On Hibernation,Boredom et al...

It seems like a decade ago that the cactus felt the blossom.However,its never too late for the blossom,be it au milieu d'hiver ou au mileu d'automne!

TFC has been a vent to the leaking brain that prevented oxidation and corrosion of the rut below.Post marriage,the migration to the US etc has managed to immerse the creative juices into chores that never occurred to moi earlier.

Living with silent taunts from friends,ignorant relatives and colleagues for not being "functional" professionally by choice is definitely not easy.One learns to overcome that with patience.Yes, missing all the professional credentials and opportunities at the peak of my career and age makes me feel miserable at times.

The fun is to remain optimistic and find the most opportune moment in time to turn the tide to your favour.The metal of person is determined with the struggles he overcomes and not through the number of competitors he beheads or trails ahead of him.I guess,we would not have had Abraham Lincoln in the American History had he surrendered to the failures in his personal and professional life,isn't it? There is always something to look from an open window of the world's panorama.

In the pass two years (wasted as some might want to think) I have had the privilege to accompany my soulmate Rohan,learn different ways of working and etiquette across the globe,pottery,house keeping,cooking,trekking (yes,me and treks!!) and human resource management.I have no regrets about the wonderful experiences that have made me mature over time.I shall always owe a lot to these 2 odd years for my entire lifetime.

 I chose to face the tide and decided to start a catering & event management entrepreneurship of my own with my husband Rohan's support.It is a new beginning.With  disciplined engineering oriented childhood,civilized graduation and management (hons)it would be a challenge for sure.But,I m ready to take on this plunge with a tiger's courage!

Not opting for the easy road was my preference.The road that I might have taken against my wishes on a red carpet.But a bed of roses or velvet each have its own reasonable price.

Opportunities have to be created not passed on,isn't it? So,all of those who have the dedication,determination and desire to fight,replace you swords (tongues to cut through the mean world) with actions.You are,therefore you stand!!

tfc

The soulmate...

Mates don't meet all that often,
Souls don't interact unless otherwise spiritual,
Eternity does not strike a chord for affinity,
Innocence remains too far to seem close to reality,
Trust and faith would oppose existence of an identity,
Self-assertion replaces conviction disturbing stability,
Full of conspiracy and selfish conjunction for desires of longetivity,
Unless soulmates happen!

It's all very easy and pre-defined to develop a liking,
Difficult is to accept and confess the adorance,
It's simple to fall in love but most likely a difficulty to confess commitment,
Words or simply the lack of it might truly be the reason,
Nither a language nor a song will bring the unsaid to said,
A customized conspiracy shalt not awaken the hearts,
Demon within glistening the evil of thoughts,
Unless soulmates happen!

Promises are made to be broken,
Silence maintained as a self-righteous token,
The brunt of jealousy shalt ruin all the fun,
Apathic virtues and selfish wisdom barrier the happiness,
The traces of estrangeship flagged on every heart,
The grass on the other side would always appear in blossom,
Victory and triumph are the emotions so rotten,
Unless soulmates happen!

Stressing the words to prove a point,
Seperation and distress is most likely outcome,
Wounded souls hurt and pessimistic,
The nebula shadowed by the nebulous nigh,
Glutton's greed for more of rustic gallore,
The blue sky- seemless yet seeming not enough,
The rise and fall is all that fate seems,
Unless soulmates happen!

The sun and the moon play the game of mates,
Commoners fail a notice of the two souls playing hide and seek,
The night falls and the ego alarmingly wakens the sun's pride,
The subtle beauty de la lune sure gets blotted with the spots,
The two spend the night crossing guns,
As the night proceeds to dawn;their laughter fills the air around,
The fluttering lashes of the shy moon bid the smiling sun for a bright day ahead,
Unless we identify....the soulmates happen to dampen the worldly spirits!

Green emeralds,
Blue saphires,
Lusty desires and moutaining ambitions,
Shine,rise and blossom only till the beauty of black exists,
The grays in temprament,The blues in time and desserted tides,
Allure us to be the destination,
Until soulmates happen!

Friends in smiles away by miles,
Distances near stretched so far,
Lone world would always seem apart,
Past would be grim,
Future would be a relief of sigh,
Nights would bring in only the dark,
Soulmates happen in the midst of heat and sun,
On a bloomy night with a distressed instinct,
Blowing away all the charred emotions,
That's when soulmates happen!


