A SWEET SUMMER SONG

When the sun shines high
With its bright golden hues,
Those lovely blossoms when mesmerizes you
With its intoxicating aroma,
Wait for a while and
Sing a song,
A sweet summer song.

When grapes are ripe,
Mangoes sweet and juicy,
When watermelons and pulpy oranges
Quench your thirst and makes you happy,
Squeeze some in your mouth and
Sing a song,
A sweet summer song.

When kids relishes on ice creams,
Vanillas and strawberries,
A chill coke with friends,
Evening music with laughter and chatting,
Cheer with a smile and
Sing a song,
A sweet summer song.

When beautiful night
Comes like a bride,
With romantic moon and the twinkling stars,
Bask in its romance for a while and
Sing a song,
A sweet summer song.

By:
Mercy Gogoi

LIFE IN A METRO_____

I tried to cover up the key hole with a small piece of paper to prevent the piercing wind from sprouting into the room. Three blankets and a heater still I could not stop the clatter of my teeth. It was peak winter in Delhi and the eve of 2010.
Obliged by the norms of social etiquettes and for the sake of celebration, I coated myself with whatever warm clothes I had, leaving my eyes and nose to see and breathe, we hauled to the party. The vibration of the loud music and the lively crowd made me warm within. To my utter disbelief, I found almost all the women out there in their trendiest outfits revealing their excellent feminine curves. I was stared from my woolen cap to my sneakers by every eye. I badly wished Mother Earth to swallow me or to become invisible like Mr. India. Right then I heard some crackers bursting somewhere and everyone toasted their glass of champagne. A friend came to us and cheered, “Happy New Year, Welcome to Delhi.”
The biggest metro, the hub of opportunities, a place where dreams are fulfilled, we landed here in quest of a better life. We planned to settle down but it was almost a month and we were yet to find a decent place to start with. My mobile was filled with the numbers of property dealers. It became a habit to visit them and go haunt for house. Making holes in our pocket for just two rooms and a hall, which they call 2bhk was incredible for me. Gosh! It was not going to be easy.
First few months were miserable. I came back home almost everyday cheated by the shopkeepers or by the auto pullers. Need not say about the rude tone and the comments. I feel sad to see those congested houses where there is hardly any space for fresh air. And air? It’s more of dust. Most of the people survive on junk foods or a thank you goes to Domino’s and MacDonald. Where you can find youngsters brilliantly westernized with no knowledge of their culture. Where you would not find people sacrificing their seats for their elders. Where you need to be cautious every time someone knocks your door. Where every second there is a murder, a rape or a robbery, where people dies on street but no one cares to wait and help. Where every human being is a machine, trying desperately to achieve a goal, left with no space for feelings. I wondered whether it was a mistake to come here chasing our dreams.
Then came summer with its own charm, with the dust and the heat waves. The long traffic jams, the blowing of horns uncontrollably, the frustrated roadies, the itchy sweating. Really, it was not easy.
Most of the time I became nostalgic thinking about those quite roads embroidered with beautiful tea gardens on both sides, those romantic hill slopes, the comfort of evening tea in our green verandah, the rain that caresses every inch of every leaves, I was really missing my hometown Assam where the air smells lilies.
It was not easy until the time I discovered my objectives, the ways to fulfill my dreams and from then onwards I never got the time to look back or lament on things, which were not easy. I discovered a new me, better and stronger and learned to interpret life with a new perception. The best part of Delhi is that it is a place for everyone, with every opportunity. I discovered a new horizon here. Places like British Council, Delhi Poetree helped mould me. Life of some people inspired me. And to shop in Saroijini Market, Lajpat nagar is just fun. I love those kulfies in India Gate during weekends. Every morning now when I join the crowd on the streets of Delhi, my dreams lead me.
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lets say "I love you" to our beloved in different language..lets fall in love with our sweethearts all over again.

Say you love him/her in different language....


