The Leap

 

A serpent twined in front of me

Its head hidden, no end to see

As the beast below me wildly roared

Alive again, we hit the road!

As I raced the breeze, it turned to whirly winds

Whizzing past, it seductively singed-

‘Fly! Why take the dust.

Feel the skies, I say you must’

So as the next bend approached,

We bent not and leapt - then downward soared!

I wrenched, I cried, in fear I groaned

The skies shone bright above, I moaned.

It was the end as we know

The burning door to hell below!

Then in a flash, a white stream gushed

And into the currents we were flushed

My hope lost, all spirit drained

I cursed the skies that mockingly rained

The stream I hit ignored my blow,

And coolly carried its onward flow.

Yet, my beastly mate was still determined

And thundered at me for a hundredth time!

Relenting, to its want I rode

This time, over the currents we strode.

As I raced the waters, it turned to rising tides

Standing tall, it convincingly cried-

‘Fly! Why take the rust?

Fight the skies, I say you must’

 

And so as the storm approached,

We blinked not and leapt – then this time, upward soared!

I celebrated, I cried, in laughter I rolled

Over the winds, into the skies we rose.

I have been here for a while now

And from the heavens I see how

The mocking sky and the unyielding beasts

The rivers flowing by and the rising seas-

All wait, for my one leap!

- Gantavya                                                   Photo Credits- Nagaraj

  3rd July 2012

Invictus. A tribute to a dear friend...

Words don't come to you when you need them the most, they defy you and remind you of the one person you knew who always had a word or two that made you crack up laughing. Harsh Pande brings a smile to your face. That's how I remember him, thats how we all remember him. At the start of college days at COEP there were a few seniors I knew whom I looked up to, till Harsh came in.

A person who invited curious glances for his posture from far away, but shunned them away the moment you spoke to him. You were in awe of him at that moment itself. You would expect sympathy to come in way but never ever in our four years has that emotion crept into my mind. And that was for one reason- Harsh was, is and will be the uber coolest, most awesome person you could have met. You were not in awe of his fighting spirit, or in awe of his smiling face when you met him. That you thought of when you left the place. In the moment you met him, you were in awe of his larger than life stories, his wise cracks, his wit, his 'condom cover' Nokia 1100 phone, his shoes that could crush gabbar, his crutches that only he had, and mostly his words that squeezed your belly muscles as you laughed!

To me, Harsh never was any different than all of us, except that he was just plainly better than us all. Exceptionally cooler than us, intelligent, always doing what he loved doing, had a way with women that you so wished you could have too. He was an inspiration that I have held in my life and I am sure everyone who has known him would have held too. He would trust you and show more faith in you than you had for yourself. The dinners and lunches hosted by him for MK, Aadinath, Nischay and me are memorable. They would fill your life with laughter for days. You would go back meeting him with more respect and pride. Pride that you know him, pride that you are valued by him.

The college magazine, an integral part of our college days and our lives was cooler and only more happening because of him. To think of it today, we did it all just for a reward of mentos and coke! His chats on gmail, starting with the pitched 'Yo' were a routine you took for granted. It was your daily dose of humor. His perv jokes, his punny wise cracks, witty one liners all made you fall in love with him. Once, I asked him 'hows your shoulder dude?' and pat came the reply- 'shoulder is fixed, soch raha hun six packs would be helpful in my endeavor for a threesome! btw I had recently been to Jodhpur, awesome place- the name itself is so suggestive, jodh-pur ;)' and I started laughing. And this would happened almost every time one spoke to him. There would be hundreds of such conversations that he had with the hundreds of people he knew. You would pour your heart out to him and look for advice and he always had the best to offer. Coming from an experience and learning that was so enriched that you looked up to him in admiration.

His taste for music, love for Sachin, recommendations for sitcoms, reviews for movies, narrations of random incidents, critique on books, know how of technology, his work ethics, his love for his friends, every single memory makes you smile. And that, probably is the only tribute to him. His promotion coming in earliest for a fresher was only indicative of what he was capable of. It would be such joy to be his colleague, I thought. Scoring a perfect 10 in his last semester, Topping the boards in his school, and numerous other achievements were discussions that followed him around. With all of this and his pursuit of his passion for writing till last, his hunger to make it big seemed certain. I once told him 'Harsh when you are like shit rich and will be hosting yacht parties, please invite me to them. I'll be your PR guy at these events and take care of all the hot European chicks who come there ;) "If you want Harsh, you come to me first" and he said "anything for 'G-man' you don't need to do something for that" my only lame attempt at humor was ' If I ever turn gay Harsh, it will surely be for you!' We loved him.

