Existential thoughts

 What is joy?

It's not a bouquet of flowers...

It's when the lilies bloom once a year after you tend to them whole year round...

What is sadness?

It's not when you lose someone...

It's when you pick up the phone but there is no one to call...

What is bliss?

It's not the absence of worry...

It's when you know you will move ahead strong inspite of fears...

What is pain?

It's not the absence of love...

It's when you have touched love only for it to be taken away...

What is love?

It's not when you look into each others eyes...

It's when you surrender and look together towards future...

What is life?

It's not the hours we live...

It's what you create, a legacy, happy memories that will survive after you are gone...

The Sunday Evening Song

 The weekend's gone

In a verse of a song

No time to find a bridge

Coz all bridges were burnt

I sit and stare

At my phone, and its glare...

In a darkened room

A mellow sense of doom

This life is not

What I had thought

I would get 

When I was 17

And my eyes had gleam

Now they are mostly wet...

But before we get all melancholy

Let me tell you, there is hope still...

But the dreams are different now

Peace and wisdom... Do take a bow.

Living like the solitary moon

Reflecting what shines on me

Every night I claim it my own

But say goodbye, by the time of dawn...

But tell if you see me

Do I make you smile?

If I do, I will take the win

And walk another mile...

Mid-Life Wisdom

 We talk about resilience. At work, in our personal lives, to overcome difficult situations, resilience is key. However, how to build this master-key resilience. Is it inherent or is it cultivated? Good news! It is a learned skill. You will find great resilience in badminton courts, in dance classes, in swimming pools, in the gym, in learning guitar, in climbing summits. Our minds and our bodies are linked. Duh! So to become more resilient, allow yourself the challenge, allow yourself to fail and then shake that failure feeling and move ahead, persist, practice, and then I assure you, one day you will meet that challenge and emerge a winner. Winning could be a good shot at the badminton court, 4 continuous laps in the pool, or playing the bar chords on your guitar. It is your challenge, you own it and then achieve it. Simple. Start small. Then keep pushing the envelope. You will see your physical resilience is morphing into mental resilience because any physical challenge at the end of the day becomes a mental challenge. And this resilience built over time will start coming in handy at work and life. Your limits are what you set for yourself. So, soar high and mighty! 

A Message to The Universe

 In a world of comets, I want a Sun

Who will shine down on me

Who will nourish me 

and fill me with it's warmth

In a world of may bes, I want a Hell Yeah!

A conviction so strong 

That it can move mountains

Meeting of two souls, certain.

In a world of darkness, I want a Light.

A light as bright as mine

Till the end of time

Shared smiles till we are old and dying...

In a world of hurt, I want a Home

That's safe and comforting

That shelters us, you and me

A home to belong to, today and forever...

So, Universe, I send out this wish

I know you are listening...

And will send my soulmate to me...

© Manashi Pathak

In This Together

 I dont have anything to say

That has not been said before

Our journeys are on different roads

May be they meet to say au revoir

Someone is running away to find some peace

Someone is floating in the breeze

Someone waiting on the past

And time rolls by fast

Someone is sorted yet fighting to be good

Good enough for his daughter

Someone is recreating the life 

With someone else together

Someone is caring for her ailing mother

And yet we smile for each other

Someone knows what she wants

But life has never been fair

Someone strives to be perfect

Needing just a lil bit of care...

Someone searches for a meaning to this life

And the struggles may look different but the pain, we share...

So, be a little kind to each other

Be a shoulder to another

A hug is much more than a greeting

We gotta keep our hearts beating...

Storms: A passing

Storms: A passing

They say I am here for you
I am your friend, real and true.
If anything you want to ever talk about
Just give me a shout

I am blessed to have good people in my life
Helps to sail over the strife
But sometimes, its dire and answers unknown
And the struggle is just your own.

In times, when the sky is gray
What do you do and what do you say?
You look inside and you find a void...
A storm in your head, you turn paranoid

All the mistakes of your past,
come running to your mind...
Will you perish or will you last?
You are yet to find...

Slow down, dear...
You can take your time
The answers are near...
Feeling hopeless isn't a crime.

