Music: Bridging The Distance

Today I was missing home a lot more than usual. I was missing the people, my home, the atmosphere, the infrastructure! My thoughts drifted between memories and the moments yet to come. And I finally understood the meaning of yearning for something. And I yearned, so much that my heart ached to be with the people I loved.

Songs played and phone calls were made. Yet the distance was striking.

I found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you...

Summer songs. And the memories gushed back.

There is this feature of music that is so spectacular - its ability to make you feel exactly the way you felt when the song defined a period in your life. It may be the greatest joy or the deepest sorrow, but for one single moment you float back to that time and you relive that moment in its entire enormity.

Sab gaate hain sab hi madhosh hain
Hum tum kyoon khaamosh hain
Saaz-e-dil chhedo na, chup ho kyoon gaao na
Aao na aao na, aao na aao na..

Balancing On The Pedestal Of Maturity

The fantasy of living with some of your best friends in the world is not always how you quite imagined it.

At home we always had the liberty of throwing tantrums and being messy – we always had someone to follow up after us.

Having moved away from home, and living The Fantasy, I find myself within certain jurisdictions. I now am not at liberty to be childish as I please, and being messy…forget about it!

Also, I have observed that it requires a great amount of strength and that virtue (I believe it is patience) to get accustomed to new behavioral patterns. This is a new journey for each of us six girls, and each of us falls, once in a while, from this Pedestal of Maturity we try so hard to balance ourselves on. It’s not as comfy and roomy as I thought it would be.

And it is only patience that saves. It is patience that enables us to laugh when we are thoroughly exhausted from sorting out everyone’s laundry and patience that gives us the willpower to clean up after someone. It is done with the hope that when we ourselves fall, Patience will hold our hand and get us back on that Pedestal.

Midnight Chats

This evening I sat up in full josh to study. Motivated and energetic, books open, ready to get cracking.

No sooner had I set my books down, I started chit chatting with a flat mate. We talked about high school stories, present issues, and the ever-so-famous topic - boys. And I felt like I was in high school again.

Before I knew it, I was staring aghast at the time blinking on my mobile: 2 a.m. The realization dawned that my attempt to sit with my books was completely futile.

You know something, though? It was absolutely worth it.

An Ode To A Friend

Thank you for every time you asked me how my day was.

Thank you for every time you believed in me.

Thank you for the times you've told me I've made you proud.

Thank you for every SMS.

Thank you for every time you made me roll with laughter.

Thank you for every word of wisdom.

Thank you for every cute little nickname.

Thank you for knowing the importance of the little things in life.

Thank you for the love.

You are a great friend.

Relationships And Sand

"Relationships, of all kinds, are like sand held in your hand. Held loosely, with an open hand, the sand remains where it is. The minute you close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers. You may hold onto some of it, but most will be spilled. A relationship is like that. Held loosely, with respect and freedom for the other person, it is likely to remain intact. But hold too tightly, too possessively, and the relationship slips away and is lost."
--Anonymous.

Muted Cries

For those of you who have studied Economics, you know there are those days where you struggle to get through the lectures. But then again, perhaps it wasn't the subject, but the lecture itself that bored me. Whatever the cause, the consequence was my lack of attention, and I found myself drifting in and out of her speech.

Walking home, I observed how young and old men and women alike slaved away at the construction of the buildings in my complex. Uneven distribution of wealth. Why do they have to work so hard when some lead such a comfortable life?

A woman old enough to be a grandmother walked to the edge of the road and slowly bent down to pick up a red brick, her lowered posture an indicator of its weight.

I walked by, a college student, so much smarter and so much wiser. But was I really? I looked around and wondered, given the opportunity, how many of these people would have excelled academically?

Yet India's unskilled labour has been its competitve edge in this corporate dominated world! Cheap labour. Would India survive if they were to pay these labourers higher wages?
An India Today article stated that one third of India's population is under the age of 15. However the primary determinant for India's future success, as the rest of the world's population ages, is the education of this sector.
Fact? 80 million of this 300 million sector is not educated.

Now, if India educates its population and its most essential sector of work involves skilled labour, who will take on the manual labour? It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it... right?

Perhaps if India's brainpower develops the technology, machines could take over this 'dirty job.' And perhaps every individual will be offered the opportunity to attain luxury. Perhaps. We all dare to dream don't we?

The world hears the cries for a better distribution of wealth on television. I see these muted cries outside my window.

The Economics of India... Well, will you look at that. I guess I was listening in class.