What.A.Song !

I suddenly had this urge to listen to a nice uplifting music and went for The Dark Knight ending theme. Stumbling upon a few pieces, I went on to hear the "No time for Caution" from Interstellar and then it stuck me why it was such a hair-raising/mindblowing-awesome experience !

The music, that was it. It's the way it is built. It's like someone knows the emotion, to put it into something beyond words, something that makes you live the experience that Cooper is going through, captured in music. Made alive. Makes me feel alive.

I can almost hear TARS stating "It's not possible" and Coop replying "No, it's necessary".

An amazing feat. Makes me feel alive.  What does it do to you ?

(Had to put this under the label "love". What else can I say about that feeling ?)

On Marriage by Kahlil Gibran

What a way to say it !

On Marriage
 Kahlil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Reasons unknown

I go deep into the forest

to find the flowers that grow on the edge of the mountain

where the water falls into the emptiness below

I weave a garland for you

I carry it in a bag tied close to my heart and come to you

You ask "Why ?"

I go to the lake and sit quietly

Look at the waves talking to the rocks

whispers all over the place

You come wandering and sit by my side

I see the sky and your smile

I write a sonnet and offer it to you

You take it and ask "Why ?"

Late in the night you are making your bed

Engrossed in other chores that are trivial but yet need attention

I am sitting in my garden watching the stars

with the sounds of crickets and frogs giving music to the night

And I look to the heaven's above and ask "Why not ?"

Painting a picture

Walking on the road
I see the sun shine
I couldnt tell if it was sinking or rising
Lots of birds chirping
I think its sinking
Evening time
More than a gentle breeze
Trying to disturb by unruly hair
I reached a park
Small one near our place
A swing there was, another broken
A slide there was, with a ladder to climb onto it
Children were on the swing
There were some on the slide
Some climbing up
Some sliding down
And both happy
Sun is behind the trees now
Hitting my face through the spaces
I think I can paint a lovely picture
But realize its incomplete without you.

Some were playing cricket
With stones as wickets
The others just sitting on the wall
Chatting about the movie tickets
There sat a couple
Looks like they are in love
Whether lovers or brother-sister I dont know
Whichever love is love after all
I think I can paint a lovely picture
With the sun sinking in
And the sky growing golden
With the kite flying above
And the one holding the thread
But I realize its incomplete without you

Now where should I put you in
On the wall ? its quite silly
On the slide ? still the same
Playing cricket ? its mad (sure love is)
In the swing ? looks right
Beside me ? Oh wait,
I wouldnt be painting if you were beside me
All I would do is to stare

Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine times

He was awestruck. At that particular moment, he felt that life is beautiful. It was not often that he feels like that but with his princess around, it is more often than not. If someone would have said that there was nothing noticeably special about her, he would reply that everything was. He only saw that she was radiating warmth and love. That the trivial act of adjusting her ear-ring on her right ear would evoke such an abundance of love, he had no idea. That he was feeling it, he was more than aware. It was running through each of his nerves. That feeling of exaltation was all that he was aware of, apart from her presence. Not even his presence. Just a set of feelings put at one place. That he was unable to put logic to it did not bother him.
"You want to say that you love me ?", asked the princess.
"Yes. A lot. A lot, lot, lot. I love you a lot". Presently, he just saw a dark outline of a pretty face and some strands of hair on an ear and it was shining. What it was that shined was inexplicable to him. He was entirely lost in his own thoughts. It was as though he was blinded by the light that was hitting his face. Little did he realize that it was really the sun that was shining behind her. It was becaue she tilted her head to the other side. She came in between the sun and his face. And now that she tilted it to the other side, he felt the brightness on his face. She didn't look surprised and that told him that his face was not showing that surprise either.
"This is the fifteenth time today that you've said that and it's not even noon yet"
"That's a small number. I would say it a hundred times a day"
"That's not enough. I want it to be said Nine hundred and ninety nine times"
He moved a step forward. Her eyes widened.
"You're not going to..."
His face was bent and he landed a burning kiss on her uplorn face. He was a bit taller than her and she had to look up when he did that. The kiss was right on the top of her forehead, above the black tikli. It was too gentle. She felt as though she could be there forever in his presence, with him so close, so close that his heartbeat was almost audible, and that it was beating for her, with her name resounding in a rhythmic fashion.
She tried to control her smile, but she was already grinning.
"You said more than what I asked"
His fingers entwined with hers in acknowledgement. Her head was resting on his chest. And she was sure of her name resounding now. It was as though they were one, made more prominent by their entwined fingers. And he was now looking at the sun, and she was in his arms.
"How would a wide eyed beauty like it, if it was Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine times ?"
"That would mean that they both would be quite hungry and thirsty in the end. What with how long it would take to tell it or show it"
"You stole my line, princess"
"And you stole my heart"
"That's even then", he said. He was now passing his other hand through her hair.
"No. I haven't kissed you back yet", she giggled.
"Oh ! When you give it back, I need the actual one plus the interest on it"
"How does a hundred percent interest sound ?"
"Suits me well"
"Then I'll give you more than that"
"That would be more than fine", he said, "And I would be more than happy".

That day in the sunset...

It was time for sunset when they were sitting there. They had come there for a drive, a thing that both of them love to do, more so when they were with each other. But he always hated driving. "I am sick of this traffic and pollution", he once said and she knew he wasn't ubercool. She always knew it. But far away from the city and its dust, they were happy that they drove there. She loved to come with him. Anywhere he was, she likes to be around. He was happy that it was mutual.

