life's a kick

  He doesn't look 40, does he? A couple of years ago, I picked up a renowned book by Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. I realized after going through the first few pages, that the book didn’t really offer anything new to me, courtesy my sibling teacher, my brother. What the book tried to teach in logic and words, my brother had taught me all along through practical demonstration. Almost all the good habits I have internalized so far, are owed to him. On his 40 th , it’s about time I pay my gratitude in ink. Let’s start with my first life lesson: Abandon labels In the 80s, even with limited access to TV for children of my generation, Bollywood faces were household names. Among them was the lesser known singer and widely popular actor-comedian, Tuntun. In those days, Tuntun was synonymous with overweight bubbly women. As the heaviest among three siblings, never mind that I was just five, brother chose to christen me Tuntun. It didn’t take any ceremony for the na...

The silver oak tree...with its golden flowers Kasauli shivered in the summer night. The COVID era wedding allowed for only 25 attendees, and all of them were unprepared for the cold. Who packs up winter clothes in north India for the month of May? Moth, earwigs, and other insects lay dead or dying, also unable to cope with the whistling winds. The wedding was arranged in a hotel that stood atop a hill with the valley on one side and a lawn on the other, the latter being used for the functions. The white and golden canopy of the wedding tent was complemented with the simple and startling decoration of hundreds of tea lights. Though electronically controlled, their flickering flames looked real in the weather. Yellow fairy lights swirled around tree trunks and branches around the lawn. Natural mist diffused the lighting (and the mood) in a way that most exotic places couldn’t match. It looked like the place was ready to welcome gods of heaven. A sickle moon rose above the imposing Deod...

  Some folks have it. The ability to talk for hours without meaning a thing. Hi, I am Jargon. I come in handy to disguise shallow language sense. I even save the day if you lack the courage to speak the truth. I usually seek time to check and get back to you, because I know how short your attention span is, and how you’re going to forget this after six seconds. I am great at specifying the need to peel the onion before getting into the task because I dread working. See, I just gave the Hindi idiom of pyaaz chheelna a new lease of life. As they say, old wine in a new bottle. Wink wink. I’m often banking on the synergy of other people because I am unparalleled at social loafing. This is why I insist on touching base, and not dissecting through. When I’m borrowing other people’s original thoughts, you may label them as stealing, but I’m actually curating thoughts and experiences for a bleeding edge customer experience. I love the creative stuff. Or the disruptive stuff. Take yo...

  Ache: Hey there, honey! Me: (I look up glumly) Ache: One of those days that you're invoking my transformational powers, eh? Me: About time you stopped making fun of my lows. Ache: Lows? You call them lows? I provide free-of-cost revelations to you, and you label them lows? I mean, people hire fancy consultants for unearthing those nuggets of gold. Me: Not all your revelations are pleasant, you know. Ache: If they were, you wouldn’t have developed the ability for compassion, would you? Me: Agree. And I’m also human, and I also need compassion. Now do you mind leaving me alone? (I choke)   Ache: There, there…I would leave you forever, if that’s what makes you happy. I am not an unsolicited guest anyway. Me: Is it? When did I invite you, I...

Pic Courtesy: Manish Kumar from  https://www.ek-shaam-mere-naam.in/ Every time I have stood there and gazed at you, I have felt there is stillness in the world. Within and without. You, too, have been rather committed in communing with me. You have returned my admiration with fondness. You have calmed my agitated heart. You have centred my mind. And as if it was not beautiful enough to see your glowing countenance, you have run a slideshow of people who long for - just as I long to see you in your full glory. Telling me that we are all united...through you.  Standing there on the terrace, holding you in my unblinking eyes, I have known what it means to breathe comfort. You are just one of those phenomena that prove perfection exists. You stand there as a constant reminder to us lesser mortals to be more than lesser. Way more. You tell us that the idea is to be this beautiful, this comforting, and this graceful, no matter who we are.  How do you do it? Ma...

मटमैले रंग की सलवार कमीज पहने , छीजी सी चुन्नी ओढ़े , अधेड़ उम्र की मुस्कान कुल छे घर करती थी। गठा हुआ शरीर , टनकती आवाज़ और तेज़ चाल - मुस्कान दिल्ली की दबंग कामवालियों से अलग न थी। उसने बहुत पहले जान लिया था कि शहर के अमीर गिद्ध की भांति होते हैं - कमज़ोर को नोंच खाते हैं। वैसे तो काम उसने झाड़ू पोंछे से शुरू किया था , पर पैसे और हुनर बढ़ने के साथ उसने पेशे में भी तरक्की की थी। अब वो शर्तें साफ़ रखती थी - कपड़े मशीन में ही धोएगी। बर्तन गर्म पानी से ही साफ़ करेगी। खाने में एक सब्ज़ी और एक दाल से बढ़कर कुछ नहीं बनाएगी। महीने में दो छुट्टी करेगी। ये सब उसके अनुभव का निचोड़ था। सालों पहले , कई बार उसने कोशिश की थी कि बहुत अच्छा काम करके , किसी और के परिवार को अपना परिवार मान के , मैडम लोगों का दिल जीत ले। तब हाथ - पैर भी दबाये थे। सराहना में दो - चार शब्द हाथ लगे और दस - बारह पुरानी साड़ियां। तंगदिल लोगों को खुश करने की हज़ार कोशिशों के...