Dear Manager,

“You have to do this!”

Says the manager with authority

“Can’t you even do this?”

Asks the manager with disgust

“Do you have any idea what you are doing?”

Yells the manager with anger

“Who asked you to do this?”

Barks the manager with irritation

Dear Manager,

What do you want from me?

If I do, you ask why I did.

If I don’t do, you ask why I am not doing.

Dear Manager,

We all are human, remember?

I may be short tempered than you are

Don’t snatch power; you already have it!

Dear Manager,

Respect comes from within

Quality of work heightens when you maintain amity;

Not authority and arrogance

Dear Manager,

But, you did teach me something;

How a Manager should not be!

How I should not be!

As a part of One single Impression

She is Single, I am Taken and we are comitted

I was totally excited to read Harsh Snehanshu’s “She is Single, I am Taken, We are committed”. It is the last in the trilogy and I was eager to know what happens in the life of Kanav and Tanya.

But, the first few pages disappointed me. It was full of explicit jokes and Kanav’s futile efforts to fall in love all over again. And I felt a strange uneasiness until Kanav finds his true love. The rest of the story deals with whether Kanav manages to get hold of his true love or not!

Harsh has managed to maintain the flow and the element of uncertainty. The book is a light read. It is not a great work of literature, but a true depiction of the emotions and thought flow of a boy in his late teenage.

If you have enjoyed Harsh’s other two books, I bet that you will enjoy this as well. It is a small book and you can complete in one sitting. It will take make you feel nostalgic. So…Go for the book… But hey! Only after completing other two books of the same author!

To know about the other two book... 
http://locomente.blogspot.in/2012/01/oops-i-fell-in-love.html
http://locomente.blogspot.in/2012/01/ouch-that-hearts.html

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I wish you were there

Oh yes!

It is hurting

Really tempting

I feel like talking

At least messaging

But I am controlling

Don’t know how long I can keep going

Your memories are haunting

It is really tormenting

I can envision you smiling

Oh! That is really charming

How can I stop myself from loving?

You are very enticing

I can’t stop admiring

You are my everything

You may not be there consoling

But you will always remain appealing

After all, you taught me what is loving

Also what is sharing and caring

Then, adjusting and accepting

I wish you were beside me, beaming

On a Sunny-Rainy Afternoon

Your smile and eyes

On that sunny-rainy afternoon

I was bewitched!

As a part of Haiku Challenge

A year as Locomente

Till now, I was under the presumption that a person writes at his best when he thinks from his heart; when he is suffocated with plethora of emotions…  I always believed that one can easily write about something about which he/she strongly believes in…. But today, I am proved wrong!

I have been waiting for this day for a year now. I have been reciting and rehearsing the preamble of the post that I would pen on 26^th October, 2012.  But now, I am unable to comprehend my thoughts… It varies from happiness to pride. I am feeling very emotional.

But, what is so special about this day? Why am I emotional than usual?

Dude… My baby blog turns a year old today! It has been a year since I build my tiny nest in Blogosphere. It is a year now as LOCOMENTE! I see loads of changes in me… The changeover from Satya to Locomente has been phenomenal. I remember that Satya was lacking clarity of thought. She had difficulty in framing stories and penning poems. And today, she has evolved as Locomente who can write Haiku, Poems, Stories and Micro-fiction.

They say, a baby can teach a lot of lessons. My baby Blog also taught me a lot. It taught me to observe… To think from other person’s shoes… To express thoughts… It made me understand the importance of reading… It made me understand that I can write… That I can really write!! Hurray!!!

The journey as a writer/blogger aka Locomente has been very promising. Sometimes, it has been really challenging; especially after I bagged my job. My workload and frequent travel started eating my time and prevented me from spending quality time with my baby. However, the desire to feed my blog regularly remained so intense that I started managing time. I realized that we will always have time for what we really care for.

I would say that Year-One has been eventful as far as my baby Blog is concerned. Around 125,000 hits, 365 posts, 58 followers and tons of happiness! My Baby blog made me a “Notable Newbie”; thanks to Blogadda as well.

My Baby blog has always been generous. It got me five books to review through book review program of Blogadda and a pair of cool sunglasses for winning a contest. But, it also gifted me with something else whose value can never be determined – Happiness and satisfaction.

I say happiness and satisfaction because a smile would always creek whenever I see a comment for my post. My heart dances with joy like an innocent baby whenever I could fix words to my thoughts.

