Power of thought

Gallery Infinity - www.galleryinfinity.com

2011-07-13T06:17:00.000-07:00

For all the money I spent on gifting friends "showpieces" and "wall hangings" I think I should have been thinking of giving them original artwork. Something no one else in this world would have.

Do visit our brand new online art gallery.

When God made dad he made something no man could explain.

2011-06-12T01:58:00.000-07:00

I knew her even before I saw her eyes and I felt her before I touched her skin. I prayed for her even before I knew what she wanted, I reached out to drink when she hiccupped inside of me, I sat straight giving her more space to tumble and move, I looked for tiny prints of her fingers as she stretched. Even as her heart beat inside of me nine months were too long to wait to see the most precious gift I was about to receive. I believe I did what I did because she was too close to feel detached too much a part of me to feel anything different.

As I think of this what amazes me is a journey of becoming a father . I watched, He waited patiently till he could feel her move. Only had to imagine how she would be by the stories I would tell. Didn't mind waking up midnights to feel mild movement claimed as kicks. Bought the tiniest thing that would keep her warm, read every line in a baby product, just to make sure there was nothing harmful. All in anticipation of that little helpless princess in his hands.
Finally the day comes with all its regular worries and also comes this unexplainable silver lining - The baby, Our baby
New parents spend sleepless nights, mamma has to but dad does it too. Dad sleeps almost at the edge of the bed to give maximum space to the tiniest being on the bed - consciously and subconsciously. As a mom I feel proud to see her dad wake up in the night feeling cold, first thing he does is pull the comforter on the baby.
He hears her scream and says "ah! that scream is because something she wants is out of her reach" nothing to worry!; and is just is that way. Calls between work to find out of she has eaten and slept well. Drives the car alone in the front seat for years just because baby has to be behind and baby won't sit alone. His heart melts to hear her say "dadda" and little extra honey in the milk or play a little longer at the park or she can simply ask for the moon after that. His eyes will look for even embroidery on my shirt while I carry her..wondering if it would leave an impression on her face. Noisy toys, sound of slurp .. messy houses is all okay - its after all a playground of his little one (was a spotless house once).

How many more things there are that I could write on forever!. All I know that God made a mom in his image because every baby deserves to be loved. It comes naturally to her. What amazes me is the love of a dad..a journey of pure love, a role that is a true calling.

A beautifully knitted life came out of me but an envelope of love with a promise to protect that came out of his – For life.

"This is for my daughter Jiah to read when she grows up to know how much she is loved from the day we knew she existed."

2010-01-23T23:46:00.000-08:00

Jiah Michelle

2010-01-19T00:03:00.000-08:00

Our Jiah - Day 2
Day 1

Peek-a-boo says tigger

2010-01-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

Dad, Aasif and Steve (my Brother)..getting the baby room ready :)

Final Outcome

I love it!

I see you..

2009-12-14T01:08:00.000-08:00

A choice

2009-11-13T21:35:00.000-08:00

I read it somewhere and thought it was great - I dont know who the author is but I know that we all get opportunities like this in our lives. A motivating story to remind us not to let it slip away untouched.

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection..
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the
plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
B y the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

Loves me, loves me not

2009-03-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

A young girl on her cherry red bicycle zips through the breeze following the fresh smell of flowers. She stops with much anticipation and a smile just wide enough not to let her emotions out. Good morning! Uncle can I have those purple Orchids please; just one strand please - she whispers as she counts the coins dug in-between her palms. She looks at a nicely wrapped orchid which is yet to reach her hand and says Oh Uncle! could I have the orange gerberas instead? They have more petals don’t they? The money and the flowers exchanges hands and the cycle tires continue to kiss the wet street.

She stops by a beautiful place when she finds no one else and brings this flower out of her bag where she had carefully placed it. She then starts her rhyme as if it was a charm...he loves me..he loves me not...with each couple of petals her voice growing feeble she continues…he loves me..he loves me not; soon before its done, one petal is left along with the last "he loves me not". She bursts into tears and hates the flower, she wonders if she should have taken the orchids instead. She hates the guy for not loving her the way she does. She gets to her cycle and unhurriedly pedals back home...she can’t feel the wind nor can she smell flowers on the way. She wants to go home to a place that’s known.

After I read this I want to shake that girl up and say “young lady move on, there is nothing called lost it all” or “what can a flower tell you, go talk to him he may not want to let go of a beautiful girl like you” and things like that. But I bet the feeling is not unknown.

