Meraki

"Meraki [may-rah-kee] (adjective) This is a word that modern Greeks often use to describe doing something with soul, creativity, or love — when you put “something of yourself” into what you’re doing, whatever it may be. Meraki is often used to describe cooking or preparing a meal, but it can also mean arranging a room, choosing decorations, or setting an elegant table. 

There is no English equivalent for this word. Meraki is, unsurprisingly, untranslatable."

May-rah-kee! Did I pronounce it right? I love it how my head swings left and right while I sing-song the Greek word may-rah-kee.

One fine day, I found this beautiful word on Facebook and it took me no second thought to share it on my Timeline. As fast I shared it, I moved ahead with other things on Facebook. In my daily life I easily get bored and then head towards all those thoughts that suggest me how I am wasting my life by living a pretty mundane and monotonous life. I am a big time procrastinator and the after-effects of it kill me bit by bit every day. Past couple of months were difficult. What made it worst is the fact that I was insecure and I even lost my sleep in the hands of regular nightmares.

A mail from him was waiting in my inbox. It was just a line or two and written in response to one of the posts I have shared on my Timeline. Initially I was upset to find such a smallish mail as he was writing to me after a gap of two days.

You might have shared it just like that but subconsciously you must be aware that this is how you are. But let me reiterate it to you in loud and bold letters....this is how you are...this is how you love to do things for those whom you love... this is how you do things that are close to your heart... you put all your heart, soul, creativity, and love. In a nutshell you put ‘something of yourself’ in the things you do... and this is exactly how you love me too. Yes I am talking about the word MERAKI and for me the symbol of Meraki is no one but you... yes you, my Greek Goddess. :D

Rest all is fine and the ship ain't rolling no more. :) 

It would be an understatement to say that the mail made me happy. It was much beyond the thing called happiness. I wondered is it really true? I happen to be a person who highly underestimates herself and thus is harsh on herself most of the time. With a mug of hot lemon tea spiced with cinnamon, I realized that may be he has exaggerated the whole thing but whatever he has written holds ample amount of truth too.

I am just an ordinary girl with some above average talents but yes, I realized that I do them exactly the way he has mentioned. I am by nature an introvert and my social circle is very limited. But those I love, I love with all my heart and soul. Yes, it is true. And it made me feel at the top of the world.

I have tried to list few things that I do with Meraki. There are many more but the top few are here in the list below:

Well can you guess them by looking at the pictures???

1. Writing: I am sure the day I and my writings are no longer together, I would be as good as a dead body, may be worse than that. I know, I can’t churn write-ups after write-up yet and that I frequently take long breaks, and yes truth be told that I procrastinate a lot too; but writing makes me what I am, even though my writing abilities are very mediocre and it is seldom that I am happy/satisfied with them. I don’t know who and how I will be if I were never this close to weaving words. I don’t even want to imagine a life like that. Along with the way I love my people, if there is something else where I am true to myself and pour my heart and soul in to it, it has to be Writing. My words reflect the real me. The things that even I am not aware about myself are weaved through my words. I am thankful to God for blessing me with the ability to write, to write with Meraki.

 2. If you are my person, I will love you and be there for you in every thick and thin. I would cook for you, weave words for you, and yes my gifts to you will always contain something handmade. I know there are few people who can vouch for it. And from them only I have learnt that, I do take time to come close, but once you are my person, love and compassion come easy to me. Meraki it is. Isn’t it?

3. Cooking: I seldom cook. But when I do, I put my heart into it. It is pure ‘meraki’ when I cook for my dad. And it would be so when I would occasionally cook for him in future.

4. Paper and paper works and of course colours: I am a passionate Quiller. I love the fact that just by rolling a strip of paper, how wonderfully I can let my creativity loose. If I am found quilling, it is sure that I must have lost track of time and place and nothing could make me come out of my reverie till I finish doing it. Just like me he is totally into origami and I too would pick it up soon.

