I miss what i lived

I miss

Being blessed and not knowing it

Being alive in a good time but not appreciating it

Being fortunate but taking it for granted

Being at the end of the tunnel but acting blind

Being happy and not knowing it

Being intelligent but doubting it

Being independent but not aware of it

Sleeping well and enough but always being sleep deprived

Being well fed and healthy yet feeling conscious
Being cheerful but complaining about depression

Being surrounded by population but being a drama queen for attention

Being around people yet looking for silence

Being loved yet not knowing it

Being cared for but wanting a break

Being appreciated but not feeling special enough
Being able to wow crowds with a mike on stage, but worrying about never being as good as Whitney Houston

Being a younger sister but being irritated by an overprotective brother

Being a happy family of four, but fighting over a mother’s love

Being a smiling face in the family selfie, but complaining about being the fat nose of the house

Being healthy but unhappy with my body

Being sprinkles but worrying about being vanilla

Having everything but complaining about having nothing

Having everything perfect but whining about the tiny imperfections

I miss
Being Hina.

Now,

I can just miss, reminisce and kiss,

Miss, the life I was given, with tears in my eyes

Reminisce, the days I was blessed with

Kiss the photographs of the people I had

For, the days are gone

And
Life has now moved on to a time

Where memories and past is all that was good and beautiful

And lies ahead,

A life with a constant pain while hugging your family

Tears gleaming in the laughter with friends

Sorrow accompanying you to bed

Regretting and not thanking enough,

The life I lived

The days it rained happiness

The blessings overlooked

The lights never switched on

The health never appreciated

The people never hugged enough

The egos never pushed aside

The talents never bloomed

The intelligence never penned down

And all wonderful times I owned.

They were mine.

WERE.

For now they are gone.

And will never come back.

If you’re reading this till the end and comprehending,

Here’s what I have to say to you.

Dear Reader,

Don’t miss.
Live. Do.

Live enough, push the boundaries and live a little more.

Don’t underestimate the value of families, siblings, friends, people.

They shape a lot of who we are.

Thank them, love them, live with them

Because, One day when they’re gone,

We’ll have no one to take granted for.
And we'll lose a piece of our own, that we didn't know of.

One day when those good, fortunate days are gone,

We’ll have nothing to take granted for.

Don't be the line of the Band Perry song,

"Funny when you're dead, how people start listening"

Don't wait for your death, to listen to your life

Don't wait for your own-self's death to realise.

Because then they are just memories as frozen as ice,

Melting thereafter, just as tears in our eyes.

Don't wait for your death, to know what you lived.

Picture Credits: Manpreet Singh

My shoes are too big for your feet

You all seem to have something or the other to say

Curses, complaints, whatever suits your ways

She’s not the same, she’s changed

She doesn’t take initiatives, she’s lame

Sadistic, self-pitying, excusing

The most appalling things you people have to say

Now here’s a picture I’m going to paint

I know you’ll fall short of imagination

To comprehend, what I’m trying to say

And I hope and pray you never have to paint one for yourself.

Here’s the picture,

Imagine the 20 years of your life that you’ve lived,

Get topsy turvy and take a 180 degree spin,

Over. Finished. Never coming back.

A new settlement that you have to make with yourself

Each day when you flip the calendar to a new date,

You start thinking of survival ways.

Wake up in the morning,

Wishing you never did.

Look at the clock,

12 hours of the day to go,

Before, again, the nightmares hit.

Take the pills to put you to bed,

It’ll get better with time,

They all said.

It’ll never get better,

The better is over.

What lies ahead the remaining days of life,

Is a new normal.

A normal that is with constant pain, grief and of course unanswered questions for the ways of the universe.

A normal where you’ve known the best days stored in the brain.

Under a file named 20 years and 11 months of my life.

A normal where random tears flow from the eyes,

Of sadness, reminiscence, nostalgia.

And you’re surrounded by humans like you, my dear friends,

Who will never comprehend.

For them, you are not the same,

You have changed.

And you want to scream and shout

To their faces.