Soulmates share the joy of togetherness,
The symbiosis of two distinct worlds,
The urge to shed a tear and wipe it too,
The desire to admit,accept,confess and commit,
Soulmates win and lose only to themselves,
Selflessness and art of giving virtue,
That's the magic of mates once they happen!

TFC!

Make hay while the sun shines...

"My father was obviously born in the wrong generation. For his first test for the country in 1961, he got a cheque of Rs 150. When he was part of the historic 1971 win in West Indies and England, he got the princely sum of Rs 750 per match. Contrast..." -Rajdeep Sardesai,CNN-IBN.

Mr.Sardesai,I agree but disagree too.

The era when your father played cricket advertising was not in vogue.People barely had televeison sets at home.Cricket was a source of entertainment for people,today it has become a livelihood.Most of the cricketiers are not very highly educated nither do they work for any big/small organization.AK,JS,RD are an exception to this rule,but not completely uninterested in minting money.The sportsmen are richer and invest hugely in hotels,s/w businesses etc.Nothing wrong with it,it's just like the transformation of a seed into a fruit! The world has changed.So,let them enjoy and earn while they are in limelight.If they did not,then who would the media chase to crack a "breaking news"?

Rajdeep, we are in the 21st century where land sells at a higher cost than of gold and professionals get what they demand.Not very long ago (@ 2 years)when the cactus graduated as an architect and was haunting jobs enthusiastically.Our genre thought at least 10 times before quoting for the expected salary but just a year later we saw our juniors demanding for a salary at least 2 times our intial salary. An aunt of mine who graduated years ago as an architect from Sir.JJ found it amuzing that an intern today earns about 10 times more than what she did in those days.Time value of money is the name of the game!

My father aged 66 and a half, could have purchased a wonderful flat in Parsi Colony at dadar at 20 thousand grants 35 years ago,today 35,000 would buy him only 7sq ft of the same flat! Every inch costs.He was 31 years old then and could not afford to buy it.
Aujourd 'hui,a 31 year old earns much more than 35,ooo Rs and can perhaps dream of buying it,but definitely only in the distant suburbs or satellite towns of Bombay or any other metros in India.

Lifestyle has changed considerably.Luxuries like A/C,laptops,computers,air-travel,imported cars,hotelling,shopping for impulsive goods have become necessities to keep in pace with the fast moving world.Life today has demands beyond food,shelter and clothing.

Where time value of money has escalated,value of time has depreciated to certain extent for one survives to earn and make hay for earning!Remember,lost time never comes again!
Sad part of this is lack of sensitivity towards humanity.Use of branded products has crammed India markets and local goods have been depressed to losses. Anyway,more on that some other time!

Till then,Make hay while the Sun shines!

TFC.

The Spring & the Sun!

"The flowering cactus.....the renaissance of Baroque basking in Sun in the wonderful journey called life...."

The renaissance of the Baroque signifies renewal , change , modification , rejuvenation of the ugliest , unattractive , massive , unartistic ,dumb and thorny"cactus" in the company of the ever smiling,charming , suave ,witty ,lovable yet naughty Sun in this journey of life which is so fulfilling at every rise and every dusk.The Sun has inspired and initiated a string of events and coloured the life into a rainbow....the rainbow that does not need the rains to pour or the clouds to thunder.

The blog of the cactus also has undergone a similar change...a long awaited make-over! All thanks to the niceties of the Sun....here's an era of fulfillment and aspirations.The new look of the blog is just a replica of the true state of the cactus...happy and contented. Orange and blue adorning the exact vibrance and exquisiteness to the blog depicting the play of colour in the dull and thorny life of the cactus.The Sun looks it's best when a little orange and spreads its virtue of giving when surrounded by the blue...dispersing the sadness , hardships and wild life of the cactus.

The spring has finally dawned in the life of cactus.This summer like the rest of photosynthetics Cactus will experience the blossom.For a change the thorns will smoothen and yield a flowerly off-spring.

The cactus is here to gain...as procastinated earlier 2008 is her year...a year she would want to mark the renaissance...the contentment and yes the undying source of strength in the Sun!

Cheers to the Spring & the Golden Sun!

TFC

A Simplified Hope...

