My little bridezilla

My sister is getting married in less than 02 days time and her nervous pangs have set in already.

She is freaking day and out, getting hyper on the slightest of mismanagement and taking truck loads of stress on herself. Madam is into all the tiniest details of her own wedding, can you believe it? Her beauty regimen is on, with the run to the salons, the last minute accessory changes, quick visits to her husband to be’s place (who is down at the moment with severe cough and cold), the regular coordination with the florist, decoration guys, mehendi wala, cooks, photographers, relatives, friends, even the domestic help, arranging the tatha’s, return gifts and simultaneously packing her trousseau – she is pretty much running the show single handedly. Each day I go to my parent’s house, I see a to-do list pasted on her door, getting updated every day. The door has to be knocked and a permission to be taken to enter her room. You have to give a report of the task assigned to you (we all have respective tasks in any ceremony – right?), and the answer has to be a “yes its done”. If the report is anything less than that – get ready to be blown either by the furious ear splitting remarks or by some long drawn senti dialogues like “You couldn’t even do this for me L”. And there you are – dismissed by the Bridezilla!

Another person who is very nervous at this moment is my MOM. Her BP is fluctuating more than the so called share market these days. More than her daughter leaving the home it’s the stress of the hospitality part which is taking a toll on her mental health. Ensuring that each guest is attended to, and attended to properly is of primary importance to her. The strict instruction to all in the house is to keep her out of any stress at all. God save you, if you discuss any problem in her presence. She would at first dig you deeper and deeper to say it all and then what will follow are the animated hyper reactions enhancing the volume of the problem to a different level altogether. So shut your mouth and say “no problem really” is the mantra when mom is around.

May dada is relatively cool. Infact too cool at times to make my sis and mom go crazy. While operating my dad for anything, the only button to use is “PUSH”. He has to be reminded most of the times to do things. Having said that, he remains the most active worker in the house. Infact he is entrusted with those tasks which usually a man does in the house, physically straining ones most of the time. Its just a cup of tea every 2 hrs that he demands. But amidst so much of work and running around, there is a dam which might just break loose when daughter dear makes the formal exit.

Anyways lets not talk about that. It is this phase, that’s the most thrilling for a family n any girl and I soooooooo wish her all the very best in her life. She is undoubtedly going to be the prettiest bride of the season. This is for my little bridezilla..............

Love ya

DI.

(Us on a recent trip to Lava - darj)

Bas Likhna Hai!

बस लिखना है...........................

हर उस एहसास को जो मन मे होता है

हर वो लम्हा जो दिल को छूता है

वो उम्मिदो की कहानियाँ, सपनो की रानियाँ

वो जवां दिल जो सपने पिरोता है

बस लिखना है,

वो कल आज और कल की बातें,

जो कुछ याद रहा और जो ना भूल सके

कुच्छ बिखरे लम्हे, कुच्छ बीती यादें

बस लिखना है.........

याद करते हुए वो बचपन की अठह्खेलियान, झूले और सहेलियाँ

सारी बातें - सच्ची, झूठी, और वो सब तो पीछे छूटा है!

लिखना है उस वक़्त के बारे मे भी,

जब दिल टूटा और रोया है

दर्द से छटपटाया, जब भी कोई अपना इस भीर मे खोया है

उन लम्हो का भी ज़िक्र होगा, जब दिल गम की गलिओं में एक लंबी नींद सोया है

और भी लिखना है..........

कुच्छ मेरे अपनो की बातें, आज कहने से किसने रोका है

व्हो पाना हौसला पापा के पीठ थपथपाने से.

व्हो मा की गोंद मे चैन से सोना

जब देखा रंग बदलते हुए इस दुनिया को

पाया बस उनको स्दा एक सा, बाकी सब लगा धोखा है

बस लिखना है

ज़िंनदागी हर दिन की, वो हर दिन उसे जीना

खुदकी क़ाबलियत पे रखना दम, चलना चौड़ा करके सीना

उन्हे शब्दो मे पिरोना और कहना.........