Afrikaans - Ek het jou lief
Albanian - Te dua
Arabic - Ana behibak (to male)
Arabic - Ana behibek (to female)
Armenian - Yes kez sirumen
Bambara - M'bi fe
Bangla - Aamee tuma ke bhalo baashi
Belarusian - Ya tabe kahayu
Bisaya - Nahigugma ako kanimo
Bulgarian - Obicham te
Cambodian - Bung Srorlagn Oun (to female)
Oun Srorlagn Bung (to male)
Cantonese/Chinese Ngo oiy ney a
Catalan - T'estimo
Cheyenne - Ne mohotatse
Chichewa - Ndimakukonda
Corsican - Ti tengu caru (to male)
Creol - Mi aime jou
Croatian - Volim te
Czech - Miluji te
Danish - Jeg Elsker Dig
Dutch - Ik hou van jou
English - I love you
Esperanto - Mi amas vin
Estonian - Ma armastan sind
Ethiopian - Ewedishalehu : male/female to female
Ewedihalehu: male/female to male.
Faroese - Eg elski teg
Farsi - Doset daram
Filipino - Mahal kita
Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua
French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore
Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort
Georgian - Mikvarhar
German - Ich liebe dich
Greek - S'agapo
Gujarati - Hu tumney prem karu chu
Hiligaynon - Palangga ko ikaw
Hawaiian - Aloha wau ia oi
Hebrew - Ani ohev otah (to female)
Hebrew - Ani ohev et otha (to male)
Hiligaynon - Guina higugma ko ikaw
Hindi - Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hai
Hmong - Kuv hlub koj
Hopi - Nu' umi unangwa'ta
Hungarian - Szeretlek
Icelandic - Eg elska tig
Ilonggo - Palangga ko ikaw
Indonesian - Saya cinta padamu
Inuit - Negligevapse
Irish - Taim i' ngra leat
Italian - Ti amo
Japanese - Aishiteru
Kannada - Naa ninna preetisuve
Kapampangan - Kaluguran daka
Kiswahili - Nakupenda
Konkani - Tu magel moga cho
Korean - Sarang Heyo
Latin - Te amo
Latvian - Es tevi miilu
Lebanese - Bahibak
Lithuanian - Tave myliu
Malay - Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu
Malayalam - Njan Ninne Premikunnu
Mandarin Chinese - Wo ai ni
Marathi - Me tula prem karto
Mohawk - Kanbhik
Moroccan - Ana moajaba bik
Nahuatl - Ni mits neki
Navaho - Ayor anosh'ni
Nepali - Ma Timilai Maya Garchhu
Norwegian - Jeg Elsker Deg
Pandacan - Syota na kita!!
Pangasinan - Inaru Taka
Papiamento - Mi ta stimabo
Persian - Doo-set daaram
Pig Latin - Iay ovlay ouyay
Polish - Kocham Cie
Portuguese - Eu te amo
Romanian - Te ubesc
Roman Numerals - 333
Russian - Ya tebya liubliu
Scot Gaelic - Tha gra\dh agam ort
Serbian - Volim te
Setswana - Ke a go rata
Sign Language - ,\,,/ (represents position of fingers when signing 'I Love You'
Sindhi - Maa tokhe pyar kendo ahyan
Sioux - Techihhila
Slovak - Lu`bim ta
Slovenian - Ljubim te
Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo
Surinam- Mi lobi joe
Swahili - Ninapenda wewe
Swedish - Jag alskar dig
Swiss-German - Ich lieb Di
Tagalog - Mahal kita
Taiwanese - Wa ga ei li
Tahitian - Ua Here Vau Ia Oe
Tamil - Naan unnai kathalikiraen
Telugu - Nenu ninnu premistunnanu
Thai - Chan rak khun (to male)
Thai - Phom rak khun (to female)
Turkish - Seni Seviyorum
Ukrainian - Ya tebe kahayu
Urdu - mai aap say pyaar karta hoo
Vietnamese - Anh ye^u em (to female)
Vietnamese - Em ye^u anh (to male)
Welsh - 'Rwy'n dy garu
Yiddish - Ikh hob dikh
Yoruba - Mo ni fe
Zimbabwe - Ndinokuda

Let’s Beautify our inner self..

We often spend hours making our looks good and appealing. We never hesitate to try out new cosmetics or perfumes or to have a new designer outfit in our wardrobe to add more glow in our appearance. We hit the gym or go for strict diet every time we feel those curves missing. We do so much to be accepted and appreciated. We follow the latest trend, never fail to update our status in the most popular social networking site, never fail to attend a friend’s party; we try to grab as much information as we can to keep pace with the fast moving world. We do everything to be popular and to be on everybody’s good book. But have we ever realized how little we do to our inner self?
The inner self, the real being in us. The person, who we really are, our principles, likes and dislikes, our strengths and weaknesses, our dreams and desires. We are so occupied in fulfilling what the world expect from us that we tend to forget what we really want. At times don’t we feel exhausted and irritated? Don’t we berserk for petty things? Don’t we feel empty within as if something is missing or feel terribly lonely in the midst of the crowd. Yes we all do go through such a phrase at one point in our life. But have we ever thought why we feel that way when everything seems so well balanced and normal? Many times we might have withdrawn the thought, thinking that it’s just a normal mood swing or might have blamed the hectic schedule in life. Well, but the answer lies deep within us. Most of the times we tend to forget the being we really are. We loss the connectivity with our inner self and thus feel lost and empty, similarly as we feel when we miss someone dear or close to us. We often ignore our inner self while concentrating more on our outer appearance. We are unaware of the self who needs our care and attention, which is our real identity. We are ignorant about our strengths and weaknesses which actually help us climb the ladder of success. We seek advice and motivation from others but ignore the best adviser and motivator in us. As we take care of our outer self, it is very important for us to take care of our inner self, to know the person who we really are, to be a better human being and to lead a more meaningful life.