5. Peepal leaf paintings: I got hooked to it when I was in high school and since then I am mad about it. I learnt it on my own. The extremely pungent procedure can never drive me away, even when my whole family is ready to kill me. 

These handmade things then form a formidable part of my gift packages to the people I love. If you are my person, sooner or later you would receive something hand made from me along with few written words.

6. Losing myself in the lap of hill-station: I do that with elan and with complete meraki. I wish that one fine day I will have my very own wooden cottage in the solitude of misty nature, green valleys, lines of pine tress, cascading waterfalls, sky full of twinkling stars, color splashed sunrise and sunset, piping hot soups, and majestic snow-capped mountains. 

7. The way I love my Soulmate: No amount of words, exquisite or plain, can never to justice to this and hence I surrender.

Meraki! This is how I share myself with myself and to those whom I love and to my readers via my blog. I leave a piece of myself behind with the hope that its presence will be forever there for you to feel. I want to linger in your good memories and wish to be your smile in your dry and rainy days. This is how I want to live on.

~*~

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words 1st - 7th September 2013.

My Theme: To write on seven words that

• We don't hear generally
• Non-English words
• Words that are untranslatable in English 
• Let's see, how can I include more varieties.

Let me know what to you think about my choice of theme for this Seven days of Writing Festival.

Of Memories and Leftover Fragrances

"It is his memories that help me feel his presence. And the sublime fragrances of those memories make me fall in love with him again and again." ,  Dated: 7th Jan, 1985

Bluish ink was strewn on one of the pages of your old tattered diary. Was it your attempt to demolish the monument of some of your memories? Word by word you must have raised a castle with wide open windows and it took you just a splash of some ink to bury it in the coffin of time forever. A pale green dried peepal leaf rests on it. A tombstone may be.

The ink and the peepal leaf were both engulfed in the mist of time. Time! I have always strongly felt that time has its very own fragrance which seems different to different beings. How the combined fragrance of them all can always teleport me to an era where I was a fountain pen connoisseur and my nights were the passionate strokes of colors on the mesh of peepal leaves!

You, who have not mentioned your name in any of the pages, how dare you remind me of someone who is long gone, leaving behind the box full of fountain pens and tethered peepal leaf paintings to stay with? I can smell the fragrances of your nameless existence in these dried, tethered, and old ink blots, words, pages, and this leaf. Please don’t take me to down memory lane anymore. Sometimes it hurts too much.

On a page dated 31st august, 1985, you have written how much in love you were with this corner of your house.

 “This corner of the puja ghar is my own li’l world. Today, I hand painted it with my amateurish childlike strokes to give it an aesthetic look. Ochre yellow, black, and hints of red. Maa dismissed it at her very first glance. Said, I just ruined the whole look. Oh! How my heart sank. Poor Maa, she doesn't know a thing about Modern Day Art. Ok, See, I just got this small table from the store room. So from now on it is going to be your new King-size bed. Don’t you worry; I will pamper you lavishly with new fountain pen, leaves, and loads of flowers. Do you want me to paint your case as well, dear Diary?” 

Well, I love the way you write. Nothing so great about it... but its simplicity kind of connects me to you. I wish I could touch you. I wish I could smell you... from beyond the pages of your diary. But what is it with the usage of the words ‘amateur’ and ‘childlike’ together? I am pretty sure, you, girl, are in love with redundancy. Yes, pretty much just like me.

Ironically, your ‘corner’ which was once a part of your pujaghar, is now an ignored corner of my store room. I have simply stashed every box of my memories up there. Locked, per say. Your Modern(Day) Art still exists, deep buried in the layers of dust and cobwebs. Your diary’s king-size bed is now dilapidated beyond recognition. Will you be fine, if I tell you that now in place of your diary, her small antique kerosene lamp is rusting on it? I just don’t go there anymore. The leftover kerosene smell invokes dizziness in me. It’s lethal as it frantically makes me search for her. One fine day she just disappeared. Just like that. Tell me please; is it really this easy to leave everything behind... just to be with the clouds? It’s dangerously haunting. And I have just caged them in that room. I am sorry, if I have hurt you. But that’s how your words make me feel sometimes. Your words lack the basic quality to comfort a rugged soul. I am pretty sure you were a dangerous woman, just like her.