ये मेरी लाइफ है, यहा कुच्छ ऐसा ही होता है!!!!!!!

क्यूंकी बस लिखना है.......................

The poems of ZNMD - fall in love with life!

Having watched ZNMD - The first thing I thought of, after coming out of theatre was "WOW", more so for the beautiful poems in the film (was absolutely smitten by them) written by Javed Akhtar and brilliantly narrated by Farhan Akhtar.

The movie is all about LIFE, and the poetry its soul. Here are some of them……….sheer magic guys!

Ek Baat

Ik baat honton tak hai jo aayi nahin
Bas ankhon say hai jhaankti
Tumse kabhi, mujhse kabhi
Kuch lafz hain woh maangti
Jinko pehanke honton tak aa jaaye woh
Aawaaz ki baahon mein baahein daalke ithlaye woh
Lekin jo yeh ik baat hai
Ahsas hi ahsas hai

Khushboo si hai jaise hawa mein tairti
Khushboo jo be-aawaaz hai
Jiska pata tumko bhi hai
Jiski khabar mujhko bhi hai
Duniya se bhi chupta nahin
Yeh jaane kaisa raaz hai

--------------------------------------------------------

Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai?

Jab jab dard ka baadal chaya
Jab ghum ka saya lehraya
Jab aansoo palkon tak aya
Jab yeh tanha dil ghabraya

Humne dil ko yeh samjhaya
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai
Duniya mein yunhi hota hai

Yeh jo gehre sannate hain
Waqt ne sabko hi baante hain
Thoda ghum hai sabka qissa
Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa
Aankh teri bekaar hi nam hai
Har pal ek naya mausam hai
Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai

-------------------------------------------------

Sirf main………..

Pighle neelam sa behta ye sama,
neeli neeli si khamoshiyan,
na kahin hai zameen na kahin aasmaan,
sarsaraati hui tehniyaan pattiyaan,
keh raheen hai bas ek tum ho yahan,
bas main hoon,
meri saansein hain aur meri dhadkanein,
aisi gehraiyaan, aisi tanhaiyaan,
aur main… sirf main.
Apne hone par mujhko yakeen aa gaya.

-------------------------------------------------

………………………to zinda ho tum!

Dilon me tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum
Nazar me khwaabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum
Hwa ke jhokon ke jaise aazad rehno sekho
Tum ek dariya ke jaise lehron mein behna sekho
Hr ek lamhe se tum milo khole apni baahein
Hr ek pal ek nya sama dekhe nigahein
Jo apni ankhon mein hairanian leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum
Dilon mein tum apni betabian leke chal rahe ho,to zinda ho tum

The First Guest!

Knock Knock!
We have a guest!

For a working couple, a guest at home can be quite a nightmare right?
Wrong! or may be not always.

As a child I have seen my mother going berserk with the thought of having guests at home(I know she’s gonna kill me for this!). But with two extremely difficult children to handle, she has most of the time had a tough ride in taking care of the guests upto her own set standards of hospitality. Nevertheless she has been brilliant each time with each guest! Be it a neighbor dropping by the evening for tea, or an office colleague of my dad or any relative who has stayed over for few days. She always won applauds on her hospitality, her food, her deftness in managing home with two crazy kids and above all for putting up with everything with a smile. She would do everything by heart and not merely by obligations and no wonder why we kept seeing the same guests coming back to us again and again.

But I was different. Not like mother like daughter. A working woman with a 9 to 9 schedule, an amateur home maker and a confused host.

So on a sultry sunday afternoon when vishal very gently broke this news.
“Sukanya IP sir is coming to town for a week for the university exam paper corrections, and I have asked him to put up here” I stood in the doorway absolute aghast and baffled.

It had been 03 months of my domesticated life and I was trying hard, very hard to run the house like a homemaker should, but still every single arena of my home management needed massive improvement and therefore anyone coming to stay in my house was too much to handle. At the most it could be my in-laws and parents, but certainly not someone else. A volley of questions were doing a round in my mind as there is always a palpable sense of expectations with guests at home- What if I cant be hospitable enough, what if the maid takes an off and I have to cook, what if he doesn’t like the food we eat, what if he falls unwell and what if I cant take care……………… In short I knew me and my home both were not Guest ready !

