बोलो ना ?

कुछ सवाल अगर पूछूं तुम से 

उनका जवाब दोगे ना ?

पढ़ोगे जब कभी भी ख़त मेरे

ज़रा सा तो मुस्कुराओगे ना?

मिलेगा जब कोई मुझ जैसा 

उससे मेरे शब्द दोहराओगे ना?

जब कभी भी प्यार का ज़िक्र होगा 

इक पल को तो मुझे याद करोगे ना?

कभी ग़म के हो बादल और तन्हाई लगे 

तो मुझसे अपना दर्द बताओगे ना?

चली गयी अगर दूर अचानक 

इक आंसू तोह मेरे लिए बहाओगे ना ?

इक मुलाक़ात का वादा जो अधुरा रह गया 

उसे पूरा करने इक आखरी बार तो आओगे ना?

The Letter Tag-Part 1

I found this amazing tag here according to which I can write letters to vent out my emotions.So here goes the  tag.

Dear Parents,

I do not have words to express my gratitude to God for having bestowed me with such wonderful parents like you. You've fulfilled each and every wish of ours much before we asked you for anything. The strong values that you've imbibed in me, make me the person I am today.

Dad, I owe  my audacity to speak up against wrong , to you. I have grown up seeing you fighting against wrong at every step -always doing what is morally right and I feel so proud of you , even if I don't show it often. Whenever someone asks 'So you don't have any son? just two daughters?' and you  proudly say that 'These are my sons' makes me feel so proud and instills in me a sense of confidence and inspires me to do even better.

Mom, I owe my belief in the righteous path and in God to you. You've always taught me that one reaps what he sows and that even if someone is not good to us, we should not behave with them in the same way because God will punish them Himself. I never used to believe in it earlier but now I do. I really admire you for your strength of will wondering about how you completed your doctorate degree after I was born. But I just don't like it when you say that you want me to settle down fast and at that time, I have to look upto dad for support. I want to experience life on my own-getting stuck with a partner is just not my aim.You may be right from your perspective which I'll probably understand years later, but for now, I won't succumb to any kind of emotional blackmail.


I can never repay what all you have done for us. But I just hope that I can live upto your expectations so in the next life too, you'd ask God to send me as your daughter because I sure want you as parents every time :)


Love you both
you-know-who

Dear Best Friend,

I have always wanted to tell you that I feel really lucky to have you as friend. I like it when you remember each and every little thing about me. You're the first one to wish me on my b'day every year since the time we've known each other.I like how you share each and every secret of yours with me that aren't known even to your special friend and  when you say that she has to understand  my importance in your life. I like it when you try to advice me, telling me to be strong  and practical, even though you yourself are so soft-hearted . I  feel so good when I ask you for a favor and you do much more than what I asked you for.I have never felt  so much comfortable with anyone as I am with you because you have always accepted me as I am- with my strengths and weaknesses-you've seen the worst side of me as well.

The most amazing thing about our friendship is whenever I am sad, you are always the first one to realize it and to call me up .I don't know how you do this( if it's some telepathy or something) . You truly are one of my strengths. Even though you are hundreds of miles away from me, still you've never forgotten me. I  know I haven't been answering your calls properly for quite some time but that's just because I don't want you to be worried about me. When I look back, I wonder how we  used to have  difference of opinion on each and everything ,and we used to fight so much but still it's been 4 years of rock-solid friendship and I hope it'll keep on strengthening in the years to come. 

All the very best
your best friend

The Three...

I thank Tweety for tagging me who blogs at Scribbling Sand

3 places I would pack my travel bag for:

- Each and every city/town of India

- Venice (I so wish to go there someday!)

- Paris (Just to see the Eiffel tower!)

3 on screen characters I love to watch:

- John Cussack in Serendipity

- Akshay Kumar in Namstey London

- Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty

3 moods that describe me the best:

- Quiet(most of the times)

- Short-tempered (but am quickly soothed)

- Sensitive  and sympathetic(even where I should not be!)

3 things I always think of doing on a weekend but never did:

- Studying

- Cleaning up my room

- Visiting my relatives

3 things from my childhood that I can't forget:

- Playing Stapoo with my friends

- When I used to keep looking through the windows of the day boarding, waiting for my mom to come and pick me up.

- When for the first time, I won a cash prize of Rs 400, in a painting competition.

3 things I would never say no to:

- Sleeping

- My Laptop

- Food

3 things I can't live without:

- My Parents

- Hope
- My friends

Now I tag my following blogging pals
1 Mehak 
2 Samadrita
3 Ashish
4 Anshul
5 Scribbling Girl

Is it actually Fair?

Events like the BAT , no doubt , are a great source of inspiration-they actually help you recover from that writer's/blogger's block that you have been going through.Besides, you get to read the most amazingly wide variety of articles/stories/poems on the same prompt.The condition for putting up the post on the same day by everyone and the voting system seem to be just fair. But, is it actually fair? Let's see..