The trees beneath where they were were very thick. What this meant was that it formed a dark background behind her and it contrasted perfectly with the yellowish-orange salwar that she was wearing. As they were holding hands, a rather troubling frown covered her face. Those two wide eyes narrowed a bit as she was about to speak. She looked to him, opened her mouth and quickly dropped the thought as though it was forbidden. It was too late now, she knew. Everytime she had some stupid doubt, he would come and rub it off, as though it was a small dust speck on an otherwise flashing mirror. And everytime she thought it was better to shut her mouth than ask another one of those not-so-silly-to-me doubts, she would have already made her intentions clear that she was about to speak. Knowing this, he placed his arm across her lovingly, and asked what it was that dared to bother his darling.

"You shouldn't lie, okay?"

"Okay. You know I won't do that when I am with you"

"Okay then. It was something that this stupid guy was saying"

He wanted to say that it was foolish to think about anything else when they were together, but he knew he makes lots of mistakes and having quickly got this thought, he immediately rejected it and regretted having even had such a thought. Saying that would not only darken the mood, but also the vanilla who said it. He did what he should do. He listened.

"You see I am really not worried much about this. You know me. But sometimes it bothers one. Why should he be telling me things? I know it's just a joke. But sometimes it really bothers me. Sometimes you make such stupid jokes too. But not regarding this one and I know you won't", and she smiled. It seemed to make her happy that he didn't do many things that bothered her. Or having learnt that some things bother her, he began to avoid joking about them. She liked him for it. For changing himself to prevent making her sad.

Then as though someone was trying to hear her, she looked either ways, then looked straight at him and asked the million dollar question.

"Do I look fat?"

She paused. She was still wondering if she should have asked him that. But he was, as Rachel put it in Friends, "The apple of her eye" and she would ask him anything and everything. It wasn't even a second that she was in thought that she felt the arm across her shoulder loosen. "Have I said something wrong? No, I was just asking him. He loves me anyway, have I spoken anything else?"

The hand that loosened across her shoulder took her left hand, then clasped it with both his hands and said

"Dear sweet vanilla ice-cream, you look lovely" and then blinked both his eyes in a flash. This was something that he learnt from her, apart from learning to live, learning to love and many more. This was her signal of love and affection. That she liked him, even during the times when they were only friends. She felt happy now. She was expecting something like "It's the dress", "Not at all", but she knew she was a bit on the other side of the weighing machine's pointer.

A smile. Then a small giggle. It was more than a mere giggle. Then a hug.

"Am I really lovely? You know, I think that I am lovely too. But it was only my mom who said it first"

"Dearest, you were always lovely. I change the tense, you are always lovely. Even in that horrible nightgown that you wore that wednesday, you were charming. And now when the sun shines on your face and you look with those wide eyes with full of innocence, I'd bet those Greek warriors who launched those thousand ships would have said "ahoy there" and stopped filling fuel to stay till the sun went down. Now, they would've probably stayed on but I would be too angry to have you there in front of them and hence would have talked them into going to Troy for keeping their promise, however absurd it might be"

"That's sweet of you. You know you talk too much sometimes. Give explanations that are really out of the blue. But I like you for all these"

Then after she had him hugging her till her heart felt that it was now okay again, and until they rocked sideways for a good long time, she broke loose and scurried across to fetch her camera.

"Hey, it's a bit dark now. I should've taken it earlier. I will still get a print of this and write what you've told today"

"You remember all of it?"

"Not the garbage. Only.."

"Hey..."

She giggled. "I like to do that to you. Okay baba, I remember most of it. If I ask you again, you would come up with another way of saying that. I know", she said smiling.

"Yeah, yeah. Apni hi kisi ada se poochlo. You are the one who makes me say things, so they're not entirely my words"

"Done, now. Lets go and have pani-puri"

" I thought you don't like them much"

"Yes, but you do. I'll be happy to see you eating"

She had that angel smile on her face again. That was her. She does things that make him happy whenever he makes her feel good about herself. Cursing why the sun sets so soon and thanking at the same time that she was with her during that sunset, he started his bike.

"It's a long dusty way back. Wanna do something to make up for this ?", he said with his mischeivous smile.

"Ahahaha. Idiot"

Not that he wanted anything apart from her majesty's presence the next time, but he wanted her to say that and smile again. Sometimes, being called an idiot actually makes him feel that he's on the top of the world.

Crazy are the ways of love.

Running to stand still

How can someone come up with something like that? Ever since I've heard these four words, I have been asking myself this one question. How can someone write words like that? Then it strikes to me that this work could only be that of the masters: U2.

From the time I've started to explore U2, they always came up with a new all-time high, be it through the guitar of The Edge, Mr.Clayton , or the beats of Mr.Mullen Jr, or different octaves that are distinctly Bono-ic or most importantly for me, the lyrics. Bono is truly a genious. He writes so well, sings through his heart and soul and you can feel music. That is what I consider truly marvelous. You have to feel music. That's what I say. It is universal, so is Love. And when it's U2, you have music and love. And then it forms a masterpiece. Period.

I'll like to talk more, even though you might argue that there are better bands (for which I say "okay. For each, his own"). I'd like you to listen to the songs sung by these artists. They are of top quality. And it just makes me wonder sometimes, why I wasn't aware of this earlier, why I wasn't there to see these men perform live. That's just me talking, talking. But coming to the point, you have to give yourself time to feel their music. Initially, I was attracted only by a few songs. It was only when I started listening to the others more carefully that I found how much I missed them. Everytime I listen to them, listen to a new song of theirs that I haven't already heard (Yes, I haven't heard all of theirs), I feel a new surge of emotions within me. Some of which I haven't myself found till now. Their music talks. Even the guitar talks.

Thank you U2 for opening a world full of possiblities to me. A world so full of Love and beauty. A world full of music.

If there's anything above the level called "fan", like being a worshipper, then I am that for U2. And I am sad that I find fewer fans, here in India.