This is what you want to say.

YES OF COURSE I HAVE CHANGED.

MY 20 YEARS 11 MONTHS THAT YOU WERE A SMALL PART OF,

THOSE YEARS AND THAT TIME IS OVER.

WHAT LIES AHEAD, IS OF COURSE CHANGED.

MY LIFE TOOK A SPIN I DON’T WISH UPON MY FOES EVEN,

A SPIN THAT HAS MADE ME LOOK AT YOU EVEN DIFFERENT

IT’S LIKE A BAD BRAIN INJURY THAT HAS CHANGED MY COGNITIVE ABILITIES FOREVER

It’s not a hangover that will pass over the day.

You definitely held hands, laughed, played

While the VIBGYOR colored the days of my life

But a friend told me once,

We all praise the rains and wait for it eagerly,

But when the VIBGYOR vanishes and the skies cry,

We run to the nearest shelter and curse,
for it disrupted our daily lives.

I disrupted the way our conversations took place,

I disrupted the cheery mood we shared.

But I’m not going to apologize for causing you this inconvenience

Because the Gods didn’t do it either when they spun my life around.

You go on with your jobs and higher studies,

And I am the happiest for you and shower you with blessings,

I hope you reach the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,

Get all the success, name, fame, and fortune, whatever you wish for.

But I ask you one thing and only that,

Don’t judge me for my change, where I grieve and survive (and change, I definitely will.)

Because I don’t judge you for your fortunate and happy lives that you live.

Let’s let each other be in peace,

For my shoes are too big for your feet.

The brain is a clever piece of flesh

Memories, Remembrances, Nostalgia, Recollection, Reminiscence

Words, synonyms

All heading the same way

The past.

Brain, the body part that latches on to things, events, happenings

Good, bad, ugly

But it’s a cunning piece of shit,

To always fondly remember the good past

And miss it, wish it back.

And the ugly, thank the lords gladly that it’s over.

The brain be a twisted piece of flesh.

From the moment I open my eyes to the sun in my room,

To the shutting off of lights and pulling up the blanket.

Brain remembers him everywhere,

In everything.

Hope is another dark place

Could lead to more darkness,

Or to the tunnel leading to the light

But it’s better than knowing for sure

Because you don’t know what you don’t know

I would take the past days of uncertainty

Over the current certainty, the reality any day.

The certainty of the changed existence

Of those around me, for all the days left that we survive.

The brain was convulated, Numb, Uncomprehending

For those 3 days

But there was hope,

Hope for things to be eventually alright

But that’s all that it remained

Hope.

Never grew into certainty

But what became certain the 3rd night

When I heard the words,

“His last 2 hours”

It’s over.

The 20 years and 11 months of my life were over.

What lay ahead was a lifetime of Memories, Nostalgia, Remembrance, Recollection, Reminiscence

Of the good days,

Better days,

Of sanity

Because all I could see ahead

And my heart knew,

Was madness, chaos, unfathomable existence

No way out, just the one door

The one door that is survival

Each day at a time.

But the brain,

If only the brain would let me,

This clever piece of flesh,

Recalls an attached memory of his

Everything and every point it notices,

Leeches on to it and refuses to let go.

So even I can’t let go,

And so I survive as the top flesh commands

Remember and recall all attached memories

All to everything.

Everything. Anything.

Everywhere. He is.

Everything.

You’re not here- under our yellow blanket

Dear Mriganka,

When I needed a GPS to my first day in class,

You were there

When I needed to not feel like a loner and sit with someone

You were there

When I needed to know about the different cliques

You were there

When I needed to understand pre-adulthood

You were there

When I needed to feel pretty

You were there

When I needed someone to call a friend

You were there

When I needed to heal from betrayal

You were there

When those who betrayed needed a dose

You were there

When I craved for my favourite Music album

You were there

When I needed to borrow cash

You were there

When I needed to get out for some fresh air or lunch

You were there

When I needed to lie to my mom for a date                
You were there

When I needed a bed after a fight

You were there

When I wanted to rebel and cry

You were there

When I wanted to get drunk with no regrets

You were there

When I had to be alone in class

You were there

When I wanted to talk about my past

You were there

When I just needed someone to listen, not necessarily understand

You were there

Then when I had to leave and go away from you

You were there

When I was excited and you were going to be alone

You were still there

5 years, it’s been my love

And you’re still there

Not in the close proximity that I would want you in right now.

