The Story teller

She tells stories like they're a trick of her tongue.
She captures hearts with her voice,
And souls in between her words.
She gathers them all, like stars in a galaxy
and every story adds a spark in her eyes
That she carries on to the curious hearts she encounters.
There's something in the way she speaks
that moves you, that reaches deep within you.
There's something in the stories she tells
Of love and life and joy and sorrow.
There's something about the way her eyes speak,
They tell more stories in a minute than she could in a lifetime,
And yet they all flock to hear her,
to travel, motionless!

The  story teller, learns as she goes
and she teaches what she knows.
She hides behind a million lives, of lessons and loss,
Of pain, grief, and mistakes that cost.
Shes hiding her story for she cannot tell,
Just how broken she is under that hard shell.
And how about that dam spell?!?
To empathize and sympathize no matter what
to know before the end of the plot!
For often she listens with an understanding heart
To the stories that brought two together or tore them apart.
To stories of adventure and mistakes and redemption
To stories of victory, shame and often repression.
And she carries these around with her wherever she goes
This story teller, the keeper of tales, the one who just knows.

She's part of these stories now as she takes them on,
She's one among the characters, one among them all.
She insists we all are but stories on this earth.
Chapter after chapter, unfolding since birth.
And she too is just a story, one that may be forgotten
along with the stories that never made their way.
I tell you of her , this story teller,
In hope that you will meet her some day.

Stay Awake

Stay awake with me
Stay awake and be with me
Let this be our time to be.
To understand without speaking
To know without telling
To answer without asking
Stay awake with me and let me hold your hand
Stay awake there's so little time we have
Our lives are short and I need you now
Close your eyes but stay awake
Dwell in the darkness
Bask in the silence
The night knows more than we ever shall
Stay awake for me.
Will you?
Stay awake for I love you and I can't without you.

Easy

They don't believe the things she says,
They say it's over done and over heard.
They don't see her path of thought,
They can't fathom her perspective at all.

And she's leaning towards not believing in herself.
She's questioning the principles that brought her here.
For suddenly she feels so lost,
Like the world can be hers, but at what cost?

That her way of life is not understandable,
That's it's so beyond ones grasp
that they give up before trying to see her through.
And she wonders ,really, what wrong has done.
And she wonders, really, what right can she do?

For all her life she's believed in just herself
But all of a sudden she can't find herself anymore.
Lost among what they all want her to be
And found among what she's lost in her life.

She needs a moment to stop and look back.
And account for all her actions.
Give her the time to go back and listen to the words she's spoken.
And what about the hearts she's broken?

And then again, the ones she's mended.
She's thinking about the relationships she's started and even the ones she's ended.

And she's breaking inside to leave something behind ,
She's breaking inside to break herself apart.
Why, she wonders, why can't she be easy?
Easy going, easy to understand, easy to have, easy to hold, easy to unfold...

I'm Losing You

I'm losing you,
I'm losing you to something stupid.
You're going away and I can blame me.
But I don't want to, it doesn't have to be.
You're in my head and you're in my heart,
And I didn't know you right from the start.
But we made our way and we made it through,
I can't bare the thought of losing you.
But I screwed it up, I held too long,
I grew weak and forgot what is strong.
With bare hands I held on too tight,
Comforting not just you but my nameless, unheard of fright.
But in the middle of the night
I got lost.
And so did you but at what cost?
Dawn gave us a new fear,
And what was last year, can never be again.
We can't be now what we were back then.
And I shudder to think that everything, someday, must come to an end.

Pretty little girl

Hey pretty girl, don't you cry.
What can help? Will a lullaby?
But no, they'll laugh at you,
You're too old for it they'll say.
But pretty little girl, I will sing to you,
I will sing you to sleep if you're tired.
I will sing you a lullaby if you care to hear.
And they won't laugh, for they won't know.
They don't need to, they won't have to
You don't have to feel alone.
It's okay to cry, I'll sing you a lullaby.

And I promise you it won't mean your small.
I promise you I will tell no one at all.
But, little girl, it's time to retire, to rest,
To sleep and dream, and I wish you the sweetest of them all.
And I'll make sure no one even tries
To wake you , to hurt you, while you close your eyes.
And I pray that when you wake, you feel better,
And just for you, that the sun shines brighter.
Pretty little girl, there won't always be a lullaby.
But if a nightmare wakes you, know that I'll always be there I'll always be nigh.

