Kavyanjali

 

You dream of a beautiful day But all you see is  a gloomy sky And here's yet another  day to waste With droopy eyes and an elongated sigh  Alas! You have let the grim clouds Blur the vision on your inside No wonder the unpleasantness lurks Beside you, with your each stride.  But have you ever tried to see the beauty of the day  Despite how the sky manifests?   For maybe you have looked around too much   To forget its within you that everything vests. 

In the month of June, when the sky wept and the rain overwhelmed the lands, I was born and thence I fell in love with rains. Every time I hear the rain splatter against the roof, or watch the tiny droplets chase each other down the window glass, my heart warms up with severe nostalgia. There was a time when my cousins and I would sit on the verandah of our house, watching the rain trickle down the roof tiles and make paper boats with old news papers. The boats once ready to sail would be set off to the never never land which was apparently somewhere down the drains. But all the fun would last only till the thunder strikes along with the fancy lightning and everyone would scream and huddle around in some dark corner of the house. The elders would calm us down saying that its just the sound of battle between Gods and Demons and we have nothing to worry about (Maybe because we weren’t participating). Rains started to get more fun during school days. Whenever the schools reopened, the road...

    Dear past me, Hey there! I hope you are doing well. I have been busy but if you ask what ‘s up? I don’t know .There is nothing much to tell. Life throws so many things at me and all I can do is be anxious. There are times when I just sit by my window sill, contemplating about life and zone out for a while. In the melancholy of those moments, I really do wish that time had never split us apart. I wish I hadn’t changed. I wish I were still you. I have kind of started to envy you now. You have those things which I wish I hadn’t lost on my way of growing up; a heart brimming with pure love and the warmth of sweet innocence. And look what has become of me? I am drowning in sadness, burning with hatred, pacing with worries, dealing with fears and battling with time. In short, I am not doing that great as you would expect. Being naïve and care free is really a blessing, you know? Because, once you get to know what the world is really like, there is no going back. I...

  Only recently did I come across the concept of ecobricks. Ecobricks are basically used plastic bottles stuffed with non-recyclable plastic material to set a density.  Instead of throwing used non-recyclable plastic in waste, which will eventually end up in land fills, we can twist and stuff such plastic waste inside bottles till it gets full. Such eco bricks are used in constructions, fencing, making furniture etc. It's inspired from this idea that this castle has been built. So that it can be used to stuff the waste plastic, at the same time it occupies a corner of the house as a beautiful show piece and a constant reminder to follow a sustainable living. #Reduce-Reuse-Recycle

Seriously, reduce your screen time and you won’t regret it. Technology is brilliant and phones are super smart, agree. But what has become of us? We have become extremely clingy and dependent on our dear phones like ‘until death do us part’. The fact we are oblivious of, is that we are turning into maniacs obsessed with a small electronic device, who seriously need to get a life. De-clutter  Smart phones have solutions for everything. Track your finances, manage your tasks, create playlists of your favorite songs, set reminders for important events, find routes to your destinations, spot nearby cafes, hotels, theaters and malls; just install a few apps and everything is right at your finger tips, only a swipe away. Yes, these are of course the positive sides which we prefer to see, given the highly optimistic people that we are. But on the root level, are these apps really simplifying our lives? Or are we voluntarily becoming slaves of technology?  The better way to think abou...

  I find my writings buried deep; beneath millions of verses- phrased by people unknown; leaving me crumpled and torn.   I stare at those neglected words as my will burns down to ashes; into the dirt, my thoughts downpour; And I ask myself, 'What am I writing for?'   Is it for a chunk of money or fame?  For a name or to be best in the game? With the 'neither and nors' tied in loose knots, I stumble upon my own thoughts. When the ink stains the flawless white sheet Amidst the stacks of strokes and curves, I discover That my writings is all me; wild, natural and raw And to be myself,  the words must flow.          

 

From where I am from, cooking is considered more than just a surviving skill. But I didn’t even know survival cooking. It all seemed so confusing. From measuring the ingredients to be added, to adjusting the flame of the stove, every thing just went over my head (No. I am not stupid even if it may appear so). I tried to avoid crossing the threshold of  kitchen as far as possible. I used to be the kind of person who opted to remain hungry rather than cook(obviously because I was fortunate enough to have a kind mother who cooked everything I liked and always made sure my hunger strike demands were addressed). Cooking was like the nightmare I wanted to wake up from, so badly.  A quarter century of my life had passed and on one fine Thursday evening, when the moon had marked his presence on the sky I finally got a kitchen all to myself. Pages were turned and a new journey had begun. The one I had to lead on my own. But I had to begin from scratch.  A bit of text book knowled...

 

 We, the hopeless romantic people hope to meet the man/woman of our dreams someday and fall in love with them. But what if someone literally falls for the man/woman of their dreams? A girl who has her head buried in fantasies and cliches meets her soul mate in her dreams. But what happens when her dream world clashes with reality? Can they ever merge into each others' world and become one? Does love really have no boundaries?   Read Love and two worlds

People talked, taunted and trashed until they spaded into my soul Thrust their mouths upon my ears and fed on my repressed fears.   They submerged me in their hollow words And I came out gasping; All frail and feeble with a racing mind, unstable.   My life was sorely punctured - with  countless, fathomless holes; All that seeped through was muck, keeping me bound to the ruck.   I was pushed ahead, but there was no ground beneath. And I fell and I failed Hit the rock bottom, my arms flailed.  

