.. and forever hold your tongue!!!

“Speak now or forever hold your peace”, asks the priest if anyone has any objection to the couple from being joined in marriage. How you wish you could say the same to the people in your life (whether you actually want them there or not), but rather than asking them to hold their peace you would rather have them hold their tongue.

These are especially for the ones who are more bothered about your life than their own life (proving they have nothing good  happening in their life). 

The ones who’s only purpose in life is to keep a tab on your and know whats happening in your life and poke their nose where it does not belong. Who are more bothered with what you are doing, as if it’s their reason for living, as if the happenings of your life is the oxygen they need to breathe, to survive, to thrive.

The ones who believe in the adage that ladka-ladki kabi dost nahin ho sakta, making you wonder which world are they living in, which century are they from? Or maybe they’ve watched one too many Rajshri/Sooraj Bhrajatiya movies. 

The ones who love to pair people, or gossip about people just because they hang about together, or train together, or a seen together. Although they may claim that there’s no smoke without fire, but when there’s no fire what’s the use of going about looking for smoke.

Then there are the ones who have nothing better to do in life than to indulge in gossip and rumours. For them gossip is a source of entertainment, a source that keeps them ticking, keeps them going, makes life interesting. But what’s entertaining for them can be a source of distress to another. Their words can prove detrimental, negative and sometimes even fatal. 

There are the ones who are opinionated, and need to make it known to others whether they want it or not. They are always wanting to make their point of view known to others.

Oh how you wish these people could keep their words, their opinions, their gossips to themselves, especially when it’s not needed, when it’s not called for, when it begins to affect mentally because you struggle to shake it off or ignore their actions and words, and sometimes it gets to you and affects your mental well being. 

Oh how you wish these people would just shut up and keep their opinions to themselves and be more interested their own lives rather than what’s happening in the lives of others, what’s happening in your life and what your doing. But then if you look at it this way maybe your life is way more better than their own pathetic one.

Oh how the world would be better place if they just held their tongue… forever!

In your city

It feels strange to be in the same city 

Where we first met in person

Where we consummated our love

Strengthened our bond 

And not meet you 

Every place brings back a memory

Of the place we have been to

And although it’s been well over a year

These memories are still fresh in my mind 

Each place reminds me 

Of the moments we spent together 

Of the memories we made

The love we expressed to each other 

And although we are no longer together 

I wonder if you are thinking of me too

And although I believe I have moved on

I can’t help but wonder

If you are missing me too

And though I know I have tried to move on

Somewhere deep inside me I miss you

Somewhere I hope to run into you

To see you 

To see how you are doing 

If you are doing fine

If you are doing well

If you have moved on too

Or if you even know and think of me too

And though I know it’s not possible

And not healthy for me too

I just hope one day I will meet you

In the place where we met for the first time 

Where it all began 

When I was in your city!!!

We may be ordinary… but we inspire!!!

I am nothing special 

In fact I am a bit a bore

I am nothing special 

Just another ordinary bloke

But in my ordinariness 

I find a way to inspire others

I don’t have to do anything special 

I haven’t to do anything grand

I don’t have to make a great deal of it

I have to just be me

The simple, ordinary me

Just go about doing the things I do

Do things I would normally do 

The way I would normally do it 

Nothing out of the ordinary 

Nothing extraordinary 

Never intentionally doing anything 

But still in all the simplicity 

All the ordinariness of my action

I’ll never know who I might inspire

Who I might motivate

Who you want I might save 

I don’t need to do anything

I don’t have to be anyone else

I just need to be me

Who I am meant to be

And you never who I might save

You don’t need to do anything extraordinary 

I just need to be myself

Let my simplicity shine through

And there’s no telling

Who may need this light

To find their way 

When they find themselves lost 

In the labyrinths of life

Stumbling in the darkness

Searching for a  spark to light up their way

And they may find that light in you

And you don’t have to anything extraordinary 

You don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary 

You don’t have to make an attempt

To influence others

You just have to be you 

And let the light within you shine through 

Lighting up the way for those who are lost

Lighting up the way for those who need it

So you may think you’re nothing special 

You may think you’re a bore 

Just an ordinary bloke

But you never know might inspire!!!

Age… just another number!!!

“Age is just a number”

“You are as old as you feel”

.. the things we tell ourselves just to calm ourselves, not to go into tailspin, a nose dive because we are growing old.

These are words we use to reassure ourselves, just to hold on to our youth, to hold on to an age that’s slowly slipping through our fingers.

Is this a lie, or a simple white lie we tell ourselves? But in the end isn’t it a lie nonetheless! 

Are we trying to reassure ourselves that we can hold on to our youthfulness no matter what our age is? No matter the age you’ll always be young at heart.i

Sadly the heart has other things to say on this matter, has another point of view, and may not always share the same thought process, may not see the things the way you do.

You may think you’re 16 but then that’s not what your body knows it is. It many not follow your chain of thoughts and behave accordingly.

But then there’s always a positive way to see aging rather than lamenting about growing old. And hey, growing old cannot be all that bad. 

You can always look at it this way, you are moving up a level, you’re changing your age category where you don’t have to be bracketed with younger millennials, you’re getting more experienced.

If change is the only constant in life then why not accept that our age is going to change with each passing day, each passing moment. So why not accept that our body will go through changes as we age.