I know your fight

I don't like the way they speak of you.
I don't like the things they say.
They're trying to tell me otherwise
When I can already see the light of day.
They say I don't know you long enough,
They say I'm blinded by your good side.
They speak of another 'you' when they speak of you.
But I'm not willing to believe it's true.
They don't know you like I do!
I'm sure of it from my heart
I know no one keep you in parts.

And every time they speak of you in a manner ill,
My blood races and words grow still.
What do they need to know, why do they need to at all?
I grow wild when they bring your name to fall.
I know your light, I know your fight
I see your struggle day in and out.
Little girl, how I wish they didn't doubt
That your heart is pure and your intentions are kind.
And your heart longs for peace of mind.

Because the fight to survive is already a task.
We all have our flaws and our face masks.
There can be no perfection in one just like there can be no best.
So also, little girl there is no call to be perfect, let them speak, He wil take care of the rest.

Let me mourn

Let me mourn the loss of a life
Let me mourn the death of a friend
Let me mourn the fragility of living.
Give me time, spare me
Exclude me from the festivities
Ignore my silence
Let me be quiet, please
Do not speak, do not comment
Do not tell me what you think
Let me, for once, deal with this emptiness
Let me do nothing, let me be idle for once
Allow me the time to weep
Don't wish me a good sleep.
It's my time to mourn, its my time to repent
And my time to lament.
Forgive me for this withdrawal
Understand my need for it though.
This loss of life is not just of a friend
It's of a bundle of dream, ambitions, aspirations and so much more.

Possessed

You're hiding somewhere
In the cold recesses of my being
And you don't come out when the sun is shining.
No.
You wait until the sun has set and the dust has settled,
You wait until its quiet and serene,
You long for when I'm all alone and with nothing to keep me busy.
For that is when you can come out from the shadows and have all of me.
That is when you can get into my head and take up all the space you want.
No one will dare enter then.
That is when you begin to actually show me your face.
You're cowardly, swollen eyes of love and hate all at once,
And you kiss me like you never have before,
And it's wild and so full of lust and love
Dear. sweet. love.
And you hold me from the inside like a warm rush on a cold night.
You make love to me when the moon shines bright.
You caress me like I'm a part of your body all together
But really it's you in me, and I'm out of control.
But that's all I have of you, just the night.
And trust me, I hate you every morning when the sun comes back out.
Because you can't just come and go when you feel like it.
You can't be so selfish as to love me only in the shadows.

Coward of the day,
Night crawler, lover of my soul,
Be not so cruel as to leave me
uncovered for the morning's cold.

Never again

She's moved on, shes not going back ever again,
at least not with you.
She thought about it one too many times,
she thought she needed you.
She spent too long thinking she couldn't do without you.

But never again is she walking that path.

For now she knows you were never worth it.

Now she sees further than you ever could,

Now she's knows better than you,

Now she feels so much better than you.

You ran away like a coward and made her feel like the reason.

Oh but she has finally realized, it was all you!

You were scared, scared of your own future

That it chased you away from her.

You didn't care that she was welcoming you into hers.

You didn't think for once what she could have been to you.

Not once did you consider the joys she could have brought to you.

How afraid we're you? Did she scare you away? 

Or did you do it yourself?
Did you feel unworthy?

If such is true then good riddance!

For she deserves better than a coward.

She deserves better than a boy.

Grow up, your woman has left you behind. 

Together with Nature

Together, we can do so much, together we can be so much, together we are so much

This thought is something that constantly inspires me to get off my phone and get out of my house. It takes me away from my desktop and takes me to some place where I can be more than a couch potato, do more than type and speak more than through a microphone. If only we all considered ‘being together’ to be more than just on a Whatsapp or a Facebook group.

But why? Why should I, or you for that matter, leave all our gadgets behind and take a walk or go meet some friends or have a cup of coffee in a new restaurant instead of carrying it with you in a cardboard cup? Why should you sit down and talk when you can walk and talk? Why should you turn your music off and listen to people or your environment?