Peering through my glasses, staring at the vacuum, I am rewinding my 366 days… Those myriad days nourishing my baby blog… Those thought provoking days… All those crazy thoughts… Those weekend muses… I also see a few faces who always stood by me… Who never complained when I compelled them to read my posts… And a few others who always followed my blog and gave constructive feedback… A remarkable year… An incredible journey…

At this juncture, I would like to mention a few names… They have marked lasting impression in this Locomente’s heart…

Firstly, my loving parents! They have always been very keen in knowing my baby blog’s progress. They would ask me narrate what I have written and how many hits I have managed to receive. I should, specifically thank my ammaji… Because she was the one who would push me to come out with some write-up or the other when I was young…Then my appaji… For gifting my first diary when I was seven years old and making me swear that I will write everyday in it!

Secondly, let me thank me thank Suraj… Thanks for your smiles… Thanks for making me write; for making me think… Thanks for appreciating and making me feel worthy enough… Thanks for all the encouragements… Thanks for being my source of imagination… Thanks for holding my hands and leading me through the alley of a writer… Thanks a ton!

Then, my dear friends in the office, R&R Associates, where I did articleship… They were among the initial victims who had no choice but to read and follow my blog… Rajesh… Sanoop… Sivakumar… Sharmila… Prabha… Thank you all…

Ah! My dear editor-in-chief… Vijay… He also happens to be my brother… Hey Bru! Thanks for being ruthless... Thanks for teasing me and giving constructive feedback… I wonder how you manage to find all the silly spelling mistakes I make. I really don’t know how your tiny eyes capture them so effectively? May be because finding faults comes naturally to you… May be because you are my celebrated editor-in-chief… Or it maybe because you are my brother… Simple!

And my dear Siby sir… For always following my posts… For sending those lengthy mails explaining what you liked in my post and how I could have written in a much better way… I really want to learn how you keep your cool even when you are surrounded with so much of professional and personal obligations… I also wish to capture the humor in life and take life less seriously!

I also wish to thank a few others like Reeja… Sree Devi... Kesavan… Rama Mani… And several other friends for always sharing what you felt about my write-up. 

Thank you Stija, for making my blog famous in our Cochin office… No… I have not bribed her!

Valli and Green Speck… Thanks for reading my blog and feeding my baby Blog with yummy comments.  Your comments are so rejuvenating and encouraging… 

Thank you Blogadda… Indiblogger… Haiku Heights… One Single Impression…

Ouch! I think I am blabbering a lot… I think my post would be never ending if I continue to go on with my “Thank yous” and this-is-how-I-feel-right-nows…

So… Let me lay back… Let me widen my smile a little bit more… Let me relax and let out a sigh… Let me enjoy the calmness that is surrounding at this time of night… Let me blink my eyes and think about the sunlight… Let me listen to my heartbeat… And let me say…

LOCOMENTE, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I wish you knew...

At night…

Silent tears

And wet pillow

In the morning…

Puffy eyes

And numbness

Oh…

How much I miss you

I wish you knew that

Writer's Block

My blog's first anniversary is in three days and here I am going through writer's block. For the past three days I have been struggling to write something. Almost all the ideas that pop up in my mind seem to be worthless. I either feel like I have talked enough about that subject or feel like I am just being redundant!

There are at least half a dozen of topics that I have abandoned half way. It is not because I find my write up boring but because I am lack clarity. I am unable to focus and control my thought flow.

I start thinking so as to grab an idea to pen a poem... But then, I realize that my poem seems more like a prose and sounds less poetic...

So much has happened over the last few weekends. Yet I am unable to comprehend them and present under weekend muse...

Already I am deluged by too many thoughts... Some crazy... Some random... Some boring... Some annoying... Some philosophical... But nothing novel!

I tried in vain to come up with a micro-fiction - My latest love. But my write up comes out more like a short story than a micro story...

I am scared now... Have I become handicapped as a writer? Am I a writer at all? I wonder what would be the life span of the blogger/writer in me...

I miss my dear friend – My imagination! I feel like she has stopped talking to me. I am missing her so much that I am feeling secluded. I want her back in my life, with full zeal.

My heart says it can’t go through this Himalayan confusion... It is asking me to stop fussing around and catch some sleep... But my adamant mind is thinking hard...

Come on... How can I give up?

When there are miles to before I sleep!

So, on a positive note, I am hoping that this phase is only temperamental... Hence, sooner or later I should be getting something to write that would interest me...

