I DON'T LIVE THERE ANYMORE

I had a dream once

We were picking fruits

Just green and red

All around

It was like as if

Heaven was our playground

And then, there was blood

Gunshots in my head

That deafening sound

What have we found?

I wonder now

What have we lost

What have we found?

Home

It haunts me in my dream

But I don’t live there anymore

Not that I care so much

Because I don’t really live anymore.

Home

It throbs in my heart and head

But I don’t live there anymore

Not that I care so much

Because I don’t really live anymore.

Father locked the gates

But he never looked back

And the orchards said goodbye

The skies wept

Years have passed

And yet, we can’t accept

We don’t belong there

We don’t belong here either

We belong to past perfect

What have we found?

I wonder now

What have we lost

What have we found?

Home

It stalks me in my dream

But I don’t live there anymore

Not that I care so much

Because I don’t really live anymore.

Home

It throbs in my heart and head

But I don’t live there anymore

Not that I care so much

Because I don’t really live anymore.

NOT A NICE PERSON TO KNOW

It’s been ages since we met

You’ve gone from stubborn to resilient

And pulled through it all

I’ve gone from juvenile to jaded

And barely survived the fall

You’ve turned around things with a smile

And dissed the Art of Sadness

I’ve just laughed and cried quite easily

And bartered calm for madness

This You is far more brilliant

This Me is far more shallow

So what can I say that’s not been said before

I’m just not a nice person to know.

Time changes all, so they say

You found a balance that’s effortless

While shaking up the stagnant

I made changes for a big persona

Then got left with fragments

Your goodness leaves a trail of smiles

It’s certain you’re unforgettable

My edge has lost its reason

It’s definitely regrettable.

This You is far more spectacular

This Me is far more hollow

So what can I say that’s not been said before

I’m just not a nice person to know.

STAY SARCASTIC

Yes, we love the pretty people

The ones with shiny hair and eyes

But they lack the sass, they’re a pain in the ass

Because they’re so literal and nicey-nice.

The eternal optimists and their motivation

Much like a gooey chocolate cake

You may like it once a day, but you secretly pray

That their smileys won’t offset a headache.

It’s imperative to meet the ones with wit

The ones who won’t bat an eyelid

The ones who’ll make you laugh, straight-faced

The ones whose one-liners with acid are laced

The ones who shun the thought of slapstick

The ones who stay blessedly sarcastic.

True, there are people who laugh easily

At stuff that’s repetitive and mediocre

Whose idea of fun, is the most basic pun

It’s like hanging with a self-confessed joker.

Less said about those who’re annoyingly verbose

Nothing can be expressed in less than a para

Our minds may wander, way over yonder

But they’ll continue unashamed and blah-blah.

That’s when you need to say less

And make a point with much finesse

That’s when your brain tingles with a response

That’s not too laboured, tinged with nonchalance

That’s when you know it’s simply fantastic

When you can safely stay blessedly sarcastic.

Here’s a quick note to novices of the Art

If you don’t get the joke, take heart

Forgive us for not being overenthusiastic

We’re simply blessed to stay sarcastic.

NORMAL IS WHO YOU ARE

They judged him

Because he wasn’t like the rest

Maybe because he didn’t fit in

He didn’t care so much to be the best

All he wanted was to potter around

And flit around like the butterflies

Sit amongst books and dolls and such

Then wonder idly at the expansive skies

“Why can’t he be normal?” they asked

But the answer wasn’t one they agreed upon

So they made him an object of their ridicule

While he stood in a corner, forlorn.

They judged her

Because she was just like every other

Maybe she was too much of a wallflower

She certainly wasn’t as pretty as her mother

Her comfort lay in numbers and codes

And theories that were not accidental

All she wanted was to understand the cosmos

In a way that would prove elemental

“Why can’t she be normal?” they asked

But the answer wasn’t one that they approved of

So they made her the object of their ridicule

While she sat in a corner, scoffed.

But before you know, this is Here and Now

When times have changed, as have lives and stories

Scoffers and sceptics are left lamenting

Those who stood apart are worthy of many glories

You may not be what the world wants you to be

You may not say what the world expects you to

Normalcy be damned, you’ll stay victorious

If you just listen to one voice: You.

THE ONE WHO GOT AWAY

The look in your eyes

Tells me you think I’m not the one

The tone in your voice

Tells me you think I’m just good fun

Hold on to the thought

That thought won’t go just as yet

But years, many years later

You’ll look back to when we met

And wonder if this was just

A fleeting look at the sun

Butterflies don’t happen in a trice

Silk needs time to be spun.

The one who got away

I’ll be the one who got away

The one who defied the cliché

I’ll be the one who got away

The one who got away

I’ll be the one who got away

Retrospection is just a person

Who’s lived an extra day.

The delays in your response

Tells me you’ve taken me for granted

The sting in your nonchalance

Tells me you’re disenchanted

Hold on to the limbo

The limbo won’t shake off just yet

But years, many years later

You’ll look back with a tinge of regret

And wonder if you’d written the song

With a fresh new tune in mind

Because even rhapsodies start off

As melodies unrefined.

The one who got away

I’ll be the one who got away

Defying every cliché

I’ll be the one who got away

The one who got away

I’ll be the one who got away

Retrospection is just a person

Who’s lived an extra day.

