Saturday, July 7

Isha , Me And The Hair Care Day !


Isha waited on the lounge , her long polished nails impatiently tapping on the seat . She checked her watch nervously . It was the umpteenth time she was doing so . 

" Isha , the editor is ready to see you "

Letting out a heave of relief for having been freed from the burden of apprehension , she entered the editor's room with an air of caution around her .

" Take your seat Isha . I suppose you are all set to have the matter for this week's article published . You mind passing it onto my desk by evening for proof reading ? "

' Well , here comes the worst part ' . Isha cleared her throat . She replied hesitantly  .

" I am sorry Tinaji . But i need more time . I have to let you know that i couldnt stumble upon anything alluring enough to write on this time around. But i promise i will definitely come up with something . You have my word on it . " 

"Come on Isha , the editor muttered . What is this drama all about in the eleventh hour ?! . I assume you know this is no child play ? You are given an opportunity to have your articles published in one of the leading fashion magazines in the country and i cant believe you are going so carefree about it . Agreed that you are a trainee , but shouldnt that make the whole process of trying your best to capture a charming theme to write on all the more demanding and exciting ? Atleast it was so to me a decade back ! "

Isha nodded , but she couldnt lift her eyes to meet the editor's . Seeing her sulk , Tina softened .

" See girl , if you are in dire need of some imagination, just look around . Go for a walk . Take a stroll in the beach . Talk to people . Nature and people always leave nuggets for writers . That is a well proven fact , trust me ! "

Isha looked up at her editor , when she added sternly , " And do keep in mind that the deadline is flexible only till 8 am tomorrow, after which i need the content on my desk , no matter what . Remember there are lots of talented people out there dying to reach where you are now  . "

Isha left the chamber with a heavy heart . ' Atleast she wasnt arrogant   . Calm down Isha , there is going to be some way , she said to herself .

Isha picked up a coffee from the machine and retreated to her cubicle , checking the missed calls on her phone . She dialled the last one on the list and took a sip of her coffee. 

" Hey isha, how did the rendezvous with Tinaji go ? " I enquired. . 

" Oh as usual , Miss subtle yet stringent . No wonder she is taking the magazine to heights "

" what are you going to do about it now ? "

" Let me see , i will come up with something , dont worry. What are you upto Tanya ? "

I chuckled before replying , " My mom is celebrating our ' Take care of your hair day ' here " .

" What on earth is that ? and how come i never heard you mention that before ? . And what do you do on this day huh ; sit admiring your tresses all day ? Isha enquired mockingly  "

" Ok , now dont go around making fun of me ok . This is something my mom came up with some two years back . You remember that summer vacation when we went on a trekking venture for a week and came back all worn out ? Well , it happened to take a toll on my hair too . Dandruff !! According to my mom dandruff tends to accumulate more  when dirt and dust piles up on your scalp . And rightly so , i started losing chunks of hair to my dismay . Since then my mom has been strict about me taking more care about my hair and thus saw the inception of this ' take care of your hair day ' . she winked .

Isha was intrigued now ." So what exactly is the routine today ? "

" Its simple , but then simple things lacklustre and interest these days right , with all the smoothening and curling hype . Down to the basics it is . My mom would apply luke warm oil to my scalp and massage it for 15 mts . After that she lets me catch up on a movie or a novel for around one hour . I am supposed to take a shower after that with a shampoo mild enough to clear off all the dirt , not ruining the hair roots while it does that . Oh and my mom has a special tip to go with it to have smooth silky hair as a bonus for all the trouble . And thats to use a Dove conditioner in the end to pep the whole thing up . And isha , would you believe if i say , my hair feels so heavenly after i dry it having gone through this routine ! Trust me it does ! But my mom wouldnt let me shampoo my hair more than one a week . She says its bad for the hair if you overdo it . Beauty products if used wisely can do wonders for you , she says . Guess what , and that was the end of my hair problems " I grinned at her mom who was transferring the oil onto the bowl in the meantime . 

A sudden bolt of happiness rushed through Isha . A wide grin flashed across her face . " Hey Tanya, go ahead with your Hair day ok. I will catch up with you later ". She hung the phone.

Isha snatched a piece of paper from her clipboard and started scribbling hastely . 

One week later : 

" So this what you do huh , lift ideas from your best friend and have it published in your name ".  I teased my best friend over the meal . 