That’s the simple story of a young girl not too different from mine, I feel like that sometimes too, I am tempted to use a measurement instrument which has no relation to what I am trying to quantify, it’s a faith that’s short-lived, a belief that something awful happening to me is because of celestial objects and I can’t do anything about it. I give up trying because I think I may have to return empty hearted (which I already probably am, if I didn’t try). I forget to live and enjoy little things which are day brighteners; I just don’t want to consider they exist. I want to remember that I could have still had a beautiful gerbera with me with my high spirits to try. The choice is just mine, to keep the flower and my faith.

Day after day!

2009-02-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

Met a stranger and then sparked a casual talk
The chat rapidly turned to captivating conversations packed with unadulterated laughters, astounded big eyes;
Heart brimmed with delight that you never knew existed dissolving all inhibitions
You love every moment with them and wish why you hadn’t known them before
You met this stranger and met a new world

Long after you bid them bye their words resound in your ear
With the same tone in which they would deliver it
Their favorite song is your favorite song now you have no reason why
It plays on your mind and you smile to yourself
You know right down there that you have made a friend
You know something is right unlike many times you have known and you don't want to let go
You met a stranger and made a friend

Why do we make connections in an instant that lasts a life time?
And why do some relations just exist and never really mean anything?
Why do we not meet the people who are right for us?
Why are they scattered all over the earth?
Why do we get scars which never heals?
Why do we have to bruise our hearts with wrong companions?
This world has millions who can read our minds before it reaches our lips
They know how to fill our days with infectious enthusiasm
They know what we want to hear when we are sad or angry
All I asked is a handful to share love;
Why do we get tangled with a world unknown?

Why do I admire something so strong and amazing in some people?
Why do some words mean so much?
Why some hands can comfort the biggest wounds?
With some, there is never a 'lost it all"
There are a million who are uncomplicated, unwinding just for us
I wonder if someone somewhere is thinking the same
what would it take to meet them all?
what would it take to meet them all?

[Sometimes I really wonder why we have not met all the people who we are meant to meet; we may be here just wanting to be someone best friends who may be spending all their days in solitude...why have we not met them yet] Photo of a group of friends in Kotagiri

Feeling beautiful every season and every moment

2009-02-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

There are countless moments in time when we silently ogle at advertisements, books, television and whine why the person in the mirror doesn’t look like the magazine and why the outfit you picked after looking at the mannequin looks so ridiculous on you. You come out fuming from a tailors shop because the garment does not look like the one on your mind (May be the last hit movie heroine wore). We’re upset the salon chopped our hair too short and we could have possibly killed him for it...el al. We over and over again bury our aura inside our skewed idea of beauty, we fail to understand and accept the amount of effort that has gone into the magnificent art of photography (it’s not the beauty of the subject always as we think). Adobe has made a product just like enchantment for photographs (has to be Photoshop)...you can have the perfect skin tone, just the right nose size, sun kissed lips, eyes big and bright like liquid poetry; infact you can look so faultless that it wont look like you!!..its too easy to look like a Kingfisher calendar model.

I wonder who taught us to judge others and ourselves by the colour of our skin, when did we learn to say that slim is beautiful and fat is not..where did we pick up the notion of what’s a stylized behavior…who are our heroes from pre-school times who looked like a glass carvings? let me ask you if there were any at all?

Next time this thought passes your mind, may be stop and think about the moment you were in love..if you are a man – ask yourself who is the woman who you would save if the world was drowning? Woman…spell out the name of the man who’s arms must encircle you till the end of life, you are guaranteed never to get the name of the most beautiful person from the Gladrags..its almost undoubtedly someone who called you beautiful instead of hot..its someone who managed to touch you heart, touch your life, broke down the walls you built around you, promised to love without ceasing or expecting, who blew life into dampened enthusiasm and dented optimism. Sometimes you felt stronger because you knew they were praying for you..they were there when your happiness got diluted and tried to heal every hurt and they were there when you felt like a king, they always knew by your voice when your heart is ailing...distance never mattered...they know when you are lost in thoughts and most certainly know when you are lying…they tell you everything when you’re making yourself believe that you are letting them see not all, but only things you want to reveal and in turn they respond that you are unique just like everyone else and a masterpiece made to be just what you are...

Are you walking down memory lane and peeping into little windows of past; biting smiles between the lips…breaking bridges of doubts about yourself....each windows gathering more comfort and each time you can hear them say “we think you are truly beautiful...beautiful inside”

Burning bright

2009-01-06T00:47:00.000-08:00

Missing you

2008-11-17T01:40:00.000-08:00

Click to read the poem

Power of dreams

2008-11-16T23:35:00.000-08:00

Click on the image to read the poem

Photo by Aasif Mohammad

Bandhan

2008-11-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

Kabhi ese shaks se bhi miliyega
Jo thode dil ki har bandishen
Aur khud hi dil se bandh jaye
aise safar me bhi ek din chaliyega

Nature at its best

2008-10-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to read the poem
This picture is taken by me from the window of an airplane "A view of my beautiful earth"