Slow down, dear...
Breathe a little more
Let go of your fear...
You will soon reach the shore

This is how
I talk it out
To the dark thoughts
that scream and shout


Every time when the world seems an ending,
I remind myself many joys are still pending.
The storm will pass...
Half-full is my glass.

Dawn

The dawn is breaking
And now I turn my lights off
Was thinking of all those dreams
That once were dreamt of

The silence of the dead of the night
Turns to chirpings in the sky
A sweet transition
From the End to a new dawn...

...the dawn is breaking
And now I bid goodbye
Knowing that the sun does rise
For my dreams to realise.

No, I won't be tired
Coz I have the fire
To start again on my journey...

The dawn is breaking
And now I turn my lights off
Was thinking of all those dreams
That will once again be dreamt of...

One Day

One day I will

Not have bucket lists to fill

One day I will

Not say "That's ok but still..."

One day you will see

A better version of me

One day I will say

This is where I want to stay

Till that day comes

Till fate commands

Will you come with me

On this glitchy journey?

One day I will

Not smile through my tears

One day I will

Not brood over lost years

One day I will

Open up my heart

One day I will

Not be afraid to start

Till that day arrives

Till the hope survives

Will you hold my hand

And walk on this treacherous land?

One day I will

Not be afraid to be vulnerable

One day I will

Drop my walls, not be invincible

And one day you will see

My unshackled smile, free

And that one day, I will be me again...

Yours, through sunshine and rain...

A leaf

A leaf out of life...

Lying dusted and dried,

Lonely and bare,

but I just stand and stare...

It is what fate beholds...

To engulf in its folds...

Once so alive and now...

Just a leaf, out of life...

and before I pity the lost soul...

A breeze picks it up for another world...

Where I belong...

Where I belong...


Memories are bitter sweet
They make you smile they make you weep
So lost I walk in yesterday's years
Looking for some answers.


I wish I could go back and change
Yet this book has long been written
Now I take this road alone
And wonder where is the next station


So clueless, so unsure
I put my glass up for some more pour
And I lift it up for a toast
For the many unsettled scores


I've become, I've been gone...
I've arrived, a lot undone...
Too many lessons learnt
Am I wiser or just burnt?


So take me wherever you go
So make me whatever you want
I still be who I am,
And where I belong...

Travelogue: Chile and Uruguay: The LatAm Experience

Before we go on the flashback of the amazing experience I had in Latin America, let me give you a background of this Travelogue. Working in the ever growing IT industry and I like to believe that I am contributing in the growth of the business of the company I work for :). The perks that come with the hard work are the Onsites. The most sought after Onsite being the US. Well, for my first Onsite assignment, I get to go a little further south, the Exotic Latin America. Now Latin America consists of everything from and south of Mexico. Now, even though this part of the world is bit infamous for drugs, mafia, crime, well… I'd like to break the myth, I travelled alone each time and I am here writing this travelogue with really fond memories from the trips. So one just need to avoid the troublesome areas and stay alert while travelling. Due to the heavy influence of Spanish culture, the countries (except Brazil which was a Portuguese colony) give you a very culturally rich feel, Spanish cuisine with local flavors, wonderful music and all things Spanish. Having said that, each country has their unique blend of their own native culture. So let’s dive into their world through my journeys which I hold so close to my heart.

 

Chapter 1: 1st Assignment-Chile                                                                               

In the month of January 2013, this travel is finalized and I am the first one from the team going from India to Santiago, Chile. So, having the visa formalities and tickets done, I am ready to fly. On a personal front, it was a big deal for me for multiple reasons. Firstly, it was my first ever overseas travel(which will always remain special); secondly, I was the first one going to a country where none of the people I know have ever been to; thirdly, I was travelling alone on a  trip where one way, I have to take 3 different flights, journey hours totaling to over 2 days; fourthly, because I didn’t know Spanish; and lastly, I booked my own accommodation at one service apartment(in a safe area near my office) and the online receipt was the only string holding me on in a land of unknown. And another sigh of relief was, I had my onsite manager's phone number who would be in Santiago when I reach and told him that he might get a panic call any time! :D Well, well, well! I prayed to God and hoped to be back safe and sound.

