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Mellifluous melodies

Under your hands sleek

Holding that wood bleak

You let it slide across the fret

Melody escaping where your fingers met

The to and fro metal strings

In harmony with the voice that sings

A soulful song straight from the heart

That puts together all that was broken apart

I sit entranced, enchanted and glued

In this moment time flies, I belong with you

And as the notes rise, into a haven I rise above

In that song I found solace, I found love.

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Is the war worthwhile?

Horns intertwined, on a plane inclined
A downwards slope it is
Rolling in the mud, covered up in blood
Your downfall it is
Screams an cries the throats are dry
On parched ground you lay
Agony and pain, what did you gain?
Ad that war stretched by the day
Realise your worst fears as the end comes near
Your last breath’s a sigh
Regret or relief, what do you believe?
Is the fight worthwhile?

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Deserted

Desert

Slipping down the face

Like liquid fire

Anguished by the summer heat

I treaded along the lone court

Looking for a seat

Lone not the court, but lone was I

For no friendly face showed up to say ‘hi’

The specked face nerd, as some called

Stood bare like parched ground in drought

Distraught I sunk to a tree’s green shade

But the only shades I saw were blue and grey

 

 

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Let me through- ReFuGe

Let me through, will you?
For I seek refuge
Just for my child, some food and bed
I think I see a light ahead
Across the bars,
In someplace far
The vision is distant
But I do dream
Help me, will you please?
Urge, for my brother’s release
I seek asylum
For I am distraught
It isn’t done as easy as said
But I think i see a light ahead.

Beyond the Fence .

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Metamorphosis

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” — Richard Bach

Meta is a Greek prefix that means ‘after’ or ‘beyond’ , and morph refers to ‘shape’ or ‘form’. Metamorphosis is the term used to describe the process of transformation in insects and amphibians, from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages. However this scientific term finds popular civil usage as ‘a change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one.’

What we were once, is not what we’ll always be. Yes, old habits die hard, but we are capable of great change. As I described in my previous post ‘ We flourish together ‘ , the story reveals the tale of transformation of man from being  a fierce, abominable person to an enlightened sage.

The caterpillar’s  metamorphosis from a tree clinging, 12-legged pest into the majestic flying butterfly is one of the most used metaphors to describe a 180 transformation. It’s a truly  fantastic mechanism developed by nature, yet while all my seem fantastic on the outside, this transformation looks pretty gruesome deep inside, and isn’t a bed of roses for the caterpillar after all . In short, for a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly it digests itself using enzymes triggered by hormones. But then it emerges from it previous form, bold and beautiful than ever!

I believe it’s always too early to quit, and if you ask me how to be a butterfly, I’ll say we first need to give up being a caterpillar.

Transformation

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The bare top..

The bare top..

So meritorious, such a disciplined child!
Don’t you mingle with these notorious and spoilt.
“Would be a pleasure ma’am!” shouts a voice from behind,
“Sit with him? huh, as if we’ve lost our mind”.
‘Don’t pay heed to their disgraceful lines,
They are just jealous,’ says the teacher of mine.
And with the high grades that I got in science and maths,
Also came along my classmates’ wrath.
Few true ones might stand by your side,
But the rest seperate, with a gap huge and wide.
Top is a lonely place my friend,
Have to battle on your own, from start to the end.
Hard as it will be, don’t quit, don’t stop,
When you reach there, the real struggle starts,

To stay…. on the Bare Top…!

– Divisha Rastogi 🙂

Sincere

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Mom…

Hey mom, I miss you

And I know, that you must too

I miss having you by my side

Fondling my head, sitting on my bedside

Mom, I miss that warmth of your embrace

Mom, I miss that reassuring smile on your face.

Mom, I miss the comfort of your lap

I miss watching you stand in the audience and clap.

Today my eyes don’t search the crowd

‘Cause I know mom, there is no one there, shouting out loud

Telling me it’s ok if I make mistakes

No one is there mom, to sacrifice it all for my sake.