 

 

With the advent of social media and it’s overwhelming feeds, a new wave of fear has shrouded us all- The ‘Fear Of Missing Out’. It’s more like a feeling of being glued to the ground when everything else around us moves on. A kind of anxiety that we are not able to partake in the fun that others are having out there. But is it really that simple to be neglected or has it taken on our lives unbeknownst of us all? FOMO or the ‘Fear Of Missing Out’ is not just another hormone induced teenage drama, but a real phenomenon that is affecting our mental health irrespective of the age groups we belong to. It is becoming quietly common to have this phobia of missing out.   Our social media feeds are bombarded with statuses and stories of people known and unknown. We enjoy reading/watching whatever is shared by our friends, acquaintances, celebrities, public figures or other people we follow, oblivious of its darker side, where it takes a toll on our emotions. The indefinite scrolls and swipes...

 

 

 

‘Just let it go’. It’s always easier said than done. Isn’t it a bit hypocritical to ask others to let go of things when we know for a fact that we haven’t let go of many such things we ought to have, a long time ago? Alas! we are all such hypocrites. Because, when it comes to bad experiences, unpleasant memories and traumas we are like a child holding on to his favorite toy. No matter what, we never let it go. Never. ‘Forgive and Forget’ they say. But one thing is guaranteed that even though we may forgive, we will never ever be forgetting any of the bad experiences which emotionally broke us, the injustices we had to face, the mean things people ever said to our faces or the traumatic incidents we had to deal with. We may forget all the good things that happen in our lives but we never forget the bad ones. The memories of bad experiences become a part and parcel of ourselves that eventually we begin to identify ourselves with those pains, memories, and sufferings. The walk of life is ...

 

    Warlock's Institute for Controlling and Keeping Dragons(WICKED), Romania is the world's most prestigious institute which moulds out the best Dragon keepers in the world. It's renown as an all-boy institute dealing with the untamable and  vicious beasts among the magical creatures. What would happen when a girl steps her foot in the institute breaking all stereotypes? "This is not going to end well Scott" his yells pulled them all out of trance. "I am not expecting a happily ever after either" she said, smiling at him and made a dramatic exit from the classroom. Sometimes all it takes is to believe in yourself and stand up for what you think is right. It's what you think of yourself that matters after all and not the labels assigned by others. You are not someone's judgement. Natalie wasn't going to hide in her cocoon anymore. It was time she fought back for herself. She wasn't going to let anyone undermine her dignity. She has now fo...

 

S he flutters her eyes open as the alarm beeps for the hundredth time this morning. She snakes her arms under the sheets to switch the damn thing off. It’s giving her a headache and the light penetrating through the window is too vibrant for her to take in at the moment. “Damn it!!” she says, pulling the cell phone from under her pillow. It’s 10AM and heck! she had to be at the mall by 11:00 A.M, ’cause she had promised to hang out with her bestie with whom she shares a love-hate relationship. She never wanted to hang out in the first place because of her late night work shifts on Fridays. But saying no was not an option, because that’s what you do; your friends ask you to do something, you do it. That’s how you fit in.  She rummages her closet for the perfect outfit because if it isn’t trendy enough, she would be outcast by her peers. Fashion sense outweighs common sense now and she has to keep up with that. Tossing her nightgown in the pile of laundry which is yearning for the Su...

Somewhere on our run to meet societal standards or on our hike to fulfill worldly expectations or in our quest to be someone who we are not, we lose our self-worth. In the taunts, jeers, scorns, scoldings, judgements, advice and opinion of others, it shatters down into a million pieces leaving behind a frail, insecure, loathsome and broken mess. From childhood traumas to the difficult transition into adulthood, each and very bad experience that builds up inside, impacts negatively on our self-worth. It even makes us forget the real us in this journey of what we want to become; turns us hateful towards our own being.  We all have qualities, good and bad. There is no specific scale or standard to measure these qualities as they sprout from individual perception. But we are so keen on balancing this good and bad and we constantly keep struggling to outweigh bad with good. Why? Because we all want to be good; to be noble; to be saints. But to be practical, none of us, living this wor...

 It's the words I am in love with  The way they magnificently blend into verse pretty poems and hefty paragraphs Or the way they glide down as stunning stories. It's the words I am in awe of conquering worlds by invading hearts; touching souls and stirring thoughts; flipping emotions and changing lives. It's the words I bow down to manifesting minds and spurring consciousness. Brimming with meanings; fluttering with feelings; A dense jungle where I lose and find myself.  

  Disappointments, heartbreaks, unhappiness, failures, flaws, limitations. There is indeed a long list of things to focus on, cry over and sigh about. We never seem to miss these details in life no matter how minuscule they are and our mind never fails to waste some thoughts on them. The minute our life takes us on a bumpy ride, the scenic views around us are completely blocked out of sight. And all we remember about the trip so far would be limited to the bumps on the roads. Life showers u s with so many blessings that we could actually be grateful for. And we should be. For the food which fills our stomach, the water that quenches our thirsts, the education that has brought us so far, for the lovely people in our lives who care for us, for the roof that protects us day and night, for the laws that keep us safe, for the good health that keeps us going and so on. They say we should learn to count our blessings, but sometimes blessings are beyond count. And what we rea...

 You are not the labels glued on your forehead. You are not your thoughts or the things you have said.   You are not the names they gave you or what you are known for. You are not what you earn or the things you yearn for.   You are not your deeds or the things that you make. You are not your choices nor your deadliest mistake. You are not the pain which lingers in your tears. You are not the nightmare rooted in your fears.   You are not the fame or spotlight you worked hard for. You are not your goals or the success that you yield for.   You are not your looks or what you choose to wear. You are not your past or what your future has to bear.   You are not what- others think you are; But you are much more than you could ever discover.