Intezaar

Intezaar kiska kar raha hun main?

Aankhon mein kyun hai yeh beychaini?

Kinarey pey khada dekh raha hun main,

merey khayalon key leheron mein doob raha hun main.

Ruki hui si lag rahi hai yeh duniya, 

thama hua sa lag raha hai yeh aasaman.

Palkey hain basayi mainey kiskey liye?

Jindagi, yeh intezaar hai kiska tumhey?

Yeh Suhana Samaa

Dil ney kaha waqt tham ja jara,

Palkon mein merey basney dey yeh samaa.

Inn vadiyon mein jhul rahein hain jo tehniyan, pattiyan,

Keh rahein hain mujhsey tu bhi jhoom ley jara.

Zharney hain gaa rahein eak geet jana sa,

Mann ko hain dey rahein eak ehsaas anjana sa.

Yeh khamoshiyan jaisey kaano ney samajh hai khoyi,

Par eak hari si thandak aankhon ney hai paayi.

Nas nas mein merey bharney dey yeh nasha,

Waqt tham ja jara.

And then they met...

The winds wont blow, no halo will glow,

the trees wont swing all in a row.

This girl I tell you when walks to me,

my heart will sink with all the glee.

My heart will know and it will bow,

and I will throw my love to grow.

Hug her tight that she never fights ,

and talk to her as if time flies.

Make her laugh for me to smile,

dance as one and swing her nice.

Take her out on a starry night,

gaze at the sky of diamonds bright.

And for every mood that she might flaunt,

give her a kiss she will always want.

Be your own lifeguard!

All ya land lovers!! Listen up and listen up good. This post is specially for people who either want to learn to swim but "do not have time" to do so, or are dead scared of getting in the water. One way or the other you will sometime in your life find yourself in water that is deeper than you can stand and breath in. And then instead of feeling 'If only I could swim' at that "drowning" moment, its better to know some basics.

Well, if getting rescued is all you care about, technically you don't need to know how to swim, you just need to float and not drink water around you, till someone gets to you and drags you to dry land. So here is the scenario, you just fell in water, what is the first thing you do? You reach out to the water surface and try to get your head out so that you can breath. Head first or feet first doesn't matter, whichever way you fall the general human tendency is to orient themselves so that their head is out. Now, while doing this people generally push the water up and down as if cycling in water and do the same with their hands, which is natural. The position of the body is upright at this point.

The first and most basic thing for "never-swam" people is NEVER try to stay upright. You always want to sleep on the water, like sleeping on a bed, looking up at the sky. That is your best bet at saving your life. Its like a small sheet of metal, if you keep it flat horizontal on the water surface its going to float but the moment you make it vertical... 20,000 fathoms awaits it.

This turning your body from vertical to horizontal is possible only if all your body parts work together. We will go in a body part sequence that is hydro-dynamically effective.

Your legs are a very unique part of your body, which if not used efficiently are going to drag you down. For one, your thighs are heavy and two, they are shaped so that they can easily submerge and go down if vertical. So the first part of your body that has to get up to the surface so that you can get into the sleeping position are your legs. To do this start moving both your legs up and down, like the pair of blades of a scissors. When doing this try and keep both your legs straight from your waist down and point your toes away from your body, so that even they are horizontal. This makes your feet act like flippers, helping you lift your legs up easily. It will be hard to keep your legs straight and at the same time move them up and down. So, bending your legs a bit in the knees is okay, but just a BIT. So how fast or how deep does the leg movement have to be? Well, until your legs are straight, your legs should move with a higher frequency, but a lower amplitude. So move them with an intermediate speed but not deep inside the water, just near the water surface.

As your legs start coming up, you have to push your HIPS and your STOMACH up, up above the water surface. Believe me its not at all hard. Push it up as if someone was poking you from the water below. Its every body-part for itself when you are in water. Just imagine... you are upright in the water, you started moving your legs like a scissor... they are coming up slowly... but they are only going to bring themselves up, the hips and stomach have to push themselves up, so that you attain a horizontal position.