Though I , myself , am new to this BAT thing (have participated just twice!) but much before I joined it, I used to observe the scenario in this contest(Yes, I had all the time in the world to see what everyone had written and what kind of response they were getting!).Coming back to the point, I feel that there are little pools here in this contest (or in any other contest, for that matter). There are some veteran bloggers which remain confined to their own group.There's nothing wrong with it but when they've been blogging for such a long time and are almost adept at it, shouldn't they visit and encourage new bloggers? After all that is the very aim of such contests, right? Fine, not everyone would like to take up the responsibility of encouraging each new blogger but when someone has bothered to write an honest comment on their blog post, should not they be courteous enough to visit them in return and leave their genuine footprints-it hardly takes any time but leaves the other one with a great sense of fulfillment.This was about the judging thing but what irks me most is that while voting too, the system remains the same. They go through the posts of ONLY those whom they have known for quite some time.When they don't read all the posts, how can we expect the voting system to be fair? And it's not about just one or two bloggers, owing to my good observation powers, I know which one belongs to which pool (I wont take any names here!) and believe me, there are a number of them and thus the fairness of the system fails here. I am not writing this because I want to garner some votes for myself (I participate just for improving my writing and that's all).There are way more talented and deserving people who enrich this event but it irks me when some most deserving candidates are left out of the race just because they are new to the event or they don't belong to any particular pool of bloggers.

And what I was most shocked at,  was that a participant (again, I wont take any names) had given the link just in time before the entries for the event were to close but when I visited the post, it was BLANK .Obviously, he did post the entry later on by editing the same blank post. Of course it's okay to edit the post to make some changes after the submission, but submitting a completely blank post is the height of unfairness and thus I am forced to write this post.

Another thing that I have noticed is that, the new participants too believe that if they visit the FAMOUS bloggers and vote for them, it'll help them in getting noticed. Again, I have observed this many times ( I just can't help observing behavior of people!) .They visit their blog, say 'hi' , 'hello', 'nice post!' and thus vote for them, even if they haven't read their post properly, probably in the hope that they will visit them someday  or they'll be able to attract more blog followers. I just don't understand their strategy or motive behind participating but I, for one, make it a point to visit new bloggers even if I have to miss out on reading some posts by 'the so-called famous bloggers' and quite obviously I usually don't vote for them either because my vote will not make any difference to them(they already have a huge vote bank with them! ) but I try to vote for someone whom I want to encourage to write more and better and not just to make them win, because I know that even if one single vote is in your favor, you're a winner already .

So here's hoping that the system will get fairer with time - Marshal tries his best to keep the integrity of the system intact but ultimately the onus of maintaining the fairness of system falls upon the participants(democracy you see!). 

 

Marilyn

 Wednesday Wickedness

1. "I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." When are you are at you’re best?

1) When I am sitting quietly and writing down something :) 

2. "Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." Do you ever think that you are boring?

2) Oh yes I am very boring, I just love to stay back home and do something of my own, rather than going out and having fun with people.

3. "A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left." Did you ever break off a relationship because you wanted to be the one to do it?`

3) No Comments!!

4. "It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone." Do you feel that she is correct?

4) That's true because your unhappiness bothers the other person too and if you can't make them happy then at least don't make them sad.

5. "Ever notice how 'What the hell' is always the right answer?" What was the last thing that you didn’t plan on doing but then thought, “What the hell!”?

5) I don't use this phrase much.

6. "We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets." Do you have any major regrets?

6) Nope, not any major ones thankfully but yes I have those little ones that all of us have at one stage or the other.

7. "What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course." What do you wear to bed?

7) Now that's obvious!

8. "It’s better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what your not." Have you ever pretended to be someone you are not because it was easier?

8) That's the problem- I just can't pretend -Things would have been much easier and I would have been much happier if I could.

9. "I am invariably late for appointments - sometimes as much as two hours. I've tried to change my ways but the things that make me late are too strong, and too pleasing." Are you usually on time for events or appointments?

9) Yes, I am very punctual most of the times but when it comes to meeting friends , I am ALWAYS late due to one reason or the other.

10. "Keep smiling, because life is a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about." What makes you smile?

10) That's the simplest-kids make me smile-when they look at you with a smile or they hold your finger or when they ask you innocent questions-each and every action of theirs make you smile.

Half the Man I Used to Be

1. Do you feel that you are essentially the same person that your were ten years ago? 

No at all! So much has changed since then.In fact I am not the same as I was 6 months ago!

2. Is there something that you have to give all or nothing to?

Loyalty! either you are loyal to someone/something or you are not-there is no middle path.   

3. Have you ever gambled? What have you bet on and for how much?
No! I don't like to see people lose-whether it's me or anybody else :)

4. Can you sleep anywhere or does it have to be in a bed?

My comfy chair-in fact I sleep in it most of the times.

5. Tell us about the most disastrous or embarrassing first impression you've ever made on someone.
I don't remember any!

6. Do you have a memorable "ripped clothing" moment in your life? No? How about in someone else's?

Nope-I do not remember any such moment!

7. What's changed on your blog since its inception? ...a redo? ...a change of pace? ...or is it about the same?

Well, my actual blog (Images) has undergone a major change in terms of content, pace and the template too.

8. If you could travel back in time and whisper something to yourself ten years ago, what would it be?

Learn to give to others, whatever you can, but do not expect anything in return from anyone!

9. Okay, let's have it! What's the craziest, most impulsive thing you've ever done?

The recent one is-I wrote a mail to someone in a fit of anger after he said something not acceptable to me.I accused him for things which he hadn't even done and I regret having done so, each passing minute of my life because he just doesn't listen to what I have to say.

Written for: Saturday 9