vakratunda mahakaaye, suryakoti samaprabha,
nirvighnam kurumedeva, sarv kaaryashuu sarvadaa

sitting on the new leather executive chair that i dealed off from office depot yesterday.
i feel proud n contented.
the base is soft, and the back strong.
holds me tight, in its arms.
lemme hum a few words of this song.
an ode to the chair,
whilst all else lies bare.
dishevelled, disarray.
only the chair. my deep black chair.
nothing to see beyond the crest,
n even put my legs where arms shud rest.
so tough, yet warm. no any alarm.
o gosh! my chair.
hoho.
bolo kise dekha hai kabhi,
aise chair pe baithe hue?

she - hi, may i talk to nishant?
me - yes speaking.
**she - hi nishant. i'm aarti. i'm calling from the world-exchange consumer center.
nishant, we have an excellent offer for you. you can call india now at 23c per min.
me - (mum)
she - (waits, then proceeds) nishant, so could you tell me wot is ur long distance provider?
me - thank u for ur offer. i'm not interested. (hangs up).

This is wot happened today.
Pretty dull n boring conversation as u may have observed. me too feel so.
Yaar, koi khanakti awaz wali mohtarma aapke karnon mein itni snehmayi vaartaalaap karen, aur aap yun hi? chup chaap. not interested? no spice. no advice? naaah.

So, one of these days, the conversation from the ** marked point went as follows:
**aarti - hi nishant. this is aarti malhotra. i'm calling from world exchange.....
me - i c.
aarti - yes nishant. so we have this incredible offer for our customers like you. How often do you call india?
me - well. i'm sorry i dont call often. i'm not interested in ur offer.
aarti - But, listen nishant. you can call india now at an extremely low price of 23c. day or night. the rate is same.
me - i don't call india at all. thanks a lot for ur offer.
aarti - (slightly flustered) o nishant, u dont call india at all? (momentary pause) alright. but u must be making calls inside US.
rite nishant?
me - (not again! badlaaaa maange hai ye khoon..badlaa!) i c. umm yes. umm.. kya naam aapne apna.. kya naam bataaya?
aarti - jee. aarti.
me - umm..aartii...
aarti - jee..aarti malhotra.
me - (extremely soft n polite) haan aarti jee. aadaab. main bahut shukriya-guzaar hoon aapke is offer ka. lekin main india nahi call karta.
aarti - (interrupting in a sweet voice) o ho. aap bilkul nahi karte? aap apne ghar pe to karte honge.
me - (pyar se) mohtarma, huzur, bataaya na. nahi karta. india se mujhe koi lagaav nahi.
aarti- to america mein to karte honge. friends, relatives out of town.
uske liye kaun sa long distance provider use karte hain?
me - nahi, main unhe bhi nahi karta. kewal local calls kartaa hoon. aap kahaan se bol rahi hain?
aarti - kewal local calls?
me - jee.
aarti - i c. i'm sorry. thank u sir for ur time. have a good day.
me - thank u aarti jee. aapse baat karke bahut accha laga. (both hang up)

The thoughts were dense and discussions plenty.
Sitting face2face with the person who has almost acquired the status of a mentor,
sharing his wisdom of the years n unpretentious humility.

Verbosity is a heinous crime in my books.
but yet often do I succumb to the temptation, the sin.
Today was an exception. No pangs of conscience.
Was picking up each of those romantic dreams, like a harlot.
and even enjoyed screwing all of them. mega-scale. mega-lomaniac.

with squeezing eye balls. with tastes of effusive eloquent pomposity.
all barrages shunned to banishment.
surprising how i cud do such an instant join, n later such a fast retreat.
It tasted sweet after a long time. Wonder since when was the palate bitter.
from wolfram to berlinski. from io-automata to failures.
from circuits to software. from intelligence to romanticism.
from human to god. from mathematics to art.
from indian spice to french coffee.
spanning across the width of divine.
Glaring smiles. Blowing laughs. Intense stares. Burning quiescence.
living inside the fucking strands of intelligence. Stoic existence.
Moments of bursts. Instants of explosion.
it appeared so damn bright outside.

kitna maasoom rangeen hai ye sama,
husn aur ishq ki,
aaj mehraaz hai.
kal ki kiskoo khabar jaaanejaan
rok lo aaj ki raat koo.

bahaaron ko chaman yaad aa gaya hai,
mujhe wo gulbadan yaad aa gaya hai

aaj saari dilrubaaon ko yaad karta hoon.
apni tanhayee se muhn mod, unki fariyaad karta hoon.

wo, jiski khilkhilaahat jhoomti pawan ko bechain karti ho,
ya wo, jiski divya gambheerta apne kanth mein saagar samaaye ho.

wo, jiske lafzon ki behekti chanchalta, hridaya ko be-kaboo karti,
ya wo, jiski mook muskaraahat saanson mein bechaini bharti.

wo, jinke nayan apne paash mein praanon ko baandh len,
ya wo chakshu-samudra, jisme samaahit hokar chitt hidole le.

wo, jin thirakte hothon ki lagayi aag bujhaaye na bujhe,
ya wo, jin labon ko choo, vyaakul maru-yaatri ki pyaas mite.

wo, jiske pehloo mein shrishti khoyi ho,
ya wo, jise kar-bandhan mein jakad brahmaand aahlaadit ho.

wo, jiske saundarya ka mayur vaanchit ho,
ya wo, jiske aane se mausam ko khumaar aata ho.