The Love that goes into the Further

They were alone, in a dark room, a place unknown, unexplored for both of them. The place had no luxuries, no comforts, no materialistic pleasures, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that the place was raw.

They remained in each other's arms and this mere presence meant everything. The fact was that the world was against their love, socially, culturally, morally and in every possible sense. But such is love, that after a point of time, you stop caring of the worldly affairs and just want to feel the love in each other. You start finding the world in the other person.

They walked hand in hand across the open fields and felt the soft breeze brush past them. The freshness of the air was a surprise. They took deep satisfied breaths every few seconds. Away from everybody they were together. It was a celebration of the very feeling of love. His hands felt strong and firm as they held hands more tightly and reassuringly.

The dawn of realization was sudden, but peaceful, nevertheless. Life after death, could be amazing. Heaven could be a better place to live than Earth. 

The Spirit of BBM: The Joy of a Start-Up

"Start-ups are cool", said someone in a random motivational talk video on YouTube. that had over a million views. In a country, where every college student wants to drop-out and every fed-up youngster wants to become an entrepreneur, it is not easy to start your own business. 

I had worked on SpringTide, an online youth magazine for 4 years and it became one of the most popular online portal for social issues and youth concerns, across college campuses and students' circles. At this point, I got in touch with one of my school juniors Deepanshu, who had just started an online news platform for global tech coverage and start-up funding news. I was intrigued with the idea and decided to help him with this. The journey which started as a mutual exchange of support and ideas, could turn into a dream, a vision, a task, was unimaginable. 

Exactly an year back, we raised our first round of funds from angel investors. Something that seemed to be a big feat to us, soon turned out to be a mountain that needed to be explored. With that, we became a part of the rapidly changing start-up ecosystem of the country. There were doubts, challenges, struggles and moments that made us feel, "WTF! Let us chuck this and get back to our routine jobs!" 

But we continued with determination and a strong will and one a single minded aim, that we wish to change the way India reads digitally. We wanted to make more and more people to read online and provide them with awesome, good quality curated online content. 

People questioned our being headquartered in Jaipur, but we never questioned ourselves even once. The city that brought us up, the city that made "us" could not be forgotten in our quest for fame and money. Likewise, I truly believe that more and more youngsters need to begin start-ups in Tier II and Tier III cities, because this is something that can bring these cities forward in true sense, and create quality job opportunities in this space. 

There were mentors and advisors who told us that we are entering into Digital Media, and we are 20 years ahead in India. But we were not shaken. We continued to move ahead.

Today, one year down the line and two rounds of funding raised, we are a 35-people strong company, with employees / interns spread across the country, we own and manage properties that include India's leading website for global tech and Indian start-ups news 'The Tech Portal' (www.thetechportal.in), the network of city-centirc websites that is bringing Tier II and Tier III cities of India online 'The Digital Network' (www.jaipur.digital, www.varanasi.digital and www.guwahati.digital), the ultimate home for hosting college fests and events 'SpringTide Stories' (www.stories.springtide.in). 

Even today, we are constantly innovating and working on two new and dynamic products that are going to change the way digital media in India has operated. We are in the early stage of development of these products - one in the online video content space and the other in Data Analysis. This, being the first ever public announcement of these products, on this (rather auspicious :P ) occasion of one year of our seed round. 

It gives me immense pleasure and satisfaction to realize that while I sit here at this moment to type down this post, someone in my team is scouting for associations, someone in some part of the country is writing hundreds and thousands of lines of complex codes, someone is working on the backend to maintain the traffic on our websites, someone is editing our content, someone is writing content for our portals, and somewhere, some college student snuggled up in his bed is reading that content on his / her mobile or tablet or laptop. That young college student is our end user for whom my whole team is working. That college student makes "India"! 

Cheers!

चलो कुछ यादें ताज़ा करते है...

चलो कुछ यादें ताज़ा करते है...

वो पहली चिट्ठी
वो गीली मिट्टी.
वो सूखा गुलाब
वो टूटा सा जवाब
चलो कुछ यादें ताज़ा करते है..

वो बचपन का प्यार
वो मीठा करार
वो हल्की खुमारी
वो लास्ट बेंच
और नज़रें तुम्हारी..
वो छुपके मिलना और मिलके छुपना.
चलो कुछ यादें ताज़ा करते है..

वो हँसी तुम्हारी
वो बात पुरानी..
वो बारिश मे चलना
वो ice cream पिघलना,
वो लंबी रातें
वो नटखट बातें,
चलो.. कुछ यादें ताज़ा करते है..