Tanhai

2008-10-25T03:51:00.000-07:00

Soona man wajah dhundey; naina mere tujhe dhundey
teri hi aawaz sunaye meri tanhaiyan; ungliyaan phiraun tho hawa me gum jaye teri parchayiyan

Never alone

2008-10-22T09:11:00.001-07:00

Click to read the poem

Photo by Paresh Redkar (http://bhavta.blogspot.com/)

Love needs no name

2008-10-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Often blood gives relationships a consistant name
some friends simply give it endless meaning

Jab umr ghatana..zindagi bitana ban jaye

2008-10-22T08:43:00.000-07:00

Na hosh de na waqt ki khabar de teri baatein
Tere khayalon se uljhi rahe meri saansen
Umr bitane ka naya matlab jo paya hai
Lamhon ko gin-na kya hota hai ab samajhme aaya hai
-*-

Just a prayer away

2008-09-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

When I feel burdened by my daily chores of work and stumble upon people who I call difficult,
When I can’t think beyond myself,
See beyond what’s obvious to brighten someone’s day,
Tame my tongue to heal a heart,
Do a deed to add a smile.
Lord, I fall at your feet to wash me
Cleanse me from within, deep within

I talk to you my father above and you called it prayer
Prayer is my soul’s untold language
Prayer is the tear of my burdened heart
Prayer is the joy of feeling rest and peace
Prayer is a fire that renews my spirit
Prayer is the simplest of all expressions, which can melt the heart of my God
I pray to give thanks for life, love, family, friends, bounty and blessings
I pray to bring endless comfort, to a heart that’s in trails and temptations
And bonded with a load of fear
I pray on my knees to heal a hundred lives, where my hands cannot touch

I call out to you God, and remember
It’s very hard to fall when I get on my knees
You empty my bitterness to fill yourself in me
Why should I feel dispirited?Why should my heart get cold?
If God cares so wonderfully for the flowers and the birds
Won’t He surely care for me?

I know in my heart you are never too far, you hear it all like a true friend
You created the whole universe and a tiny me to be a part of this plenty
And still I wonder why do I deserve to be loved and you still wait for me
Love demands a loving deed, you demand nothing; just ask me to have faith in you
That you will walk me through my every need
You are just a prayer away, no matter where I stay

Have I stopped to think?
Have I stopped to pray?
Have I even stopped for a single minute today?

Bus yun hi..

2008-09-23T22:04:00.000-07:00

Waqt hai khushnuma seher aane ki
bus aapke muskaane ki deri hai
hum tehre hain har ehsaas izhaar karne ko
khamosh nigahon ko lavz milne ki deri hai
-*-

Go Green..

2008-09-23T06:12:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to read

A Vase - Oil Painting ' 07

2008-09-19T01:21:00.002-07:00

This painting started as a gift to someone who was leaving in a week. It took various forms and shapes and even colours but had to meet its destiny in just two days.- Someone told me that the wall looks like Royale play :)

Pencil Sketch - 05

A pencil sketch of Aasif and me

Bird of paradise - ' 07

2008-09-19T01:21:00.001-07:00

This is the one closest to me, its my first ever oil painting..first time I felt the magic of a paint box and a paint brush on a canvas .. Just love this one

Pink flower - Oil painting ' 07

2008-09-19T01:21:00.000-07:00

This pink flower is a tiny painting done to practice strokes...This painting is going to get gifted to one of my friends on his wedding

Thats what love is made of..

2008-09-09T01:51:00.000-07:00

So complex and still so wanted
Friendship can’t be created and so can’t be love, be still and know that its there when
you are asking yourself when this friend became your best friend...
you start with a “nothing to do” mornings when she is not in the city
when she’s quiet you know that she may be just upset and sulking and not ignoring you...
you can offer opinion without feeling that you may lose her if you are not sweet enough...
all you want from her is purity of attention
she can look at you and say if something went wrong that day
just because she found that out, your day suddenly appears better
only you can manage her when she throws a tantrum...
find yourself repeating clothes what she likes the most
think of her when you hear a good joke, a sad story and happy song or may be everything
you get willingly tongue tied when you friends tease you with her
you painted a picture long before you met her, she’s a bit like that and its awesome and all faults are forgivable
you have bought a card for her birthday and sat down to pen a few nice things about her...
you either don’t know which ones are the ten best or you just wont stop writing...
you flip to re-read and it ends up looking like an amazing song with well written lyrics even though it was unintended
you watched a sweet movie and gave that sheepish smile at a thoughtful scene only because it may have happened between you two
you have learnt to dream more when you are awake
your jokes don’t get complete till it can make her laugh
you feel that life is not fair but its good, you cant remember who you hated in the last few months other than people who made her cry
you don’t want to even move to take a breath or move an ailing arm because she has fallen asleep in your shoulder
you stay awake just to watch her sleep
suddenly perfumed soaps, flowery greetings and chocolates mean something and you find yourself saving on a few slabs for her every time
no other girl is good enough only because its not her
you just hate her salons just because he slices her hair away
you get hurt more when you fight and your words meet unnatural death when she cries
you have learnt to pray and your faith says that nothing can harm her
you think that her being late again with her dressing up was only worth it!
you hate all the kitchen jars which she can reach & to watch her cook for you is an experience by itself
closed your eyes and it feels like everyday is a small fairytale
If you wish she turns one more time to wave a goodbye - for today or
wish she runs back to you for a day that can never end…
I think its time for you to give yourself a hug and say that you have felt the most precious emotion
Its time to confess you may have been touched by unlike anything ..
..Love

