I Err, I Learn

Ah, speech time. I will try and keep this short. And simple. I say simple because many a times in the maze of fancy words, the essence of what you really want to express gets lost.

It gives me immense happiness to win this blogging award, though a part of me - that always keeps nagging with its incessant questions - is also wondering if I really deserve this one. But now that I have actually won the award, for a while I have all the authority to ask that incessantly blabbering part to shut up and let me enjoy my five minutes of fame.

I cannot thank BlogAdda enough for acknowledging my blogs and my intermittent efforts at penning down all my big and small, random and concrete musings therein. I created my first blog way back in 2007, when almost every other person around me was creating a blog to show off their extensive grasp about every topic under the sun. But my blog was primarily to vent and ramble, for I had no expertise on any subject that I could show off. And this remains the case even today. I remember, the first labels I used for my posts were ‘random’ and ‘musings’, for that’s what they were - random observations about this and that.

I was never a very focussed blogger, abandoning quite a few blogs before finally creating one that I decided to stick to. And the good people at various blogging forums ensured that I kept scribbling regularly there – through their various writing prompts and blogging drives. A great high was when I won the blogging competition to be a part of the MTV travel show - Nano Drive with MTV Season 2, and got to represent BlogAdda on the incredible 21-day trip across India. The memories of that beautiful journey, I will cherish forever. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity I was bestowed with.

I am not the brightest of bloggers around but I am happy that whatever little I write and share is coherent enough for readers to read and appreciate. I err too but then I look around and learn from fellow bloggers and from concerned readers. Whenever I have doubts, they are addressed pronto by the good people here. Thank you Team BlogAdda for driving all bloggers to write more and write better. Blogging is one of the best medium for self expression, and it’s humbling, rewarding and motivating to see your efforts getting rewarded. Thank you BlogAdda. Keep motivating us all. 

This would be My Winning Speech on being rewarded the BlogAdda Blog Award!

Till Death Do Us Apart

A walk down the mountain trail,
with the sun shining bright,
the squirrels playing peek-a-boo
flock of birds in flight.

The twinkle of the little stream
running down the vale
patterns of our shadows,
telling many a mushy tale.

Tea by that quaint shack
resting against a tree
manned by that old couple
warm and full of glee.

The day spent traversing,
many a mountains wide
talking of this and that
letting the time glide.

Love, let us celebrate love,
with nature in our hearts,
hand in hand in the mountains,
Till death do us apart.

Those who seek love, find love. Though true love can seem elusive to many, but it does find us all seekers nonetheless. So eventually when it does discover me, I want my platinum day of love to be spent in the bosom of nature, for nature is eternal - it's bounties are infinite. How beautiful it would be to sit by a mountain brook, hear the birds sing and watch the world go by. 

True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations; it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart. 

 -- Honore de Balzac

Our Hearts Will Go And On

I write this
to thank thee
for the selfless love and care,
I never said
I love you,
But you never seemed to care.

The tantrums,
the silly jibes
never perturbed thee
the affection was showered
forever,
and with glee.

My mood swings
come and go
leaving me unsure
wish I could
love you more
wish there was some cure.

Sad to bid
goodbye to thee
but the time has now come
Do miss me
a little
And I will miss you some.

This spirit is
immortal,
we keep reading on
It’s the body
that lets go
Our hearts will go on.

So my heart
will go on,
to thee I now proclaim,
I will not be
here again
But I will love you
all the same.

Love begets love, they say. They, the enlightened ones. No feeling in this world can be as fulfilling, as the feeling of being loved, being cherished by that someone special. And trust me, you are one of the luckiest people on this earth if you have found love. Wo kehtein hain na... har kisi ko nahi milta yahaan pyaar zindagi mein...sahi kehtein hain.

So if you have found the love of your life, celebrate that. Express your love, cherish your love for there's nothing as pure and as powerful as true love. Express your love before it is too late. Express your love for that is a beautiful thing to do. 

Let the Love Last

Love embraces me today -

eternal, strong and pure, 

spring in my steps can vouch

I have never been so sure.

Sticks of Bougainvillea, 

hanging big and bright

Jasmines in full bloom, 

This never felt so right.

My man standing thrilled here

has given me this ring,

the proposal of lifelong love,

has made me dance and sing!

The platinum in my finger

enduring is its cast,

We will not last forever, love

Let’s let the love last.

