SAY IT WITH A GIFT.....

No! The Archie's Gallery or the Hallmark people or for that matter, none of the tycoons of this ‘say it with gifts’ business are paying me even a single penny for this free publicity I’m giving them. Worse, they do not even know I am doing it for them! But then, there are places where hard-cash payback just doesn't matter. You get a lot secretly and that’s all that matters!!! Realization strikes.
So, I was talking about saying it with gifts. Gifts that could vary from flowers to books, jewellery to cars, pens to accessories or whatever to wherever. All that matters is, just saying it! Saying it (differently) when things are simply superb and you want your special ones to know, or when things are just not fine and you want them to be! And trust me, gifts help.

Of all the things that I've felt, I realize that “just saying it” is the toughest (and I know that all my readers of the opposite sex would want to shower me with accolades (read ‘gifts’) for conveying this to all :)). But it gets much easier when we try and go the gifts way. All those beautiful people who have tried this would sure want to reach out and support me on this, and well, I thank them all in anticipation! You Hail!

Wading through those unsaid, unorganized emotions gets just so easy when cards say it for you. And recall the ecstasy (please note that I don’t use the word ‘pleasure’ for thisJ) when you discover ‘the one’ that you feel was drafted only for you to word yourself!

Or imagine the look on his/her face when you get daring enough to gift a coffee mug, simply because that would become the first thing to touch their lips every morning! 

It could also work out if a crystal globe was chosen all in all to convey that the sender was handing over his/her world to the receiver (exempt me for this, but I am essentially an electronics and COMMUNICATION engineer, I can’t just get away from the basics!) 

Or let’s be thoughtful enough for the sincere ones when we take a plunge in the massive pool of the latest bestsellers so as to find one by their favorite author. Big task for us. May be. But for them, irresistible, simply! Same goes for the disciples of rhyme as well. And nothing could be more wonderful, if you gave an extra edge by composing something for them yourself! After all, its only words, and words are all we have, to take their heart away!

Everyone does it on special occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, et al. You go, do it, when it is hardly expected. And there lies the recipe. Of a gate-crashing entry into their hearts. Because, one of the things that keeps the spark alive is the element of surprise. Cliche  but very very true, indeed.
Now some small tips of the trade. Say it fresh and with something that they've been waiting to acquire. Better still, something that they could not do without, that they always wanted, especially lately. Something that would be tangible and non-perishable (that’s how I like it) and best would be something that could stay on, till as long as it can. Gurus say, avoid key chains and deodorants or perfumes. They tend to trigger a quarrel. Try keeping away from dried flowers, they bring in negativity. Go by the ‘appeal’ and the ‘feel’. And don’t forget, the wrapping, the presentation is equally important.

Say it with enrollment in ‘salsa classes’ or free passes for a theater workshop, Say it with candles, with earthen pots, with colors for those with creative fingers, or with a lollipop! 
Say it with personified tees or songs of their soul, Say it with something you sketch for them, or say it with an idol. 
Say it with pens of their favorite brand, or with a pair of kissing fishes in an aquarium on the stand. 
Say it with a solitaire ring rattling when their drink is done, or say it with a canvas that’s aglow with the rising sun! 
And please don’t forget to scribble a message yourself, And then, when they’re away, secretly place it on their shelf. 
Say it now, do it today, 
And take my word, they’ll be by you, to stay!

The bottom line is to say it, with gifts, of course! And yes, the next time it works out for you, do drop in a line to me and make me a part of it all! Fingers crossed, I’m waiting to hear from you….

“MADHUBALA”

I recently read “MADHUBALA” by Dr. Harivansh Rai “Bachchan” and am deeply inspired to present its Book Review for you :

                                “MADHUBALA”

“Because of rhyme, word come to an end and yet end not. The utterance finishes, but not its ring, and the ear and the mind go on with their game of tossing the rhyme back and forth. So here, wherein the lap of limitless space, clouds lie down to sleep, I have built my house for thee, O Poetry!”

                                                        ‘Gurudev’ Rabindranath Tagore

On the onset, my sincerest obeisance, for forging into the unexplored territories of reviewing the masterpiece of Hindi Literature in a language called English. But after all that I have read, I’ve begun to think big and beyond. Language, in itself, can never be the medium of restraint. It is the most exquisite and intricate form of art, of wording the expressions and hence liberating the soul. It is food for thought. And Poetry was, is and shall forever remain the elixir to live and die for. As words gently caress the rhyme, and the rhythm is tossed yonder and within, as emotions spill through ink, and volumes are spoken by lyrical gestures, from the annals of self-existence comes surging out a vivid recollection of feelings in the due splendour of a butterfly’s vibrance. And   Bachchan, indisputably, is the king of this forte.

MADHUBALA came after MADHUSHALA and was composed way back in 1934-35. And ever since it has stayed a reader’s favourite. A collector’s item. A vintage treasure. This is one of the most read books of Hindi Literature and is likely to remain so for years to come.

After reading the book, it seems that the author had turned to unstoppable drinking (read alcohol) when he lost his first wife. As if that was the only means of solace for him. But that is where the magic unveils. Dr. Bachchan stayed a teetotaller throughout his life.  But it was in the days after this major loss in his life that these gems of literature were drafted. I’m rightly reminded of the lines which say, “my sweetest songs are those which tell the saddest thought”.

The book has 15 of the world’s best poems, all in five less than a hundred pages. The poet has personified himself to everything that can be closely associated to liquor, right from the drink to the drinker, from the vessel to the house, from the owner of the place to the song that is.  He has introduced the reader to that layer of this process, this phenomenon, which no one could ever even think of. In spite of being a teetotaler, and having observed the repercussions of alcohol-consumption in first person, I was still carried away by what the author offered, even tempted for a while.

He feels so relaxed, so much at peace with himself and the world, with good and bad, with people, with pain, with all that life has and has not to offer, that at a point, impersonating a vessel, he says,

“pal me mrit peene waale ke kar se gir bhoo par aaunga

Jis mitti se tha main nirmit, us mitti me mil jaunga

adhikar nahi jin baato par, un baato ki chinta kar ke

ab tak jag ne kya paaya hai,

main kar charcha kya paaunga?” 

He is reluctant even to think of getting out of that stage of self-obliteration. Underscoring all creations is, unquestionably, the love of his life. “is paar priye, madhu hai, tum ho, us paar na jaane kya hoga”.

Simply reading through this text makes one swim into that state of oblivion, where nothing matters, but liberation. Freedom from all shackles of worldliness, pure-impure, caste, creed or for that matter, anything else. All seekers have entered that hall of realization where it isn’t them who rule the world and it hardly matters whoever does. They are the emperors of their own lives, their own destinies.

As I wade through this review, I feel I could go on, without stopping. But in middle school, we were taught to read as much as we could, so that no on else could deprive us of the pleasure that reading fresh text could fill us with. So, I pass it on. And yes, I am filled with boundless love, respect and gratitude for the language and the author. More so for the latter, for re-introducing the reader to the eternal beauty of Hindi language and revitalizing them with the ‘cup of life’ as served by Madhubala. But readers, don’t go by what I say. Go, find it, feel it for yourself. And only when u start loving to treasure it, I’ll consider my task done. Till then, I sign off, in ecstasy.