I've got you Babe

There's this person 

Who will always be with you

No matter what you go through

No matter where you go

They'll never ever leave your side

Through good times and bad

Through the thick of it all

Though people may desert you

Some may even walk away from you

But they will forever be by your side

They will always be there

To console you when you're sad

To hold and cover you with their warmth

Giving you a helping hand 

When you're fallen on the ground

Often picking you up

Dusting you off and helping you move on

They are your biggest supporters

The voice that eggs you on

In the darkest hour

They bring you hope 

Give you the faith that you lost

And provide you the will to move on

When you feel all hope is gone

And there's nothing else to live for

Like the little voice of reason

They will help you through

They see you through it all

They know your every whims and fancies

They see you bare to the bones

They know who you truly are

Nothing is hidden from them

Though you may deny or hide

They see you for what and who you are

They know what pleases, What hurts you

And through it all They take care of you

Often rationalising with you

When you veer towards the irrational path

They steady your shaky ship

And blow into your sails

Righting the wrong course

They care for you, they love you

They whisper words of wisdom to you

If you could only be quiet and listen

They have your back

Where others may stab

Never ever giving up on you

Cause they know what you are capable of

And they want to see you be that

They are your best friend

Your greatest love

You biggest support

You cheerleader, your lover, your friend

Like a shadow, always at your side

Never ever leaving you

'Cause that person is YOU

The Mystery of the Missing Pavements

A muggy post-rains evening, you are making your way through traffic. The muggy weather, the conditions of the roads and metro work has screwed up the traffic have got you all flustered. 

So you zig-zag pass countless vehicles, as two-wheeler can only do, to move ahead. All of a sudden your path is blocked by a lady walking slowly. Clearly she's jay walking, so you gently honk your horn trying to get her to give you way. She turns and gives you the look as if you have committed a cardinal sin and are totally wrong. You try in vain to get her to move and helplessly listen to her lecture. Your hapless self try to explain that you are on the road and she is in the wrong by jay walking on the road. You try to indicate that there's a place for her to walk. But then you notice that's something is amiss, something is not there. And low and behold its the pavements that's missing.

So like an unsolved mystery you wonder, where have all the pavements gone? And then you have Paula Cole's Where have all the Cowboys gone, buzzing in your head, followed by Adele's Chasing Pavement. 

Surely this is a mystery that needs to be solved. Where's Sherlock when you need him? Even ACP Pradhyuman or Daya or Fredrick would do. So you have the mystery of the missing pavement on your hand, life is now going to get interesting.

As you dwell deeper into the mire you realise that the pavements haven't gone anywhere, just we humans have gone everywhere. The poor pavements have become more multipurpose than they were intended for.

So where you had walkers treading on them, you find open manholes and broken tiles. They have now become the dwelling place and outdoor relieving place for those who can't afford a place. At many places they become a workshops and bike repair, at some places they seem to have become a garbage disposal place and quite a few area, the road widening has lead to pavement shrinking.

In such a situation poor walkers have gone from ordinary to jay walkers, often risking life and limb, often in frustration as they clash with traffic trying to make heir way through the crowded roads.

So there you have it, the mystery of missing pavement is solved, laid bare for all to see. Now the question is what needs to be done to get them back. Something you and I would  not know what to do... or so I assume...

Life from both sides

As I stand at the cusp

At the turn of another year

To grow a year older

Never knowing if I'll be wiser

Even though I know I am not 

Turning a new leaf

Cause I don't know what all to change

The year gone by

 Took me through hell

Made me feel pain 

That I thought would never end

But somehow I made it through

I glad to have known it all

The flames that I have been through

Have made me change 

From the man I once knew

To the one I became

Forging my will

Making me strong 

Helping to restore my faith in me

I seen my life through both sides now

Through ups and downs

I have seen it all 

I have no illusions 

Of there being a change

But still I hope and keep the faith

Somehow I'll find my way

I longed to say "I love you"

