The artist

Everybody in the gathering called himself an art lover,
But the truth behind everyone's love he could uncover,
The stark reality, his art would just cover a plain wall,
And at the end of the day, the buyer would stand tall.

Some people said they loved his usage of colors,
Some branded his brushstrokes extremely bold,
Some of them casually sipped wine, posing as donors,
Looking at the paintings that would soon be sold.

Tired of the lies, he wanted to find an excuse,
To being the best he could be, being a recluse,
But someone in the crowd raised a toast,
The artist was his friend he would boast.

Forced to make a speech, he stood in the center,
Social interaction was never his cup of tea,
He was done soon, it sounded like a little banter,
And slowly he made his attempt to flee.

And soon everyone fought,screaming out a number,
He wished every moment that he be in a slumber,
Before the numbers and people could leave him confused,
He looked around the chaos to find his next muse...

The Performer

There she stood, draped in silk,

Looked like she had bathed in milk,

She soon became the cynosure,

As silence descended over the enclosure.

She was brought to the stage by her teacher,

Whose finger she held tightly in her tiny hands,

Reaching for the mic which was standing taller than her,

She stretched her tiny frame and held on to the stand.

She closed her eyes, and it all came back,

How the prize offered had caught her eye,

How her house was fully lit the previous night,

How she was told not to give up the fight.

She started singing like she knew no fear,

Smiling to people watching from far and near,

Scaling notes was her sweet feeble voice,

Chirping like a bird, she made more noise.

She was telling a story and the crowd listened,

Her parents feeling proud, feeling unburdened,

And when it was finaly over, she stood there,

Oblivious to the applause, she looked for a hand... To take her away

A Devil's Workshop

I see that photo from our first ever and best ever trip. A lot of feelings are flowing in my mind and I wanna throw it out today. I feel nostalgia, I feel pain, I feel anguish. My eyes are filled with tears but I will not cry. It is not manly to cry.

NOSTALGIA:

Yeah that was us back then, still growing up(We still are). Those were the days when the only thing we were worried about was the blisters on our feet after playing bare foot football under the sun. Those were the days when we waited for the college bell to ring so that we could run to Tapas's place and play. Those were the days when all we worried about is the cricket and football matches we played.

We made a list of ten most memorable moments remember! I managed to save seven of them on my mobile. We never thought of completing it :D

The Journey by train to Shimoga: It was a very simple plan for a trip but executed perfectly. We stayed the whole night from 1145 PM to 6 AM inside the train. We kept chatting, speaking like there would be no tomorrow. Nothing could stop us from talking that night. We made non stop jokes about a Brett Lee and a 'Solid' Neil McKenzie. I still remember the clouds against the moon representing the food chain gone wrong. Mouse chases cat, cat chases dog. Awesome!!

Watched this video ten times last week and kept laughing. Ujju and Gujju had to share a bicycle at Sirsi. Ujju was the rider and Gujju was the pillion rider who sad in the front. It looked like Ganesh and Pooja Gandhi together. And just as Sanki was capturing these golden moments, something happened. Ujju lost balance and they fell down in classic slow motion. Sanki could not keep himself steady and started laughing putting the camera out of focus.

Aslam's place. We reached there after spending some amazing time at Sanki's place. We were not prepared for the reception we eventually got. Everybody in Aslam's street came out of their houses. Gujju, amazed by the attention innocently asks us 'Maga, should we wave back at them?'

Aslam's place. Everybody was keen to see the girl in the opposite house. We tried to catch a glimpse of the girl, but thanks to sanki's ill timed whistle ringtone we had to hide. The girl went inside and in a moment the light went off.

This was something I never witnessed but the description of the event by Tapas himself was enough to make it memorable. Gujju tried to exhibit his vocal skills by singing 'Tu dhoop hai'. Still remember how we laughed at that.

Gujju is an amazing artist. He is a master of languages. He successfully translated a famous Kannada song which resulted in the line 'In me chest sweet Kolahala is comes'.

Gujju and Aslam also started the trend of 'Memento'. The lesser said about it the better. But it was awesome fun.

How can I forget the day when My club Barcelona Beat Man U and we witnessed this at Ujju's place. I was the only Barcelona fan that day among 9 people and yes as soon as the lights went off, I became the football.

At that time, being together meant we could do anything. That was the kind of confidence you guys gave me. You taught me what friendship is and I became the proudest guy on the earth.

PAIN

Now, I am left staring at the photograph and wondering "What the fuck went wrong?"(The language will get worse from her, so if you are a girl I recommend u to go back to facebook. Thank you for reading) Why has things changed so much. We stopped playing football and started spending more time at our college parking lot. We started watching really dumb movies in theaters. Our cameras never had any more group photos of ours. The seven of us never posed again for a photo together. We were never a group, we were seven good friends who had great understanding and now we had become nothings. We started worrying about what situations it would create if we stood together for a photograph. Why the fuck did that happen?