वो बुक पर लिखना नाम तुम्हारा,
वो पर्चे, वो चर्चे, और पॉकेट से मारा,
ना five star  की कॉफी, ना clubs के हाइ rates,
बस 2 ग्लास ज्यूस और एक सैंडविच वाली dates,
नोट्स के बहाने वो घर आना जाना,
और नोट्स में छुपा कर तोहफे ले आना,
चलो कुछ यादें ताज़ा करते है...

अब ना है वो मासूमियत, ना शराफ़त है वैसी,
अब बस मिलावट वाली ज़िंदगी है ऐसी,
ना बारिश की खुश्बू, ना मीठा खुमार,
ना होगा फिर से वो पहला प्यार.. इसलिए,
चलो कुछ यादें ही ताज़ा करते है..

(Image courtesy - chetankejriwal.wordpress.com)

The Lost Monsoon

I looked across the platform. We stood opposite to each other separated by a few railway tracks amidst the wild hustle and bustle of the railway station. She was talking to a girl seeming to be in an animated discussion. In between her broken sentences, she laughed, smiled, rolled her eyes and pulled back her hair to tie into a knot. 

I stood alone observing her like a long lost treasure which had slipped out of my hands. I had longing in my eyes... My blank eyes. But the blankness was not special to me. Her smile was lacklustre too. Her laughter didn't have the same freedom. Her eyes were not rolling in the same naughtiness and her hair knot was neat and not messy.. Something was wrong with her as well! 

If it had been a hindi movie of my choice, I would have run off to her and hugged her tight and cried. But now things had changed. Circumstances defeated purpose, fate defeated will. After having felt that I was being taken for granted in a relationship, I had given up, feeling lost. 

I looked down and then around, trying to concentrate on anything but her. My heartbeats raced as I had seen her after two whole months. However, time is not a remedy to a broken heart, and it hurt more to see her laugh. 

While a million dots tried to connect in my mind, my eyes wandered back to, what seemed to be like their final destination. But to my bewilderment, she had vanished like a falling star! I looked around but could not spot her any more. The place where she had stood a few minutes ago in her light yellow t-shirt, was now occupied by a street vendor looking for a customer. 

I heaved a deep sigh of disappointment. Watching her from a distance was a treat for my senses. I kicked an empty bottle of water lying around on the railway tracks and turned around to walk away. 

"In a hurry to leave?" A voice that I could recognize even from a million mile distance called out behind me. I turned slowly trying to avoid a heart attack out of shock. 

"I thought we could share an auto back...", she said raising her eyebrows. "We need to discuss a few things over."

"Is there anything still left to discuss?" I asked, trying to make sense of her words.

"Yes.. Just one thing.. That i can't live without you. And I know, my ego is big, but no so tall so as to over shadow the strength of my love for you. Can you give me another chance?" 

Those words were the purest music to me. Suddenly, the first few drops of monsoon fell on my empty palms.  

The Lonely Road

She looked for an auto around. The road was dark and it was already 10 pm. She knew she had to hurry as the national capital was not safe for girls at any time of the day. It was one of the poshest localities of New Delhi and she had just left the pub after a re-union party of her school girlfriends. She had no one to accompany her, she felt a little agitated. She could call her boyfriend but it did not make any sense to call him during his work hours, which continued till midnight.

She finally found an auto. The driver looked a little kooky, and eyed her from top to bottom almost scanning her. This was a usual happening in the city and she decided to ignore it like the rest of the girls. She had no other choice, but to take the auto. Her apartment was a 20 minutes drive from the pub and she wore a red off-shoulder dress. The driver continuously gaped at her from the rear view mirror. She felt uncomfortable and shifted in her seat, silently praying to God.

The driver took an unusual turn which was not supposed to be the correct route. She immediately became alert and asked him with strength and confidence in her voice, "Where are you turning?"
The driver gave an eerie laugh looking in the rear view mirror and took a sharp turn into a narrow deserted lane. She got scared out of her wits and her mind went numb. She immediately took out her mobile phone with an intention of calling any of her loved ones. She suddenly felt a thump and her mobile was snatched from her hands and thrown away into the darkness of the night.

What followed this was a nightmare. Loud shrieks escaping her mouth went unheard. It felt as every breath she took was taken on a loan. But, her soul remained intact, untouched. She was left abandoned in the middle of nowhere only to be find by a few rural ladies the next morning.

There was no God up there in the skies listening to her cries. People would accuse her of coming from a pub and being drunk - yes, she had had a few beers. Some would say it was her fault as she was wearing an off-shoulder. A few would go to the extent of blaming her of being provocative. The police would ask humiliating questions, trying their best to harass her. Political parties would try to gain mileage out of this. A few NGOs will try to popularize it, maybe with a good intention but no substantial result. Her parents would plead for justice, which would be delayed and might even be denied. This is India. A handicapped judicial system, a corrupt bureaucracy, a humiliating and useless police administration and a law which allows a juvenile to roam free after committing the most heinous crimes of all. This is India - A Land of no Gods!

