Celebrate with Dance

"Some dance to remember, some dance to forget" goes the line in Hotel California. I say, dance if you want to experience magic!

I have been known to have two left feet. Whenever I have danced, people have laughed. Over the years, I decided with increasing conviction that I am not a good dancer and would eventually find my corner when the dance floor would be open at parties.

I am not slim and fit. Too much of a glutton and very lazy to exercise everyday. Some people judged that I couldn't dance because of this.

This is not a success story. But maybe, the beginning of it. Maybe.

Just putting this down on record because I am about to begin a wonderful journey into the world of dance. I chose to do that because of how I felt the other day.

I am training to dance for a social event. Every time I would train in learning a step and the choreographer would give his cue by counting "5,6,7,8", I would be worried about when he would say "8" and how quickly after "8" I would have to move. This was a standard thought every time he would give the cue. But yesterday, I was tired of not getting it right so I told that worrying voice inside me to shut up! And I didn't even look at people around me. I just focused on the music.When I completed the step, my co-dancers were thrilled. They told me I did it perfectly. I didn't quite understand what they were talking about. I didn't exactly do anything.

This hit me later. I didn't exactly do anything. I just went with the flow.

I realised that dance is not to move to the beats. It is to become the music. And how wonderful would it be, if I carry this spirit in every sphere of my life!

I am extremely excited to begin my tryst with dance.

The Brothel Manager

A charming man of six feet two,
Clean shaven and a crooked tooth,
Prepared for us nightly a perfect brew,
Outside our rooms he had his booth.

He would welcome all with an honest smile,
Some from near, some from more than a mile,
But they would look right through him,
And charge into our rooms on their whim.

Our drawers would always be full of them -
Protection to keep our lives sane,
Also sometimes a peppery spray would stem
From the corner, when he knew en route was Mr. Bane.

Alas! Such a manager did not exist,
Well, if he did, I would fall in love with him,
Counting every breath, death I resist,
Oppressed with disease, I pray for my kith and kin.

Amiga

We live in such different huts,Sometimes close, sometimes far,But there for each other we always are,In all times - the good, the lulls and the worsts.

Today with work I got hit black and blue,
I now lie on my bed thinking about many a fray,
A knock on the door and I know it's you,
I lift my tiredness and lazily drag my feet and sway.

As I open the door I see a lantern so coy, 
And before I observe your beautiful smile in its light,
You hand me a box and tell me,"Enjoy",
Hustling away, you soon go out of sight.

In the box I see a round pastry,
Mostly green with a little white cream,
I realise that the flavour is Kiwi,
So delicious, with joy I want to scream. 

Not that you had a leisurely day,
Not that you don't have something to say,
But you still did so and there is a question in my mind-
¿Como estas tan hermosa

Oh Sunshine.

I knew never of you
To give life to my veins,

I knew never of you
To enrich my existence,

I knew never of you
To make me float on a breeze,

I knew never of you,
Who I'd meet before it'd be dark blue.

The Sailor

Out of the blue she fell,
And then she heard the bell,
SOS whistles and more,
Bullets being shot towards the shore.

Managing to get to the deck,
She hardly stood erect,
The tilt soon pulled her away,
By the railing she clung and did sway.

Over the raging tides she hung,
As one more lash hit her lung,
She missed a breath or two,
Impairing her vision-the froth brew.

Her hands pained and she almost let go,
She thought of the rain as a friend to her foe,
When with a certain thud, like a sudden anchor,
The storm vanished and left her blank-er.

Absurdly the ship stood at an angle,
She slowly climbed down from the tangle,
Falling with weakness as she reached the sand,
Wondering she was, where did she land?

Endless land she saw right there,
Palms galore, looked like a green fun fare,
She got up and walked ahead a bit,
When some glare to her eye did hit.

Blinded for many a second she stopped,
Put her hand to the light and walked,
It was the most magical sight in the world,
Seeing it something inside her curled.

Billions of star fish, green yellow and blue,
Gathered at the shore to give a brilliant hue.
Unto the horizon they seemed to exist,
To the right she strangely saw a dense mist.