My Delhi, My Manifesto

Delhi, a city that has been my makaan for the past 5 years now. I say makaan and not ghar because there are times when I don't take pride in the fact that I live in Delhi. When some random relative or distance acquaintance says - 'So you have settled in Delhi?', I am quick to defend -'No, no. I just work there.' Ah. 

And then there are times when I find this city so beautiful and inviting.  Its lush gardens, tree lined boulevards, the history, the monuments, its aesthetic sense, it's affinity to culture. So in a sense there's always this turmoil going on inside - live in Delhi, or not? What paradox, isn't it?

If given a chance, what would I change in Delhi, I sit back and reflect. 

Safer Delhi

Quite rhetoric this is. But yes, like every Indian, I want to push for a safer Delhi. Like every Indian  I want to take pride in the capital of my country. And if that has to happen, there's a need to ensure that it's big and small streets are safe - not just for women, but for every common citizen. Much has been written about Nirbhaya and her unfortunate death. But there are so many Nirbhayaas that go unreported, there are so many girls who live in perpetual fear of becoming another Nirbhaya. We need to change this. And yes, the onus is on us too. We too have to become more aware, more self reliant rather than always expecting the government to ensure our safety. 

Greener Delhi

South Delhi is beautiful. Tree lined boulevards, spaced out roads, well planned housing societies, lush gardens and greenery everywhere. Why can't the rest of Delhi be as green, or may be even more, why not. My manifesto for the city would push for a greener Delhi, not just on paper, but on the grounds too. Tree plantation drives, big and small parks depending on the area available and awareness campaigns to make people more tree friendly.

Roads or Spittoons?

This one tops the list of the my pet peeves. No matter how many instructions you put up saying 'Yahaan thookna mana hai', your average dilliwaallah will not budge. Not at all. Drive in an auto, and at every traffic stop, the first thing he is likely to do is spit his paan out, or probably cough out a deluge of snot. People please the roads are us to walk/drive on, it's not your spittoon! How unsightly (oh, of course, obviously)! 

Pissing in Public! Why?

'Yahaan peshaab karna mana hai'. Walls lined with tiles of sundry gods and goddess. Lines full of profanity, warning you to not to piss on a particular wall. But nothing works. Nothing really works for the Delhi man. If he wants to relieve himself, he will do it wherever he wants. Despite the many sulabh shochalayas, his favourite haunt is a wall.  The wall is his bathroom. No amount of admonishing can refrain him from spraying his bladder out on a wall. My manifesto for Delhi will push for strict fines and punishments for those found pissing in public. Unless and until there's no strict stand taken on this, bringing a change in this attitude of everything goes would remain a challenge.

Beggars and Buggers

Stop at a traffic signal and you will be accosted by not just beggars asking for alms, but also buggers bugging you to buy anything from a pirated copy of a best seller novel to a cheap perfume bottle. Then there would be those perpetually pregnant women asking for money to help with the delivery expenses, little kids doing random entertainments acts, and those amputees with fake blood oozing out of their wounds. I am afraid I might be sounding insensitive here, but these scenes experienced on a daily basis have stubbed out my sensitive nerve. Most of the beggars are a part of gangs - they do not want paltry amount of  10 bucks, and moreover if you refuse to offer help, they are quick to hurl abuses. Yes sir. My Delhi manifesto will ensure that they go off the roads soon. Enough of this menace.

This is just the first draft of my manifesto, a basic outline of the changes I would love to bring about. There are many other issues too - honour killings, encroachment, littering, neglect of many a historical monuments, traffic violations  - let me delve into these issues some other time. For now, I will be happy if these basic grouses are dealt with and addressed in an effective manner

This is My Delhi Manifesto in association with BlogAdda.com.

Let There Be Light

Till about early evening there was indifference. And then this happened. 

Came across this little girl at Katha. Her face is magical - eyes so bright, smile so pure.

Come on India, Let's Dance It Out!

I cannot dance. Ill-equipped with the proverbial two left feet, dancing for me essentially is bashfully swaying for a few seconds with insistent friends at parties, and with very pushy relatives at sundry wedding functions. Nothing more, nothing less. No matter how hard I try, the music and my body are never in sync with each other. So much so that even my Punjabi blood doesn't spring in action at the briefest or faintest sound of a dhol or nagaada.

But the Dance India Dance Indiblogger Meet organised last week has somewhat changed my equation with dancing. We are not indifferent to each other anymore. (What a relief!)

