Pens and Pages

Everyone must have a different Utopia. And if I had a place in mine, it would be all filled with food and books and food and books, an occasionally a movie or two. When I was in my final year of Engineering in Guwahati, I “nurtured” the habit of going out to eat every day and for a movie, every alternate week. When I landed on Mumbai, to my utter delight I found that only a kilometer away stood the building of my dreams – the Movie Hall. No wonder, Saturday and Sunday evenings were spent watching the latest show in the Movie Complex. Eventually, some of my friends and I decided to go for a movie on every Friday evening, after office hours. Bookmyshow came into picture and hours were spent deciding on the perfect time to leave office and on reaching the place before the trailers are shown. As we realized we are spending a lot of money on our movie-affair we relied on discounts and coupons – early bird discounts at the hall and Rs. 50-100 off on CupoNation . Now that ten mo...

Initial release: November 4, 2014 (London) Director: Christopher Nolan Screenplay: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan Cast :  Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Michael Caine,  Jessica Chastain,  Wes Bentley, etc. My Ratings :   4.7/5    5/5 They make movies so larger than life, and then they throw us back into reality, leaving us wondering about it all that happened in just a span of a little less than three wee hours. Watching Interstellar was more than just fun - it was thought-provoking, and for an emotional fool like me, it was emotions-provoking too. A story well-thought-of, a movie well-made. The 169 minutes I spent watching it made me awe at the immensity of everything. There are times when I think that the human race just screwed it all up by inventing money and making us all so materialistic about trying to achieve something great in this illusion called life. But there are times like t...

They say that if you take care of the present the future will fall in place. I doubt it. Almost two months ago I was all at sea on what to do to make my future better than my present. "Priorities" was the word and I had a handful, all at the same level. I took some time and prioritized them into various levels, my first priority being "today". A week later, I was happier than never before - fewer worries, fewer goals, all focused. Two months have elapsed and now I feel I am just stuck with today. I don't know what's in store for me in the future (Well, nobody does). But even my today is slipping out of my hands. I'm losing my grip. I am losing control so I am letting it go. But sometimes, I repeat, sometimes life's not so much of a fairy tale when you let go of things. May be you need to let go of only the wrong things and stick to the right things and hold them till your hands bleed. My hands aren't bleeding. I let go a...

In a lazy afternoon, my friend and blogger, Rafaa Dalvi called me up to ask if I'd like to go to attend an event the next week. I was too sleepy to be excited about it. I said no. He, then, explained that the event was not a regular one but an exclusive meet with author of Chanakya's Chant, Ashwin Sanghi. A year back, I had participated in a story-writing contest and Ashwin Sanghi was the judge. My story bagged a position in the list of top 25. The memory of the book, Kaleidoscope, where my story was published, was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the name, Ashwin Sanghi. I changed my lazy mind and said, "yes, I'd love to attend the event."  The next ten minutes was spent telling all my colleagues that I'm going to meet Ashwin Sanghi at Vivanta by Taj, Cuffe Parade. Proper Invitation (including mails and phone-calls) by the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest Team followed. The feedback on their way of inviting - great...

It's middle of October, 10:00am and I am most certainly not doing what I thought I'd be doing at this time of the year, a year back. But when does life ever go as planned? Surprises and shocks are what makes life more and more unpredictable. For me, my surprise of the day is this post by a blogger from Indiana, Martina McGowan - http://martinamcgowan.com/2014/09/strategies-for-reclaiming-your-self/ She, someone who doesn't know me, spent time to create a picture for my quote. Life can't be better than this, can it? I have seen people copying and pasting others' quotes without giving them proper credits. I have seen people using my quotes as their Facebook cover photos and removing my name from the quote so that other people think it is their own creation. And in a world of liars, here's Martina who, without even knowing about me, decided to give me proper credits. May the world have more such souls. :-) Here's the picture she created -

I saw the shackles That made you bleed. I wiped your tears; I, too, wept. I saw the shackles That bound you so; I saw them cut into your flesh. I didn't see- They were, but, me. My tears and my hopes, Expectations and more so. When I did remove My blindfold, I set you free, I let you go.

Dreary and Tired, Eyes of the night. Words too worn out To yell, to fight. Drained out of The hope for tomorrow, They look at each other, At each other's sorrow. Eyes too used to cry; They are shut now. A dark sky, Another starless night, 3:00 am And the tale called life. - Sanhita Baruah