Yes, This Happened To Me

The following poem is a part of  IndiBlogger's Happy Hour contest sponsored by CloseUp. In this contest, the website has asked bloggers to pen down how they would propose to their love on Valentine’s Day. 

I would certainly do it with a few verses that rhyme!

This particular poem is very dear to me since I wrote it on a piece of paper (which is still there, folded in my diary of poems.) when I was very young, around 14 or 15 years old. The meaning of love might have changed since, but the feelings remain the same. It’s weird how these lines can bring back the exact emotion one felt at that moment. Poems have this special quality – to hold the emotions within a few words. They are like a bottle which can really capture a moment for the writer. I’m so glad I can pen down these and relive those emotions.

Yes, This Happened To Me

When you looked at me and smiled

When your eyes and my eyes met

When you seemed so different, so special from others to me

I fell in love, yes this happened to me

 I have read in books, I have seen in movies

 Love is life, love is everything

 It never seemed so meaningful to me

 But I believed it when I fell in love, yes this happened to me.

 Love made me feel it’s the only happiness

 It became my incentive to enjoy life as much as I could

You were then the person most valuable to me

You gave a new meaning to my life, yes this happened to me.

Your mischiefs, your attitude, your... everything

Suddenly became so intimate, suddenly so dear

Your every step, every moment became so important to me

I just loved you the way you were, yes this happened to me.

 I always wanted to know is it true love, or is it just infatuation

The answer always was - whatever it is, it has changed me, in a good

way.

I took you and took life as it came to me

I loved the feeling of being in love, yes this happened to me.

I was afraid that one day our paths may change directions

I was afraid that I could lose you very soon

But that didn’t stop me from letting you know how much you meant to me

I just wanted to live in the moment, yes this happened to  me.

For the first time in my life I loved and cared for a stranger

For the first time I felt a part of a stranger

This wonderful stranger, who is now so dear to me

I'm immensely in love with you, yes this happened to me...

The Great Indian Litterbug

This poem is a part of Happy Hour contest on IndiBlogger sponsored by The Times of India. Bloggers have to give a humorous take on the Great Indian Litterbug.

I live in a huge mansion,

Have bathrooms in all 5 rooms.

For its care, I have 5 servants,

Who clean with Dettol and mop with imported brooms.

When you walk outside, you see a beautiful garden,

Filled with beautiful plants in a prim and proper state.

And where do I throw my garbage?

Ofcourse, right opposite my gate!

I drive a beautiful black Mercedes,

That I’ve bought with my hard earned money.

I take it for long drives,

And a few trips with my family.

I clean it every second day,

With polish that I’ve bought from abroad.

And when we all travel in it, where do we throw the chocolate wrappers?

Ofcourse, right on the road!

My office is my temple,

I work there everyday.

You can say anything to me,

But to my workplace? – nay!

I light an agarbatti there every morning,

I have a dustbin there too.

And where do I stick the chewing gum?

Ofcourse, right under the desk that’s new!

I go to the best school,

The fees is the highest in the city.

The teachers are the best in town,

Oh, and the girls are also pretty!

The students there do really well,

They get into the best colleges later on.

And where do I throw the used papers?

Ofcourse, right on the campus lawn!

My aunt’s daughter had a destination wedding.

We all wore Manish Malhotra’s dresses.

The crowd was top notch,

Several people came from foreign places.

They hired the best decorators,

Food was tasty too.

And where did they throw the leftovers?

Ofcourse, right outside the venue!

I am very rich,

You don’t know who I am.

I have a truck load of money,

It’s absolutely true, not just any sham.

I don’t spend all on myself,

I do charity too.

And where do I spit my paan

Ofcourse, on the road, which by the way, I paid tax for too!

That’s the mentality we all carry,

‘The government should hire cleaners’

Who should walk with brooms behind us,

When we travel in our Beamers.

We would spend money on everything we need,

We will even spend lakhs on unnecessary things.

And where do we become a miser?

Ofcourse, on garbage cans, right where it stinks.

We are all Great Indian Litterbugs,

The poor, the rich, and the filthy rich.

But I feel more for the ones with big pockets,

And the educated ones – those are the ones who itch.

We will go for satsangs,

And give gyaan to everyone around us

And where do we throw our own garbage?

Ofcourse, just about anywhere, despite the special 'status'!

How Massage Helped Me Get Rid of a Bad Back Ache

The following post is an account of a terrible back ache that came only at night. I hope this helps someone who is suffering with the same.

Take it from me, it’s extremely uncomfortable to deal with rare diseases. Nobody around you understands you problems and feel that you are just over-reacting. Doctors fail to help you. To top it all, online forums make your worries worse.

But then I believe that even a common cold tortures you for at least three days even though everyone goes through it so it’s all okay. Yes, I take happiness in world’s problems!!

Anyway, so I had this nasty back ache that I want to document here for anyone who searches for fellow sufferers. The keywords here are:

Wake up after 4 hours of sleep at night with back ache

Back ache at night only

Midnight back ache

Can’t sleep at night because of back ache please help

You go to sleep in an absolute normal condition. You suffer from no back ache at all during the day. But when you lie down, in about 4 or 5 hours, you get up with a bad ache. You don’t understand where that pain is coming from 'cause it really moves all around your back. As soon as you get up, the pain magically goes away. You walk around for 15-20 minutes, and you can get 4 more hours of sleep.