But before I go into details about how this change of heart came about, let me share some tidbit about the awesome IndiMeet. The DID Indiblogger Meet was organised to give Delhi bloggers an opportunity to get jiggy with Zee TV's 'Dance, India Dance' judges! Yes! You read that right! An evening of fun, food and lots of dancing with the affable judges of Dance India Dance.

We are all aware about the huge popularity of Zee TV's show Dance India Dance! Considered India's number 1 dance reality show, it has set a standard for being a show where the judges do not just judge the contestants but also mentor them and guide them to be better dancers. In season 4 of this dance reality show, ZEE TV has roped in three new mentors to judge the contestants, and these awesome mentors are - Feroz Khan, Mudassar Khan and Shruti Merchant - three young and dynamic choreographers who have extensive experience in choreographing not just for Bollywood blockbusters, but also several prestigious non-filmy projects in India and abroad.

New mentors on the show

Besides the fresh faces in the judging panel, Season 4 of Dance India Dance is in news for another reason, and that is it's special theme - Dance It Out! Yes, with this new season, these judges are out with a mission - the mission to create a dance movement and inspire people to Dance It Out! Dance It Out is the slogan and theme of the show - and it aims at motivating people to vent out their feelings through dance. Happy? Dance! Sad? Dance! Depressed? Dance! Angry? Dance! The crux is - do not keep any feeling bottled up inside you, rather, express it through dance. And you do not have to be an accomplished dancer to that - go with the flow, dance it out.

Needless to say, this idea somewhere touched a chord with the non-dancer me. And the icing on this idea cake was the concept of Dance for a Cause, adopted for the DID IndiMeet. To put the concept into action, bloggers were asked to form groups and give a performance supporting a cause close to their heart. While there are many causes that are close to my heart and can any day push me to shake an non-synchronized leg for them, in this meet I got to be a part of the group championing the cause of female foeticide.

'Dance It Out' for a cause

Highlighting female foeticide

And this experience of being a part of a dance drama highlighting a social issue was indeed very liberating! It has given me the energy and enthusiasm to let go of my inhibitions, and dance despite my inadequacies. And if at all my dancing can make any difference, here are some of the top causes I will dance for.

COMMUNAL HARMONY

Time and again, the issue of communal harmony has been discussed as one of the major challenges to India's cohesiveness. Just when we think that we are well on the road of assimilation, a Muzaffarnagar happens and triggers fresh debates about communal-ism.  We fail to understand that with communal tension, we do not just harm each other, but also put our country's internal security as risk. There are so many urgent issues and causes we can devote our energies to, rather than throwing it all away in the name of Allah and Bhagwan. So, this would be the first cause that will prompt me to overcome my fear of two left feet. I will dance it out to spread communal harmony, to spread the message of love and peaceful co-existence.

SAFE STREETS & GENDER EQUALITY

We all know how India was in the spotlight the world over on account of the horrific bus rape incident that happened in New Delhi. The furor condemning it lasted a couple of months, there were all kinds of protests condemning the incident , the outrage was immense, following which the parliament passed a bill recommending harsher punishments for rapists. But this has hardly brought about any significant change at the ground level. Every single day, there are reports of molestation, kidnapping, harassment and the new menace, acid attacks. So I will dance it out to not just vent out my frustration against crime against women and gender equality, but to also raise awareness among those around me.

CLEAN AND GREEN ENVIRONMENT

How I wish to see our country spanking clean, its streets and roads litter-free and flanked by big beautiful trees, its many roundabouts dotted with fountains and its towns and cities boasting of lovely gardens. And like the other causes I have put here, this too is one where the efforts of every single citizen matters. Like charity, cleanliness too begins at home! Keep your house and its surroundings clean, keep your housing society clean, keep you town/city clean....and this chain can go and on. Let us all make more efforts towards recycling and reusing stuff, let us all plant more trees, let us contribute towards reducing our carbon footprint in whatever small or big way we can.

Dance reality shows are all about fun, entertainment and search for exceptional dancing talents. All three seasons of Dance India Dance have been high on quality entertainment and have sort of set a benchmark in promoting new dance forms. It's great to see that DID Season 4 is not just about dance, but also about causes.  So come on India, dance it out for the causes close to your heart! Vent it out, express it out - give way to all your happy, sad, funny, angry thoughts and opinions. Dance!

For updates about Dance India Dance Season 4 and Zee TV's other programmes, please check here.
Image Courtesy : Google Images.

Update : This post, judged by Dance India Dance team won a Logitech Boombox on IndiBlogger.