The psychological isolation......

The world around me is getting wierder. I am not denying that my views often have shades of cynicism. But you can blame this cause of weakness, due to the coffee cup philosopher, I love to be.
This is chapter two of the Multifarious Desis.
Over the following months, there began an influx of Indians who buzzed around the campus.
From the foothills of Jammu to the Malabar coast....there's a perfect representation of the son of these soils in the mighty America.
Now adaptibility is highly relative and very very individualistic. Some tried very hard(totally uncalled for)to adapt the Yankee accent, and where?In their answering machine!!
Its a different story that these guys ended up pronuncing Jalapenos literraly instead of silently replacing the J with Y!!
Now the good samaritan may raise their voice against me about the Queen's lingo and the disadvantaged vernacular medium educated Indians.....agreed, but why the pretence?
The Mexican populace here do not unabashedly ape to converse in English. They are proud of their Spanish tongue. So much so that now the Americans have started honing their skill over this language nationwide.
So coming back to the country cousins........speak the language as you know. The chances of being laughed upon will be far less than an unnecessary pretence.
The second eye sore is the sense of dressing. Thankfully this scanty clothed country is completely bohemian as far as style and fashion goes. But coming from the country that boasts of world's most beautiful women(Aishwariya, Sushmita, Priyanka, Lara etc)they can score slighty better. But no! Shapeless Tees, pitless Bottoms......what more? The 'bindi'!! As if thats the only proof these 'sisters' have to show their love and devotion to their lord husband!
Give me a break.
While I am no HOTBOD beauty contest winner myself, but atleast I ensure that I am not accused of committing a fashion harakiri!
Then there are those lords and ladies who go all out to over take the other in the rat race of ''talking'' of dollar squandering. You will find them hoarding the WALMART grocery bag, but they love to talk about their frequent visits to TARGET or KROGER.
Ofcourse there are outright honest humans too who never shied of stating that they are here to accumulate as much dollar and sacrificed all their cravings of wining dining or fine clothing.
This honesty is laudable.
Now the problem is that I am completely trapped in a gyre of confusion.
Psychologically I am vascillating between the two poles. I like to dine and follow the fashion fiesta and do not shy from throwing caution to the wind as far as spending goes. But when I hear about the thrifties enmassing their welth back home, I vow to live the life of ragbag!
But ofcourse there is not a single frugal bone in me, so dollars go back to where they belong. Back to the American stores.

To be continued.........

The Black Diamond......

Everwhere the commercials scream
'Diamonds are girls best friends.......'
The rich people have their own choice of stones,
The long list never ends!

Somelikes it white, some likes red,
Each one begs to differ.....
Each one argues over the glitz,
of ruby, emerald and sapphire.

The rich and famous and now even middle class,
in parties, at work, they donne.
Each shows off their largess,
by flaunting these dazzly stones!

But down the mines, those ragged limbs,
toll day and night
The glitzy stones to them is fantasy,
which shines in distant bright.

The heat burns their boney torsos,
sweat washes their spine,
The incessant digging fraught with risk,
What a hard life? oh God divine?

But when the winter drops it curtain,
of white and wetty snow,
rich, poor all alike,
takes the savage blow.

Whats the use of fancy diamonds,
which leaves their purses toll
My poor miners are better off,
they have the warmth of coal.

While these burdened soul may not,
ever afford diamnond half or whole,
But they have the blessed black diamond,
the mineral named coal!!

The unseen friend.

I had to write about this.........even before I completed my story about the country cousins(The Multifarious Desis).

