poem: the boy with the kite

The boy with the kite

Stood alone a boy in the field

While the breeze made the grass kiss the earth

While everything around swayed along

Stood the boy sturdy among the birds.

As the sun began evanescing with the day

And the stars began to make their mark

His crimson kite flew southwards

Fluttering high in the rather changing sky.

The little boy has no worries

He is as free as the kite in his hand

The only thing that keeps him pinioned

Are the weak strands of family ties.

But what is a kite without a thread?

Its just a paper blown away by the wind

Without family the little boy knows nothing

He is as lost as the  kite itself.

As the time flew by the sun bid adieu

The stars grew brighter and the moon faintly peeked

As the time flew by the boy grew older

He began changing like the overhead skyline

The worries of adulthood changed him forever

And he let go of the kite he had once held so tightly to.

                                                                                                                PRATIK NAYAK

poem : The healer

The healer.

They say that time mends a broken heart

Puts together the pieces that have fallen apart

Time helps you kiss the agony a pale goodbye

Embrace the changes that it sweeps along

The past looks oh so comfortable

That makes you snuggle to it and cozy up

But soon you find yourself lost in the winds

Where everything has moved on and you remain in the past, still

Where the memory is all you have left known

Where everything familiar away has been blown

Such a life you dare not choose

Where your only companion will slip through your fingers like sand loose

What will you grab on to then?

Under whose asylum will you seek comfort?

Be like the brown leaf that has fallen off from the tree

That has lost everything, yet is carefree

Be like the brown leaf that gets swept with time

As the winds of changes blows it around

Going places where it creates some new memory

bye bye HIMYM

Accepted, it wasn’t as awesome an ending as Breaking Bad. Nor did it have a sad finale like FRIENDS did (yea, I get sad every time I watch that). But c’mon guys, the how I met your mother series finale wasn’t that bad either! For me the jigsaw is finally complete.

I liked the final episode. Sue me. Didn’t we guys get what we always had been hoping for? For Ted and Robin to be together? There you go! You got it! Oh oh oh! So now you’re saying that he should have ended up with the mother? Pish posh! Don’t tell me you developed feelings for the mom all of a sudden! Ted and Robin were always meant to be together. They were like the new age Ross and Rachel! Don’t give me that bullshit that you feel cheated. I know that you all wanted it in some merry corner of your brains.

Here’s how the jigsaw is complete:

• ·         Lily and marshal always together.
• ·         Barney was never meant to be tied down! They had to “let him be himself” as he put it. Well at least for some time.
• ·         Barney has a kid! Yeh toh hona hi tha! Everybody knows even condoms don’t have that good success rates!
• ·         Robin got famous! Didn’t she always want that? Isn’t that what she came from, oh what’s that country again? Ah! “Canada!” isn’t that why she came all the way from Canada for?
• ·         Marshal finally gets his band of three kids. Lily gets her art class of 3 kids who speak French. :p
• ·         Marshal gets what he deserves. Becomes a Supreme Court judge!
• ·         And finally Ted and Robin end up together.

Everything ends well! What’s not there to like?? The end would also mean that the gang would eventually hang out together again. I absolutely hate the finales where the gang splits, because I really want to believe in the idea that friendships are eternal.

Maybe they could have made a new season out of the final episode itself. Maybe they made the right choice by cutting it off right there. From Robin’s scotch sipping cigar burning fondness, to Marshal and Lily’s strong love, to Barney Stinson’s legen----wait for it--- daryness, to last but not the least, Ted’s emotional endurance, I’m going to miss every bit of it. HIMYM taught me the fun part of friendships, to go big when you know you have found the right one, to never give up, to forever be awesome. It taught me that nothing is legendary if your friends are not around to see it.  Whatever the masses feel, I’m sure they all are going to miss the roller coaster ride that was How I Met Your Mother.

Good bye.

Did India take the right side in the Devyani Khobragade case?

Did India take the right side in the Devyani Khobragade case?

The wise have told us time and again. Never incite a silent lion. It will only come at you angrier than ever. But the Indian government doesn’t seem to have learnt this little detail yet.

The Devyani Khobragade case is one such example that has been blown out of sensible proportions by the Indian media and the Indian government. The Indo-US relationship is far too important to be jeopardized over a law breaking diplomat, who for once didn’t think about how her acts of crime would make India look to the rest of the world. Instead of forcing charges against her, the government wants the US to apologize? Can India afford to lose such a powerful ally with threats looming over our head perennially?

