RAIN

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. ~Langston Hughes

Rainy days...How I have a love-hate relationship with them! On one hand, I love the greyness of the sky,the rustling of the leaves,the earthy smell and the first few drops of rain falling on my unsuspecting forehead. The sound of thunder,oddly comforting.The occasional visual treat of lightning splitting the sky. And then the heavy downpour,the sound of raindrops falling on concrete.

On the other hand,I do wish away the gloom that comes with rainy days. Ofcourse, I do appreciate the beauty of rainy days(And how it gives the capital a thorough washing-Lutyen's becomes a sight for sore eyes! ) But I can't help the emotions that plague me on such days. For rainy days make me think a little too much, about all sorts of things-rational,nonsensical,illogical,nostalgic and sometimes thoughts that edge on masochism! Rainy days also bring out the romantic in me, thus effectively reinforcing the feeling of loneliness which,for some reason,I do feel at times. Rainy days make me nostalgic as well as I remember making paper boats with my colony 'gang' and those childish peals of laughter can be heard in the deep recesses of my mind.

Right now,the weather outside can only be described as amazing. How I'd love to run free! Free in the rain,inhaling my favourite 'mitti vaali' smell. Or even sit on my terrace with a hot cuppa chai listening to my special 'rainy day' songs on my ipod. Or better still, listening to the sound of the rain-soothing and relaxing.

All in all,I'm very confused as far as my relationship with Rainy days is concerned. But one thing is for sure, I am definitely not one for umberellas!

- NIKITA SAILESH

Dreams

The little dreamer who always dreamt,

Of a land far away where her days were spent,

Where she was the sole ruler of her own destiny,

Where luck played the joker and she played the queen.

Far far away and hidden from the world,

There danced the spirits and there played the girl,

It was where she could be anyone she wanted to be,

Where she wasn’t afraid to be herself, where she could believe.

She always wanted to sing her song,

And in her little wonderland everyone played along,

They told her she could reach for the stars if she tried,

But the little girl was scared and her dreams just died.

The little girl soon began to lose her voice,

What a shame, what a shame! For she always had a choice,

She could merge the two worlds and choose to be,

For our world wasn’t so cruel after all, she could see.

- NIKITA SAILESH

Some of this and some of that.

Few people can make ordinary things look otherwise. Here are some photos taken by our very own Nikita Sailesh.

A few photographs that I took recently.

I simply loved the colors of the first snap. I'm not big on chunky jewelry as such but together all of them sort of amalgamated to give a burst of color!

The second shot I took when I was feeling slightly melancholy. I'm partial to black-and-white formats, plus I think it brings out the shadows and the interplay of light and shadows well.

The third was just a random experiment. The main idea behind the snap was the importance of time in our lives, the globe-like shape with a tiny clock in the middle led me to think about how in our world time is such a crucial player. Indeed, timing is everything.

The last shot was taken at Khan market, New Delhi. I just wanted to capture the hustle and bustle of a typical weekday in Khan and I hope I have captured the energy of the place.

Someone told me recently that I should start practicing more with my camera. Touche! I definitely will. :)

- NIKITA SAILESH

That's what he said!

I think we’re all familiar with Newton’s laws of motion, his claim to fame. According to Newton’s first law of motion “An object remains in a state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change that state by an applied force”. In other words, all objects resist a change in their state of motion.

In a qualitative way, the tendency of undisturbed objects to stay at rest or to keep moving with the same velocity is called INERTIA.

Some of you might be wondering why I’m talking physics. Being a student with a science background, it may seem like a natural thing but to be honest, Physics was never my cup of tea( or coffee). No, I hated physics. But there is definitely something beautiful about how we can apply almost every theory or law, be it einstein’s theory of relativity or Galileo’s contributions- everything can be applied to our daily lives.

One such law that interests me particularly is Newton’s law of inertia. How many times have we faced a block in our lives?

Be it a writer’s block (something I am most familiar with though I don’t make any false claims about being a writer), or a mid-life crisis, and in some cases a quarter life crisis. We’re managing crises day by day, and some of us, nay, most of us feel like we’re stuck in something we can’t maneuver out of in a jiffy. Most of the times, we’re blocked and a state of inertia sets in wherein we give up and stay put- conveniently comfortable with the state of affairs.

Now as Newton said, A force at this time becomes necessary to compel the object (in this case, us) to get moving. How to break the status quo? Force! And where does this force get generated? Here’s the interesting part- from within. This may be a blasphemy for all the physics lovers out there, because it contradicts a lot of laws and theories which will never recognize how a body can generate force on its own, but this is something I do believe in. In my own opinion, the best way to get out of an inertia-like state is to motivate yourself and find that drive. You have to question yourself- what drives you? It could be as simple as a granola bar, or a long motivational chat with a friend, even an unlikely inspiration or a desire to attain a long term goal. Anything that gets us moving, keeps us going and gives us a sense of purpose or direction.

For me, what works always is a little bit of introspection.

A look within, to figure out what it is that I want- be it short term or long term. Ultimately this becomes a driving force and I find myself moving after a long and numbingly comfortable hiatus.

Before signing off, I’d like to say that make whatever works work for you, but get moving. Life is too short to be wasted.

May the force be with you!


- NIKITA SAILESH