... Shame to you, I shay!

And so the new year dawns on us!

... or some such tried and tested way to open a piece. But I must write something on the 1st of Jan. For every self-respecting blogger worth the salt that came to epitomise the freedom struggle of a nation, must.

'Tis the new beginning of the eternal cycle. 'tis a time to rejoice new birth and fresh opportunities; to cast off the old and ring in the new; to bury old demons and seek new ones... (no, that last one was off).

But it occurs to me that this 1st Jan business is also dependant on the frame of reference. I mean, it is based on a certain frame of reference and certain chosen calendar that we describe today as the first day of the year. Of course, you know this, as do I.

So given that we (you and I) are so well informed, do we still hold true to those classic phrases? Put your best foot forward; Well begun is half done; Every journey begins with a single step.

As an aside, that phrase of 'well begun is half done' had me royally confused for large part of my life. When I first heard it, I thought it meant that everything that is well begun would get left half done. Heh... Spent many a year worrying about things that began well.

Anyway, getting back to my glorious new year post... depending on the frame of reference, any day and, in fact, every day can be the first day of the year. I shall resolve to work out everyday and aim at being healthier from February 3rd onwards. That is my new year's resolution for the year from 3rd Feb to 3rd Feb. Ha!

Well... just a rambling post, this.

Didn't do much on this famed night. Read the horrorscopes this morning for the year looming ahead. Being a cusp, I'm often amused at figuring out which part of which zodiac to believe. Heh

Oh, you know, going by this calendar, the first decade of the 21st Century is also over. We're in the second now. Quite a ten years, it's been

So, to give a pretentiously formed but sincerely intended sign-off:

To all those whose lives I may have touched these past ten years, and who may chance upon this page,

All happiness and joy to you!

A cool line I had heard long ago, and recently stated, that I felt I must write.

The world is full of fools.
But there comes a time when you have to decide, if you're a fool among fools, or a fool alone.

6

Six weeks... haven't felt like writing.

Even this is my pushing myself. It is like a muscle, I'm told, that must be exercised.

I went through some of the stuff I had written in the past, even stuff that isn't on this page. There was always a trend to churn out interesting work from the darkest moments of life. Somehow that seemed to always be the source.

And it occurs to me that that is laziness. Of course it is easy to write from a troubled mind. And it fits in with exactly the larger picture.

Give me a couch.
Give me a show.
I'll eat and I'll be
a freakin' potato!

I'm bloody LAZY! And it's a horrible thing to be.

Well... at least it would be if I allowed it to reign.

I figured, just as I move my well-shaped posterior to get out of a lazy slump and work and live life and be with friends and do all those jazzy things that self-help book writers make millions writing about, I should move my equally well shaped mind to write.

And so I shall...

First... find a muse...

To use a muse, you must

Amuse a muse.

Never ask a muse to amuse you.

For a muse is not amusement to be taken.

She says, I am! Use me! and gives.

So use a muse with care to amuse and not be amused.

Okay... I'll be back.
(and as a friend put it... You be Beethoven).

Starry

I was remembering my debut as a director of a full-fledged play. (Pictures recently added to the side bar).

It's an interesting bond that develops with the team. It's quite different from the perspective of an actor, which is what I had experienced up until then. I got to know the people on my cast, and they did, indeed, become MY cast. I probably got to know them in a very different and deeper way (a different point of depth in their respective psyches) than I would have as friends. They also came to mean more to me and, again, differently.

I'm not saying that there was a major psychic connection or that we have all bonded for life and shall, in spirit, be inseparable. Please, let us not trivialise this by exaggerating it.

It's just that when I think back to that process, that play, that period, there is a certain warm feeling, whose nature is quite unique. And being the director, I take it that comes from MY cast.

They were a nice group. They are nice people. It would be nice to cross paths again.

Random wRitings thanks to Rae!

First comment posted on my blog today. Felt I had to write something.

So, apparently, a cyclone came up, took one look at Bombay, tucked tail and turned away.

Pleasantly, this is the coolest I have ever felt this city. I didn't know that temperatures here were actually capable of dropping below 28deg C. Ah well... cynical old me. Live and learn.

I can't stand heat. So, what am I doing in Bombay? Well, somethings have to be borne for others to be achieved.

It was coincidental that the weather was pleasant today. I had some news that offered me some long awaited relief. Offered... not conferred, yet. But although nothing has been finalised and my conscious mind is still waiting and wary, my subconscious just took the apple. Couldn't help it. Feel the relief!!!!

Hopefully reality won't leave that castle hanging in mid-air and there actually will be a multi-storey building holding it up when the clouds clear. Till such time, we wait and work.

