The Berlin Rain

Of my first impressions on Berlin... 

   The neon lights shined on
   lighting up the streets of Berlin,
   The cold breeze hit my face, but the raindrops
   felt like gentle pecks on my skin

   Walking on that rusted & wired bridge
   towards the old station to catch a train
   I turned to my friend and spoke to him
   of my thoughts on the Berlin rain

   Oh Berlin rain!

   Why did you feel like my own
   and yet were not mine,
   Why did you drench me and run away
   only so I'd find solace in a bottle of wine?

   So I did drink with gusto that night
   laughing and losing behind your pain
   Yet you trickled down through my hair
   reminding me of your whispers again

   I stood by the window, still with my glass
   Dim outide, your droplets were on the sill;
   I had taken shelter at last, but I missed you
   and I wished for another heart for you to fill.

That One Thing

Julie Powell in her famous blog "The Julie/Julia Project" (which was later made into a movie by the name Julie & Julia) quotes, "If a large meteor was heading towards earth and I had 30 days to live, I'd spend it eating butter!".

There is something about butter which makes it so irresistible. If you think carefully, every delicious and extra-yumm dish doled out of any kitchen must have a lot of butter in it (as Julie puts it!). I love butter; to be honest I come from a family of butter-lovers. My grandpa used to have clotted cream (malai in Hindi) with sugar like a snack almost everyday, and my mum is often found eyeing the tiniest iota of cream left on the sides of a milk bowl even now! To top it all, I think the fun in eating cream is a million times more when no one's watching you eat or lick it. Reminds me of Lord Krishna as I write this, and perhaps His stories are not all a figment of our imagination! 

But I digress. 

For this post, I thought I'd pick that one ingredient/object which helps add an extra zing to any chosen aspect of my life. Like butter for food. Chocolates for my mood. An orange chinos for my wardrobe. Claire's Daisy clips for my accessories. And in general, laughter of my loved ones on any given day!

What is that one thing that adds a zing to your daily routine, in any aspect of your life? Do share, I'd love to know!

Love Lost

she ran her fingers through

the shimmering water

breaking the lake into

ripples, as if laughter;

she caught a glimpse of

the reflections flashed

making her long to say 

what's in her heart, unabashed;

she stood alone, waiting

by the tiny brook

to capture him in 

what could be a last look;

she walked over to

the bench by the side

and calmly held her face

in her hands and she cried.

No Misses, Only Hits

Huffing and puffing, I reached the cinema. Just in time for the movie. The plan was to watch Vicky Donor at 8.30pm at Ilford (with my gang from 144 Ilford) and I started at 8.08pm from home after dropping the plan twice in my mind. I was acting lazy after the evening coffee and slowly getting inclined towards dropping out. And suddenly, after checking the reviews online and chatting with an old friend, I lunged out of the room, left aside the half cut potatoes (for my dinner), quickly changed into my jeans, pulled the coat out, put the scarf on and ran outside. The few steps of my so-called journey to the cinema included a bus ride, a sprint through the Stratford Centre, racing up the steps of Stratford Station platform no. 8 for an 8-minute train ride to Ilford, post which another sprint through the high street towards Cineworld. 

Like I said, huffing and puffing I reached the cinema and bought myself a ticket. I also bought myself a small coke and waited for the 144 gang to arrive. A few had arrived I later realized and were holding onto some extra seats for us, a few more were on their way. The movie was to begin in another couple of minutes! 

As I settled into my seat, I was overjoyed - know why? So far, I have never ever missed the beginning of any movie in my life that I have gone to the cinemas to watch! Never. Never ever. Somehow, it has been a record sort of and I must admit I felt quite pleased with myself. I still am!

Do you remember the scene from Jab We Met that introduces Kareena Kapoor (character Geet) for the first time, while she tries to catch the running train? She gets all her luggage in first, a fellow-passenger and the coolie try hard to help her! She finally gets in and says, in typical Punjabi-Hindi, "pata hai kya, aaj tak life mein ek train nahi chhooti meri. Thank you Babaji, mera record tootne se bacha liya." (translation: "you know what, I have never missed catching a train in my life. Thank you God, you helped maintain my record!"). I felt exactly like that when the lady at the counter gave the movie ticket into my hand. I was in time, with a valid ticket and there were still a good few minutes for the movie to start! I wish someone captured my relief and excitement in a frame too! 

Ah, about the movie I watched: Vicky Donor. The one thing that remains with you after the movie is over, quite unexpectedly, is the word 'Sperm' and probably Annu Kapoor's wiggling fingers as a symbolic gesture for the word. The movie is probably one of the best comedies Bollywood has churned out, after ages. I don't remember the last time I watched a Hindi comedy where I have laughed (the genuine laughter! not the one you laugh after watching cartoons like Housefull etc!) for every 3rd frame during the whole time. The characters are quite unique in themselves, esp the mothers. The faces are fresh, the dialogues good, and performances genuinely heartfelt. I enjoyed my time thoroughly and I would say it's definitely worth the time and money.

Time For Yourself

I thought it's good to post about what I think can be a good idea to spend your time on, on lazy weekends. Because, these are few of the things that I did today, and considering I feel quite chirpy and cheerful now, these can be my recommendations to the readers of this blog.  

Read a cheerful happy book like one of these (or any other) at a coffee shop:

Watch TBBT's snippets on Youtube, esp the one on Friendship Algorithm!

And if none of those work, 

Just sit by the bedroom window and stare:

source:

photo1; photo2

It is important to spend a slice of time, at least every week, to do an activity that you like. I often go for walks, in the big beautiful parks here and reflect on my life, think about my friends and family, think about my work and every tiny detail attached to my life. Some bring a smile, some pour out a longing, and some leave behind a restless feeling; but in a nut shell the quiet time that I do spend, just sitting by myself, helps distill out the unnecessary clutter I collect on my way and helps me put the shine back on.

I have read Eat Pray Love a couple of times and I enjoy revisiting Liz's journey to finding herself through food and loneliness in Italy, chaos and companionship in India, and love and longing in Bali - the book does what it's supposed to do best - make me think! I have watched the film on the book Julie & Julia, and my stomach jumps with joy when I look at all those delicious food being shown, written and spoken about in the movie and in the way that every character becomes secondary to the food in every single frame! The Big Bang Theory is the latest entry into the many things I love watching online these days, they are hilarious, they are nerdy and we love them all; watching snippet after snippet only reminds me of geeky friends I have; and if nothing of the above works for me at any point in time, I enjoy sitting with a coffee mug by my bedroom window and staring into the stillness of life outside and after a while my own mind begins to resonate the stillness.

We all have our ways to spend the leisure time we get, and as long as we remember to not while it away in boredom, I think we will be able to keep in touch with our inner self.