The Indian government is just overplaying their hand in a bid to look heroic in front of its citizens with the general elections creeping in. The US is quiet for now, but soon a time will come if India continues to act this way, that we will be facing the wrong side of the door.

the disapproving knife

Try this on for size.

Imagine you spend around 10 hours on sketching. At the end, you pick it up and hold it in front of your face, look at it and exhale in relief. For you, that’s the best work you’ve done so far. You can’t take your eyes off it. You can’t wait to share it with your friends and family, because let’s face it; you are hungry for appreciation. You take a picture of it, and whatsapp it to your closest people.

While your entire whatsapp list is showering you with appreciation, and clamoring for more, there is always one single message disapproving of your work that messes up your mind.  And if that one, disapproving message is from the one person you respect the most in that field, it makes you want to tear up your art and throw the little pieces off the balcony. For me that person is my sister.

What happened was, after a lot of reading, plotting, self-realizing, brain storming I finally began work on my first novel. Clichéd as it may sound, the first chapter I wrote was about love. As soon as I finished it, I couldn’t wait to show it to my friends. I felt good about it. I was positive about it. I mailed it to some of my friends and of course, my sister. While all of my friends said that it was interesting and made them want more, I ended up upset in the end (the reason for writing this blog post in the first place).

• ·         My sister thought, that it was mediocre.
• ·         She began by telling me that the story was clichéd (expected! :/)
• ·         It was exactly like a chetan bhagat story (should I take that as a compliment?). But I don’t know how that happened. I haven’t read a chetan bhagat for years and something that old doesn’t inspire me enough to match my entire style to him.
• ·         It was predictable. (I think she covered that when she said clichéd)

·         Not to mention the tone from how I met your mother. (Again, don’t know how that happened!)

·         We’ll talk tomorrow. (There is more of this disappointment?)

Writing this post as I wait for tomorrow, hoping that something good will come out of her mouth, that will soothe me after a sleepless night that I’m going to have. I think I have to stop asking people for their honest opinion!  :/ L

intimacy issues

Scene: 1

Thermodynamics lecture.

U know how lectures can get boring at times and even the slightest chance to gather amusement should be capitalized. So there I was, minding my own business, pretending to take notes, when suddenly the rarest kind of Homo sapiens in a mechanical class caught my attention. One of the only two girls in my class had both her hands in her bag and was what seemed to me, doodling on her phone. Now she was sitting right across me and I couldn’t resist the temptation of fooling around a little. So when the prof was busy scribbling on the board, thinking that what he is teaching is more important than life itself, I pointed towards that girl and said “ sir, she’s using her mobile in the class”. No no no… don’t get me wrong. I didn’t want her to get into trouble. I said it just loud enough for her and the guys around me to listen and have a good laugh about it. And people chuckled. Now who doesn’t appreciate recognition! As soon as I realized that my small quip had turned into something of an amusement for my friends, I continued my stupid fooling around thing. I kept pointing at her and an evil yet weird smile erupted on my face as I kept chanting the words, “sir mobile sir, she using a phone sir!” much to her discomfort, she kept shooing me and pleaded me to shut my mouth. My neighboring friends were all in splits. Who would quit such a joke when its garnering the most laughs...? So I got unmindful of things around me and kept pestering her.

Right when I had my hand stretched out and my finger pointing towards her, with a devilish smile on my face, the prof turned around! Oh shit!

“What’s going on here? You! Stand-up”

My hand retracted back faster than a spring action mechanism and my smile… well it persisted.

I stood up slowly thinking, ‘shit!! Fatt gayi!’

“What’s going on between you two?” he barked.

In life you eventually reach such a point, where you can neither take a right nor a left. I was stuck in a similar dilemma. Neither could I say that she was using her phone, because … let’s face it… I should have been a jerk to do that… nor could I say that I was just having some fun because your class is more boring than a Zimbabwe Bangladesh test match.

If my years of experience has taught me anything it’s this – there’s one word that always tries its level best to get you out of such sticky situations.

“Sorry sir” *with the puppy dog eyes* well… I tried my best even though I can’t pull it off for shit!

“GET OUT OF MY CLASS”

So much for that! I looked down, got out of my seat and tried to scoot off in shame.

