To Happiness, Always..

On the drive, On the go.. Life seems to take its own turns and curves and you just drive along. Not just so that you don't lose track, but also because you don't have another option. Everybody has a destination,and a journey to make to reach that point. Not that everybody's destination is the same, but maybe the road is, atleast for a distance. Maybe that's why lives of people around us overlap with ours. We take different paths when our lives need to go different ways and then, we meet new people, new travellers. People change, but memories stay. And sometimes we wish those good old times happen again.

In pursuit of a career, people move from one place to another at times. They move out of their comfort zone, in which they've been since ages and go to a new City. In most cases, this happens with leaving family and friends behind and feeling lonely at one point or the other. They get along with new people, get along with house hunting and finding out grocery shops nearby and maybe, a new mode of transport too. They expect a few problems to crop up and expect to count on a few people there. Maybe it ends up happening that way or maybe the other way round. Everything is just an insecurity, just a gamble.

But the strong we, don't just give up. We persuade the dream that doesn't let us sleep. We get through the tunnels to get to the shore we've always dreamt of being on. Even though we go through the phase of struggle complaining and missing our old luxurious life, we run from pillar to post to make this part comfortable for the least. We know this is what we need to do if we want to be happy a decade later.

Then, by the time we solve our problems and get on with the speed that life takes us, its already time for the next phase of life. Maybe time to leave for a new City. And its only then that we realise, that even throughout this phase of life, which we had labelled as 'difficult' and in this city which we never called ours, we had made friends. We had managed to have nice times and those times had created memories. Only then is when we realise that there are a few more photos to go on the wall.

Every coin has two sides and every cloud sure has a silver lining. If we just realise this during the period of darkness and laugh off the problems, if we just manage to reduce the wrinkles on our forehead by not letting unnecessary things bother us; if we just live and let live, maybe then we shall have the time to actually 'Live' the days we have, even during that 'struggling' period of life. After all, its a part of your twenties perhaps and that age has happiness also sanctioned with it. Its just on us, whether we look for it and use it or not. Maybe this city had treated us bad and asked too much of us to start with. But sooner or later, like most arranged marriages, it would have accepted us. Both for our good and bad. And we too, in one way or the other, would have associated ourselves with it. Maybe life would take us to a new city then, to show that its got control over us. And then, the least thing we would want to do.,..is to repent not having enjoyed our time spent here.

So wherever you are, look for happiness. Its all around... Every single day gets with it a lot of sunshine. Its for you to take your cup of it.


Loads of love,
Dr. Chandana C. Shekar

Slap-up Thoughts #21

We tend to go with our heart, over our mind. Why don't we realise that its the brain where the centres of thought are located!

Until very soon,
Dr. Chandana C. Shekar

Happy Doctors' Day 2011

To the 5.5 years of medical college,
To the cocktail of slogging and fun,
To the pre-pg and pg struggle,
And the life that starts later on..
Cheers mates... Happy Doctors' Day :) :)

 

Loads of love,

Dr. Chandana C. Shekar

  

The Reason..

The world's asleep, but I'm wide awake
Thoughts of mine, are having their own take.
Why did all this happen, why to me?
For what mistake am I. paying the fee?

     My heart skips a beat honey, even now, for you
     Yet You and I turning Us, forever remains due.
     Got you to believe, on you did I cheat
     Its for your good did I, get the act neat.

For your love-bound eyes, life with me seemed nice
But you couldn't see honey, things you had to sacrifice.
I know you would give it up , with all your heart
But you deserve to have all that, every single part.

I know I'd be your family, you'd take my surname
But why lose your present one, just for the same?
You'd choose me over them, given a choice any day
Yet that hollow in your life, would forever and ever stay.

 

 I took you for a ride, is what for now, you believe

That's enough for me, from your heart, to take leave.

For breaking your heart, I shall take, all the accuse

I just didn't want you at the crossroad, having to choose.