Mom, I miss the way you cared about me when I was ill,

Staying awake the whole night, handing me those pills.

Mom, I miss that welcome hug you give me when I return

You took it all on you mom, each wound, every burn.

Mom, I miss being carried away by the smell of what you cook,

Mom, I miss you dressing me up, telling me how pretty I look.

Mom, you can be anything and everything for me,

But mom, nothing ever, can be you.

– Divisha Rastogi 🙂

The time I tried the world’s smelliest fruit

If you have visited any Southeast Asian country such as Thailand you’ve probably seen this sign in your hotel room:

images

Durian is banned in most hotels and public transport systems across nations for a good cause. Yes, you guessed it, its smell. If I were to describe the smell it would be something like pungent rotten onions (and that’s an understatement). Before you come across the fruit in sight, its smell would have probably reached you already. It is about a foot long, covered in spikes and usually green on the outside whereas the colour of the flesh inside can vary from white to yellow. One gentleman described the aftermath of eating the fruit as ” Your breath smells like you’ve been French kissing your dead grandmother”. Ouch.

Okay we get it, it stinks so bad. Let’s not have it around, what’s all the fuss about? Try googling ‘the weirdest fruit’ and see what comes up. ( Psttt, it’s Durian.)

Durian is often referred to as the king of fruits. Sold commonly in cuts across the local markets, it is also found as candy, ice cream flavoring and so on. It is massive and has a better nutrient profile than most fruits worldwide. Apart from being rich in potassium, copper, iron, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, and B-group vitamins, it also has low sugar content and high amounts of dietary fiber ( good news for those suffering from constipation!).

While many have tried to explain it’s taste yet there is no one perfect explanation. People either love or hate it, there is hardly an in-between here, subjecting the fruit to a plethora of love-hate debates online.

So on my recent trip to Thailand, seeing this fruit on every street, I decided to give it a try. The taste will stay with me forever and God forbid I ever have to taste it again. While no amount of food of any and every flavor could remove the taste off of my tongue, I could smell it on my fingers for hours and hours ahead. The texture was kind of custardy, chewy and foamy, and while the seeds are edible too they need to be cooked first.

As if that was not enough, while sampling free candy at the airport my father tricked me into trying dried durian and it was no better than the fruit, and obviously minus most health benefits.

Here’s a tip, don’t try to wash down the taste with cola or else you’ll be burping farts later. So is the fruit as bad as it sounds? Or will this (in)famous delicacy will end up as your next go-to flavor? Well, you’ll have to try it for yourself to find out! Let me know how it goes (or went) for you on the comments below, best wishes 🙂

Blind power

We all need power, don’t we?
To be at a liberty to think, at liberty to see
The power to make our own choices
And of holding our heads high and free

Yet power corrupts one, doesn’t it?
To a stage where no restrictions seem anymore fit
When one feel superior to frivolous rebukes
And the power consumes us bit by bit

It’s a necessary evil that creeps in
Preceded by greed and followed by sin
And you abandon your friends and forfeit your kin
When Blinded by power, it’s all about a win

Pause and think, beyond this blindfold can you see?
Is this the ‘powerful’ you sought to be?
Power to you, to empower.

Words

The air we inhaled, drawn by the lung

Vibrates in the neck moulded by the tongue

Forms a weapon, deadliest of all

That could be the rise or a fatal fall

Words, these mere words, written in ink

Before you utter, before you mutter, pause and think

They could foster a bond, dripping in sweet

Vary them a little, to be fierce, radiating heat

Your words waged wars, your words brought peace

Your words made promises, that they betray, or did they keep?

A gun without bullets, can bring no hurt

Pen is only mightier than sword, when laced with words

Echoing back and forth, you repeat and rewind

The said and unsaid, sounds of your mind

So before you speak, ponder over once

’cause once said, the damage is done

And this choice of words, makes all the difference.

( A follow-up to ‘the pen’

https://penpalblogs.wordpress.com/2016/11/02/the-pen )