Because I really miss you.

All the good, bad, ugly, drunk, awesome times we’ve had,

And we’re growing up. Damn we’re growing up.

Birthdays and the years that are going by are deciding our lives for us, our future.

I don’t want to grow up. I still want to be a rebel and come crying to you. I still want to be angry and have you bring me back to reality. I still want to be immature and dependent on you. I still want to be able to have your home on the back of my mind always when things aren’t going right.

I still want to be able to tell the world to go to hell in a hand basket because you’re walking distance away from me.

Seas separate us now. Time zones differ. I know our love doesn’t, our bond doesn’t.

But you’re not here.

I love you, yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever.

I miss you every day every moment that my brain functions.

Home is not home without you. This city loses its special meaning and charm for me without you.

My first friend, person, my best friend, soul sister, girlfriend, whatever the fancy terms maybe,

Mriganka Chawla, I’m at a loss of words to try and explain to you how much you mean to me and how much I miss you. Get here soon please. I miss you I miss you , i miss you

My best regards and lots of love

Yours Truly,
Hina Yadav <3
Missing you in our yellow blanket.

Batting them away like a ball- They are we!

He was born like her

For the initial years

They all found it ‘Oh so adorable!’

Gradually while trying to accept who she is,

The eyebrows frowned

The reality struck

The stigma began

It was no longer ‘Oh so adorable’

But rather, deplorable

Freedom of expression?

Right to life?

This was his expression,

This was her life

But the eyeballs,

The whispers,

The gossips,

They made it tough

But he nevertheless went on through to the her

And now as she walks with pride

Taking all the remarks in her stride

Like a ball and bats them away!

Away from the stadium that is her life and dignity

Preserving her stadium,

She is you

He is me

They are we!

Gods’ Handiwork

She struts around in the society

Pretending as if it’s all so dreamy

Little do these unknown faces know

She feels perplexed about how to be himself

When one fine day she decides to be him

But now the world around him is perplexed

Is it her or is it him?

They distance themselves

Ignorant of the existence

Changing the topics and cringing

Not able to fathom the change

But can’t you see

They breathe the same, eat the same,

They feel and bleed the same

They are changed, yes

But just like you.

They are humans

Humans with who changed

But humans nevertheless.

Humans- Gods’ very own special handiwork.

Enough of ‘friends’ and their ‘likes’

I quit Facebook in January 2012.

It started with the deactivation of my user account due to upcoming final examinations, and those two months were such a relief for my brains and my eyes, and not to forget the internet bill, that I went ahead and deleted it once and for all. It has been more than three years now, and I don’t miss a single bit of it. Sure, I miss out on staying ‘connected’ with like lakhs of people, some of who I might have met at a friends’ friend party (or never), and we just know each other by face. Sure, I miss out on the picture updates of the new vacation that my friends took, or my cousin's fiance, but does that make me unaware of what’s happening in my friends’ lives or my ‘closed ones’? Not at all.

In fact, if anything it has made me more aware of the real world that’s around me, real friends who will actually be there for me at midnight, and not just leave a 100 word comment, so easily typed. The gossip next day in the class about who uploaded a drunk picture with who, and whose ex liked the picture and so on, the never ending gossip, and I just think to myself, what is it doing for me?

Because the world works on the 'What's in it for me' mantra.

The trademark ‘like’ on Facebook, is no longer about which friend likes which picture, which used to be a big deal when Facebook initially started out because it was almost as if someone ‘liked’ your picture meant that person is in love with you. Pfft. It’s become even crazier, half the time people like each other’s’ pictures so that the other person would like theirs, and they both get the ‘numbers’. Simply put, I give you the numbers you make me popular, and you do the same for me. Ha!