Today it aches my heart to write a tribute to him. It makes one feel crushed and helpless at the hands of fate. Why is death so final one asks! But even as we mourned him today, it seemed that there was a smile on his face. One that comes after having led a life so full. A life that brought joy to so many of us. And I am sure he would be up there somewhere just chilling and cracking a joke at us dim wits. For he was the greatest person I knew. His life inspired many, his smiling face brought hope. He was indomitable!

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed...

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul...

I can only hope that it were not so, that he were not gone. He is probably a friend that me and all who knew him wanted to cherish for our lives. One who left after we all completed our journeys. One whose stories would even make our kids laugh. But his tales will last forever in our heart. His jokes will ring in my ears for years to come. And I thank the heavens that I was blessed with his company. That we were lucky enough to know him and mean something to him. Each one of his friend was held dear to him, knowing that I was one of them makes me feel proud. Even as tears roll down our eyes I pray that he be smiling somewhere... Gonna miss you brother, Big Time!

The lives of great men all remind us,

That we too can make our lives sublime,

And departing leave behind us,

Footprints on the sands of time.

Footprints that perhaps another,

Sailing over life's solem main,

Shipwrecked and forlorn brother,

Seeing shall take heart again...

Harshavardhan Pande. (7 January 1988 - 23 April 2012)

You will be dearly missed Harsh. You were an inspiration, a true friend, a charmer, and a wonderful person like no other. Have learnt a lot from you and you have shaped many a lives like mine. We all feel honored to have known you...

Efficiency Guide: 1

    Laziness manifests itself in the most sought after luxuries of our lives, the want for betterment has its roots in the desire for an easy and comfortable living. 

    Simply put, our day to day luxuries like cars,gymnasiums, GOOGLE, food delivery, washing machines, remote controls, scrubbers and almost anything was certainly developed by a lazy bugger trying his luck at avoiding some serious labor and struggle.

     These luxuries can today be given credit for our efficient way of life.My modest self will never claim to belong to the likes of the heroes of yesterday who gave us Maggi, but in my own humble way would like to share my efficient manner of living with you:

1] The first in the series of efficiency guide is for those who waste precious time everyday in washing their underwear as they bathe. The solution is: Dont wash it daily! stock them up till one day prior to the day you run out of clean underwear. Then wash them all together, this way you save on time, money and detergent as well!

This is a result obtained by keen observation of my fellow hostel mates emptying my detergent boxes in a time span  as quick as three days!

Statistically

1. An average person uses an excess of 272% of detergent daily per washing of underwear everyday.  

2. He/She owns a minimum of four underwear

3. Washing of underwear one or more in number requires a min of 4-5 mins.

Now my solution offers luxury of saving time:

Four underwear washed daily would require a total of 16-20 mins over four days.

Whereas washing three on the third successive day( why third not fourth?) would require 4-5 mins! so   

you save a whooping 300% on you time!

Also saving on detergent use,

Every four days an approximate 272*4% of detergent is wasted. whereas every third day you use the same amount i.e 272% excess for another two pair of underwear reducing wastage by 200% and only using an excess 72% per wash( once in three days)

This would reduce your detergent use from 372 units per day to 124 units per day reducing usage by 66% and thus saving on your cost as well

Moreover 

This technique ensures every underwear being used over every four days and not a single underwear wearing off earlier than the others.

Thus, if you are running too late and also out of water today, worry not just pile em up!

The KungFu Kid!

Everything is Kung Fu!
          A pleasant and modern remake of the 80's 'The Karate Kid', the 2010 version offers a lot more than chops and kicks. The Karate Kid keeps the vibe of the 80's cult classic alive in the most pleasing way. With the same story line and a lot more in common the newer version has Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith giving spectacular performances, not to mention the awesome Kung Fu moves.
         An emotional connect between the maintenance guy Mr.Han(jackie chan) and the new-in-Beijing Dre parker(jaden Smith) reminds of Mr. Miyagi and Daniel to the many like me who watched the Karate kid movies over and over again. The action sequences between Dre and his Bully buddies is gripping with the finale' i.e the tournament showing some real ass kicking kung fu in a Mortal Kombatish ruthless style.
        The most striking of all the performances is that of jaden smith, he shares the same charisma and presence of his dad and has trained himself in hard core Kung Fu. His performance brings out humor and succeeds in gripping the audience in a few sequences. Jackie Chan is best suited for the role of the master,calm composed and humorous, chan has convincingly portrayed the master.
        The villain, i.e the bully opponent as well has some really ruthless fights and kung fu sequences.Also new, is the way China is picturized. training sequences at the great wall, the forbidden city, shaolin temples, the streets, etc.
        All in all, its an awesome movie and certainly worth a watch. There's a cool rap by Jaden along with Justin biber, the young smith has some cool dance moves as well and is certainly someone to watch out for in the coming years.
       Go watch it for yourself!