Hmmm... so, you girl, are an ardent lover of mogra flowers. How uncanny! The more I explore your diary, the more I am scared. People associate the fragrance of it with love, romance, and piousness. I, for that matter have always been allergic to it. But, you know, I can’t deny that even today when the vine in my balcony blossoms and the fragrance fills the air, her presence engulfs me in a very sweet way. It reminds me of how passionately we have been in love with each other. I guess we still are. It’s just that there are layers of unknown worlds in between that separate the two of us and that we both simply cannot cross it. How much I want to; perhaps she as well. But it does not matter.

Well, you! Girl, I just want to say sorry to you for invading your personal diary. It was my serendipity to be able to put my hands on this treasure trove. The rag-picker, I am sure would not have valued it ever and so please be sure that I will take care of it till my last breath. Today I am in mood of sheer honesty and hence this is what I want to tell you,

It is your diary, girl, which made me live through her memories. And the sublime fragrances of your memories tied together in words make me fall in love with her again and again. My tears are a proof of that. And my occasional flash of feeble smiles...well, I just don’t know what meaning to give them. I wonder if I am nearing towards her. 

Today is just an ordinary day. Nothing special... as far as I dig deep. Still felt like wearing this mauve colored shirt. May be I will prepare some favorite green tea with loads of ginger and black pepper. She used to pour in a generous dash of lemon juice in it. When she was around, I never liked it a bit. But with the passage of time, her absence made me to admire the tangy taste of it. Strange, no? I know it is strange. That is the irony of human life. Huh!

You know, the truth is I still don’t like the taste of it. What! you just called me a lier? Listen then, It is the fragrance of it.... of ginger, lemon, black pepper, sugar, and green tea- all mingled together to raise a heavenly concoction, that I am mad for. Actually we first dated over cups of such a heavenly green tea on the bylanes of Saket, Delhi. While she gulped cups after cups of it, I, for your information, dived deep in the lethal aroma of her.

One more thing, girl, there is a secret for why I wore this mauve colored favourite shirt of hers today. And I guess you deserve to know it. I just read one of the pages of your diary. And can’t get those lines out of my mind. Perhaps I don’t want it to. Yes, it soothed me in a very pensive way.

Thank you, Nameless Girl.

तेरी कमीज़ की सिलवटों मे आज भी 'मोहब्बत' बसी है

पलको में छिपाए जूस्तज़ु कई, हम उसमे 'महका' करते है

~*~

This post has been written for Indibloggers' "Smelly to Smiley" contest in association with "AmbiPurIndia." 

Do visit Ambipur's facebook page here at- https://www.facebook.com/AmbiPurIndia

Let your heart do some talking...

Mansi and I share a bond that got built over the bridges of words. She is one rare writer whom I adore to the core of my heart. What makes her so special to me is the way i feel connected to her via her words. Every time i read her i am in awe of her and what's more mysterious is the truth that i feel as if she is speaking my heart albeit in a much better and beautiful way. She is my darling and it's a pity that like my other good friend Mithe, she too seldom writes. Oh! dear girls, tell me what do I do to make you girls write?

Mansi blogs here at 'Let your heart do some talking...' Please visit and read her blog and I am sure you would be happily lost in her beautiful world of myriad thoughts. 

And now, here comes my dearest Mansi to grace my White Window! Thank you dearest. :) 

From Mansi's pen,

So here's my version ...Dont know you will like it or not....

