Little Black Things

Some call Black powerful

for royalty it stands,

some dismiss it as evil,

strengthening wicked hands.

When Blogadda asked bloggers to list 5 black items that they wish for, it got me thinking. What the black! Black is all around us - in sophistication and in mundane. From elegant couture dresses to expensive luxury cars, from sleek fancy gadgets to hi-tech DSLRs, from handmade footwear to rough and tough cookware, black adorns all aspects of our lives! From the physical to the metaphysical, from the tangible to the intangible, black is everywhere. A colour that is eternal. So if I were to wish for 5 black things, what would I wish for? I do not long for designer dresses, Lamborghinis, BMWs and Aston Martins do not tempt me, there's no longing for fancy accessories - watches, handbags, footwear, et al.

Fancy cars tempt me not,
gadgets do not score,
Little things make me happy,
and that's what I wish for.

Yes, it's the little things that I yearn for, and they make me happy. A cursory contemplation and 5 black things that I would love to have is ready. You might consider them mundane, but I know that they will make my many a dull days exciting! Here they are!

1. BLACK MARBLES

Glossy black marbles,
they glitter and they shine,
wish I had a bagful of them
So I could boast they are mine!

2. BLACK PUPPY

Tiny little puppy,

to love and care for,

We both will play together,

and none will be a bore!

3. BASKETFUL OF BLACKBERRIES

A basket full of berries black
would fill me with delight,

it's tasty and healthy too

Oh I am craving for a bite!

4. BLACK COUTURE HAT

Couture hats intrigue me,

so creative they are

a black piece I would love to own,

and act like a Hollywood star!

5. Black Tea

Black tea is healthy,
for body and for mind,
you would want to share a cup,
it's taste is so refined.

So this is my list of 5 little black things that I desire. Hope you enjoyed the post. There's another list too, but the items there are not so little! You can read that list here, and let me know what's your take on the items listed! :)

This post is a part of #WhatTheBlack activity at BlogAdda.com

The Black List

Borne out of black,

to its solemnity we'll return,

Some will rest under the earth,

On pyres some will burn.

The colour black - solemn and eternal. Science calls it the absence of or absorption of light. The darkest colour, the opposite of white, it never ceases to intrigue. Generally associated with all that is intimidating, this mystical colour stands for the depths of the unknown, all that is beyond the earthy realm. But when it comes to fashion and luxury, black is big. It is bold. It's glamorous, it's royal, it's sophistication personified. 

When Blogadda asked bloggers to list 5 black items that they wish for, it got me thinking. The symbolism of the colour attracted me towards it - black magic, black humour, black cloak, a meeting with Sirius Black  - I wanted to it have it all. Maybe sometime in future. For now, here are the 5 black things I desire.

1. A Black Sheep

Baa baa black sheep,
Do not feel unloved
You have me to care for you,
Isn't that enough?

Strange that a thing so lovely and innocent epitomises worthlessness in our materialistic, obsessed-with-success world. The popular idiom related to black sheep describes someone who is an outcast in the family and society - someone who is not very mainstream and instead refuses to conform. I wish I have a black sheep for company, and together we will roam the distant pastures. Two creatures who are different and yet alike, an unlikely paradox. We will make for good company.

2. Black Belt

Training in self defence,

is now need of the hour.

To protect thyself from harm,

To fight back and not to cower.

Expertise in a self defence art is not a fancy skill any more. It's the need of the hour. Every day we are subject to atrocities of different kind, some subtle, some very in your face. Women are being manhandled, beaten and raped. For many, the atrocities are mental - in the form of harassment and verbal bullying. High time we all learnt a self defence technique - to not just equip our comparatively frail body to fight back, but also train our minds to always remain alert.

3. Black Clouds

The sun is beating down on us,

Heat taking a toll,

Black clouds come bless us please

Soothe our stifled souls.

I am yearning for black clouds. In my part of the world, the harsh sun is busy burning the already baked earth. Fear of a drought looms large. Everyone's listless - humans, animals, birds. Roads smell of burning tar, mirages far down the burning road are driving the drivers delirious, and the humidity is stifling. I want the black clouds to come rolling by, to stay put here for a while. Wish they come visiting soon, shower their ware around and make the wait worth the while.

