Labyrinths

 

For PSU's Prompt - Ordinary. 

Is there anything more humane?

Than a man mourning the mundane

Yet finding comfort in routine

Quite routinely I must say.

 

Wanting to reach for the stars

From earth his leg goes far

Is there a more humbling force than gravity?

The elegant equalizer

Electromagnetically pulls into  

A simpler direction –

Inward.

 

The outer pieces of the puzzle

Are easier to solve

But as we move inward

We find in ourselves

 the good shepherd

Giving out the true reward –

The meaning of it all.

 

You would be amazed

To know

What you thought was a maze

Was just a craze

Caused by your dire daze

Only within the ordinary

You would find Life’s dictionary.

Thou shall be surprised

Once upon a time , (yes this story WILL start like a story) , there lived a girl called Samyuktha. She was forever fifteen years old , while her friends whizzed past and reached the sweet sixteen landmark and some even reached the purgatory called 17 ( you neither are sweet 16 - the age to be in or the important 18 - where you officially become an adult! ) And you couldn't even blame her itch to become an year older! For a person whose height reduces her age by big margins and her body weight which brought about both mock and genuine surprise at the previously unseen levels of malnourished -ness, you couldn't deny her birthright - age.
The poor child needed at least her age to broadcast her level of maturity. Her mental maturity at best could be called childish. Although there was no guarantee that people would believe her age even if it was genuine - as if she could take her birth certificate wherever she went?! her previously mentioned mental maturity didn't let her think about this much!
So she waited and waited , through her pre annual exams from February to her annuals in march. She also waited through the seven arduous days of holidays where no thought except the one of her b'day was allowed to flourish. In her quiet exile to her cousin's place where she was kicked out as soon as school closed she played the almost sacrilegious  play station 3 which stunned her own cousin , who himself had played it everyday since it was bought and couldn't decipher her levels of fervor towards the games!
The night before THE day she started to doubt herself. 'Why couldn't I have been less rude on my friends... at least for a month! Nobody likes me! :O no one shall surprise me. I am so stupid and arrogant , I should have arranged my own party. At least some people would have been bound to attend it. At least for courtesy sake!"  All this was thought in the protagonist's own dialect ; Cheri Tamil. But for the sake of prestige and finesse ( and clarity of course) she forbids herself from going there here.
By this time she was back in her own house - her own centenarian , almost fragile yet majestic house whose pink color looked more like black nowadays.  In her own bed she lay , thinking these pessimistic thoughts and hoping that someone did surprise her tomorrow . She had very good reasons to expect a surprise party :

1. She was going to be 16.
2. She had friends.
3. The poor child hadn't had a birthday party since her second standard one.

The first point has been elaborated enough in the initial paragraphs . The second point can be found be everywhere in the author's blog ( feel free to meddle the archives) and so , the third one shall be the focus for now. As we all know now , samyuktha wasn't the healthiest child and her parents not the wealthiest. However , there weren't a shortage for parties when she was a young child.

It is true that parents love you more when you were young ,as you were cuter and didn't have brains or the tongue to attack them with. Yet the logic defied her! Why would they keep awesome parties when she was too young to enjoy or appreciate them? and expect her to be mature and be a saint when she was in the ripe age to enjoy them?! Concluding that parents are more dilogical than illogical sometimes we move on.

As she was small , she was shy and a loner in her young years. So people invited to her party were invariably her dad/mom's friends children , neighbors and cousins. She did remember one school mate being called. A lad by the name koushik , who was her best friend till 2nd ( he was quiet like her :P so all they did was enjoy the silence or so I imagine) and who mysteriously disappeared out of her ife after that. It must be noted that he did study in the same school and all , but they never me/spoke after that! strange uh? 

These parties were trademarked by the 'party hats' almost threatening to choke the kids with their dangerously thin elastic bands , and the usual cakes in the forms of mickey mouse or spiderman! and the paper cups filled with orange miranda and plates with the greasy pieces of cake ,  potato chips and sometimes a samosa or a sweet. Samyuktha's memory of these parties were from the innumerable photos her dad had taken in his camera as it is rightly said in her psychology textbook that children do not have any true memory of their formative years.( excepting some episodic memories or scenes) 

Although she wasn't demanding such outrageously awesome parties from her friends , she did expect a kutti cake from french loaf as they get that for almost every tom , dick and harry. However , so much was her apprehension that she suddenly started questioning the very fabrics of her friendship with them. 

After being wished promptly at 12 , she sleepily woke up the next morning - amidst the ringing of phone bells , from the early rising relatives of hers. "This is it", she thought! Embracing herself for any outcome she walked the stairs of her school on a Sunday... there in the room was her class teacher to whom her mom informed that it was samyuktha's b'day! As if that would solve all the forthcoming problems. "What is going on?" she wondered .None of her friends were around , she wasn't going to be surprised after all. Hmmm , maybe surprise wasn't all birthdays were about. She turned back to her teacher who opened the blue bundle next to her and retrieved her report card...........