The White Window reminds me of all those things that come to my mind when I think of a love-struck 'Heart'-emotions- feelings of love, compassion, longings, creative imagination, of fantasies, in a vividly captured world of some of the best moments of introspection one could have. As I am a fan of emotions too, of those random feelings which sway away, hiding from me, leaving me as fast as they could, but end up becoming part of my scribbles, I like how the White Window opens itself every time to a self confessed tale of a believer, who holds strong to trust, love and the smallest tid-bits which make life beautiful. Haven't been able to catch up lately, I wish Preety a lot of success and love in everything she touches. 

Now, as I have the honor of writing a guest post ( I seriously don't have a clue how did I get here), I would love to write randomly as always. About anything that will cross my mind by the time I finish this sentence. So, it would be some lines about a girl looking at the moon, peeking through her White Window. 

No luck with the book, I heave a sigh and get up the chair, 

A gaze at the clock, I put on my sleep robe, comb my hair. 

Switch off the lights, it’s time to think off the day today, 

A quick gaze at the moon tonight, and my thoughts vanish away. 

It’s still not dark with those lights off, 

while the moonlit sky over through my window shows off. 

A staircase unfolds over my window, probably it's time, 

The moon smiles while I blush like the Cinderella of a nursery rhyme. 

It’s a whole new world, all bright and blue, 

A dew drop on my window moves, and I take the clue. 

As I climb, I feel so different, so new, 

Love is what I feel inside, 

as I take the dream flight. 

The moon blinks and so do I, 

Still staring out, I blink and smile, waving goodbye. 

And I now know, what I was missing all day long, 

A smile and for the while, my dreams tucked all along.

And thus, I slip between the sheets, 

It's time to get the beauty sleep...

~*~

Cherapunji: A 55 Fiction

"Once you land here, you can feel that everything smells of rain. I come here only to get drenched in this pure rain. A new Me is born whenever…"

"Shhhh…Let the clouds of pain that are hovering in your eyes take the shape of rain today.

Let you say, a true me is born today."

~*~

P.S: I am again hit by the writer's as well as reader's block and hence I am M.I.A. Dug this very old write-up ( may be about 4 yrs old ) out of my draft folder and decided to finally post it because I can't give it a miss when it is a prompt by Vidya on Write Tribe.

Vidya has written an amazing 55 Fiction Tutorial there on Write Tribe. And do not you dare to miss it.

Born Criminals! Who?

Atrocities of human mind know no bound. It is really unfortunate to see that we humans have become sadists and thus derive some goddamn pleasure by inflicting pain upon others, be it on animals or on our fellow human beings. Else how could we, the self considered superior race can label the people of some other communities as Born Criminals?

India is surely a strange place where strangely a man’s value is judged by the caste he is born into. It does not matter how much of talent, caliber, and humanity you posses, what matters is your caste to decide your virtues.

As if the caste system was not enough, here, we have a large number of human communities, who belong to the lower ends of the caste hierarchy, labelled as Born Criminals.

These people belong to the Nomadic and De-notified Tribes of India. However, till date, barring only a handful, most of them lead a life where they are denied of every basic right and that includes Dignity too. 

But really, can criminality ever be a hereditary problem?

What was started by British government, visibly for their own benefits, we the Indians are successfully but stupidly carrying it with us as a legacy. Such a shame!

A li’l Google Search told me that British came up with the Criminal Tribes Act in 1871 because,

1) They have participated in the Revolt of 1857 and many tribal chiefs were labelled traitors who through their acts of rebellion caused constant trouble to the British Government. (Source: Wikipedia)

2) Their way of living did not fall under the British notion of civilized living. (Source: Wikipedia)

Cruel isn't it? But more than the British, we mainstream Indians are cruel who blindly believed that their own brothers and sisters are Born Criminals. No wonder that the infamous Divide & Rule policy actually worked on us. It did not take us much time to forget how they have been a part of us and how they had made our life easier and kept us entertained.