HOW DO WE DO THAT

Meditate

Spend at least 15 minutes alone in a quiet place each day preferably early morning. Close your eyes, relax your body and take deep breathes. Concentrate on the rhythm of air within you. Keep your mind absolutely free from other thoughts. Just try to feel how the air goes in and comes out within you. Plant the seed of meditation and reap the fruit of peace. When your mind is calm and your senses relax, you become conscious of your always-present inner Self.

Get the “Me” time

Make it a point to find at least half an hour exclusively for yourself everyday. Try not to meet or contact anybody during that half an hour. Spend that time alone, enjoy your own company. Do things you love doing the most. Listen to some good music, read or pursue your hobby. It is very important to know how to enjoy one’s own company. If you can’t enjoy your own company, you can’t expect others to enjoy your company either.

Make a list of things you want to do

Write down what all you want to do in your life. The list might be more than twenty points but write down all you want and try to figure out how you can accomplish it. It can be as silly as purchasing a new dress to something as important as going for a dental checkup, to something like pursuing some hobby, reading a particular book or learning a new sport which you long wanted but couldn’t do for the lack of time. Whenever you fulfill any of it, put a tick on it and see how wonderful and satisfied you feel.

Pray and heal your mind

Arrange a small space in your house where you can pray every day. Spend some time thinking about the divine power you believe. Bestow yourself completely on His thoughts. Pray for wisdom and strength. It does magic to the mind, helps you develop a clear insight on things around you. Indeed many things which we shall not be able to discover either by the experiment of works or by the investigations of reason we shall learn through our prayers, by the revelation of divine inspiration.

Read good books

Make it a habit of reading at least few pages everyday. It helps you develop connectivity within yourself. Read some motivational and self development books like that of Shiv Khera, Robin Sharma. It can change a great deal of you for the better. It is said that books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.

Love yourself

Love the way you are, accept yourself with all your flaws, respect your thoughts and feelings before expecting it from others. By accepting yourself and by being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy. Don’t be too harsh on your self to accomplish your goals. As you gift and treat others, gift and treat yourself at times, you worth it the most. Trust me.

Keep smiling

When you smile, the world smiles with you. A smile is something you can't give away; it always comes back to you. And don’t you feel that lightness in your heart? To keep stress at bay, learn to smile at everything and everyone that comes your way and you can see that you actually can rule over any complicacy very easily. Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it.

Focus on your strengths

Try to figure out your signature strength. What is that positive quality in you for which you are admired. What makes you unique from others. What gives you ultimate happiness and satisfaction. Try to work on it, enhance it every day. As for example if you are known for your writing or for your painting or any other skill, try to practice it and make it better every day.

Diminish your weaknesses

Learn your weakness and try to find means to diminish it. Don’t panic or curse yourself for it. We all are imperfect beings but we can diminish our weaknesses to a great extend if we really want. We should first know what our weaknesses are, accept it and try to rectify it.


Enhance positivity

Think positively. Try to focus on positive things around you and ignore the negatives. Try to avoid people with negative vibes. Clear your mind from hatred and ill feeling. You will be doing good to yourself rather than to others. To forget and to forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover that the prisoner was you. Spread love and happiness around. Spend quality time with your dear ones.

Practice writing positive thoughts

Before going to bed, make it a habit of jotting down few good things that happened to you on that particular day. Lay down thinking of it and you will wake up smiling for another such beautiful day of hope and happiness.

Let’s develop our connectivity with our soul and heart and feel the real beauty of this life. As we love our outer self, let’s love our inner self who also requires our care and attention. Lets work everyday to beautify it, to make it more appreciating and appealing, to make life more beautiful and worth living.

That skinny boy..

