Gasp
Posted on March 30, 2021 2 Comments
It can be fatal:
not being able to breathe.
Regret is to fail at the trivial
without even realising it.
While lungs are being well fed,
people still suffocate.
Surely something is being misread
perhaps an instruction or caution.
Yet when pondered, it seems unlikely
that each who had gasped, got it wrong.
Maybe it’s the lyrics of the song
which are to be held accounted.
Try breathing with your eyes closed
and laughing with your ears shut,
maybe suffocation will cease to occur
when both body and mind will concur.
Subtle Stories: Step 1, 2, & 3
Posted on March 23, 2021 2 Comments
Why shouldn’t you feel happy?
A big worry that eats me these days is that people feel that they aren’t supposed to feel happy.
Everyone has a past and everybody makes mistake but that doesn’t mean that one loses their entitlement to happiness. The issue with us is that we allow Guilt to consume us to such an extent that even the thought of being happy makes us retrace our steps. We start questioning ourselves: Did I really deserve this happiness?
SO LET ME MAKE YOU HAPPY TODAY!
I will take you through certain steps which you must promise me that you will follow. Once done, I will ask you about your Happiness Index (HI). You will respond on how high is your HI at that time. Choices are: Very Low, Low, Okay, High, Very High.
Ready? Alright.
Step 1. Eliminate everyone and everything for one meal. Take yourself out to breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, whichever suits you. While you are out on a date with yourself, ask yourself these:
Hi, how are you?
How have you been?
Where have you been?
What is going on in your life?
How was your day?
Answer all these questions. Go on, no one will judge. Remember you eliminated everyone.
I’ll tell you what I told me: Read the italics below
Hi, how are you?
Hi, I am alright.
How have you been?
I have been doing okay. Just dealing with a few uncertainties.
Where have you been?
I am not sure tbh. Lately, I have been taking trips to find Me.
What is going on in your life?
A lot and then again, almost nothing. Funny, right? That is the best way I could put it.
How was your day?
It was interesting. Ups and downs along the way like a rollercoaster ride.
Step 2. Now once you have had spent some quality time with yourself, allow your passion to exist. Forget whatever is keeping you away from your passion, just pick it up and go with it. Don’t worry, I am just asking you to do it for like 15-20 mins. That isn’t too much to ask.
*15-20 mins later*
Do I see a smile? (Let me know)
Step 3. Now allow two of your closest people to exist. Remove the label known as relation. They can be anyone from anywhere, of any age. Basically two people with whom you feel the most comfortable.
Got them? Good.
Ask them the same questions you had asked yourself in Step 1. Listen closely to what they have to say. Just listen to them and if and only if they ask for your opinion, share your mind.
Penultimate Step: How is it going? Let me know about it. I hope it is a bit better than what you had started with.
Step 4. Now slowly allow yourself to fit into this world. Use the things you learned about in Steps 1 through 3 and understand that everyone is a puzzle in themselves. You are not to fit in someone else’s story but to put into place different pieces of your own story.
Also understand that not all pieces are the same. One of them is also called being happy. Yes, you read it write. A piece of your own puzzle is called being happy.
Dear Reader, I know it hasn’t been easy. Degree of toughness varies, they say, but then again, degree of vulnerability also varies. The fact that you are still in it only echoes one thing: You want to complete your story (correct me if I am wrong). While you have been more than resourceful in arranging all the harsh and tough pieces of your life, I believe you have been neglecting or better yet avoiding being happy.
Just know that You, Me, the person next to you, the last person you saw smiling, all of us are trying to make out what our puzzle looks like and honestly, most of us aren’t sure.
It is just a puzzle. Relax. You just need to Be Happy (How?)
Follow Steps 1, 2, & 3. Rest everything is just for sustenance.
Care to tell me about your HI? 🙂
No pressure 😀
Intentions and Intuitions
Posted on March 21, 2021 Leave a Comment
Intentions are hard,
sometimes they aren’t even true.
Usually defensive in nature,
they inflict what they aren’t supposed to.
Intuitions, on the contrary, are shy
for they speak but rather softly.
To inform is what they try to do
but are dismissed rather harshly for being mostly true.
But when we allow intuition to read the former,
the outcome is seldom untrue.
Reality sinks in before it even strikes
and doubt is left to subdue.
An order that must be followed to maintain order
is perhaps the hardest to define and adhere.
Allow your feelings to get conquered by one another,
maybe you will be liberated from those that harm you.
