Sunday, December 31, 2006

RING IN THE NEW, RING OUT THE OLD

31st December.. The end of an year... The threshold of another.. As a set of 365 days draws to a close, our hearts & minds lie in anticipation of the "new" year to come.. What is new about the next 365 days? As we celebrate the onset of the coming 12 months getting inebriated & as "spirits" soar high at the stroke of midnight.. one wonders what so "new" or fresh about this year?


Is it not the same thing every year? Aren't all 31st Decembers spent planning & attending parties? Aren't all 1st of Januaries spent with a terrible hangover and ways trying to get rid of it? And then the same old story unfolds.. Back to the rigmaroll that life has to offer.. broken resolutions, unkept promises.. of losing weight... learning something new.. becoming a better person.. Familiar quotes of "I don't believe in resolutions" or "Resolutions are meant to be broken"


















Time, they say, is continuous.. Fluid... compartmentalised & put into silos of days, months, years by humanity for its own convenience (& celebration).. But does each year have anything fresh to offer from the one that has just gone by? Do years go by or is us people who pass the years by? In a false notion of having moved.. While in essence we've moved in a circle (just as the earth has revolved only to find itself at the same place where it began 365 days ago)


As we celebrate the death of 2006 & the birth of the next year in a mathematical series.. I sometimes think if it has given mankind an excuse to forget.. Erase memories with the eraser of time & neatly fold the papers behind sheets of calendars.. But alas! that is not to be.. For apart from the date on the bottom right hand side of the computer screen & the top left hand corner of a child's notebook page.. nothing has changed.. Its the same... You, me, everyone.. Perhaps (hopefully) with a new perspective.. Hopefully you & I have something new to offer this year.. A fresh outlook.. A novel thought process... Insightful & mature..


Until then... Cheers.. & Wish you all a Happy 2007

WARPED AND TWISTED

A friend of mine recently said to me, "You know? You're quite twisted".. Which led me to think.. What is "twisted"? Something strange? something unfamiliar? Ghastly at the extreme? Just imagine if we weren't strange.. If we didn't have our idiosyncracies.. Peculiarities.. How bland life would be.. Imagine seeing yourself in every person you meet.. Imagine encountering your clone round the corner.. Someone who talks like you, acts like you, thinks like you.. But is not you.. I think that thought is scary.. Yes.. I am twisted.. from where others stand.. I am twisted.. And from where I stand... well.. Lets just leave it at that -


Harsh words & violent blows,
hiddent secrets that no one knows.
Eyes are open, hands are fisted,
Deep inside, I'm warped & twisted.

So many tricks & so many lies,
too many whens & too many whys.
Nobody is special, nobody is gifted,
I'm just me, warped & twisted.

Sleeping awake, choking on a dream.
Listening aloud, to a silent scream.
Call my mind, the number is unlisted,
Lost in someone wo warped & twisted.

On my knees, alive but dead,
Look at the invisible blood I've bled.
I'm not gone, my mind has drifted,
Don't expect much, I'm warped & twisted.

Burnt out, empty, wasted & hollow,
Today is just yesterday's tomorrow.
The sun dies out, the ashes sifted,
I'm still here, warped & twisted.

WINTER

I love the winter.. Its my favourite time of the year.. And I look forward to it eagerly for something inside of me comes alive with the onset of winter.. How uncharacteristic of winter? Instead of freezing & immobilizing, it seems to stir something inside me.. It awakens what was heretofore hibernating.. To my annual muse, I dedicate this -

An eerie cool wind, brushes against my skin..
Whistling a haunting tale.
My eyes blink against the piercing breeze..
Or they harsh words that strike me?
Cold like my heart, moist like my eyes..
The sly cold wind teases.
Mocking, laughing, teasing..
Singing a jeering song.
While my heart achingly..
continues to seek.
Thrugh the wind, through the rain..
Through the song & through the tears.