Let me Paint a Picture Today...

Let me paint a picture for you,

Paint it real and paint it true.

Sketch it out from flesh and blood

Draw on the canvas- red soaked mud.

The tale of follies of the mankind

Of Good and Evil- all rewind.

Of War, politics and state affair,

Of men and women in despair.

Let me color it red, black and white

Color the gloom, terror and frightful sights.

O Look how the ink fades,

For it fears its own shades.

I paint a lady who desired throne for her womb

For which a warrior cast his own doom.

I color him black- the blind man born

His shades the kingdom mourned.

I color him pale- the desired king

Cursed to be deprived of love’s swing.

Among them I paint a princess-stolen, forsaken

Swore to take revenge;

Stood in a battle against the laws,

A fragile Eunuch became a death’s cause.

Another Princess- I paint red,

For she encountered five wedding beds.

Staked, shared, won and lost,

Honor disrobed- her anguish tossed.

I paint a mother- silent and blind,

Love for hundreds absorbed her mind.

 A stroke of white and pastel hues,

For a woman who feared the land’s abuse;

Restrained- Regretted- abandoned a son,

Did she fail or she won?

Painting this my fingers sore,

Still the canvas wishes for more

It sings to me- ‘You missed a slash,

A figure with flute-dark as ash’,

I paint him blue-gold and all colors bright

The only savior- the only light.

The player who conspired- won and lost,

On the dead canvas a divine crimson glossed.

The tale is one of sorrows and twist,

Of puppets locked on Fate’s wrist.

Many lives killed- many foul plays,

Men played war at blood-stained ways.

- A Guest Post By Apoorva Haritwal 

The Movie Theatre Theatrics!

Watching a movie in an Indian theatre is no less than an enriching experience, a joy ride in itself. The whole of Indian society comes alive represented in different types of people around you.
The last night, I went for a movie which was one of the most awaited movies of this season. I never anticipated that it would turn out to be a *facepalm* outing for me!
There are certain kinds of people you happen to knock into cinema halls. With the close knit family systems in our country, you are bound to meet a long lost relative or an old friend, the one you wanted to meet the least! Also, the chances of bumping into a relative is directly proportional to your chances of being with your girlfriend. The old friend who you always ignored would suddenly scream a "Hi Bhai" at you from the other end of the row, making all the heads turn into your direction and giving you a straight face, with some people giggling at you.
If that is not embarrassing enough, you may meet your neighbourhood aunty, who would cynically ask you about the movie when your parents are around the next day.

Then, there are always couples who throng the theatres. Although the chances of a couple being found are more in a movie that is meant to flop at the box office. These are the same kind of people who take judicious advantage of the opportunity when a train passes through a tunnel. If your day is worse than your normal days, then you might even hear slurping sounds of kissing and sometimes even more perplexing moans that will make you look around as if you are thinking something really hard.

Another common type of people who happen to be around you in a movie theatre are the ones who have extremely loud ringtones and surprisingly those are the ones who get the largest number of calls. All the business deals of uncles and maid-management of aunties back home is done during those 3 hours of a movie. Sometimes, such people are accompanied by their kids, who undoubtedly decide to cry their lungs out or feel hungry or want to pee thrice during the movie itself. These kids often mistake the movie theatre with a playground and happen to run around, mostly falling flat on your feet and almost giving you a fracture.

Moreover, there are always those uncles who have already seen the movie and they narrate the whole movie in advance to the ones accompanying them just like the Kurukshetra war was being described to King Drithrashtra. You would truly wish that they keep saying "Spoiler Alert" every now and then so that you can at least close your ears on the cue!

There are those youngsters who come to create a ruckus and these are actually the reason why we are generalised as 'anti social'. They would pass derogatory remarks on scenes, pseudo-humorous comments and then laugh their heads off, high-fiving each other as if they were the reincarnations of Ravana. Some of these are too vile and don't hesitate in dancing to their heart's content on songs like 'Munni badnaam hui'.

Some people don't think twice before keeping their legs up on the seat in front of them as if their dad is the partner in the theatre! More often than not their shoes/socks smell so bad that you feel nauseatic. Some of them even burp loudly filling the air around with a stinking onion smell, giving you a deja vu of a Public toilet on a bus stand.

There are people who enter the theatre loaded with food stuff as if this would be the last time they are eating and we will encounter an apocalypse as soon as the movie ends. Your nostrils are filled with the smell of samosas and popcorns if such people happen to be around you.

If you can connect, either you are one of these or you had an encounter with them relatively recently. By the end of the movie, you come out relieved and thank the founders of Torrent, because aise logo ki Condition Serious Hai... 

(Visit - https://www.facebook.com/cadbury5star)