A rhyme for a reason...

Over a cup of coffee she spoke,
What she said left me provoked.
I am looking hard and searching for words,
To express myself and be heard.
There are a bunch of thoughts in my head,
I carry them each day to bed.

She spoke not of worry, not joy , not pain;
I'd rather classify them as being mundane.
Sometimes we're so consumed with life,
It seems a silly, almost a senseless strife.
A few simple questions I have for you,
A quest for their answers will help you too.

When did you last see the colors of dawn,
As it spreads its wings when you wake each morn?
Did you walk in the woods or walk by the sea,
Feel the sands shift beneath your feet?
Did you climb a hill and touch the skies,
Or lie on the grass gazing at a starry night.

The kiss of the breeze, the tingling rain,
Smells of spring, the white winter terrain,
Seasons have come and gone again,
You're standing here with your refrain.
When did you call on a long lost friend,
And went to shop with no money to spend?
Did you feel the passion for a deed so true,
And stood your own to fight for a good?
Have you laughed hard in a long long time,
Jumped in joy, sailed on cloud nine?
When did you last want time to stand still,
Or admire a bird on your window sill ?

You've missed so much in so little a time,
You've had no reason to rant and whine.
Its what you've chosen to become and be,
You live with it or set yourself free.
You've lost some friends, some loved ones too,
Don't rant more lest you lose me too.
When you've thought and pondered come speak to me,
I am a happy person and that's how I'll be.
There are wonderful things I would love to recall,
The world's fantastic don't spoilt it with your bawl.

Holi

Madame & Monsieur M(friend from days of yore) & S invited us to a Holi party they were hosting in their home and it was probably one of their last parties for the moment. They're moving out of the country and it will a few years before we meet again I guess. As usual, since the Doc was away, the Doc's wife was at play :).

Its been years since we enjoyed holi in this scale. With the years, our consciousness both in terms of safety and the environment has increased so we had eco-friendly colors*. To reassure ourselves that the colors would not leave horrid stains on our skin, we applied huge quantities of oil in the hope of abating a "mass scare**" at work the following day when colleagues sight us.

So, we finally started playing, poured buckets of wierd colored water on each other, rubbed hues of reds/yellows/greens/purples/silver and gold colored powders and pastes on one another for 2 hours. In the meanwhile, S was enthusiastically serving thandai and sugarcane juice to quench our thirst and keep the energy levels high. What he forgot(or intentionally did not) to mention was that...the yummy yet confounded concoctions he stirred up was actually laced(and laced being an understatement) with bhaang. The party planners appeared to have had a well thought out strategy for maximizing fun and guest retentions.
There was of course lunch to follow and we'd organized a potluck with some dahi bhalla(from me), a lamb preparation(by M),hot and delicious jalebis, samosas(thanks to some one else) and some veggies for likes of the vegetarians like me and so the menu ran.

After a lot of boisterous and noisy fun, we'd almost scrubbed off huge chunks of skin to get rid of the color. Then we began gorging on some really hot and yum jalebis. The intelligent few (like me who else !!) avoided stuffing ourselved because we knew that bhaang and jalebi*** together are the last two things you would want in your system i.e. if you want to stay awake, keep up your decent or at least half decent behaviour and drive home safely to the comforts of your own bed. So we had a couple of giggly wives, galumphing husbands and a dog in psychedelic colors going beserk in the noon heat on an open terrace. Anyway, I managed to drive back home in one piece and hit the sack around the time that the bhaang started kicking in. It was a nice day of fun and cheer.

I must appreciate M&S, they really had their act together. I have a couple of years to plan the perfect revenge on them, can't wait until we meet again


*I would seriously question their "safety". I thought natural colors are always pleasing to the eye but these just managed to appear horrendously pink...but the packaging said that they were safe for kids and the environment. We definitely did not want the little ones joining the fun to be hurt in anyway.

**God forbid!! Especially since our appraisals due shortly (tee.. hee..we could not help giggling imagining our boss' horror-stricken expression).I had already thought of covering up my feet in socks inspite of the rising temperature in Bangalore.

***Bhaang and jalebi in that combination can really get you flighty and fighting for stability. Its a pleasant kick of sorts that can have others laughing but you crying for hours on end...