Makes you go: Hallelujah! ;)

The comfort of one's bed,
When one's lying half asleep;
That kilo one knocks off,
After working out a week.

A warm smile from a friend,
One's been sparring with sometime;
The wind in one's hair,
When one's riding against time(!)

The silence of the night,
And the bustle of the day;
Good deeds done to you,
Kindness you'd like to repay.

When your dog actually listens,
To orders given to it;
Joy bells that go off in your head,
That make life seem worth it!

Looking into the mirror,
And finally liking what you see;
You wonder what took you so long,
To learn to just Be.

It's a Dog's Life...!

Okay, so this entry is one that I'm literally copy-pasting from something I'd written a really long time ago. It was a college assignment and we needed to fill space in the newspaper we were bringing out.
It's sort of like an agony-aunt column: Where my dog plays counsellor. (Not your best shoulder to cry on, you'd think!) Here goes :

Toffee with Trophy.

If you have a problem with your Boss, your boyfriend or even yourself, come seek the advice of the world’s smartest Dog, Trophy. He’ll counsel you and rest assured your life will be as simple as Dog’s!


***********************


Dear Trophy,
There is this girl in my class who I really fancy. We’ve been studying together for the past 2 yrs and I’ve had a crush on her for the last 1 yr. The problem is that she already has a boyfriend, and besides the fact that he’s really tall, I feel I’m better than him in every other way. I even get better marks than him. Please advice on how I should go about wooing this girl though she already has a boyfriend.
Really confused.

Dear Really Confused,
You amaze me! First of all, you’ve had a crush on this girl for the last 1yr. And now suddenly light dawns, so you want to ask her out?! Buddy, take my advice and back off. After all, whatever else you must be better at than her boyfriend, at the end of the day, he’s still taller!! And take it from a dog who’s been chased by bigger ones, you don’t want to get on their wrong side. Take heart, look for greener pastures: There're lots of bones out there!


Trophy,
I have a very crazy problem. There’s this one acquaintance of mine who really annoys me. Whenever I meet her, she’s either bragging or bitching! I don’t know what’s wrong with her but I think she suffers from some kind of problem like OBD (Obsessive-Bragging-Disorder) or something. How do I let her know that what she does really annoys me without being very rude?
Bugged.

Dear Bugged,
You poor, poor thing. But don’t worry; we have specimens like that in Doggie world too: Who bark their heads off and won't let us hear the end of it! Anyway, regarding your acquaintance, why don’t you try bragging in front of her as well? Or if that doesn’t work, she’ll have to be given less subtle hints. Two of these, are my personal favourites: Scratch your ear while she's talking or yawn pointedly in her face. (Works like magic with the humans I know!)


Dear Trophy,
My best friend and me have a huge crush on the same guy. We stay in the same neighborhood and the guy in question stays in the same colony too. The thing is, he’s gotten to know of my feelings for him (but doesn't know yet that my friend likes him too) and I’ve noticed a change in his behavior towards me. We’ve also met a few times alone. Very honestly, I’m on cloud nine cause of the attention I’m receiving from the hunk and I can't bear the thought of losing him, but at the same time I don’t want to see my friend heart broken. What do I do?
Stumped.

Dear Stumped,
Place yourself in your best friend’s shoes. Would you want her to go out with the same guy you’ve been drooling about too? The answer in its purest form is No. Right? So my advice to you would be to forget about this guy as a prospective boyfriend. Sure someone’s heart’s going break. But you've got to be clear on where your loyalties lie. Wouldn’t you rather have a friend for life than stand a half chance with this guy? Some men can be Dogs but then again, Dogs make very good friends. If you like this guy so much, keep it to friendship and nothing more.

***********************

Saying Goodbye...

Dedicated to Evi and Ann.

For 20 long years
Thick pals they'd been;
Through kindergarten till college
Two best friends you'd ever seen.

Each looked out for the other
And kept her best interests at heart,
Hardly losing sight of one another
They were never apart.

But then one day,
She received a mail,
A congratulatory note if you must
To do her Masters, she'd have to set a sail(!)