The contents of it aren't necessary here. But lets say she wasn't overly happy about her result. One thing lacking in the her family was definitely ambition. So at least nobody would crib about her marks - anyways she was definitely not informing anyone about it in the first place. She walked back slowly home with her mom for company. She was definitely a tad sad ; but pleasantly, turning 16 had improved her mental maturity.

She didn't give up hope though ; when her mom escorted her to 'saibaba' temple she did have a doubt. She hadn't even done that well to gift the god 2 bucks. Yet, it was just another red herring. "Samyuktha Jayaprakash thou shall not be surprised. Get over it and enjoy the remnants of your b'day." So she started getting prepared for the dinner which was later on in the evening and attending calls more properly. 

Her mom then came up to her and asked her what she was going to do with the guitar she got for her b'day. With the attitude that comes with 16 years on earth she replied "play obviously". Mom like a mom always is, gets immediately perturbed and is like "you better join a class or I am donating it to the poor". She says ok. Her mom being the worker bee she is , immediately called some guitar sir and who asked her to come @ 4 .

Now Samyuu was actually excited." Learning to play a guitar ON my b'day!! How cool! And that too a 'sir"'. Must be some young stud with tattoos all over him! She was definitely excited . So excited that she didn't  get a doubt when her mom said it was unnecessary to bring a guitar along and when the class was in 'mash' a place popular for its surprise parties. 

It was definitely one of the best days of her life!! With the 6 people who seemed perfect to host the day for her. Nomi , suno , Disha , rhea from her present school and Shruti and Sahi from her old school. She had the best cupcake of her life and some tough time trying to react - which didn't happen ( with all the years being lonely :P) and had fun talking nonsense as usual. She would really like to thank her wonderful friends for all their effort and an awesome day. And promises everyone a big hug when she meets them! <3 :* 

P.S - She is still trying to get over the fact that she didn't have guitar classes and that her MOM fooled her :O 

yours third person-ly 

Semi B| 

Wake up ;if you are sleeping!

*sigh*

There used to be a time when this blogger used to make fun of all the other outdated blogs and pity how those blogs must feel with the inadequate posts and negligence...but that tragedy has befallen Semi's stories and sharings. I would really like to blame the Raghu and kethu :P but NO it is because of ME and ME only and well uh the exams and my inability to click a button to make a draft into a post! Yea - beat me up or bless moi  - I don't care.

YES!

So when I was musing disgustedly at my inability to contribute creatively to this world - a flash of insight came. For people who don't know what insight is - it is that 'oh it was always in front of me' or the 'eureka' feel. More simply it is the 'DUH' moment. So what did I kick myself about? *Zoom focus*
'I haven't done yoga for the past five years' . If you expected something more shocking I advise you to learn the sad reality of life's eventfulness and come back =)  There used to be a time when semi was known as the 'rubber' or the kid who did the splits or the one who put her legs around her neck! Those were the times of my life :)
Putting your leg around your neck unlike writing gets instant appreciation , no criticism ( what can you say lol 'keep the leg tighter?') , freaks people and most importantly doesn't require much thought process. Then on a fateful day while on the rickety van to thiruvanamalai for my aunt's marriage I decide to use my pocket diary! And I end up writing a decent 'poem' about the nature around me ; I would like to warn you that my concept of a poem has/had rhyming words and understandable lines - so it's not a poem technically :O My parents were happy to find that they had something more to be proud of me than the fact that I bend my bones and not to mention Breaking them!

This breaking bones factor did play a factor in me withdrawing from yoga - very slowly though. However it is my ability to not respect my  'most' :P amazing and the most obvious talent that let me forget it. Seriously I still cannot comprehend why I wouldn't want to flaunt my flexible skills to the world O.o You see I have grown up and cannot really remember my exact feelings then and I don't have any paper records of my feeling too ( I abused everyone left right center in my diaries and had to disown it :P )
Maybe I WAS lazy. I know I AM lazy. So it isn't very tough to predict that. There is one piece of evidence left in my room that makes me occasionally guilty. The big chunk of chart in my room asking me to 'DO YOGA' with the stereotypical stick man inviting me...!

Do YOGA! xD

It's not that it is too late or something. I am still young ( enough) and it's not that I cannot do splits anymore. However , if I do it - I am quite sure that I will pull all my muscles from thigh to toe and be hospitalized for a week - but I am sure that I can do it once. Hell yeah I accept. I am nowhere near  the rubber I used to be , when I do asanas I feel like an old 70 year old and it's insulting to do something badly when you used to do it so wonderfullY.

vida muyarchi visparooba vetri! :P

But you know what? I am gonna TRY. I may never be as good as I was , but that is because of my own self and laziness. Now all you guys out there - stop basking in happiness  yet. If it is yoga for me it would be something else for you - the FIITJEE kid who used to write beautiful poems , the artist coexisting with the mathematician or even the decent comedian behind all the coolness! Please WAKE UP!
What IF , if only the world ended next year? Won't it be a shame to know that the few vetti moments you had could've been converted into priceless ones? Your most natural ability thrown away because you were too lazy to move that cute bum of yours! Run Run RUN!