Frankly speaking, it is not the pain that is bothersome. A good night’s sleep is very important and when you wake up in the middle of the night, it’s absolutely awful. I thought to myself – this is how new mothers feel like.

Anyway, so this started in April 2014. I went to my physiotherapist who had no idea what it was. I went to an orthopaedic who asked me to exercise my back. I did it all. I took regular physiotherapy sessions and exercised. I even took calcium and magnesium supplements.

But nothing helped. For two months, every night, I was up at 3 a.m. sitting on my sofa, trying to sleep in that position for about 30 minutes. It was getting frustrating really. The online forums scared me further. I read cases where people were suffering with this for years and could not find a cure. I read about doctors advising surgery. Also read that it could be arthritis or even cancer! 

I was about to give up when I thought of asking the help in my house to give me some back massage. Well, within a few days, I was sleeping for six hours!! And now, 9 months later, I am sleeping for full 8 hours. I still can’t sleep for 12 hours which I badly miss on weekends. But atleast I am getting a good night’s sleep.

I still get massage at regular intervals. The trick is to ask someone to massage the sides of your lower back in an upward direction. I realised my pain was more on the right side. So I even tilt on the right for better circulation. Start with the area where your waist ends and your hip starts and go in an upward direction. Also, get this massage every day till your sleep gets regular. It will not work if you massage only twice a week even in the beginning. Ask someone at home to help you with it if you can't get professional help. And yes, I used sesame oil because I've read it's good for muscles.

Believe me, no pain killers, no deep heating, no machines, no change of mattress, no scans, can help you in this. Only massage will. I stopped massage for a month in between and woke up only once with these symptoms. Hopefully I will be able to get it off completely.

I don’t know why this happened. I read somewhere that this was because of prolonged sitting that puts pressure on the lower back. I am really not sure of that. But it was definitely scary and super frustrating. I hope someone who is suffering with the same will read and be able to get rid of it. Ask me if you need further help.

All the best! And never take sleep for granted!

Wise Words on a Wednesday

* A blank page. An empty vessel. Colourless walls. A barren room. A new born. A new year. Everything full of limitless possibilities.

* There was a time when a picture said a thousand words. Now, in the age of social show-off, a picture hides a thousand words.

* You must read what people write on the walls of a celebrity or post as comments on their pictures. You will know what the world has come to.

* Even Whatsapp gets an update every few months. Can we all get updated to Humanity as soon as we can create an update on our religion?

* Pulling someone's leg is the worst form of humour. It just goes on to show you have no creativity left.

* Reading Twitter is like knowing the headlines but understanding nothing about the subject.

* In the battle between Freedom and Luxury, Freedom wins hands down. 

* Four words that you can say to change a person's life are  - You can do it.

* My husband once asked me - do you take shopping as a hobby or as a necessity? It was indeed a wise thought with no wise answer!

The Year That was 2014

Every time I enter into a new year I feel how quickly the last year passed. Last new year's eve appears as a blur and it feels it was such a long time ago. I don't know if it is a good thing or no, but since I love my life so much, I'd take everything positively!

If I had to describe 2014 in two words, I'd say Luck and Travel. I have not traveled so much ever in my life! And... me and the Boy have never won anything just based on luck. Yes, I do win writing contests, but I think luck has very little to do with them. So this year was totally unique in that sense.

We started off with winning two Entertainer booklets - one by chance and the second because of a complaint! These booklets have thousands of one-free-with-one coupons that can be used in several restaurants, salons, recreational places, etc, etc. This was followed by a random question on Facebook during the IPL final that made us win some Chinese portable speakers. Then came the biggest win that felt like a dream. I mean how many of us win an all-expense paid trip? Even though it was Bangladesh for a Cricket 20-20 World Cup final, we were super thrilled. That trip remains one of my most favorite trips ever.

During the FIFA World Cup we use to go to this Hookah place to watch the matches. They use to have a lucky draw during half time. Not even once did we not win!! They were small gifts like coke cans and sun-glasses and t-shirts, but we are really not complaining! We were just waiting for our lucky streak to get over when I participated in some silly Facebook draw (that too in arabic!) and won an iPad mini. Just writing it here gives me goosebumps!!

Wait, I'm not done yet! As the year was ending, the alcohol store here was giving away free beer mugs. We won two sets!! Twitter was kind too - a creative contest on Shaadi.com gave me A Samsung Fit gear watch. Really, I couldn't believe my luck!!

As for blogger - this year was better than ever before. I won an iPad, a hard disk, an Asus Smartphone, and vouchers worth around Rs. 10,000. It's so exciting to be chosen amongst hundreds for your writing skills. I'm so grateful for this.

On the travel front, we added three countries to our list - Bangladesh, Austria and Greece. We went to India three times - twice for parents and once for two weddings. It was thrilling to get a tan before the last tan faded off. My suitcase was out most of the year because I was too lazy to put it inside and then take it out again. I think that's the greatest joy one can have!

Love grew stronger, friendships grew better and life changed for good. Health did worsen, but that's age and I have decided not to complain. 2014, you were kind. I have lots of plans for 2015 and I am sure I'll be writing a happy post for this year as well.

On that note, Wish you all a Very Happy New Year. Lots of Luck and Travel to you tooo!!

P.S. Lots of small contests keep coming and sometimes we have to come up with a post within an hour. Most of the times I don't relate to the product. But then, those flipkart vouchers are fun to win. So, dear regular readers, do excuse me once in a while (read: 15-20 days). Actually the Boy has been laughing on these contests and so I thought I should clear this up!