What is beauty to you?

Few days ago, A strange incident took place. It might not look strange to you. But I had issues dealing with it. 

I was standing with an aunt in the neighbourhood garden, among lush greens, and vast varieties of tress and plants. Lot of insects, and little creatures were seen from time to time. A not-so-attractive lizard appeared, and aunt immediately shouted,"this is an ugly lizard, it must be venomous". I did not react. But the incident kept striking me again and again. It has reasons.

Number one reason being, she connected ugliness with venom? Lets be clear here, not every creature is pretty and good-looking. Does that mean, that they are poisonous, or harmful. There are many good-looking creatures, who are of no worth to the society. I don't understand. Does our brains accept only white beautiful people? Did that aunt expect lizard to be snazzy and glamorous? Lizard is ugly, therefore it contains venom. Weird? And what about us, human beings, who are not pretty? Are we venomous too? 

Think about it. 

World preaches beauty. Television displays all the pretty white faces with the accurate shapes and sizes. The world is not so perfect that is shown on our television sets, only if we understand this. We have imperfections. And we should be proud of it. Where will the fun factor be, and self improvement part be, if we all were born perfect. Why aren't imperfect faces ever applauded? 

Blackness has always been associated with evil, venom, and everyone wants the fair skinned companion. Isn't that strange? Yes, it is. Can't people with black skin be good companions? All of us have been created by god. We have distinguished features. Different color, different sizes? What is the problem then? Don't we have the right to be treated equally? Why is black considered to be evil? And why are ugly people considered to be savages? Each of the creature- human being or an animal, has the right to live,till his death sets him apart. Who are these pretty people, who can deny them a worthy life? 

Beauty is transient. It will go away, with time. Then? Are we living in a world, where only pretty faces are capable of making good friends? 

Do you all need pretty- faced people to get clicked with, to call them "friends", and to display it on face book and other social networking sites?  I've heard from somewhere that in colleges, they prefer to give away admissions to the beautiful people without looking into their calibres, who are least deserving? Ugly faces are not taken by good families for marriage prospects? Are those families really "good families" who mercilessly rejects the not-so-good looking faces to enter in their bloodlines, however ugly their boy might be. Does these kind of faces not make good couples? I can put down so many more examples here, where beautiful people can go on, and not-so-beautiful can't.

P.S.- I understand, aunt talked about lizard being ugly and venomous. But the concepts of beauty are deeply rooted in the our society that discriminates everyone on something or the other. They don't even spare lizards. How does it matter to her? 

My message to the people who were ever demeaned because of their beauty (esp for girls) :

Don't ever think you are not beautiful. You are. However, dishevelled state you are in. You always look beautiful.

You are capable of achieving everything in the world, that you dream for yourself.

Never let anyone put you down. Build your self confidence brick by brick each day. 

And never forget, Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. 

And dear beauty appreciators, if you are so keen to applaud physical beauty, and your eyes cant stand imperfections, look around and praise the beauty of nature. The purest form of beauty. There's is nothing so perfect and beautiful like nature. 

Life= monotony, and hope.

It was an evening, lazy and monotonous,

Among the green bushy patches,

I strolled in my steady pace,

I watched the dogs lazing,

and the cows that were mooing constantly. 

Trees were still,

Not a leaf moved an inch.

It seemed that trees were taking a nap, 

I couldn't feel the wind,

Nothing was unusual.

Babies in their respective prams, 

and their maids dutifully carried them,

Some seemed careful about the baby,

but the rest, just got an excuse to chit-chat and relax.

It was mundane.

Sky was clear blue. 

Despite of blue being my fav color,

Nothing seemed exciting about it.

Sun was setting,

While girls were walking back to their home.

Some lovers strolled on the path,

and some hid among bushes,

Some who were newly coupled, walked hand-in-hand,

Rest-fought, abused and talked of break-up.

One could understand.

It was obvious.

Frogs jumped on the path,

and lizards swirled on the trunk of the tree,

chameleons changed their color from blue to green,

And squirrels, ran without any reason.

It was life.

And I just strolled for a while,

and returned back home,

It happens to me everyday,

And this is life.

There's a meaning in mundaneness,

You just have to find it.

Irreparable time.

Time flies. 

It does. But when in pain, Time doesn't seem to fly. Why is it when, we are happy and spend the good time, we don't realize the amount of time spent. But when we are suffering or in some deep shit, we see our watch after every minute.

My college is getting over- hopefully, if I pass. Of course, I spent the awesome time there. I know, time can never come back.  But, when I look back into the time, I realize- I've changed tremendously, and So does my thinking line. 

There are numerous people I held responsible for making me whatever I am. Yes, I have realized- I am something. Most importantly. College days have empowered me, encouraged me and changed me. I shall never forget the days I spent in that vicinity. The college became special, because of the friends and teachers who taught me. It wouldn't be same, if anyone of these would be missing. I won't name here. But people who read this, are of course the major part of my college days. I've learnt a great deal from all of them.

Sometimes, I wonder- Where I would be without college,when it gets over. No answer echoes back to me. I don't know. I might do good in life, or it can be other way also. Undecided of the admissions, *vexed* It is a strange feeling. Exams are just around the corner. And I should have been studying big time, day and night. But I am pouring out my heart here. 

