My Verbomania...

Words..words..words..its the words that maketh man. A man of his words ..a trustworthy fellow. A man of few words..a calm and a silent person. A pen is mighter than sword...words have a greater impact than arms. Think twice before you speak..because physical injuries can be cured but sharp words distance relationships. Yes..words, in any form, oral or written they either make or mar! That's their beauty!

The origin and evaluation of mankind has seen words evovle every single day..I think they have been build by man's thoughts and his deeds. As the mankind progressed its vocabulary increased. So augmentation in the verbose is a sign of progression..I proposed!

Right from my childhood I had been admiring the power of words. Every single word has its own meaning, its own usage. Synonyms prevail but there are certain cases where the a particular word has no replacement...at all. I relate this somehow to people..each person you meet is unique in its own way..gifted with something or the other..all you need is to reveal...to discover and explore people. The more you deepen the more secrets you will find...same with words..another inference!



Someone reading this might think of me as an arts student...dreaming and wandering in the virtue of words. Ya..am unfortunate to belong to this technical group. Alas have realized that I am not made for this. A lot of water has been passed down the bridge..but still no regrets..I still won't leave the pursuit of words..no way! Abstract nouns were the ones that fascinated me all way through. I simply wondered how feelings like love, anger, hatred, aptitude, mercy, passion..etc,etc. would have been described had not these words been there...They cant be seen, heard, smelled, tasted...but felt?...yes probably they can be felt.."Feeling"-- that's what is greatest gift of gab to mankind. Had not been for the feeling we would have be non-living creatures..Feelings indicate life, energy, zeal...and feelings are best explained by words...so words are responsible for life...another derivation.!

Just count on....)))


This week proved lucky to me. My manager wholeheartedly approved of my learning Deustch.Deutsch-the language of Albert Einstein, of Adolf Hitler..and of my favorite Stefina! So I am in high spirits these days. This had been a dream since long..Twice had I to let go off my learning of this language..and now this has been a wonderful opportunity..make the most of it,..I thought! The classes started and I felt like I am back at school. Me being the youngest in the group, sharing desks with many red and green tags of my company..I was proud..and happy..That's my "Pursuit of Happiness". Given the options of studying and working, I will cordially choose the former. In fact I am constantly in search of novice, improvement and rationalism. My learning of a new language will impart me more knowledge, more wisdom, more facts and figures..I love to get acquainted with different cultures, new geographies and older histories. That makes life rich....I concluded!

The other day at home, I was sitting with my friends, in the moonlight, under the canopy of the stars...with each of us remembering their school days..and the topic deviated to poems. Our high-school poems! And there was I in full swing with 2 of my favourite poems---"Home they brought her warrior dead--Lord Alfred Tennyson" and "Daffodils--William Wordsworth". The latter is the most favorite of mine...and the poet too..Wordsworth..what a name I used to think..worth of the words ..too apt for him, for his composition. I still remember the classes and my teachers who gave me the insight to learn language..to identify myself in their companionship. One of those teachers I met few months before..and she called upon me immediately...I touched her feet..not only for she being my teacher and that I should respect her, but for guiding me in the land of vicarious pleasure..the land of words!!!

Here presenting "Daffodils"..each word carrying a unique meaning...and there cannot be any substitution for even a single!

"Daffodils" (1804)

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

-- William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

A walk in the woods..!

The woods were lovely dark and deep. Walking slowly beside her, in the
damp mud road, was her husband whom she barely knew. He was very
relaxed, happily watching a group of kids playing at a distance.
Her "Mehandi" was still dark and smelling fresh, reminding of the
excitements and tension 2 days back. "It cant work this way
Mom...please stop this!", she kept telling her mother till the last
moment,who wouldn't listen but carry on with beautifying her. She had
been crying all night and her make-up had to be patched up twice or
thrice to hide her awkwardly swollen face.