Because you’re missing out on the greater things in life. We’ve all grown so fond of the idea of ‘quick and easy’ that we have forgotten slow and calm or beauty and appreciation or acknowledgement. We have forgotten about sunrises and sunsets, walks in parks, swing sets and beaches. One may argue that it’s difficult to slow down when the rest of the world moves at lightning speed, and how can you make time for leisure when work and responsibilities are in the way. Yet, these are the same people who spend a huge amount of their spare time on social networks and aimless internet browsing.

It is really sad that as time passes people have forgotten the need for togetherness. We tend to take so much joy from being able to connect with each other remotely through our smart phones and latest gadgets that we have become so oblivious to the actual joys of meeting in person or sharing a cup of coffee together.

There is joy in catching up with old friends; there is joy in watching Mother Nature take its course. Trust me, you deserve some time out, no one will die if you take 15 minutes off to go watch the sun set over the horizon. It will be the best 15 minutes you’ve had in a long time.

I’ve listed a couple of things you could try out to experience the joy of togetherness or simply the joy of nature:
1. Go out for dinner with your friends or family and make a deal. All phones down, the 1st person to pick theirs up pays the bill.  (Take just one picture before or after the meal if it worries you so much)
2. Make time for a short walk every evening in your compound, ask a neighbour or a friend to accompany you even if it it just for 30 minutes.
3. Go to a café and sit in for your coffee/meal.  Stop using cardboard cups so often, sit down, and enjoy the coffee, the ambience and a good book if you can make the time. Cardboard cups have contributed to our fast lifestyles.
4. Call up some old friends and decide to meet at some common place. Just spend the evening together. No need to go to any fancy places, no need to do anything together, just meet up and hang out A movie at a group member’s place doesn’t hurt either or a board game, ludo, snakes and ladders, monopoly, twister, go crazy, go old school . (This one is my personal favourite)

Check out: http://www.kissanpur.com/
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Emotions v/s Emoticons

Very few will actually 'C' the difference!

On September 19th 2015, the emoticon ':-)' turned 33 years old along with its mates ':-(' and ';-)'.  The emoticons have come along way from their original composition of simple punctuation marks to today's one click emojis.
Lets have a look at how the emoticons have made their way into our lives and also how they have substituted a major aspect of conversations: emotions.

On the 19th of September, 1982, Scott E Fahlman, a research professor at the Language Technologies Institute and Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon,composed the smiley for the first time on an online science bulletin board stating that it were to be used to imply that the sentence was a joke or to be taken lightly. He also introduced the sad face smiley.

According to Fahlman, the problem was that if someone made a sarcastic remark, a few readers would fail to get the joke, and each of them would post a lengthy diatribe in response. That would stir up more people with more responses, and soon the original thread of the discussion was buried.  In at least one case, a humorous remark was interpreted by someone as a serious safety warning.

And this problem has been around ever since conversations have gone online and probably even since written letters.


But emoticons have managed to add emotion to words where they weren't sufficient enough.

All said and done, rather all punctuated and smiled at, there is great irony in the use of the emoticon. Today people have substituted words completely with the rise of emoticons. We frame conversations sometimes with only symbols and emojis and often are understood by our peers with such ease. We can combine two or more emojis to say a sentence that otherwise cost us 5-6 words. Emojis have taken us by the hand and given us more to say with less effort.





How has this helped us though? What impact has the emoticon or the recent emojis left on the people of today. One cannot deny the fact that it has harmed communication to a certain extent. Try having a conversation with a friend you chat with on a daily basis but this time using only word
s and not emoticons and you will definitely be asked if you're alright today. Your friend will probably not be able to comprehend your emotion while saying what you said or the style in which you said it or what you meant when you said it.

This is because emoticons today have taken the place of intonation, stress, punctuation, pauses, reactions, and all the other devices that usually added flavor to the written language. The emoticons have help you express more than words can say and probably taught you to say without words.

This has its pros and cons. We can be misunderstood so often just because every persons understanding of every emoji is different. Our use of emojis in different circumstances are different. I don't even have to get started on how every emoticon could translate differently across cultures around the world.

Let us not forget to mention that the recent upgrade in emojis offer the same face in different skin colours. What do you have to say about that?