                                                                                                                              Yours energetically
                                                                                                                              SEMI B|

False Alarms

There is an aspect which I am popular for in my school – more popular than my blogging and that is breaking my bones! Actually my family -which includes my parents, me and my bro(younger than me), are popular for it! ;)

One of the reasons I could not give an earlier post is due to this fracture threat! Threat?

You would ask….heeheee; well I will start from the beginning …………which is 6 years back, may 2004…….

The Flash BACK

I'm not that cute! ;)

Till that day Semi didn’t know anything about the word fracture, this should not be taken in the wrong way, ie, that she had a bad vocabulary or that she didn’t listen during science class (which maybe true…partly) it must just be accepted that she just didn’t know….

Moving on, she had only got hurt in her head some 8 times till then (in the 9 odd years she lived ) that too due to bad driving by old grand fathers , bad leg eye co ordination in 2^nd grade and generally ignorant seniors who bang the door on your head by mistake . Just the things you cant avoid!

Ok, cutting the flashback for the flashback and jumping into THE FLASHBACK ……

It was a summer holiday, which meant as a gonna be 5^th grader and already a tomboy, Semi was supposed to be playing with her elder brother’s (cousin) friends. So she took the toughest path and decided to play football with those barbarians. Seeing that she couldn’t help kicking her own foot when she tried to kick the ball the boys made her the goalkeeper.

They never brought the ball her side! Even if they did a ‘defender’ in front of her kicked it back! She thought of having a fistfight with them, when the ball came to….her! She tried valiantly to catch it but being the shortest kid in the district didn’t do her any help. No one mocked her but she was too embarrassed and so decided to help them by bringing back the ball which had already run off through the main road to the other lane…..

Bro called her but she didn’t listen, she took the ball fast and while returning through the main road she waved with the ball and they all waved back…! Wait. Was there some worry in their waves? Wha….BANG!

She was later carried back by her bro, with semi consciousness ( =D )  A motorcycle had banged into her hand but fortunately it was just an hairline crack….with some bruises.

                           x---------------------------------------------x

So that guys was the story of my first fracture. So why is Semi getting all nostalgic and posting this funny nonsense? Not just because she loves you people and want to share her privileged nonsense with you or because she is guilty of writing depressed stuff….

It is because of False alarms!

I always know beforehand when I am getting a fracture….like an instinct. A premonition! No one dare doubt me….after at least 5 years jam-packed with at least 1 9 – 20 fracture in my hands alone No one has a right to! [Sprains and ligament tears not included] Why do I always get diverted? Ok Back on track, I know it like some people know their fevers.

It always starts when someone tells “Semi how many fractures have you had?” or when they say,” Hey Fracture innum fracture pannaliya?” [Haven’t you fractured your hand yet?] Or a new trend for the past 1 year....every vaikunda eykadesi ,an occasion where you are supposed to stand in a long line to cross a doorway called as “the steps to heaven” [sorgavasal]

So this week where Friday was “the” day I knew for sure that I was gonna break a bone I started getting minor accidents or false alarms.

1^st false alarm

December 13,

Somewhere between 6.00 to 7.00

It was my friend’s b’day the next day. So we bought a gym ball for her. I was carrying the huge gift and sitting awkwardly in the 2 wheeler I traveled......then my mom did a foolish thing. She tried to squeeze her way between a bus and a bridge’s arch which were both fatal...

My leg hit the bridge thingy and down I went with the ball. My mother was very panicky and asked me with a concerned voice,” Nothing happened to the gift no kanna?”

It was not much just a small scratch and some pain

2^nd false alarm

December 15,

Between 12.40 to 1.00

Emaya, Shivani, me and tanu went to get emaya’s lunch bag. Emy was pretty angry with me for romantic reasons J  she was going pretty fast and I tried catching up with her when BANG!

I hit my hip on the staircase’s edge and fell down with pain. I was floating in pain and asked tanu to call the teacher and wasted her lunch period. The teachers panicked but I didn’t. When I checked my hip it had an ugly blood clot. Nevertheless it was just a clot and I couldn’t afford to tense my parents for that.

Even now when I touch it or do something quick it pains but its just a clot.

3^rd and final one

December 16

Must be between 2.00 to 3.30

This became almost true. I can’t explain how but I got hurt in my left wrist very badly and was very sure it was a fracture. Even now I have that mild doubt.....

My usual doc is out of town so I went to the best in town. That meant a long wait to go inside ( 1 hr 7 min) 2 min check up , then off to the x ray room where I waited for 25 mins and got stuck with an uncle next to me who took my calm demeanor to be a grant to accuse me of acting . Finally after waiting for 30 minutes more to give submit my x ray to him and seeing that the doc was busy chatting with his friends on yahoo messenger (old guy) I didn’t get convinced that he cared about me.

So I have a sore hand which seems to have very irritatingly red color but which is not BROKEN.

How to end this post now?

These things maybe false alarms or not but when I had 1 premonition something may go wrong I got 3 accidents. This was because of my negative thinking but in another mood I may call it my mom's bad driving skills, my friend's anger and the third a mystery. You caught me in a good mood!

byebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebyebye

yours un broken handedly 

SEMI