And what would you wish for?

My  biggest worry at one time was a knot in my Barbie's hair (What was that? It is not that big a problem? Try telling that to a 5 year old!!), I wished for it to untangle, fall straight and smooth and if that didn’t happen I’d chop the problematic hair off. What followed would most definitely be my crying and bawling at how weird my beautiful Barbie looked in the new hair-do. Times have changed drastically, so has the cause of my worries, but even today more often than not when I find myself in a mess, in a complex knot where I’m caught between practicality and fantasies, reality and dreams, reason and emotions;
I wish for it to all smoothen out, I wish for my life and the world to be a simpler place. Without getting confused or dragged to the extremes of being a pragmatist or totally whimsical. When we’re done lusting after the farfetched luxuries, the million things we tire ourselves out to achieve, the reason why we keep rushing at a great pace so as to not lose out on time and in turn doing just that, and when you pause a while to think, to ask yourself that one question ‘why?’ and ‘what for?’ , and then? A penthouse in a skyscraper in almost every big and happening city in the world, a ride worth an entire third world country, a wardrobe fit for the Royals… and the likes, would the list ever end? I’m not saying we wouldn’t or shouldn’t want these, heaven knows how long my own list is!! But it grows, and somehow the most constant things that I myself have wished for from the core of my being are something else altogether.., simpler. By that I don’t mean they’re easily achieved, quite the contrary. There are things that appear to be mere flotsam and jetsam but what would we not do to have them come true.

The past seems to be a wonderful place to dwell in; between the uncertainty of tomorrow and the struggles of today. I get nostalgic and wish for those days to return, to relive those carefree days, the problems long solved look trifle, almost laughable. Of them school days top the list. Those days which seemed torturous back then(I couldn’t wait to get out of school and be a grown up!) now appear to be the best phase of my life ever. (Where is the guy who had to invent the time turner!?!)

There are times when all I wish for is acceptance; acceptance of things as and how they are(wouldn’t that make life so much better?). Live and let live, might be cliché and so no one takes it seriously but that is the need of the hour, the most important one too. Almost always I wish human beings were a better race, a better people; and trust, honesty, love were  not just words we know. For us to have a little more compassion, a little less hatred, a little more empathy, a little less evil, a little more action, a little less indifference.

The one common wish we all have (for some against our more sensible selves) is to have someone who would bring life to your existence, prove to you that there still might be a little hope for us after all; with who you can be who you are, flaws and everything. If not the entire world maybe just one with who acceptance, trust, faith and love hold true (Implausible in today’s world; hope against hope!).

For a fair world!!! Every single one of us has wished for this one! A considerable part of our lives goes away in grumbling about how unfair the world is, quoting Bill Gates when he said ‘Life is not fair, get used to it’, and then complaining about how he cannot say such things with that kind of money! (You don’t? Ok I do!)

Wishes wishes and more wishes! I remember as kids we had so many ways we could wish for what we wanted and had a child’s belief it would all come true. The sight of a mail van, a goods train crossing the bridge over you, this one’s really funny but wishing every time you saw a Sardarji (Sikh with a turban; no offense but every kid did it, even my Sardar friend who would get up every morning, look at her dad first thing and wish happily!), and then there was that very famous song from the movie Pinocchio which got every kid to Wish Upon a Star. So I’d end up wishing for a holiday during a school week, for a fever during exams, for rains, for attending a real Hogwarts, for a never ending-self refilling-glass of coconut water…you get the picture. Here’s a thought; would you still want something as much you wish for today later?

Cause of this post- Partial insomnia and hunger both of which made way for a tomato and cheese sandwich at 4a.m and itunes running over and over again the recently played songs one of which was this track that’s been running in the author’s  head for quite sometime now.

Can You Keep a Secret?

Long ago I’d spent almost an entire year reading just the English Classics, from the Brontë sisters to Jane Austen, from Alexander Dumas to William Shakespeare, from W.Somerset Maugham to O.Henry, J.D Salinger, George Elliot etc(one year, 365 days, has to be a long list!) I was craving for a change from it and I happened to come across Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. After a year of spending time in the countryside of England, in the stately manors where the only entertainment for the young was dancing at the balls, playing on the pianoforte et all, I was in for a refreshing change. I love the classics mind you, but then a genuinely funny, light read novel was the need of the hour and this book fit the bill.

