LOVE (Part 1: As an emotion, an experience and an enigma)

It needs no prefix, no suffix.
It needs no introduction, no description.
It needs no reason, no aim.
It needs no time, no notion.

All it needs is a HEART…

To write about,
To think about,
To spread about,
To paint about,
To discover about,
To imagine about,
To create about,
To converse about,

LOVE is…

The purest emotion in universe,
The unchallenged truth in ages,
The most treasured relationship of centuries,
The only emotion that possibly has no substitute!

And if you haven’t felt/realised the power of love,
Try this out…

Just when the world mutes its chaos and goes silent,
Place your hand on your heart.
The pounding that you sense,
Is not just the heartbeat…!
But the humming of a tune only you can listen.
The tune is that of love and longing.

Keep listening to your heart, it hums often.
No one in this world has remained ungifted by this hum.

Not a single legendary poet, writer or the greatest and the unheard of personalities have remained untouched by the magic of Love.

The only difference is they interpreted it differently.

Shakespeare infused the ingredients of crime in it. Tagore blended it with jealousy. Sarat Chandra enriched it with loss. Ghalib sung it in his ghazals. Khusroo described it in his nazams. Rumi wrote it often. Sufis spread it as a message to bring about peace, unity and integrity.

Described in most beautiful words, depicted in most beautiful situations and often demonstrated with purity; LOVE certainly is beautiful.

Love arrives unannounced. It makes no sound. It just happens. Just when you think, there is no one to look up to; it is always advisable to look around. Perhaps an unpredictable smile, perhaps a harmless whisper, perhaps a surprising wink, perhaps a request… kicks starts the chemistry.

Love is certainly chemistry with no formulas. Written in many languages, understood through many signs and symbols; it means one and the only thing - Love. Nothing changes around Love. But Love changes a lot around you. You start liking what you never liked. And you do what you always wanted to.

It is an experience; every one goes through in life. And some go through it several times. But Love is felt only when it comes straight from the heart. Pretensions never help. Love doesn’t demand promises. Understanding is what it demands. Faith is what it craves for. Trust is what it prophesises.

Love is not easy; love definitely is difficult but not impossible. Like the wise men say, “Falling in love is very easy but shouldering its responsibility is tough”. Not every one is able to triumph over the odds. Some hearts break even before their heartbeats become one. Some desires die even before they start aspiring.

Love is a journey to be fulfilled and not left half way. Some board a train and disappear forever. Some wait at the platform to see the train come back. The train keeps coming back, but true love never takes a ‘U’ turn. But true love does take the effort to come back one day and smile straight on your face. It does happen. Bitterness doesn’t come in Love without a specific reason. There are lot of things, which keep acting against love to make it bitter.

Some make fun of love. Some claim it to be farce. Some blame it to be a waste of time. But love in itself is like life. It breathes, it survives, it jumps, it collides, it slips and it balances.

Love is to be respected and not to be regretted. The mind has to stay open to embrace Love. The heart has to be spotless to feel the magic of love. God created it, humans borrowed it. Some turned it into gold. Some transformed it into a palace of grief.

Over the years, the dimensions of love have changed. With time, love has become cup of coffee which is over poured. It is sad that some have made love an excuse to climb ladders of gains.

Love isn’t a game and it is not about gains for sure. It is sometimes enigmatic. It also becomes difficult to make out whether it is true love or at times just infatuation. When a heart breaks, humans alone don’t shed tears. Love sits by the side and cries equally. Love has no roof over its head. It lives in hearts. And when hearts break, it wanders homeless.

So if love comes your way, don’t shut the doors of your heart, don’t bolt the windows of your mind, don’t pull the shutter of your ears and don’t deceive yourself… Just let it happen. Because over a period of time, you will realise LOVE IS SHEER MAGIC, WHICH TRANSFORMS LIFE INTO SOMETHING WORTH LIVING FOR…!

Love is special, it never goes away…
It walks beside us every day, every moment…
Unseen, unheard,
Still near, still special…
Still missed and still very dear,
Love craves for a roof over its head…
Don’t abandon it, don’t turn it away.
Embrace it, pamper it and make it your own…

Because LOVE IS BEAUTIFUL, WHICH MAKES LIFE BEAUTIFUL…
If you love somebody, say I LOVE YOU.
And even if your love is met with denial, go ahead and say I STILL LOVE YOU.
Something which might not happen instantly might happen someday…

So… Live, Love and Long for more Love to come your way…

- vociferous

MY 100TH POST

Before I start, I would like to quote Gulzarsaab.
Reproduced below are the translated lines of his most renowned song from the movie ‘Parichay’. Sung by the eternal Kishoreda and composed by the immortal Panchamda. I can relate a lot to this song. Because this is how, I arrived to my blogging hobby too.