As far as your hands are concerned, just skim them on the water surface, with your palm facing the water. Just like lying flat on snow and making a snow angel.

By now (looking sideways) nearly whole of your body has been rotated from being vertical to a horizontal position, but there is one more thing to remember. ALWAYS look up at the sky. Do not try to look what is in front of you, because that is going to bend your body and make it vertical again, pushing you down into the water.

That was a lot to remember up there, but it seems a lot because of the explanation. Its very simple even for a non-swimmer and anyone can float on their back in less than 15 seconds. Just remember these 3 points:

1. Keep both your legs straight and move them up and down like a pair of scissors.

2. As they start floating up, push your hips and your stomach up towards the sky.

3. Keeps moving your legs and maintain your hip and stomach position. No need to push hard now. Keep looking up.

Now that you are quite stably flat on water you are free to scream the hell out. Hopefully if someone nearby knows how to swim they might come to save you, unless all they too know is just to float!! Practicing this in a shallow 4ft pool won't harm you. Try it!

Well, now that you know a survivor skill do you feel like its okay to NOT know swimming? You will be missing out on an opportunity of a lifetime if you are thinking on that line! Because when you know how to swim, you don't only make sure you are confident in deep waters but also pose as a lifesaver to someone else who might be drowning. So think it out. You won't be much different than a doctor, the only other person who is a lifesaver and consequently at the same stature as god, to people who are in a helpless and agonizing situation, waiting for someone skillful to come and pull them out of deaths very own hands ;)

Keep Swimming!! \m/

Eak kavita Babansathi...

This one's for my Baba's 60th Bday from what I know him for the last 25yrs.

शब्द कित्ती गोळा करू, बोलू तरी केवढे आज,
साठी पूर्ण झाली आहे मित्राची माझ्या खास.

वार्यावरती येतो तो अन वाऱ्यासारखा जातो,
गप्पा अश्या करतो कि आम्ही हलत-डुलत राहतो .

डोकं सारख आपटत राही, नव्या शोधांची त्याला खाज,
इंजीनियारही झक मारेल अश्या आयडिया त्याच्या खास.

रस्ता माझा बनवेन मीच, असो वाळू किंवा बर्फ गार,
पाणी असेल तर झालाच कि, पोहून जाईन नदी पार.

हृदय म्हणतो "थांब जरा!", "घेउडे कि जरा श्वास".
कधीतरी विचार मला, कित्ती देशील असा त्रास!

शब्द कित्ती गोळा करू, बोलू तरी केवढे आज,
साठी पूर्ण झाली आहे मित्राची माझ्या खास.

A "Date" to remember!

Dark black skies... tiny stars flickering like diamonds... cool gusts of winds... and only the sound of splashing waves.

He was still looking up at the sky...amazed at the wonders god created up there...and then he turned his head to the side to find her sleeping besides him, '...and the beauties he created down here!'

This was their first date away from the chaotic city and the usual "date venues". Somewhere unique, somewhere quite is where she wanted to go.

"Why not!", he thought, "A private yacht, the open seas and just the 2 of us!"

His eyes were stuck on her, just couldn't take them away. She was nothing less than a Mermaid sleeping on the yacht deck. That Long Black Dress... her shoulder long wavy hair bouncing with the wind, and those eyelids like petals, flickered everytime the wind blew kissing them. Just looking at those red lips made him feel warm.

Turning on his side he smiled and kept staring at her.

"What?" she asked with a puzzled tone.

Giving an innocent nod, he ran his fingers through her hair and pushed them behind her ears. Quickly kissing her cheeks he slid himself back and started looking up at the stars.

"JAYY!!" she screamed.

Sliding near him she went up and looked in his eyes. Their eyes locked for a few seconds as if they were meeting each other for the very first time.

'How I would love to look in those eyes...every morning I woke up', she thought. 'Hmm, only if he ever proposes.'

With a big sigh she rested her head on his chest and opened up her eyes at the sky.

"You know what Jay, I like your eyes."

"Really?? Just my eyes? Thats it??" came a quick reply.

