To Baburao Ganpatrao Apte, There's something about you that left an indelible laughter in my mind ever since the first time I saw you on screen. Wait, do you understand you are no comedian or joker. You are an alcoholic, debt stricken bloke always swaying to and fro between Raju's cunning mind and Shyam's righteous attitude. You affirmed your seniority everywhere but you never made any sense to me or anyone out there. Tenants need to pay their rent. You get it right? On my off days, when I see your unadulterated smile it bewilders me - I mean how can this man live with such conviction and ease ..read more

Dear Kabira, I don't know what's perfect, the lyrics or the feelings you say which I fail to express. Sometimes you meet some songs that melt you from the places you are afraid to touch. Re Kabira Maan Jaa (रे कबीरा मान जा) Re Faqeera Maan Jaa (रे फ़कीरा मान जा) Aaja Tujhko Pukaare Teri Parchhaaiyan (आजा तुझको पुकारे तेरी परछाईयाँ) Your heart just can't stop beating for the lines that play with all the untouched memories you have. Loneliness engulfs you, it tears you part by part and this song just makes you feel everything you hide from the world. This song calls you to be back home and re ..read more

There comes a phase in our life, where neither can we hold feelings, nor can we let it go. We hopelessly love them without any expectations, without any condition, and even knowing they won't love you back, you still love them holding all the broken pieces of your heart. 'Tujhe Kitna Chahne Lage', is a song that directly holds the feeling we always want to express but we can't. And every time the songs plays randomly from our playlist, we all just feel the song immensely, holding the feelings out, which were graved deep inside our heart ..read more

Seven Months Ago: "Excuse me? There's no space under the umbrella!" "Hey! I'm sorry. Could you please walk me over to the bus shelter over there?" "You can keep it. I don't mind getting drenched." "No, no. This is your umbrella. I am prone to catching the flu real quick, and the rain was unexpected." "I insist you keep it," I jogged down the path. Present Day: Seven months ago, when I saw her for the first time who would've imagined me falling head over heels for this woman. So much so that the only way I could move on in life after her moving out of my life was to take the extreme millennia ..read more

I still remember fifth grade when I was too young to think about this but ended up thinking anyway. I thought the people around me were the people who would stay with me forever. I thought that this was my wolf pack. I really enjoyed the company of all the people who were a part of it. I was happy. Post summer holidays when school reopened, I was all excited to meet my friends again and tell them stories about my summer vacation and enthusiastically listen to their stories. Life, however, had other plans. A week after school reopened a teacher walks into my class and tells me that I had to shi ..read more

Sitting in the corner, anguished and despaired, I often blame and curse my life for turning me down. But when I listen to you, my whole perspective changes. That I'm crying for nothing and I'm responsible for my situation and not life. That life is not preplanned but my own creation. It is my story and I decide how it should be. You enlighten me in my bad times. You are the true meaning of life. You taught me to steal the moments to make use of the opportunity, to live the fullest. To gain something you have to lose something and when you do lose, you'll gain back too. That's what life is, t ..read more

"Room number 69?" I asked a half-asleep man at the reception. "Second floor," he mumbled. It was one of the shadiest lodges in town. I had my appointment at 12 AM. Satan's hour as my friend always calls it. 12:04 AM; I knocked on the door of room number 69. I gasped as the door clicked. I stepped inside and locked the door behind me. My friend had set me up with this person. I entered a dimly lit room. 6×4 cot on the left. A bathroom towards the far right. There was a window that faced the main road. TV was on low volume. 2:40 AM; I'm riding back home in an auto, writing my first draft of an ..read more

The rickshaw wala asked if he could onboard another passenger. Trampling on my hesitant approval, he came sat next to me. Cosied up on a cycle rickshaw as it peddled forward. I think there are no bigger signs for a feeling as ones when we are tentative – the fidgeting, the clamminess, the unpurposeful whistling, the show of looking the other way. – there’s just so much, given away so easily. And I am sure I did too. For I was excessively aware that I was sitting next to an eunuch but more so because of what he asked next. Darr lag rha hai? (Are you scared?) I nodded away – no – managing a ne ..read more

Tujhse Naraaz Nahi Zindagi is a landmine of life’s wisdom. Despite being tapped into countless number of times, it still has more to offer.  Its layered texture is without the overbearing appendages of pretence. No wonder it is wielded by the pen of Gulzar Saab, one of country’s most aware and prominent literary voices. In its own right this summons life to a center table. And then submits to it. Ensues an engaging conversation that I’ve never had the courage to move away from. For it has often felt a bit too personal when pain is made to sound like a due to be paid. In lieu of life’s gr ..read more

Walks up to the stage, the audience clap. Picks up the mic and starts my set, "Why do we fall?" A loud cheer from the audience. I smiled at them, "I would like to share my story with you. We'll get back to comedy after this, okay? So, a few years back I was sitting in my room, all time books in front of me. I had board exam the next day. I had a breakup the last night. I was shattered. I knew, I was going to fail the exam. I cursed myself for everything. I was at my all-time low." "Some of you might be judging me already, but trust me guys, I was so stupid back then. There was just one questi ..read more