A hiatus that caused an itch

I'm done giving excuses, people! I wouldn't even dare to hide under the cloak of the word 'busy', because that seems to be gaining too much of importance in my dictionary  of life. I know I sometimes seem to talk like I am some Himalayan saint but hey, aren't we all screwed in our heads. It has been four good months since I last posted and since then I have always been wanting to write about something but kept holding back saying that I have nothing new to talk about. Well, I always say that I have to give way to this extra surge of creative energy and what better and easier to take up than writing.It used to be easier said than done and like  I said, the more I thought about blogging the more frustrating it used to get; you could sort of picture the typical scene 'he loves me, he loves me not'. So, dishing all my inhibitions into the dustbin, I am very much back again with some new news and renewed energy. I have regained control of my garden from mom (don't think so much on that, I definitely didn't stage a coupe) but, just relieved her of all the duties she had towards the plants. I would dress up this blog post neatly by showing you some glimpses of my garden and the blooms that have decorated my garden during the monsoons. So here they are!

Biking - Unwinding from the shackles of sorrow

I just happened to be discussing with my friend as to what it would be like to just hop on to a bike and zoom off to an unknown destination, to run away from the monotonous routine and seek the ultimate goal that is peace. I have so often imagined that I am decked up with all this biking gear and am riding all alone on this empty highway with no one to stop me or question me or even penalize me for my mistake. Biking is not about riding fast or showing off our machine or dodging signals or crashing into vehicles. Biking simply means a one on one session with ourselves just to give some respect to ourselves for a change. The emotional connect we share with our machine as if it were  our pet horse is something we cannot put into words and explain. We some how feel that zooming off on that bike for a long ride would some how alliviate us of our problems or atleast give us a few moments of peace. This is precisely the reason so many bikers set off on long journeys or to unknown destinations not because they don't have any alternate modes of transport but simply because they love it!. Biking from my perspective is that pandora's box with unseen surprises and unknown conventions. Thus biking could be an art, a hobby or even a myth but one thing I know for sure, for people who really understand biking, even a thud into a pit should seem like a ride on the swing!


For more on biking, please visit: www.facebook.com/CastrolBiking

Grafting Roses-The new fad

Have you ever felt excited about a particular activity you in your mind take a fancy to. Well, I have. The new bug that has bitten me is grafting.With the new rose blooms being welcomed this summer I realized that I would soon need to turn into a barber and trim down the old branches.But in my opinion why waste even the pruned stems. Well grafting is just like surgery and perfection can be achieved only with experience.So,taking the almighty's name , I am embarking on this mission and that too, pretty soon!

Solitude - A Cherished Companion

Hello fellow earthlings! It so often feels like we are this mamoth crowd stuck on this planet, where, each day we are made to face situations good and bad as if, we are some guinea pigs and the almighty, a scientist. Sometimes, we keep running away from situations and after a while we just feel like sitting down and taking a break. The monotony literally bites and hence we go underground. I have been feeling the same. It seems like solitude is the only solution and much to our liking it is a very comfortable phase to move into. Offlate I more than often feel like shunning major social interactions, not because I feel insecure but, just that I cannot bring myself to agree to go with the flow. A person whom I value a lot always asks me to drop all the lousy emotional baggage and just take a dip in the river called 'life' which by my reckoning leads to the ocean of 'happiness'. But on the flip side I want to thorougly soak into the current phase and forget about the rest. I still love all the people who are close to me but just want to take a pit stop in this lengthy race. Because, we humans are meant to be social and the protocol commands that we interact with our environment and fellow humans. Obviously humans cannot take a sabatical from the daily course of life but can still try to ponder over what is currently happening to them. I believe that these phases are all dark tunnels at the end of which awaits happiness with open arms. We ought to call a truce with our inner self to be happy. So, I guess, I'll get going and do what I actually like. Who knows, I may actually bring myself some inner peace!