Hope is the aspirational rainbow of the morrow,

It's the fantasy of the enchanting desires over the desert of the sorrow,
The metacarpel of the shifting horizons swinging over the depths of the blue sea,
The pivot of that integrates the distorted ciel to the warmth of the "sun".

Hope is the celebration summoning the ocassions to respire contentment,
It defines the sounds of the mind and brain synthesizing them systematically,
Anonymous sources repeating :"Never thy met,never shalt thy meet"
Yet a harmonious oscillation ticking unmomentously....."hope thy it is".

Hope is to re-draw the destinations to injury only to await it's heal,
It's living than mere survival,
The source,the giver and the receiver of the unprecedented enlightenment within,
The strength driving the aftermaths of a crash over a teary endless night!

Hope is a continuous restoration of the settled over unsettled wise to weaker potions of selfishness,
It's the bund to resist the apprehensions vers the foreground,
The victorious warrior to rebel against the dissimilies of the past,
And,an undefiable worth to conquer the future....only to win it!

Hope is moving ahead with every change of season,
Hope is a season of excellence nither of perfection nor of imperfection,
It is the wisdom of an awakened soul,
The light and dark are just gestures of psyographies,
Hope thy hope...a magic to perceive,create ,develop and progress.

P.S:It's for all those who have been through the dark ages and have an apprehension of the blinding lightthat suddenly must have blown them with contentment.Guys,it's your time to enjoy the baking and eat the cake all by and for yourself! So,bask to glory and live every bit of the moment.You sure deserve it!

TFC

the beautiful moments that make life a paradise!

Do not really represent the genre of typical women who are lady like with their coquettish style and virtue fluttering lashes and begetting faux attention from the oppoaite sex. still there are certain times when the cactus just cannot stop herself from being a girl.

yesterday, i had been to the airport to fetch my father who came from calcutta, needless to say that the flight was delayed and he only landed after clearance of air-traffic at 1.30 am.

however boring it may be to people to wait on the airport or stations,the cactus finds this activity absolutely interesting. being an architect, one gets to feel the muti-functional aspect of various spaces present or absent at such times.

being the summer time there were a lot of mothers along with their little ones,or famillies moving for a holiday,or kids coming to their hometown for vacation....and the usual travellers of the corporate interests.

the arrivals terminal was full of those taxi drivers and hotel executives on one hand, but on the other side of the waiting area were a queue of grand-parents,fathers and mothers waiting with all their heart for receiving their loved ones.

i found them dearly close to myself as like them the cactus too was also there to receive her father whom she loves so so much that staying up beyond 1.30 am dint matter.

anyway,in the whole chaos what struck the sleepy eyes was a man wearing shorts and a red t-shirt;looked to be somewhere in his late 30's and who seemed very tired.inspite of this, there was a certain kind of happiness and eagerness on his face that i almost could not overlook.

he was pacing through the crowds and constantly dialling up his mobile,until at one point just thought that he was so irritated that he would just leave at once,but after an hour or so the number that he was dialling so vigorously responded and i saw a big smile on his face!

it took around a quarter of an hour for his smile to regain confidence when his wife and son appeared on the aisle.

the child seemed very sleepy but as soon as he saw his father he spread his hands at him.the mother was waiting until she received any attention from her husband. and in a few seconds, the man took his wife close to him and all that he said was 'i missed you so much...if you had not come today i would have taken the next flight and come to you".

those words were magical, she almost had forgotten that she was tired and said nothing but pecked him on his cheek.they left after that, leaving me behind thinking. in a way it might be sounding unethical because over hearing someone's conversation is not very appreciable,but this time i am not really feeling bad about doing it.

such wonderful moments of life............the cactus would die a 100 deaths to live one such moment,no matter how strugleful the otherside of the life is.
Seriously feel sad about those people who become conoisseurs in different walks of life but fail to acknowledge the value of such moments.We all have seen people who beome very solitary when they grow old and have no one who could even inquire about their health. They are themselves responsible for their fate of state and the cactus does not empathize them at all. all their lives they chase ambitions , success and career.whats the use of all the success if you cant see your first borns first child and hold it in your hands?

think.....think.........you might be the one on the other side of the glass who might have missed a moment or two with your lo0ved one beacuse you were busy minting money.i hope not very deeply and optimistically!but, if you are.......go and give a hug to your spouse, your friend, your parents, or your child and apologize for the donkey that you have been.

i m sure that you would be hugged and loved for the person that you are and for the gesture that took you a step higher in the hierarchy of the loved ones list of adorables........go ahead!!!!


