YOU vs. YOU

You’re reading this.

Yes you! I’m talking to you.

Before you go to the next lines, let’s make a deal.

You read it right, a deal.

And that deal is you will read the whole post with a smile on your face.

Be it a fake smile, but do it… NOW!

No no, hold it right there. You cannot go to the next lines without a smile.

No cheating…

Good, there is the smile, not maybe on your lips but in your heart.

Now you know your heart can smile too! How weird is that?

You can smile inside without putting a smile on your lips.

So if you can smile inside, you can see inside, and hear inside…

Remember when you close your eyes and imagine things?

That’s it… that’s the eyes of your heart and they never need glasses.

Don’t tell me you don’t hum a favorite tune in your mind.

Hey, don’t forget the smile… we had a deal.

Good.

So, if your heart can smile, see, and hear… it can speak as well.

Remember how your heart used to tell that you are here to be a great dancer, a chef, a pilot, an astronaut, a designer…? Its fact that you don’t pay much attention to what it says.

But that’s not we’re talking about…

Once again, your heart can smile, hear, see, and speak as well.

Just like you.

So what are all these doctors saying heart is like a machine that can only pump blood… blah blah…

Right, that’s not your heart. All these things happen in your brain. I got it, smartass.

But hey, that means your brain can smile, hear, see…

Isn’t that weird???

You have another person inside your body.

Who reacts differently at times, like a complete different personality.

You stopped smiling long back, did I mention that to you?

Oh common! We had a deal.

So this inside-your-body personality, that nutcase who…

Smile

Hear

See

And…whisper in your ears.

…is maybe your heart, or brain, or soul.

Whatever it is, it’s not you.

Or maybe,

It’s the real you.

Then who’s the one outside?

An imposter? One who loves to see dreams then forget them?

One who can hear the real you speaking but ignore?

Now the imposter wants you to close this blog.

And the real one as well.

But the imposter will try to forget this post.

The real one won’t.

You’re to decide whose smile lasts.

Where The Road Meets The Sun

“Let me buy you a hotel room.”
“Oh, thanks but we have a tent with us.”
“Really? Come on, just let me buy you a hotel room up here in this next town.”
“We’ll be fine. Really. You’ve already helped us so much by picking us up. We weren’t expecting to get a ride at such an odd hour."
“I don't want anything from you in return. I just want to buy you a hotel room."
I was slowly losing my patience. "Thanks, but we would like to sleep in the tent."
"Okay. Then please at least don't say no to this.”

The old man gave me some money. I looked back at my friend over the seat, not knowing what to do with it.
“My daughter ran away last week,” he hides his eyes to the road through the windshield.

“Please," the old man says, "I insist.”

With Every Passing Day

Once upon a time my mornings were about a melodious chirping on my window frame and a little sparrow asking me how she looked before she starts her day. She'd brush her feathers neatly and ask me what was my plan for the day. I was sleeping, so I didn't know what surprises the day had for me. I could barely open my eyes wide enough to know if her tail feathers were matching with her scarf feathers, or her little eyes were as shiny as black beads. To me, she always looked beautiful, even though this daily ritual baffled me.

Mornings now, are about swapping dreams and joy with my laziness. Mornings now, are about savoring; they have become deep, intimate, and quiet. Mornings now, are about those baffling, indecipherable moments when I wake up, where I don’t know who I am, who I’ve been, or who I want to be. My weekends start with finding a little spot of light on the wooden beam of my ceiling, and guessing what time it is by its placement. Then softly closing my eyelids to see if I can still see the yellow spot of light.

Dilemma of An 80’s Kid

Almost all of us wanted to do the things that only our elders could do. We made a big wish list that we were determined to fulfill when we will be as tall as our parents. It was a list full of unfulfilled wishes like watching movies, buying ice creams, chocolates, eating those street side junk food, not giving exams, playing all day long… it was truly one long list.

We, the 80’s kids had a lot to celebrate. Our local park was our Facebook, passing short notes to friends in school was our Twitter, and those golden afternoons under the big bright yellow sun was our Instagram. Special moments were shared with friends every single day; we didn’t have to care how many people retweeted them on Twitter or liked on Facebook.

Life wasn’t easy back then, but it was simpler than now. Galaxy was something we could see easily looking up at the sky in starry nights. Apple and Blackberry were just fruits; tablets were medicines, and receiving handwritten letters were a lot more special than emails. We invented the shortest form of cricket even before Lalit Modi could dream of it. We danced and screamed our lungs out when Tendulkar hit sixes in Sharjah, we didn’t require cheerleaders to cheer for us.

Carrying a new pencil box with an attached sharpener and a hidden eraser or a pen that glows in dark were as exciting as carrying a new mobile or tablet to school. Sharing tiffin, comic books, bubble gums and other secrets with friends happened every single day; we didn’t have to Whatsapp for that. Whenever all our friends were together we always chat, we didn’t need to download WeChat for that. Back in the 90’s life gave us unlimited data plan; we didn’t have to pay anything to the service provider.

We were born with the best of things but we wanted to copy and paste the western culture in this country. Our prayers worked, the world around us started changing faster than we could ever imagine. Suddenly, bringing good grades in exams was a lot more important than playing cricket with friends and flying kites. Then came that much awaited day, our parents came to us, touched our shoulders and said...

“Don't be so irresponsible, you're no longer a kid.”

Now it's official, we are no longer kids. And we have no right to be wrong. Today Facebook reminds us of our best friend’s birthday. We no longer draw greeting cards for them; there are lots of online sites to take care of that. Playing cricket is passé, now IPL amuses us and match fixing is our favorite topic in social get-togethers. Galaxy is now available at only 20k, Apple is now a lot more expensive than it used to be. Temples are no longer to pray; instead Temple Run has become viral worldwide. We eat in good restaurants and check in on Facebook to show our friends where we eat, wear expensive clothes, talk smart, pretend to be smart, and carry smartphones. We no longer look up at the sky to see the old Galaxy. Making money is more important than relationships, using to-do lists to remember client meetings but forget to laugh heartily, waiting for our appraisals, waiting for that one vacation in a year, saving money to buy our dream cars, applying for loans…

And then, one lonely afternoon, some of us switch off their mobiles and write a post like this.