A writer draws inspiration from the vagaries of life around us Tanya . And tell me i havent given you enough credits already , baby . Look at the title ! See how charming it is " An End to Tanya's hair problems ' . Can you ask for more ? . And you should have seen that hundres watt smile on the editior's face after having gone through my article . According to her no other magazine came up with an article which narrated a story based on beauty ever in the fashion magazine circle so far .Thanks to you ! And girl Leave all that , you have your gorgeous photograph on the country's leading fashion magazine for God's sake . Treat me for that . Who knows you arent going to end up as the heroine in the next Yash Raj Movie ! "

 Saying this , Isha struck an elegant princess pose infront of me and my mom . 

Giggling my heart out , i barged on her playfully with the pillow . 


                                 The Happy Ending   
                  ---------------------------------------------

P.S :  This post has been written for the  My beautiful hair story contest  organised by Dove and Indiblogger .
As a regular user of Dove products i strongly recommend all the readers to check out this link   Dove hair-aware app.




Friday, July 6

Mirror Hues




                                                photo courtsey - subrata gangopadhyay

Shreds of mirror lay shattered,
The tale of my love they do speak
Every other piece whines in misery,
For every other piece has its tale.
Bleed would your flesh at the touch of which ;
Such is its edge , so mystifyingly deep !
My hands on this shred tremble for your touch,
To hug him tight does my bosom crave .
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-soon to be part of an anthology-


                                

Monday, July 2

Old Talent And New Talent ?

                                    
                                This post finds its inception in a random comment by a friend . He put forth a statement which goes by " The movies were so much more enticing and deep a decade back ; so was music ". I agreed , not for the sake of avoiding a debate , but because I truly felt so . But the same passing comment by that person sent my mind whirring last day while I was travelling by train to my home town . Is it really so ? Can we simply go around bracketting the newer generation talents to be unworthy just because it doesnt please us ? The other side of the coin deserves to be analysed isnt ?   
  
                                     On further pondering I came to the conclusion that I find palatable music and movies in the recent years as well , a few of them exceptionally good and pleasing . So why do we tend to generalise the talent from the past to be golden hits while eye the fresh talents cynically most of the times ?

                
                               Last day while I was in the hospital OPD ,packed these days with fever cases ( blame the weather ), the cell phone of a bystander started beeping , rather screaming . The ringtone happened to be a song from the movie ' Aashique ' . Had it been any other occasion I wouldnt have had second thoughts on throwing a cold glance at that person . But interestingly , not this time around . For a second I wished the song would just keep playing !  

                               So what is this all about ? Nostalgia ? To an extent it can be reasoned so right ?  Something from the past , be it a movie , a song or an incident recalled instantly sends a refreshing shower down our hearts . Can that be the psychological basis for the tendency to generalise talents from the past to be better than the present , just because they make us feel good ? 

                                                  
                                                 Listening to some of the latest songs i am left with little option but to wonder whether they are even based on the ragas and rules using which they are supposed to have been created . ( pardon me , i am not trained in classical music . But an opinion about the same from a veteran would be most welcome ) . most of them sound catchy . But then, is it just me or does everybody feel that the tunes rarely manage to linger longer in our minds ? Maybe we should give the fresh talents the privilege of time to establish and prove their space . Accepting them for the time being seems the most plausible . 

                                    On the other hand , I have seen an equal number of youngsters who almost start throwing up when a golden song or movie is mentioned . They stare mockingly at you with an implicit message depicted in the same ' Dude , move on ! '. Accepted that taste for art varies from person to person , but then blatant respite for those which we find less insatiable is sheer hippocrisy . 

                                     Everyone is entitled to one's opinion . There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to  judging the quality of art . There is so much talent now as there was before , only if its more , with the growing technologies serving their share . Talent wherever you spot it deserves to be acknowledged .  Accept what pleases you , reject the others.



ALTRUISM - 55 FICTION

                 
                                       

                                         " The food is bland " 

                                  - He remarked unabashedly . A pang of familiar emotion swept through her . Not the blatant unacknowledgement of her effort , but the remorse for having let him down hurt her more. Determined to prepare a better dish for dinner , she started cleaning his left over . 

                            
   
        Infact , isnt pleasing the husband her ultimate duty ?  

                                                          
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