Until next time,

Chandana C. Shekar

Dream of life... A story.

Hey everybody, Hope you'll doing fair and fine. Well, this is a story I wrote a year ago. Had featured on N-zine then. Just re-posting it here on my space now..

Dream Of Life
 

There it was, right in front of her. She had aspired for it since she was a ten year old kid. Two more months, and she was gonna live it! The admission notification from the University of Duke, North Carolina, USA was in her very own hands! Megha, a young doctor,a fighter by default, knew that Duke would be the only place where she would train to become a Surgeon. 'To become a Doctor' was never her dream. "To become a Surgeon at 'The Duke'" was always what she had dreamt of. That had driven her through all her exams and all her grades, ever since school.

Megha, was from an upper middle class educated family. Her parents had got her everything she wanted. Everything she could probably have. But admission to the University of Duke, that too for General Surgery, was far from imagination. She realized this only after entering Medical College. Her parents couldn't do anything for her. Neither would Letters of Recommendations from India work nor would any money. She would be considered a Foreign Medical Graduate and she needed the highest scores and hell a lot of research papers and publications in medical journals. Her classmates said that she was being foolish that she was trying for this. She was told to shift to another university or another branch. Duke was the USA Top 4 after all! But Megha knew what she wanted. She had nurtured the dream since the time she had visited the University on a trip when she was just in class 5, and she wouldn't let go of it now. She knew this was all she had to do to make herself and her parents happy. This was their only purpose of living, and she trusted herself. She believed in her dream.

One fine day, while picking up a book at the library, Megha bumped into somebody. Somebody, who she felt was the most handsome guy in the world. Preet. A senior of two years. Silence ruled as though they were paying due respect to the library rules! Little did Megha know then, that Preet had felt the same way she did! College days passed by, two hearts and souls met. And as in all love stories, Megha and Preet never realised.

Visits to the malls and movies, those late night talks and rides on the bikes, smiles and tears, Megha and Preet had everything between them as every other couple would. The only difference was that they never thought about the future. Not even when they said "I love you for life". Megha cleared the Step one of the USMLE exam in her second year of college itself. She knew there was no turning back now.She had two more Steps to clear the exam, and she would even kill for it. Three more years of blissful love, Megha and Preet were the happiest couple their college ever saw. Preet got a Radio diagnosis post graduation admission in a prestigious institution in Delhi. All of a sudden it dawned on Megha that he would live in India for the rest of his life! What would she do in America? But Preet saw through her. He knew the depth of her dream. And he knew he wouldn't let that get shattered. Not for anything. He had then said, 'I shall take care of it. You don't worry." That was enough for her. She trusted him.

Megha strived hard. 'Duke' meant the world to her now. Nevertheless, she lost hope on quite a few occasions. She was backed up by Preet every single time she went low. She used to be back on her feet when he used to say, "Don't let anybody stamp on you. Not even yourself". She knew he was her back-bone and was more than glad to have him in his life. She gave all her exams, attended interviews and sat at home with fingers crossed. She was tired. She had done everything she could. She was sure nobody else would be more eligible than her. Be it research papers or scores or clinical skills.

And this day, this moment, when "The University of Duke" had sent a letter asking her to join in, the first phone call she made had made her smile vanish into thin air.

"Why can't you try USMLE? You're not particular about any university, so you can get into anything you get. And you sure will get into a good one!".

"It's not that Megha. My parents can't afford the expense. I can't burden myself with so much of a loan. Plus, I like the lifestyle back in India and I can't leave my parents behind."

"Preet, why didn't you tell me all this then?I would have tried to..."


"Don't Megha...I loved you. And I wouldn't let your dream get shattered. Not for anything in this world!"


"I dreamt of living with you too. Come on,don't you know that I love you?!!"


"Honey, In order to gain something in life, you ought to lose something"

Silence prevailed. It spoke for itself. Both of them understood what was being said. She went weak in her knees. She felt helpless, and hopeless too.

