Happy Place!

 

When the world hammers down on me & frustration is high,
The infinite juggling of priorities makes me cry,
I close my eyes & withdraw into a shell in my mind,
And there awaits my paradise, my happy place I find.

The night sky enchanted with the celestial carpet of stars,
Its light shining upon me healing my scars,
While I lay on the grass ormented with pearl like dew condensed,
The sound of water flowing besides; soothing my senses tensed.

The water flowing & following the twists and curves of the star studded river,
The heavenly & the earthly rivers are twins or a synchronised dance of lovers,
Caressing my face is the cool night breeze smelling like the first rains,
This is my happy place, unseen & unheard of, unlike any explored terrain.

Your happy place can be anything you imagine it to be,
A treasure of peace, solace and relief for free,
It teaches you to empower your loneliness,
To not attach to another person your strings of happiness.

So close your eyes, take a deep breath and clear your mind,
Be the architect of your happy place; let yourself unbind,
Create, design and own with pride your happy place,
When you open your eyes, tell none the secret of your happy face!

– The Anonymous Brain

The Arrow

As I closed my eyes tonight
I saw an arrow flying somewhere
Somewhere unbound
Somewhere unknown
Beyond my limits
And my world
Where does it head, I ask myself
Plead for an answer, if at all
What direction does it show
To get out of this situation
Where nothing’s clear
And there’s no plan
What worrying cannot show, the arrow can
Where do I head, Oh Lord
I promise to give it my best this time
No stone unturned
No regrets made
I will go down the trodden path
Just show me the way
And I shall walk
Or run
Or fly higher
Everyday
All I ask is for your arrow
To show me the way.

-Rubai Shinde

Ballad from heart

I call you up, your instinct is to cut it and easily ignore,

The magic in our friendship or our friendship itself exists no more,
When you are merciful enough to talk, your tone is bored,
Do you even know I have cried so much; my eyes are so sore?

My heart is a court where I both charge and defend you,
A battle between my anger against my love for you,
Anger says you have changed; you are not who I knew,
Love tricks me into believing it is just the work pressure on you.

The anger angrily tells do not lie to me about work pressure,
Why is it when you call, the phone is busy without measure,
Their dp says they hang out with better friends for leisure,
‘People change’ logic pleaded, my heart denies it for sure.

You have no idea the agony I felt, because I hardly complain,
I never felt such powerful pain, it drove me insane,
You didnt care; then why I cried oceans in vain!
My heart silently curses, fear karma,it yells in bane!

I promise never to give such power over myself to anyone,
To be happy,take out time for myself when the day is done,
To stay bright, cheerful and optimistic as the sun,
To build a career and make the ones who love me the happiest ones!

– The Anonymous Brain

 

The Dilemma

Choose me! As the voices echoed in my head. Swaying between the world’s best or worst suggestions. Should I go with it and just tell her how I always have felt?
But what if she just sees me  as a friend? only a friend! And I am not even as special as she is. My past was a hell of a roller coaster ! I don’t know  if she’ll trust me,  why would she,  I don’t even have a perfect soul or a perfect body. I can’t even look in her eyes. Even if m not around, she’ll never notice.
I’ll just go with the other voice and be with her as a friend she demands ! At least I’ll stay around with the sorrows in my soul which I got to control. I don’t even belong with her. All I am best at is making her smile whenever I meet her. But that’s not enough. I’ll fake a smile and go on. As she’s an angel and I am nothing but just another someone.
Maybe just imagining a time with her, is all I can do and be there whenever she needs me. As I don’t want her to run away after knowing what I feel for her. Always hiding behind the mask, my true feelings will lie. Waiting her to just take a peek once.

∼The Kaleidoscope

The Lost Thoughts

Black night with faded light, worrying about the world falling apart.

But maybe that’s not enough, the real problem is  how to be someone you’re not.

Such a long time since you met yourself. Just can’t stop running.

Now I can’t help thinking, about everything.

How maybe, someday it’ll all make sense.    Maybe!

But it’s not that easy. Just the way gravity pushes on us.

Maybe I was just here to help. Not to get one!

Even if it seems like trouble is surrounding you, I’ll be there to help.

I cannot promise you a solution, but I sure can draw a rainbow amongst those grey clouds.

Even though it’ll last for only a while, at least you’ll forget your problems and

smile for a few moments.

And that smile will be worth fighting for!

