The Case of the Coly Flower

I was waiting patiently at the billing counter of the grocery store. The guy behind the counter was a bit slow and I was getting a trifle vexed. When I saw him struggling with the billing software by entering "COLLY" and looking for a match when the item he was billing was a Cauliflower, I felt obligated to add a helpful "Try C.A.U.LI.."

The man shook his head and thought furiously. Finally he changed it to "COLY" and sure enough, he got a match, "COLY FLOWER".

There's got to be a "Moral of the Story" in here somewhere :). Aren't we all forced to do dumb things at our workplace because there's no other option to make things work?

Cheers,
Prashanth.

Diamonds are too glittery

I keep getting distracted every now and then by something shiny and flashy on my finger. Every now and then I glance at it, and I'm like, "Oh! Right. The ring." I guess I'm still not quite used to it.

I'm talking about the engagement ring. Oh, did I skip something?

Right. I got engaged last weekend. Had a huge and glitzy function organized by the in-laws. I thought I looked all decent and grown up, and even got some bright smiles out. My fiance doesn't realize it, but she has to thank my Karachi friends for giving me lessons in Smiling 101.

These days I say "we" a lot more often than "I" or "you". Well, what can I say, I asked for a change in my life, and I got it :). Now I'll see about making the most of it.

We will make the most of it.

Cheers,
Prashanth.

P.S. Will put up engagement pics on facebook soon, just give me a few days.

26

Well...

I've got to admit. This year was much better than 25 and 24 :)

And what an awesome start to the day. The first thing I see is a gift-wrapped parcel from someone special. Then I reach my brother's house and my two-year old nephew wishes me a happy birthday in that super-cute voice that only tiny tots have.

Now it's time to get ready for office and the daily rigmarole. But the day is already different from every other birthday I've had till now... lets see how it ends, shall we?

Edit: Ended with chocolate cake on my face and gifts and cards in my hands. Twas awesome :)

Cheers,
Prashanth.

Phir Dekhiye from Rock On

Really appeals to the poet in me... spent half an hour trying to get the translation right :)
Thanks to Goda for helping with the translation!

The Lyrics:

Aankhon Mein Jis Ke Koi To Khwab Hai
Khush Tha Wahin Jo Thoda Betaab Hai
Zindagi Mein Koi Arzoo Kijiye
Phir Dekhiye..

Hoton Pe Jis Ke Koi To Geet Hai
Woh Haare Bhi To Us Ki Hi Jeet Hai
Dil Mein Jo Geet Hai Gun Guna Lijiye
Phir Dekhiye..

Yaadon Mein Jis Ke Kisi Ka Naam Hai
Sapno Ke Jaise Us Ki Har Sham Hai
Koi To Aaj Se Apna Dil Dijiye
Phir Dekhiye..

Khwab Bhun Yeh Zara Geet Sun Yeh Zara
Phool Chun Yeh Zara
Phir Dekhiye..

The Translation:

When your eyes hold a dream,
You will be happy, even if restless;
So aspire to something in your life,
And see what happens...

When have a song on your lips,
You will find, there is no such thing as defeat;
So keep that song humming in your heart,
And see what happens...

When someone is always in your thoughts,
You will be living your dream every single day;
So give your heart to that someone,
And see what happens...

So why don't you
Dream some dreams...
Play some songs...
Admire some flowers...
And see what happens...

Bing sucks

Microsoft's at it again. Do any search from Bing and you won't find a single hit from a Google product, especially blogger.com. Go ahead, try it. Search for something that would turn up in the first page under a .blogspot.com link from Google. You'll never find it via Bing.

I call for a Bing boycott. Or another anti-trust case. Whatever. Microsoft Works is an oxymoron.

The Proposal

(After more than two and a half years, I wrote a poem. Hopefully, there will be more this year.)

A billion stars winked at her teasingly
From the clear night sky.
A million thoughts careened inside her head
In every possible direction.
A thousand smiles they had exchanged
Over the years.
A hundred reasons she could think of
To say no.
A dozen roses held tantalizingly
In front of her.
Two people waiting on the moor
In that most poignant of moments.
One person to spend
The rest of her life with?

To find, perhaps,
Countless joys, depthless trust,
Boundless love, endless happiness,
And priceless memories?

She took a deep breath,
And said, "Yes".

Prashanth Sriram.

Cross-posted on my poetry blog.

Journey to a smile

"Smile!"

"You too, Prashanth!"

"But I am smiling."

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

This was the scene at Beijing when I was taking some farewell pics... see, I'd made some friends at the World Mind Sports and it was highly probable that I would never meet them again (probability is still the same). The thing is, I'm notoriously bad at posing for photos. Above mentioned friend commented on above mentioned photograph on facebook, "You don't know how to smile. Period."

It's not that I don't know how to smile. I just don't know how to smile on demand. I laugh and smile very well. But, you see, that's only when I am actually laughing or smiling at something. If I'm told to smile for a photograph it inevitably comes out like a half-smile... or a half-smirk as somebody once put it. Anyway, I count those ten minutes of smile lessons at beijing as an investment that paid off later.

Later being this week. My bachelor days being numbered, I was ordered to get some photos taken at the studio for distribution to the owners of matching horrorscopes. And that brought me back to my old arch-nemesis: a camera lens pointed at me. The cameraman actually had to plead with me to smile. "An open-mouthed smile! An open-mouthed smile!" he begged, when all I could muster after five minutes of entreaty was a widening of my lips.

I was reminded of that scene in Harry Potter when he has to get summon a Patronus by thinking happy thoughts. Well, here I was faced with my own Boggart and fresh out of inspiration to smile. So I filled my thoughts with how ridiculous I thought this exercise was... you know... the whole arranged marriage process... and broke out in laughter. The cameraman didn't lose the serendipitous moment and clicked away, leaving a photograph that my brother proudly described as my best one ever.

It's been a long journey to find my smile. And even though I found it for the strangest of reasons and in the strangest of ways, I'm still glad I found it. I hope it sticks.

Cheers,
Prashanth.