4. Black Starry Sky

Twinkle twinkle little star,
The rhyme is now a myth
Cut down the skyscrapers please,
get a magical scythe.

My beautiful black sky has gone missing. It has disappeared beyond the many million skyscrapers. From the little windows of my house, I look up to catch some corner of the sky, but its the concrete of the neighbouring buildings that mocks me instead, smirking at my incredulous wish to gaze at the black star-lit sky. How I wish to go camping in the open, and lie down by my tent at night and gaze endlessly at the black sky with its many million glittering stars smiling down at me.

5. Black Box of MH370

A plane flying high,

disappeared from the sky,

its black box is still not found

despite many a try.

The last item on my black wishlist is the Black Box of MH370. This is just another wishful thinking, but how I wish this comes true and the experts are able to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. While this will not bring back the victims of the crash back, it will most definitely give a bearable closure to the family and friends of the victims of this baffling tragedy.

So this was my take on the 5 black things I desire. Hope you enjoyed the post. Do share your thoughts and also your black wish list. It would be fun to compare notes!

This post is a part of #WhatTheBlack activity at BlogAdda.com

Memories That Zest Up My Life!

Happy memories zest me up. On dull mundane days, when it feels like inanity has crept all around, there comes a whiff of a happy event and nostalgia takes over, charging me up with energy and enthusiasm. On days, when nothing seems to be going right and self-doubt attempts to overtake my mind, I take a break and go back to the happy memories of achievements. These, and a good cup of green tea, and there I am, all zesty and raring to take challenges head on. 

They say every passing moment becomes a memory, while whatever we consider mundane gradually fades out, the special ones hinges itself to the prominent corners of our heart and mind and remain there, making an appearance and cheering us up very now and then. Here are the five memories close to my heart!

1. My First Swimming Lesson

It took me a long time to overcome my fear of swimming. My parents had been insisting that I learn this life-saving skil for quite a while, but no, I was sure I would not even last for a minute in the pool, and the 'life-saving' skill would actually turn 'life-taking' for me. Every time I convinced myself to learn this skill, paranoia  would strike the moment I got near the pool! But then one fine day, after enough of convincing and cajoling from parents, friends and the swimming instructor, I just gave in! Just like that! Some hiccups and there I was alternatively floating and splashing around in the shallow end of the pool! It was magical! And now every-time I am inside a swimming pool, leisurely lapping across its length, I cannot help but laugh at my silly notions!  While the thought that I was once mighty scared of pools amuses me, the fact that I overcame that fear fills me up energy and enthusiasm. It motivate me surge ahead and tackle all challenges head on.

Swimming pools are scary? No!

2. My First Job

What an incredible feeling it is to be called a professional, to be at work, and to be responsible for the growth of an organisation! I know, I know, you must be smirking here! For many of us a few years of working has already taken its toll, boredom or exhaustion has set in and this feeling of graduating from being a student to being a working professional has worn out, replaced by stoic acknowledgement of mundane office work-life routine! True that, but still every time I think of my first job as a news trainee at ABP News, it zests me up!

3. My First Salary

Oh the joys of receiving my first salary! The crisp SMS arriving in my phone announcing that my salary has been credited in my account! So many years and I can still recall the day vividly! Eating out with my own, shopping and splurging on gifts for my loved ones! And no one, absolutely no one to play spoilsport in my shopping spree! One happy, fulfilling and thankful day it was and the memory of the day 

4. My First Solo Trip

My memories of my first solo trip zest up many a travel conversations I have with traveller friends! I went all the way up to Mcleodganj in Himachal Pradesh and stayed there on my own for a couple of months.

The lovely family I lived with!

In Mcleodganj, I lived with a local family who took care of my lodging and boarding, and my days there were spent wandering deep into the mountains exploring the waterfalls and local tribes settled there. I also participated in quite many adventure and volunteering activities there. One volunteering activity that I always cherish would be working at a child care centre looking after Tibetan kids who either had a single parent going to work daily or were parent less. I think this was a great experience, contributing my bit as a traveller, and memories of this trip always keep inspiring to surge ahead and never shy away from trying something new.