She was still on the phone when she heard "Hurraayyy!!!" from behind her. It was her family and friends. Everyone important to her was present there, except for Preet. Cheering her for the "Big day", it was then. There were smiles on everybody's face, tears of joy in her parents' eyes. She was hugged and blessed and congratulated. There was a cake for her to cut, champagne to open, and a huge banner which read, "Congratulations girl, for achieving the only dream you ever dreamt!"

"My only dream?". She stood there. Unable to live the moment she had dreamt for, more than the number of times she had even blinked.

 

Until next time,

Chandana C. Shekar

Mug Mug ki Kahani

 Once a friend asked me, "Do you drink coffee for the sake of coffee or for coffee mugs?". Arre yaar, coffee is for coffee sure. But then, what's wrong in making the experience a little bit more rich and enjoyable if we add it up with nice coffee mugs? Coffee mugs have always been a favourite of mine. I have quite a collection(including the ones my sister broke).

Coffee is my favourite drink. I have coffee for partying and for therapy. Coffee is my saviour when I'm low and sleepy and my partner when I'm happy and relaxing. Coffee stays with me in whatever mood I am in. And hence, the mug collection gets it own use. My use of mugs depends on my mood. The black and white ones when I'm totally sober. The Las Vegas one when I'm in a party mood. The mickey mouse one when I wanna have just plain milk (reminds me of my childhood) and so on..

I stay away from my family. Friends parted ways in search of a career just the way I did. So its obvious I miss those sweethearts and wish I could relive those moments spent with them. And then comes a way I soothen it down a bit. Most of my mugs are gifted by my loved ones. so each mug gets back a memory when used and the soul smiles. The green one with the flowers came from my best friend - the first birthday gift I got from him. The pirate one from another friend. The small brown one from another friend , which cost 15 rupees then and of which, 10 were his and 5 were mine. The dark green one was something Mom bought for me in Pondicherry. Kinda is a memoir of that nice trip with Mom. There is another mug missing in the snap. That's a mug that my sister bought for my birthday after 15 months. Yeah right! She got it for me after my next birthday! The tea-pot is the one my aunt used to keep my tea in during my late night study sessions-the only time that I used to have tea..Well, aise hi.. It goes on.

Life's a bucket full of tiny droplets called moments. And for the short life we have, we need to live all those moments to the full . So whats wrong in associating moments with mugs? Every mug has a kahani. Every mug has a memory. And when I sit back to relax everyday with a cuppa after a tiring day , when the mug brings back those memories while coffee heals my soul, that's enough to get a smile on my face. Well, I enjoy my coffee experience. And that's all that matters.. :)

High on caffeine,
Chandana C. Shekar

My Memories of Mysore Monsoons..

"Hey, awesome rain da. Masalpuri or Jola?"..The same sms would be sent to all friends. This was just a bit more than a year ago. Masalapuri with friends, my favourite thing during monsoons and the thing I miss the most when it rains nowadays. With all friends moving out of Mysore in pursuit of a great career, masalpuri in our lives has indeed become 'C/O footpath'. It rained amazing this evening. I was sipping a cuppa all by myself sitting in my balcony, and I just couldn't help get lost in memories.


Monsoons are always magical. Rains make you feel Nice, Great, Ecstatic. The shift in the air due to the smell of sand when it rains , is a kind which every soul would love. All it did to me today was make memories dance along on my mind like waves at sea. Be it running out to play in the rain when we were kids or walking(read dancing) back home slowly from school to enjoy the rain, trying to catch the rain drops and our moms running out to catch us and taking us in and hurriedly wiping our heads with a towel saying , 'you will catch a cold'. Unable to go get drenched again, we watching the rain from the balcony after that, and  making those paper boats and running out as soon as the rain stops to let them sail in the water downstream; spotting the rainbow and reciting the VIBGYOR mnemonic as know-it-alls!! Well, everybody would have enjoyed their monsoons as kids. Dancing on the puddle and seeing whose white socks would turn total brown first was one thing that me and a friend would always do as kids. Stretching our hands out of the class window to reach the rain and the teacher giving us those killer stares; me playing the responsible elder sister by holding the only umbrella I had for my kiddo sister while walking her from her class to our rickshaw when I was in class five and she in kindergarten- my childhood monsoon memories would never end.