TFC

ways to rule the world: particularly "MEN"!

this is the signage that my sister has put infront of her bathroom door so that no one enters the premises,and if someone dares to then a lizard might be the host!

she scared the hell out of me!

by hook or crook, i must win!: D empowering Yash.

from the maestro:
if you think the toture is over:here is a soothing way to enchant you with scary sounds of the flute!


trying stick weights with the big guys as well!
D and W!

caution:

thats Lady D for you! currently a hotel management student at LAD Nagpur, has highly contagious laughter, can crack your laughter with her consistent Pjs, very very lovable,easy to cry and some one who can drive you crazy at the drop of her dimples!the photos are really scary but my darling sister is certainly not!

i know that...

(at times i see so many people with conviction and determination that its almost unbelievable!!there are so many women who hold on their life for a moment,so many men who wait till they get back their lost moments,,,,,,until their loved one returns to worldly paradise and life.this is a commitment note of such a person who waits for his better half to resume to normal,waiting patiently at the bedside.)

i know u cant walk,
i know u will probably never walk again,
but , does it mean i have to stop walking with u?


last night u were sleepless,
you would be lightless for the rest of your mornings,
should that stop me from foreseeing dangers for you?


long days,crawlling nights may be for u,
but who says that i would want you can do that without me?


i agree that there is a longlist of wishes u want to make,
a long set of aspirations to fufill,
so what if u have to breathe them to reality through an artificial vent,
you can still keep your emotions in vent,
as long as you are,you will keep all your messages sent!!!!


as long as.....as long as i can hold on,
i will never let even a single spectra of miracle unturned,
to help u see the life as it was, when u return!


this is my belief,a belief that makes me be,
a strength that helps u feel alive,
a hope that keeps u r heart beat...
your life in silence too is like a treat.....
as i can still hear u loud and neat!!!!!!

The strcuk sound of your heart,the tear in your eye,
the grey in your hair,the dryness of your lips,
the want in your still hands,
I can still feel the pain you do,
For you do what I can't,
You ,can glisten my thoughts with your existence,the way no one can and nobody will!

TFC

Lost & found formula

World is a spherical zone where all two ends meet on the longitudinal or cross sectional circumference,where like MKD films 2 long lost brothers grow in different countries and coincidentally converge to one source and they unite!


Many a times, i bewilder if internets could really make such things possible? Well, until a few months ago, i denied even existence of such a calamity!
But as they say, truth is, but acceptance of truth is when it dawns upon you,similarly an incidentchanged my views on this.


i insist that this story of fate shall change the faith of many like me!an uncle of my mother had married a Swiss lady about 45 years ago, but due to certain reasons they separated and uncle M returned to India where fortune favoured and he enjoyed a long tenured medical career.


In the course of time, his parents ,Dr R & Mrs A got him married to an intelligent doctor from Mumbai.Unfortunately, Mr.M,lost track of his daughter "Christie" but never could stop pining for her and took to injurious drinking.This lead to a tragic but predictable end in his death half a decade ago.


The story begins here,as here begins the search of a 43 year old Christie for her father in India.Christie served her ailing mother in the last stage of cancer when she the whole story was disclosed to her.


A daughter wanted to meet her father who was millions of miles away in india (she thought so).She haunted places and people which had some acquaintance with Mr.M!


3 years slipped by keeping C's search for her lost father directionless.


One day her letter reached my grand-mother as C had posted it to an address which her father had once used for correspondence (out of bluemoon,seems to be very filmy though, tough run for "k"serials) and then aunt S replied christie!


Sadly, Christie can never see or meet her father again, all she could do is meet his sister, my grand-mum in Switzerland last year! I find it extremely difficult to coin perfect expressions in words to empathize with Christie, but this shook me from within.


Till date, i had always shown misbelief in coincidences and lost and found stories,but for once in zillions of chances i was accepting that realms can reflect reality too!
Wish no one ends up in Christie's shoes...if does then pray almighty to give them strength to accept and move on!

TFC