Passion…unbridled

A word often used, in many different ways

Depending on the context, different qualities it conveys

I am talking about the elusive concept of “style”

Stretching from the way you dress to the way you smile

Simply put, it is a set of unique features that defines

A person in a way that it leaves an imprint on your mind

It is an interesting mixture of personality and panache

With extra flair, like the icing on a cake or a tiny dash

Of spice that to a  a meal  interesting flavor imparts…

Style is much more than the sum of its parts..

Style makes a statement, often quite subtle

Style transforms the commonplace into regal

Style speaks the loudest, without any sound

I wish I could say that great style I have found

But style is innate, difficult to acquire

Of many things in life, a signature style I desire..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes were many when I changed my land

Some I embraced, some I could barely stand

Some so subtle  they were barely perceived

Until substantial transformation I had achieved-

Amid this acculturation one day I realized

That color was ebbing from my life, in front of my eyes

My wardrobe, once filled with brilliant hues

Now boasted of blacks, muted greys and blues

Which was perfect, professionally appropriate

(Made me blend in smoothly, I must state)

Those embroidered, mirror-worked home furnishings were

Replaced by clean lines and white linens demure

My food lost the pungence and bright yellow hue

Of turmeric, as I cooked with fewer spices too

I missed multicolored kites flown in the sky

Trying to bid the winter gods goodbye

I missed the vibrant rangolis on the floor

Adorning the entrance at every door

Reminiscing over the fun-filled holiday

Of Holi, nostalgia took me in its sway

How I longed to play with colors, wet and dry

Paint the town in every shade under the sky…

**

To satisfy my nostalgic craving I brought

Home bright colors, in small aliquots-

Starting from my wardrobe, and extending

To my home and hearth, tastefully blending

Western monotones with vivid Indian hues

I set my Indian inner goddess loose..

Reminding me again how my life amalgamates

The cultures of India and the United States!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An ‘unemployed’ existence is a worse negation of life than death itself.

Monday mornings are stressful, you say

Back to the same old job after a glorious Sunday-

You groan inwardly, and so do I

I set out on my mission, with a sigh

Ready to brave the ruthless world out there

With my resume, trying to fight the despair

That fills the air around me, intensifying

Immediately after another rejection-lying,

On the bench in a public park at mid-day

Thinking of my meager savings dwindling away,

I try to analyse what is wrong with me

Or my skill-set, or my luck, or my destiny

That employment has become a distant dream

Soon hunger shall be my companion, so it does seem..

The wrinkles of strain on my face are obvious

From pretending to be hopeful, from being obsequious

While dealing with potential employers every day

I keep lowering my standards in every way..

With my self-esteem eroded, my foremost concern

Is basic survival, there’s a lot I’ve had to learn

About being frugal since my unemployment began

This period has changed me, I’m not the same man

Who had weathered storms before and stronger emerged

 

I am torn to pieces, in deep despair I am submerged..

 

And yet, I have the slightest sliver of hope hiding somewhere

That motivates me to get up daily and put myself out there…

I have looked for a job in sunshine and rain

Tomorrow I shall look for a job again..

 

 

 

 

“Just one more, and that is all I need”

This heartbreaking plea is common indeed-

One more chance to set things right

One more attempt to prove your might

Just one opportunity to apologize

For hurtful deeds you were too late to realize

One last try before you give up for certain

One last act before life draws the curtain

One more lingering moment before bidding adieu

One more embrace to remember and carry you through..

 

Ah the tantalizing prospects evoked by this phrase!

Life can transform in a moment, it says

The difference between sorrow and happiness

Might lie in that one extra moment missed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nervous I was, afraid I would lose

My freedom, my ability to choose

How and where my time was spent

I’d need to plan when and where I went-

I worried about all that could disappear

The future was something I honestly did fear..