5. Nano Drive With MTV

Tiger(s) spotting in Maharashtra, surfing on playful waves in Andhra Pradesh, scuba diving in rough Orissa sea and last but not in any way the least, ghost hunting in a West Bengal hill station - these experiences and a hundred more - I lived them all in one epic road trip that I was fortunate enough to be a part of. And this road trip was Nano Drive with MTV Season 2 – a travel show that involved 21 days of travel across the country in Tata Nano. 

Nano Drive with MTV - 21 days on the road

This was the best trip of my life! For one, never in my wildest imaginations I had ever thought that a road trip this long, covering this great a part of our country could ever become a reality for me. But as they say, strange are the ways of the world, I was chosen to be a part of the show with a few other travel junkies and experience India like never before! Whenever I feel down and out, exhilarating memories of this incredible trip do their bit to add zest to my life!

So that was a bit about my favourite memories! Hope you enjoyed the post! Do share thoughts about your favourite people, places, memories and experiences! Would love to exchange notes! :) 

This post is a part of the #ZestUpYourLife activity in association with TATA Zest and BlogAdda.com

Raising a Toast to Mardaani

'I've often thought it unfair that women are expected to stay at home when there's a fight to be won. If a woman has the strength to bear a child, she can swing  a sword as well as any man.'

Karen Hawkins, How to Abduct a Highland Lord

We women are a strange specie. Fragile and yet strong, yielding and yet determined - the perfect paradox, that’s what we all are. But the fact remains that there are so many shades to our personality. Yes, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US has many different shades within us. We might be all laid-back for days, but push us to an extreme, and there you see a different woman, all geared up, picking herself up and emerging stronger than ever.  She’s a mardaani, for she refuses to give in and blame it all on fate.

And here I proudly present one such mardaani from amongst us - Mrs. Aarti Goel

Aarti Goel with her husband

Aarti comes across as a petite every-day woman, your friendly next-door neighbour who loves supervising the household chores, picking her daughter from the school and spending time with her family. So what’s so special in that – you must be wondering, and rightly so. So many us do these and more. Yes. But what makes Aarti special is the fact that when is she is not involved in the mundane household and office routines, she is trained enough to ply passengers on Delhi roads. You read that right. Aarti is the second registered woman auto-driver in Delhi.

Aarti Goel - Challenging stereotypes

Always ready to take challenges head-on, Aarti is an inspiration for all. I first met her while on a road trip to Lansdowne. We had stopped over for a tea break at the same dhaba. Her's was a regular family, chatting away delightfully about this and that, and since my friend and I were the only other people eating there, they invited us to join them for tea. And it was there, sitting with them, and lazily sipping my extra milky tea that I discovered that the husband whom I had started addressing as Sushil bhaiya, only had one hand. I also discovered that they too were headed to Lansdowne and it was the wife Aarti who was driving them all to their destination. There was an awkward silence after this discovery, and it was Aarti who dispelled the quietness that had suddenly taken over our group. Calmly she narrated to us how many years ago her husband had met with an accident, resulting in the loss of an arm. Initially she found it difficult to get over the cruel incident and faced difficulty coping with the unfortunate developments. But she soon realised that the onus to reclaim her family's happiness was on her. She had to get a grip on not just her life.

That's me with Aarti Goel and her daughter Samiksha Goel

And she had to start from scratch. While earlier she had been a happy-go-lucky middle class wife who was dependent on her husband for all things big and small, now it was time to take the steering wheels in her hand - literally as well as metaphorically. Soon she learnt driving and was assisting her husband at his petrol pump and motor workshop. One thing led to another and now she's a trained auto-rickshaw driver too.

Aarti Goel is a mardaani in every sense of the world. Like the proverbial phoenix, she has risen from the ashes to reclaim her family's happiness. She did not give in or blame fate for the misfortunes that came her way. Rather she worked around the misfortunes and wrote a new destiny for herself. 

Aarti Goel's story has been covered by a couple of newspapers already, but it would be great to see her story inspiring people beyond Delhi. Hope the stories of grit and determination of all such mardaanis motivates us all to be positive and determined in the face of challenges.