Monday, November 27, 2017

Of wristwatches and personality

The wristwatch in the picture was gifted by my Dad when I passed grade 12, 25 years ago. The make is TITAN.

TITAN is a leading and well-known wristwatch brand. A brand jointly created by TATA and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO).

The watch without any problems has ticked time for me for all these years. I am proud to wear it day after day after day. It is a part of me. Not very stylish, but simple and elegant.

Since I could not express my pleasure in long paragraphs, I just wrote a poem dedicated to this masterpiece.

...wounded or unwound
good at manning hands
seconds to dates
you shameless timekeeper
I love you more and more
from the day you entered my skin...

Saturday, October 14, 2017

How would you react on seeing misspelled words?

Misspelled words are a big NO for most of us, but for writers and readers, it can be a terrible experience. 

Even a single letter here or there can miscommunicate or script out a meaningless sentence. 

By profession, I am a content writer with a private company, and I take extreme care with spellings while writing blogs, copy, or writing emails. And by passion, I am a poet, so, I can't afford to misspell a single word. 

I have come across many signboards or store names, which are blatantly misspelled. Like the one in the picture below. The picture is of an apartment building close to my home. 

Personally, I hate to see spelling mistakes. They make me angry. 

How can anyone take the liberty to spoil a language? Why can't they seek professional help or at least refer a dictionary? 

In this widespread virtual world, where 9 out 10 people are on their smartphone try to impress the world by inventing new words and slang words. But they forget they are spoiling their own image as well the language.

I would award "Hilarious Murderer of English" title to the one who wrote the apartment numbers in the picture.

Happy Writing!

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Why so pensive...?


As a child, I would love to hear the word "pensive" from others but wasn't knowing the exact meaning then. My father trained me and my elder brother to refer the dictionary every time you hear a new word or you may just go through it and increase your vocabulary.

I liked the idea and followed his advice. 

I used to read more of dictionary and less of other books. It was here my father corrected me. He said - "If you do not read, your stock of words is of no use. They will pile-up in your brain and rot. So, put them to good use. Think on a good topic; write on it and let the words flow freely."
Thinking and writing were new to my senses, but I worked on it. 

I failed on many occasions. 

But I forced my mind to think deeply. Thinking deeply made me realize the correct meaning of "pensive" - the word I always loved to hear. 

Years went by and I penned whatever thoughts came to my mind. Wrote them on paper. Destroyed them few days later because I wasn't able to relate thoughts poured on paper with thoughts running in the mind. 

But something appealed me. It was observing people in thoughtful mood while on a walk or visiting a garden. Those who appeared to be staring at something, but they actually weren't. 

They might be having millions of thoughts running in their mind. I tried to gauge or understand or assume what was running in their inside and expressed them in the form of poetry. 

I wrote hundreds of free form poems on various topics and leads. And I still do write. 

But can poetry ever answer this simple yet complex question - "Is it time for us elders to introspect ourselves, when little ones go deeply pensive?"

I am unable to find a convincing answer. Please do share your thoughts.

Sharing with this post - photo of my daughter - Chinmayee, captured during her Uncle's wedding.