Written by – The Kaleidoscope

Relics of The Chatrapati Era

The architecture of India is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Indian architecture progressed with time and assimilated the many influences that came as a result of India‘s global discourse with other regions of the world throughout its millennia-old past. One definition of a great civilization is the magnificence of its architectural legacy, and India is surely among the foremost. The country is dotted with the remains of ages gone by.

Every Indian has seen his/her mother making curry, adding in coconut, onion, turmeric, chilly, etc, but what adds the punch is the garam masala in it which differs from other cuisines. Similarly different architectural influences can be seen here but what truly makes the structure Indian is its own uniqueness. To prove the point I am trying to make here has a perfect example of ‘Bhor Rajwada’.

The Ganpati saga – ‘Visarjan’

The ten days of joy and hopes alas! comes to an end. This incredible and magical festival, binds the 100 parts of this country together into one single heart. That’s the beauty of this festival, where people no matter where they come from, join each other to celebrate it. The hopes of getting rid of all their problems with the blessings of Lord Ganesha , is a very popular belief amongst people.

Visarjan i.e biding farewell to our beloved Lord, is also done in a unique way. Visarjan takes place mostly after 10 days of his arrival. But at a few places its done either in one and a half day, three days, five days or seven days. Whilst in Pune, people often come from various corners of the world to witness our unique, jaw dropping and creative way of celebrating the stay of Lord Ganesha.

Idealising one’s self

Fashion to ones knowledge is greatly influenced by their or other people’s body image . Body image is nothing but the mental image, attitude and feelings we have of our own body . It is our own idea of “beauty ” or “ideal-body” Any body waif , curvy or athletic is beautiful in its own way , yet many people idealize the body type proposed to be ideal by the media , how ever for a fact we know that media is ideal but not real . All of us are beautiful in our own very different form . If everyone would be same , how would u admire beauty ? Ideal body , body shape , weight , height does not only limit to women’s beauty , but it also affects men largely today !

The Ganpati saga – ‘The History’

Ganeshotsav is one of the most popular festivals in India (especially in the state of Maharashtra). Over the years this festival has gained a lot of fervour and extravagance. The cities of Mumbai and Pune are known for their unique celebrations of this 10/11day fest. Known for their opulent and grand festivities, these cities attract a large number of tourists and devotees not only from different states in India, but also from other countries.

The origin of the Ganesh Chaturthi fest can be traced back to the great Maratha ruler, Shivaji, who initiated the programme to instil the values of nationalism and promote cultural harmony amongst his subjects.

After Shivaji, it was Nana Saheb Peshwa who initiated the worship of Ganesha as a festival. It was during his rule that a separate statue made of clay was specially carved and brought to the Shaniwar Wada, the residence of the Peshwas. During his reign the expenditure of Rs2682 for the festival was documented in the journals. The Utsav gained more importance during Madhavrao Peshwa’s reign, who was an ardent devotee of Ganesha. Puja was held twice in a day and shlokas and mantras were chanted throughout the day. The expense incurred during Madhavrao’s reigning period in 1767 was about Rs3000. The festival was not celebrated in the Shaniwar Wada after the death of Narayanrao Peshwa in 1773.

It was later revived by Nana Phadnis and Sakharam Bokil , administrators of the Peshwas in 1778 at the Purandar fort as the next Peshwa, Sawai Madhavrao then 4 years old lived there. After his return to Shaniwar Wada, between the period of 1760-1791, the festival was celebrated on a gigantic level with great pomp and splendour. With the decreasing influence of the Peshwas in the early 19th century, the festival ceased to be celebrated at the Shaniwar Wada by 1815.

In 1882, the festival was revived by Bal Gangadhar Tilak, as a perfect platform to spread the message of the freedom struggle. It provided a platform for people of all communities to participate and it transformed into a social function thus unifying the people and instilling a spirit of oneness. Today, the festival encourages societal participation and involvement of people of different backgrounds. It also encourages cultural and community activities such as theatre performances and charity. The festival has grown to be not only a spiritual and cultural activity but also a major economic activity for the metropolitan cities of India. Nonetheless, the festival marks the beginning of a series of other festivals and has grown to become one of the most awaited festivals in Maharashtra.

Written by- Bela Patil.

The Ganpati saga – ‘The Beginning’

The spectacular festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is one of the most celebrated festivals all over India. While in Pune, this festival is celebrated from the time of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The start of the festival can be marked  on the 4th day of the Bhadrapada month, which according to the Hindu calendar which falls in the months of late August or early September and is celebrated for most magical 11days.