Slush:Chill Summers!Chill!

                                                           SLUSH

Crushed ice, saturated loosely with your favourite fizzy drink, in the sweltering heat...The fusion of two forms of water, hard, crystallized and grainy on one hand and cool and free flowing on the other works as a catalyst to speed up your reflexes and metabolic rate when all you want is an everlasting siesta in an air conditioned comfort of your room. Slush...it flushes away the summer sores in a jiffy. Try it...Chill a glass of your favourite fizzy drink in the freezer for half an hour and see the difference you make to your life! This was suggested by a friend and is the definite mantra to ward off fiery summer blues! Thanks a ton!

Now let me make an effort to be blatantly honest about description of the process of trying it out without meaning to sound offensive or  vulgar in any way.(I hope so...)Hold the glass in your hand. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Feel the cool exterior of the glass, dripping dewdrops, quenching the thirst of your warm hands. Cup the glass, just the right amount of pressure so as not to disturb the flow of the meandering cola through the channels of crushed ice. You’ll be transported to heaven. Not even a thousand blazing suns can bleach the colours of vibgyor in the horizon of your soaring thoughts. Bliss is the word you feel.

Now open your eyes and use a spoon to stir up a mini storm in the glass .This is done so as to create a sense of harmony and fusion in the two states-the solid and the liquid, the hard and the soft.

By this time your taste buds will be craving to reach out and be one with the cool delight in the crystal glass...Winking bubbles on the brink throwing inviting glances ,you will just not be able to resist. Simply irresistible...You make the first contact, the warmth of your lips meets the cool crystal and you lose all track of time and space, of temperature soaring or plummeting.

You shiver as your tongue feels the grains of ice, each and every one of it coated with the flavour of the fuzzy drink. But wait! You are not yet satiated till you actually suck the grains dry, sweeping the floor clean, not leaving a trace of intoxication abandoned anywhere. You are not a betrayer of flavours. ..Certainly not. The slush hits you on the fontanel making you ecstatic and desirous of many more such heavenly sips.

Slush...brings a flush to your countenance. Try it!!Summers will not be all that bad!

What's in a cell phone?

A cell phone is not just a machine; it’s an extension of your being, like your finger, or your limb. If you happen to sit in a public place AND if you happen to face another human species like your own self, (such as in a metro) notice the number of hands toying with the cellphones.Watch the expressions. Some minds will be mindful of what they are indulging in while others will be lost in a world far away .The mobile phone acts as a defence mechanism in such cases, a protective shield against the onslaughts of gazes and prying eyes. But is it really so important to do so? What is it actually defending? The vulnerable being...the unbearable lightness of being. The machines are gradually and steadily taking over the cognitive, the affective as well as the psychomotor domains of our lives. We feel restless if we don’t feel the vibrations of batteries under our nimble fingers, or the sound of ringtones. An animated world with animated feelings is what we are shrinking and stuffing our souls into. It’s surprising how quick we are at reciprocating to the demands of the mechanistic world ,neglecting the holistic perspective of life.

The Clocks

The Clocks

A tree stood on the roadside

Strange it seemed to me

For there was not a foliage it could boast of

But an array of clocks

Nailed on to the trunk

Seven in all

Round, sour cream in colour

Displaying time

That chose to run on different tracks

My life was running on a four wheeled machine

So fast it was

That i could only get a glimpse of the needles

Running helter skelter in different directions

Under the tree on a mute wooden chair

Sat a man

Mute, gazing in the distance

At a tractor in the field

Dali’s watches came alive

In the hallowed portals of my mind

How irrelevant is time when we are asleep

It is a world of breathing memories

And breathing dreams

Beyond the curtains of black lashes

But the watches on this tree

Were rooted to a world of wakefulness

I wonder

What is real-sleep or wakefulness?

Memories or promises?

Timelessness ...

Only time will tell

And i shift my gaze to the sprinting trees

-Ghazal...11:30pm

(I saw this tree recently when i was on an official visit to Jaipur.I wish i could have stopped to click a picture or perhaps make an attempt to talk to that man in the  giant pagree,but somehow i was spellbound,held captive by the strange sight...)

Fresh and Stale

BASAURA

fresh and stale:have a tale!

There’s an interesting way of celebrating the onset of spring and summer in Rajasthan. This festival called Basaura marks the farewell of winter and welcome of summer. On 14^th of march Rajasthan, marked by rugged tawny terrain and colourful pagris and ghagras celebrated this festival with cheer and gusto.The womenfolk did not venture into the kitchen to cook as was customary but chose to eat whatever was left over of the previous night.No fire crackled in the stoves, no embers threw off aroma of daal baati choorma. ‘Stale’was the flavour of the day.Why? because at that juncture of their lives it was apparently safe to consume whatever was basi or stale.Henceforth the harsh summer sun would not allow any stale food to thrive .It was only in the late evening that choolhas could be lit and fresh food cooked. Farewell winters, welcome summers!