Rainy Sunday Afternoon

After a long one and a half months of wedding management and the extravaganza of events, a restive Sunday was all that was needed; to reboot the mental system which has been running on overdrive for all these days. And as a reward for all the hard work that was put in, the all merciful God made it rain.

There are very few sights more beautiful, than water pouring on the trees, the streets, the houses, the children, and washing away all the stagnancy and the melancholy from the city, that a long dry winter had to offer. People always look forward to the first summer rain, but it is the first spring rain that adds all colours to this otherwise dull world. The black and white, lackluster winter suddenly wakes up to a motley and vivid spring with greener leaves, brighter houses and chirpier birds. The petrichor fills the air; the moist earth is ready to blossom again; the caterpillars come out of their cocoons, magically spreading their wings and taking flight for the first time.


The whole city is awake from its hibernation and ready to welcome spring with open arms. Amidst the sudden outburst of colours, the cacophony of sounds and the myriad of activities, I lay nestled in my den, watching the rain cleansing the city; watching the birds flapping their wet and ruffled wings; watching the clouds overpowering the mighty sun; watching the kids jumping in the puddles; watching the trees sway to the whims of the winds. And I just lie here enervated, with spring thoughts in my mind, watching the world turn a few more shades romantic.

In the Spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours. ~ Mark Twain

Rail ki patriyan....

इन रेल की पटरियों ने बहुत कुछ देखा है । 

बाड़ भी देखी है, सूखा भी देखा है । 

कश्मीर की वादियों में कुदरत का करिश्मा देखा है । 

और गुजरात की गलियों में इनसानीयत को रूबरू देखा है ।। 

इन रेल की पटरियों ने बहुत कुछ देखा है । 

कभी प्यार पनपते हुए, कभी जान जाते हुए देखा है । 

इसने कितनो को सफ़र में दोस्त बनते देखा है । 

और कितने ही हमलों में दोस्तों को इसपर जान गवाते देखा है ।। 

इन रेल की पटरियों ने बहुत कुछ देखा है । 

सरकारें भी देखी  है, शासन भी देखा है । 

अंग्रेज़ों को देश लूटते हुए देखा है । 

और भगत-आज़ाद को देश के लिए लुट जाते देखा है ।।  

इन रेल की पटरियों ने बहुत कुछ देखा है । 

आज़ादी की जंग भी देखी है, आज़ाद भारत को लड़ते भी देखा है । 

इसने गाँधी को देश पाने के लिए अनशन करते देखा है । 

और अब अन्ना को देश सुधारने के लिए अनशन करते देखा है ।। 

इन रेल की पटरियों ने बहुत कुछ देखा है । 

सरहदें पार कराते कराते, नयी सरहदें बनते देखा है । 

बंगाल को बांग्लादेश बनते देखा है । 

और पँजाब को पाकिस्तान बनते देखा है ।। 

इन रेल की पटरियों ने बहुत कुछ देखा है । 

आँखें मूँदें, सर झुकाएं देखा है । 

इनमे जो ज़ुबान होती तो यह अपनी दास्तान सुनाते । 

किस तरह देश का इतिहास बनते देखा है ।। 

इन रेल की पटरियों ने सब देखा है, सब देखा है ।। 

~ सौरव गोयल 

Masked Men

We all have a me,

Somewhere within ourselves,

Which tries to tear out,

But we let the feeling itch..

It fights, it bites,

It hurts the living lie,

We give in to it sometimes,

When the head is flying high..

It comes out as a surprise,

It fills the heart with might,

We want to be the same,

But the feeling slowly dies..

The outer mask takes over,

The pretensions come back to life,

We are lost withing ourselves again,

We just lost the fight of I..

Such is the world we live in,

A layer of fine line,

It separates the real from the made up,

It's all a part of the big lie..

The I is a strong part of me,

It rebels and it strives,

For short moments that might be,

But it is still somewhere inside..!!

~Saurav Goyal

New Year Resolutions !!

So it is that time of the year again when we spend thousands on new clothes, to wear it at a party (whose passes also we have bought for thousands), just so we can end up spilling drinks on it. Happy New Year people!!

If you have finished sending “happy new year 2014” texts, images, videos, GIFs et cetera to people whom you don’t like talking to, neither do you ever meet them, “CONGRATULATIONS!!” the cellular networks thank you from the bottom of their hearts. (Blackout days, what an idea Sir ji!)