Relationships and all the hoopla

I many a times wonder as to how do people claim that they have a perfect relationship. What aptly defines a relationship I absolutely do not know. Is their any specific mechanism which clearly defines the maintenance parameters for a relationship? Well, I, on most of the occasions find myself to be confused about my relationships, especially my friendships. I on the one hand call people my best friends but do not feel that from my heart at times. Frankly speaking, I feel that I have to fake my concern and have to forcefully keep in touch. Everything seems abnormal because the very relationships that are meant to be natural for humans turn out to be painstaking and miserable. I am definitely not a loner and do not want to be one but, I just stand bemused at my own doings and thinking. I definitely love the people who care for me but at times just fail to understand whether constant communication is the only basis for trust? Is constant shadowing always a necessity?  However, at this moment I wish to dish out all these  idiotic thoughts and stare at my plants as, with no emotional investment they are some of my most loyal friends. I guess, at the end, relationships between a person and other people is a necessity for existance but enjoying your personal space and spending quality time inside your cocoon is also a necessity for growth.

Gardener gone berserk

Well, I am back to my days of experimenting with veggies but this time my plans are a little mamoth for the space I have been allotted. So this is it - 'I am going to grow sweet pumpkins'. I know that the gardeners out there would burst out laughing but, hey, what is wrong with a little bit of fun, right? If it is any consolation to the conventional gardeners, even my mom burst out laughing. But that doesnot bother me at all. Now, since I have challenged myself , I am all set to sow the sweet pumpkin seeds. Let us all see the way things shape up. Kudos and happy gardening!

My childhood- A Memory Or Just a dream

CHILDHOOD……….. AS I REMEMBER IT

How happy were those days….

When we were so very small,

When problems seemed petty

With worries not too many.

When, a single toothless smile

Would make us a celebrity

With words too few

Crying would surely do

Toys were our life

And acquiring them seemed to be our only goal

Gone are those days………..

When, we were innocent

And pure at heart

Just like young baby birds

We were yet to make a start

Ambitions didn’t exist

And emotions mattered a swat

When people gave us candies

And, we jumped into their arms

Rummaging through those memories

I fail to recognize the baby,

The smile in the picture

Seems to be lost on my face.

O’h, I wish I were that baby again

So I could leap into the arms of my parents again

I wish I could go back in time

When innocence was bliss

And imagination was heaven.

-By Nishanth Raghuram

Blooms Everywhere

It has been a while folks and I have come back to writing after a long time and the reason for my sabatical was my career and secondly my garden. Well, the other side of me is a proffesional and so I need to hone that part of myself. Secondly, I was tending to my garden. I was welcomed home with a flower shower as I may describe it. The balcony was decorated with plenty of yellow chrysanthemums that my grandmother had given to me as baby sapplings. The other pink variety that I have had literally creeped onto the neighbouring plants. I know that I sound so childish in describing my garden but hey, my plants are so very dear to me and I wouldn't leave a stone un turned in bragging about them. I had also sown a few seeds of the 'French Beans' and they have grown into beautiful plants and have yielded a healthy produce of beans. Could you ever put a price on such kind of happiness, I think it is priceless.Every morning, I wake up to the chirping of birds in my garden and it feels like I a rain forest of some sort. I wish to grow so many more plants and vegetables but alas! the limited space and the crowding pots leave little scope.  But cribbing makes no sense and to nake you all happy I am posting some pictures of my garden, hope you guys love it! 

Confusions Galore

I have been pretty busy over the past two and a half weeks,completing the last bits of duties associated with being an engineering student. What really gets me thinking is, the typical question people put to you regarding your aims and goals and what you wish to really do in future. I am generally stoned because I know what my dreams are but I am not able to pick from among them. Secondly, even after growing into a young man, I very often find myself answering questions on goals just like a child answering that he wants to become a train driver. Besides, it so often happens that I have conflicts between my proffessional and personal dreams that I get completely flustered. But what I really know is that I sure am going to be a good human being,with a large heart.

