Rode on the road.

I am close to 21 and I quite recently learnt to ride. I missed the fun of riding cycle in my childhood but I did learn it finally with the help of kids in my street who are a decade younger to me. After being a graduate and having nothing to do in your hands, you tend to crave for more learning and that's when you take up the tasks which were ignored earlier among the other things life offered.
Seeing the world as a pedestrian is so much more different from seeing it from a rider's point of view. Initially when I started riding I would behave like a timid Indian pedestrian who is bound to give way to those with the power vested in them by the means of their vehicle. It was difficult for me to hush away the fear in the beginning. Anything done continuously for 21 days becomes a habit, and here it's 21 years that I've been in the habit of walking. However with time I'm growing to become fearless.
Before I learnt to ride, I always blamed the riders/drivers for accidents that occurred. But as I can now see the other side of the story, there's more to the cause of accidents. Preoccupied pedestrians, dreamers, people who are easily distracted by lights, colours, posters, amateur street walkers (remember walking on roads is now a skill which only few posess, rest are just lucky to survive), fighters (I mean those who are on roads after a fight, they come on streets just to vent), people who do multitasking- text and walk, impulsive tourists and crazy artists (includes bloggers too). Yes, these along with the rider's 'killer' intentions could be the possible reasons for accidents to occur.
However, when innocent naive riders like me are handed over the responsibility of lives on the roads, things get interesting you know. Well, everyone has these 'cute guy' incidents and I had one recently. So I was consciously riding, with all my attention on the road, not thinking of anything else but riding. And from the other side of the road a handsome distraction arrives and I could sense I was losing control. Well what can I do, I'm still a learner (in terms of riding I meant). Somehow I balanced my bike to not get embarrassed by falling down or crashing into him. And while I was doing this I realised he was looking at me . As he approached closer I saw him signalling to me. Don't get your hopes high but I like the way you think. He was just asking me to switch off the headlight as it was daytime. Phew.
Adding to the adventure, there have been uncountable times when I felt like I'm going to kill the one in front of me. But fortunately or unfortunately, they have all been lucky. I feel like I have gifted each person a new life. I could have changed both their future as well as mine. Now I can proudly say I'm a social worker. And how you'd ask. I'll say by saving your life.

My advice goes to people on the roads- do not read blogs like these while you are walking or driving or riding; start wearing helmets you walkers, put that head to good use I say; join a crash course where they teach you to walk attentively on roads (I need one before y'all, so let me know if you find one); walk faster, it helps reduce weight (I have scientific backing); save fuel, walk more. But more importantly save lives, walk carefully. 

_ _ _ r_age

Marriage.

The word rhymes with rage,

And so does my emotion towards it.

Where a girl and a boy are cuffed together to bear the punishment for the sins they are going to commit.

Blaring celebrations, coloured sweets, overbearing rituals, the shehnai's shrills,

Suddenly appearing Cousins to unknown guests - all enjoy while the fathers pay the bills.

Marriage is nothing but a license to sex,

And ofcourse not to forget the high society's ways of asking for cheques.

No, it's not dowry, it's the love they shower,

For our dainty little girl who was raised like a flower.

Symbols such as 24,25,26 are not just numbers, they are famously known as 'marry'age,

Movies, fairy tales, or matrimonial mails- all talk about the Prince Charming on a carriage.

Parents, the best advertisers, show off their brand identity, feeling proud about their product,

then carefully judge target audience's every move and conduct.

We all know how Indian weddings are big and fat,

and we also know how anything big and fat can turn real bad.

Marriage is like food where the guy is a starter, while the main course is his family,

which if not relishable cannot be gratifying.

So if you ever feel like suiciding in a way that wouldn't hurt your parents?

Try marrying. Coz It's more than dying, say sacrificing.

P.S.: I might seem too cynical about marriage but I 'hope' my opinions change.

One Moment At A Time

“Trust is like that feeling child has, when you throw him in air and catch again, he enjoys it.” Really? Do you think it is trust? Well, if you are of a logical kind of a person who believes only in facts then try this experiment- Get hold of a child(beg, borrow, DON’T steal), throw him up in the air, and forget to catch him (Note: This experiment is NOT to be tried but just imagined). So suppose a mother/ father hurt their child while playing, the child’s ‘trust’ is broken, and now what? The child won’t ‘trust’ its parents again for having hurt him? Will the child shun its parents forever for breaking its trust? Will the child now develop ‘distrust’ towards them? The bigger question is does child even know what ‘trust’ or ‘distrust’ means? It’s US who are trying to make meaning of everything around us. Children don’t find it necessary to find meaning in what they do. They in every sense ‘follow their hearts’. Filling sand in their pockets, collecting rubbish, throwing things, jumping and clapping randomly, saying things in a language we can never decipher and there are a million other cute things you might have observed. None of these things might make any sense to us, but the kids find their own joy in it which is beyond our understanding. When the kid is thrown in air, he/she is not even thinking of what will happen next. It just enjoys that moment. It does not think of the future or the consequences. Unlike us it’s carefree. I think more than the action it’s the consequences that follow which we fear. But children just live in the moment and thus are fearless. No overthinking. No reflecting. No judging. No assuming. All is about feeling and acting upon those feelings.

 Feelings are to be felt. And thoughts to be thought. But we just do the vice-versa. We feel about our thoughts and think a way too much about our feelings. A child thinks so independently, free from presumptions, assumptions. A child’s thoughts are original, formed by their own experiences rather than books, scholars or teachers. Children are action-oriented, not thought-oriented. They do things for the joy of doing it. Judging and labelling it ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ is the work of the ‘experienced’ adults.

A child is always open to new experiences and that’s where the enthusiasm and the energy come from. Newness is the motivation. Once the experience is old you are no more motivated to go on with it. When we are curious, we learn more. Well, then, one of the ways we can keep ourselves enthusiastic in life is by being curious and open to freshness in life. Don’t think that you can’t be a child again. Every time you do something new, do it without expectations. Do it for the experience. For the joy of ‘being’. And you’ll feel child-like.

Sip your juice drop by drop, don’t gulp it in. Indulge wholly in the action of drinking. Live the moment. Don’t think of anything else but the juice, the fruit which is crushed, the feeling it leaves on your tongue, imagine it travelling through the food pipe and into your stomach. Relish it. And trust me, you’ll cherish it.