And hear it said back too

Even though I knew it very well

This was a foolish and selfish thought

Not hearing it made me lonely and insane

I have made mistakes

I have stumbled and fell 

Sometimes headlong 

Into my personal hell

Darkness was what I felt

I longed to put an end to it all

Not knowing when it all would end

If there'll be light

To banish the darkness I felt

Cause the mistake I made 

Left me feeling ashamed

I wanted it all to end

People thought they knew what I felt

Telling what I should do

Never really caring to know well 

The pain and loneliness I felt

Telling me that I need to change

They didn't realise 

That advice was not what I needed

Just a patient ear

To hear the pain that I felt

For companionship 

Is what I longed for 

Cause love seemed far from me

Broken and battered was how I felt 

Down in the dumps with no will to spare

But then friends came to my aid 

Love helped me find a way

Restoring the faith that I once had

They dusted me off and wiped my tears

They gave me hope, 

helped me get back to my feet

Without a judgemental word

They showed that they genuinely cared

Love embraced me and made me see

What a foolish boy I had been

Through fears and loneliness

Love was always there for me

There may have been change

But change is part of life

Is something we've got to accept 

Without a fret

Not knowing what what will happen next

Cause love gave me a reason to live 

Love gave me hope and banished despair

Showed that it will always be there

When I need it it will always be there 

I just need to reach out and it will be there

I've looked at life from both sides now

From subtle breeze to stormy clouds

From the highs and lows that I have known

I finally found way back home

Now I have no fear of the dark in me

Knowing I'll never let it conquer me

For friends and family are my support

Love will always be there for me

Always leading me on.

That what makes you whole

You are going to have some good times

Along with the bad

It's only when you know sorrow

Can you learn to appreciate 

All that's good in your life

There will be times

When all the pieces will fall into place

And times when nothing goes your way

And time when nothing ever happens at all

You are going to experience 

Highs and lows 

Like a heartbeat that tells you 

That you're alive and kicking 

And not flatlining and dead

Embrace life and all that it has to offer you

The good times along with the bad

The happiness and the sad

You have to know heartache 

So as to learn to appreciate love

You've got to learn to accept others

In order to really accept yourself

Accept life, grab it and hold tight

Learn from it but never let it go

Let cover you, envelope you, embrace you

Absorb all that it has to give you

Live it to the fullest 

Never ever give up on it

You can't always be happy 

But happiness comes from a place within

Don't ever loose that place

Love and be loved

Accept to be accepted

Honour others giving them the respect

They deserve

Happiness and sadness

Joys and sorrows

Triumphs and failures 

These are all part of life

And that what makes life complete

That what makes you whole

Moments

We often complain

That moments that matter

Are far and few

And often fleeting 

Never giving us a chance

To savour it

To bask in it

To enjoy it

What we never truly understand 

Is that every moment matters

Every second

Every minute

Every hour

Every day

The tiniest detail is what matters

We are often wrapped up

In our so called busy life

That we let so many moments pass us by

Without ever noticing

Or acknowledging it

Every moment needs to be celebrated 

Not just those big ones

Every triumph, no matter how small

Needs to be celebrated 

Cause it is these moments 

that come together 

To make a cohesive whole

We may never ever have 

bards or ministerial 

Put these moments in verse or songs

But these moments live on with us forever

Etched in our heart for all eternity

These moments may be small and tender

Passionate beyond lust 

Or the craving of the flesh

But these moments are genuine 

Pure and true

Strengthening the bonds 

That binds us together

That keeps us sane

These moments are our prized possession

Our ray of sunshine

On a dark and gloomy day

That what keeps us strong

Fills us up with hope and faith

Though time may pass us by

These moments linger on

Like a tattoo on our mind

Imprinting on us

Ours for all eternity

Though we may come and go

The se moments that form memories

Will linger on for all eternity 

What does Freedom mean to YOU

What does being free mean to you?

Being free means to be born with a free will, without the shackles of slavery to enslave you, to confine you (unless you are bound to the shackles that men put on you, that we bind ourselves with).

Freedom is being who you are, who you choose to be, where you to choose to live, what you choose to do. Freedom is being free to choose who you love, loving them without judgement and prejudices. You are free to choose who you love and how you love.

You have a freedom to follow your dreams, to practice your beliefs, to settle Anyway you choose to settle. You are free and no one can take your freedom away.

Along with freedom, rules and laws are necessary. Without them there would be anarchy and lawlessness. Religion too is necessary, it gives shape to your beliefs and forms your moral compass. But neither law or religion should discriminate, should take your freedom, should force you to do what would circumvent your freedom. Should tell you otherwise.

Religion though needed should not cloud your mind. Religion should broaden your thinking and not narrow it. Religion should give you the freedom to accept one for who they are, not judge and look down on something against nature. Religion should be tolerant of all and not intolerant.

Similarly the law needs to uphold freedom and not unlawfully take it away. It should not be used as a tool to rob one of their freedom.

Freedom is a gift which we all have been blessed with. A blessing for all. But never take it for granted, cause we will never know it's true worth unless it is taken away. We can never have  freedom by taking it away from others. So we've got to learn to respect freedom of all.

Freedom is truly a blessed gift which we all have been blessed with.

WeInspire

One thing that I have always believed is that we all have that quite little power within us that can move and inspire and uplift those who need it the most. We all have it in us to inspire the lives of others.