When my friends and I were rehearsing for a dance competition on my terrace and it started to pour hailstorms, throwing them at each other was as though we were playing in the snow. Mom came to call us in and there she goes, all the hailstorms thrown at her!! And as we all know, happiness is contagious. :)

A little ahead in time, when in high school and my first crush happened, and as destiny had had it, the pregnant clouds rumbled and showered,and boom! the filmi scene happens! Well,maybe from the black-and-white film era, but still, for the 'padaakus' that we were then, the aankhon hi aankhon mein and he lending me his umbrella and my 'thank you' still stays an engraved memory. After all, first crush and first rains you see;).

College life, when all the luvvy-duvvy stuff started, monsoons always came with a cue for romance.The first rain drops made the most romantic rain-song linger on, and a smile, was just for that one special person. Nobody to blame, music and romance have gone hand in hand since ages. From 'pyar hua ikraar hua' from Shree 420 to  to 'rim jhim rim jhim' from 1942 A love story to 'mere khwabon mein jo' from DDLJ to 'Barso re' from Guru and our very own, very soothing 'Mungaaru maleye..', the subtle connection between rain and romance and dreams can never fade. My college campus was an amazing one and it was all the more awesome when it rained. Hot coffee and pakodas with friends at the nescafe outlet we had there was just the next best thing to having the same at home with family. Sitting at nescafe, enjoying the company and relishing the coffee, we would watch the rain fade from a downpour to a gentle faint drizzle. The after-rains were always beautiful. And this was where our gossip session would start too. Watching the boyfriends pick their girlfriends from the girls' hostel gate and heading away on their bikes and cars for their drives and the like in full zoom and sometimes, we taking on their role, Gosh! We never got tired of it.

Be it the spiritual oldies or the fun loving us, I'm sure Chamundi Betta is the favourite adda of every single Mysorean. Its a pleasure to watch betta disappear into the rain and then reappear all the more beautiful. And to watch this from your very own terrace, which other city would have such an advantage? A drive or a ride to Betta when it rains is the best thing to lift up anybody's spirits. If you're riding pillion at Betta and it starts to rain, its the best feeling to have your arms wide open, eyes closed, face up and welcome the rain. And to go with it, what a beautiful view of Mysore with the mist and clouds forming a veil over it! The Amba Vilas Palace emerging out of the mist looks all the more Royal.

Betta was a beautiful view from my hospital too. And there were times when it looked so serene that we friends missed the afternoon class to drive to betta in the faint, soft drizzle and feel the gentle,lazy breeze brush through our hair. That was the best replacement we could ask for a boring afternoon lecture.  The times spent there and the snaps clicked are a treasure for sure. Clicking snaps at the view point, with Mysore supposedly in the backgraound, when it rained and mist covered the city, all we could get as the background was the white mist. And then, after a while, the mist would disappear slowly and there you go, such an breath-taking view. And the camera used to go 'click' 'click' again. Many friends shifted under one umbrella for a snap, then looked at Mysore and said ,'Mysore eshtu chenna alla?'. Going up the hill further for a cup of hot steaming coffee, Those were the moments that were really candid. Sitting and chatting for hours at Barista or going dancing at Hookah ain't gonna replace such times for sure.


