30X30: Life

And, sometimes life is so beautiful, it makes you weep. Such a circle of mending, and fulfilling itself. Such a journey of learning, and enriching your being. Such an experience to delight in. I can see joy in the littlest things, make stories out of the smallest, most mundane things. Life's purposes and plans can be entirely enjoyable. Difficult, but beautiful. Beautiful enough to make you weep. Like the sound of the soft blues number flowing into your little blue room.



[30X30 is a series of 30 unrelated posts in 30 days by Gayatri Makhijani and Anuj Gosalia. One post everyday, for the next 30 days. Follow the string here ]

30X30: 2005

Back in 2005, I used to blog at Nuances. I was 19; Nuances was my first blog. It got hacked and shut down by another user in 2006, but thankfully a dear subscriber and friend helped me recover most of my work. I was sifting through it in an old mailbox today, and I found something I wanted to go back to. Something I wanted to re-read:


"And it's all so cold outside. And my mind swirls in emotion, my heart in winter rain. Sometimes, you look to the world for answers. But essentially, you know, they all lie deep within. And sometimes when you seek, they all lie so lost in your being, you find nothing. And you lie there between all that is real and unreal. Often, you find love, and then you lose it. You find hate, and it stays with you forever. And then you find the kind of love, that warms your soul. That seeks joy in simplicity. And you lose that too. To worldly sins. And you make peace, with yourself. You no longer feel the need to writhe in desire. Or scream in anger. What comes you way, so be it. So, you sit there in the windy night, and shiver. And sob. And know that, that was all yesterday. And today, its yesterday, gone away. The yesterday, that felt one with the universe. The yesterday, that loved, dreamt, caressed. That seeked nothing but itself. That yesterday, gone away."


[30X30 is a series of 30 unrelated posts in 30 days by Gayatri Makhijani and Anuj Gosalia. One post everyday, for the next 30 days. Follow the string here ]

30X30:Untitled

I can stare at the sea for hours
We are affluence
watching it from atop
white, endless waves
take me to far away?

I can stare at the sky for hours
Blazing lights all in a line
Airplanes flying furiously
from sky to ground
Don't bring me back, will you?

Let dreams, like waves
find new shores
not frolic like
wastrel children lying on
sand at 1'o clock AM
catching flying ten
rupee notes.

I can stare at their eyes for hours.
Young, forlorn
lost for love.
Spend it unwisely, I almost think,
little one
Just do something that makes
you smile
Do something that makes you
smile.

Another airplane comes roaring by,
Another wave goes galloping away.


[30X30 is a series of 30 unrelated posts in 30 days by Gayatri Makhijani and Anuj Gosalia. One post everyday, for the next 30 days. Follow the string here ]

30X30: Revelation

As we lingered over cheese crackers and tea yesterday, I realized it is easy to take the good out of everything. To take the acceptable from People. Places. Religion. To accept the things we like. And, to squash it out for the facts that make us uncomfortable, the aspects that aren't appealing to our sensibilities. People. Places. Religion. To weave it into a convenient little mesh of all things that aren't uncomfortable to our selves, and our lives. Bound to get us caught in sometime, somewhere...I reckon.


[30X30 is a series of 30 unrelated posts in 30 days by Gayatri Makhijani and Anuj Gosalia. One post everyday, for the next 30 days. Follow the string here ]

30X30: The WatchMaker

It would seem as if a city - noisy, ugly, struggling to survive - would be devoid of an honest business-man. Or, at least not without a man unwilling to make an extra buck. But, I found him, I did. Outside a little garage in the West of Andheri, I found an honest WatchMaker. A fair-skinned man of Muslim faith ,sitting to work with a hundred little things that make up a watch.

He sits outside a rickety garage shop, that trades in used articles. His work station is a little table and chair. This minuscule space earns him his livelihood. Each day, he turns repair-man to the many expensive watches that Andheri hands bare. And, the imitation variety too. The WatchMaker, I'm certain can tell the expensive from the inexpensive...the real from the knock-offs.

I go up to him, to fix a watch strap. He is done in seconds, and asks for a sum of a mere Rupees 5/-. I have no change, and hand him a twenty. He haggles with nearby workers for change, but finds none. I tell him to return Rupees 10/-, I know I can afford an extra Rs. 5/- to a Watchmaker. But, he doesn't budge. And, refuses to take the Rs. 5/- even.

I am forced to turn with a repaired watch, and not a penny lost. From the corner of my eye I can see a crisp ten-rupee note sitting on his table. And, a man who chose to be an honest business man. And, not make an extra buck. Oh, Watchmaker, your purity, made my Sunday!


[30X30 is a series of 30 unrelated posts in 30 days by Gayatri Makhijani and Anuj Gosalia. One post everyday, for the next 30 days. Follow the string here ]

30X30:Simplicity

Tonight,
all I know is
the moon is out,
and, the stars, they carry an answer.

Tonight,
all I see is
vast endless sky
grey for miles, like forever

Tonight,
all I hope is
dreams like light
blaze grey skies

Tonight,
all I need is
your hand like love
to hold me,
carry me,
help me...

into tomorrow.

[30X30 is a series of 30 unrelated posts in 30 days by Gayatri Makhijani and Anuj Gosalia. One post everyday, for the next 30 days. Follow the string here ]

30X30: Of Cities and Hope

And, it would seem then that of all the cities you fall in love with; the cities you love the most are the ones in which you find hope.

[30X30 is a series of 30 unrelated posts in 30 days by Gayatri Makhijani and Anuj Gosalia. One post everyday, for the next 30 days. Follow the string here ]