Thursday, 29 August 2013

Obsession

I fall in and out of love
I am born and I die
I travel countries and I fly
I break my heart and I break others’
I live through you, lavish tales in a book

I fall and I get up
I loose and I win
I forgive and I forget
I move and move on
I dance and groove on
I live through you, my little one

You are fiery and you are cool
I cry and I snicker
I am speechless and I talk to you
You shut up and listen
I live through you, my nibbles on a plate

(C) Juztamom 2013


Some of my obsessions for Verse First at Poet's United.

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Who wears the pants?


Well this is a rhetorical question right? But we do give a lot of importance to pants..Don’t we? If a person is a professional working in an office he/she has to be in pants and if a person is not in pants/suits but in pajamas or in this case salwar suit playing with a kid, he or in this case specifically she is judged as non-working homely home maker aka housewife. And isn’t it surprising that she has E-MAIL in her mobile??

Oh My Dear Lord!! A salwar suit wearing, playing with her kid type has an E-Mail facility in her mobile. This is shocking!! Yes the advertisement hits a shocking node. This is breaking news...She can afford an E-Mail because it is available only for Rs 1 per day. Oh My Lord..Dear Lord!! What a life saver for homely home maker!




This advertisement gave me goose bumps. Literally I sat up straight and saw it multiple times. Every time it took me to another level of disgust. I normally don’t pay much heed to ads. They are mostly hideous, part of a race, trying to outsell each other. And in the process out-sell every moral and ethic in the book. I have been a part of the process, seen things take shape quite closely and hence I am more disillusioned.

But this ad took being judgmental to a new level. Look at all the elements. The lady who is obviously a working professional gives a skeptical look to the other lady who is homely poor woman with a child, not wearing pants . Literally the look tells us she is already looking down on the other lady for no reason.

Even when the homely lady who doesn’t have anything better to do, offers help; the lady in pants gives an incredulous look and says something that qualifies as a taunt...big time.

And Voila!!

What happens?? The lady in pants is proved wrong because the homely lady [Not in pants] has an e-mail facility in her mobile, which she can easily afford now because it is so cheap. Otherwise how will a homely lady with a child [Not in pants] be able to afford such facility?

Oh My an E Mail!!

This advertisement speaks volumes about the judgements prevalent in our society. We mark people and roles in water tight compartments and refuse to believe otherwise. We follow what is convenient and everything that is different is not convenient. So we pick up stereo types, don’t fight them, rather sell them and sell our products through them.

I know marketers draw their target audience [TG] and define them as a single person. So in this case who was the TG? A 30 something homely home maker playing with her child, who otherwise won’t be able to afford an e mail facility but is now using it because it is cheap. So now she can help an office going professional [in pants]. But my question is what is the basis of this TG definition?

Do they really think there are these two type of women?? And through this ad they are reaching this identified type??

I am not sure how many homely non-pant wearing females would relate to the advertisement but I really really want the marketing brains behind this ad to come and live where I do.

I would love them to see some of us home maker aunties with kids roaming around in hot pants with our i phones/ i pads, checking e mails and FB and speaking in ENGLISH.

Oh My GOD...maybe next they can try and sell some English speaking courses to us. If e mail is so unexpected from us, then English speaking courses are gold mine.


Common teach us English Mr. Marketer!!

Master of puppets


 I am a broken toy without your string
Still dancing without you
Alive but fading each second without you
Master of puppets

You asked me to leverage my best
Let go of my past
Burn like a candle
Eat dark and spread light
Burn little by little
Scald little by little
Die but live

like a cricket’s quiet courting song
Knowing the love is near yet long
Voice weak yet strong

Be the carriage of borrowed glow
Like a moon 
Round still edgy
Dark still beaming
With a belief in goodness

On the edge of precipice
Wanting to fly on fall
But your words keep me grounded
My promise keeps me alive
Away from you,
To be with you,
With my words for you
Master of puppets

I wonder like calypso in Odyssey
Waiting for you to be immortal
Knowing that this is just a bubble
That you are gone
Leaving me alone
Asking me to wait
For the dawn
Master of puppets

Your dreams pepper and infuse
fancy in reality
bite after bite
Of your love
thrust after thrust
Of your lust
cryptic and real
Raged and surreal
Your memories
Your touch
Master of puppets

I rise like soufflé 
rapidly falling in a fizz
drumbeats of your kiss
still banging in an abyss
You climb up in each moments
Moments that are broken
Moments those are empty
Moments that are bare
Because you are not there
But I am there keeping your words

Being alive


(C)Juztamom 2013

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Sunday, 25 August 2013

A Day Through My Nose

I got up in the morning, stretched my arms and smelled my palms, then hugged myself. The biggest baddest hug possible; then I closed my eyes and felt her. My mother is always around me especially in the mornings, though we live 1000 kms apart but there is something that has kept us connected.

When I was moving out of the house my mom told me to hug myself every morning, like I use to hug her when I was with her. She said she is in me. And this way I would be able to continue our morning hugs even when we are apart.

I tried doing it but in the starting I just couldn’t feel her. I didn’t know what was missing and I called her and said may be you are forgetting me, maybe that’s why I can’t feel you when I hug myself in the morning.