In thirteen days, it'll have been two years since my dog died. I don't know if I'll write something on that day, but I feel like writing now.
He loved me unconditionally. They do that. I loved him. He was old, weak and had lost many facilities towards the end. And I had no courage towards the end.
I remember him for his marvelous self in his life. I remember him for the wonderful joy he brought to mine. And I wonder if, at the time, I didn't appreciate it.
If I visit that house where he lived, my ears still prick up to hear his footsteps. I could always hear him. Still do, sometimes.

I'm on another conversation about solutions and pain-killers. They can be so tempting, these magical camouflages. And we're obviously not discussing Brufin and Nise. However, in whatever form and for whatever reason, they are always capable of becoming an addiction. (Not that the other party of this conversation is in any danger of this. Said party too smart. This just tangent thought. Ugh!)

I read about the current prevailing theory that neandertals co-existed with homo sapiens and that they (gasp!) inter-bred. Couldn't help pondering on how things would be if neanderthals hadn't gone extinct and were still around today. Ah! How society would have been different. Two species co-existing on equal terms.
OR WOULD THEY?
Two more possibilities of what happened all those millenia ago - One killed off the other. (guess who did who in) OR They actually did dilute one another's gene pool and resulting mixed-breed is the currently dominant race on the planet... complete with internet technology. Oonga booga!

Sometimes the yo-yo like behaviour of the mind is boggling. (mind-boggling, that is). At some point one feels supremely large and looks at everything from a self-centric perspective. At other points one realises the insignificant size of one's part in such large and expanding universe.

Sometimes helps to take comfort from the ponderings and discourses of the two greatest philosophers of our times - Calvin and Hobbes.

Dinner calls, the day closes, lights begin to disappear, some sections of society decide to rest thier heads. Another cycle shall soon begin. Ironic to feel this in a city that never sleeps.

So many people, so many minds, so many lives. Invariably, all touch one another in some way. Whom have I touched?... Ponderings just waft through what sometimes feels like an empty skull.

Thank you Rae, for writing. You triggered this cascade of thoughts. Better out than in, I've been told.

Goodnight all.

Buzz

Two cups of coffee, sittin' in the kidney

M-I-X-X-I-N-G-G!

Bounce, crash, boom, bang, on and off the white wall

May not be a good idea after all.

Samhain

The cycle ends. And in that ending goes on forever more.

"All is Vanity" by C. Allan Gilbert.

see-saw

i have to write i have to write i have to find a thing to write i'll write a writ of written words to rattle all the city's nerds without a single punctuation make some sense from this locution take from this some inspiration leave it here for all damnation someone will if someone cares to read my blog if someone dares

A laugh in the dark recesses of my mind...

Fight the demons! Fight the demons!

Everyone must... Fight their demons!

In different forms. To each his own.

Demon is as person do.

From roots are born his flesh and bone.

A different form for me and you.

Fight the demons! Fight the demons!

Everyone wants to fight their demons!

The weapons different, each unlike.

A diffent face to face and fear.

For some the subtle - thought and psych.

For some the strong exterior.

Varunaastra

Pashupataastra

Agniaastra

Vayuaastra

Fight the demons! Fight the demons!

The scriptures teach to fight your demons!

What works for you will not for me.

What works for me will not for you.

Your face of fear is yours to see.

With mine your arrow just won't do!

Fight the demons! Fight the demons!

When all else fails in the fight of demons

Bring the biggest killer of demons.

Cure the disease by killing the patient.

Brahmaastra!

Brahmaastra!

Brahmaastra!

Fight the demons! Fight the demons!

Before it's late and you are a demon!

Fight the demons! Fight the demons!

Your charioteer is a strong weapon.

Knowing how to guide you through

The forest, dark and full of demons!

It is interesting to look at some of the stories of the ancients from an introspective light. I mean, the analogy is pretty obvious... Not literally a physical demonic being with inhuman facilities, but that aspect of a person's mind that causes harm to the self and those who are close.

Perhaps it wasn't a demon-king from a faraway island that abducted the queen, but metaphorically just the husband's base-animal selfish lust being battled... are we talking domestic rape? The devoted brother and dear dear friend who do not lay down their lives, literally, but dare to risk their relationship with their friend just to see that he stays a good person.

The battlefield is within.

And speaking of that loyal friend... That charioteer, that Saarathy... Always there to help guide you through the toughest of times. Somehow, always knowing when the love has to be 'tough' and kicking you in the behind with a greater good in mind.

Yes, to that being, to that concept, I would bow.

Bon soir

Paris... Autumn...
Café au lait... Gorgeous legs... "Qu'est-ce-que vous faites ici?"...
Café noir... Gentle smile... "Hoping to fall in love."