As It Comes To Mind

The month of February always brings back memories of hailstorms in Delhi...the wind and rain followed soon by the hail pelting down...sounding like stones on the rooftops...and me sneaking into my balcony (mom was always scolding to come away from the door, for there would inevitably be lightning)...trying to slip a few of the fast-melting icicles into my palms and into my mouth... My earliest memory is of the day after my sister's second birthday when we were shifting house. The day had begun busy and was threatening to end even busier. I was ten and was greatly depressed at having to leave all my friends behind. In between helping out, I'd sigh wistfully at the house we were leaving...some of my happiest memories were inside and around it. The most carefree period of my life - my childhood - had been spent there ad I was going to miss it very badly. As I stood moping about, procrastinating getting onto the bus that was going to take me to my new home...I l...

She smiles, she smiles a lot; She'd started smiling even before she'd learned to focus. We used to wonder at her Smiling away in her sleep, lost in dreams Which only she - an infant a few days old - could have. Mum said she was smiling as she played games With her buddies in her dreams I was convinced it was the Angels Whispering to her as she lay asleep. Whatever the reason, she had us all Curled around her little fingers As she grasped our own When we held her hand. As I put ink to paper She's turned a little short of seven months. She sat on her own for the very first time Just a few days ago; I watched mesmerized As she nonchalantly played with her toy Albeit a little wobbly And completely unaware Of the tiny step she'd taken In her journey towards growing up. I'd been meaning to write about her, Put down all the mystique of motherhood Since a long time, even before she was born...

She slips in silently, almost slyly, Wrapping her damp habit around everything she comes close to... Winter is her mother and dampness her lifeblood, And she'll run a mile when the sun attempts to intersperse her gossamer With His spools of golden thread. She glides along stealthily, Descending from the sky be it late night Or before Lady Aurora makes her appearance. Sometimes she may cause ol' Aurora to wait a while tho' Before she'll allow the Goddess to turn on her charm And turn the wet and the dark to the bright and the gold. But while she is about The whole world is one big ocean; Everything submerged in her moist whiteness... The hills, the houses, the deserts and the trees, Even animals and homo sapiens too! All enveloped within her wet shroud And appearing as if out of a storybook; Their very essence bathed in her mysterious glory. She is around everything and everyone She is inside everything and everyone And everything and everyone seem to have a bit of her...

'Twas a midweek morning And I was getting late for work. I rushed out of home looking anxiously at my wristwatch And wishing fervently that I had better managed my time. 'Tis often that I am caught up in this situation And if I'm deserving (as I like to think instead of being just plain lucky) I get to reach office just in time! Today was going to be no different Or so I thought to myself as I stood in front of my home Hand outstretched, scanning the road ahead for the elusive autorickshaw. Little did I realize that I was about to receive an important lesson In some of the finer aspects of human nature! I breathed a sigh of relief as an autorickshaw pulled to a stop; Inside, the driver sat looking askance I gave my destination and he motioned me to get in. As is usual when time is at a premium I mumbled to him about going faster He appeared to have not understood And said "Kya?" Louder I said "Please go a bit faster" He spun around...

‘Tis so strange - the range of emotions that can be awakened sometimes, By a mere glance, a slight brush of fingertips, A little pressure of a hand as it fumbles to find your own. Even by the mere proximity of someone Looking into whose eyes you feel dizzy for a moment As if the ground had moved beneath your feet. Your heart gives a little wriggle almost gasping By the rush of blood which surges through your body, Opening up every dormant cell within, And making every miniscule hair stand on end. The breath catches for an instant, There is a moment of pure weightlessness As the body as a whole is lifted effortlessly into the air And you wish you could rise up and become a feather! ‘Tis said that the human heart can distinguish An infinite array of emotions and feelings. But why do we feel sometimes that the heart lets us down That in its very ability to feel so much It somehow loses itself In the flood of these very emotions and feelings That it can recognize? Why does the heart bec...

The shadows of the trees outside were lengthening as dusk fell. Meera switched on the lights inside the house and started making tea. Her husband would soon come home exhausted from work and she liked to have the tea ready for him. As she bustled about the kitchen, her thoughts went back to the time when she’d first met Anand. Dwelling with all the fondness of womanly sentimentality, she retraced the maturing of their acquaintance into friendship and finally into mutual regard and caring which drew them into a lifelong commitment towards each other. Four blissful years of married life had followed thereafter during the course of which they had been blessed with a son. “Wham!...Whrrr….rrrr…” The banging of the front door and the commotion accompanying it startled Meera out of her reverie. A small hurricane came crashing through the kitchen door and hurled itself at her. A pair of rather dirty-looking, muddy arms with the most delightful little fingers blackened by grime wrapped themse...

The dark black clouds scurrying away, As if in search of a distant bay; The cool gentle breeze whispering along, Dreamily humming a magical song; The huge tall trees swaying to and fro, Doing a wild war dance unmindful of the show; The snow white raindrops falling everywhere, Covering each little leaf and each little petal with a beauty so rare…. The sweet scented air so pure and refreshing Caressing the very depths of one’s soul and being!