imagination dead imagine

I have been always fascinated with the myriad of experiences and the rich culture that Delhi has to offer. For years I have been laughing silently at the people who know nothing of the beauty that this uncouth city holds. They look at the cynical smile that I offer and tell me that I have too deep a tie with this city to be able to do justice to an unbiased argument. Fellow Mumbaikars curse Delhi for the sheer lack of etiquette and demeanor. Yes they are, and always have been correct. Delhi is loud, uncouth and on certain occasions uncaring. But there can be no denying of the fact that there is no city as vibrant, as colourful and as lively.

What I never knew about my favourite city was that not only is it an amazing place to live and grow up, but also Delhi can boast of some amazing people, intellectual movements and extraordinary courage. (more…)

William : There is no pride in losing…
Neha : You mean you’d rather not participate than lose?
William: Yes. Because when you lose, you lose your pride in front of millions.
Neha: And when you don’t play for the fear of losing, you don’t lose anything?
William: Yep.
Neha: Hahaha. Let me get this straight. Your statement tells me two things. First you are telling me that losing in front of millions of people humiliates you, but losing in private does not. And second, not participating for the fear of losing or let me say failure does not upset you… and would not mean that you have no pride whatsoever?
William: No. You’re getting me wrong. I meant to say that I’d rather not take a challenge that I’m not confident of pulling off. (more…)

She rests her neck on the reclining backrest of her chair. Everyone’s left. She is the only one left in the dimly lit office. She looked at her watch. It’s ten past eleven in the night. She closes her eyes. They hurt from over use. Gently messaging her temples, she gets up for another cup of coffee.

From her window she can see the quiet streets outside. She switches off her computer, quickly neatens the stack of papers on her desk, brushes aside the hair on her forehead and heads out. As she reaches the bottom of the stairwell, her legs give way under her and she collapses on the wooden floor. Head in hands, contents of her purse strewn all over the floor she sobs softly.
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The last thing I remember about leaving Delhi would definitely be the heavy sleet in which my father deftly manoeuvering the car safely deposited me to the airport. As I later disappeared into the surging throng of human bodies, I saw him stagger to the car, knowing that he had lost his daughter to the world. (more…)

When I was younger, my grandfather used to tell me stories about Pakistan. He would tell me of the glorious days spent there, the riches, the land, the beauty and all that west Punjab was. The love that the neighbours shared, how easy trust came in those days and of course the ghost stories. No story of my grandfather’s could be complete without a mention of the supernatural. With my growing up, the nature of his stories changed. He began to finally tell me about the killings and the blood spilling that happened during the time of the Partition.
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I saw a list of 100 things about someone on their blog… liked the concept… so i’m putting mine here -
1) I am more sarcastic than I like.
2) I hate keeping in touch.
3) I am cocky at times.
4) I hate excuses.
5) I spend more than 75 percent of my salary on my house.
6) I stopped having any sort of expectations from anyone some time back, before that I used to believe that if you be good to people, they’d be good to you.
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The tang of the sweet and sour gol gappas

Sweet honey of warm jalebis

The noise of the crackers

Smell of cheap gunpowder

Blinking lights on the templetop merging into the bright orange sunset

Yes… Dussehra in Delhi is beautiful

Best Wishes!

- Neha

A typical conversation on a beautiful evening in Bangalore

Call 1: (6:05 p.m.)

D: Hey, You’re still at work? I asked you to get out early today. Remember we have to watch a movie at 7?

N: Yeah, hey the theatre is 15 minutes away.

D: Yes I know but I would prefer if you still just started out from work.

N: ok, ok.

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I don’t like writing. It’s a struggle. It makes me cry. It is like a drug in the opposite sense. There is no great joy that comes from it. (more…)

So today one satelite launch went awry. It went up with aplomb but then somethings happened to its strap-on boosters and it came down in the flames, to be doused by the greenish-blue waters of the Bay of Bengal. In the past two days, this is the second time, that an Indian dream flight has refused to reach its destination.

This is very true of the country itself, of its people and of its history. We just refuse to fly-high as a nation. We test-fired Agni-III, which was supposed to clear out the Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, instead it returned back after covering just one-third of the distance. Our Defence Minister said that it was only a minor mishap and we must learn from our mistakes and move on towards better things. Move on. Yes, move (more…)

If you’re in a dark room, crammed up with colorful antibiotic pills and the only access to the outside world is either a broken down CD player or a cassette player that blurts out tapes in high speed, do not listen to this album.

Nothing beats personal experience. Especially the ugly ones

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Im standing at the edge of something too deep. It seems to beckon, and all I want to do is take a leap. But there is much at stake here. The heady rushes are a thing to reckon. So are the sudden bouts and fits of tears.

He lies down on the edge of the wall that seperates life from death and looks over at the other side. I sit looking at him. At peace with himself after a long long time. I tickle the underside of his foot. And he laughs. Giggles actually. It makes me sad. I don’t know why. It should not, but still it does. Almost as if sensing it, he gets up and says, “im going to miss the sounds of the traffic”
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A friend challenged me to make a list of the kind of men I like, because he was very confused. So here it goes, for your benefit Varun. Hope you see what you want.

I Like a guy who

1) Is resourceful.
2) Acts grown up when I act childish.
3) Assumes control of a problem situation.
4) Doesn’t compare me with other women, realizing that I am me, different in my own ways.
5) Knows when to be serious. (more…)

I took a personality test from a friend’s site… the results were shockingly exact!

Here’s what I got…

You are an Attentive Inventor

You are an Inventor
Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.

You have the confidence to make your visions (more…)

To Boddah:

Speaking from the tongue of an experienced simpleton who obviously would rather be an emasculated, infantile complain-ee. This note should be pretty easy to understand.

All the warnings from the punk rock 101 courses over the years, since my first introduction to the, shall we say, ethics involved with independence and the embracement of your (more…)