To Run or Run away is - not the question. On False-starts, Head-starts, Perfect and not-so-perfect starts.

Often times in life, one encounters false-starts.

Just when one thinks something has begun, one realises that he has jumped the gun.

That the Head-start was only in his own delusion-afflicted head subjected to Illusion.

Not that all good starts are false-starts.

Nor is it the case that most head-starts are false or imagined.

The fact of the matter, if you really do ponder - is that we fail to imagine head-starts and false-starts almost equally well.

Well, false-starts end up making us look stupid. Or nervous.

But then, that hardly is enough reason to stop thinking about possible head-starts.

For Life, my dear (diary) Samiksha, is sometimes (in fact quite often!) a race.

Possible futures, possible head-starts.

I promise, I shall never give up to be fondly, in fact almost apologetically romantically fantasize about them.

If I were to be shaken into being practical ; be forced to avoid false-starts, I would still say that we need to make a start.

Make a start somewhere.

Aim for that head-start.

If it is worth it, pledge his heart.

Till Death does the Pursuit and him apart.

For until one makes a beginning,

Life shall have no real meaning.

- Seizonsha

P.S: - A part of this was a result of a half-thought crystallised during the 10km run this Sunday on Sankranthi.

The other half - the idea of the "False-Start" was spawned by the not too recent false-start that yours truly was reminded of just as he was beginning to forget it.

He shall promptly and fondly go back to remembering the possible futures now.

After all, the Sthiramathi is supposed to weigh memorably imaginable futures and forgettable pasts alike.

Waiting to meet you. Waiting for you; waiting for myself. (2012)

A few disappointments; yet many other memorable, cherishable appointments.
Uncomfortably forgettable, yet several other unforgettably comfortable moments.
Good times, bad times, horrible times, bland times, in-times, out-times.

Moments of silence. Moments of extreme patience, perseverance for deliverance. Resilience.
10km sprints. Running. Chasing. And some running away. As if to save my life.
Running into. People, ideas, places. Running into myself. Rediscovering life.

Thank you for all the lessons taught, dear 2011.
Some sweet; some others learnt the hard way.
No hard feelings though. Guess, you could'nt help but teach.
Goodbye to you pal. I'm gonna miss the good times we shared.
Especially for all the moments when you showed that you really cared.

On many an ocassion this year, you seemed like a dead end.
Dead ends are forgettable nightmares forgotten when awakened.
Thank God Almighty for the strength to walk past, move ahead, unhurt, unhurting.
Dead ends are what we move beyond, move on from, unfazed; Thoughtful, yetunblinking.


Let's put the past behind us though, mate.
Right now, for the promise of 2012, I cant wait!
She's gonna be my fantasy. My year. My time.
My moment. The turning point. Am sure she'll turn out well !


It has been a while. I have been waiting to meet you.
Waiting to meet myself. Waiting to be myself. With you.

-Seizonsha

P.S Made a few important corrections to the earlier spontaneous rote I wrote.
A few grammatical ; some others tactical yet somewhat practical.

Dead ends are forgettable nightmares forgotten when awakened.

Sthiramathi.

The 12th chapter of the Bhagavat Gita again.
"Again" is probably some kind of a "for-the-want-of-a-better-word" kinda word.
Because, the concept of the Sthiramathi, probably, never left me.
In the true spirit of the word, it should not leave one; the Sthiramathi holds onto the spirit of the word and the entire Bhaktiyoga (the 12th chapter of the Bhagavat Gita is called the Bhaktiyoga).

Now that I have reached a stage where I can rightly presume that I have treated ups and downs, good and bad alike and have been stoic in spirit, unshaken when shook and unmoved despite circumstances tempting my mind to be carried away, I shall return to my business of life.
A business I have been running ever since my adolescence, and presumably reasonably well !

Bitterness is easy and probably natural when one is faced with situations undesirable and seemingly unfavourable. The trick then, is to withhold it, analyse its correctness and watch oneself respond responsibly to it.

Near and dear ones - Family and friends form a fortunate cushion that help you absorb the hard things in life without getting hurt much.

This post is to thank my family and friends for being with me.
This post is to thank God Almightly to have watched over me.
Alright, I am supposed to be an agnostic. But then, Faith, is as important as food at times.
So, thank you all, for being around.

And wish me luck for the rest of our times together.
I promise to strive to keep you happy, just the way I always have.
I promise to be the good boy I have always been.