I am not ready to believe I have grown up. Like what?  I was a kid, a child yesterday. And not a child anymore. This is a scary feeling. When I was young, I was so excited to go to college. And now when its getting over, I am scared of the life ahead. I know, my life has just begun, as every grey-haired person tells me. But, Life so far, has showed me the differences between good and bad. and Also, taught me that- life's not gonna be easy. 

I am excited to know, what's going to happen. What am I going to become. Whether I be able to achieve what I desire and aim to be.

Its just a feeling, and a bad time I am going through. Time is not flying, because things are good. 

I think, now its the time to take a deep breath. And introspect more.  

P.s.- I couldn't say anything on my farewell day, but I wanted to say. Thanks all of you for being there for me. You shall be missed. And those days, might be experienced once again, if we are together. 

Can we really change the world?

I have entered in my 20's, and am gradually realizing how imperfect the world is. And, we all try to change the things around us constantly, one after the other. We nag, we crib and we dislike the surroundings. Its natural. We all have faced this. We don't like the injustice happening to the just people. We don't like the way court delays the justice. We crib about the way government rules. We nag about the people in authority. We display antipathy towards our neighbors of some stupid reason of the music being played loudly, We mock at the local police. We disapprove of the way traffic rules being broken. We detest ourselves from the people we find are mean and selfish or egoistic. What are we doing exactly? And why are we enraged to see the wrongs happening around us. Okay, I understand we are the youth of the country ,and our blood boils at 100 degrees Celsius at the sight of unjustness around us. But, Could we actually change anything? 

More than six decades have passed since the time our country got its freedom from the invaders. Why does the corruption still exist? Why are the cricket matches fixed? Why do women still abhor to walk on the streets late night? Why are the murders, rapes, robberies taking place everywhere?

From your busy lives, take a moment and give a thought, Are we really free? And where are we heading towards? Can't we do anything to change this? Yes, we can protest, we can shout, we can write, We can also cry, or we can sit idle and chit-chat about it during our coffee-breaks. But, the million dollar question is- Can we really change something? 

We blame our Prime- minister, home-minister, finance minister, railway minister, chief- minister and all the various people up ruling our country and keep cursing them day and night. We curse everyone, we curse our society for the orthodox rules they follow. We blame our friends for egotism. We blame media. We blame our teachers for not completing our syllabi on time. We blame our parents to not give us that expensive cell-phone our friend has. And we are so scared to take the blames over ourselves.Yes, its true, We never take the blames on ourselves. I read a nice quotation saying - "shift the blames to someone else, and move on".  Ha, How true. But do we really move on?

Jessica Lall, Aarushi Talwar, Radhika Tanwar, and many more lives have been sacrificed without any reason, Right from deaths out of terrorists attacks to the natural calamities, We haven't been able to prevent anything. We can be vigilant, and we can pray to our respective gods. What else can we do? Of course, each of us will die someday. But who has given the rights to these devilish people, who think they can kill the innocents and get away like that. 

My point is- Somewhere, we all are responsible, as the citizens of this country. For once, held yourself responsible in the wrongs around you, Take the blame over yourself, and try to change 'you'. We all know, we can't really change anything on a big scale, But we try. This caption over "Leaders For Tomorrow"( A major youth NGO) tee says-" Lets change the world". I would love to see it as, "Lets change ourselves, world will take its care itself." Therefore, If we change ourselves, and keep changing ourselves according to the situations constantly, world for us would/can be a better place to live in, Because, It is in our own hands to change ourselves!

Stay responsible, everything will fall in place.

An ode to my college

I knew, I was late,

I rushed in through the gate,

The watchman passed a grin,

asked for my identity to let me in.

My half preoccupied in the contemplation of an excuse,

and the other, in praying my own personal muse.

While I plaited my hair, and creased my shirt,

My eyes fell upon the surrounding free of dirt.

It was unusual that I stopped,

To caress the splendid lush greens,

the bright flowers that were cropped,

under the sky calm and clean.

My heart thralled in joy,

to acknowledge the beauty unseen,

There, I sat down on the bench to enjoy,

without realizing the minutes nineteen.

My sight fell upon the bunch of girls,

vociferating a birthday song,

and clicked the smiles and their curls,

forgetting all about the rights and the wrongs.

My throat choked by the tearing pain,

When I realized the time that can never come again,

to leave this place forever,

that I revered with intense fervor.

The boundless support of teachers,

Astounding memories with friends,

Incredible unity among class-fellows,

And the scenic beauty in the vicinity,

is the most unforgettable part

in the course of my three years!

Beauty in darkness...

Under the darkest sky I've ever seen,

with ocean of twinkling stars,

Cool breeze was blowing,

And I felt the wind playing with me,

A mass surrounded by the sparkling water,

and a splendid reflection of leaves in it,

And crystalline dew drops over them,

seems to ornate them as a newly wedded girl.

Some fireflies, I can see

Some lizards, I get scared by the sight of them,

And the shrill sound of those cockroaches,

rested peacefully in the intensive winters.

Standing in solitude,

refection can I see,

in the flickering of infinite candles and lanterns,

And I don't want to move an inch.

How can I forget the docile grass,

which was as soft as silk,

on which I moved; I felt my bare feet wet,

as if grass was still perspiring.

Perhaps,This intrinsic beauty in darkness,

I shall welcome all my life.

 P.S.- I wrote this poem in Alibaug,a suburb of Mumbai on the New Years's eve! I can hardly imagine this kind of beauty in Delhi.