 

My trip was via Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai-Schipol Airport, Amsterdam-Lima Airport, Peru on KLM and the from Lima to Santiago, Chile via a  LATAM local flight. And the return being the same. Phew! So, I just followed protocol and kept hopping airports, clicking pictures while my body clock got royally confused and trying to connect home from wherever possible. Lima  had paid WIFI and I didn’t know how to go about it(lesson learnt on return trip and then it was cakewalk) so for almost 1.5 days India time, I was off the grid and thankfully everyone was a little prepared, so no one back home freaked out( at least I was told that by my Mom :) ). So, after the really, really long journey, I reached Santiago at around 4 am. And it was pitch dark…Day break happens around 7.30 am. So, I just followed protocol again and got some local currency, Chilean Peso for the USDs I had received from our FOREX and booked a cab from the airport to the address I had. The cab ride felt pretty safe and in about 20 mins I saw the service apartment which I recognized from the photo I had seen online and I can't begin to tell you how relieved I was. No glitch. And I took my luggage of 3 weeks and got in. I saw the reception guy half asleep and I woke him up and said booking by my name. He looked at me confused and reluctant. I thought, I am screwed now. And then I kept repeating, said about the online portal, and finally, he said "OH!", (spelt my name in a  weird way) and handed me an envelope. I saw my name written there and opened it to find the key to my room and some paper with numbers to contact to.

 

So, once in the apartment which was just perfect with nice furnishing, a fully equipped kitchen, living room with a small balcony, one bedroom and an attached washroom, I was happy and relieved. And, it became my home for the next 3 weeks. I slept for some time and woke up around 9 and reached office which was not very far around 10. I met everyone there, my manager, the client-side team and everyone asked about the long trip and the day went on pretty busy. Here, I'd like to mention, I didn’t feel any jet lag, may be because, I gained time when I flew west and didn’t get a lag. So, I was fresh and got to work right away. And gradually the rest of the team started pouring in with a gap of 3-4 days. I heard Chilean Espanol all around me, tried to make sense of it and gradually started learning by ear and some help from Google Translate :). During lunch break I used to follow my other colleagues, 3 from Mexico and 1 Brazilian to the restaurants around our office. So, I ate my first raw salmon sandwich there and I was too naïve and my taste buds were still very Indian to appreciate the sweet and slightly salty salmon taste by itself so I asked for all kinds of ketchups and Tabasco Chili Sauce became my best friend  from then on. I began to appreciate their local cuisine, also enjoyed some delicious Sushi for the first time there (apparently Japanese cuisine is pretty IN there) and a very sumptuous place called the WOK where they would toss a range of elements together as per your choice. The weather was excellent, it was beginning of Autumn in February, since its Southern hemisphere. Lovely breeze, a cozily warm sun, lots of greenery around. And the gorgeous Andes were visible from the driveway up our office, a sight to behold. The Chileans are very beautiful and friendly people, always greeting with a smile, two kisses and a hug :)( when you are friends/colleagues), always eager to help out even though we didn't speak their language. We resorted to sign language many a  times :) and then a smile will convey a lot more than our broken Espanol of Hola, como estas, uno, dos, tres, beunos dias, beunos noches, Mucha Gracias! :)

 

 

