Turkish Delight

Spineless

Spineless: A species that has a spine but because of lack of inner security or self-confidence their spine loses strength and , therefore, are called spineless. You will definitely see their spine but it will be squelchy. If you press their spine tenderly it it may ooze out sycophancy which can have an unbearable stink. Mostly, you will find this species everywhere but more at the workplace.

Saif, Sikhs, beards and Sweety Baba

So there is one Mr. Charan Singh Sapra, the President of Punjabi Cultural And Heritage Board who thinks he is the keeper of Sikh values, morals and beards. He has made Saif and others associated with the film, Love Aaj Kal , apologize ( that little wriggly worm inside me says that the apology was in the form of bank notes with Mahatma Gandhi's photo on them) to the Sikh community. I am also a part of the community but I don't need anybody's apology because I don't think there has been any misrepresentation of Sikhs if Saif is seen with a trimmed beard in the film.In fact he has potrayed the Sikh character with dignity and elan.

Mr Sapra would surely know that all Sikh marriages take place in Gurudwaras now. Many grooms have trimmed beards and nobody can stop them from getting married in the gurudwara just because their beard is trimmed!

On the other hand it is people like Sweety Baba aka Sarabjot Singh, son of Buta Singh who are a blot on the Sikhs for having names like Sweety Baba. And will Mr Sapra please ask Sweety Baba to apologise for the crores he has gulped down his big round Balley Balley belly?

Also will Mr Sapra please ask those two heavily- bearded Sikh Jawans in Assam to apologise for teasing a girl who owns a shop?
Its time that the likes of Charan Sapra stopped targetting soft targets like Imtiaz Ali, Saif or Akshay Kumar for political and monetary gains.

A thought on the new cabinet ministers

For the first time I was stirred by the swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet ministers. Graceful, sombre, intense, serious, business-like, professional - thats how they looked. I hope they will sustain this this time inspite of parties like the DMK.

Buying and selling bodies, not politicians

Some bodies are being bought, some bodies are being sold;
the wheeling-dealing makes you guys businessmen of the ugly sort;
yes, politics is a business
but you get so immersed in your business that you forget the ones who are immersed
in floods, in sewage water, in darkness, in droughts, in famine, in joblessness, in poverty,in long queues outside your offices, in unending lawsuits,in potholes, in caste wars, in honour killings, in cargo ships packed like sardines to cross over illegally, in ignorance, in fanaticism.

If only you were not bodies in a market!
If only you guys were real politicians!

Your noise

Your noise is deafening
Make some good noise;
didn't you know there is good noise?
Your noise is all about yourself;
why don't you keep it to yourself?
Your noise demeans my silence;
why can't you just shut it up?

She

She is the reproduction machine
so she must abide by the rules,
she must make choices,
she must lead a black and white life,
she must feel guilty for transgressing,
she must not express her angst
because
the reproduction machine should not make a noise!

I will bin them

You got colder and colder
Was it some kind of anger?
Thank you! I am cold, too!
So cold that even memories of those 30 years I want to bin
To me you were like a limp vegetable in a freezer bag when you asked me to rush to see the dead body!
You didn't let me take in that pale face which had waited for me for so long.

Only papers, documents and signatures are your need now.Nothing wrong! It's important!

But what about those cycle rides, the stick ice-creams,the cricket matches, the fights over magazines,the rum in steel glasses, the weird jokes,those coal lines on the brick walls in those beautiful village vacations, the riddles on the terrace in the moonlit nights, those mosquito nets, the roasting of peanuts in sand on the fire?
I'll bin them all! What did you do to them?

Pearl

She was the pearl of his eyes

Bits : She climbed on his shoulders,he would swirl her around,the big sketches on the ceiling, the first drink of gin, the ride on his motorbike with her little hands clinging to him for support,the sense of pride in his eyes, special meals for the special visitor and more!

She is the pearl of his eyes but the sheen is fading from the pearl
But a pearl is a pearl.

Shyness and language learning

Shyness , the by-product of low self-esteem, is the root cause of the students not being able to speak English. Shyness gets attached to learning of English language because English is more of a high status language in Turkey and in India.People hold speakers of English in awe because they think anyone who can speak English is posh and even intelligent! What a fallacy it is!
Students of English as a Foreign Language must remember that English is now a work language; it has gained that status of work language more after globalisation. They overcome any obstacles to get a job. In the same way they must not bow down to jokes or being made fun of when they begin to speak English. Its just another language to communicate

Want

You want someone
to feel wanted,
You reject someone
to feel wanted,
You insult someone
to feel wanted,
You love someone
to feel wanted,
You pray to god
to feel wanted,
You show-off
to feel wanted,
You behave child-like
to feel wanted,
You cry
to feel wanted,
You fight
to feel wanted.
Your whole life hinges on being wanted.
Why don't you try this?
Want yourself.

I am not angry; just telling you.

Treat them equal
Yes, I do.
See them equal
Yes, I do.
But all that is for your eyes only.
The strings of my heart you can't see.
Some of them are special. They tug at my heart.
How can everybody be equal?
The heart knows no socialism or communism!

When I teach I speak from the brain but I think from the heart
Thats the whole difference
Yes, my heart thinks.
Don't bother with your Dos and Donts of a classroom
Because my class is not a bare room but a lounge
Everybody sits together and we all learn together.

?

The real hurts,
The fake is pretentious.
The real is wished to be unreal
The fake is wished to be real.
If fake is pleasant
then why is fake not real?
If the real hurts
then why keep it?
To look real you fake
To fake you tell lies
To lie you you pretend.
Its all fake.:)

Dead but alive

If not the evening then it is the morning;
both of you are here at different times.
Sometimes at the same time.
Those times are filled with remorse and guilt.
The hollow inside is deep; but it can be touched; it is not empty.
The memories are fond and bitter;
the bitter ones are painful but fond;
the fond ones are bitter and painful.
Your faces pale,
Your faces waiting,
Your faces smiling,
Your faces calm.
Greet again in the doorway;wait again at the station.Just once. No, twice.
No, again and again.Forever.

Finishing

Your neck is sagging
Your nails are chipping
Your hair is thinning
Your skin is shrivelling
Your knees are cracking
Your hands are shaking
Your middle is bulging
Your eyes are sinking
Your arteries are clogging
Your oestrogen is shrinking
Your breath is shortening
Your body is in the process of more still.
The mind? Is it growing or degenerating?

My home class, Asia's present to me.

You guys took my heart away with this.Thank you for being what you are. All of you.

Untitled

What a performer you are!
Now and then.
Its a fake smile now
Its a real frown then
Its an unadulterated inflated ego now
Its a polluted concern then
Your eyes crave attention
You betray yourself by a performance
Your desire for being centre-stage is unflinching
You take fresh breaths when you get attention
You suffocate me with your performance.

One side and the other

The mountains mean security to me; they mean a dead wall to you which you want to break down.

The silence means a dialogue to me; it means noise to you.

The river means waves and pleasant sound to me; to you it means a body of water to be crossed to get to the other side.

Being alone means knowing myself; to you it means having to see your ugly side.

Taking a walk along the dirt paths is enjoyable to me; it is like negotiaitng a new turn in life for you.

I find myself on your side many times; have you seen me there ever? I haven't and I am sure you haven't either.
Thats what happens on that side.