Whenever I happen to wait in the traffic point of Moolchand flyover in Delhi, I always see this skinny boy with his chin high, smart and confident, moving from one vehicle to another in the scorching heat with a heap of books heavier than his shoulder, coaxing the passengers for purchasing. Once, I happen to asked him for a book of a particular author. Though he didn’t have it, he gave me three options of the same author. I was surprised by his fluent English. I bought one as a remembrance of this boy. His sincerity and perseverance for his work made me dedicate this for him. It is truly said by someone, no work can define you big or small, it’s the way you do it, makes you big. Hats off to you boy. Good job.

God’s own land….Pondicherry

Spending a year of my life in this beautiful place had been a great pleasure for me. Right from the amazing beaches, temples, to the mouth-watering dishes, I liked almost everything about it. To chill in the cool beaches of Auroville, Chunnambar and in our all time favorite Rock beach where we had spend most of our evenings sitting on those lovely rocks, watching how the waves dances in its own rhythm was like heaven. And I bet if you are a nature lover like me you will love the boat ride to Chunnambar beach which reminds me of Kerala’s back water ride. You will be overwhelmed to see how elegantly those trees stood on the bank spreading their branches like a garland. Some quite moments meditating in Sri Aurobindo Ashram which is a unique spiritual concept, where you can find immense peace in the fragrance and silence of its divinity is a treat to the soul. It is a quaint, enchanting and fascinating place that greets you with a flavor, which you can’t find anywhere else.
You won’t find big shopping malls or sky creepers but it is a place where nature does its wonder. Often referred to as a little piece of old France in India, Pondicherry has managed to retain its French aura from its delightful restaurants offering French cuisine to streets still bearing French names. You will be amazed to see the French colony in the Mission street where every road is parallel to the beach, crossing each other exactly at right angles and that is its specialty.
Shopping here for me has always been of great satisfaction. I liked to shop in Casablanca, a hub of extensive collection of the best local brands, designers and crafts spread over its three floors. You can find the finest leather goods, pottery and incense here in India. And how can I forget to say about the romantic ambience and delicious sea food of Ajanta and Promenade which is located on the Pondicherry beach road facing the beautiful rock beach. Those were my most wonderful moments.
I can’t help speaking about the rickshaw pullers here whom I loved for their hospitality. They never forget to say a thank you once you pay them their dues. They care little about fashion, yet the people here are so beautiful within. I was once sitting on a beach when two Tamil women came and set next to me. Though I was enjoying the aroma of their gazras , yet I pretended to dig myself more on the pages of my novel. They said something like ‘seri seri nalla book’ and one of them putting me absolutely off guard asked very humbly about the novel and the author. I was ashamed how little I knew about the author compared to those two ladies and I realized, simplicity and honesty is their identity.
I still remember how badly I struggled everyday to communicate with my maid who was a Tamil and who didn’t know any other language other than Tamil. Sometimes when I got tired of using my body language to explain each and everything to her, out of frustration I ended up telling in my own mother tongue adding little Tamil and English in it like ‘nee vanga ellai, naa clothes washa, naa now feeling sick.’ and she very obediently shakes her head with a polite ‘seri’ which means okay. I wonder if she ever understood me.
I remember how I have to mix my English with Tamil to make the layman understand. Whenever I travelled by bus, I remembered the conductor playing Tamil music at the highest volume and in spite of the crammed bus and scorching heat, you will find every passenger tapping their feet or their hands, even the kids looked so happy moving their heads up and down rhythmically. You couldn’t help smiling and enjoying the journey.
I adore how artistically women make rangolis in front of their house every morning. Need not say about the yummy South Indian food specially dosas which is my all time favorite and I felt proud to see foreigners adoring our culture and attire. They look ravishing in gazras and saris.
Before I forget let me tell you about Auroville, a planned village which stands after the name of father Aurobindo. That’s a wonderland created as an experiment in celebrating unity in diversity. You will be mesmerized to see the Matri Mandir, which looks like a big golden globe in the midst of Auroville. It is a place of quite concentration, with 80 settlements and 1500 people engaged in various activities like reforestration, organic agriculture, health care and village development. The shops in Auroville resembles to that of Goa with all colorful foreign garments. It is green and beautiful.
I was enthralled by the purity and serenity one can find in this place. I basked in its spirituality.In this one year I felt blessed. The mysterious blend of culture at Pondicherry, now called Puducherry can never be expressed in words, can only be experienced in body and soul. It is such a harmonious land. Yes it’s truly said to be God’s own land.

HIS LULLABY..

When I woke up
In the middle of the night
Frightened and frazzle
By some ghastly dream,
I found myself lying
Cozily between his arms.

Listening to his heartbeats,
Feeling his breathe in my skin,
I felt alive.

A drowsy smile painted me,
I heard a sweet lullaby in his beats
Which again drifted me to sleep.
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