[Recently as I spoke to one of my close friend Anand about relationships I found myself saying many things which are a part of this write up…that moment was born this inspiration to complete this, thanks Anand and a BIG thanks to Aasif my husband for showing me what this pure love is all about, wold not have known anything like this existed if I didn't know you]

Power of dreams

2008-07-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

When stars begin to twinkle & I think through the day
Think on the things that I did not care to do or say
I could’ve said thanks or love you one more time
I think to myself and fall asleep again

I Lift my arms and close my eyes
Now believe that I can fly
Hum my flight like an unwritten song
The words of which I knew all along

In dreams I can rise and shine
Do less, slow down and practice calm
Live with passion, one thousand and once
Kiss that little frog and have my prince

Tell me all the things that you want to be
I can swirl my hands in magic and make you see
In dreams I watch a world with perfect sight
Of not what it is, but what itought to be

Wrapped in an instant I feel sunsets before the night
Sand between my toes, grass with dew fresh and light
Warmth of the bed, drops of the rain
Makes me want to sleep more and dream again

Have you dreamt of never losing youth?
Have you dreamt of never having to cry?
Have you had the courage to fall in love?
To lose your life to someone
Without even having to try?

There is eternal power in dreams
And I live more than what this life can offer me
More years, more feelings, more living
More than anything that could be

My two liners...

2008-07-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

I am angry with my dreams and asked it to go away
Finally my reality is better
-**-
I'll be your candle and offer you light,
even if you have moved farther and that crossroad is now out of sight
-**-
It’s nice to be standing tall and alone especially when I know,
that if I fall back there is someone to hold
-**-
If you thought the mountain is smoking on flames, I’d say look again, it may be the heavy laden clouds whispering "I traveled miles to keep you green"
-**-
Let the rain come down and merge with our tears
Let faith fill our void and cloud our fears
-**-
lemme do something honey sweet today and glue it to your memory
coz in just two days it will be a part of your unchangable history

-**-

But how much can I shield you?

2008-06-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Pluck not from within my arms I plead
I beg to caress you a little longer
It’s hard to see you tread and fall
I’ll hold you a little stronger
Deep in my heart I know, I must
Let you out for you to learn
The lessons life teaches you
Is immensely hard to earn
But be assured, for your sake I won’t cry
wont stop you walking some more

As I stand wide-eyed and watch you
walking towards rawness of this world
My heart often whispers aloud
Shh..calmdown n’d trust your child
Let go.. and be there for him some more
Tell your shoulder to be ready to hug
If life’s teaching may get too sore

I'll be your candle and offer you light,
even if you have moved farther
and that crossroad is now out of sight
Count on me for I’ll still be where
The last time you turned to wave at night

Burning bright in whirling winds
In hope that you can see
slicing thick darkness
Till I cease to be

[I am very sure I have written the words which my mother might be thinking about me and my brother each day - this one is for you mommy]

Thank You

2008-06-25T06:33:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to view full poem

When I am around

2008-06-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

Had I clod of clay in my hands
I would make for you many reasons to smile
Right under your angel guarded pillow
I’d weave many bundles of dreams to hide

My love surrounds like flutes in mute
Tis loud, yet heard not
Felt like the warmth that hugs you slowly and closely
Sense it tight when you should need it more
Fear not, still I am around

Should you be weak and still combating?
Cumbered under pointed rays of despair
Come rest under the shade of my woven dreams
And let me take away your sorrow's share

I’ll borrow em’ all can I?
And hide you into my mighty wings
Give you the choicest of happiness
Chosen from my selfishness within

If I could blow out my breath to protect you
Just so much so that I can say
Won’t let the sun set on you
Not when I am watching; Not when I am there

The shadow will embrace the world in grey
But Fear not, for I am around
But the sun will not set on you...
Not when I am watching; Not when I am there

[Its for you, who I call my own]