The selfless genie..

In this age of figuring out everything in an instant , is there a quick and easy method to figure out the perfection quotient??

being perfect - i thought it would change with the kind of people you are with. Strangely it doesnt! You better know if there is enough time for your worries; (and if is wise to have them in the first place!) because there might be something really importANT there. it doesnt matter if the day had been long, 5 million phone calls and 555 emails but the salt better be just right.
and if there's one of those traditional gatherings you HAD to attend, you so should be the looking perfect forever and says nothing at all at the if there's another who does look more than perfect. Dont ever get too typical for there are too many unnatural responsibilities that might just drop in at any time. (and it really doesnt matter if is the me time)

last time my friend had been to one of the first 'meetings" she was asked to stop using the internet.. what use is all that??... Well, ofcourse not.. how will the internet take care of the babies that will be produced as a result of successful love mking every night, and how will the internet take care of the 3 meals tht need to be prepared. And ofcurse she said. oh i dotn think ill hve the time for anything like that right and she smiled - how perfectly that too. Will i have the time for anything else except u (the very big that gets replaced by the very big O) is this the way to a happier life and is there a life otherwise??

where every argument ends with an unsolved debate(does it even make sense to call it a debate) about equality, often started off by those who are insecure. But the answers better be given by those who withstand everything, because obviously the better have the answers or else they will be labeled incapable.

I wonder when in those long lasting speeches about work and life in the MEGA city really means the world has changed or even changed the pace or is that although everything around us has changed the pace; we should fake it, not even try to see what exists on the other side of the wall.. because our world is just so perfect the way it is.

i heard someone say "we should not have Shahrukh smoking in the trailors of DON - it gives the wrong impression" and "look what happened to that couple after they say KANK.". oh really is that how much people are getting influenced by films?? then why doesnt a film like DOR change the way we live??

is that comfortable living like the selfless genie... easier said then done.. and can never be imagined by the ever so selfish gene. (nothing against the book and using the term literally rather than its intended meaning in the book)

25 PHOTO frames

from that very first time we heard black baloon,
under the neem trees,
sometime after noon.

That squirrel who stood there posing for u
and the hug on the stairs of the 11th floor
after 135 mails.. a reply that said "si"
5 pegs of whisky,
and "if you were ready to be the man"

at 4am,
jetlagged talking
and keeping warm,
unbrushed sundays,
smelling pretty much the same
even after the longest bath...

They changed me, My
dreams.. thoughts... and the future

One final decision
taking the call..
to see the same path thru

Which we never did.

brought us today
to a day
where the sun rises in different windows.
and 25 frames
turned to a photoframe
much out of focus..
and lacking light

Something more beautiful than a sunset?

Day - 32
the same old menu (crinkled, torn... as so many have touched and held tight to it while making decisions more about what, how much, and when to say then actually deciding what to order )
the same corner table..
where a million sessions of scrabble took place..
where conversations started only when it was time to close..

not to forget how i had added my pinch of salt to everything that the chef experimented..
had had longer discussions on how basil shud be used for garnishing and not peppermint..
enjoyed a new flavour squeezed into my tea..
and thoroughly cherished a smile
to acknowledged his new mix of thoughts, creativity, experimentation and ...

its 32 days.. the manager still wonders why i turn up exactly 15 - 20 minute before it closing time,.. he pays his usual smile, summons him to take my order.. i m about to say something when he shows the scrap pad to me
" tea ... cannelonis, italian bake.. out of order..
..... today...
its an order for what you REALLY want
................ or..."

the manager (while closing the billing counter shouts) "Saher its closing time"

He says, "its closing time.. would you like to place the FINAL order?"

i said "ill order the starters today.. can we leave the rest for life..."

{32 days || a restaurant called an Evening in Italy || every day after closing time. under the dim lights that needed to be on || scrabble || wine || conversations || customised meals || garnished with the color of my eyes || sometimes with a message encoded in them || a new flavour everyday || visions of a different country || unending random talk || messy apron (forgotten to be removed) gleaming excitement || the expression on my face || abstract review of the what melted in my mouth. }

Day 33
Tyler - a steaming affair of words, spices and smiles, wakes me up after he scrambles his eggs for 7 and half minutes before he cooks them; leaves the pan hot for the precious 2 minutes before the butter touches it(or rather trickles down the back of his beauty as he likes to put it) and cooks it till its the perfect shade of golden brown.



Day 1
33 days back, when i was too bored to order at "An Evening in Italy" - and too bored to look at the menu. I looked up and asked "what's today's special?" he was about to start his usual speel when he said.. "Well nothing more than you ! - just close your eyes, and think of the four colors that come to ur mind.. and i'll make sure ur meal looks more beautiful than the sunset"

Tia and the white lilies...

"no thats not what i want" She threw the white lilies that were delivered at 8.20am.

the note read "its hard to leave, and u know i wud'nt have if it was not for..."


in the kitchen
The coffee pot's boling hot. Its the third cup this morning. She can hear him say "its more than what you should be having, You'll go hyper once again."

She shouts out loud "i m tired of listening to this ...you know i need this to wake up., wake up to know i m alive, to know that i can pull through one more day..... one more sunny morning that reminds me of all this guilt..." - thats when Tia (the cat) comes jumps right up to the table and meaooooows. She gets tears in her eyes, she knows Tia used to hate all the shouting.

Tia is 3, very naughty black animal, who loves to be cuddled but often throws tantrums much like her..... Tia was their first baby. She joined them on their first wedding anniversary. She would dance to his tunes and often sit by him while he wud work all night. but in the morning she would not miss breakfast with her.

Out of the shower, smelling of green tea oils she looks at the mirror. by the mirror are lines "... i need to breahe.. to touch, to feel.... to discover, life within..." she takes the pen scratches those words and writes
"... i need to know that you are not coming back anymore and
that i should not feel guitly for moving on."

Shea..

she was throwing pebbles in the lake, i saw her while i walked over the hill. she was still there when i returned after about two hours. I was so tempted to go talk to her and find out if she was all alone. how was she going home? where are her parents?... i was almost about to take the next step when i stopped myself. I carefully took my camera out and took a picture!

day 2
i got up at early, much before Leela would have got tea and the harsh sun rays would come rushing through the windows and stare right back at me...
i decided to go and take some early shots by the village. Just as i was about turn towards the temple... i saw her again.. she was lighting a lamp... blowing lightly at it and smiling as the flame danced in the air.....her eyes twinkled as her naughty fingers tried to play hide and seek with the flame.. i was bout to scream when i saw her do that.. once again i stopped myself.. captured this enlightining moment and went ahead..


day 3
she dint leave my thoughts she about 5 or 6... her eyes gleamed with curiosity, she was a ball of energy and she jumped through the pebbles and swam in the cold waters...

day 4
I found her collecting small sticks and making patterns of sorts with leaves. this was it.. she compelled me to know more about her. i walked up to her and said.. "would you like to go to school?"

she looked at me and said: "go?" "Go where?".. "baba used to say school is where you learn something.. and i learn from everything around me... " she smiled and continued her pattern....

That's Shea, my daughter. she is twelve today. I always wanted to adopt a baby girl. Shea's adopted me!

She is a tribal child who is brighter than the kids in the city and possess an extraordinary sense of visualization is physically fit to climb trees and can calculate almost any math problem in her mind.

There are several such children in the tribal areas who need to be educated and groomed inorder to match their skills like any other children in the cities. They are a bunch who can manage everything from the morning breakfast to washing clothes and cutting firewood for cooking. Special schools are being set up to nurture these brains in the wilderness where they belong.

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