saiecology

One rainy evening, I was traveling from Worli to Bandra and something so obvious happened; I got stuck in traffic. Until then, I was looking out of the window, enjoying the breeze with eyes closed, hair flying in the air, thinking maybe I'm a part of a movie scene. Cut to reality, my taxi was standing between fifty other vehicles going to Bandra. Taxi driver and I shared a similar expression of a disappointed face. I don't remember how our conversation started, but it went this way: At some point in our conversation, I asked: "Why don't you drive for commercial taxi services?" To which he replied smiling: " Yes, I could have done that. For me, afternoon nap is very important. I cannot leave all my priorities to attend a customer. That is why, I'm a local taxi driver. I get my own time and space. I leave the house as per my convenience. I return home immediately in case of emergency. To begin with, I used to be an engineer in an IT firm.

Image Courtesy: www.bhg.com A symbol of love and a common element across Valentine’s Day wallpapers; A rose may have given life to many love stories in this way. But this is not in any mushy context. I’m specifically talking about a rose I received when I was least expecting it. I looked closely at it, brushed those soft petals over my palm, and thought to myself: If I had a chance, I would shrink myself into a miniature version of me and take a nap inside it. It was a hot summer afternoon. It had only been 8 days since my internship started. I was rushing to office. Heat and traffic were in good coordination. It looked like they had planned this in advance. It was starting to look like a bad day, and a bad hair day in addition. I reached office. I signed the register and wrote my not-so-ideal entry time with some shame on my face. As I was about to enter the office, the clerk at the reception handed over a rose and a chocolate saying, “Happy Women’s Day”. I replied with a

     It’s quite difficult to keep the thought traffic in control. With a constantly buzzing cell phone in hand, I often forget what I was thinking about and keep scrolling up and down my screen. To get a way out of the buzz, I simply turn off my internet while I am outdoors.          Believe me, my mind suddenly gets a breathing space. Out of all the time spent outside, I make sure at least 30% is given to myself where I can sit somewhere or walk somewhere alone. When I share this with anybody, they say, “ Why alone? You could have called me. I would come with you.” Then I say in my mind, “ That’s what I don’t want. I don’t want you to come and disturb me”. This sounds selfish, but I really can’t help it because I’ve grown into it. I am a single child. I’ve always played alone at home with my dolls.  My childhood was not surrounded by too many friends or cousins unlike the present. I love to be alone and being alone has never made me feel lonely.      The reason behind being

"Had it been any other problem, I would understand, but this is very annoying", Mom said. I started losing hopes regarding our family trip to Dubai . Though, I balanced it with a lot of shopping. Dad found himself lucky as he was busy with work during that month of mess and uncertainty.     It was 2013. I was about to turn 18 in a few months. I was not going to be a minor anymore. My passport had to be renewed.  No, this was not a problem. I filled the application form, collected all the necessary documents and kept everything ready as per the passport agent's advice. I went to the passport office for the final round of procedures. They said that my passport will be delivered in 15 days. Mom and I peeped through the keyhole whenever the doorbell rang. 20 days went by and finally I could see a postman standing at the door. I was happy to see an envelope in his hand. To me, he was a Santa Claus in guise of a postman. Mom gave him some water and a sweet. We closed the doo

Amidst sheer ice walls  Of habitual upraise  Stranded in a deluge  Of acid rain I'm nerved to give up, But summer awaits  Come by till then Walk me home Coming all the way To the butt end of my calm  Just navigate further Before I'm on my knees Walk me home  Overheard a siren Took it for a tease  Slipping through my fingers  Unable to cease  Pain, the dearest,  Pretty Please Walk me home