For a fast flashback of other such memories, there were these times when, the clouds gave an unexpected delivery and the first rains took us by suprise. They say that the best things happen to you when you least expect it, and rains are no exceptions. Going on a two wheeler ride when it rains and then shouting 'son of a b****h' to the car-wallah who splashed a mud puddle at us; watching the Palace in awe when it along with its reflection in the water puddle in front of it made an attempt to illude illusion itself; the makeshift arrangement of their gaadis and small shops by the vendors at the roadside or the Devraja Market and the fast pace at which they do it sure adds to the vibrance of that place.

Rains have seen all our emotions-blissful smiles to walking aimlessly with slower than the snail footsteps to hiding tears amidst the raindrops. Rains sure touch our soul, deep.When we get drenched in whatever city we are, the rains make us miss the ones we had in Mysore. Maybe a tear would take a peek then. Hope the rains of that city would help us hide it..

Lifes changing. Friends parted ways. They went miles away to make their career. I too bid adieu to this beautiful city which has been my abode since the time the surfactant acted on my lungs and breath happened for the first time. We depart to arrive and you arrive to depart. Have to move on for the better and bigger things in life. But deep down, there is a voice that says, Mysore is home, and home is where the heart is. Whatever may happen in life, whereever we are, this is the place we are gonna head back when we need to 'relax'. The city we would head to might not treat us well or ask too much of us. But come what may, however low we fall and feel, we know for sure, Mysore is gonna be there for us. We are always welcome here.

They say, "your past never leaves you.". But at times, we wouldn't want to let go of our past. That's when past turns into memories . After all, such memories are the ones that bring a smile on our face when we are away and lonely. And then does the dialogue 'How I wish it happened again' gets conceived. Ahh! I started writing this because I missed home. And now, I miss it even more. If history ever repeats, I would surely want those good old days to repeat again...and again...and again.

Until next time,
With love and care,
Chandana C. Shekar

A little after 'Do Saal'

Two years ago, around this time, while waiting for my final year medicine results to be out and the letters 'Dr' get added to my name, a thought struck me. That my thoughts could belong somewhere other than my diary. A blog maybe. I had two previous blogs. One was sort of a miscarriage and the other one was a poetry blog which I had made private. Hence I thought I could have a proper one which would be my space, where I could say anything I want without anybody's permission. Where it would be my rules all the time with a feel-good-factor after expressing my thoughts and views without being called a chatterbox! And hence, http://chandana-shekar.blogspot.com came into existence in the www world.

Then, it was history. I discovered I could write decent enough. I had never expected anybody would read what I write except for a couple of friends who were supportive of me writing. But then, people read. My blog was followed. Felt really good to be recognised for it. Getting appreciated by people from this virtual world was one feeling and colleagues stopping by in the hospital and saying, 'Hey I didn't know you write so well!' was another feeling. It was cloud nine everytime my family and friends got proud of me for what I wrote.

Started with scrap. Had absolutely no idea what to write on. Hence wrote an article on 'Aries Woman' because I am an aries by the book! And to this day, that article of mine is the one which gets most visitors, atleast 60% of the statistics!! Comes up on google search and there you go!! Has got 3,742 views till date. Going on, blogrolls happened, followers appeared, widgets got added, templates changed, facebook fan page got created and my soul smiled.

And then, this space and I grew together. Made friends. Few real good friends. Neha di and Nazish - My oldest followers. Neha di was and is someone I really admire. Never thought I could get so close to someone I meet in this virtual world. I remember she giving me the links to two of her friends' blogs so that I can get more idea about blogging. And now, Madam writes and writes big time herself ;-). Nazish was one loyal reader! Always supportive :). Thank you both of you :). Not just the articles, but thoughts that none of you got to read got shared with these people. Others joined the list. Bikram and I shared 'views' about people. The kind of people we analyzed then were of the same kind and it made it easy for us ;-). Few readers commented on my write-up just so that I would do the same on theirs. They kinda almost swore at me when I didn't do so. But there were a few of them who actually read mine because they wanted to read. That list is quite long, but I'm sure those people know that I'm talking about them. Blogger names appeared on facebook friends list and I felt glad to know such amazing people. Thanks all of you.