Until then let me engage myself in editing and cropping my posts that are kept incomplete…

Ouch! Too many works to do...

So Locomente signing off! 

Praying for his happiness

My eyes were closed

My heart beat had slowed

I was lying there unconscious

Yet I could hear my heartbeat

And also to the voices of my loved ones

I saw his face

He was young and boyish

He was in his teenage

As I heard him say, “I love you”

His eyes were full of love

I observed that he had grown up

He was tall and looked handsome

He was in late twenties

I heard him say, “I love you”

As we were just married

I saw him laughing

I saw him smiling

At times he was angry

Sometimes he was very sick

But, the twinkle of love never left his eyes

I wanted to see him more

I wanted to feel his touch

I wanted to hear him say, “I love you”

I struggled to open my eyes

And then I saw him

His face had wrinkles

Yet his eyes conveyed his love for me

I stared at him with tears engulfed eyes

He squeezed my hands with love and care

The touch was so divine and magical

He came close to me

I kissed his forehead

He kissed me back

Tears rolled down my cheeks

I smiled and closed my eyes

His tenderness and kindness

His love and passion

Our life as friends and couple

Our grown up children and little grand children

His love and those twinkling eyes

I breathed for one last time

Feeling his touch

Hearing his voice

Thinking of him

Praying for his happiness

As a part of One single Impression

Mending my Heart

I am trying consciously

To throw you out of my thought flow

And mend my broken heart

As a part of Haiku Challenge

A Strange Friendship

I still remember our acquaintance. He came close and stared at me for a long time. After all, I was an alien in that place.

I was homeless. It has been a long time since I have rolled through the familiar lengthy lanes. I missed the nods of acknowledgements and faces filled with awe. I missed my master though he abandoned me for a better one.

He climbed on my top and let out a loud groan. I understood he is also like me. Homeless! His luscious green abode was getting rapidly replaced by bricked mansions.

The transition from strangers to thick friends was phenomenal. We became inseparable. 

His Greed and her Misery...

She stared at her husband who was sleeping beside her. She tried to recall the last time they had laughed together.

His greed for money has rendered him as a workaholic. He was climbing up the hierarchal ladder very fast.

He always gifted her with expensive rubies and emeralds… rare cut diamonds and classy watches. They dined in the finest restaurants and tasted the yummiest cuisines.

She wondered why he failed to understand that she longed for his smile and hug; not jewels and money.

She patted her sleeping daughter lovingly. She realized that her baby has not seen her father for a month now. She feared that her one year old baby may forget her father soon.

Her colossal house and costly white marble stared back at her.

Solitude is Bliss

Years of solitude taught me that solitude is bliss. I didn’t even realize that I was alone because loneliness was my way of life. I was happy with myself. Thinking deep and observing the World. I made friends with the swaying leaves. I was very happy as there was no one to hurt me. Expectations were meager; hence, heart break was alien. There was a smile not only in my face, but in my eyes too. My heart was filled with melodies as I was untouched by the maladies.

People criticized me. My silence remained as a topic of debate. Some thought that I was showing too much of attitude. Some thought I would go through a deadly state of depression. Everyone failed to understand that I was celebrating life.  I lived in a World of my own. There were dreams… Poems and loads of happiness! I used to write vigorously and read extensively. Secrets were shared with my daily journal. Important events and news were updated only to my parents. Life was simple. My World was small and completely free from worries.

Sometimes, pearls of tears used to roll down my cheeks. But, I would silently sit in a corner and pen down my thoughts. I used to believe that those pearls are the gifts of God for enduring solitude and for considering it as endearing.

But, as I grew older, my social circles widened. I started meeting more people and started mingling with them. New people came into my life and so did expectations. Also, emotional attachment! Each one was special. Some were friends… Some filled the gap of a sibling… If one was everything, someone else was charming. Some always understood me… while some cared for me… Some criticized me… Some expected a lot from me. I wanted to keep everyone happy. I started adapting to each one of them. I customized myself to make them happy; to see them happy. More than love and care for them, it was the fear of being rendered alone that prevailed over. I started changing instead of evolving.

Heartbreaks followed… Tears became unavoidable… Once blissful solitude seemed like a curse. I started missing him and I wished she was beside me. I wondered why he walked away from me and why she was always so self-obsessed. I didn’t understand why he never understood me and why she always wanted me to move on.

