Two Idiots got married on a Certain Day

Two idiots got married on a certain day
Barely they knew each other

Barely she knew she would be switching off lights of his bathroom all her remaining life
Barely he knew she would be the one leaving wet towel on bed

They were different as chalk and cheese
Barely they knew this

He was a yo yo fan
She was a Suresh Wadekar girl

She liked DevD
He liked David Dhawan

He has grown up in cricket fields
She has bunked college to spend hours in Libraries

As different as day and night
Barely they knew this

But if you are thinking its a sad poem, it ain't
Not an iota of it
Its a poem about life and two people who got married on a certain day

This poem is about finding that common place where two such people meet
and where they don't, letting the person be
It's about growing together, coming together
Its about respecting other person's history, belief and culture

Also, its about knowing nobody loves you the way he does
The way he lets u sleep, your head on his shoulder, hand on his chest, every single day
The way he kisses you when he gets in bed and you are asleep

You want him to be a modern day Raja Ram Mohan Roy
he isn't; Neither you are Rani Padmavati

He is what he is
And you are what you are
You together are a beauty
You two who barely knew each other, on a certain day

An Ode to the Houses I have lived in

These houses that I have lived in,

or Should I say,

These houses that have lived in me,

this is an ode to them!

The house near my first school, 

where i played in backyard,

fell off wall and welcomed a thorn in my back
It stayed there for many years
It must have felt at home too, in my back,
until it met a surgeon one day

The next house,

toil and labour of my parents 

House that father himself designed 

and mom watered during construction

Where my regular schooling started, 

and I stayed in till marriage 

House where I hv spent most part of my life 

the house that doubled its stories as our fortunes doubled
Its called Lightron House, an ode to why our fortunes doubled
This house has seen a lot of me,
And I have seen a lot in this house.
I was shaped here, I become me here.

Then came the Pune house,
where I was introduced to a new city,
a new companion, new life as a housewife,
It was a house with a nice bathtub
and an awesome balcony, windy and viewy
Have fond memories of that house
esp of di, dijju and myri coming over to house of newly weds

Then came Vietnam house,
with a hi-fi toilet
whose features weren't fully explored by the time we left
The house that was close to a lake
and a joggers park, where i picked up habit of running

Then back to Pune and same society,
but a new house, smaller one, the fact I hated
But where I started my adventures of indoor gardening
And a corporate Job

I followed husband and came to Bangalore
Found this house and the house found me
Oh I remember my house hunting days
It was the first time I was house-hunting
and a hell of a job I did.
By the time I found this abode
All Kormangala brokers knew me by face and I knew them

As this is where I currently reside
Can spare a few more lines
I remember the first time I stepped in this house
Did I get the feeling that ,this is the house that is going to be?
No, I just felt, yeah, this is good, this can be the one.
Quite like what happens in arrange marriage
when u meet for the first time, u feel 'Nothing bad, this can be the guy'!
In this house, I have become a better gardener, and a better wife
I think it takes a few houses to make you a better wife

Houses see so many sides of us,
I had written long back,
'deewarein sab janti hain'
Who knows, they know you, may be, more than you!!

Listen To Your Stories

Listen to your heart
Listen to your stories
Create stories,
Have kids, aren't kids great stories?

What's your story?
Each one of us has a story, don't we?
Our struggles, our happiness, ambitions or lack of them
What enrages us, what amuses us
Our parents, our siblings, all are part of our stories

Our choices, our decisions
Aren't we all story creators?
Aren't we all writing stories?
Stories of our lives

Dear Age

Dear Age,
I hope you are in good spirits!

You know,
Every year when I cut the cake, I think of you
So, I have decided to say this to you

With all these grey hair peeping out
and 'best night skin repair cream' searches on almighty Internet
I hope, I am at least getting wiser with age !!

Let us make a deal,
With me being busy with sundry exterior things,
you take care of the inner one
Yes, I am appealing for some consolation award,
for the maintenance work I am committing onto

Yours truly,
You know who!

दोस्तों को सलाम

दोस्त जो बिजी हो गए
दोस्त जो शादी कर के दूर बस गए
दोस्त जो बदल गए
दोस्त जो दोस्त ही न रहे

उन सभी दोस्तों को सलाम
जो कभी मेरी ज़िन्दगी का हिस्सा रहे !

