Of Kurtas and Jeans!!

Not so long ago there was a time when I grew my hair long, shaved twice a month (at the most thrice) and believed I could rule the world in a kurta and a pair of jeans! Today the only thing I find wrong in that statement is the tense!

"So what happened? "
(How predictable a question?)

"Life happened!"
(An even more predictable answer!)

As I study my clean-shaven countenance in the mirror, the predictability of my own statement stings, like a slap across my bearded, long-haired face! And yet the shameless lips curl up in an ironic smile! As if to mock the thoughts in my head. Thoughts I dare not whisper. Of how the boy in his kurta cared not for the future and yet his eyes twinkled with dreams while the man in his suit looks only to the future but dares not dream!

Drunken Ramblings

Frustration!!! Utter, complete and total frustration. Just when I was about to publish my latest post, my computer died on me. And I refuse to do the editing again! So I have nothing to say any more.
As I nurse another drink, except for my loathing for technology there is no one here to keep me company. I do not say I am alone. I can at a glance count atleast five heads, and I'm sure that after two red labels and the perfunctory nature of my glance I missed a couple of them. But yet company is a different drink altogether. One that I'd surely trade for the next round of Johnnie Walkers.
Which brings me to why one drinks- for the warmth? or the dissolution of inhibitions? or the high? or simply just to belong somewhere? Well whatever your answer I still think trading drinks on the next round would give me all that and more.

Capitals and Monuments

Today for the first time we did not have the Prime Minister (wish him a speedy recovery) for the Republic Day, also the first time that I wasn't in India on 26th Jan. So what did I do about it? Well, I went out and took a look around the capital of another country. I took a walk around what American's know as the National Mall.

Like any other capital city in the world it is built to impress. So off I went in the direction of that huge edifice erected in the memory of George Washington. Though I couldn't really fathom the monument (I guess it is supposed to reflect his stature) it is a monument you aren't likely to forget, if not for anything then for the pure oddity of it. I thought Greenough's Zeus-like statue is a more apt monument for a man who in my opinion is great, not as much for winning a war as for relinquishing the power that that victory offered him. The sword in his hand, not drawn but actually with the hilt turned away, is what in today's world needs emphasizing. It truly is sad that this monument was not up to the sensibilities of the people due to his "clothes!"

But that's how it works especially when its "for the people, by the people and of the people" as so famously said by the man who sits in white marble splendour looking out towards that phallus jutting out into the sky. The man, who so long ago set in motion the chain of events that led to another taking his oath as the "most powerful man on earth," seemed to frown a little, probably disappointed at the amount of time his vision has taken to be realised.

The Capitol impressed like it is meant to, with its distinctive dome standing out against the colours of dusk. Which brings me back to what my wife said, "Capital's are built to impress!" like Rajpath or the India Gate or the pillars of the Parliament making that beautiful circle and the parade that I missed this year. They are all there to impress. A showcase for the world.

And then you come across something that is all that and more. The peace and quiet exhiliration I felt, one sunny winter morning, watching the man with the charkha at Rajghat was one such.

The Beginning

Though the title of this blog sounds like the ending of a Hrishikesh Mukherjee film (I love his films), it is indeed the beginning of, what I hope are, some keystrokes that will let out some of the latent uneasiness in me. The writing bug isn't new to me and I've always tried to write, sometimes failing poorly but at times succeeding. But its been a while since I've written! And too much water has been added by the Ganga to the Bay in the meantime.

I really don't have much to say today but I fear if I were to have postponed this little beginning any further it may never have been. So let me say that i have a lot more to say...