Friends, Perchance?

Some friendships are born, from the vagaries of time and fate,

You are allotted the same hostel, or live behind the same society gate.

The more time you spend with each other, be it school or neighborhood, 

The early shared moments ensure, your bond deepens for the good. 

 

Sharing time and space is easy, but then life intervenes,

You move to different cities, events happen behind-the-scenes.

While the chemistry is strong, you've to put efforts to be connected,

Or else the withering of the bond, is only to be expected. 

  

Friendships are not fragile, but they need rituals to sustain,

If you don't connect often, how will you share the others pain?

At work, take lunch with your friends, or go on a chai break,

Have breakfast every Saturday, and daily walks in your schedule bake.

 

Friendships may start with God's blessings, it's up to us to make them last,

So pick up the phone and call your pals, rekindle memories from the past.

Indian Performance League

You've hit a few consecutive centuries, you can negotiate on your own terms,

The auction will yield new highs, you are the most valuable player for these firms.

Whether it was net practice or talent, maybe it was attitude or luck- who knows,

For now the companies are falling over each other, to hastily the deal close.

 

The honeymoon period is over, your performance off and on,

Whether you are a mule or a race horse, is yet to be known.

Poor show in a single match, may or may not lead to bench,

Younger talent can displace you still, throwing your life in wrench.

 

You were the star player, but few ducks in a row! 

Don't care if you are spent up, or have sadness to show,

It may be a relationship issue, or you may be suffering from bad form,

Can't keep you in the team forever, aren't layoffs the new norm?

Even if they lose a few matches, they can still proceed to playoff,

In the startup world come winter, you have to fold up, or layoff.

The Tyranny of Time

Tomorrow is where, dreams go on to die,

Yesterday is where, broken promises lie.

Today is all you have, use it before it withers,

Time is a slimy serpent, catch it before it slithers.

 

Tomorrow is like a stock option, it's merely paper money,

Yesterday's an account that's frozen, a result of bank scam, honey.

Today is hard cash, you can accumulate or spend,

Time will evaporate into ether, if you don't put it to an end.

 

Tomorrow is where, hope on a ventilator lives,

Yesterday is where, rootedness sustenance gives.

Today is all about action, unencumbered with past,

Time will ensure, your legacy and impact will last.

 

 Don't go on a time-hopping spree, just seize the day,

 Live in the moment, become a predator, let time be the prey.

Manifesting Outcomes

Some things are conscious, like the choices you make,

Deliberating, debating, deciding, to pick the path to take. 

Each option has a payoff, quickly calculate in your mind,

Once the strategy is frozen, execute ruthlessly amidst the grind.  

  

Some things are unconscious, like the hand with which you write,

Driven by habitual usage, they daily tilt you towards one side.

For most of your life you run, on a pilot that is auto,

Good habits lead to good outcomes, is your life's motto. 

 

Some things are random, like the person you meet in train,

They end up becoming your partner, its fate you can't explain. 

Major turning points in life, can be attributed to sheer luck,

Whether it's good fortune, or the slings and arrows you duck.

 

Not all outcomes are in your control, there's always a place and room for God,

Whether from choice, habit or happenstance, you have to wave first for Him to nod. 

Putting Into Words

Tears can't envelop it, the feeling is sublime, 

It drowns your heart, without reason or rhyme.

There is a sense of loss, as if you're less than before,

The past makes a comeback, bringing memories to the fore.

 

 From the moment that was vanquished, to the moment that is bleak, 

 A pathos engulfs you, you just can't contain the leak. 

 Everything shrinks, your path hits roadblocks,

A darkness spreads, that you typically kept in locks.  

 

It's an effort to choose a track, that will lift your mood,

You can't write, or even read, just quietly lament and brood.

The presence of others mocks you, makes you create instant walls,

You're OK for it to fester, but to nip it you don't have the balls.

 

If I don't put into words daily, by the day end I feel a sense of loss,

Sadness creeps in when I cede control, and make poetry my boss. 

Whereto Next?

A tier II city, cost of living negligible,

Being my hometown, it's automatically eligible,

For a place to settle down, where my ageing parents live,

My son doesn't like it, as it doesn't modern vibes give.  

 

A tier I city, that I've made my Karm Bhoomi,

Spent my adult life here, it means a lot to me.

The weather is nice, the people nicer,

Through the ups and down, I'm all the wiser.

 

An almost metro city, that beckons and calls,

Some call it an urban jungle, creeping with malls.

A melting pot of cultures, an entrepreneurial hub,

Where I'll finally achieve my dreams- join the elite club.

 

Kota, Pune, Bengaluru, the choices are galore,

I choose to stay in India, for abroad there will be lives more.

Whom to Love?

Before helping others, put on your oxygen mask,

Love yourself- or you'll fail, at loving others task.  

Unless you accept perfectly, yourself for who you are,

You'll stare vacantly at nights, not dance with your twin star.

 

That you feel broken inside, bad about yourself,

Is solely your doing, how can you others help,

And derive some satisfaction, from loving someone deep,

If your heart is hardened towards self, how can love for others seep?

 

You're doubly doomed, can't work on your relationship first,

You can't love or be loved, and thus can't satisfy your love thirst.

You're stuck in a paradox, whether chicken came before egg,

Whether self love is a prerequisite, before you can drink from love's keg.

 

Love is mysterious and magical, it finds its own ways,

Open your heart to someone, you need to love first, who says?