ODE !

We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World losers and world- forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

Arthur O’Shaughnessy (1844-81)

These are a few beautiful verses from a poem ‘Ode’ I read recently and have been reading it time and again. Look at the spirit in the poem, it’s marvelous!

Well…really so much has been happening in life of late that it was hard to find time to write about anything in particular. Sometimes, you feel like you cannot catch up with your own life. And this is one of those phases. It is going to pass soon as I will be home shortly and back home, there is not much that happens. I am afraid there is even lesser to think and write about. But it’s gonna be fun, being with family and friends after such a long time…!

Oops ! I just realized what a terrible mistake I made. This phrase ‘home’ can be misleading at times. I used it so casually without even giving it a second thought. Mumbai is so much a home to me. In fact, as days are passing by, I am getting all the more close to it. You feel so much at home when the shopkeepers around start smiling at you and do not hesitate to lend you things when you are broke. Oh, that has happened to me quite often. They all know me now and know what I need. And exactly how much. For instance, the breadwalla round the corner packs a pack of brown bread and half a dozen eggs on mere sight of me. Regardless of whether I have that much of money in my wallet. “You won’t run away without paying me”, is his usual answer.

It’s not just about the amicable vibes you can sense around. It’s also about asserting your own identity. You are what you are. No one here is interested in what you were or where you come from. You decide how you want to be known. You feel like you have grown up all of a sudden. I realized how much I resembled the women in my family when I was haggling with the vegetable vendor for a rupee or two. I would flinch when I saw my mother doing the same…but now it seems such a practical thing to do. After all, every penny counts when one is as broke as me in the latter half of the month.