A Poem for First Loves

I was unable to sleep last night and I had an exam this morning. So it was imperative that I sleep. It’s times like those when a wave of inspiration hits you like a splash of cold water (weird analogy, I know, but think about it).

I know a girl who
could read between the lines
She could see right
through my warm untelling eyes

At one point in time
I’d proudly call her mine
But sadly like with everything
We had to say our goodbyes

I left for a land far far away
for better prospects to me
and a better life perhaps
but it was mostly to her dismay

She said she would wait
I told her I loved her
and this was fate
she said this was forever

I could feel her tears
In her letters and maps
and through all her fears,
I realized she’s forever mine

and I am too.

I don’t know how I feel about this: It’s both good and bad, happy and sad. But I cherish how it used to be and I cherish how it is. I wonder if this isn’t just only me.

Peace & Love,
Tarun

Beautiful Quotation

I came across this in the Song “Indian Touch” from the Album Nirvana Lounge:

jab din ke saahil dhalte hai
aur shaam bechari aati hai,
dil chupke chupke rota hai,
jab yaad tumhari aati hai

The translation is as follows:

As the day slowly fades out of sight,
and as it brings the sorry evening light,
My heart cries in quiet melancholy,
as I remember you

It is a truly beautiful writing that only a heart with true love could conceive.

I hope it was as enchanting to you as it was to me,

Peace & Love,
Tarun

Quote of the day

“We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it” -Abraham Lincoln

10 Rules for being human

I got this from Bluinc. It is awesome.

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.

2.You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."

4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."

7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Rule No. 436

“436. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.” - 1001 Rules for my unborn son

I went back home after 3 years last December. It was mostly a pleasant and nostalgic (not a bad thing) affair. Missing everybody you’ve not seen in so long, and yet, everything seemed to have just paused for those 3 years. It felt like I hadn’t ever left. Talking to friends seemed just as comfortable, more renewing, and less trivial. Who wouldn’t want friends like that?

I’m writing about last December now, however, because one thing has stuck with me for the 4 months since I’ve been back – My mentors. As a high school student, I aspired to reach great heights in life; I wanted to do things that would change the world (I still do). And naturally, I looked up to the organization leaders that I was a part of. We all do. They didn’t know this.

They’re the heroes that we think will change the world. The heroes that give you confidence that nobody else can. They have charisma and the conviction that’s apparent in even the way they look at you. And I held them to a higher standard. Thus I held myself to a higher standard. I wanted to do the things they did, the way they did them.

I learnt a lot from them, and in turn, I hope I have taught some others a hope for conviction and change for the better. When me and my friend were talking this time, we were talking about “those” days. And I was told that one of my mentors, took up a job with a big firm racing for the top of the corporate ladder. He wanted to start his own company, He wanted to do things differently. He wanted to be the change the world would look up to, and not so that they would look up to him.

When I learnt this, I was upset. I don’t believe that a corporate job is bad at all. I want to work in corporate for the first few years of my life. It’s just when the heroes  you have looked up to as a teen do just about exactly what everyone has done, it comes with a negative feeling. That doesn’t mean they won’t change the world. A life of normalcy is just not what I expected.

They were the ones that took chances, made up reasons to get things done. Came up with more reasons than were necessary to be excellent. And now, they’re running for the gold with everybody else, when the gold isn’t there?

From this moment, I’m taking my chances. I’m running against the wind and I’ll be my own hero. At least if I’m disappointed then, I’ll know it’s something I could have controlled. Here’s for conviction that I won’t be disappointed.

Peace & Love,
Tarun

PS. 1001 rules for my unborn son is an awesome blog. Very interesting tips for men.

The end of college life, and an epiphany

Well, I'm almost done with college. But this one thing seems so true, as if I knew it all along but just stayed in denial:

It’s the idea that you wait 4 or 5 years to graduate and get to the real world, so you want to “make the best” of college life and decide you’ll just deal with the real life later – Looking back I realize that real life started the day I moved into college. There is no other real life than this one. Everything I do, Every decision I make impacts this real life.

Peace & Love,
Tarun

Everytime - Song

I just wrote this earlier today for the PAAC open mic night tomorrow. Should be loads of fun. Im performing at the AAC tomorrow (along with loads of other talented people!) so come by if you want to chill :)

It’s a short song and very chill. I wish I could post a recording here. I dont have a nice recording device yet. Very soon though.