Myopic Wanderers

        Its that beautiful time of the year again. The heavens are pouring, the fact that light travels faster than sound validated again and again with every lightening, offering bright glimpses in the dark, as the electricity boards issue black outs without having to give any explanations.

        Rains have never failed to amuse me, the dusky evenings, the bright mornings, the pleasant gusts of wind, the lighting of the candles as the outdoors rumble, the sweet aroma of nilgiris, my stinking pet stray dogs, the pleasant excess of greens meeting the eye in every direction, the mucky shoes, the abusing pedestrians as every car flies by mercilessly, the shutters down on every shop, the choked drains, chirping birds perched on branches, the raging dark clouds, getting drenched till the crotch (yes, that's when you can claim to be completely drenched), the reappearance of leakages and water seepage in walls.
Monsoons indeed sustain life, physiologically, emotionally and philosophically.

         Within hours of the rains, we'll find the house outdoors, the lamp posts, the playing fields all shrouded by swarms of winged ants fluttering ceaselessly for hours, and then in the mornings leave traces of wings and ant corpses with no signs of live ants to be found anywhere. These ants leave me baffled. They metamorphose, swarm, go distant places, a few lucky ones mate, and then? the males die and the mated females disperse to attempt establishing a new colony.
       
         Drawing analogies in a more homely species we find striking similarities. There is so much a man could do on the look out for 'action' sights. For one, as the parents put it a kid does sprout wings. He is then blinded, and ceaseless in his efforts(for procreation alone). On finding a mate, he mates and then looks for another, and then yet another. The 'nuptial flight' ends only with the demise of capabilities, but the will -survives.

         The garden of life sustains itself with the race of men. It blossoms as men gawk at bosoms and chase curves. The race of men is relentless and selfless. Never bothering about subsidiaries, they are blinded by the motive of survival of the species. Its no wonder that the myopic wanderers that we are, have our pursuits in life focused at just one point of climax-coitus.

          Its only for the greater good, that every dick has a head of its own!

Rise!

I see the great, the prodigious, the true
Reach the heights and towers
And wonder how they scorch the skies,
Blow against the breeze, with supernatural powers.

I see their flight towards might,
Would I reach their heights?
They left their mark and ignited the spark,
That transformed to an eternal pyre.

They did great deeds
To change the face of these worn fields,
They bloomed the blossoms, nurtured the flowers,
Eradicated unwanted weeds.

The flowers have wilt, the fields have rot,
But their fruits taste sweet to me.
The seeds are mine I can’t be mime,
As the clouds and I conspire.

I have the power to generate a shower,
It lies deep within me,
I need to rise to nature’s advice, and sow my seeds,
For its now or never.

I offer my toil,
Flourish the soil,
To reap the unknown bliss,
That the spring upon me shall confer.

I do my best and leave the rest,
Upon thy heavenly power,
For if I rest and hope the best,
It’s my foolish desire.

I know not what the spring beholds for me,
I know not what thou plan for me.
Its bright now, I have to sow,
And offer the droplets upon my brow,
To fly the skies and rise the heights,
What noble men have risen for me!

-Gantavya Sharma

I Wish I Were A Child Forever

I Wish I Were A Child Forever...

A flash of memories in my eyes unfold,

The merry laugh, that gleeful dance,

Those sparkling warm eyes, my heart beholds.

Little days of play, were pure pleasure.

Simple, sweet and honest;

Those childhood times are the ones I treasure.

As the days swept by, the times changed,

Little moments of celebration;

Once everyday, became planned and arranged.

The choice of friends, the questions I asked,

Once fuelled by the heart;

 today weighed by thoughts, hidden and masked.

I remember not last when I liked myself;

I remember not last when I wished nothing to change;

No desire to win, Not running a race;

No expectations, No demons to face.

I wish those days were mine forever,

I wish I never found myself;

If identities found meant hearts lost;

I wish I were a child forever.

I wish I were a child forever.