In conclusion, the emoticon may have contributed in a huge way to speedy conversations and given us expression where there was no other way to express, but lets not forget the beauty of words and the importance of them spelled correctly and completely. Emojis may speak louder than words but emojis can't say exactly what you feel the way words can.

Days of Courage

Our days of courage come by now and again.
They are the days we feel like the universe is on our side,
It's when nothing can come in the way and nothing can stop us.
Our days of courage show us what we don't generally see;
What we can do, what we can be.
They build us up from our otherwise dull days.

Our days of courage make us say the things we always wanted to.
They give us words when there otherwise existed none.
They cause us to repair broken bridges, tie up loose knots.
Our days of courage allow us to admit our love.
They give us strength to speak up and to feel bigger than we usually do.
They help us undo mistakes and sometimes redo them.

But our days of courage are our best ever
Because they bring us to our weakest and make us our strongest.
They tear us to pieces and then fix us up again.
Our days of courage find us our missing pieces and make us whole again.
Our days of courage rid us of our insecurities and bring back our dreams.

My days of courage are rare, for a frightened heart has much to conquer.
But when they come, they come like thieves in the night.
Causing me cold toes and a moment of shivers.
Until I make that brave move that changes everything.

Everything that once was, suddenly can never be

Because these courageous days break and make me.

My Parish, My Family

My friends and I spent the last three weeks working on a documentary for a competition by the Diocese Youth Center of Mumbai.

The theme of the competition is 'My Parish, My Family'. We had to portray the various cells and associations that are part of our church and how they function as a family in this documentary.

We learnt a lot while making this video, not only in movie making but also about our church and the parishioners who strive to build a community that constantly cares for one another.

Following is the video we shot, edited and are currently publicizing.
Do spare a moment to watch and don't forget to share it if you like it!

It's brighter outside

You've reached that point
Where wanting has ceased
Where needing is irrelevant
And where having is out of the question.
When you've tried and tried
To no luck at all.
When you've tried and failed and tried again
And yet you have nothing but a break and fall.

You lose all hope, you lack any motivation
Suddenly, nothing is important and everything is just a phase.
Nothing is worth the time and nothing is worth the energy.
And in these moments of utter uselessness, 

That's when you wonder what really went wrong.
How did this happen? Where have you gone?
What happened to your drive, your passion?
Where has all that charisma gone?

Have you been reduced to your own idea of helplessness?
Have you made a universe for yourself of self pity and apology.
Don't you wonder what a waste it is to go on this way?
There are two paths from here and I hope you choose life.

There's a silver lining behind the dark clouds, there's sunshine after the rain.

There's water beyond the desert and home's waiting for you after the long road.

There's relief after the pain, there's stillness after the storm.

There's life beyond yourself, it's brighter outside, get out, move on.

Monotony

There's something about monotony.

About the way we get used to something,
The way we condition ourselves to respond,
The way we schedule our lives,
There's something also about monotony that puts us off.
We all want to break it,
We want to defy it, we want to deny it,
We want to find something, maybe someone,
To disconnect us from this treacherous way of life.

You walked into my life and monotony walked out.
Everyday was a new one.
Every hour, every word, every action surprised me.
You surprised me. I surprised myself.
You got me to throw caution to the wind,
You made every moment new,
You drew me into the unknown and drew me to learn,
You got me to dance to music I've never heard before,
You got me threading on lands I've never known of before.
You threw me off a cliff and didn't tell me of how long I would fall.
And I fell faster, faster, deeper...
Only in love.

And then you left, to break the monotony of me.
And I was taken back, back to my monotonous black hole.
And now I'm falling deeper again, this time out of love...
Slowly, deeper, till no love can be felt at all.

Come back, let me love again,
Come, be my monotony.

Journey into the dark

We can travel to the ends of the earth
We can take pictures
Of the sky, the plains, the meadows,
The monuments, the mountains and the mills.
We can eat and drink the finest of them all
We walk and walk and walk till we drop,
Or we can fly a million and one miles.