You needn't be a superhero (this coming from a person who's name sounds like one) or perform any acts of great valour in order to inspire those who look up on us. We don't need to do anything great or grand or anything out of the ordinary in order to inspire. 

Inspiration can be found in the smallest of things, in actions that we dismiss as insignificant. What may be small or insignificant to us may prove inspirational to the one who needs it. Our words and deeds are what inspire others. We need not wax eloquent prose or perform great feats. Inspiration comes from the tiniest and simplest of deeds, when it comes from the heart.

Our lives may seem mundane to us, nothing new, nothing out of the ordinary. For us the lives we have lived and what we live is just a normal ordinary life, nothing novel or extraordinary about it. We haven't overcame adversity, beaten the odds and surmounted the impossible. Ours isn't the life what dreams are made of. No one would write ballads or poems about the, no one will put our lives in songs. We wouldn't even be a footnote when the book of history is written.

But then this is what we feel, what we think, because by nature we all are modest (at least most of the time) and don't sing praises about ourselves (when we try not to). But the way we see our lives may not be the same way others look upon it. 

What we may dismiss as mundane and routine may be the ray of hope that someone seek. Our simple words may just help someone find the courage to make it trough, the soothing balm that they need. Our stories and our lives may not be what legends are made up of us, but what they are is relatable, for people to associate themselves with it, thus bringing them hope and strength.

Our deeds, no matter how small or insignificant they feel to us, maybe the lifeline that someone seeks. Our positivity and our encouragement may just be what a person drowning in despair needs to save themselves, to find themselves. Our caring nature, our love, our perseverance, our dedication, is what inspires others to do the same and in turn inspire the lives of others.

Inspiration needs no grand gestures or superhuman ability. Not all of us go through odds that are never in our favour. But still, it is in the simplest of things, being who we are, being true to ourselves, doing thing we aspire to do, we find ways to inspire. 

We all inspire, one way or the other, knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or intentionally. We find a way to inspire those in need. Being their lifeline, their ray of hope in the darkness of despair, their guiding light in the stormy sea. We well well and truly inspire.

Me: A Work In Progress

I am a work in progress

Constantly changing 

Constantly evolving 

Never truly satisfied 

With what I have achieved 

Don't get me wrong

I accept myself the way I am

With all the abilities

I have been blessed with

But I will always strive to be

Better than my best

It's not that I want to be perfect

I know that I can never be one

To me perfection is a myth

 But all i want is 

To be better than myself

The skills that I have been given

Was never meant to be salted

Never meant to be preserved

They were meant to be nurtured 

To be multiplied, to be grown

My life has never been perfect

In fact it is far from perfect

I'm a perfectly imperfect specimen 

A bit damaged, a bit broken

But I accept myself, my life 

The way I am, who I am

I accept the choices I've  made

Whether they have been

Right or wrong, good or bad

They have all taught me

Made me stronger

Moulders me and shaped me

I don't label myself

Based on my preferences

Based on who I choose to love

I may hurt or suffer heartbreaks

But I will always continue to love

Believe in the power of love

And hope for love

I may stumble and my fall 

But with every stumble

With every fall

I know I shall rise again

Cause every stumble and fall

Has something to teach me

And with each of them I have grown

I know I will never be complete

Cause life has so much to teach

And I will continue to learn

Till the day I die 

And even then 

There'll be something

For me to learn

I really don't know what

And I don't know how

But I shall learn 

A constant work in progress

Acceptance

One thing we all want from life is to be accepted by others, to be accepted by society. But how many of us truly accept ourselves the way we are?

They say charity begins at home, so if you want to be be accepted by others, we first need to accept ourselves the way we are. And there lies the crux of our troubles, our stress. We find it  difficult to accept ourselves for who we are, often feeling ashamed of our blemishes in life.

There's always something that we want to change about ourselves. We are never truly comfortable in our own skin. There are endless list of wants to change, starting with weight. And this not just for women, men face it too. 

In a world that has has taken being social to a whole different level, we want to be perfect. We are obsessed of fitting in, to be accepted in social circles, so much so that we are more than willing to put a false facade just to be seen as acceptable. But in doing this we are slowly steadily loosing touch with our true self.

It's not that the world is perfect. Everyone has their issues, no one is perfect. We are all imperfect, a little damaged. It it is in this imperfection that makes us perfect specimens. We are got to learn to accept ourselves the way we are, with what we have been blessed with, who we become. 

But this doesn't mean that we resign to the hands we have been dealt with. It means that we need to take the gifts which we have been blessed with and put them to use the way they were meant to be.

Acceptance is a way of connecting to your true self, who you are truly are. An honest view of yourself. And if you are brave enough you will let others see who you truly are. So Let acceptance begin with you. Others will slowly follow.