The song goes…

“Musafir hoon yaaron… na ghar hai naa thikana
Mujhe chalte jaana hai; buss chalte jaana”

The translation is equally sweet… which now a part of my profile posted on facebook is given below:

I am but a wanderer, my friends
No home, no address
Wandering is all I am here to do

Where one road stops
Another joins
When I turn
The road too
Curves along with me

I nestle
On the wings of the wind
I am but a wanderer

The day takes my hand
Brings me here
The night beckons me
And calls me there

The dusk and the dawn
I have as my friends
I am but a wanderer

I too am a wanderer.
This wandering of mine began in the year with the first blog entry I posted.

Today is November 18, 2010.
It was September 19, 2005 when I had posted my first blog entry.
Blogging was a whole new world to me.
In bits and pieces, in scribbles and doodles, in cartoon strips and pullouts, in emails and smses; somewhere I read something about blogging.
The entire world was talking about how blogging was turning out to be the next big phenomenon.
Some were doing it for a social cause.
Some were posting entries for a strong purpose.
Some were revealing their fantasies.
Some were unveiling secrets, the media would use to fill tabloids or flood the television screens.
Unknown truths were being revealed.
Revolutions were being fuelled.
Speeches were made available.
To sum it up, the Indian Superstar Mr. Amitabh Bachchan too got bit by this bug.
Then followed, Aamir Khan.
Facebook, Orkut, Twitter… From macro to micro; blogs were happening.
But I was already on it.
The first entry of mine was a reproduction of an article that had got published in a Bengali bulletin, Pratibimba (The Reflection); which is still available on demand. A bald headed gentleman, supported by his very loving wife still continues to publish it. His labour of love, his wife’s dream of a mouthpiece pulled out the writer in me. They both made me write for their magazine. I charged them nil. But thanks to their love and support. Thanks to every effort they made to make me write for them.

But I wanted to stop writing for them. I was not for charity.

The reason or rather reasons were simple… I was restless, I was unabashed, I was stubborn, I was unstoppable, I was impatient and I was faceless. All I wanted to do was to start writing in a way that made me feel good about. Every word that I brought together with other words to form a sentence intrigued me to keep going ahead and produce paragraphs that I would enjoy reading, others would enjoy reading.

At the same time, there was anger in me… Immense anger. My anger has yet not died down.

This anger was rooted in my own deeds, own mistakes and decisions (the wrong ones); I made on my own. I was missing somebody who had relied on me but I never did justice to that faith & hope. It took me seven long years to find that person again but sadly I haven’t met with forgiveness. Because I have failed again.

And I was and am still in hatred of the person who changed the course of my life forever. If that person happens to read this blog, I have no qualms in declaring that betrayal, deception and backstabbing still doesn’t go down very well with me. I might be a changed person today but am still outraged and if provoked, would avenge. I can’t forgive and forget. I can’t hate and smile. I can’t do and deny. I can’t hide and run. I can’t react and repent.

There were lot of things, thoughts, tribulations, torments & tarnished talks, which pushed me to the edge. I was feeling choked, suffocated and breathless. I felt someone was tightening the noose around my neck. Someone was not too happy to see me happy. My successes had started meeting with massive failures. My ascent was poised to meet with a steep descent. And finally I jumped off the cliff, got stuck in between and screamed – HELP! An unknown, unseen entity emerged from nowhere and prompted, “If you are so angry, express it. If you are so aggrieved, cry out. If you are so bruised, salt them. If you are so determined, be firm. Be a Vociferous. Shake yourself up. Shake others up. YELL OFF”
Thus was born my alter ego, my new identity – VOCIFEROUS.
And Vociferous made up his mind to create http://www.bengalsurprise.blogspot.com
I was born and brought up in Mumbai. I grew as a Mumbaikar. And I still am a Mumbaikar.
Political correctness or incorrectness doesn’t bother me. What bother me are faces, minds, mouths and ears with rotten attitude dripping from them.
I named it bengalsurprise, because life is surprising. I am a surprised Bengali. So bengalsurprise means, a surprised look at the world because the world, the universe and everything else leaves the Bengali in me surprised.

Writing this 100th blog was not that easy. Inspiration is what I had waited for long. Finally it arrived few days back. A very special friend, a very special person in my life kept telling me, asking me in fact pushing me – Write or I will never read your blog. Whenever my friend kept going on the blog, my missing 100th entry proved to be a dampener. Yes, very right… I hadn’t posted anything for the past few months. The last entry was somewhere in the month of July and that too when it had started raining in Mumbai. And even two days back, in this month of November rains have taken control of Mumbai.

Tears of happiness roll out of my eyes.
Thrill of writing such a long piece leaves me wanting to write more.

A logo was definitely what I had thought of and I designed it. It is not a serious kind of a logo but a celebrating kind of a logo, a light hearted one and again a ‘feel good’ kind of a logo.