I walked away with kinda anger all over my face (I was miffed but honestly shit nervous) when I heard him saying “Don’t worry, I’ll help”. I looked back to see him wink and smile to just reassure that he’ll be there in helping me face this big battle. The most he could do to help me dispel my doubts. The challenge was thrown and I had no choices, clearly!
I took a deep breath and said “ok (bring him on!)”.

I looked around and sighed. There was laundry waiting to be washed, The bed linens to be changed, the floors needed some scrubbing, closets were begging to be in order and the papers and books on the table yearned for some re-arrangement. The furniture’s needed some dusting too. Surely some trying times lay ahead.

IP sir was coming the next day and I had almost a days time to make my abode look like one, to quickly take tips from my mom on the dos and donts and to understand from vishal on his choice of food and whether he suffered from any restrictions due to diabetes or BP or thyroid etc. We were talking about a 67 year old man u see!

Dr. Ishwar Prasad Iyer- A man in his late sixties who has been a colleague of vishal in his ex company. Originally from mysore, he has spent the majority of his life in Bengal. He is married t a nepali woman (an ex air hostess) and has a young daughter, the family being settled in Siliguri. IP Sir is someone vishal is very close to professionally and personally and has the highest regards that one can have for someone other than your parents. He is special to him and therefore I had to be utmost careful to doubly ensure that he is taken care of in the best possible way.
The first and the only time I had met him was in November 2010, when I had paid a professional visit to his ex-college for a campus interview session for the travel tourism graduates. I had heard so much about him and was waiting to get over with the interview sessions to meet the gentleman. As we broke for lunch, I saw a man entering the interview room.

A hunched slender figure, with a sharp protuberant nose, literally popping out to poke in anything that comes in his way (surely he can be recognized by his nose even if one sees him after ages, lol!), IP sir surely looked to be burdened with the age. He swiftly came in and greeted me “welcome madam, it’s a pleasure to meet you". We shook hands, there was a smile so generous and a touch so caring (Some people really know about the perfect handshake, Impresso!). "same here sir, as I have heard so much about you" I responded.

We proceeded to the cafeteria and spent the next one hour chit chatting over an array of issues right from the college and the students I interviewed today, to how much vishal missed me and shared his desperation to get hold of a good job in cal. We spoke, laughed and gorged on some not so tasty food, and as we were on the way to the college interview room again, he left behind some recommendations. I was to shortlist 03-04 students then to come for the final round of interview in Calcutta office and his comments helped me a big deal to decide.
This short rendezvous with him was enough for me to withdraw my assumptions of how a 67 year old man can be. He can be just one of us! (as they say with some people, age just does not matter.)
IP sir arrived home the next day and continued to stay on for 02 and a half weeks (Yes, he extended his stay). For these 20 days, our home felt vibrant than ever before. He would be okay with anything he is given to eat, anywhere he is asked to sleep and anywhere we take him to ramble. A super flexible man, healthy and fit unlike his frail deceiving appearance.
He had stories of all ages to tell, and experiences of all kinds to share, yet utterly noninterfering and a happy go lucky man who adored his family, valued his friends and had this undying zest for life (so contagious!).

My parents, colleagues and friends wondered how I kept up my calm for these 20 days, at a point even vishal felt so. But I was enjoying his company and would look forward to come back home early and catch up with him over a cuppa of lemon green tea (which he loved). He would never forget to find out how my day went similarly how he never forgot to wish both vishal and myself a good day every morning. Yes he was cute but at the same time very respectful. In fact in these days my respect for him multiplied manifold.

My nervous pangs had long back disappeared and I was so contentedly myself, hospitable and caring as if it was my grandfather at home. I mean it!
On the last day, we gifted him a tie which he loved and gave back blessings in return. When I asked him “hope you enjoyed your stay sir”, he looked up with his patent smile and taking a deep breath said “beyond expectations madam” (I never objected him hailing me as madam, as it so reminded me of my dadu calling me “memshaheb”).

