a little romance with life

Men tell me not to be afraid of them But they stare at me when I'm at the store To buy dahi, my face cold and eyes red In anger and fear, always puzzled about how they'll react If I stare back at them; Men tell me not to be afraid of them As they make my experience of violence in a consensual encounter A cold hearted rational debate About objectivity and false rape cases They celebrate their win as I weep at home; Men tell me not to be afraid of them But I look left and right in dark alleys and walk with hastened steps My worst nightmare is three guys on a bike Even two, and when I go out I want to be ugly But men tell me to be beautiful And they tell me not to be afraid of them.

Kya tumhe semi-cooked pyaar hua hai? It all started with Pabs Hum bole – mujhe tumse behad mohabbat hai Kya tumhe bhi kabhi pyaar hua hai? Mujhe doubt hota hai Tumhe sirf mujhse hee pyaar hai Wo bhi semi-cooked Mujhe bhi bohot hua hai Semi-cooked pyaar Woh picturon ki tarah aahein bharna Aur fantasize karna Ki agar tum mujhe date karte toh kaisa hota Tum ye kehte, main uss baat par khoob hasti Hum sex karte, hum cuddle karte Mixed with so many kisses Wo semi-cooked pyaar Jo har call par sochta hai Ki tum meri aawaaz sun-ne ka bahana kar rahe ho Aur wo jo kehta hai Ki tum picture ke wo hero ho Jise abhi tak pata hee nahi hai Ki use heroine se pyaar ho chuka hai Wo semi-cooked pyaar jo gas par chadhaa toh Kuch aag bhi jali thi shayad Dheemi si khushboo mujhe aayi Shayad tumhe bhi aayi thi Warna hum dono hee Naak uthaae kyun hote bhala Logon se bhare iss kamre mein? Semi-cooked pyaar Mehak bhi aati hai Bhoonk bhi lagti hai Par khaali paet Khaali dil Hee sona padta hai

Cat kiss Forever eluding and often angry For leaving him alone Sometimes when I embrace him in a hug He claws to run away And sometimes he stays Looks into my eyes And blinks oh so slowly The book on cat behaviour says He's offering me a kiss. It is easy, so easy To know his kind of love But with humans I want Only one kind of love.

My attire for first dates is a lose shirt and running shoes Which is funny for a person who doesn't run, physically at least A yellow light, I like honest broken conversations And prefer an almost love story to none Or one Where my heart gets broken Fencesitting is fun When you're at Marine drive with the setting sun Yellow lights, some movies say, can lead to great love stories Can someone not meet me there? When we're not on a date And I forget my running shoes at home?

The bags being packed revolted to stop Like the cat that will claw at clothes, skin, human To stay out of the cage For him, this was a home For me, this was a home because of him We wept silently when he was around And loudly when it hurt too much The luggage continued it's strike With jamming zips and spilling clothes Tuck the right end in and the left spills Tuck the left and the right falls Tuck it all, and the heart weeps When will we find a home? they ask Bags not infected with wanderlust Those that like the slumber of empty, light, and free Those that like being open for the cat to sleep But the bags must get full And in the process, I must weep The cat must get into the cage And in the process, I must bleed

किस की आवाज़ सुनाई देती है? वो जो दूर है या वो जो पास है? जिस की कौड़ी या मधुर आवाज़ है? जो आवाज़ सुनाई ना दे, क्या वो भी आवाज़ है? हर वक़्त इक शोर है, लोगों की बातें धीमी या चिल्लाते गाड़ी स्कूटर ट्र्क का एंजिन, कुत्ते का भौंकना और जो कन्स्ट्रक्षन का नीरस साज़ है क्या जो सुनने में ना आए, वो भी आवाज़ है? पड़ोसी के घर में मार पीट, अपने दिल का धड़कना क्या सुनाई देता है इस पेन्सिल का काग़ज़ से लिपटना चीक, छींक, पाँच बार मस्जिद में जो नामाज़ है पर सिर्फ़ जो सुनाई दे, क्या वो ही आवाज़ है? और अगर मन में सुनो तो? काम पर टाइप करते हुए दिल में गुनगुनाना फिल्मों में बिना कहें कुछ कह जाना, जो आँखों से बात है क्या चुप्पी भी आवाज़ है? जो वो तुम कहते रहे कानों में वो जो मैने अनसुना कर दिया, मौज में मनमानी से या जो कभी कहा था पहाड़ो से, एक हवा में बहता राज़ है जो अनसुनी रह जाए, क्या वो भी आवाज़ है? बोलो किस की आवाज़ सुनाई देती है? वो जो दूर है या वो जो पास है? जिसकी कौड़ी या मधुर आवाज़ है? जो आवाज़ सुनाई ना दे, क्या वो भी आवाज़ है?

On Unambitiousness Firstly, this post has a lot to do with meanings typically assigned to the words mentioned here. As an example, 'love' has many meanings but often when we talk of it (unfortunately) we seem to be only speaking of romantic love. Aise hee, ambition for me has had many meanings over a period of time. In school it meant getting good marks (or at least trying to) and to get into a good college. During graduation the purpose was to learn lots of things but this got turned into 'ambition', I guess, when there was a desire to get awards of certificates for things. I don't know when, but 'ambition' in terms of work was this desire to be extremely passionate about work ("find what you love and let it kill you"), to work day and night, and to be recognized for the efforts I'll be making. In these terms and according to these definitions, I am not an ambitious person. I do not see myself as a leader or as someone who is at the forefront...