The story starts off with Emma Corrigan (the heroine), on a plane ride back home from a disastrous meeting, blurting out her most embarrassing secrets to the stranger sitting next to her. This due to a turbulence in the plane causing great panic which leads her to think there’s going to be a crash and she’s going to die. Safe landing, a very much alive Emma Corrigan and a very amused stranger (who wouldn’t be when you tell them all about your…).

But to her surprise she finds that the very stranger is the CEO of the company she works in as a Junior Marketing Assistant! The fun begins when she also finds out that he remembers every single secret of hers! What follows is their many funny/awkward encounters, Emma Corrigan’s place in her family, her snob of a cousin Kerry, her office crisis (boss who won’t give a raise, colleague who treats her like another paperweight on her table etc), and her ‘perfect’ boyfriend Connor.

This story might be just another addition to the style of chick-lit fiction but I found it quite entertaining, probably since this was the first of Sophie Kinsella’s that I read. Yes it has a dash of the fairy-tale element to it but hey who says fairytales are only for kids?! The part where we read her deepest secrets is the best because it suddenly dawns on us that even though they’re plain silly we too have a number of such secrets which we would NEVER share with another soul although they are very very petty and insignificant. Oh and not to forget, the happy ending! I enjoyed it much more than the rest of Kinsella’s books, for after reading the entire Shopoholic series and the rest of her books I found a repetitive pattern in them and the same formula was being used which got a bit tiring to read.

This book is a light, funny, quirky and enjoyable read that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy. For all those who think age does not necessarily shatter the illusions(illusions with a probability of turning into reality maybe!) that you endeared as a child, and it doesn’t stop you from enjoying a pleasant read, Can You Keep a Secret will prove to be just that.

It’s been more than two years since I first read this book, but even now when I feel like reading without troubling my grey cells I almost always pick this book again.

Happy reading!

When we two parted

When we two parted
In silence and tears,
Half broken-hearted,
To sever for years,
Pale grew thy cheek and cold,
Colder thy kiss;
Truly that hour foretold
Sorrow to this

The dew of the morning
Sank chill on my brow
It felt like the warning
Of what I feel now.
Thy vows are all broken,
And light is thy fame:
I hear thy name spoken,
And share in its shame.

They name thee before me,
A knell to mine ear;
A shudder comes o'er me
Why wert thou so dear?
They know not I knew thee,
Who knew thee too well:
Long, long shall I rue thee
Too deeply to tell.

In secret we met
In silence I grieve
That thy heart could forget,
Thy spirit deceive.
If I should meet thee
After long years,
How should I greet thee?
With silence and tears.

~Lord Byron.





Four years back one day en route to some place I don’t remember I see this sign board that said ‘A1 book store- for all book lovers’. I step in and find a huge hall filled with books, old and new, mostly old. Every inch was covered, they reached the roof of that place and so I had a very good feeling about it. It was my treasure trove! After spending nearly 3 hours in that place I had with me 15 books I wanted to take back home. One among them was an old copy of a collection of poems by Lord Byron, Keats and P.B.Shelly. (For some reason I love the smell and feel of an old book) I found in that book this amazing work of Lord Byron, I instantly fell in love with. This poem was the first of Lord Byron’s work that I read, and one of his best. This one undoubtedly makes it to my list.

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Poetry

To Think..,

To Love..,

To Suffer.., is to seek poetry…



Or a major part of it at least. Whatever the history, the various forms and conventions, the genre, the culture, there is always this that Poetry is beautiful. Period.


These are the same words used by the entire world, and yet they are not. They are woven around emotions and thought in a way that gives them a life of their own, a beauty unparalleled and a meaning so simple yet so deep. I for one have always loved this game of words, its simple complexity, the way it sounds, it has been something I’ve turned to when I needed to put forth my thoughts in words in a way that would do justice to them. It’s like the Midas touch, every word, every syllable, the rhyme, the rhythm all turns into something precious, like pure gold.

So for the love of Poetry, here in this category I’m going to post a poem each from among my favourites (in no particular order), for you to read and appreciate.

This corner is for all those who love Poetry and for those who think otherwise here’s a little something…

Sir, I admit to your general rule

That every poet is a fool

But you yourself may serve to show it

That every fool is not a poet!

Hahahaha.. Right back at you! Enjoy!