We went together to the most stupid of fests with none of us participating but why on the earth couldn't u come to support me when I did and Shaw performed in some of them?? (Yeah I am complaining about it, but I m doing it to you guys, you're my best friends)

Why the fuck have we stopped spending time together? What the fuck went wrong there? We could still have played football near Tapas' place. Why didn't we?

I'm not demanding answers here, these are just a few questions I kept asking myself.

ANGUISH:

Sanki's sister's marriage was the most awaited event for us since we became close friends. We dreamt of doing all the work there. It eventually happened, my eyes filled with tears when it happened. We also managed to serve food and become a part of the celebration in our style. Other than that and the time me, kat and ujju got lost in the woods, it turned out to be the worst trip ever to his place.

EPILOGUE:

I seriously do not know why I wrote this, but I know why I wrote this here. Nobody can come here and press a 'like' button or comment on it and have someone else 'like' the comment. This is MY space and I wanted to make sure I can put my thoughts without any inhibitions.

I sincerely hope that things get better but also realize that all good things come to an end. But moving on is a very hard thing. Maybe now, I can move on. I've done this personally too, but here it is. Aslam, Kat, Ujju, Sanki, Shaw and Gujju, I'm really sorry if something from my side triggered this and I apologize sincerely. Will always remember you when I see any word that relates to friendship. Love you guys. Good luck!

Another year of Solitude

Here I am, an unlikely poet,

Trying to paint a picture through my words,

An empty canvas to throw colors at,

I try to fill it with trees and birds.

Sitting with an out of tune guitar,

Here I am, an unlikely singer,

Hoping that the newly found harmony,

Lasts a little while longer.

Absorbing the silence of the sky,

and the darkness of the clouds passing by,

Embracing the loneliness with gratitude,

I celebrate another year of solitude.

KID WITHOUT CANDY

"Fuck!", I kept on saying the word every time my heart beat and it was beating like crazy right now. The bell had just rung and me and my buddy pals were silently making our way out. The professor was making his way into the class. He saw me. I thought that the old man would not remember me and hence I kept walking. I would not have given a fuck but he called me by my name! The Doppler Effect indicated that the apparent frequency was high and hence he was very near to me. I had to go back. Here I am, stuck in the Physics class!

I hate physics! The old man is talking about gravitation. What goes up comes down. It is fairly simple but why the equations and acceleration? Couldn't Newton just eat the damned apple that fell on his head. It is so hot inside the class. I look at the window and see my friends. Those fuckers are having fun. I was so close to being with them, thanks to him I am stuck here. Wonder how he knows my name.

I hate those first benchers. Fucking geeks. They always listen to the lectures and raise fucking doubts about those stuff. I always have a single doubt and that does not have anything to do with the lecture. Wait! Who is that chick in red? Thank god she is not a first bencher. She's hot man! Do I have a chance with her?

Fuck man! Liverpool lost again! God save the club. I really do not know what kind of tactics the retard of a manager is employing man! Look at other clubs, even Man city is doing great. Oh come on! What the fuck is wrong with my watch! Feels like the hands inside it need a push. Still half an hour left.

Hey old man, don't you dare look at me. You screwed my plans today and I cannot tolerate anything more. I feel like tying you up on a chair and continuously talk about my dreams.

Hey! Concentrate. He is asking me something. I did not get it.

"I beg your pardon sir"

"What is the unit of Gravitational acceleration?"

I am not going to utter a word. You can do whatever the fuck you want. You screwed my plans today and now you are screwing my dreams up. You are going to die the most violent death in the history of mankind.

Isn’t it a universal rule that every hot chick has a guy by her side all the time! It always happens to me.

Hey! Concentrate! He is scolding me.

Those geeks must be enjoying this. I am having the urge to use my middle finger and show them what my opinion about them is. God! This guy is going on and on. My dreams are crumbling and I am concentrating on him.

"Get out of my class!"

So. What the fuck was I talking about?

The Rookie

He threw up in the trash can. The stink in the dark bathroom did not help him either. Years of training had not helped him. Down on his knees, facing the can, he threw up again. He looked to his right. His revolver was on the floor. He picked it up. It was still warm. He had been holding it tight for the last two minutes. Right from the time it was in his pocket close to his crotch,

till now. He saw his watch. "So much in two minutes!", he thought to himself...

It was all over in thirty seconds. There was a loud gunshot and blood sprayed all over the walls of the dimly lit room. He had just managed to shoot the 'bastard' in the head. He had starred in

the climax of the encounter.

The situation was surreal. Every second seemed to fill his mind with many thoughts and many images. The demons in his mind took the shape of the 'bastard' whose picture he saw during the

mission briefing. The demons taunted him and so did the bastard. He could not take it. He tried very hard to keep his eyes open, and stop biting his own teeth but could not. Finally, he pulled the trigger.

He could hear his own heart beat. It was racing as he climbed the stairs. The team consisted of four members and there was a backup team too. He was the rookie, freshly drafted into the team. He could remember every word his team mates had spoken at every step he took.

