Demons of Time!!

She was happy
She was singing
Suddenly
She heard the Voice cry

She was flabbergasted
She hadn't encountered it before
She didn't know what to do
She called to the Voice

She wondered
Wondered about what was wrong
She worried
Worried about how to set it right

The Voice came
The Voice was sobbing
Slowly
The Voice told her the reason

"My friend died
Died of skepticism
Died of overdose of cynicism
Died of lack of care"

The Voice quivered
Quivered with sorrow and fear
The Voice waned
Waned so much that listening became harder

She was shocked
Shocked to see the Voice's waning voice
Of present, of the moment

She remembered
Remembered the Voice's exuberant voice
Of past, of yore

She realized
She had drawn upon the Voice
To pull her through trials and tribulations
She had leaned on the Voice
Through troubles and thunders

She realized
The Voice needed her care now
To bring it back to its past glory
The Voice required nourishment
Lack of which, it would wane to forever

She was afraid
Afraid if she was worth the task
Afraid if she had it in her
To pull them both through this ordeal

She knew
Knew that she can do it
Knew that the time has come
To put the Voice's teachings into practice

She rose to the task
The task that will raise them both
The Voice followed this time
Happy that it had done a worthy deed

The Voice was sure
That it was in good hands
She was determined
To heal the wounds of skepticism

She and the Voice
They battle the demons of time again!
Let us wish them the best
For they need it, in their own ways!

[Mourning the loss of a friend's Voice.... er, Voice's friend!! Amen!]

Michael Jackson

Michael Johnson, the King of Pop is best known to me as the first "foreign" artist I knew at the age of 7 or 8. Ever since hearing his "Thriller", I've thought that "western music" was always awesome. But as I dug deeper into his other albums and that of other artists, I found that the expectations set by "Thriller" are very very hard to be matched, let alone exceeded!

My second brush with him came during my pre-teens when we were ardently discussing "Backstreet Boys" and "Boy zone" and of course, comparing them with the enchanted MJ, as we all called him. We've spent hours discussing them yet none of the other albums still created the magic of Thriller for me. Then, as I grew up, I moved away from MJ's music and completely lost touch with it. But, now, after hearing his death yesterday during our mixer party, I felt a sense of loss, the loss that comes when your first pop icon is no more. I looked forward to going to one of his concerts ever since I was a kid. Yeah! One of those fans that were mad for him and his songs! Sadly, I'll have to take it off my "100 things to do" list. Sure, I can replace it with any other artist's concert. But nothing would match that of MJ's.

He was to my previous generation(and to some extent, ours) what Elvis Presley was to our parents generation. I don't think any other artist can beat him in his dance moves, the famed "moonwalk", his freeze-shots, etc. He is the only "phoren" artist millions of people in the villages of India knows. Even today, you can see people comment "Nee enna periya Michael Jackson nu nenaipaa?" to someone trying out different dance moves! Imagine being known to people who have no idea of America, no idea of dancing and certainly no idea of western pop music!! Ah! that is fame, that is immortality!

MJ, you'll surely be loved for the magic you created with music and dance! Thanks for letting us share that magical world with you as you took that journey! Now, at the end of the journey, hope your soul rests in peace. Amen.

What can you do with Rs.500?

What can you do with Rs.500 (or little over $5)? This link was on a friend's gtalk status and I couldn't help sharing it over here:



Lets do our best to give kids education and a safe childhood, the childhood that we were all privileged to get. We owe it to our future citizens and the world at least this much!

This is a topic close to my heart. Lets aim to give at least Rs.5 per month(is it $0.1?) for a kid's education (any kid, it can be your housemaid's daughter trying to finish her 10th standard, it can be your locality watchman's son trying to get books for school, it can be even kids from the local school). Just go and you'll find the needy kids in every corner of India. Or, give to one of the NGOs that are working towards this cause. I'm sure our small help to a kid would radically change his/her path in life. Lets join hands to eradicate poverty and work towards education for every kid!

Moved Neverland successfully!

The last few weeks have been frenzied. I had to move Neverland and set it all up again. Phew! Dismantling and rebuilding, especially Neverland, is a thing I really don't look forward to. Though setting up a new home is always fun, I find that I've become a creature of habit and was trying to capture the Neverland in its last state. I realized this last night when I spent some two hours (two hours that should've been used to work or atleast catch up with stuff - We ALWAYS have that, don't we?) trying to rearrange the furniture (read, a bed, two shelves and a box - I'm yet to get a table or chair) and all the small stuff in different positions. Finally, I got so frustrated that I decided to get it all back to the original position. I then realized that I was trying to recreate my old room and moved the lights and shelves a bit to accommodate it. Now, if only I can raise the height of my bed to get the window view...

On a related note, I'm going bed-shopping before this weekend is over. For without the window and the draft hole over my bed, I got so bugged yesterday (yeah! its the summer in Neverland! I'm only thankful that I didn't go to some other places where I know I be fried like pork chops!!) and woke up so many times that finally my roomie had to restrain me from touching the AC control (she is a light sleeper and I would have switched on/off the AC atleast 15 times). The worst part was I was feeling very sleepy yet couldn't sleep. If hell was possible, it was that. I had to call quits and called V for a night chat. Our chat was fun as always but my work day loomed large and I had to force myself back to sleep. Oh! How I wish I was still a student in this regard.

PS: Though I've kept up with most of your posts, I've not really had time to write the posts. With regard to this post, I had some interesting and insightful chats with fellow bloggers. That led to different paths and I'm willing to test some of them. So, hang on and we'll glide through to see what is present on the other side. For I am as curious as you are :)