**

Then you entered my life and turned it around-

 

Instead of losing myself; a new me I found

Impulsive I’d been, patience I acquired

Where weak I had been, being strong was required

Never knew I could give of myself cent percent

For you I knew I would always be present

Time I had not valued in life previously

You taught me to use my time judiciously

To do the right thing always, you made me strive

In the throes of exhaustion, you made me feel alive

 

You make me feel beautiful every single day

Because I could create you, perfect in every way

Remember that forever I have lost my heart 

Wherever you go, of you it will always be a part!

 

 

 

 

 

All my life, by many different people I had been told-

The virtues of being organized had been extolled

It made one more efficient and be in control

Stress-buster it was for every single soul

It was a way to save time that was precious

Being organized was a universal trait of the ambitious..

**

I lamented the lack of that special gene

That would make me organized, I could not glean

How the rest of the world kept everything in order

While my life was in a perpetual state of disorder

**

And when I succeeded, for once, in organization

I found things were boring, I had the realization

That disorder made my creative juices flow

While orderliness gave my right-sided brain a blow

Organization seemed efficient but predictable too

While disorder forced me to find my way through

In the process, making me think and explore

And even though it might have taken time more

The passage of time would be unnoticed by me

Engrossed as I would be in unraveling a mystery..

**

 

So, if you want efficiency, being  organized might be the key

But unorganized mess lets you things in a new light see..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“A moment of gratitude makes a difference in one’s attitude.”-Bruce Wilkinson

 I went through life, often irate and dissatisfied

Thought complaining about it was my birth-right

Most people complained, gratefulness was rare-

Channeled one day of the year as a special affair

When things, as they often do, went wrong in quick succession

I whined and complained some more- yes, hear my confession

I truly believed that sharing my woes in this fashion

Would alleviate my grief and lighten my burden

But instead I found myself spiraling  every day

Further into the maze of resentment, to my dismay

Though occasionally I’d be thankful  for my possessions

Finding imperfections largely occupied my concentration..

**

Fortunate I am to see in my professional life everyday

The vagaries of life and death in every possible way

Over the years many life lessons I’ve been taught

By patients of mine; based on the battles they fought

On one day that seemed especially depressing

When no positive thought I felt capable of expressing

I saw a sick patient, on his bedside table was displayed

A wooden plaque with the following words engraved-

 

“In everything give thanks..”- this message almost appeared

To be directed at me; even as my patient who feared

His surgery scheduled for the next day, shared with me

 

How he was still grateful to God in his state of misery

He did not know what tomorrow held in store

But he had today to give thanks some more

For being alive and in pain that he could still tolerate-

And here I was, complaining, in a much better state!

Wishing him good luck I went ahead with my day

Determined to bring gratitude in my heart in some way…

**

Whenever I feel negativity creeping up on me

All the blessings in my life I then try to see

Try to give thanks for what I’ve taken for granted

This gratitude then dispels those feelings unwanted

It has been an arduous task, I must explain

It’s hard to give thanks, when I want to complain

All I can tell you is that genuine gratitude 

Has helped me develop a positive attitude

Towards things, people, relationships, and more

I feel one step closer to the happiness door!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consumerism defines culture nowadays

Shopping for goods is a ritual in some ways-

Designer clothes, gadgets, luxury cars, and

A house in suburbs, you’ve “arrived” in this land..

Like a rite of passage, this is the minimum you must achieve

From here, your possessions grow, there is no reprieve-

Keeping up with the Joneses implies constant acquisition

Of expensive objects, and working to the point of exhaustion

To pay for unnecessary stuff that was on easy credit bought-

In an endless cycle of income and expenditure you are caught..

**

Work more than one job, buy, consume and die-

This is how we live, how greed we personify

The pursuit of happiness has been replaced by

The pursuit of material goods- “I buy,

Therefore I am”- is the slogan of modern age

But money can’t buy happiness- goes the adage..

**

We all are so much more as individuals

Than all our luxury goods and designer labels

Then why are we in this race to reduce

Our worth to our possessions, we should refuse

To have our identities to our wallets attached

And take a hard look at all the stuff we have stashed-

Many things would be useless, I can assure

We would be hesitant then to buy some more..