Today we have the easy access to modern means and amenities and the source of our entertainment too has gone hi-tech, but have we truly forgotten that there were days when we were dependent on them? Even today I can see many nomadic settlements over the pavements, where people go to buy cheap but reliable and sturdy utensils, tools, simple machines, home decor items,  and even BBQ Grillers. But the way they lead their lives is something very hard to imagine. Life on the move and over the pavements is very vulnerable and hard. They have nothing to make their lives even a wee-bit hygienic. It gives me shiver to think that how unsafe their women and children are, especially the young girls. 

We have snatched their livelihoods but have forgotten or better say have not cared to provide them an alternate option so that they can earn at least the bare minimum to feed and cover themselves up. It is disheartening to know that days after day they go without food. We should be ashamed that it is because of us that they have succumbed to stealing, begging, and even prostitution.

We can shout at the top of our voices discussing about how pathetic a certain tribe is where wives and daughters are thrown into prostitution by their own men. I remember reading a related article in a newspaper sometime back. Like everybody else I too was cursing the men without even bothering to look deep in to the matter. Is not it important to know why this is happening and how we can eradicate it?

Even after 67 years of independence, these people have not been accepted by us. Such is the plight that they are not even recognized by the government.

In Mittal Patel’s own words,

"More than four million nomads reside in Gujarat and approximately 60 million exist in the country. It was shocking to find there was no data or information available on them even in the government departments. Though the government is aware of certain communities, to avail of the benefits, people are supposed to submit a number of documents. These, unfortunately, they did not possess."

Mittal Patel, a young journalist, is no less than a God send to these unfortunate nomads and de-notified tribes. She has gone against the government, the bureaucracy, the caste system, and yes, of course a society that has many in-ethical values and norms deeply rooted in it.

It is because of her that today I know how badly these people have been treated by us for like ages. I was completely unaware of their life and their plight and I feel so ashamed of myself now. Had I not gone through her inspiring TedTalk I would have never known how millions of people in my own country are denied of their every right. What is more shocking and heart breaking is the fact that not only their livelihood has been snatched away from them but in reality, for the Government, they do not even exist. The only place however they exist is in police records that too for crimes they may or may not have committed. Such is their plight. Sigh!

It is Mittal Patel, the fearless and selfless young lady, who has gone against age old norms to provide many of them the thing called a Voter ID card. And you can imagine how difficult it must have been for her to do that because these nomads have no birth certificate, no ration card, no land deeds, nothing. Not a single piece of paper to prove they're part of the Indian population. And to top it there is our great bureaucracy and the caste mindset.

Deeply distressed by the plight of these nomads and de-notified tribes, she not only quit her job but formed her own NGO called Vicharta Samuday Samarthan Manch(VSSM) with the hope to make these outcast people a part of mainstream society. Today due to her sheer determination, grit, and her urge to give back to the society, she has managed to provide 20,000 people of the tribe with their own voter ID cards and respectful employments to nearly 5000. She and her team have also made education accessible to them by setting several schools in various parts of Gujarat. After years of oppression and neglect it is heartening to know that now they too can learn and dream and work towards a better future. A voter ID card- for many of us, is just another address proof because it’s seldom that we put it to its right use i.e to vote. But what it gives to these people is something priceless. Yes it gives them their identity of which they have been ruthlessly denied ever since.

Mittal and her NGO has successfully intervened and managed to save many girls/ women of the Saraniya community in Vadia village of Gujarat from the heinous clutches of flesh trade by arranging for their engagement and marriage. What could be more beautiful than to save these children and women from being crushed so brutally? Such in the mettle of this young lady that she has helped them to blossom into a flower in such a respectful manner.