'The bastard is sleeping in the fourth floor of an old building in sixth street', one of them walked into the office.

'Hope the intelligence hasn't fucked it up this time', the other one had asked.

'The intelligence does not know about this. It is my man who gave it to me.'

'Are we doing it?', the rookie had asked.

'This motherfucker is responsible for half of the trafficking that takes place. Sells children like he sells fucking peanuts. Shot one of our men point blank and skinned another undercover agent. You ask me if we're doing it?'

The rookie had no answers.

The next thing he could remember was the conversation he had with another senior member.

'It will be bad at the first time. You'll hear screams, see a lot of blood and also some brain if you shoot him in the head point blank'

'Shoot him in the head', the other senior added.

'You'll even throw up. But don't worry even I did it in my first encounter', he was told.

They had reached the fourth floor now, a hundred and fourty one beats and ninety seconds later.

'You do it', one of the seniors told him.

He looked at his bulletproof vest. Tightening his grip on his revolver, he broke the door open.

Autograph

TRRRRING!!! My mobile rang on a friday noon ( Actually I have the default Nokia tone so it wasnt trrring exactly). It was turning out to be another boring day of the most boring vacations in my engineering life so far. I was banking on the evening's football session to provide some relief. Back to the phone, it was US, my brother( I have deleted the 'in law' part)

Me: Hi!!

US: Hey Handsome!

Me: Temme.

US: I ve got passes to raghu dixit's concert today eve at JP Nagar.

Me: I'll be there.

US: Cool!

Me: Cool! C u there.

I had mixed emotions. No football, but I was going to Raghu's concert. Wasn't expecting any action at Raghu's concert compared to football. (I atleast run around while playing football if not play!) So I made it to the concert. US had VVIP passes so me and me friends Shaggy, Kat, Shaw and my bro Aditya made it inside. We sat in the penultimate row of chairs like obedient last benchers. One of the leading music directors in the kannada industry, Mr. Gurukiran was giving the mic, the sound system and us a real hard time. We were there for Raghu Dixit only. This was obviously testing our tolerance levels. There were times when we felt Raghu won't make it and I would get my butt kicked for calling my friends.

We were hungry and we had to eat. But with a crowd like that there was confusion whether we could leave the premises and come back. So, to clarify, me and Kat went towards the gate... We passed the stage, and at the backstage I saw a couple of people in dhothis. One of them holding the base guitar (Gaurav Vaz, I came to know his name after I came back home). There was a chance of us meeting Raghu. I looked at Kat. Kat surprisingly took out a small notebook. I was as amazed as a little child watching a majic show for the first time. He asked for a pen. I ran back to US and took a pen. I came back. And there he was, Raghu Dixit, washing his face. There was

nobody around to stop us. Me and Kat planned an ambush. We went around backstage walking among debris at the place and finally I was face to face with the man himself...

My pulse was racing. I was actually rehearsing in the noon the whole situation in front of the mirror. Now that i was in front of him I was short of words. I started.

"Sir, I am a huge fan!!" like everyone else does.

He acknowledged it with a smile. A man cannot do anything more in such situations especially when he is washing his face.

Kat: "Autograph please"

Raghu:"Thadkolappa, mukha tholkotheeni" ( He has a great sense of humour)

Me: "I am a guitarist and I never thought I would be singing a kannada song in my life till I heard munjaane manjalli. Now, I m famous for singing that among my friends. It is a beautiful song".

Again no response. He finished washing his face

Me: "Sir which scale do u play that in?"

Raghu: "I think A. I actually used a capo for that song"

Me: "Beautiful song sir, amazing"

He went inside the changing room. For a second i thought he wont come back. If it was a dream, he wouldn have. Instead it would be mom, screaming at me, waking me up saying i don keep my room clean.

He did come back, the sound of anklets signalling it. He took the pen and the small notebook that Kat had and started signing.

I gathered courage and told him

"Sir, I will share the stage with you someday. I will make the stage mine and perform with you. I will be there with you". I seriously dunno if any of that makes sense. But I made my point. I ll make some music and will perform

on the big stage someday.

Raghu: "Make sure you do it before I grow old"

Me: "Sure sir"

Then we posed for the photograph.

Raghu (if at all you're reading this), you have no idea what you've inspired. And it was an awesome show. We were right in front of you. Never had the chance to watch you perform from such close distance before.

To the band:(again, if at all you're reading this): I din know any of your names, so it wouldnt have been a gr8 idea to blindly take autographs. I did not mean any disrespect Gaurav, Wilfred, Vijay, Jathin. You guys rocked! Will queue up only for your autographs next time.

Kat: Hadn't it been for you, I wouldn have had the guts to even go backstage! Love you man! And thanx for the photo. you still gotta give that autograph :P

Umashankar (US): You're a real gem who truly appreciates me for what I am. Thank you so much for the passes and everything else.

Shaggy, Shaw, Adi: Thanx for the awesome company!