It was too late now. She had to get married "NOW" to the person...The person
whom she had seen once and talked thrice. The person about whom she knew
nothing at all but for his name and work. Everything happened in a
hurry and everthing was over before she could breathe again... here
was she with this man, all alone in this hill station... how can
anybody send their daughter such a long distance with a stranger???

"Hey look at that....!!!" he shouted in excitement... she shrugged and looked where his finger pointed... Bright colored balloons dotted the sky. Children were jumping in joy and he seemed to be completely absorbed into it...colors are always
exciting...but not now. She was not with her friends, not with her team
mates, not even with her parents. This was not a 3 day tour or team
building trip. This was her life and she has been forced to start off with this person.

Loneliness and discomfort with this stranger was sickening...She
looked at him in wonder... does he even realize that he has married
me?Does he understand that he has to love me,protect me,care for me,a
new girl,a stranger,all his life?


The marriage morning started like a daylight nightmare for her.The
first time in life she felt she should have fallen in love and then
married somebody. Some man who she would have felt more comfortable
with, someone whom she could call by name and introduce to friends,
someone whom she could trust. But marriage morning was obviously not
the time to think all these.

Her parents would never have said "no" if she had declared that she
was in love.But she was not emotionally attached to anybody she
met. She was very friendly,playing,teasing, but never
had second thought for any man around her. That brought the entire
responsibility of looking for a groom on her parents' shoulders.Her
parents had had a very bad time with this entire process.They started
their groom search with unending "&" operation. The concatenation of
"Horoscope matching" & "Decent family" & "Good looking" & "Good pay" &
"same cast" & so on... that always gave zero output. Now after all that 8
months hunt, they were not ready to hear her "ifs" and "buts" for this
'good guy'.

She had explained to her father. She does not feel anything for this
person. He is nothing more to me than any other software
professional. Like list of names she sees in the chat rooms. Distant
and usual...Her father asked her to talk to him and even meet him and
discuss their likes and dislikes. That meeting started like the
induction programme self introduction and ended like a 3 hour
seminar. She was waiting to get away from that place. "So did you talk
with him?"."Yes"."Was he polite and decent...?"."Yes..."."Oh he got that
special flavoured tri-color icecream...!!!".OK.All her family and
relatives discussed...She was given the chance to "understand her life
partner" and that they have understood each other "well" and she is ready for the marriage now.

All arrangements geared up and it was 24 days after her first meeting
that she was getting married to her man... perfect match as everybody
else described.Marriage hall was full with excited people, kids got
the chance to play,ladies got the chance to wear the silk saree. The
smell of rose and jasmine filled the hall. Different poses for the
photographer and artificial smiles for the videos. The moment he had
tied the sacred thread was unexplainable vaccum in the head. It was
over. She was his wife. Accepted by the society and law. Her proud
parents were relaxed. This was their duty they had been planning to
fulfill since she was born. All this crowd will fade away, leaving her
to explore her new world...


He pulled her hand gently to sit on the stone bench. The bench was wet
and the chillness was indeed enjoyable. "So what are you thinking
about?"... that was an unexpected ball.should she reply? Should she be
silent? She remembered the two hour presentation she had taken last
month. Bold and confident, she kept answering all the queries with a
broad smile.Now she remained silent. "Do you know honey... I was not
for this marriage too..." Oh my God... what did I hear??? Did HE tell
that or did I think aloud? What does he mean? Didn't he like me? Was he
forced into this? He must have noticed the quizzical look on my
face...with a gentle smile he continued..."I wanted to look for a girl
myself, buy her everything, care for her, argue with her, laugh and cry
with her, then get married to her... Anything otherwise would be a
drama. Traditional drama and I was not for it anytime. But my love for
my work and also my stress would not give me time and mind to search
that girl...When your parents talked to me 2 weeks before our
marriage, about your fear of getting married, to a stranger, I could
completely understand your mind. I could see myself in you and that
was the moment I decided I will marry you. There was no time to prove
myself to you, make you trust me, everything happened in a hurry. But
there was the entire life before me, to please you, to love you, to
make you trust me. This is no less than what I had dreamt,the girl I
was waiting for,is you...Now tell me... Will you love me???" Tears came
down her cheek. Her parents had done more than their duty. They had
found her the perfect guy. Thank you Mom!!! Thank you Dad!!! His question remained unanswered... yet both knew the answer....