The process of ideating my 100th blog entry was very different.
I first thought of choosing all the alphabets and comparing it with what made me become a blogger. The mind just wasn’t too happy with this idea. So finally over the last three days, endless telephonic conversations, long hours of reading, endless musical moments and a determination to fulfil a promise finally brought the ‘Eureka’ moment. I said to myself, I shall write randomly in a nonlinear format. I shall write what comes to my heart first, then gets transferred to my mind and finally gets transported on my laptop.

My fingers are running faster. My mind is thinking faster. And in the next few hours, I am going to write something meant for twelve long months, 365 days and 8760 hours. In the next few days, I will also complete writing the first chapter of my book, the title of which is known to whom I trust the most, love the most and have faith in the most.

It was never my idea to sensationalise my blog. I just wanted to write what came to my mind. I consider http://www.bengalsurprise.blogspot.com, my most independent blog. It mirrors my thoughts, my vision and whatever goes on in my mind. Apart from this blog, I have the following blogs:

On the account of posting my 100th blog entry, I have created this new blog:

http://safarisurprise.blogspot.com/

The above is a travelogue. The first write-up, I am going to post on it is the half day Lonavala trip I took along with my friend of now 15 years on his state-of-the-art TVS Bike. In fact, I owe him a lot too. Our friendship is one of those, which is apt for a partnership. Maybe very soon, we would take a trip on bike and replicate the ‘Motorcycle Diaries’ experience.

This blog will comprise snaps, my travel experiences and much more… But I am definitely going to limit it to only travelling and everything related to travelling. If someone calls it a weird style of writing about travel, so be it.

Focusing on http://www.bengalsurprise.blogspot.com, I am very content with the style of writing, I have adapted so far. I have on/off reviewed movies. I have commented on society. I have made judgements against specific political movements. This is not just a blog for me. It is a kind of revolution. This blog is also the force, which pulled me out of my phase of depression which lasted from March 31, 2009 to October 1, 2009. It was a painful period. I had packed my bags to leave for the Himalayas. I had attempted what every human being attempts, when he/she is broke. Thanks to my mother, my friends, my family and my blog which got me back on my feet. Or else, I would have never lived to tell this tale.

I know this is the lengthiest, I have ever written and I am not finished yet. I want to take this revolution to a new level. From just being a mere blog, I want to transform it to a full fledged website and an extremely interactive one. I have seen lot of injustice. And I am not that big to comment that I have seen lot in this life. I have walked through the corridors of courts and I have run through the verandas of offices controlled by khaki clad personnel. Now neither the black suit baffles me and neither those pair of brown shoes matter to me. I am not perplexed any more by blank calls or the letter of threats that come knocking every now and then.

I have a face; I have a voice. I have a dream; I have a pair of eyes. I want just not to walk but to fly high, higher and highest.

I dedicate this 100th blog to my mother who continues tolerating me through every year I grow older and she getting older and older. She has her concerns. I understand them. And I am sure, at an apt time; I shall address them. She is a woman who has inspired me the most, supported me the most and taught me the most. Yet I remain indebted to her. Nothing can substitute her presence in my life. And I know how incomplete I am without her. I know we being human beings shall remain for each other eternally. But till the time we are together, I shall remain indebted to my mother.

This 100th blog is dedicated to all my friends.

This 100th blog is dedicated to you, my inspiration.

This 100th blog is dedicated to the reason that still pricks me from within.

This 100th entry is a symbol of my triumph over me. This 100th entry is a reply to the many questions, I keep asking myself.

I will continue on this journey of writing.
I will continue on this madness of posting.
I will continue on this eagerness of reading.
I will continue on this kick of procrastinating.

I was born a very normal guy. I pursued very normal education.

Few dreams remained unfulfilled:

Couldn’t pursue a degree in English Literature
Couldn’t complete my degree in Classical Singing
Couldn’t pursue an MA in English Literature
Couldn’t chase my dream of being a part of Prithvi Theatres

But I feel:

Dreams, never die
Desires, never diminish
Destiny, never deceives
Determination, never defers

I want to dream again.
I want to write again.
I want to triumph again.
I want to LIVE again.

I might not be there forever.
Life is very uncertain.
Today I am alive; Tomorrow I might not be alive.
What shall remain behind will be my remains, my exploits, my writings and my blog.

A labour of love, a result of anguish and an intercourse of ideas; I salute you my http://www.bengalsursprise.blogspot.com

From inception to incredibility, I remain……………………………………………..

VOCIFEROUS

PS: I hope YOU and everyone along with YOU in this world, in this universe takes note that I have finally completed my 100th entry for my blog

This 100th entry comprises: 5 pages, over 2000 words, over 9000 characters with no spaces, over 11000 characters with spaces, 102 paragraphs and 246 lines!!!!!!!!!!!!!