UPPER DOWNER

She’s been up all night

Getting rather trashed

She’s still awake now

Sweetly unabashed

Then you tell her to behave

And she quietly nods her head

She smiles and oh, it’s a trip

One that you love, you dread

This is that smile

That smile that brought you closer

This is that smile

That smile that says it’s over

This is that smile

That smile that abuses you slowly

And yet, this is that smile

That smile that seduces you wholly.

Upper Downer

She’ll take you in, then throw you out

Upper Downer

It’s that fix you can’t do without

Upper Downer

You want to soar, you want to dive

Upper Downer

You feel so dead, yet so alive.

He’s shaken off the memory

That he’s made with her

He’s taking off again

Because he won’t do forever

Then you’ll tell him to slow down

And he’ll shyly ask you why

He smiles and oh, it’s a trip

It makes you smile, then cry

This is that smile

That smile that feels like a rush

This is that smile

That smile that turns you to mush

This is that smile

That smile that makes you believe

And yet, this is that smile

That smile that can fully deceive.

Upper Downer

He’ll take you in, then throw you out

Upper Downer

It’s that fix you can’t do without

Upper Downer

You want to soar, you want to dive

Upper Downer

You feel so dead, yet so alive.

UNCOMMON CHEMISTRY

Your silences can be louder

Than the weight of my words

And when it comes to conversations

My participation is two-thirds

But there’s no co-relation

To what’s said and what can be

There’s just the magic of what I call

Uncommon chemistry.

Everything is not roses

Everything is not poetry

Everything can be held together

By uncommon chemistry.

My spontaneous may just not be

The kind you appreciate

Your staccato may just not be

The one I highly rate

But here we are, and come to think

I’ll give you reason to agree

We share the magic of what I call

Uncommon chemistry.

Everything is not exacting

Everything is not geometry

Everything is strung together

By uncommon chemistry.

We may not ever figure

What’s right and what’s not to be

And then I could swiftly turn from friend

To an unwilling adversary

But if that’s to happen, let us admit

It may just be momentary
Yet we’re still held together

By uncommon chemistry.

QUIET TRUE

I only speak when addressed

My thoughts, they live inside my head

But my words, they will never run a riot

Because essentially, my dear, I’m quiet.

People accuse me of being rude

But that’s just a demeanour I exude

My sentiment is large, my expression private

Because essentially, my dear, I’m quiet.

When they accuse me of boring, I’m unperturbed

They say describe yourself, I say ‘reserved’

And when asked why, I say my words are on diet

Because essentially, my dear, I’m quiet.

I have no desire to be the room’s cynosure

Neither the overwhelming urge for disclosure

However the little I say, it’ll never be trite

Because essentially, my dear, I’m quiet.

Uncaring I am not, nonchalant I may be

Brevity I display, not ungallantry

But no matter what my reason, you just won’t buy it

Because essentially, my dear, you’re not quiet.

THE VOICES IN MY HEAD

The voices, the voices in my head

You keep me alive, when I’m long since dead.

Still talking, still mocking

Still asking me questions my conscience finds shocking

Still shining the torch on dingy corners of my mind

Still screaming, still accusing when I choose to turn blind

Still taunting me with regrets, still opening wounds unexposed

Still making me guilty of cases long closed.

The voices, the voices in my head

You keep me alive, when I’m long since dead.

Still giggling, still laughing

Still childlike, before the world came down crashing

Still kind, still benevolent, still looking firmly north

Still reassuring, when I passionately go forth

Still being my friend in need, when I tend to falter

Still shaking up my core when my I’m an emotional defaulter.

The voices, the voices in my head

You keep me alive, when I’m long since dead.

Shake me, debase me

Kill me, embrace me

For life and death, we’ll always be wed

The voices, the voices in my head.

YOU’RE NOT THAT PERSON ANYMORE

You’ve been robbed

And left to deal with it

There isn’t a vestige of who you were

Your yesterdays are a cobweb of blur

The person who sang simple songs in his head

Is now a thousand dreams and sins ahead

You’re not that person anymore

That person is certainly dead.

You’ve been compromised

And told to be normal

There isn’t a line you haven’t crossed

Or a promise you’ve not taken and tossed

The person whose tears cleansed the rain

And whose smile melted away the pain

You’re not that person anymore

That person won’t return again.

You’ve been shot

And asked to live with it

There isn’t a day you’ve pushed Mediocre

Or gone out of the way to figure what broke her

The person whose love was stronger than conviction

And whose judgement was the strongest validation

You’re not that person anymore

That person is now pure fiction.

THIS IS YOU, YOU ARE MAY

It’s May

Hot and humid and disorienting

I hallucinate and that’s comforting

Of beds of ice and igloos in the sky

Of winds gone berserk and thunderstorms in July

Of sail boats and chiffon and all things Kygo

Of comic books and giggles, childhood and mango

And just when my imagination begins to sway

The air conditioner groans, we’re back to May.

May, you’ll do good to remember

You’re neither June nor December

But there’s something about your clime

That evokes both love and crime

And just like the disparity that’s Bombay

This is You, you are May.

It’s May

Steeped in slumber, sweat and slackening

Yet my febrile brain has thoughts maddening

Of muslins and margaritas and streets of marigold

Of love that’s unbridled and kisses uncontrolled

Of shaping the day like a potter without a plan

Of throwing caution to the winds, like a young catamaran

And just when my imagination begins to sway

The air conditioner groans, we’re back to May.

May, you’ll do good to remember

You’re neither June nor December

But there’s something about your clime

That evokes both love and crime

And just like the disparity that’s Bombay

This is You, you are May.