This year, two really exciting things happened. I started writing for N-zine, the online magazine. Its always a pleasure to write for it. Feels good to a part of a bunch of bloggers who take the pleasure of writing on a theme and make reading it a pleasure for those who do. Then Masthmysore came calling. Wrote an article called 'Mysore Mornings'. It stands to be among my favourites. Was a hit for sure and I was overwhelmed. That was again a pleasure. First thing was because my subject to write on was to be Mysore - the place I've been at since the time the surfactant on my lungs expanded, and the place I adore the most. Second, that website was created and run by a couple of engineers from here who did it for the love of Mysore. So everywhere I belonged to, everybody that writing associated me with, had a passion for words and phrases, or for my hometown. Felt perfect :-).

Every blogger considers his/her blog as a baby, and I'm no different. So happy and proud am I on this day that I can go on and on. Well, why shouldn't I be? To sit in my room alone, when the sky's dark and the world's snoozing, with just a qwerty at my fingertips, to express my joy, to vent out my anger, to get my creativity into words, to play with emotions, to make the characters in my mind wind into a story, to make random words rhyme, to boast about success, to crib about failure, for refreshment, for sobering down, for partying, for therapy, and much much more,... my blog's been my best friend sure. There's no wonder I love it so much. After all, it's 'The World Around Me'..

Thank you all for all your love and support. Thanks a ton :-)

Love you'll loads.

Chandana C. Shekar

Why not me, Ma?

Just because its an X and not a Y,
Can't I have a life ma, can't I fly high?
If The She is worshipped and respected,
Then why am I being, unwanted and aborted?

Wouldn't you fondle my rosy cheeks and black curls?
Wouldn't you adorn me ma, with veils and pearls?
Wouldn't you keep my baby-steps, forever videotaped?
Wouldn't you hide tears, when I get the Black Robe draped?

Why can't I be your baby doll, best friend and walking stick?
Why a perfect groom for me ma, you wouldn't pick?
Why can't I be, in your fondest thought and prayer?
Why are you paying the doctor, to turn a butcher?

Do I deserve this fate, just because I'm female?
Do you think the son you want, will never fail?
Do I make your heart feel, any less warmer?
Do I deserve not to have, a promise of future?

The only helping heart, I've ever known is you
Pleaded enough ma, yet my life remains due.
So much of Why and Why exist, but I'd believe,
You did so to protect me ma, from the world's aggrieve.

p.s.- This poem of mine is featured in this month's edition of N-zine.

Until next time,
Chandana C. Shekar

Ink and Paper

I write. People write. They love to write. They might write simple or complex, but they write. But what makes them put imaginations and thoughts into words? How do pictures come down onto paper from some nook of the mind? How do people get time for all this amidst their busy schedule? Maybe that's what you call, 'Inspiration'.

 

For a few, Inspiration is the smile got on their face while , after and forever after writing. For a few, it might be the smile got on somebody else's face. For a few, it might be something they do to get their part of fame. For others, it might be just to make their loved ones proud of them. It might be just the gush of thoughts in your mind that won't give you peace until you put it on paper. Or it might just be a simple time pass that you wanna shoo away time with. It might be the habit you inculcated in yourself since school days when you wrote essays. It might as well be something you've been trying to do to improve your vocabulary, to keep up pace with the world. It can even be the task your doing because somebody said you couldn't do it. It might even be something your doing, just to impress your special someone. You might write , to get rid of your loneliness. Or maybe just because it makes you feel serene. You might write when the night's silent and dark, and you wanna do something nice. Or maybe when your in the market and something interesting or weird caught your attention. You might blog just because the world blogs and you need one for yourself to flaunt about. You might write because you'r tired of studying your syllabus and you want to be more creative for now. Maybe that you have great authors as your idols and you inspire to be like them someday. Or maybe it's just a stress buster. Or it may just plain be, coz you love doing it :)

Somebody asked me what inspires me to write. I really don't know the exact answer for that. I don't know why I started writing. I don't even remember when I started 'writing' per-se. I've been doing it, in bits and pieces though, since really long. I think old habits die hard :) But all I know , is that I get a smile on my face when I write. I look forward for appreciation too. But yeah, the smile stays for a long time. Feel content.. Relaxed.. Glad..

