मन रे तू काहे न धीर धरे?

मन रे तू काहे न धीर धरे
ओ निर्मोही मोह न जाने जिनका मोह करे
मन रे तू काहे न धीर धरे

इस जीवन की चढ़ती ढलती
धूप को किस ने बाँधा
रंग पे किस ने पहरे डाले
रूप को किस ने बाँधा
काहे यह जतन करे
मन रे तू काहे न धीर धरे

उतना ही उपकार समझ कोई
जितना साथ निभा दे
जनम मरण का मेल है सपना
यह सपना बिसरा दे
कोई न संग मरे
मन रे तू काहे न धीर धरे
ओ निर्मोही मोह न जाने जिनका मोह करे
हो मन रे तू काहे न धीर धरे

—साहिर लुधियानवी

Love at first sight

Scene 1: The meeting.
Location: Mekhri Circle, from CV Raman Road towards Jayamahal road.

"Excuse me, how do I go to Cunningham Road?", was how she began from within her helmet, her pearly whites forming a magnificent smile, and her beautiful, azure eyes were gleaming with innocence.

"It's 4.8 km from here; you'll have to go straight, and keep following the curves till you reach an underpass on the right after which you'll have to take a compulsory left, and then you'll reach the Cantt station; the road then forks into two, take the right one, at the end you'll find a 'T' where you take a right, and a right at the next signal (approximately 1.1 km) would lead you to Cunningham Road.", blurted I in a single breath.

She had broken into a giggle by then, and obviously could not have followed the entire set of instructions thrown ruthlessly at her. She was perhaps a Punjabi, quite fair, high, glowing cheekbones, skin soft-as-a-baby made her look all the more cute. Amid chortles, she asked in a tone so innocent I was flabbergasted, "How far is your underpass?". I was quick to statistically respond with 3.4 km, and her pillion joined her in the chuckling, perhaps amused by me being such a nerd at numbers.

A sudden flash of realization dawned upon me as I saw the red light turn orange, that the poor girls were on a bike with a Delhi number plate (and hence perhaps new to Bangalore) and that I would pass through the exact route. Just in time before orange turned to green, I told her about the latter part of my revelation and advised her to follow me.

Scene 2: The ride.
Location: Jayamahal Road, Station Road, Queens Road.

I keep glancing on the rear view mirror as she follows me, and enjoy strolling in the third gear at 40 even though the road ahead is clear and inviting. She is quite animated, talking to her friend all the time, often gesturing with her left hand, the right on the throttle, seemingly quite oblivious with her being on the road. Thankfully the traffic was a bit peaceful today.

Scene 3: The parting.
Location: Indian Express Circle.

Seeing they were always on the extreme left, I halted a few hundred metres before the crossing, and she almost banged into my bike. The familiar string of giggles followed. I suggested them to keep on the rightmost lane and take the next right and their road would begin. She took off her helmet and thanked me profusely before parting. Boy, was she pretty! I was completely floored! As always, I was at a loss of words. And numbers. Am even now. Didn't even ask for her number, nor could I note down the registration number of her Kinetic Nova.

Scene 4: The aftertaste.
Location: Prestige Obelisk.

I sit down at my cubicle and ponder as I write this, working intermittently, over the possibility of Love-at-first-sight. And I realise that love is too complex a phenomenon to occur so shortly. There are a host of traits and attributes you'd generally like to have in your partner. Most people who fall in love do not do so blindly. Often it is a well-planned, well-thought series of actions. Ok, you don't have a checklist, but you do have an idea, and you fall in love with the person who falls in the set of ideas you have about them.

This is an endless topic and I can go on and on. But yes, I felt a bit different with this female I met today. I would definitely like to try things out with her. We might be able to, if Miss Giggles somehow chances upon this post, but that's a probability I am not really banking upon.

Blog away the Blues!

Given the deep blues I seem to be in this week, that was the very apt hyperlink I saw on yahoo.com I saw this morning while logging in to check my mail. I generally am unable to read news online, more due to a lack of interest than due to a lack of time. This article, however, caught my eye, and plunging into it showed me the results of an Australian study.

Quoting the ANI report based on two related studies conducted by Swinburne University Technology in Melbourne, Australia, blogging can boost people's social life, by making them feel less isolated, more connected to a community and more satisfied with their friendships, both online and personally.

The study, published in the latest issue of the journal CyberPsychology and Behaviour, involved a survey on 134 users of MySpace, an international site that offers email, a forum, communities, videos and weblog space. The study involved some users who intended to blog and others who did not, and analyzed their behaviour and stress levels and 'social satisfaction' after a two-month period. Those that originally intended to blog reported feeling more satisfied socially as a result of being a part of a group of like-minded individuals.

"It was as if they were saying 'I'm going to do this blogging and it's going to help me' ", said Susan Moore, one of the researches. That was exactly my belief when I started writing this post, but I always had the intention and it never helped. Let me see if the act itself helps...