Dud Sea Scrawls The Writing, clearly, is not on the wall!

“Hello..”

“He got me Sheetal”

“NOOOO!”

”I am sorry! I should have been more careful”

“How could you fall prey to him after I warned you about what he did to me”

“It just happened! What do I do?”

“Don’t ask me!”

“Please. Please!”

”You can’t do anything. He is merciless.”

“This is hell.”

“Hold on for a few minutes. It will be all over.”

“The wait is killing me. I hope he lets me go.”

“Not before he is done with you!”

“Here he is!”

“Good Luck!”

“Bye now!”

“Hello…”

She rests on one side of my shoulder and he on the other side. My 4 year old and my 9 month old. I feel the warmth of their bodies as I rock them to sleep on the cozy rocker which is big enough to hold the 3 of us. Both of them are very tired after a couple of hours of playing. They promptly fall off to sleep, their weight getting heavier on my shoulders. I want to cherish this moment as long as I can. I know one day I’d be thinking back to this moment and wishing that my kids were so small that they could both fit in my arms! That my kids were so attached to me, that both of them wanted to sleep in my arms and they could too! It was an unforgettable moment and I had to blog it!

Part 6

There is something really interesting here. Do you see it?

No red or yellow cars and definitely no department confusion!
Here’s Part 5

I have been writing this series for a while now on Sulekha. Wrote about 4 parts and posted it there. An avid reader of my stories who happens to be a member of DSS too chided me on not posting it here. He has been my number #1 reader through all these years and so I HAVE to do what he whats he wants me to do with my writing. Otherwise I might loose the one loyal reader I have of my writings! Ok ok….just my usual dramebaazi you know So that you don’t come after me when you are done reading but after him. Who? you ask. Why our own Cheti-yaar ofcourse!! So here it is folks. Don’t be complaining about the length, its Parts 1-4 posted as one loong post..

A mztic blog!

I simply had to take time out and write about his incident that happened to me yesterday.

Echoing all the emotions that IW does in his preface, I too take the plunge in this tag world. Read about my perfect lover [did not know till now that they even existed!] and what he should and should not do… here

Reviews of Kalyug and Zinda.

Has been a long time since I posted Lil A’s updates. On popular demand here it is.

One of my ‘hazaron khwaish’!

Wallace and Gromit Movie - The curse of the Were Rabbit.
Jhumpa Lahiri’s - The Namesake.

Showed you exactly what colors my dreams were made of,
around midnight as I jolted you out of your sleep..

Writing a ghazal after a looongish time. A simple one this time. Hoping no one needs any translations, though have a few meanings at the end. I originally wanted it to go Jee Chaahta hain instead of Dil Chaahta hain and those conversant with Hyderabadi urdu might realize that Jee is used for something else too. So decided to stay away after my ‘but’ usage last time

She had watched in wonder as the winds gained momentum, wanting nothing more than to stand in her spot when the storm hit the coast. To watch it unfurl its fury. “Foolish girl” her mother had said exasperatedly as she begged for one last time to spend a few more minutes.

A moment in my life,
A moment so miniscule,
that it could be easily overlooked,
with a shrug of the shoulders,
like it never existed,
never happened,
but…

The conclusion to the mushlog as christened generously by peppy!!

A review of a couple of good films I watched this weekend.

Got these rules for a happy marriage from my husband’s cousin who has been married for a long time. I could not resist…

“aap kahen tho mar jaayen hum…aap kahen tho jee lete hain”
A line from a Nadeem Qasmi Ghazal sung by Jagjit Singh. Jagjit Singh gives the barest of pauses before jee lete hain. It goes aap kahen tho mar jaayen hum…aap kahen tho [pause] jee lete hain. The pause Very very sublty conveying the fact that it is perhaps much more easier to die for someone than to live for them! Twas just a thought that crossed me mind as I listend to that ghazal. Chaak jigar ke seelete hain, jaise bhi ho jee leten hain! Beautiful.

Twas a very indoorsy weekend. For 2 days I stayed indoors moving out only to take Lil A to the park. Somehow the heat did not want me to move about. Interesting thing on Friday Night though as we returned home from a daawat The famous downtown in the suburb that we live in was filled with children. It was around midnight. Children of every age with their parents. Since I take my niece and nephews to almost every festival in town, I was kinda surprised that this one escaped my radar. Came to know later that this was the much awaited release of the latest Harry Potter book. Seems like the town of XXXXXXXXX went overboard and everyone in Chicago knew about it. My boss remarked - all this for a book! Unbelievable! Well believe it!

ehsaas-e-dard ho, saaya-e-tanhaai ho kya ho,
is tarah meri zindagi mein shaamil kyon ho?

daastan-e-hasrat ho, lavs-e-mohabbat ho kya ho,
meri rooh ke zarre zarre mein maujood kyon ho?

[daastan-e-hasrat = story of desire]

aalam-e-ulfat ho, meherbaan-e-jaan ho kya ho,
chaahte ho tho bayaan se katraate kyon ho?

[aalam-e-wafa = World of Love, katraana = stepping back]

Daavar-e-mahashar ho, pehredaar-e-wafa ho kya ho,
har muqaam par yoon mujhe aazmaate kyon ho?

[daavar-e-mahashar = Lord of the day of judgement,
pehredaar-e-wafa = watchman of loyalty
aazmaana = to test]

shareek-e-gham ho, saaz-e-zindagi ho kya ho,

She was very tired. She wished she could rest for a while. She looked towards the kitchen. A pile of dishes stacked high in the sink. She glanced towards the watch. She had half an hour to set everything right. She did not know how she was going to do it. All the time these days she felt so stretched. She wished she could get some help in some form. It was so tiring to do each and everything in the house by herself. She had tried talking to her husband on getting some hired help but he was one of those who resolutely stuck to the concept of doing one’s things oneself. Yes it was easy for him to stick to such ideals since she was the one doing all the work and to top it all he expected things to be perfect. She closed her eyes willing for some miracle to happen.

She looked up shyly. He was looking at her. Was that a glint in his eye? She was not sure. Conformity dictated that she look away before she got a good look. It was amazing how the mind would get tuned to what was expected of you, what was drilled into you. It is like after 1.5 seconds, one has to look away. It did not matter that she did not want to, her eyes would avert themselves away. So she tried again. Those precious 1.5 seconds ticked away. He was talking to someone else. She could not catch his eye. But she did catch his profile. She lingered for a second more since there seemed no danger of him looking her way. A second more maybe because she liked what she saw…the longer than usual sideburns, the slightly stubbed nose, the jaw jutting out…she felt a nudge in her ribs. Time to look away. She did so..albeit reluctantly this time around.

Better late than never right?