Weekends over weak ends - Orissa getaways - Chandipur, Devkund via Shimlipal.

Recovering from a bug bite (the travel bug of course!) is often something that involves sound sleep. Some sounds affect that elusive sound sleep, but then, recent delusion and disillusion(ment) meant that elusion - of sleep or anything else will just have to be put up with.

Mohalla tripped to Chandipur via Balasore and then went to Shimlipal/Devkund before returning to Hijli.

Day 1

Balasore is where you train to for about 2.5 hours from Hijli and then you hit the road to Chandipur, about 16 kilometres away. Mahindra Autos and SUVs - take your pick/pic depending on wallet and group sizes.

The ride from Balasore to Chandipur is somewhat like that Roadrash road - countryside. And look up Roadrash if you never once played it when you should have...

Aah...That Balasore is actually a degradation of Baleshwar is what you will realise when you get outta the Balasore/Baleshwar railway station...

We missed the sunset at the Chandipur beach, but walked for a total of about 1.5 hours (to and fro) in the dark, wanting to see the water that weirdly recedes 5 kilometres every now and then...Orissa tourism says that Chandipur is that beach where the visitors wait for the waters instead of the other way round..

The moon (crescent) and Venus looked good during the walk, letting one think or dream of anyone else in another part of the world, near or far, distance and otherwise, who could potentially be looking at it at the same time and plausibly remembering or forgetting you.

Food at Shubham Hotel's Swagath restaurant was good, and while yours truly appreciated the Paneer Capsicum and the Egg pudding, others of the Mohalla fedback about the Pomfrets and prawns. The feedback was that the latter dishes were "amazing!!" !!

Day 2

The drive from Chandipur to Balasore is best undertaken in a commercial vehicle like a Jeep or an SUV and we did accordingly.
We didn't really spot tigers at the Shimlipal Tiger reserve. May be that was because we really only wanted to get to this place called Devakunda and Shimlipal was the means.
Not wanting to get into the debate of what amongst {ends, means} is superior morally or otherwise, let me move on to Devakunda that was certainly our means to enjoyment. "Getaway" is the one word that captures the feeling, personally. Trek up the hill, stop points with a temple thrown in. And water of course! We got to see water at three outta the five points there are..
Whatta trek! And what an "Escape" from all kinda thoughts that one gets and originates...Philosophy definitely has its origins in the hills. Things become as crystal clear as the water that flows down the hills. Even a pseudo-thinker and pseudo-psychological ( I always thought I was only being an amateur and original, building up on what I had learnt through reading and listening...but then, no one wants to be pseudo-anything, so, I should just get over this taunt anyway!)


Hope the prayers at the temple work. Injuries of all kinds seem to be happening in spite of prayers to all kinds of Gods.
Even the Nimishamba temple near Mysore has ignored similar prayers.
And idiots like me always get away lucky to enjoy everything. Pressures, elementary or alimentary don't really come in the way of the "enjoyment".
"Escape" if I can insist.

Looking forward to Hijli Break. For reasons of feeling good and bad. Good about the past and the possible future. Bad because of the lost future and the present which will soon be lost...
88 days...at once seems too few and too many...

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

After a few address changes (blog URLs) and about 50 movies, the itch to talk about a movie brings me back here...I may or may not have been missed around, and people may or may not be wanting to read what I have to say..But then, this is my blog and I can say what I want :P

And then, if people can read what Shobha De has to say, they can read me with a feeling of moral superiority...Afterall, I watched the movie in a multiplex paying 190 bucks and didn't watch it on a pirated DVD like how this celebrity columnist did...Somehow Shobha De somehow always reminds me of that Oscar Wilde remark about some people who are famous for being famous ;-)

Well...I wont get down to a movie review in the traditional sense...(The post title is to that extent misleading, since the real intention of calling it a movie review is one of driving traffic towards the blog...Search string likelihood to be factored in you see!)

You watch this movie and realise what an Oscar nomination for screenplay is all about!
I mean...three different time-slices in the lives of the lead characters woven beautifully together keeps you absorbed for the entire duration of the movie...
After all that has been said and written about this movie and the music, there is no point in trying to review either the movie or the music except maybe understand Oscar nominations backwards... (most of life itself is understood backwards anyway!)