If you are still suffering from a hangover, I’d suggest you to check out your phone’s gallery, outbox and call history. Your post-drinking, bright ideas to click those selfies (I had to use the word of the year, 2013), sending those ‘I’m missing you’ messages and calling those long lost lovers will help you come out of a hangover and go in a state of regret, shame and taking vows. Talking of vows, a new year is just as incomplete without resolutions, as a new year’s party is without ‘tonight’s gonna be a good night’ and ‘taare gin gin’.

I myself am taking a few resolutions this year and I hope to stick by them. No, these are not the typical ones; I’m bored of breaking them in the 1^st week of January itself. These are just a few things the past year has taught me.

1. I will not join any other new social networking website. I hardly get time between checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr and Pinterest. Sorry, future Zuckerbergs.
2. I will start listening to likes of Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, One Direction. The apparent reason behind this is that I should know how much worse they have gone since I started hating them after their first songs. Plus, it is easier to crack jokes on them if you know the lyrics to their songs!
3. The number of new people I meet in real life should be more than the number of new followers I get on Twitter and Instagram.
4. I will actually go on trips after watching movies like Zindagi na milegi dobara and Yeh jawani hai deewani, not just ‘plan’ such trips.
5. I will invent a new dance step. Watch out Gangnam Style and Harlem Shake.
6. I will try to be more likeable in general. I will stop making fun of people. I will attend parties I’m invited to. And I will talk to people.

I hope that you stick by your resolutions too. And I hope 2014 is way better than all your past years combined, just like every new Khan movie is better than all the past movies combined. 

"New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time." ~James Agate

Men - the largest stereotype!

“Why should boys have all the fun?” Well, clearly this jingle is the brainchild of some dreamy eyed girl, born and brought up in our very own Indian society, who thinks that being a guy is all fun and no hardships. Being a boy, I feel compelled to clear this wrong notion nurturing inside the head of every female.

Firstly, I would like to ask, what on Earth made you think that a boy’s life is all fun? Let me try and clear this wrong idea by a few examples:

I.                   The Super-Hero Syndrome: Every guy is supposed to act like a superhero who is absolutely unperturbed by the presence of an insect, reptile or ghosts. (Needless to mention, only in front of girls!) Why can’t a guy be afraid of a cockroach, a lizard, a spider or boogeyman? Why does he need to be there to shoo these creatures away? You think it is easy to pretend to be heroic in front of a lizard, sitting at a corner, looking at you through its glassed-eyes, flicking its tongue inside and outside continuously, with its slimy and scaly skin, the crooked tail and hideous claws. Trust me, it is not! It takes a lot of courage to not let that fear show on our faces, and none of it is ‘FUN’. Why am I laughed at if I feel scared while watching a horror movie? The name itself suggests that it is supposed to scare you.

II.                 Man of Steel: Being a guy is all about being ruthless, unemotional and hard as steel. Guys are not expected to be human in this regard, I feel. What happens when a guy feels emotional while watching a very sad movie? Why cannot a man cry and express his emotions openly? I thought emotions were what made us different from animals; and if by showing our emotions openly, we are unconsidered unmanly, then are not men animals? Why cannot a man watch a light-hearted chic-flick for a change?  Everything has been stereotyped to the core.

III.              Colour Avert: Bright colours have become a ‘girls only’ category of products. Although this is slowly and surely changing, but still colours like pink are considered either girly or gay. Why cannot a man like pink, and be straight at the same time? Which biological theory connects sexual orientation to the fondness towards one particular colour? If there exists one, please enlighten us! Why cannot a guy buy a car (normal car, not a sports car), or a scooter which is yellow or green and not be laughed at? Why are the colourful helmets and sunglasses a ‘girls only’ product?

IV.              Handy Man: Why are boys stereotyped as handy men? Like every boy, even a commerce graduate or a humanities graduate, has to know everything about engineering! I agree that most of us know the basics of electricity and can work as a part-time mechanic, but all of us are NOT engineers!!

Such expectations from all guys are not from girls only, but from guys as well. We all know that one ‘overly manly man’ who will go to any depths or heights to prove his manliness. Such people will expect every guy to be a superhero and will claim “mard ko dard nahi hota”. Such people need a reality check as every man is not made the same. How does a particular phobia or aversion to a particular kind of colour, music or genre of movies make anyone a true MAN!? Why has been a MAN so stereotyped?

“Men are actually the weaker sex” ~ George Weinberg (Psychologist)