Hustle or settle?

Happy hustling! Happy holi! 🎉 🎨

The burning question - hustle or settle!

In the humdrum of routine life,

We choose a path -

The path -

Which is -

Either easy - 

or weary -

And that determines our lives...

Often people settle with mediocre jobs and - as a consequence - mediocre lives -

Because, they are reassuring and -

Less threatening and -

Easier and - 

Less painful

Than -

Treading a complicated path -

Taking a tough bend -

Which takes a blend of -

Courage, resilience, sheer

Determination and -

The refusal to give up!

We want to hustle

But,

We choose settling instead -

Or find a balance somewhere in between both

And -

Console ourselves -

Rather than -

Confronting ourselves -

Confronting our dreams -

What makes us tick -

What fuels our fire -

What makes us different from the other billion!

'Maybe in some other life', we reason and console ourselves instead.

It takes guts, nerves, unabashed audacity

To risk it all, to hustle non-stop -

Come what may, night and day!

So instead we soothe our nerves, suit ourselves, let our fire die by not paying any heed to what our calling is.

But, sooner or later, there comes a time when we have to decide -

Risk it all or - none at all

And the choice between hustling or settling -

Must be taken -

Which decides the course of the rest of our lives.

And mind you - it's never an easy choice - 

Hard choices always make an easy life - just as - 

Easy choices, hard life!

So, toil on!

Never settle, when you can hustle!

घर

जिस घर में हम रहते हैं -

वह घर हममें बसता है।

ईंट, पत्थर, बालू से रचा घर -

खून, पसीने, प्यार की बुनियाद से पनपता है।

घर एक स्थान से बढ़कर,

एक भावना है -

एक खुशहाल, सुरक्षित भावना।

घर में रहकर भी लोग घर ढूंढते हुए उम्र गुज़ार देते हैं

या घर से दूर रहकर भी घर सा सुकून महसूस कर पाते हैं।

घर बनाने में उम्र लग जाती है और मिटाने में कुछ क्षण।

कुछ लोग घर में रहकर भी घर जैसे नहीं लगते,

तो कुछ कहीं भी रहकर भी घर से लगते हैं।

कई बार घर बनाने के लिए घर छोड़ना बहुत ज़रूरी होता है,

और घर की अहमियत समझने के लिए भी।

कभी पूरा धरातल ही हमारा घर लगता है,

तो कभी घर होना भी एक सपना सा लगता है।

हर घर अपनी कहानी संजोता है,

घर वो सुकून है जो हम सबसे, हम सबमें बसता है।

The complete half

It's not easy being a woman

Hell, not even being a man

But, having first-hand experience of the former

Would shed some light on that -

We are always sexualized - be it in the media or in our day-to-day lives.

Eyes ogle us everywhere, while walking down the streets or in the 'comforts' of our own home - when an outsider pays a 'friendly' visit.

People would brush into you purposely nevermind the sorry at the end which sorts everything -

See, they want a feel of you - nevermind, at the cost of you.

It's not easy being a woman in a largely patriarchal society

Where a certain age decides whether you are worthy of getting married

And your consent is least prioritised.

Family comes first - no arguments with that!

But the expectation that there's nothing wrong with a woman sacrificing her dreams to prioritise her family might be.

Ideally, the dilemma every woman faces at some point in her life - you first or family first - isn't fair and shouldn't even be a choice.

It's not easy living as second rate citizens in a world which overhypes the importance of being first in everything.

We are half the world and yet - the objectified half, the battered half, the tortured half, the bossy half, the slutty half, the half which needs a better half to be complete!

We are - half-full, half-pretty, half-sincere, half-creators, half-creative, half of the world which is full by itself!

And more than anyone else, it's high time women realize that half is complete! Half is enough! They are enough!

For the society lays down rules which can be mended by the half comprising the society!

So men and women must reunite and must take a stand for their respective halves!

Dear Someone

Dear Someone,

I don't know who you are or even, if you are.

All I know is, I need you to listen to me,

to hear what I have to say -

even if - I can't think of anything worthwhile to say...

Because I am bored and lonely and too full of myself.

I want to drown my thoughts,

pour words in your ears -

even if - they don't mean anything.

Sometimes having someone by your side is the only therapy you need.

But someone, I don't just mean to banter,

I want to listen too...

And I promise it won't just be a one-way conversation

I want to hear you out too, know you, your dreams, your goals, your fears, your sorrows, what keeps you going, but, most importantly what brings a smile on your face!

Because anything that makes you smile reciprocates and magnifies the smile on my face and so many other faces...

I know you are not here but somehow it doesn't feel like it.

I'll tell you what it feels like though...

It feels like the sky & sunshine, rain & rainbows, a gentle breeze & sand dunes, roses & lotuses...

Yes talking to you is just like that, magical in each and every way.

And that is why even if you aren't here, I can still feel your presence -

just like my shadow, never leaving my side.

And after we're done talking -

that is - in reality - me throwing my thoughts into this void, which, ironically encompasses the whole universe...

I know someone, we'll be miraculously healed!

Flight of a bird

I spotted this little bird,

Singing her merry song for me,

Painted in myriad colours and pitches 

Her whimsical tune of reality.

It hopped on from tree to tree -

Twittering, chirping playfully,

Then caught its flight back again

To the horizon of eternity.

Still squatted on my reclining chair, I -

reminisced about the pretty bird which left me

in reality, but, never in spirit,

while the sunrays played peek-a-boo with me -

alight on my soul mystically.

And then the bird took flight again,

Only this time in my mind's garden - to ascertain -

life's merry song perching in my soul -

the bird flew never to leave me alone...