But that doesn’t mean we just let go of ourselves and accept the aging process. That doesn’t mean we should stop doing what we do. We may not be able to do the things way we did it before, with the same energy, but that doesn’t mean we will never be able to do these things at all. 

We need to learn to adapt, we need to learn to train ourselves, we need to accept change, and  adapt ourselves to the change. We need to learn to grow.

We need to learn to treat our bodies, ourselves, with love and respect. Nourish it, take care of it, pamper it, and it will reward you in return.

You may even end up being the envy of others, end up going one up on your naysayers, proving them wrong. 

Seeing how fit you are you may have many hoping to be as fit as you when they reach your age (take this as a compliment, don’t overthink and spoil it), they wish they were as fit as you.

So once you take care of yourself you needn’t have to tell yourself all these, you’ll be a living proof that age is just a number.

Hey there September!!!

Hey there September!!!

I didn’t see you creep in!

When did you get here???

How have you’ve been???

Has it been nine months already 

With just three more to go???

Well it’s not nine quite yet 

And so it’s four more months to the year

To think of it, We share the same number , 

That is the number 9

That’s the month of the year 

And the date of my birth

That would mean I am born in September 

You think what a duh like me

But then that’s me 

This makes another special 9 to me

Which makes us September borns

A group of warm people 

Cause we are born out of the warmth

Needed on those cold winter’s days 

Or so, I presume 

Anyway you will always be special to me

A month that I look forward to

And that’s not  because I want to grow older

And none the wiser

No one really wants to grow older these days

A sort of Peter Pan syndrome 

Irrespective, you’ll always be dear to me

And I don’t think I need any more reasons

To look forward to and fall in love with you 

And this year you’ve brought me hope

A chance to start something new

A new opportunity to learn and grow

Another chance at love 

Or just take thing slow and hope for the best 

And for that I am grateful to you

So, hey there September 

Welcome here

And thank you bringing in the birthday cheer!!!

It’s a Trust-Fall

Life’s a trust-fall

You’ve got to close your eyes

And leave it all behind

Never wondering if there’s someone there

To catch you, to hold you 

When you fall 

But trusting someone will eventually be there for you 

And won’t let you hit the ground

Would be able hold on to you 

And break your fall

You’ve got to close your eyes 

And leave it all behind

It’s trust-fall baby

Leave behind all the pain

The overthinking that drives us insane

The hurt that leaves you never the same 

The ones who caused you the hurt

The hurt  you may caused, your regrets 

You’ve got to let go of it all

If you want to soar

You’ve got to let go to heal 

To stop the wounds inflicted 

From festering and poisoning

Leave behind the hurt you once knew

To discover and begin a new you

You’ve got to close your eyes

And leave it all behind 

It’s a trust-fall baby 

Never wondering if there will someone to hold you

Someone to hold onto 

Someone who will be able to catch you 

Or if there’s ground below 

Or would it be free falling 

But you’ve got trust you’ll be ok

You’ll be alright

You’ll heal from the hurt you leave behind

And even if there no one to hold you

You’re going to be just fine

So close your eyes 

And leave it all behind 

Cause it’s a trust- fall baby

West Side Story

For me West Side Story has always been about the choreography and the dancing and those dresses, those beautiful dresses that just come to life with every leap and every twirl. It has been less about the music as the only songs I could remember from the movie was “I Feel Pretty” and “America”, and much later I fell in love with “Somewhere”. It wasn’t a movie that I had seen in childhood, in fact the first time actually saw the film was in the 2000s. Although it was not as beloved to me as the Sound of Music, it was still a movie that I loved.

So watching the Broadway musical was a no brainer, after all when would you get to experience Broadway, or at least most part of it, without having to travel to New York, but in our very own good old Mumbai. And after watching Sound of Music, there was no way I was going to miss watching another gem here.

And in the end, for the most part, it did live to expectations. It was a sublimely staged musical (something that you would expect from an international production). Be it the sets, the lights, orchestra, choreography, the costumes, the music, the story (which was something I was familiar with), the acting, the characters. everything was on point.

The songs were beautifully staged and sung, each well received by the audience, well may not be as well received as it deserved to be, as not all the songs were familiar to the audience, unless you belong to the era, or are an old soul like me. But yes every song was met with an enthusiastic applause. 

For me the standout song would definitely be Somewhere. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t have America sung by Anita and Bernardo, but instead by the ladies. Though I did also like Dear Officer Kripkee, which came as a nice relief  before the final act.

The characters were well played and well cast. For me the standout was definitely the character of Anita. She danced like with such sensual energy and fiery passion, sang so beautifully with emotion and finesse, and acted amazingly, doing justice to the actors who have played this character before, the great Rita Mareno and Arianna DiBose. The actors playing Maria and Toni had beautiful chemistry, but somewhere I felt Maria was more loud than naive and Toni was naive than having that swagger. For me Maria only came into her own in the final act.

The choreography was as amazing. It was all that I had expected to witness, and almost well executed. I say almost as I felt that there were moment when not all the dancers were sync, or achieved the same height in their leaps. Or maybe it was  just my  seat.

 But these were minor gripes of an otherwise flawlessly staged musical.

In the end it was a delightful experience that was totally worth it, and I can say (if not sing out loud, or for that matter even soft cause I am not praying)

“I feel happy, Oh so happy

I feel happy and filled with joy

Cause I got to watch 

A wonderful Broadway play”