Of Life and Love

Diamond is priceless. It is loved and liked, adored, worshiped and prized. Diamonds are the object of desire for so many, the sparkle in the beauty of ladies, the glamour in the abodes of emperors. Diamonds adorn and elevate whatever they touch. And they therefore command a price, one that so many are eager to accept. But this diamond comes from a quarry, a mine where stones and coal are found. Ravaged and mutilated, rubbing their glorious and latent worth with the grime of coal and the worm infested earth, they lie there, waiting to be recovered, recognized and reborn. A complete and arduous process of mining them, separating them from the dirt, washing, cleaning and processing occurs. Skilled hands and costly machines then cut them with care, imparting the very shape that makes their worth come out of the mould of centuries of disuse and neglect. Polishing adds the glint that makes the diamond arrive, that makes the stone from the quarry rule the hearts of men and women alik...

The pursuers are relentless. The pursued are determined. The sun is relentless, the sweat persistent. Yet neither side wishes to give in. The chase must therefore go on. The pursued are hardened criminals, outlaws posing the gravest danger to peace and to society; although minutes ago, I might have never believed. The pursued are the defenders of the law, the pure bred, the protectors of peace and the destroyers of evil. Or so you have to believe. And they use all they have at their command to dislodge and conquer the other side. Come stand at my side and have a closer look. The heat is building up! The chased have just scored a major victory on the law enforcers. They have deviated midway and have hidden into a security guard tent inside the park while the killers await them a little down the road. They have no idea that their quarry has vanished into thin air! Clever! The mercenaries meet at the point where the prey disappeared. They have no plan. The captain is furious. Orders are b...

The hectic activity has finally subsided. I have been running to-and-fro from my hostel to the admin building all morning and noon. The tasks were important, hardly the sort that one could let be labeled collateral damage in the indescribable hurry of b-school life. But I have been at them since morning. And they are done now! Not a small feat, by no means. So now I take a leisurely walk down to the cafeteria, my eyes hitting upon the ‘big’ ThumsUp bottles standing teasingly in the freezer and I find I can scarce control myself. The bottle is brought out onto the counter. Behold! The beauty of the shape, the chilled surface laced with small droplets of moisture, each growing by the second and yearning to let gravity take control and hurl it down the smooth curves of the glass, caressing the bottle as it flows and meets others of its kind. Behold the deep yet translucent colour of the liquid filled inside, the light coming through in hues of brown, red, black and the like. And...

Hai Raat Sitaron Se Raoshan I guess this piece stems from the feeling of bracing ourselves to leave behind all that we once deeply cared for in our beloved XL. I only hope this sentimental creation will instill a cheerful note in our batch, as it has undoubtedly done in me. Here’s to finding a new meaning for life… ---------------------------------------------- Suraj pe matwali chhayi Ab saanjh dhale to dhala kare, Hai raat sitaaron se raoshan Ab chaand chhipe to chhipa kare Ab dil ki dhadkan goonj rahi Paeron mein thirkan aan basi, Dil-phenk zamaane se keh do Koi dard uthe to utha kare Insaaf karega kya koi Ab yaad karega kya koi, Yaadein to meri apni hain Koi bhool chale to chala kare Geeton ki goonj suni maine Nainon ki chot bahut dekhi, Tadpaati magar lajaati si Palkon ki oat bahut dekhi, Koi geet baje, koi chot lage, Ab preet sahe to saha kare, Koi palak uthe, koi nayan chale, Ab khoon bahe to baha kare Nadiya mein ek chali naiyya Lehron ki...

Abhishek Tripathi – Feb 2006 I guess this piece stems from the feeling of bracing ourselves to leave behind all that we once deeply cared for in our beloved XL. I only hope this sentimental creation will instill a cheerful note in our batch, as it has undoubtedly done in me. Here’s to finding a new meaning for life… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ सूरज पे मतवाली छायी अब सांझ ढले तो ढला करे , है रात सितारों से रौशन अब चांद छिपे तो छिपा करे । अब दिल की धड़कन गूँज रही पैरों में थिरकन आन बसी , दिलफेंक ज़माने से कह दो कोई दर्द उठे तो उठा करे । ईंसाफ़ करेगा क्या कोई अब याद करेगा क्या कोई , यादें तो मेरी अपनी हैं कोई भूल चले तो चला करे । गीतों की गूँज सुनी मैंने नैनों की चोट बहुत देखी , तड़पाती मगर लजाती सी पलकों की ओट बहुत देखी , कोई गीत बजे , कोई चोट लगे , अब प्रीत सहे तो सहा करे , कोई पलक उठे , कोई नयन चले , अब खून बहे त...

Abhishek Tripathi – Oct 2005 तेरे जैसी मेरी मंज़िल I wrote this piece down with mixed feelings. It is essentially a parting song that can be used by someone bidding farewell to anyone or anything. A lover bidding farewell to his beloved or … An XLer bidding farewell to beloved XLRI What it means to each of us will be our own choice … ------------------------------------------------------- न वो मंज़र , न वो आलम , न फिर से वो वफ़ा होगी , तेरे जैसी मेरी मंज़िल न जाने फिर कहॉ होगी । खिलेंगे गुल मेरे हमदम तेरे गुलशन में हर मौसम , मेरे गुलशन में इठलाती हवाओं को सजा़ होगी । तेरे जैसी मेरी मंज़िल न जाने फिर कहॉ होगी । लगा मुझको न जाने क्यों छुपा लूं मैं तुझे दिल में , हुई मुझसे जो मीठी सी ख़ता , ये फिर कहॉ होगी । तेरे जैसी मेरी मंज़िल न जाने फिर कहॉ होगी । तेरे हंसते हुये चेहरे पे बन जायेंगी फिर गज़लें , मेरे होठों पे गीतों की निशानी फिर कहॉ होगी । तेरे जैसी मेरी मंज़िल न ...

Confused kya? Well, that is not a typo. Let me explain. It is strange when men get possessed by the urge of doing something out-of-the-box. Now before any ideas get into your head, let me say that it is a perfectly noble intention and is born out of a continued drudgery in one’s current occupation. And when you are doing MBA, chances multiply manifold that you would do this someday. But what form this out-of-box experience takes is something to be viewed carefully. For me and for some of my friends at XL, it translated into an urge to roam aimlessly in the soccer city; an urge laced with an inexplicable attraction to the pre-historic hunting roots that human males have. And so we three (Akshay, Lalith and yours truly) set out one very wintry night with my camera fed and fattened for the experience. I was determined to enjoy this out-of-box trip and I began by enjoying the freezing air rushing at me as I sat in the superbly ventilated auto. Brr… The plan was to buy tickets ...

The plan was to catch the metro back to MG Road as we had to go to College street. Now that is a street where you get hawkers more educated and savant than your aunt and your literature teacher, peddling books at dirt cheap rates. One look at the place and I knew why Cal was so full of ‘ babu moshais ’ for-ever lost in the intricacies of the written word. Only the traditional  dhoti  has been replaced with jeans I guess. Otherwise the  babu moshais  can still be found sniffing for their cherished treasure at College street like fish swarms sniffing food through coral reefs. Wow! Hey…but wait! I forgot to tell the most lovely part of the experience. We entered a sweet-meat…aww chuck…a  mithai  shop at the metro station and then began a sweet-gobbling game that resembled a child’s foray into a toy shop. Akshay and Lalith kept pointing at sweets just when it seemed we were done, the shop-keeper kept dishing them out and I kept rushing back from the wash...