I started thinking a lot. I spent most of the time thinking what other people thought of me, rather than what I thought about myself. The thoughts of others started to dominate and I lost interest in myself.

And today, I am missing those days when life was less complicated. During those days, people were not around me. Yet, happiness was around me. Today, there are umpteen numbers of people around me, but I am not feeling happy. I am feeling alone. I desperately wish that I go back to my little diary instead of those tiny little hearts that failed to understand me. I wish that I go out and watch the leaves dance with glee than make a call to someone who doesn’t understand me. I wish that I could close my eyes and think about something that would make me happy instead of messaging someone.

I wish that sooner I realize that solitude was indeed blissful and not the life that I am leading now. After all, I am fed up faking. And my interest to convince and cajole people is fading!

Reminiscence

She held the manuscript on hand. Her book will be published soon. She hoped that she would be a celebrated author soon. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she recalled those days when she would sit in that chair… sipping coffee and chewing crisp finger chips… She recalled how she used to stare at the vacuum hoping to draw an inspiration!

Written as a part of Meme for Micro-fiction lovers

As we rest peacefully!

Flowing gowns and skirts

Tight jeans and micro minis

Traditional sari

Cotton and linen

Smooth silk and woolen

Some shiny and some glossy

Some embroidered

Embellishments and stones

Some simple and classy

So many varieties

Yet, final shroud only matters

As we rest peacefully!

As a part of Haiku Challenge

Just Married Please Excuse

Yashodhara is 23 years old. She is childish and throws tantrums most of the time. She is a graduate from IIM and is totally focused on her career.

Vijay is 30 years old. He is an Engineer from IIT. His modest upbringing has rendered him as a very caring and matured person. He speaks his mind and is never diplomatic.

The two people meet... Date... Fall in love... And get married in spite of the differences... Yes! Differences.... Differences in age... Characteristics... Upbringing... Backgrounds... And what not!

Just Married Please Excuse by Yashodhara Lal is a story of two people who get spliced despite being complete opposites. As they say, opposites get attracted and marriage follows. What happens after that forms the major part of the story.

Thus evolves story about the couples’ take on routine matters of life. From the home's décor to the upbringing of their little one, Anoushka, who is lovingly called as ‘Peanut’ throughout the narrative.

I liked the characterization of the protagonist’s parents. Vijay’s parents take pride in their daughter-in-law’s academic achievements. They don’t complain about the fact that she lacks the skills of a good home-maker. Though they belong to a very orthodox background, their thinking is shown as progressive. A rather true representation of modern day career-oriented women and the way in-laws have started seeing things.

On the other hand, Yashodhara’s mother comes across as more chilled out. She drinks beer with her son-in-law and enjoys her freedom.

The book also puts across an important lesson that needs to be followed for a successful marriage and ‘happily ever after’…. The lesson, being, to adjust! The couple need to accept each other as they are…Expect no changes… Instead they should learn to adapt to their new roles and each other, of course!

In short, the book can be completed in a single sitting and the narrative helps you to envision each situation. It is recommendable for light reading. It portrays the transformation of a young couple who fall in love… get married… It also takes us through their life since parenthood…

 If you are married, I bet you will be able to relate to the situations. If you are not, thinking that the institution of marriage is not as bad as it sounds!

Liquor and I

Why do people drink?

I wondered and pondered further

Some said to forget pain

Some others said to be kissed by happiness

Oh... I wanted both

So I tried too

I began with Vodka...

I hoped I would be freed from vicissitude

But the more I drank, the more votarist I became...

Then I tasted Beer

I wished it would wash away the bitterness.

But the more I drank, the more Teddy bearish you became...

Scotch Whisky is the solution I thought

I believed it would escort towards happiness.

But the more I drank, the more sweet you became...

Ah! Rum could be the ultimatum

I thought I would stop ruminating.

But the more I drank, the more rumpled I felt...

At least a Brandy?

I thought it would put an end to my boggle.

But the more I drank, the more blissful my love seemed...

Next came Gin

I expected that I would feel gingered up.

But the more I drank, the more gingerly I felt...

Finally, I tried Wine

I thought my whining would come to an end.

But the more I drank, the more I pined for you...

What is left now?

Tequila and Champagne?

Toddy of course...

But I think whatever I drink...

I cannot forget you.

After all, the more I drink, the more I think about you...

If you have given me tears of grief,

You have also given me tears of joy!

How can I forget that?