But you and I can't take these steps
If we first don't scale each others lives.
Take a walk inside my heart and sit with me and look up at the stars.
Dive into my dark soul and let's light a sky lantern together.
Let me run like the blood in your veins and lets me move within your being.
Allow me to kiss your monumental heart and watch over it with awe and respect.
Let me worship the God in you, let me worship the good in you.
There's a journey we both must take together, before we touch the ends of the earth.
You in me and me in you, we have oceans to conquer and emotions to test.
You and I have places to go,
yet in stillness we must rest.
There's a life yet to come when we will travel from shore to shore.
But now, until we get onto our sailing boat,
Let me reach into you more and more.

Mr. Memory

You're a memory now,
A good one and a bad one.
Mr. memory, you should leave and go away,
Even though I make you feel like you should stay.
You know I'd be better off without you but you still hang around.
Mr. Memory, why haven't you left this town?
Don't you know better than to haunt?
Don't you have better things to do than taunt?
Mr. Memory, I'm no longer asking you,
You must go and let me be!
You're taking away my presence of mind,
You're taking me back into the past.
My present is at stake here, don't you see?
Only cause you just don't want to leave me!
Memory dear, memory, my love,
Some people go and we miss them much,
You however are lingering too long.
And it's growing impossible for me to remain strong
With or without you, I'm not gonna change.
For once, Mr. Memory, once you're gone,
I'll be lonelier and you may think it strange,
But I'll be humming a tune of a lyric-less song
I need you to go though,
I know I'll be losing a part of me,
But it's vital, its the only way,
It's the only way my past will set me free.

Meet me in the future

I want to meet you someday,
Long after we last met.
I want to see you after ages
And I want to hear the stories you have to tell.
I want to walk with you and talk with you
And tell you how I've been.
I want to know you like I didn't before,
I want to breathe you and take you in.
I want to know the places you seen
And the people you met on the way.
I want to know of the burdens you carried
Or the obstacles you faced every day.
But all this, I want to know of you,
Only after ten years or maybe nine.
For now I don't want to see you,
I don't want our paths to intertwine.
For at this moment we aren't meant to be,
But years from now, maybe you and I could be.
And it may be too late, you will have already moved on.
But I'm okay with that, if that's what's meant to be.
But if and when we meet again,
I hope we can sit and laugh
And think about the good times we've shared.
For 10 years down the line, if I do feel for you in anyway.
It will be cause you never left me nine or ten years ago on that dreadful day.
And I won't say it, I won't admit it at all.
I'm too proud to willingly take the fall.
But promise me that when we meet,
If sparks fly like they did back then,
Baby, if you still have room for me
Don't leave me ever again.

There's poetry in you

There's poetry in you
But it's like you can't read.
There's magic in your words,
But it's like you don't believe.
You're a piece of art, a work of a master.
You're a rare one, the hope after a disaster.
There's music in the way you dance,
You're a blend of war and peace at first glance.
You're the cold night and the warm day,
You're the showers that come after a warm May.
But more than anything you're so oblivious.
You don't see it, you don't care for the obvious.
There's grace in your being, there are stars in your eyes.
The moon is jealous, it's like you came to me from the skies.
Sweetheart, must you be so mesmerizing!
You're more pleasing than the sun setting or rising.
You're the sound of the waves, the lash of the tide,
You're the shelter to the homeless, to the little ones, a hide.
But darling, if only you knew,
There truly is poetry in you.

Lay it down

Lay yourself down, O tired soul
Lay yourself down to breathe
Take it in, take a deep breath
Close your eyes, this is what you need.
Lay your worries down and be light
Let your tension be drained
Let the ground work its magic
Just you close your eyes
And it will leave you, all that's tragic.
Tired soul, let it go,
Let it reach deeper beneath you,
Let it leave you for good
Brave heart, leave it be,
It will move on to where it should.
Breathe in and breath out
And let the darkness pass
Lay down but let your spirit rise
And darling, for a moment have a look at you.
You're feeble, growing weak,
You have tired yourself to the bone.
You deserve more life, more energy, more love
And you must assure yourself, these you will own.
Let not the lack of love suck the life out of you,
Let not evil minds tear your skin,
Beware of those who try to break you,
They're the ones who tie you from within.
Little girl, get up, fill yourself with hope
Your rest here is over now, there's so much you must do
So drain the lethargy and refill the adrenaline
There's lots of life ahead
Little girl, wake up, your day is waiting for you,
It's time to get out of bed.