To the land of opportunities,
To make her dreams come true,
To make all the moolah,
And start life brand new.

Its funny when the same reasons
Can make us happy and sad,
It's what the besties went through,
It's no wonder they felt so bad.

But with heads held high,
they decided to say their good byes;
It broke their friends' hearts to see
how much they'd later cry.

But the very same distance,
That they'd dreaded so much;
Didn't bring with it any seams
And the friendship withstood as such.

Now they're happy,
And content with their lives,
Constantly in touch
through phone bills that reach the skies!

This short story,
just goes to show,
That good byes with the right people
are never that bad you know! :)

Romantic Comedies :)

I haven't been a movie buff all my life, but I do enjoy an occasional romantic comedy. For the longest time, I didn't think that movies could impart anything other than slapstick comedy or pelvic thrusts to its audiences. Now, however, after being put on a steady diet of films for quite a while, I'm beginning to change my opinion. Movies, unlike books are less subtle when it comes to giving advice. They're upfront and tell it like it is... I watched this movie called 'He's just not that into you' a few days ago, and I'm amazed at how well they've captured what runs through our collective brains (and which trains of thought should be prevented from running) when it comes to dealing with the opposite gender. Especially with certain members of the opposite gender whom we fancy, rather.
Let's take for instance Rom-coms as a genre. Practically all of them have side kicks in them who play the best friends/siblings of the protagonists. They're the ones who dish out great advice and tend to be pillars of support till the happy couple unite. And I think most such movies do a good job in how they portray such folks. Friends and siblings do play important roles in our lives and they do dish out plenty of advice too! They make us feel extremely loved and special. And sometimes, too special to be let down at all.
I know of cases where one's buddies have stuck up for the girl, stubbornly suggesting that the guy(s) in question probably did fancy her but where too shy/timid/silly/foolish/gutless to actually admit it. As tempting as it may be to believe them, the truth is in such situations (for all my naive readers out there, a piece of unsolicited advice) the guys may really not be interested at all... or with some sensitivity, they're just not THAT interested.
I know one of the toughest parts about things like these is having to answer questions like "Why meee?!" or worse, "Why NOT meee?!"... And having to live with the sinking feeling that one's not good enough. It's also of little help to be told over and over that "there's better in store" when one doesn't even want what is in store in the first place. Unfortunately, as pathetic as the situation maybe, one just has to learn to deal with it. Put in another way, one has to Grow Up.
This blog entry is dedicated to all the people out there whose love remains unrequited... Time heals everything. Give time, time and all will be right with the world. Someone special, somewhere is made for each one of us and we'll all be entitled to our very own happy endings. Until then, bring out the DVDs, eat the popcorn and watch these romantic comedies that impart crucial wisdom to love sick, lovelorn people like you and me! :P

Lady Macbeth

I really hope I don't come through like a pompous ass or one of those annoying people who put up boring things on their blog... But I have to, really have to put up my first attempt at a sonnet here. (It was submitted as an assignment in college)
Sonnets are a mildly irritating form of poetry of 14 lines. They follow a certain rhyme scheme (that's a little convoluted, if you must know! :P) and aren't the easiest things to write in the world. In any case, without further ado, here goes...

Lady Macbeth.

She was born to alter history;
A determined wife, powerful and ambitious,
Her character surrounded by enigma and mystery,
She was an honoured noblewoman perceived as virtuous.
She had a fatal flaw that was a chalice of greed,
It consumed her husband and her sanity,
Regicide, which is believed to be the seed
Led to their downfall; murder without sagacity.
Poise and composure she did attempt,
But apparitions and a pricking conscience didn't desist,
Forced to withdraw she became unkempt,
And sleepless nights did persist.
She jumped to her death when she could bear no more,
And it was all for a crown that she never wore.



PS: I did well on the assignment! :)

Bad Karma does bear Fruit!