Right when I was crossing him, he caught me by my collar and said, “what the hell do you think you are doing in my class huh!? Who do you think you are? You can show your intimacy outside the class. Not here. Get out now and don’t enter my class without the HOD’s letter. Bloody boys think they can cut past me…”

I scuffled off as soon as I could.

When I left the class there was only one thought running through my mind; what did mean by intimacy??  What the hell! The way these professors throw around the word “intimacy” surprises me! Since when did point toward a girl and smiling like a jackass become “intimacy”!! Some things I’ll never understand!

Epilogue: well, I got to know later that day that after I left the class the prof asked the girl what was going on between us both (we’re married sir, do you have a problem with that?). I met that girl later that day and said sorry to her and to my surprise she said sorry to me too! Such a sweet girl! J I attended his lecture the very next day without any letter or anything. As lucky as I was, he had forgotten all about it...

All’s well that ends well J

RUSH : my movie review

Saying that rush is one of the best movies I have seen in recent times is an understatement. I would like to correct myself. It is THE BEST movie I have seen in recent times. Just pondering on the fact that a real life story has so much depth and so much gut makes me love this movie even more.

I was not just awestruck by the amazing story line this cinematic roller-coaster has to offer, but mesmerized by the stellar performances by Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl. The main characters are ably supported by the supporting actors who despite of being handed over short screen time utilize it to the fullest. The set, the cars, the energy, the adrenaline; they all make up for one hell of a movie.

The story is so inspiring that it made me go on Wikipedia right after finishing the movie to check for its resemblance to real life. To my surprise this treat for the eyes and the brain is a spot on imitation of the real life.

SPOILERS AHEAD!! PROCEDE WITH CAUTION!!

The story revolves around the lives of two racers Niki Lauda (believe me, this movie is so good and gripping that this name didn’t even make me laugh :/) and James Hunt and their rivalry and eventually friendship in a very competitive arena.  Both start off their careers from formula 3 where their rivalry begins when Hunt veers into Lauda during the race only to deny Lauda a finish. Lauda soon realizes that his destiny lies in Formula 1 and he sponsors himself into team Ferrari with a bank loan. His move pays him off as he proceeds to win the championship that year. Seeing that his rival has made it big and the confidence that he can do better than Lauda, Hunt finds himself a spot in McLaren, not before his formula 3 team backs out of the contention due tolack of sponsorship. With both having fast cars of equal caliber this part of the movie sees an incredible competition between the two with Lauda immerging victorious in most of the races. Here comes the great tragedy. During the German grand prix Lauda ties to prevent the race from happening citing bad conditions and a dangerous track. But the vote doesn’t go in his favor and the race remains on. During the race Lauda tries to catch up  and make up for his lost time and steers dangerously on the corners and much to his bad luck his car breaks down and the fuel tank catches fire, engulfing the car in an inferno. Lauda makes it out alive from the jaws of death but is seriously injured by the burns and the toxic fumes. While he undergoes treatment to get him back in shape he watches Hunt win one race after another. Determined to get back on the track he rushes the doctors to speed up his treatment and returns to the track in just six weeks to stun everyone. He finishes an impressive fourth in that race. Cut to the final race of the championship in Fiji where heavy rains mar the track kind of makes you want to stop the race from happening just to save the two leads. Hunt trails behind Niki by just three points for the championship the race begins with rains lashing the track. But to everybody’s surprise Lauda retires from the race after just two laps saying that the track is too dangerous. This clears the route for Hunt who just needs a podium finish for the big cup. But things look bad when his tires wear out and has to make an emergency pit stop. Trailing behind at no. 6 he drives to his full potential in a gripping finish. This part makes you hold as tightly as possible to your pants as Hunt makes his way up the race. In one of the best anticlimaxes I have seen, where everybody wants the comeback lad Lauda to win, Hunt finishes third to win the championship. It’s the kind of an end to the movie that doesn’t make you sad or make you hate the movie for not letting the protagonist win. In fact, in my opinion both of them are protagonists. The movie ends with Niki getting ready for the next season of racing and an epilogue.

I know most of you might say that I am jobless for having written such a long review for this movie. But I just knew after watching the movie that I had to do something to fulfill my heart after such an endearing watch. This movie is about friendship, competition, rivalry, relations will power, hard work and most importantly dedication. I’m going for 4 and a half stars for RUSH and it is a must watch for all those sitting their lazy asses on the couch. If this doesn’t get you fired up, then God help you!