The Silence within...

It has been long since I have written. A few have enquired as to why I haven't updated. I take that as a compliment! For I know that there are souls out there who not only read what I write but also wait for me to write more.

I have been wanting to write. There have been thoughts appearing like shooting stars on the canvas of my mind. But I still didn't write. I have been wondering as to what kept me from writing?

I can comfortably give the excuse of the 'corporate effect' percolating into me and robbing me off my time. But let me not give excuses.

The fact is that I had not found my tranquility. I wanted to settle in solitude, shut myself from the noises and chaos of the world and experience the power of silence. Silence is one of the most powerful form of prayer. I enclosed myself in my room and ensured that no one could reach me for sometime. I turned deaf to ringing bells, vibrating phones and conversations of my family. I let off all control on myself and my thoughts. I sat there without 'deciding and planning' to do something. I just sat there...in silence..."not thinking what I am thinking"... I was just there....somewhere..doing nothing ...thinking nothing....

Thoughts rushed to me as they usually do... even more so when I am silent..but I didn't want to control them...I didn't bother to entertain them...I just let them be...and to my surprise they just came and went...and what was left was pure silence...within and without... I was experiencing peace. It was like homecoming.

This happened last evening. I wake up today morning and something in me brings me here and my fingers dance on the keyboard as though they have an intelligence which I am not aware of. I realise that I am writing...again. And I am happy. Its a beautiful morning, earth and its beings are freshening up in the showers, birds are singing and I am sitting by the window and writing. Its perfect. Life has once again gifted me with one of its perfect moments.

And I also feel that one of the driving forces for me to write is all those people who like to read what I write. So, let me thank you all for supporting me.

"When you shut yourself to the noises, the voice within speaks"

A Memoir

It was 5.30 am...a Sunday morning...one of the most eventful and memorable mornings of my life...OUR life. Mumbai was asleep...but we were awake. Two of my friends (the ones in the photograph) and myself were speeding down the express highway towards town. Destination Churchgate. We were out that early morning to shoot for Bachpan...our music video. I had planned to shoot at some of the locations in South Mumbai...my alma mater. We shot at Marine Drive, The Oval , Afghan Church and..........The TAJ and GATEWAY OF INDIA! This photograph has been taken from the scene that I shot at TAJ...and we did shoot some of the finest scenes there.

3 months later the very spot that you see in this picture became a graveyard of many innocent souls.

I have spent five years of my life in Churchgate. I still remember how I used to feel every morning when I got off at Churhgate station...that walk from the station to my college...that sea breeze... it was a liberating feeling.

I have spent hours at the marine drive staring at the sea. I have introspected as though there was a close friend right beside me.I have written pages and pages of thoughts and reflections sitting there...I have experienced some of the most peaceful moments of my life there...PEACEFUL...

That word seems so ironical today especially while talking about the marine drive...

When the Sons of Satan were fulfilling their purpose of life at these places...I could do nothing but watch helplessly. A part of me was being killed again and again. They say that Mumbai will bounce back in a few days...but there are a few like me who share a special bonding with that place...and we know that it will never be the same again.