Beautiful Chrysanthemums

I am back again after a long hiatus which I forcefully took to completely tend to my plants. I had sort of camped in my terrace whilr feeding my plants with some organic delights. I knew that all this work would pay off because plants receprocate love by growing healthy and bearing beautiful blossoms. I was in for a treat this time because all of my chrysanthemum saplings had grown big had beautiful flowers adorning them. I can just not wait to share my happiness with you all, so here are some photos of my chrysanthemums

Christmas Calling

I have packed my bags and am finally heading home for Christmas. Even though I am not a Christian, I enjoy this season because it brings so much of joy to my heart. I remember my days in school where we would sing carols and get so excited when one of our very own teachers would dress up as Santa Claus and distribute sweets and happiness to all the children sitting around. This festival generates a new spirit in everybody's heart. People spend time in decorating Christmas trees and baking cakes. It may not exactly be for some specific purpose but just to spread happiness and be happy. Do we really understand why we get so excited every time a new festival comes along? There is definitely something more to it. I feel, every situation and scenario in life can become a Christmas party if we just happen to decorate it with our smiles and find the Santa Claus hidden within us to become happy and spread happiness.

A Good Deed

The conditions that stray dogs in India live in are appalling and so is the case with the many stray dogs that warm the grass in the lawns in my campus. Recently, one of the little pups had been badly injured by some big dog and my friend went out of the way to tend to him. What I couldn't understand was the tears coming out of her eyes whenever she thought about the dog. Could some pup who had barely an hours interaction with my friend really move her so very much? I completely agree that we humans are blessed with a soul that can do good and a heart that supports this goodness with compassion but that connection we share with other living beings is in explainable. I saw how she treated the pup like her own son and fed him with all the sweet praises she had. She ardently sat and completed her task of rescuing the dog but ironically the dog went missing after a while. However if we carefully observe she did a wonderful job i.e. a good deed by simply trying to give back what belongs to the nature. God made the earth and the animals that occupy it including us. The only difference is that we humans speak in a language that is not understood by those poor animals and so they cannot sit on the couch and gossip for hours together about their problems but simply cringe whenever in pain. Thus if we humans do something to minimize the pain and suffering of any living being less fortunate than us, we in God's eyes shall be noble and if each activity that we do is taken up in this manner we shall all be doing good deeds.

Laziness or reluctance

I felt like a real jerk today because I valued my laziness more than my relationships. The irony of the entire situation is that even though I was pardoned by the person in question I am sort of feeling hurt. Does this really happen to people in reality? That sometimes the mind is so stubborn that it refuses to budge and causes nothing but pain. The guilt factor then eats you the rest of the day for the actions you took. It sounds confusing, doesn't it? Never mind, I have however managed to dust my self out of the rust I had merrily coated myself with and have decided to take up tomorrow's day with a new spirit and an ardent will to live life to the fullest i.e. from my perspective.

An Irritable Mind Knows Nothing

I have been wondering over the past few days as to why I have these spurts of anger being generated within me. That weird sense of frustration which cannot be attributed to any particular reason and believe me, if I were an adolescent I could have still played this down as another one of those teenage mood swings. But even a single thing in the day which possibly is out of place or deviates from its normal course seems to set me off. Running away from interaction with people looks like a viable option but does it make sense?  I feel like emptying my mind because anger actually equals trash and never allows a person to think straight. I have generally seen in the movies that people go to the top of a cliff and yell their guts out, but again, can I always run to a cliff to scream. I think I am going to simply put on my head phones and sink into the world of my old pal i.e. 'Music'. And no, it is not an escapist strategy but simply a method of converting every bit of the anger pent up in me into happiness. I hope to write again but with a smile on my face.

A Green Experiment

I am writing this post after hearing from my mom. The day before I left, I sat down to prune my roses and cut down quite a lot of old and a little bit of the new stem. Looking at the pruned cuttings I thought of putting them to some better use i.e. propagating them once again. Now, this experiment has already been done by many people but works for a few  and this being a grafted rose I was apprehensive but still decided to try my luck. I took a knife and made a scratch on the tip of  one of the pruned cuttings and immediately dipped it in a bottle full of water. This rose cutting had a green leaf node which had not yet bloomed but looked hopeful. Thus, after a good one week my mom says that the leaf node has actually opened up and given some tender green leaves. I guess my experiment seems to be working fine. Will keep you posted about the rose and possibly come back with pictures when it actually develops roots.