So, in matter of days, I started feeling at home because of my excellent colleagues who were always there to help out, especially with the menu ;), the neighborhood store guy, who was learning English and we became quite good friends :) and overall feel of the city. Very warm and welcoming. There was a supermarket nearby as well where I would get my groceries. And then the first weekend when we all were there, we went to this wonderful UNESCO Heritege city called Val Paraiso and lovely beach town called Vina del Mar(where Shakira was spotted at a talent show and her career began there). This was a day long trip where we first went to Val Paraiso, which is a port and was where the Spanish first stepped foot in Chile. The guide was saying that there's a saying that the women from Val Paraiso have the most beautiful and slender legs. Why? Because the city is on a steep hill facing the Pacific and in earlier days they would have to walk up and down the hill to get around. Quite some price to have slender legs! Anyways, they later got an almost vertical tram-cum-ropeway kind of system to commute. It is now only for tourists to have a little ride and feel the olden days. As the whole city is conserved under UNESCO, the preservation of the old is pretty good. All in all, a very quaint city which looks like it is still in the bygone era and that gives it a special charm. Also, this city had survived huge earthquakes and we saw one Red building which went untarnished after a huge earthquake when many other buildings collapsed. This is the oldest building there. So, after walking through the town and getting quite some exercise of the legs, it was almost afternoon and we proceeded to Vina del Mar on the bus. The travel agency had booked us for this nice restaurant with an open seating facing the blue ocean. The sight was breath-taking. We ordered the choices from the special menu that they had, and there was one item called the Ceviche. The waitress recommended it. I was game for trying all I could being a hard-core non vegetarian with a very inquisitive and experimental set of taste buds, so I was eagerly waiting. My fellow colleague who is more conservative gastronomically, ordered but said will have only the vegetarian portions. And to go with the menu, I ordered for a nice Chilean red wine. When I tasted the Ceviche, I just fell in love with it. I had already began to appreciate raw salmon and now this one had raw yummy salmon, shrimps and some more sea food. The lemon based marinate that they make it with was also very delicious, and there I had the best Ceviche of my life yet (though I had eaten only at may be 3 more places :D)! There were salads, salami, breads and I tasted a bit of beef too, nicely roasted. It was a beautiful time, with the sun moving west giving a golden haze to everything, me sipping on excellent Chilean red vino with bites of the Ceviche looking out at an old couple selling some bonsai plants, another couple just enjoying the afternoon at the beach, a kid playing; it was indeed a feel-good sublime feeling as if am there on a holiday and not on work…

 

 

 

 

To be continued...

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty of Life

Symmetry... Of sights, sounds, thoughts... Feelings... Is the beauty of Life.

We yearn for perfection, we strive for a perfect fit in the jigsaw puzzle of life... and there is... Although, there may be some loose ends, some broken corners, some asymmetry... but then we correct, we come round... to give ourselves, our world that perfect reflection in a perfectly silvered mirror. This is the journey we all take, from being a checkered Rubik cube to an absolute stroke of genius and perseverance. Our lives clock with the unfailing ticktock of the hands of God following the Sun... we race against it just to maximize our existence. Alas, we are just as minuscule as as a speck of sand in this endless universe and can be as majestic as the moment of creation all in a single coordinate. 

The war between what we are and what we want to be with a knowledge of what we can be is fought every single waking moment of our lives knowingly or not... And we believe in perfection, symmetry, confirmation... in absolute. I do. And this juxtaposition of the desire for truth and the acceptance of half-truths is the greatest irony of our lives. We accept, we adjust, we modify, we eulogize to make imperfection more bearable. We need to... to cover our insatiable fire so that it doesn't burn our homes down. 

Yet, a perfect note perfectly placed in a symphony, a perfect stroke of the brush creating a colorful melange, a perfect plot that brings our vivid imagination to paper, that perfect look in someone's eyes... is all it takes to make us believe that there is still hope... 

Bills

Bills

The damn Bills

Sucking away your life,

It kills

O Yeah, we need the electricity

And the internet, O We do

And nobody will give it free,

We pay up, me and you

Now then, why we question

If money were not the reason…

Why did we believe in the first place?

It is but the means to meet the horizon

Now we wake up in the morn…

Life sucks as if it’s a corn…

But then, the chirping birds are music

And the flowers weave their magic…

Yes, money cant buy you happiness…

If you decide to be sad…

But if you cherish a luxury condo…

Why is it so bad???

A cuppa tea in an earthen cup…

Gives me pleasure as much as a martini…

I can sit by the platform smiling watching the chimney smoke..

And can scream out loud from the Lamborghini..

