the madman and his stars...

Tathir's works...Fine Arts Annual Display 09'

...conversations, the little occasions when words turn up decked in their Sunday best. some are dressed suave, others hip. most are causal. only a few truly intriguing. and so we decided to converse, me and a friend who once made a flute that played a quaint tune. for a long time we both said nothing. and then thus spake he...

"The madman who used to collect pebbles in the streets once during the night looked up at the sky. He then started collecting stars thinking of them as pebbles...Now we don't see many stars in the sky!"

~ Akhilesh Arya

...i agree. we don't see many stars. i miss them stars.

painting a sunrise story...

...the early morning lark,

sings the songs of dawn

shattering the rapture of silence's oration.



riding the wake of the waves of emotions

a twisted tale of love and seduction

brought to an early end.



thus begins a new story for a new day...

MY Rights...

ITS A MARVEL! really! and we all abide by it. at least we presume to do so...






...so yeah, i got Rights you know? damn you! i have SIX of them to be precise. all in a neat order, mind you.

1. Right to Equality.
2. Right to Freedom.
3. Right against Exploitation.
4. Right to Freedom of Religion.
5. Cultural & Educational Rights.
6. Right to Constitutional Remedies.
   

"YOU! do you have them?"

***

...so anyways, Indian life is actually based around these Rights. kindda like the planets revolving around the sun. they really don't have a choice, do they? there is this big round ball of fire and they oscillate around it. there are these Rights, and you 'right as well remember them'. you want a different perspective? too bad. go F*** yourself saale bhenchod. chalta baan. aage nikal...

spending hours at the railway station waiting for the train is an eye opener to the uninitiated in their so called 'Constitutional Rights' and their actual "This is India, sirjee" Rights.

1. You have the Right to wait patiently at the platform for your train , over a period of time that may actually be more than the time of the journey itself (you never ever whine about the train being late. Are you driving the train? Am I driving the train?).
2. You have the Right to carry humongous amount of luggage, pretty much consolidating a moving refugee camp to shame. cause you have a RAC waiting list ticket.
   
3. You have the Right to launch a search and locate operation to find the Luggage Room and then the Stationmaster and everything else. once you find them, it is your right to deny everyone else the same information. let them launch their own Search & Locate Op.
4. You have the Right to call your relatives, friends and even extended family members to the station to keep you company and help in the S&L Op. we are Indians. the more, the noisier.
   
5. You have the Right to be racist and gender biased in hurling abuses at the fellow platform inhabitants in a game of 'pass-on-the-abuse'. But beware, eunuchs are not part of the game. they are mere money collectors. think of it as a tax. to pay for your Rights.
6. You have the Right to pay up 'kharcha-paani' to everyone. starting from the TC to the coolie (how racist were the English to coin up that term? saale gore). If you ignore this Right. they have the Right to make your life a bureaucratic and laborious hell!
   
7. You have the Right to maintain a sadistic and humorous demeanor towards all. especially to the harried passengers on the train that has arrived 20 hours late by asking them, "what man, how late are you folks? you folks were taking a leak along the tracks all this time or what? you sure missed the IPL semi-final. cracking match it was."
   
8. and finally, You have the Right to run. run as fast as you can before everybody joins the lynch mob and beats the crap out of you (actually you can beat the crap out of you too in the heat of the moment) in a "behti Ganga mein haath dhona" types moment.

***

...i pity the Americans the most. i really do. all they have is the RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT and then the one phone call...




but once again, just imagine the NYPD cops busting an Indian immigrant. the one phone call would be an international call to "Chunnu, Munnu, pappa, mummy and tau and tai and kaka and kaki and phupha and phuphi and pados wala Bunty and aapni Rashmi and the entire village back in India."

free ka call hai bhai. baat kar lo!

we are Indians. Mera Bharat mahaan.

Jai Hoh!

:)

***

*update*

PS: further inquiries into the clowning matter reveled that the felon in the picture is actually Chriz. he was arrested for a drunken chicken-stabbing spree and trying to enter Guantanamo Bay disguised as a clown. he maintains that he did so solely for the purpose of wanting to get a hamburger from the prison cafeteria. officials believe that to be a lie and are investigating the matter further.

uncharitable to the core...

...just one of those days. today i am not funny. things & people. too many references to what i care about the least. what to say, i can be like this. UNCHARITABLE TO THE CORE!

I'm calling in a 'rain check' today...



:|

a father's journey...

my dear child...

ज़िन्दगी के सफर कि राह है हि कुच्छ ऐसी

कि कल को हम सिखे थे चलना डगमगाते कदमों पर ।

फिर योंही किसिके ईशाहरों पर हुम चलते चल दिये

और चलते चलते कब दौड़ने लगे, यह न जान सके हम ।




इस दुनिया की सैर करते कभी खोये, तोह कभी मिले हम

रुकना जो न सिखा था, हम चल दिए बहुत दूर तक

लेकिन फिर आज आचानक थम से गए यह कदम।




और आपके ईन्ह नन्हें डगमगाते कदमों को सहरा देने के लियें

फिरसे चलना सिख गए हम |

...i am still learning to walk. but someday i shall teach you the same.

mi amor!

one more serving @ experimental soup

...bon appetite!

:)

somebody throw a rock...

for more pictures visit the photoblog

some nights i am an insomniac...

its always something or the other, and in the end nothing but an empty glass that once held my drink left in my hands or a frayed bookmark on page of the book i read. trying to work all night just to finally hop onto a 4:00 am bike journey in search for the much needed chai. the emptiness of the roads feeding the many thoughts running through the mind. some relevant. most irrelevant. the methodical organizer and planner in me is scared that i don't know the future while the adventurous spirit within me is exuberant and buoyant to the point of not caring.

...then begins the day. followed by the night. sleeplessness followed by deep slumber. an endless cycle.

"even a pebble thrown into the water breaks the monotony, causing ripples. i feel the need for a rock to fall!"