Ideally...Made For Each Other!!!

In the end, of course, like the sea to a sandcastle, time sweeps over marriage, whether through death or betrayal. The bit of respite marriage affords is, however, all the Eden one needs for happiness. Or is likely to get!

A Tryst With The Society !

Today is the International Woman’s Day..hmmmm. Pessed up in work…still I managed to keep some time to write this up today…what has been lingering in my mind for quite a while..Men found a good chance of offering roses and cadburys…Ladies and lasses showing off their ethical costumes and fine sets of jewellery display… “Hey, where did you get this from?”…that’s what heard quite often ..on my way to the cafeteria..One more day..in a big list of “day’s” that we have, I thought! These days it has been quite a fashion currently, and in a place like India, where we have a festival every other day, along with the import of the “days”, I suppose we hold the premium position for celebrations..But then they talk of poverty-line and unemployment…oh no! tht’s a different issue altogether…why in this??? Some other day……

I remember a year before when in the last year, we had arranged a programme for the girl students on this occasion..and there I was going around the college, pleading the girls to attend it, with my Vidyarthini Manch incharge questioning me ---“Where are all the girls?”. It had been Saturday..no classes..still most of them were busy. “Oops..My project is in a mess..otherwise definitely…”, “My grandmother is in a hospital..I will be going to attend her”(Same girl I noticed at the cinema house that very eve!..), “I am busy with the assignments and completions”…Ooof!..She could have found a better reason ..I thought!


In the long run, my programme started with some of my dear friends, (who left half-way through for the project..!),some juniors(who are always enthu in the initial years of the college--- my seniors use to say …) the lady staff members and the principal to greet the speaker. The guest was a psychologist and an active worker in woman-related issues…she talked and talked –about almost everything under the sun (related to women)
The baby-girl how she is being brought up, the teens…the marriage, children, role of women as a daughter, friend, wife mother,,etc, etc., the society pressures ..heaven and hell of being a woman! It ended…and I thanked her for making the programme a great success!
Success??? Was it? With most of us being so busy…so busy with our schedules..our roles..our responsibilities—as a …as a girlfriend, as a freak, as an ardent lover of window –shoppings and movies. Huhhh! Aptly, as the speaker noted, ladies these days do not have any time left for “Themselves”. I felt defeated..defeated as a ladies representative, defeated as a girl...it was a sheer defeat of feminity!


They say, youth has the power to change the society…I really wonder what kind of change do we expect when we don’t have enough time for ourselves!
We are not a Rani of Jhansi or The Joan of Arc, an Indira Gandhi or Margaret Thacher! What we are are simple young ladies who can instrument a remarkable change in the society ...in a society where a girlchild requires a fate to be born, to be nourished, educated, allowed to choose her own paths…and at the end allowed to “Live”! Such a contrast…between two ladies--Aishwarya on one hand and the a unfortunate bargirl on the other…, between Kalpana and the girl nextdoor ,who loves to fly …,between me and the mason’s daughter –a 4 year old kid carrying an year old baby brother at the pavement! This contrast is between the different strata of society…what holds good for the lower classes…no better is the condition of the upper class women too..each one with their own problems, unheard untold stories…!


What we plead each Woman’s day…a mere attention of the males towards that half of the population that makes the world? Or reconfirmation and celebration of our feminism…what exactly??? Or a boost and moral buck-up to face more and more challenges that the world offers each day!

You can do anything
you put your mind to...
you can swim the deepest ocean,
and climb the highest peak

You can face adversity
and still walk dauntless

You are strong, beautiful, and compassionate
much more than words could ever say
Today is yours, as any other day!!

"Happy Woman's Day"