Karma. What goes around, comes around. We reap as we sow. If we pull the chair from under someone when they're about to sit, the same will happen with us... Or not. Maybe we'd owe the universe a lot more. Perhaps it'd be Murphy's law, or the ways of the world, or just plain rotten luck. To go through what a pal of mine did, is an ordeal. Especially if all of it took place within the span of one week.
I won't be delving into the details of how she earned her bad karma ( Ha, like I'm even an authority on the subject) but lets just say Someone Up There wasn't happy about something she'd done.
Day 1 : We'd boarded a bus from within campus (on a rainy day) to take us to the exit. She was in front of me while climbing down, and had a carton of lassi in one hand and a bag in the other. She was making her way gingerly when she slipped and fell. The next thing we knew, she was sprawled on the mossy footpath with a now empty carton, and a dirty green bag (pun unintended). Hair askew and a thunderous expression, she didn't make the best company on our way back home. But hell, the poor sap had issues. Stained jeans and a skinned knee. Ouch.
Day 3 : We were fighting our way out of a train compartment that was packed like sardines when my friend came face to face with a shrill woman and her bawling child. They got into a heated argument and were on their way to Level II of the fight (that usually involves the use choicest of cuss words from both parties) when the train began moving. We made our hasty retreat and in doing that, had to jump off the running train. Yes, like they do in the movies. But the difference being, it's not as romantic as they make seem. We managed to 'get off' alright, but several feet apart. That's because we 'landed' quite differently as well. I fell on my behind, and bounced off rather like a ball (thus minimizing the impact) but she landed like an airplane that had a inexperienced pilot on board. Off she went careening in one direction...A sprained elbow, injured pride and a rotten mood generally go hand in hand, I learnt that day.
Day 5: She swore she'd walk carefully, talk carefully and climb and get off modes of transport as the epitome of grace. But it seemed like fate wasn't done dealing her bad cards. We were on our way home in a moderately empty train and were lost in thought when all of a sudden, an unripe guava (from outside) went whizzing over my head and hit her squarely in the face.
Picture this. We're travelling at a fast pace through an area that's not best known for it's population. Population that's alive, anyway. (We were crossing a graveyard when it happened)... There weren't any trees in sight and certainly none that had guavas jutting out of them. Yet, from nowhere, there was the fruit that flew into the compartment and bounced off her horrified face. I ducked out of view to 1) Get hold of the offensive object and 2) to stifle my laugh.
Thankfully, she wasn't hurt badly and the next day when she came to college with balm applied around her mouth (that prevented her from talking) I told anyone who'd listen, about the week's past events.
Of course, in doing that I know I've probably earned myself some bad karma. Therefore as precaution, I don't get off buses with cartons of lassi in my hand, I avoid getting into conversations with fellow passengers (lest I get into a brawl with them) and lastly, I say my daily prayers thanking God that melons or any bigger fruits don't grow from high branched trees. The blessing!

I Love Luv Storys ;)

She was pretty, she was young;
she was humble she was fun!
She was naive, she was sweet;
she was bubbly, she was neat (!)

He was nice, he was fair
he was handsome, he still had hair (!)
He was older, he was grounded
his character was oh so rounded.

She liked him and he liked her,
Signing up for trouble? Oh yessir!
But what's to do when one's young and rash,
sermons and lectures belong in the trash!

She told her mom, and she told her friend,
about this boy, who seemed God had sent.
Her mom approved, and her friend grudgingly so
'cause they just wanted her happiness, and nothing more.

The days rolled on, and months went by
The happy couple now weren't so shy.
They tweaked circumstances to be together,
unaware of the foreboding, or any rough weather.

But the girl's father, now makes an entrance
Into the scene, it's like a death sentence.
Announcing that she'll marry only of his choice
at this, everyone seems to have lost their voice!

The girl is miserable and quite morose,
"I told you so!" said the friend who went hoarse;
But the girl's determined to make it work
even if it's facing her father, who's no less than a Turk.

So the story will unfold, by and by
and will tell a tale of great hue and cry
of family, love and matrimony
of drama, fears and hegemony!

The girl is sure, but the boy unsure
if now would be a good time to get his life insured!
If you want to know, what is in store
you'll have to stay, and watch this space for more!