She laughed and told me to close my eyes, open my senses and my palms and smell them before the hug. And then take a deep breath and hug again.

I closed my eyes, smelled my palms, they smelled of her. The smell of our shared love of cocoa body butter blended with a whiff of gulabjal just like her. I could smell the haphazardly cleaned turmeric stain from my dress last night, just like her. Yes she was there in my smell, in my habits, in me. I hugged myself and I could feel her warmth around me. From that day onwards I have always felt her presence around me.

Warm and sunny, like a bright Sunday morning
There you are pulling me out of the bed, yelling in my ears “Good morning”
Rise and shine and take on the world
I am there with you, always holding your hands unnerved

As I walked towards the kitchen, I saw you keeping the tea to brew as always my love. The Kettle whistles and lets out its steam and the kitchen was filled with an aroma of fresh and mint

Fresh and minty just as I like
My first cup of the day always with you
Parle G dunked and licked
Newspaper opened and flicked
I close my eyes and sip through the memories
Of each cuppa shared with you, each sip divine, each memory exemplary
My life, my love, my other half

Just then it started to rain, I ran and opened the balcony.I felt the rains on my face and closed my eyes. The smell of rains and the sound of water gushing down took me to memory lane.

Last few days with you
We walk down our favorite lane
And just then the rain gods came
People ran and got shelter
We ran and got wetter
Spicy chat and sweet Popsicle
Spice burns and sweet tickles
Our last alone day together
My sis, my love, my saviour forever

I came in completely drenched relishing the memories and picked up the towel. I wipe, sniff and snicker. The towel smells flowery. It smells of spring. It smells of lily and rose together. It must be the new washing powder I laughed and said it out loud. How nice, flowery and wonderful. Just like our weekly trips to the temple when we were kids. How funny is our mind, how weird is our memory? My pink fuchsia towel takes me to a trip of the pious land, our family temple.

Petals and petals of flowers
On the lane leading to the temple
A look at the face of Shri Ganesha
And my heart trembles
I sing loudly, songs in your praise
My trust in you strong, my believe never strays

After this I head out to the kitchen with a head still wet and a heart still warm with so many wonderful memories. Wanting to make something special that would make this day more precious; I started looking around the cabinet. And saw my spice rack. It looked inviting filled with spices, colors and memories.

The turmeric....It reminds me of my endless coughs and sneezes followed by a glassful of yellowed milk

Red Chilly...I take a sniff and get teary eyed. It reminds me of all the gol gappas we had in a blink 

Garam malasa....I open the bottle and the kitchen is filled with memories of Sundays; spent on the dining table waiting for Mom’s special Chicken Masala and our finger licks.

I smiled at the memories and added all the love flowing out of my heart to the food. A sumptuous lunch and a long afternoon nap later I got up feeling all refreshed and bright. As I walked through my house tidying everything, I realised every object around me has a story. Not each story is important but it is still a memory.
A deodorant brings back college memories,
A sniff of room freshener brings the first date back
The rose incense stick burning brings back the memories of our wedding night
Fresh cut mango takes me to that summer afternoon of first kiss
Whiff of freshly fried Samosas reminds me of the treat I gave from my first salary
The smell of something burning reminds me of the first burnt chapatti after my wedding

So many more moments, memories countless, immortal living through our sense of smell

There are some moments that would remain lost like a hazy or a lazy memory somewhere in our brains but weirdly our sense of smell gives them life. It makes them more vivid, more colourful, and more nostalgic. So many things, so many smells, so many memories alive and throbbing forever through our nose.

This post is my entry for “Smelly to Smiley” contest at Indiblogger sponsored by AmbiPur India

Saturday, 24 August 2013

Conversation

floating on water
nothing is scary
we are nature

 
nature is us
flawed and flawless
piece of art
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hand in hand
off the cliff
blending with the nature

People Jumping In The Air HD wallpaper for Standard 4:3 5:4 Fullscreen UXGA XGA SVGA QSXGA SXGA ; Wide 16:10 5:3 Widescreen WHXGA WQXGA WUXGA WXGA WGA ; HD 16:9 High Definition WQHD QWXGA 1080p 900p 720p QHD nHD ; Other 3:2 DVGA HVGA HQVGA devices ( Apple PowerBook G4 iPhone 4 3G 3GS iPod Touch ) ; Mobile VGA WVGA iPhone iPad PSP Phone - VGA QVGA Smartphone ( PocketPC GPS iPod Zune BlackBerry HTC Samsung LG Nokia Eten Asus ) WVGA WQVGA Smartphone ( HTC Samsung Sony Ericsson LG Vertu MIO ) HVGA Smartphone ( Apple iPhone iPod BlackBerry HTC Samsung Nokia ) Sony PSP Zune HD Zen ; Tablet 2 Android ; Dual 4:3 5:4 16:10 5:3 16:9 UXGA XGA SVGA QSXGA SXGA WHXGA WQXGA WUXGA WXGA WGA WQHD QWXGA 1080p 900p 720p QHD nHD ;

blending with the nature
floating in air
finally free



Image credit here and here