s day

Today my 5 year old daughter’s routine was like this.


6:00am (Yes before the sun rises) Get up and get dressed for school. Bus arrives at 7:00am.

It’s a very important day for her at school; she has Children’s day celebration (read competitions). There 
was a Spell Bee event, followed by some fancy chocolate-cookie races and some quiz games.

For breakfast they had to take their favorite snack which could not be Maggie, chips, burger or pizzas in short nothing junk (nothing that kids would actually have liked). So I make her cheese parathas (my favorite and boring in her vocabulary).

For lunch they were served the routine food (again boring) but as it was a special day, a single ice-cream scoop was given as treat. Vanilla ice-cream, she detests.
2:00pm Back from school; has her fruits with a bowl of curd. She shows me the cute “Happy Children’s day” paper lolly she got from school. She tells me its “”Chacha Jawaharlal Nehru’s bday today, and so its children’s day”.

I ask her what she wants to do today as it’s her special day. She tells me “Mumma I want to watch tv, Doremon, Chotta Bheem , Mr. Bean…” (Her list is endless, I happen to remember only these many); Wants to eat Maggie, strawberry ice-cream and some chocolates (this is added sensing her mom’s in a generous mood today). She does not want to study or even do her homework, (whatever made me ask her)! I don’t agree, but don’t say a no, thinking its Children’s day.

But time soon flies and it’s time for her evening class.

3:30pm time for her evening class. Have children’s day celebrations (again competition) there too. Kids have to talk about what children’s day means to them. I have no clue what she’ll say but judking by the answers I got I’m sure she does not stand any chance of winning any prizes (she’s mumma’s girl, even I never won much). Anyways I don’t want to dwell on it much coz I have dinner to prepare before she comes.

5:30pm. she’s back and I make Maggie for her finally; that’s the least I can do for her, while she gets comfortable on the couch with the remote.  All this after she promises me that she will complete her home work later, or even the next morning pukka - pukka, I let her go, knowing very well nothing of that sort will happen. But then it’s her day, so she’s excused.

But some time in the afternoon, when my friends told me they were taking their kids for some children’s day celebration (more competitions and promotions too this time) to a couple of places, even I was tempted. But then I thought why? Why would she want to go and run races with spoons in her mouth, why would she want to stick tails on donkeys or even shoot balloons? Just so that I can show off to my friends some extra certificates, gifts or the best possibility was appearing in a group photo in the local daily? Would it excite her? Yes it would if her day had not been like how it was, had she slept till 10-11 in the morning, had not gone for swimming for 45 minutes, she would have enjoyed it, loved it.

But then there are times, when I wonder if as a parent, what will happen if I don’t give her the same exposure that these other kids are getting, would my daughter be missing out on some things? Will she not be as completive as the others? What is it that I need to do? Do I let her enjoy life as it is, or do I push her and run with her from one competition to the other, from one experience to the other? What is the right thing to do as a parent? What if she decides to become a couch potato for the rest of her life? Obviously I’ll be blamed!

It is not easy to assimilate that a child is happiest when she/he gets to do what she/he wants, to be able to decide what and when. So decision taken, I go to the couch to ask her what she wants to do, but I can’t ask her.


7:00pm She’s snoring away and smiling! And here I am having the Maggie and blogging!




Friday, November 11, 2011

Rational Religion


Being a Jain, I’ve got the privilege to attend, (I am forced to listen to) sermons by our gurus. No I don’t have anything personal against Jain Gurus or for that matter any other religious person, but there are some things that I would like to ask them or rather open their eyes towards.

First of all, who are Jain Munis (Monks, and here I would like to talk about Jain munis only cause I’m most familiar with them).
In Jainism, there are 2 main bifurcations, some are idol worshipers, some not. The ones not worshiping idols take their Maharaj Sahebs (monks) and Masatijis (nuns) as Gods. Before I go any further, let me also tell readers who don’t know about Jainism that it is one of the most scientific as well as toughest religions to follow, as far as fasting, praying or other aspects of living are concerned. These monks lead a very tough life, they travel by foot, bare foot, around the country throughout the year, eat only food that they are offered, only when they get it appropriately, drink only boiled water, and use least materials as possible, some don’t even wear clothes. Rest use basic simple white unstitched cloth that is wrapped around their bodies. 

They stay at an Apasra, Jain shrines; only if they are invited during the 4 and half months of monsoon, as they do not walk when it is raining, as it is believed that during this season there are numerous living micro organisms in the atmosphere. Jainism believe in giving AbhayDaan(gift of security, fearless existence ) to all living organisms.

I would like to share some examples for the same too. Like how often after having a bath we leave the tumbler in the half filled bucket itself? Often. But Jainism says that the living beings present in that bucket of water fear that you shall fill another tumbler and disrupt their environment again, so if possible use minimal water, and after you are done, do not leave the tumbler in the bucket. Chopping vegetables, using electricity, wearing clothes, applying cosmetics or even using basic furniture items are a complete no-no (sins).
So much so that Jain Priests wear white cotton mask at all times to cover their mouths so that no form of life will be disturbed by their talking, coughing or deep breathing acts.

Basically to cut a long story short, I am well aware that Jain gurus lead a very tough life, physically and mentally. They have my utmost respect; there are no two ways about it. Rather I hold great admiration for their families too, who have allowed them to take this tough path for the betterment of mankind.

But, (there is always has to be a but with me) What I fail to understand is, why sacrifice all worldly or materialistic things and still aspire to be something above the rest of us? Well as soon as you embrace living like a monk, you are given a stature high above a normal human who is slaving his life away to earn a decent livelihood for his family, it also includes the donations and charity made to these religious causes, including the monk’s bread and butter too, well in-case of a Jain Guru he shall not accept bread, so a roti for him please.