So since the crazy trend of Orkut and Facebook has been in the light for quite a long time now, the latest trend in the social media sector is to actually socialise. Gradually more and more Facebook users are either deactivating their Facebook accounts or completely quitting, reasons ranging from too many red notification lights blinking on their phones, with friend requests, game requests, etc, or maybe just wanting to get a taste of what’s it like to not be on Facebook for a while, a life without updates about random people’s lives.

A simple argument that former Facebook users put forth is that it’s simply a waste of time. In an article by Anna James, journalist for entrepreneur.com, if a Facebook user spends one hour on the weekdays on Facebook, and 2 hours on the weekends, i.e. Saturday and Sunday, it amounts to 10 hours a week, that’s 4,160 hours, equating to 73 days continuously, or 24 weeks, or six whole months of one’s life is spent on Facebook, and then the question pops up, doing exactly what?

It’s not like it’s this great information gathering activity that one is engaging in, like perhaps reading a book, or newspaper, and yet most of our information and awareness is based on what someone puts up on Facebook, and like the Magic Bullet Media Theory, we just take it all in without questioning or trying to find out the source, because we have full ‘faith’ in our virtual ‘friends’, who are really just fake people on Facebook, but that’s a philosophical debate for another read.

I remember an incident from my first year of college, a girl got up and confidently walked up to the front of the class, facing the professor said, “Ma’am, I would like to share a very shocking fact that I am sure no one is aware of in the class. I don’t think you all know this but Shakespeare was actually a woman, not a man.”

Now that was some accusation, and the professor who quotes Shakespeare and Wordsworth in casual conversations, because she was from the great era of Queen’s English, laughed and asked her the source of this ‘fact’. And NOT surprisingly, it was ‘Facebook’. She just stood there and said “Ma’am, I read it on Facebook”.

Well that was the end of her confidently walking up to share a shocking fact with the rest of her classmates, because it’s Facebook, it’s only called that, it’s not really a book in case you hadn’t noticed my friend.

Gradually more and more people are deactivating their Facebook accounts due to the bombardment of information which is more than half the time, useless.

Saket Kanth, an employee with Dimagi organisation and an inactive Facebook account holder, says, “Sometimes it becomes an excuse to keep a tab on minor activities in people’s lives that are not relevant or quality information. It does form a great network though- best utilized through its messaging and important status updates, but I find the need to break away once in a while so I deactivate it from time to time.”

As a student, I can easily say that Facebook is a big distraction and a hurdle in our lives, from gathering quality and important information from other sources like, novels, newspapers etc. The source of most of our information is Facebook. Even before reading a news on the website of a news agency, we get our half told truths about the event or incident from Facebook, and that is how we end up roaming around with just half the story, least bothered to confirm the facts.

Good news is, times are changing. The importance to be smart and intelligent and not just an avid Facebook user with 10 lakh friends, is gradually spreading. Aman Kumar, a third year engineering student says, “I haven’t quit Facebook, nor am I an active user, I’m somewhere in between. I must’ve deactivated my account a 100 times. I feel it’s useless at times, and really distracting during exams. Deactivating Facebook makes me do more productive stuff. I open Facebook when I am absolutely bored, like maybe 4-5 times a day, and that leads me to think that I could’ve spent that time in a more productive manner. And I am anyways the sort of person who believes more in real meetings like meeting friends face to face and not on Facebook or WhatsApp so I really don’t miss it when I deactivate my account for a few months.”

It’s safe to say that Facebook is not going anywhere, it’s going to stay and it’s here for a long time, because of its effective connecting and networking functions. However, there is a growing need emerging, among users, for a break from Facebook, it could be temporary or permanent, but yes, users are realising that there’s more to life and to internet, for that matter, than just Facebook. And not to forget how it’s more exciting to meet someone after a long time over a cup of coffee, than having to see them every day with their daily updates, and miss out on the little surprising happiness that you experience when you see someone after ages.

Good news: The surprise might just be coming back!