A lot of my friends write. And a few of them, have become my friends for the reason that we share a common thing. We write. We don't aim to be high profile authors. We don't write amazing poetry or novels which get published. We just scribble a few poems, a few articles, maybe a few short stories or bedtime stories for children. But yeah, we enjoy doing that. And we are proud of ourselves for that. I bet all my friends would agree to that.

I've been somebody who always fell more for the lyrics of a song than the music, even though I was getting trained in music all through the first two decades of my life. And then, poetry happened to me. It's really a nice thing to play with words. Words are always better to play with than numbers. Words have more life than numbers. In case you guys want proof, just try playing crossword instead of sudoku. If you don't find it interesting, keep doing it for a few more days. Finally, you will like it. Then just pick up a pen and paper. Whenever something strikes your mind, just scribble it on paper. Before you realise, your thoughts would have turned into poetry :). Somebody had told me this latter part. And I feel its genuine.

The world is vast. Its huge. You get ample of whatever you want. There's a separate world around each person. There are so many people around each person. So there are so many worlds overlapping around each person. You just have to take a good enough look...And then, you'll find what I call my blog, 'The World Around Me"...

p.s.- This is a re-post from a year ago. Just felt like putting it up again

p.p.s. N-zine's febraury edition is out. I featured too. Wrote Yet Another Night. Have a read

Cheers :)

Chandana C. Shekar

That innocent Val day..

February!! Everybody thinks of Love when it comes to this month!! Everybody knows what the 14th of Feb is. Love is in the air. Gals who are always complaining mellow down. Guys take time out for their gals even between the World Cup schedule. Archies and Hallmark shops blush to red and shoppers fill in. I have regularly shopped for the Feb 14th since I was seven years old. Nah, don't raise your eyebrows!! That was for my sister's birthday which is on the same date. You people na!Prototype thinkers!! Uff!! ;-)

But yeah, not to deny, Val day happens to everyone when in high school or college or a little bit later. One or the person comes up and one or the other gift comes up. Whatever unique or personalised or expensive gifts people buy, I always remember the first Val day gift I had exchanged.

I was in Class 4. On Val day eve, I was out with my elder brother and his friends. They were talking about what gift a guy had bought for the next day. The curious me asked them as to what they were talking about. They said that he had a bought a gift for his friend and people do that on that day. So, basically I understood it as friendship day! Those were the days when I used to have a huge collection of different kinds of pencils. We weren't allowed to use pens until the next grade.So it was just pencils and pencils. So anytime a friend had a birthday, the gift that person would get from me would be a couple of nice pencils. So I went home, gift wrapped a couple of pencils into two packs and gave it to two friends on the next day! And to top it, I 'enlightened' them too about the 'occasion' and hence, received return gifts from them the next day, which was again, pencils!!

Years passed and I got the 'actual' enlightenment about Val day. Flowers came, gifts came, wishes came. But I'll never forget that Val day. It was innocence celebrating friendship. Even while writing this post, that Val day memory brings a smile on my face.And I guess that's all that matters .

Well, Val day may be about your spouse and blah blah, but its just celebrating love in general. And love exists in every single relationship. Be it the one you have with God or with your dog. So go on, celebrate love. I agree that Love is to be loved all the time, but this is one month to celebrate it. Maybe we can call it, the 'Carnival of Love'. :)

Cheers..
Until next time,
Chandana C. Shekar

"Oh!I saw an ambulance at that hosp!! So cool!!"