I've wanted to ask them, but never was allowed to so putting my thoughts/questions up here.
I agree you are above the rat race that we are in, but hello, isn’t yours another race all together too? You are running for sainthood, for moksh or mukti? Moksh/Mukti here refers to being spared the misery of being reincarnated again and again, till we don’t pay or repent for all the sins that we commit knowingly or unknowingly.

So when I look closely at the life of a monk, (to all those who may ask me what has given me the right to look into a monk’s life closely, I’m a nosey person) I find lots of discrepancies and there are various inconsistencies in what they preach and what they do(just like me I realize).

Like in our normal world, we strive to achieve the most in the world, similarly in their world or domain they do the same, race for the highest title of sainthood. Like us even they have ladders and ranks amongst them and aspire to have shrines built in their honor.  And why? So that they can conjure up a large following of devotees or disciples (read fan, who are willing to donate generously “materialistic things” to their causes). 
In Jainism, most of these causes are like saving a cow’s life, feeding a needy family, providing appropriate facility for the welfare of Jain Sadhus and Sadhvis.
They all want to be the best preachers, best orators and be recognized for the numerous welfare and development projects that they have initiated and been successful at, sounds familiar?

Doesn’t all this add up to doing good work, social work or just plain being a nice human? But with time some things need to be changed, some “traditional and religious ideas”need to be worked on so as to bring wide spread acceptance among the youth of the society.

On the other hand maybe if people like me and you go out and preach the world on how we should help the needy and donate to good causes, then it would not be so effective, to make their words count or bring about some results these extreme steps many be necessary.

But what disgusts me the most, or rather always has ticked me off, is that even though they are at a higher altar in life, believe in purity of thought action and are more closer to God, they too have succumbed  to petty practices specifically that of gender bias.

Gender discrimination is so deeply ingrained within us that these so called Gods also have fallen prey to such appalling ways of thinking. In Jainism, and also in some other Hindu religions, women devotees are not allowed to touch sadhus(priests) and similarly male devotes stay away from sadhvis(nuns). Isnt that almost like being an untouchable?

Most of the times, we also notice that sadhus, priests or monks are allowed to rise up in the rankings much faster that the sadhvis, basis only being their gender. Even if the rank is the same of a nun and a priest, he is always given priority over her by default. After all it’s a man’s world, be it ours or theirs.

Recently I was reading a book on Hinduism and vedas, ya sometimes I pick up these books by mistake too, in which I was shocked to read about the tradition of applying sindoor. The main component of traditional sindoor is usually vermilion. A component considered to be toxic by nature.

As most of you must be aware that Hindu wives are expected to fill sindoor (for me it always looked like a stamp of being taken/sold/unavailable!) along the parting of their hair, thus applying it on the scalp (where the pores are most open), so as to let it seep inside slowly. It is a sacred and most prominent symbol of a Hindu married woman. Like I’ve said earlier, Vermilion is a toxic substance, you might now wonder why a Hindu married lady is made to apply if it is a known toxic, and well that’s the precise reason for making her do it. 
A female’s life span is comparatively longer than her male counterparts, as we all know, and that’s exactly why this practice was incorporated, to slowly poison the wife so that both the partners can die with each other, and for the ones who dint die a natural death, they were made out to be satis. (An abolished tradition of Hindu wives burning themselves alive on their husbands’ pyre).

Doesn't it sound like that applying sindoor is more like killing someone slowly and painlessly? Most of us are not even aware of the meaning of some traditional rituals that we are made to follow. We just do as we are told, as again asking for logic or questioning our age-old praths (religious ceremonies) is considered to be a taboo in most Hindu homes.
 


Let me know if you are aware of any other such traditions or ritual, love to hear new fascinating things like this.





Monday, November 7, 2011

Oil Parampara


The baton of hair care, in India can be summed up in one word, Oil. The tradition to oil hair has been passed along for generations, but with time variations and changes have also come.
In my grandma’s days they used to oil their hair religiously, day and night, not for a minute you could find their hair dry or not-oiled. Then my mother’s generation brought around some changes and somehow convinced their mothers to let them keep their hair washed and dry on weekends, yes since then the weekends have been special.
But while I was growing up, mom thought it best to oil my hair to school so much that my classmates used to ask me if I owned some oil refinery or something! That’s when I told my mom, henceforth I shall oil only when I don’t have school.
So from weekdays to weekends, oiling was taking a backseat, but in no ways was it going to surrender.
While growing up I often tried, after seeing on television, various oils be it  non-sticky, quick absorb formula, hot-cold oils, oils for winter oil for summers etc etc.; all new and with “Innovative” formulas.  Some could improve my hair in one night, while some more advanced one could do wonders in an hour. Though I dint believe in them, after all tell me how can the oil help if it is washed off so soon, but still, I tried them all. And somehow the oiling parampara (tradition) was upheld. Though I did know that oil did help, if left on my hair for some time, so that it penetrates and nourishes the hair and the scalp.

These days, my latest experiment, is Dove. It has launched its unique hair care range which contains Vita-oils, an ingredient found to be very effective for hair growth and hair nourishment.
Dove Vita-Oils containing products, go deep inside the hair fiber and help lock in the nourishment of oil; making hair smooth, shiny and beautiful with every wash.  This sounds like a product I had been praying for, to have something that will let me keep my hair oil-free while at the same time, not denying my hair from the benefits of oiling. 



The Dove Nourishing Oil Care Range Includes: 





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