Happiness as we know it

Is a state of mind…

No harm in loving the Moh Maya

And no glory either in leaving everything behind…

It’s a choice at the end of it…

Be sure of what you ask…

Coz life is a mirror of your dreams…

Switch on the lights and bask…

Between Mind and Heart

Between Mind and Heart

Of endless pros and cons,

Trying to objectify, beauty of floating swans,

At that, Black

With no reference to fall back…

And yet again, the monologue goes on,

Reveries woven, drifting song…

Hope and hopelessness, holding hands…

Down the road with dead end, they walk on…

Between the mind and heart,

Once again, torn apart…

Picking up the shattered pieces,

Hoping for a fresh new start...

But then,

Can one tell?

Will I act

Or will I dwell?

Those are the moments,

One can never define…

Can't plan, can't predict…

A suspense of a lifetime...

© Manashi Pathak

No, You don't have to

No, you don’t have to sit by me

Every time I am down and weak

No, you don’t have to meet my eye

Every time I look your way, shy

No, you don’t have to listen to my words

Every time I speak

No, you don’t have to

You don’t have to

No, you don’t have to be all smiles

Whenever we meet

No, you don’t have to check me out

Every now and then, to see me

Because one day I might be strong

Enough to walk alone

Some day, I wont look for one

One day, I wont have my words

One day, I'll smile for some one else...

'Gar ishq hai

Bahane dhundhu main

Teri awaz ko sunne

Un dhaago ko le chali main

Khwaabon ko bunne…

Do khirkiyaan hai

Tere sheher ko jhaankun

Un gehraiyon mein khokar

Khud ko jaise paaun

Zindagi se shikwa to kayi hai

Par maaf hai saare zakhm

Bas lavz bina tu samjhe

Saath chale har dum…

Phir kya pata, ab tak toh bas caravan tha

Tu hi hai manzil…

Is kadar tune jagah banayi…

Jaise tha bas tera ye dil…

Jab nigaahe dhundhe bheed mein tujhko…

Aur tere liye bhi bas main…

Kyun pareshaan kare tu khudko…

'Gar ishq hai to hai…

© Manashi Pathak

Kal Ka Pataa

Anjaanaa koi mile raah mein

Jaanaa pehchana lage

Jaise kisi duusri zindagi se

Aa gaya ho dham se…

Kisi ki hontho ki hansi

Bataye ki koi dost hai apna

Kya hua 'gar woh humrahi nahi

Par safar nahi hai soona…

Kehte hai ki pyaar mein

Dard ka samandar hota hai

Par ishq yunhi badnaam hua

Dhoka toh ummeed deta hai

Khud se hi karun main guftagu

Kya pata log soche naadaan

Samjhe koi bezubaan lavzon ko

Kehte toh sabhi apni daastaan

Har mod pe ek nayi duniya hai

Kyun dhunde tu kal ka pata?

Jo beet gaya who toh bas ek yaad

Aaj haal-e-dil toh bata...

© Manashi Pathak

Kuch zyaadaa hi Maanga

Koi apna dhundhu is shor mein

Koi nigah rok le mujhe

Main kaun hu, koi mera bhi hai kya…

Yeh pooch raha aaj dil mera…

Waadon pe jiya ab tak

Par sookhe patton ki tarah

Woh  bhi zameen mein mil gaye

Dil darrta hai

Ki phir na koi ise tode

Bas pal bhar ka saath dekar chhode…

Shayad kuch zyada hi maanga

Maine zindagi se…

Ek anjaano mein apna, sach ho har sapna

Aur rooth gayi woh mujhse

© Manashi Pathak

Dosti!

Ai dost mere,

Farishte ko paya hai tujhme

Humne jode dil ke rishte

Ye ek Din ka tyohaar nahi

Zindagi bhar main saath tere

Teri khushi mein

Du main party

Aansun bhi tapke

Toh du main hanky :)

Chahu ki Teri hansi Ka main reason

Ho life mein tere always Spring season

Kabhi baatein agar ho kam

Na samajh ki dosti mein na dum

But I don’t think I need to say that :)

Coz we understand each other

We are Friends Forever :)!

Cheers to all my F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Happy Friendship Day!



© Manashi Pathak