दोस्त जो भीड़ में पीछे छूट गए
दोस्त जिन्हे हम भूल गए

दोस्त जो कभी सड़क पे मिले थे, तो कुछ tution classes पे 

दोस्त जो हमेशा रात 12 बजे ही जन्मदिन wish करते थे
दोस्त जो हमेशा जन्मदिन भूल जाते थे
उन सभी दोस्तों को सलाम

दोस्त जिनके कारण हमें teachers से उलाहना सुननी  पड़ती थी
दोस्त जिन्हे हम मम्मी पापा से मिलाने से बचते थे
तो कुछ दोस्त जो इतने संस्कारी थे की मम्मी पापा से हम सुनते थे
दोस्त जो असाइनमेंट कॉपी करने के लिए दिया करते थे

तो कुछ दोस्त, जो हमसे कॉपी करते थे 

उन सभी दोस्तों को सलाम
जो कभी मेरी ज़िन्दगी का हिस्सा रहे !

दोस्त जिनकी शादियों में हम ना जा पाए 

दोस्त जो हमारी में ना आ पाए
कुछ दोस्त जो कभी हमसे शादी करना चाहते थे
तो कुछ दोस्त, जो शादी कर के गायब हो गए
कुछ दोस्त जिनने अब तक शादी नहीं की
कुछ दोस्त, जो अब कहाँ बस गए हैं हमें पता नहीं 

दोस्त, जिनकी फेसबुक पे भी कोई खबर नहीं 

उन सभी दोस्तों को सलाम 

जो कभी मेरी ज़िन्दगी का हिस्सा रहे !

Ladakh Starts Where The Road Ends

Ladakh,
I have not been able to get over you,
You live within me or, seems a part of my soul, has been left behind in Ladakh
(part of soul sounds so cliche but couldn't express the feeling any other way)

I so vividly remember everything about you,
Your lanes to the market from where we stayed in Leh,
If I am left there at night, I would still find way back to the hotel

That homestay surrounded by trees whose nameplate said 'Milarepa'
I had thought we should stay in it next time
And how can I forget your beautifully carved wooden windows on every home
Ladakh's signature style!

I remember the shop where Rotis were being made and we had asked which type are these,
I remember the shops in the market, even the ones we didn't visit

I remember those faces, people who hosted us in their homestays,
Those lovely people, our Ladakhi drivers who drove us on that tough but breathtakingly beautiful terrain to even more exotic lands of Ladakh which seemed so untouched.
That's why I smiled when I saw the Quote in your 'Hall of Fame'
"Ladakh starts where the road ends"

I am glad we went during the onset of winters
when there were hardly any tourists,
half of the restaurants and homestays were closed,
And it was you, just you.

I remember that chilly night at the hotel by the side of Pangong Tso,
where some of us couldn't sleep due to cold
and, rest, woke up at night due to breathlessness.
But, my god, the evening that we spent besides lake,
laying on the mat, sipping tea, eating our mathris and pudis,
the view, the very you.
And in the morning when we went for walk,
I found those little streams of water flowing between houses
had frozen overnight.
The fun we had jumping and breaking that thin sheet of ice.

Can I forget Nubra Valley,
on so many weekends such as these, I feel transported to that place.

What is it about you, Ladakh?
You are such an enchanting land beyond words.

I will come again.
I will experience what I missed last time,
Lamayuru being one of them.
And this time, I will have Thupkas,
And, will again, delightfully sip your buttery tea.

Everything seems pointless when compared to you,
these jobs we do, these lives we live, these houses we stay in.
Can I live rest of my life in Ladakh, my heart says yes.
I will come again Ladakh, and I hope I never go back.
I hope u give me some sort of employment so that I can stay on.

हमें खुद को टटोलते रहना चाहिए

साल दो साल में 

देखने के लिए की क्या बदला 

कहीं हम ही तो नहीं बदल गए 

पुराने दोस्तों से मिलते रहना चाहिए 

देखने के लिए की क्या बदला 

कहीं हम ही तो नहीं बदल गए

हमारे कमरे का वो cupboard
जहाँ ग्रीटिंग कार्ड्स, class फोटोज, handwritten notes रखे हैं
कभी-कभी देख लिया करो,

पुरानी स्क्रेपबुक्स, पुरानी पिक्चर्स,
और अगर मिल जाएँ
तो पुरानी classwork copies के आखिरी पन्नों पे बने हुए FLAMES

कभी-कभी अपने गांव हो आना चाहिए 

देखने के लिए की क्या बदला 

कहीं हम ही तो नहीं बदल गए

क्या हम सचमुच बदल जाते हैं?

इसका जवाब हाँ भी है और ना भी 

कौन बदल देता हैं हमें?

वक्त, अनुभव, मौके