"Well, I don't want to go into the 'DETAILS', you know!!", she said tickling his tummy.

Both of them went on laughing for a while.

Taking his arm in her hands she hugged it tightly and kept gazing at the stars.

They continued looking up at the sky... no words... just the waves.

"You like the stars and the skies don't you?", he said holding one of her hands and playing with her fingers.

"Ohh I love to gaze at the skies, the stars, the planets... everything up there!" she said in excitement.

"Did you ever dream of going to the stars then? Or better, bringing them here?"

"Ohh, come on now Jay" she started, "don't start the 'I'll bring the stars for you' line. Thats too cheesy".

"Ohh NO!" he replied, with a devilish smile, "I am not going to. You are going to catch one for yourself."

"WHAT??" she yelled, "Are you serious?!" and started laughing.

"Come on. Play along this one time will you!" he said lifting up her hand.

"Open up your hand, grab the star you like the most and close it tightly!"

She looked at him. His eyes were pleading... something she couldn't resist.

"Is that kid in you ever going to grow?" she gave in, opening up her hand.

Looking up at the sky, she rolled her eyes a bit trying to choose a star from the millions up there. With a big 'Ahh' she closed her hand as if grabbing one.

"Here!" she said, showing her hand.

"Now give it to me", he wrapped his hand around hers as she smiled and opened her hand.

"Now what??", came a quick question, like a 5 year old.

"Now... about my eyes... You love them don't you! How would you like to look at them every day and every night... No one else... Just you and them!", he said opening up his hand.

"Will this star do??" he asked with a wide smile. He was holding a bright glittering Solitare Diamond Ring.

She wanted to smile and laugh, she really did, but her eyes couldn't hold the tears back. It was something she had always hoped for but this was too real, too surprising to be JUST happy.

She closed her eyes and started nodding as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I want those eyes to look at me for the rest of my life Jay!", she whispered with her eyes still wet.

He kissed her forehead and touched his nose to hers looking deep in her eyes. Sliding the ring in her finger he hugged her tight enough to feel her heartbeats. They were louder, much louder than the waves now!

My Real Life Hero.

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You taught all that you could to make me and Amruta good swimmers and I know you had big dreams.

I still remember the times you used to give me a Rs.2 bill each time I went for a swim in 2^rd Grade, so that I swim at least for that. What a waste I was! :|

I get hungry after every swim even today, thinking about the wait for that Sunday swim session to get over so that you would buy me and Amruta a Frankee at Tibbs.

I want to go on that ride again standing just behind the scooter handle and revving the motionless handle sleeve as you used to speed up.

Its summer here now but I am still waiting for you to bring a big watermelon and I miss the Watermelon Mocktails you used to make.

Will you bring Kababs on Monday or Sankasthi even here and innocently tell mom you forgot about the DAY, while blinking one eyelid, signaling us the situation is under control :D

But at the same time why do you clap your hands and chant the Aarti during Ganapati at Aatya’s house?

I am happy that you trained me to eat everything. “You should be ready to eat anything that won’t kill you if need be and if you want to survive.” is what you said and I do.

I know how much you wanted to pursue engineering but couldn’t because of your love for swimming, but I am happy that I am able to pursue your dream.

You made me study hard for a motorbike and encouraged me to ride one and never bogged me down with safety issues or being overcautious about it, you can't imagine how lucky I feel about that!

I was stunned when you said “You can even play an Electric Guitar now that you play an Acoustic one”, without a hint of sarcasm in it. I was expecting being yelled at :P

I miss the times we used to fight with Aai and Amruta to watch those Sci-Fi movies together. I want to stay awake watching those movies again.

You are my real life hero, I am inspired by your decisions to go off track and explore new avenues, and be ready to face the downs.

I won’t call you the Best Dad in the world, you are my dad and that’s all I need…and really speaking the world is not enough!

Honestly this was something for Father’s Day, but neither of us felt anything special about wishing Fathers Day. “We enjoy every moment together, then why do we need a different day for that?!” is what he said. And I can’t agree more.