Mittal is keeping her promise to give back to the society by working towards the betterment of it. But it is our turn now too to join her in her crusade. The very first step that we all have to take is to change our demented outlook which is nothing but narrow as well as shallow. The moment we accept that they too are a part of our mainstream society and start to give them their due respect, the next steps would not be impossible to achieve. What they deserve is respect and acceptance. I remember reading an article where it was written that The British government has never allowed Indians to eat mangoes in and around their vicinity because they abhorred the sight of a man squatting and enjoying his mango while the juice drips and soils all his hand till his elbow. For them it was an uncivilized act. So did we stop eating mangoes? No. Then why carry their perception here by calling these nomads with all such names and by ostracizing and denying them their rights? 

Lack of awareness is the mother of many such problems and atrocities. And no, ignorance is not a bliss always. Sometimes we need to stand up for humanity's sake. It is absolutely important & necessary to spread the awareness as much as possible. And in this era of social networking, this surely is a not a big deal. Education should be designed and imparted in such a way that it instills human values and compassion. One must learn to respect every other being. The Corporates must understand that they have a responsibility towards the society. And they mustn't ever turn their backs to the social and environmental responsibilities. During my summer internship in Parle, I got to know that they have tie-ups with several NGOs in order to do their wee-bit to give back to the society and the environment. Franklin Templeton, by arranging such TedTalks, tells me that it is doing its bit too towards the upliftment of the society. More and more Corporates must come out and join hands for the upliftment of mankind. They should learn to value and practice giving back to the society also.

Donations are a huge help but not all are comfortable with it due to various reasons. It's your choice to extend help via it. But let’s at least help them by buying their handicrafts. More and more associations should come up with cultural events to provide a platform for these people to perform and showcase their art, culture, dance, and music. This way we also can save/protect these age old traditions from getting extinct as well. After all they do make our country culturally rich. It would be a great help too if we all could work as volunteers at some point or the other. I am sure our li’l steps would cumulatively make a huge difference. I had volunteered myself as a teacher for Teach for India Campaign. And the happiness it has provided to me was immense. As I did my li’l bit to give back to the society, no matter how small the step was, I have felt my heart growing bigger and larger to accommodate more compassion in it.

By ignoring such a large part of our population we are doing no good towards the growth of our country as well. Just imagine how big a workforce it is and how much they can contribute towards the GDP of our country.

For long they have been suppressed, oppressed, and ostracized. They have been inflicted upon with highest degree of loathe and insult by being labelled as Born Criminals by us which even denied them their identity. We have snatched their everything and have denied them their right to be called an Indian Citizen as well. Still they are moving on with their nomadic lives with no expectation whatsoever. History stands as the sole witness how important their services have been to us. 

We are indebted to them and it is our time to pay back the debt. 

A little compassion, a little empathy and a whole lot of acceptance and respect would surely make a big difference in their lives. And in return our society would turn more beautiful. And when a society grows and develops holistically, can the World remain far behind? Goodness and Happiness spread leaps and bounds even with minimum efforts.

So the next time if you locate a Saraniya (knife sharpener), Kangsia (bangle sellers and traders), Nat and Nataniya (performers - bards, musicians, acrobats, dancers, fire-eaters and so on), Vansfoda (works with bamboo and sell bamboo products), Vadi (snake charmer), Madaris (work with monkeys), etc. Please do not cringe. They are not Born Criminals; No one is. To call someone a born criminal is an insult to humanity. Not to forget, it is because of us that they have succumbed to stealing, begging, and even prostitution. So if anyone rightly deserves to be called one, it is us, the skewed society. 

You can’t help them, fine, but do change your perception towards them. If you can do so, in a way you are helping Mittal and her NGO in her mission. 

I repeat Mittal’s words once again,

"We are indebted to them and it is our time to pay back the debt."

This post is written for “Idea Caravan” a joint initiative of Indiblogger and Franklin Templeton Investments (Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012). I am thankful to all of them for such a great initiative.

Direct YouTube link to Mittal Patel's Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8cZ2iJARPM

After like ages, a group of Snake Charmers visited my colony. Needless to say we all were thrilled.