Tale of two
Posted on March 18, 2021 5 Comments
Arid days,
lonesome rain.
Fluttering flags,
muddy lane.
Cold beer,
hot coffee.
Disdained heart,
loved unconditionally.
Same tear,
same story,
two characters,
multiple ironies.
Arid eyes
after raining storm,
fluttering thoughts
of the misinformed.
A house to write for
Posted on March 17, 2021 5 Comments
When the dust will settle,
doors will be left open
for all those who wish to leave.
Only the members of the house would stay
and the guests would lose their place.
Frivolity would be at the very least.
At that hour will the fire burn at the mantlepiece,
and joy would enlighten the house.
Happiness and sorrow will both be shared
amongst the ones who will care about.
Then at the end of the night
when all would have known family,
will I share my favourite poem.
Knowing that they will not require any explanation
shall I end my verses written during contemplation.
Parindey (Birds)
Posted on March 14, 2021 Leave a Comment
A Hindi poem where birds are those whom we strive to be.
Last post: War of Wondering
War of wondering
Posted on March 13, 2021 1 Comment
I wonder about never ending acts
which barely unfold the way they are thought of.
Leaving unfulfilled desires and regrets
for me to dissolve,
these wonderings make me pretend.
If I didn’t wonder, how would that go?
Everything would be astonishing
as they would be completely unthought of.
Cannot deny that it does feel tempting
and also exciting to be receiving surprises on my way along.
All the anticipation of the future misery would thus be avoided
and my days will unfold to me like an unheard song.
But wait…I did it again, didn’t I?
Subtle Stories: Shaded Eyes
Posted on March 10, 2021 Leave a Comment
In the hidden lanes of the city (let’s call it My City), there were many who wished to be revealed to the world. One such wisher was our friend Max. Hard worker and more importantly a believer, Max never gave up on his pursuits. Times were tough but so was his resolute.
So, the time was 20 past 2 in the afternoon and Max who was a flutist, had everyone in awe with his music. The scene is from a café where our friend worked.
Days went by and Sun’s heat grew stronger. Along with the heat, our Max’s popularity too grew. Pieces were starting to fall into the right place.
One day, the doorbell of the cafe chimed and in came a young girl wearing shades. She sat at the corner most table of the café and ordered tea. Sipping while Max played his craft. For some reason, she started frequenting the place. Everyday the same: Walk in, sit at the same table, order the same tea and just listen to Max while keeping her shades on.
Our Max, who was moved by the patronage, decided to compose a song for his new admirer and show is appreciation. He named it, Shaded Eyes for she used to keep her shades on.
It was somewhere in Autumn as leaves had started to bid farewell to their branches. The young girl walked in as usual, Max saw her and stopped playing the song he was performing. Drank a few sips of water and took in a deep breathe. Exhaled and said: Shaded Eyes.
But today it was different. The young girl got up and left without ordering anything.
Heartbroken and confused, Max didn’t know what had went wrong. Perhaps it was his music which she didn’t like, thought Max.
A few days went by, she didn’t visit. The artist lost his touch as if the spirit of music had left his flute.
The one thing which made Max the unique and gifted individual, had now left.
This was too much for our friend to bear as he decided to leave the hidden lanes of My City.
While waiting for his bus, our irresolute Max looked up to the sky and asked, “Where did I go wrong?”
A voice sounded: When you played your Music for someone else.
Surprised, our friend looked at the source of the sound. There she was… The young Girl with her shades.
Max at once rushed towards her and asked: Where were you? I couldn’t play like myself after I saw you leaving abruptly.
Did you know, that song was meant for you?
She said: Yes and that is why I left. When you use your gift for the sole purpose of seeking appreciation or some sort of validation, that gift becomes tainted and thus loses its spirit. Just like your music lost me.
Max: You?
The Young Girl: I was the spirit of your music which couldn’t stay after you sought external validation for the mere purpose of showing appreciation.
Max’s flute never sounded the same.
The End
Last Work: Sedimented (Poem)
Sedimented
Posted on March 6, 2021 1 Comment
I still lose my way back
while walking towards home.
Same roads and turns since the last 20 years
and yet sometimes they feel unknown.
My footprints have helped in sedimenting tiny pebbles
but they haven’t been kind on my memory.
Undoubtedly, it feels terrible
to be the reason of my own misery.
So I decided to break off with myself
and my regular dwelling lanes,
perhaps sedimenting pebbles
was duty of rain and not I.
For the remaining few days,
let’s change the course and try.
Nishant Gang