Two Views & A Vision

His Version:
It was a summer noon
As hot as never before
I was on my garden porch
Locking my wooden door

It was just one step
That I took beyond the gate
The sight made me falter
My instincts made me wait

My mind stopped thinking
My heart skipped a beat
I was sure I was dreaming
About the lady I wanted to meet

She couldn't be real
With such a dazzling face
Her one look lighted my world
With a million and one rays

Her eyes were shaped liked almonds
A beautiful hazel brown
An intoxicating look
That would bring heaven down

She caught me staring
And gave me a smile
I felt like a fool
A first class juvenile

I threw a furtive glance
There wasn't a soul i could see
I felt I was in heaven
Happy that the smile was for me

I tried to take a step
But my legs wouldn't move
I tried to speak out
Alas! my lips were sealed too.

"Are you Mr.James?" she asked
What on earth was my name?
My God, I couldn't remember
I felt like dying of shame.

In a trance I spoke out
"Well ,yes that's me"
My next words horrified my mind
"If that is whom you wanna me to be"

She gave a musical gurgle
The sweetest sound I've ever heard
Smiling with amusement
Directed at my every word

"I guess then",she whispered
"You aren't Mr.James
You are one of those many
Who fall for pretty dames"

"Lady, you insult my honour
By terming me one of many
Nought for a single dame before
Have a cared even a penny

Charming and wise
Beautiful and witty
To call you anything but an angel
Would be surely a pity

You have cast a spell
You have enchanted me
My heart seems to be bewitched
By an unassuming lil lady."

Hearing my ode to her
She gave the sweetest look
"Even I don't know any Mr.James,
Its just a name from a book"

Her version:
"I couldn't remember
Why I came out here
One look at you, young man
No longer did anything seem clear"

"It was just one step
That I took outside ur gate
Your sight made me falter
My instincts made me wait"

"My mind stopped thinking
My heart skipped a beat
I was sure I was dreaming
About the man I wanted to meet"


"You couldn't be real
With your one in a million face
Your one look lighted my world
With a million and one rays"

"I gave you a smile
But you were as still as stone
Gathering my guts
Sally stepped into a never before zone"

"Now that I am sure
You too feel for me
Will you do the honour
Of telling who u might be."

I am Ian , dear Sally
I am glad to meet you
I feel I am in heaven
And am happy u feel that too.

What Makes Life Beautiful?

Every day I tell myself
Life is really beautiful
So many things to explore
Beauty is truly plentiful

I smile a million times
I laugh like a child
I spread waves of optimism
I feel really wild

But today something is amiss
There is a frightening lull
Something is wrong somewhere
I feel really dull.

I am worried about lives
Of those around me
I am worried about dear ones
With whom I cannot be

I am sickened at some people
Their attitude disgusts me
Their friend is getting married
And they are being miserly.

I am truly jobless
It is just the mails I check
Nothing to do the entire day
I feel like a wreck.

My mind is overflowing
With decisions I need to make
I hope I have the guts
For steps I have to take.

I am searching a home
With a friend as dear as can be
And am not even getting a house
For her to be with me.

If there is one thing
That still makes me smile
Its my friends around me
Who are truly truly worthwhile.

When I think of them
I feel life is great
On a scale of 10
A million they would rate.

Their very thought is enough to teach me
Yes , beauty is plentiful
But its the love of good friends
That makes life beautiful.

A Smile on 1 in 50 Faces

Today is one more day with the same routine stuff.
Got up late today and got ready in record time.
Its fun when things slip out of routine, something different is always welcome, even if it is just getting up late.
The company bus came on time. I got into the bus and as usual occupied the second last seat (the two seater window seat). I tried hard to open the window. I love the feel of fresh air on my face. It’s a different thing that the air loves to play havoc with my hair :( (Guess I will be left with a few strands by the time I am 30 yrs)
But I must have rubbed off some of my adamancy onto the window. So it refused to budge open.
As the bus continued its journey through the route it takes day after day after day, people poured in. Almost all seats were occupied.
I am one of those very few people who like the window open (even when the bus is on the highway)
So with my window closed today, there was just one window which was open in the entire bus and that was the driver's window, which obviously seemed miles away from my seat.
All windows closed... All people - sitting like robots... no chatter like the one which fills school buses, no small talk, no smiles...people with wooden expressions on their faces.
Occasionally a phone would ring and their answering it was perhaps the only sign of life in the otherwise morose atmosphere.
Normally with the window open, I am completely and totally lost in the scenery outside. I also love listening to Radio Mirchi, but today the radio in the bus did not seem to be working.
I stared out through the glass window and looked at the trees, hills, and people .There is a Shiva temple on the way, somehow it always fascinates me. But today I was pretty thoughtful and I somehow missed the temple, something that I haven't done in months...
I decided to do something different. I see approximately 200 to 300 faces on the roads as the bus undertakes its journey from Dahanukar Circle (Home) to Hinjewadi (Office).
Today something in me wanted to break free - thought of counting the number of smiling faces.
Was sure that on such a beautiful day, I would see atleast 30 smiling faces.
On Paud road, I saw many faces, but none with a smile. All seemed to be wearing tags of one organization or other ... waiting for their company bus with a face devoid of happiness , satisfaction and the one emotive expression that makes anyone and everyone seem beautiful... a smile
On the highway, I saw farmers tending to their lands, I saw lads (10 to 12 years old) carrying huge drums .Saw couples on bikes, people on their way to Mumbai in cars... truck drivers.... pedestrians ... village kids ...people in tamtams(these are six seater rickshaws/jeeps)
Three people had a smile on their faces...
One was a guy in a red Maruti 800..alone in the car and with a smile onto his face...
One was a truck driver who seemed to be explaining something to a lady who might have been his mother...
And the last one was a man, 25-30 years old, from Infosys...
Wait, there are 2 more people who had a smile transforming their faces today... As I had boarded the bus, had smiled at one of the passengers and she had smiled back...
Hmmm... 5 in 250 people...1in 50 faces...
Is their seriously something wrong or am I expecting too much from life? Does one need a reason to smile? Shouldn't it be the other way around... that people should not wear a smile if they have a reason???
A morning is the dawn of a new day; shouldn't it be filled with optimism?
One more chance to set things right, one more opportunity to realize that "life is beautiful"....
Over the years I have observed:
When I was a kid, my smiles were always returned...
As I grew up, the number of smiles reduced somewhat... basically because of some hesitation on the person at the receiving end...
Today, at 23 years, smiles have become rare... they are returned by few friends, and by those strangers who seem to have some life left in them...
there are others who do not return the smile because of some pride , there are yet others who can never understand why a stranger is smiling and many who have forgotten to smile... for them a smile is just a professional upward tug of the lips... a smile which seldom reaches the eyes...
Many people feel that I am childish; very few would understand as to why on earth was I counting the number of smiling faces today....
Ask yourself, as to how often you smile...feel blessed if it is often ...question whether over the years your frequency of smiling/laughing has reduced... because believe me, if you smile, it implies that innately you still have hope ... Hope that life is worth it... because it is hope which gets a smile onto your face... hope that makes you return a smile....
And if you don't smile often, don’t fret... just return each and every smile that comes your way today... and try passing on every smile you get...