So my first guest has had a smooth stay and has left behind a trail of stories to remember and talk about for the coming few breakfasts and dinners now. Yes, I have battled it out and the end of it, I don’t feel worn-out but rather content that I have been able to take care, to make someone feel home and to give him reasons to think of our home whenever he is in town almost non diffidently.

It doesn’t really matter how small or big your house is, what matters is whether it is big enough to hold love and warm enough to embrace every single person who walks in. And more importantly (as my mom always says) if you are willing to treat “Guests like your own”.

Well I do. For now my house is always going to be guest ready.

Are you coming in next?

ख़्वाब!

ख्वाबो से ज़्यादा दिलचस्प और क्या है.

निडर और मज़बूत, कभी खुद के टूटने से डरता ही नई

उसे पता है वो सच है, अगर उसे चाहने वाला सच है

उसके लिए तो सब मुमकिन है

और सब आसान

वो हर उलझन से परे है

एक सुलझा सा जवाब - "हाँ"

ख़्वाब कहते है..........

अगर उड़ने की है अभिलाषा तो मेरा दामन थामे रहना

"हौसलों से उड़ान है" बस दिल से यही कहना

हार और जीत किस्मत की बात है, लेकिन इरादे इंसान की पहचान है

बस यह पहचान बनाए रखना!

राह आसान होगी यह मैने तो नई कहा

बस साथ दूँगा जब तक तुम्हारे इरादो में दम है

ना रखना मुझसे कोई उम्मीद

अगर खुदके ही इरादो पे भरोसा कम है!

कितनों के पास, ख़्वाबो से ज़्यादा कुछ नई होता

उसे अपनी पूंजी बनाकर वो ज़िंदगी बिताते है

थामे रहते है उसका साथ और मंज़िल को पाते है!

"ख़्वाब सच होते है' हमे सिखलाते है

क्यूंकी दोस्तो ......

ख़्वाबो के आगे सिर्फ़ ज़िंदगी है

पूछो उनसे, जिनके ज़िंदगी का वो सहारा है

वो पंछी जो दूर आसमान पर है

उसके पंख उसके सपने है, वो उड़ान उसकी शान है

व्वाह क्या नज़ारा है!!!!

ख़्वाब एक भरोसा है इस बात का कि सब अच्छा हो सकता है,कि सब अच्छा होगा

और ज़िंदगी कहती है, अगर जीना है तो ख़्वाब देखो, देखना होगा!

ख़्वाब जीने का तरीका है ...............

देखो तो जानो!

- सुकन्या

The Home Page......

His eyes are still, but glittering with joy
Overflowing with a stream of emotions, doing the talking on behalf of his heart
I give him the hug, and we together kiss the nest, where our love from now on is going to dwell.

We feel whole and complete and we watch him glow
As if he was waiting for us to cross the threshold
To make a living, to share, to cherish, to dream, to hope and to celebrate life with him
To promise to him that we’ll be together till the very end

We see him stretching his arms and screeching ‘welcome home friends’!!

And we step in……….

We ask him if he’ll give us peace
And he says he only returns what he gets
We ask him whether he’ll bring us luck
“They say luck is a lady and I know how to handle it only if you get one for me my friends” he responds with a wicked smile.
Then we burst out in laughter and we ask no more…………

Our shadows make friends and so does our soul
We surrender to him and ask him to hold us, and protect us from the rough weathers that destiny might hold
We also seek to retake the vows of love and live those till death do us apart.
And we know he is going to be our mentor in this brand new start.



As we dust his face, and adorn him, with colours - red, pink and brown
We sense a smell - the fragrance of love, affection and happiness around
We feel the warmth, the care with which the doors slide
The windows wanting to split open to let the universe slip in and be a part of our world.

He knows what he means to us
He is a dream come true, a quest of our hearts and the custodian of our life, from here on…….

He is our everything and do you know why?
Coz he is our home …………. our wings to fly.