Walked did she into the heavy fog,
She realised that she had lost her sog,
As the haze faded out, in a mirror she did see,
Elegance and  beauty, she said, "I can't believe this is me!"

As she moved closer, something took her by surprise,
Two ear rings on her ear, of a medium size.
Closer she went and then she saw on her ear,
The Sea gifted her blue-green stars for how she battled her fear.

You

A chill down the spine,
A strong ache in the head,
Goose flesh on the arms
And the brain, so dead.

An insignificant distraction
In the middle of routine
An indulgence, to allow it,
Old snippets so clean.

A momentary possession,
Of an old pale hue,
Renders a sticky brood,
It could be no one but you.

Continuum

Continuum causing bacterium,
In the earnestly awaiting moment,
Whispers a small, simple idea,
Suggesting unreasonable colossal-ism.

Wonder - a garden of unknown flowers,
A place you enter and jaywalk,
Losing a path to probe into another,
A cat appears and is killed.

Fear on the cat's death overtakes,
A drive to curb the bacterium,
It vanishes deep inside, far far away,
In old age, it's nickname is youth.

Rigmarole V

"Okay. But how would I know where the Wizard of Ounce is!?" , exclaimed Twerp.

"I do." said Half Pint.

Both speakers suddenly had their eyes on Half Pint.

"Tell me then", Mikros growled. His breath was like a storm to them and they were flung against his hard stony palm.

Twerp and Half Pint were down with injuries as they suffered the hard hit on Mikros' palm. Twerp just got a bruise on his shin but Half Pint was unconscious.

Mikros saw the logistical difficulty in conversation. They both put together were as big as his fingernail. Besides, he had to now befriend Half Pint to know the secret of the Wizard's location. He had to do something about this.

Mikros after being in deep thought about what he should do started moving. Twerp knew that Mikros had started walking as it was an earthquake for him in the giant's hand. Mikros was now carrying the two of them in his hand with utmost care, like how a waiter carries a very expensive dish on his palm in a posh restaurant.

And then came the most wonderful moment of Twerp's life. His eyes widened so much that they couldn't widen any more. There were thousands of rainbows that they were passing through. Rainbows in all kinds of shapes. Rainbows which formed and moved like the DNA structure, rainbows which were so closely placed that they looked like a colourful ball of wool and rainbows which bounced like yoyos. These were the well behaved rainbows. The other rainbows just moved about randomly, as if they had a mind of their own.

Finally, Twerp felt weird in his ears. Mikros was lifting his hand to place Twerp and Half Pint on a large cliff. Large enough for them to see him and how he looked from far away. Mikros placed them there and walked far away at a distance so that the conversation would not blow them away and that they could see him completely. Mikros was intelligent. He had thought of a place where the voice would carry. There were huge mountains running on his either side. This would help their soft voice reach him.

By now, Half Pint had regained consciousness. He was trying to make sense of where he was by looking around. Mikros immediately got to the point. "Where is the Wizard of Ounce?", he demanded. Half Pint looked at Twerp. Twerp too wanted to know this and the expectation in his expression made Half Pint realize that it was best if he told the two of them.

Half Pint said something but even Twerp couldn't hear it.

"Louder, Half Pint!" , said Twerp.

He yelled as loudly as he could , "The Wizard of Ounce is my father"


to be continued...

An Ode to Dreaminess

Perpendicular streets,
Buildings on the corner,
Coffee, the danish pastries,
The evenings, the candies.

Imaginary smiles on busy junctions,
Bandanas and t-shirts for kids,
Silly lil' jugs inverted on our heads,
The weekends, the dreaminess.

Toe-toe-ing the streets
On a city's reclaimed sheets,
Mi mejor amiga,
Te veo Pronto.

Solace

You are a language

That I took time to understand.

Something that would be a sound 

If I would hear, solace when I would listen.

Woven with pauses, 

Swaying notes oft dancing 

On the inside, But for the world,

Only a hurricane passing.

Science says you could teach

A quantum physicist time,

Philosophy says you could take

A seeker to his truth.

But for an ordinary guy like me,

You are the best indulgence,

The safest, the most loving,

One that gives me solace.