TILL DEATH DO US PART

"The reason why Death clings so closely to Life isn't biological necessity,it's envy.Life is so beautiful,Death has fallen in love with it.It is a jealous,possessive kind of love,that grabs at what it can......"

-"The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel

I had read these lines for the first time almost three years ago,but the truth and the beauty has just about sunk in now.Without turning this blog into an intensely personal memoir,I will say only this:I have indeed been touched by death recently and it forced me to think upon some cliched but ever-relevant questions about our lives.

For something so fleeting and impermanent as human life,we really ought to give it its due.How many times have we failed to bring the maximum out of life,just because of some remote corner of our mind which said it was not prudent,or appropriate, that somehow we would be the losers if only we could really,really LIVE.......just for one day? The day we stop measuring our lives in terms of cold numbers is the day we are truly free,the day we live and not merely exist.

I don't know if I'm on the path to lasting happiness living the life I live right now.All I know is that I don't want to wake up one day as an old man,at Death's doorstep,and wonder....."Oh God!What have I done with my life?"

I don't think anyone of us wants that...I don't think anyone of us deserves that.

Love

AMJ

THE SAVIOUR

You came to life from the throes of a dream,

And wiped the tears off my face.

Like the healing touch of a holy stream,

You washed away the devil's trace.

Your smile lit up my dreary days,

And rescued me from the depths of hell.

Gone forever were the wayward ways,

But for you.....I wouldn't live to tell.

Nothing can replace the touch of your hand,

Like the gentle breeze running through my hair.

Or the way you used to make me laugh,

When the chips were down,when life wasn't fair.

Oh! To feel that sweet caress again....

I would readily cross the seven seas.

Spare me the suffering and the pain,

My destiny has brought me to my knees.

And what am I without you now?

Less alive than the faintest ghost.

I have loved and lost,and I don't know how

To bring back that which I loved the most.

I continue to post poems......in many ways this blog is turning into my stress-buster......a sort of a purgatory.

Lots of love......

AMJ

LONELINESS/A SOLITARY RANT

The sound of silence is deafening,

No matter how hard you cup your ears.

When painted demons sing a song

Of your darkest days,your deepest fears.

When you sit for hours at end,

Just staring at your shoes.

Hell,you need someone to listen

Even when you sing away the blues.

When Dylan,too,gets hoarse

After a while,fading in the darkness.

Like the rest of them,of course,

Lingering in their own solitude.

"How does it feel...?",he asks me

Two lonely souls,Bob and I.

Existence is the name of the game

And Life is the prize.....

-AMJ

This short verse is the first of its kind on this blog.I am indebted to the mesmerizing music of Bob Dylan,not just for this poem,but also for being a constant source of support and strength.......he has something for every mood!Cheers!
AMJ

Norah Jones or Marilyn Manson?

There's something very fishy going on inside my head....that is if you believe one of my roommates.What actually happened was that he came to the room one evening to find me in bliss before his computer,the divine voice of Norah Jones flowing softly across the room(my eyes were actually closed in rapture).At this point of time I should mention a couple of points for the benefit of the reader-
1.My roommate is a lifelong metal maniac-He has Iron Maiden for breakfast,Marilyn Manson for lunch,and Black Sabbath for dinner. Pegged on by his sheer enthusiasm,I had actually began to enjoy these hitherto uncharted waters(for me).Only I hadn't counted on the fact that my roommate saw me as a fresh recruit in the metal brotherhood.
2. He thinks soul,gospel,country, jazz,fusion or heaven forbid,soft rock is meant for girls and sissies(Rap and Hip-Hop are the only honourable alternative to metal).And to play any one of the aforementioned genres of music on his computer deserves nothing short of capital punishment.
Anyway,after I received the inevitable verbal lashing,and the sanctity of his machine was restored("Hallowed Be Thy Name" an old Maiden song blaring at full volume,for the benefit of the entire wing),I set about thinking,are music genres really so closely related to personality traits?This was also because not more than a couple of days ago,after a friend asked me to listen to a song she really liked,I commented that it wasn't quite the stuff I expected her to listen.My friend said the same thing which I later told my roommate-we are not what we listen,and it is quite impossible to guess what someone listens to,if you don't actually know it for a fact.
Moreover,there is no conflict between genres,as my roommate would have me believe.I have always had a very heterogeneous and eclectic taste in music.Depending on my mood,I listen to anything from Pink Floyd,Rolling Stones,The Beatles,The Doors,Jimi Hendrix,Bob Dylan,Elvis,Michael Jackson to more recent acts like U2,Coldplay,Norah Jones,Joss Stone,James Blunt,Keane,Bryan Adams,Green day,Linkin Park,Yanni,Enigma and God knows how many,many more...........Also,a six-year association with Indian classical music has ensured that I have a soft spot for classical instrumental music.
And what true movie buff is not a fan of the golden oldies Kishore,Asha,Rafi and all the rest? A.R.Rahman,recreating that same magic today,is also an all-time favourite of mine.
So what does that make me? Am I an angelic,smiling Rafi-like figure, a booze-guzzling,cocaine snifffing Ozzy Osbourne? Do I think I am the Antichrist(like Marilyn Manson did) or do I donate millions of dollars for Africa's poor(like Bono of U2 did)?The answers are never simple.......all I can say is
Let the music play!