That all the three different actors who play the role of the lead character Jamaal Mallik seem to make a perfect fit is beyond doubt.. Its tough to not fall in love with any of the three actors who play Jamaal Mallik....and before you start thinking otherwise, let me assert my orientation in admitting to finding Freida Pinto to be "refreshingly beautiful"...as refreshing, and I am extremely apolegetic to both for this comparison...Freida Pinto is as refreshingly beautiful as Prachi Desai who debuted in "Rock On!" last year...
After watching people like Prachi Desai and Freida Pinto, or Dev Patel and Farhaan Akhtar for that matter, the average movie goers have to reassure themselves that life is not all that boringly cruel, and not all the time!

Wokay...so...no movie reviewing or spoiling here...Except that I have to (in the interest of anyone accidentally or incidentally reading this post!) say that

1. Fame Cinemas, South City Mall Kolkata has great leg-space: one reason to watch movies there!
2. Please watch the English version - no heavy Brit or American accents, so no worries for the average Indian English speaking "junta"...
3. Moviemarks (extending Bookmarks, and hullo! this is my original idea which dawned upon me when travelling in the rickety buses of Kolkata) -
Moviemarks (personal of course!) are -

a) "Dont worry about her, she will be fine. " - This line is actually in Hindi - "Woh theek rahengi"..Beautiful piece of advice to anyone in a situation like that!
b) "So what?" This one shocked my system enough to change from slouch to sit up. I hope you don't miss this line, although I am sure you will miss it if you don't empathise with Jamaal or Latika...
c) " I thought we will meet only in..." Man! Touching...Hope all love stories end happily despite such thoughts!...

I am reasonably sure that the post in general and the Moviemarks in particular dint spoil it for you! If I am wrong, do tell me I spoilt it for you and we can watch this movie again and revisit all the thought-points of the movie and compare notes ;-)

Oh yeah! Forgot to mention this..You come outta the movie hall and then you realise that there was unnecessary newsprint and TV talk about India being portrayed in a particular manner..Its a movie after all man!

On mental, sentimental and other such Balances.

Balance.

That one word, has so much in it. An average (if you insist!) kid growing up in the 80's and 90's would have probably been introduced to the idea and word in a "General Science" class talking about physical balances in a chapter titled "Measurement" or something of the sort.
And then, may be, subsequently, the idea must have really been talked about at length in a Biology class in the context of "Balanced Diets".

But, a week of Mc Donald's for lunch will help you realise that the Mc Veggie burger with cheese helps you achieve a Balance in a triple whammy of sorts.
Firstly, it helps you maintain a fine balance between health and hygiene. If you are in an expensive locality, you do have dirty dhabas and other dirtier, cheaper options just as you have more expensive options.
Secondly, the Mc Veggie burger helps you maintain a balanced diet. It's got vegetables in it you see - greens, peas, potatoes, onions and possibly others not easily identifiable. As long as there is balance, why bother eh?
Thirdly, it helps you maintain a fine mental balance. Unfortunately, elaboration is uncomfortably convincing, much as it is open to imagination and interpretation.

Yeah. Coming back to balance.
Kids these days. How are they introduced to the idea of Balance?

Cellphone service talktime.

Growing up, you do invariably encounter, and in some cases are "encountered by"

1. Work-life balance.
2. Bank balance.

Somewhere along the line, even without thinking about balance, you might be losing your mental and sentimental balance. But, if you lose your balance, mental/sentimental/physical while thinking about Balance in the larger context and canvass of life, you can hold only yourself responsible.

Responsible....Hmmm...
Let me end this post with a few questions.

1. Do you have Balance?
2. Are you a "Balanced Person"?
3. Who is "Responsible" ? Who is responsible?
4. Are you responsible?
5. Are you a "Responsible person" ?
6. If you are responsible for something gone wrong, are you a still a "Responsible person" ? Or have you morphed into an "Irresponsible person" by virtue of eventually being responsible for the wrong? ;-)

Cheers!
Vishwas

The Capital Account.

The last I heard was that given the vote bank politics our Cabinet and the Parliament without exception plays all the time, India is quite far from Capital Account Convertibility.

But yeah, if you never were interested in all that crap about politics and economics, let me share with you an admission that I too dont, and the name "Capital Account" could not have been more appropriate for a blog from New Delhi.

But, certain "feelings" stem from the bottom of one's heart. In my case, they would spring from the left, right and center of my heart as well. So, the new theme, and a new blog.

http://krutakahridaya.blogspot.com/

Cheers,
Vishwas