To Grandpa, With Love!

 

Five years gone by.. Shadows of existence flutter by...
Amidst the steams of a hot cup of tea,
in the holy fragrance of the incense sticks,
in the enrapturing scent of the 'beedi',
in the laughter of the army men during break,
in the smoke of the fire lit on cold evenings
I find you beside me, even today.

Five years gone by.. Shadows of existence flutter by...
The sandalwood paste accentuates the nostalgia,
the calm forehead that had then turned cold,
the toes that suddenly seemed icy,
the body that was the temple to your soul
suddenly had turned empty, but still
I find you beside me, even today.

Five years gone by..Shadows of existence flutter by...
The slowly flowing river took with it your ashes
the sweet scent of your perfume
that refused to leave the home
that stands testimony to the time that we 'lived'
To the being that now exists in a photograph-
I find you beside me, even today.

- Divya Nambiar

AuthoReader - A perfect Combination!

'The Modern Man' :The title itself got me intrigued. What could now be here about a modern man which hasn't been said so far ? What could be so different in here that the author decided to write a book on it ?

But all my questions were answered in the best possible way thanks to Cristiane Serruya, an author who became a good friend of mine thanks to Goodreads. And the friend from a thousand miles  ( Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) away, sent me a copy of her book.

Woah ! To my surprise she sent two other books written by her too ( guess she just realised what sort of a crazy book lover I am ! )

To receive a personalized note from an author who also happens to be your sweet friend is like the cherry on your cake. And so here was I, nestled up with all three books, her sweet little notes and a smile on my face- ready to devour the contents of the books, one by one!

It was good that time when 'he' had time.
The man was the 'Wise' without knowing who he was.

The above two lines just refused to leave me. ‘The Modern Man' by Cristiane Serruya speaks so much in just 19 pages!

What seems like a breeze at first slowly becomes the silence before the storm and then- lo and behold! It shatters the very stable foundation of the belief that a man possesses- of the power, strength and capability he thinks he has.

In a mind-numbing revelation, Cristiane brings forth the ultimate miseries of 'The Modern Man' or The Modern 'Lost' Man. It's an eye-opener of sorts. It finally makes one believe about the eventual uselessness of trying to conquer the entire world without giving a moment of thought to one's instincts.

"Instincts"- It is something that one often pushes down to one's train of thoughts and feelings. But not anymore please. Make your instincts your guide. Go out, change the world. Just make sure that you remain true to yourself in the process!

Powerful writing, Cristiane! Hats off to you!

P.S. There is a strong reason why it was awarded the highest grade and Honors at the Law School, in November 1988! :) . The reason? Read it to know it!

- Divya Nambiar

Bizarre

They called him the protector, the one to look upto

She ran away unable to meet his eyes.

The dimmed streetlights, the blurred world...

That memories never changed, she thanked God !

The path ahead she couldn't see, the road that she left

she hardly could recollect.

Yet splinters of it bled her eyes

Visions that could hypnotize.

Crippled she fell, broken beyond repair.

The moments that she cherished

now led her to despair

unsaid words now lay tarnished.

In the guise of a breeze it stormed.

The silent lament of a tricked soul

A permanent scar, a belief - now deformed

'The second' that lay etched like an ugly mole...

From Dreams to Reality

Started by my two friends namely Vaishali Sharma and Harkirat Khangura, it is a website that focusses on bringing to the fore the achievements of various entrepreneurs who made their dreams come true. They are up there because of a journey they embarked upon, not afraid of the initial pitfalls that are unavoidable on every new path one plans to travel upon!

And then they being my friends asked me whether I would like to be on-board their team. The idea seemed good and the thought that I too could contribute towards making some hard-workers and their work shine, made me smile. So here I was in the team dedicated to ' Startaholics'- Hooked on Startups!

They made me the COO(Chief Operating Officer), I couldn't stop laughing because every time I heard COO, it sounded more like cuckoo's song to me.. COO COO.

But that's what friends do ! They make you go crazy, they make you smile, they laugh with you, they give you gifts in such a way that you don't even realize it's true value sometimes.. until much later when all you can do is think back about those days, those moments and smile  :)

Well you can have a look at the website- http://startoholics.in/

It is our tribute to all the entrepreneurs out there- the ones who are bold enough to take a decision that can make or break their life! But still there they are.. ready to face life with a never-say-die attitude.

Hats off to you!

If you know any people like that.. do drop us a mail on hi@startoholics.in

We would be obliged to you as you would be contributing towards a small 'Token of Appreciation' to those few ones out there in this world who not only dare to dream but also have the guts to stand up for their dreams.. to make them come true!

-Divya G. Nambiar