A Wonderful Winter

Winter has finally laid its hands on my town and has brought in a bliss of a different kind. It is this very season that makes me  retreat into the cocoon of my blanket. Be it the college or any other daily activity, I just won't budge out from that blanket. A mug of coffee in my hand and a book or a movie seems to seal the deal. Waking  up in the morning is also getting very difficult. The fog that enshrouds the campus wall doesn't allow me to see the fields spread across. But this season has surely brought in some freshness in the atmosphere and my thoughts. I'm just letting my mind bask in the beauty of this season and trying to enjoy every new moment. This me retreating back into my world and signing off.

Exams and monsters

Don't even mention the name 'Exams' because, that is when I groan and feel like I am slowly falling sick. I cannot call myself lazy and state that I hate studying because there are days when I love particular subjects and don't mind reading those big fat books continuously but, come the exam season and I start retrieving into a shell. Every exam pushes my mind into a seamless world of stress, tension and  depression. I guess, all engineering students would readily agree with me that the days we have papers to answer in continuous succession, we feel like comatose patients who are well aware of their surroundings but have no means of contacting them. But, the day the exams get over,  it just feels like I have been exorcised. I know that the description of exams that I have given may seem gory but it is a fact  of life. No one person in this world would love to answer exams but simply answers them sighting a larger goal at the horizon. After all this description of exams that I have given  I am jolting myself out of this temporary bliss (just happened to finish a short examination series) and reminding myself that there are many more to come and that, exams are never ending because life in itself is a big exam, at the end of which looms a larger goal, that of happiness.

A Delight

I reached home finally and surprisingly found each one of my plants beaming with beautiful flowers(contrary to what my mom always described but,I never believed her). After watching so many videos as to how I could get my plants to produce huger flowers, I also got some plant food for them and believe me, the kind of feeling was just similar to what a dad feels when he comes back home with precious gifts to spoil his children and the happiness felt by him when his children jump around in excitement. I am sure that my chrysanthemums will bear many more flowers which will be huger in size and I feel confident that my roses will live for one more day to give a slap in the face of the wretched heat. I am sure that all my plants will continue to mesmerize me and make me joyous!

A Rendezvous

I keep getting updates from my mom about my garden but instantly get tired of imagining what it would be like. However this imagination will soon be turning into reality as I am going to be heading home pretty soon. The very prospect of walking into my balcony is making me so joyous. I feel, both pets and plants need ample of attention and when you are not around to love and nurture them they fall ill. Also, I have so often found that when I  am away  from something I'm really attached with, my love for that thing increases and I guess its the same with everybody. I just hope that when I walk into my garden my plants will recognize me and bloom to their fullest capacity. I know, all this sounds so very melodramatic but  this is the reality of life. Human beings connect with happiness by learning to love and this love may be shared with other humans, animals ,plants or even art. I have learned to love and so can you.

Happiness-An Uniterative Facet Of Life

How often do we come across situations where we try to wear an artificial smile but deep down find no cord to connect with it. We feel like sulking, crying or being angry but also fail in bringing out these natural emotions. But,when our soul is happy, we are happy. Everything around us seems to be exciting and even the daily mundane activities in life hold some significance. Well, I sometimes come across situations where there is no apparent reason for me to be unhappy but, I still don't want to be happy. Is happiness related to an external factor or some abstract driving force in nature? Happiness, just like medicines, have to be injected to provide tranquility to the soul. Once the soul gulps down the doze of happiness, life seems amazing, even if, for a brief period of time. Sometimes, I feel it takes some effort on my part to be happy but, why not? Life is really short and since it it is mostly plagued by rough waters,why not remain afloat for one more day, by just being happy. The  one possible method of filling the void created by no feelings could be filled in by activities which keep us busy. This way we at least prevent our mind from turning into a devil's workshop. My dad keeps saying that if I try to be happy the world will be happy and vice-verse. I guess, somewhere his words have a lot of meaning. But, I know, somewhere in the corner of my mind that if I keep waiting for a positive incident to bring happiness in my life, I'll soon be doomed!  Life is a weird combination of positive and negative incidents and it is up to us to remain happy all through. Happiness definitely doesn't iterate but who says it can't persist!