I met her virtually.......in the cyberworld. She hails from a small town with royal bearing; The slightly remote part of Bengal. But its also the hometown of Princess May, now the Queen Mother of another royal city, where my prince hails.
Now, in my literal melodrama, I was almost swaying from the subject. This is the story about a friend and no royalties blah blah!
Bantering with words, we quite accidentally met, I think its me who made the first move. But before the moon completed all its phases, I developed an affinity, followed by fondness. I realized, I looked forward to chat with her, exchange itsy bitsy daily happennings, and most importantly she could wipe my blues away.
I discovered her talents......her academic achievements, her brilliance with needle and thread, her art with the wax and her passion for poetry.
Now its the last one that deserves a special mentioning.........what began as a sport, opened a new vista!
She coaxed me to contribute in her new sport of rhyming and I begged my disability in that field.
She persisted in her quiet manner and I thought what the heck, its just a game. There's not to reason why not?? I took the plunge quite playfully. It almost consumed me. So much so that I
pushed aside my chores and donned my thinking cap and started scribbling on any bits of paper floating across the house.
The first poem that I wrote is laced with privacy. So its safe only on the sheet of paper which has scribbles of crayons, my son's artwork and few hasty scribbles of telephone numbers beside some tea stains.
Its the second one which is ordinary in literary sense, but the feelings behind is very very deep.
Its a double tribute.......the 1st one to my friend who inspired me and the second one to the subject itself. Having grown up in the mining town of Dhanbad, the city has a very special place in my heart. It always will be.
But most importantly my friend you have carved an extra special place in my heart!
Until we meet......
Till then,
with much love,
Yours truly!

PS:CIRCA 2008(MARCH)
The new year brought dramatic revelation.It rewrote the definition of friendship.
But amidst the poignancy, I would like to quote from my favorite, Kahlil Gibran...."And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don't,they never were."

The multifarious desis!

India Rising, India Shining! The rise and shine effect have reached the various shores across the globe where technology is The mantra.....Starting with the US which has always been the Eldorado for not only the browns, blacks, yellow but whites too.

Setting sail in one such boat, we reached Uncle Sam's country and witnessed the very own Indian rising shining effect.....when I reached the apartment which my husband had tastefully done up waiting for me to step in, it was the spring season.

Allergens awaited us, a state of silence (all through day and night)welcomed me. The best was yet to come.The shock! Not having a maid to wait upon!

The biggest luxury back home is a maid who depending upon your contract does practically everything that you want her to do!Something that an average American can never imagine!!

Notwithstanding all the cons, I tried hard to highlight the 'pros'to myself !

I searched for the browns......readers dont jump to conclusions about my color fictation! I am sure every human in an alien environment undergoes the same syndrome.

A couple of browns occassionally bumped upon brought a radiant smile on my forlorn face. But what did I get in return? disdainful looks.....a look which said oh no one more!!

In contrast the other colors were friendly!

By the end of spring, there were an influx of various shades of brown. The day of that discovery is so vivid in my mind. A new chapter began.........that what was to tutor me about my compatriots in literal sense.

The Downpour

When the heart is tumultuous, its always best to open the floodgates. I never shy from doing this;and where? To the only person who absorbs it all. Mother.
Often we wonder what is God's greatest creation? Of late I narrowed it down to two. One parents, two children.
While weighing the two I have arrived at my very own inference.....it is the Parents. They win handsdown.
And yet how much do we value this priceless possessions? Now readers of this post have I opened another floodgate?
The weather outside is a reflection of my present mind. The flash of lightening represents hope.
The thunders are announcing the pile of work thats awating .......its a jolt.
The downpour is symbolic to the washing that is much needed......its washing the dishes, self, heart and soul........

In continuation..........

Today he and I had a healthy arguement.....on what?
About serendipity!!Ahem! For a change it was an arguement about intellect and not the mundane daily life.
I was in favor of the motion........stating that our life together has been serendipitious. He couldn't agree less!!
Before I could validate my statement, with the facts, our son dampened the fire!It was time to attend to his demands of searching his much needed car of the moment. After I thought I complied to his demand, was just about to resume the arguement, a second demand arose.....the second car of the moment!
Serendipity remained burried in the hearts.

The dark side of diaspora

Well, like the proverbial pendulam, I or rather my ''mood'' swung and I erased the work of wisdom.....those were the testing times where turbulence engulfed me. So the writings on the blog were my brooding thoughts. So when sanity returned, I wiped them out and now I regret!
Who can say that someday it would not have taken me to the podium where I would read out the innumerable thankyous while being bestowed some literary award?
So Soma.........you are back to the life of being the faceless nameless!
Duh!!