A few months ago, my sister got into MBBS. Soon after her admission counseling was over at the Common Entrance Test Cell and her admission got confirmed, she was messaging all her friends that she got through and was to be a budding doctor now. Ofcourse she had specified which college she was getting into. Congratulating replies came, calls came and it went on. But one girl surely outdid the rest of them. She called up my sister and said, "Oh that college!! I've seen that college. It has a huge campus, huge hospital. There was an ambulance 'also' in front of the hospital ya! Cool!!".. Huh? Finding an ambulance in front of a hospital is something worth mentioning? Nowadays there are freelancing free ambulances too!! And this after all is a  Medical College Hospital. Sounds funny, but at that age, all that that girl had was innocence, joy and excitement. I remember saying similar stuff when my best friend A was trying for admission at the IISc. We were just excited about the campus and the boulevards there and the stipend and what not! But not once did we talk about the coaching there. When you're genuinely excited for someone, every small thing looks exciting. IISc didn't happen, but all the better ISRO did!! And I am so proud of her :).  Every time I talk about my best friend to anyone, I sure mention she works there. Anyways, back to the younger ones, my sister's friend was happy for my sister and that was all that mattered..I wish both of them all the good luck for their endeavours.

Until next time,
Chandana C. Shekar

Ouch..

February's around the corner. Everything will turn luvvy-duvvy red then. Everybody'll know one thing for sure then-love! Everybody expect their proposals get accepted. Love does indeed seem to be in the air. Since it's Jan yet ,I thought how about a 'just miss' at love?. Here it goes... ;-)

Ouch..

Eyes saw an image, Heart missed a beat,
Was something I felt, which would never repeat.
Instantly did I know, he was the special someone,
For in me, I felt then, bliss, anxiety and fun.

Long had it been, that I had stopped imagining,
No inspiration did I have, to do any penning.
A spur of a moment, did it take now,
For words to form phrases, I don't know how.

Smitten by him, was I very much that day,
So much I'd say, that words can't say.
Never in two decades, had I, this way felt,
One smile of his, and my heart would melt.

He's the one I thought , for now, ever and always,
Fate failed I guess, for him, I did not entice.
To him, I thought, would I never bid adieu,
But dreams just shattered, when I realised...
He was my Best Friend's Beau.

p.s.- The last time I showed this to a friend, he asked me who that best friend of mine was. So here's the disclaimer- this is a work of pure fiction!!

p.p.s- 100 followers on my blog now ..yayy!! :-)

Until next time,
Love,
Chandana C. Shekar

I'm back !! :-)

:-) Hiya everyone,

A dreaded exam, loads of sleep, a much awaited long holiday, time spent with my best friend, time spent with family, a festival and now,.... Me back and blank.Yeah, I'm back on my blog, but I don't know what to write on.It feels like I'm having a thought block (That's a deja-vu from my exam on last sunday, but that was a dangerous block).Maybe I need some warming up.

Until then, there is an old poem of mine, that I had written when I was preparing for my third year MBBS exams - 'Musings at Ophthalmology'. Somehow Ophthal never goes down well with me. And the same status existed even when I was preparing for PG entrance. That was among the last subjects that I studied. And this poem is now featured in this month's N-zine. Have a read at this link.

And at namma masthmysore.com , had written a poem 'Happy New Year Mysore'  . Do have a read. If any of my Mysore friends are reading this, there is a fun quiz at www.masthmysore.com at 10pm everyday called MYQ. It's a pictionary about Mysore and it's fun to play. I play it. A bunch of fun people do. Do join in. I'm sure you shall enjoy it.You can even get them on facebook. :)

I have a lot of posts to read on your blogs my blog-friends, and I shall love doing that.

See ya'll soon..
Until then, take care, have fun, enjoy life..

Loads of Love,
Chandana C. Shekar