So here goes:

Everytime I see you smile
Everytime I see you cry
All I wanna do is hold you tight
And tell you that I’ll love you right

It’s so simple can’t you see
When I’m with you, you’re with me
I wonder if you’d tell me when
You think you’re in love with me

We’ll go on a walk by the lake
I’ll pick a flower, put on your hair
Tell you that you’re beautiful like
The big, bright sun in the sky

It’s so simple can’t you see
When I’m with you, you’re with me
I wonder if you’d think of me 
If you see something so funny

And when you tell me you love me
I’d wonder if you’d tell me why
Would you ever tell me why?
I’d wonder if you’d tell me why?

It’s very poetic and romantic. Thoughts, Comments and Suggestions are welcome :)

Peace & Love
Tarun

I am ironman

I had a whole pointless conversation by myself earlier today. Just thought it would be nice to share.

I am Ironman. (not me personally, Im just quoting the movie. Yeah, it's a great movie. I wish I was Ironman though. I would like fly, and go crazy, and like fight crime and be all cool at the bars be like "sweety, you know who I am?". Ok maybe not be sweet like that, that might be creepy. but yeah, I am not Ironman. The thing is, my personality is enough, I dont need an Ironman costume. woooah, yeah.)

I hope you are as amused by this as I was.

Peace & Love
Tarun

Tum Milo – Lyrics + Translation

I wrote this song a few weeks back for UTSAV’s annual culture show “Nataraj 2010”. I was surprised at how it turned out, I think it’s catchy and has a lot of meaning associated to it. It’s about friendships and those relationships that truly matter in our life. So here goes.

Verse:
Jo milo tum kisi se,
Haske kehdo kuch unhi se,
Muskura ke tum jo karlo dosti,

(When you meet someone,
Say something nice and laugh,
Smile and make a friend)

Doston ne yeh kahaa hai,
Dosti mein hi mazaa hai,
Dosti bin kahaa hai zindagi

(Friends have told us that,
In friendship is a world of content
and without it, where is that world?)

Chorus:
Zindagi mein, aur kuch nahi hai,
Aur kuch nahi

(There’s not much else in life
if you cant share it with friends)

Interlude:
Tu itna gumsum kyon khada hai?
In rishton se ab kya bada hai?
To muskurale jo tu zara,
Hoon main tera, Yeh din tera hai.

(Why do you look so sad and down?
What’s bigger than the love for friends
So smile now and know,
I am yours, and this day is yours.)

Verse:
Zindagi mein jab kabhi bhi,
Gham churaale jo khushi bhi,
Yaad karna tum hamari dosti

(If ever in life,
Your sorrows take over your happiness
Just remember this friendship)

Jo milo tum kisi se,
Haske kehdo kuch unhi se,
Muskura ke tum jo karlo dosti,

(When you meet someone,
Say something nice and laugh,
Smile and make a friend)

Chorus:
Zindagi mein, aur kuch nahi hai,
Aur kuch nahi

(There’s not much else in life
if you cant share it with friends)

What do you think? Comments, suggestions are always welcome :)

Peace & Love,
Tarun

An explanation for love… not that it needs one

I was reading a Japanese Zen Koan earlier today and it went something like this:

If a tree falls, and nobody is around, does it still make a noise?

I thought it would be interesting to relate it to love, since so many people don’t believe in it.

Two things need to be known here:

1. When a man is around, the noise can be heard by him.
2. When nobody is around, to know whether it makes a sound or not is impossible.

Common Sense however would indicate that whether a man is there or not, the tree makes a sound. A man needs to be around to experience that sound. When nobody is there, the sound doesnt serve a purpose (in context to human hearing and conception of this particular Koan)

Don’t try to rationalize it, Koans are not meant to be rationalized. They exists simply as reminders that not everything NEEDS to be rationalized. Same with the Koan above.

It’s the same with love. It exists. One needs to just simple be there to understand and feel and reciprocate it. If one is not simply “there” to experience it, it serves no purpose (in context to the human being who wants to know whether love exists or not).

I hope this makes at least one person believe that love exists.

Peace & Love
Tarun

How to deal with most things in life

This is obviously in no way a guide to lead your life, but I was talking to a friend earlier about a problem and realized that the solution to her problem could work so well with anything in life:

• Be okay with whatever it is, now, and in this moment
• Don’t want it or expect it to be anything more
• And when it becomes something more, or something less, be okay with that too.

This way, the idea, problem, or whatever it is, will manifest itself exactly how it is supposed to.

I myself try hard to keep up with this sort of a thought process, but If it helps somebody, I’m glad.

For now, I’m going to try to incorporate this.

Peace and Love.

An awesome story I came across

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me”.
Look what happens with a love like that-
It lights the whole sky.

 

Isn’t that beautiful?