Sreesha Divakaran's Blog, page 15

This week has been – there’s been a loud buzzing in my brain and apart from inspiring a scary story, that incessant buzzing has blocked out everything else. Also why I was a little late in posting my Creative Wednesday post for this week. Also why I didn’t learn anything significant this week except for a teensy thing which I knew any way.

So my creative juices were feeling rather like a rope left to dry in the sun, and I had been struggling to get my thoughts right when the poem The Nostalgia For Happiness struck my mind. It was inspired by a movie poster I had seen. I wanted a nice picture to go with the poem, but I did not want to use the same movie poster. 

Once inspiration strikes, the words battle out whatever bees and buzzes are blocking your head and you can’t rest until you’ve written them down. That’s what I did, and in record time! But the picture was a challenge. I tried all kinds of Image search keywords but despite coming up with the pose I was looking for, none of the images were – umm, what I was looking for. [Excuse me, there’s noise in the head; I can’t think] 

For some time I could not figure out why I was not satisfied with the many results Google was politely serving me as I rudely hit key after key. Add to that, the fact that the internet was sluggish at the time. When the internet is slow, I become such an unfocused person that I start reading the labels at the back of lotion bottles, or the status lines my contacts have put up on Whatsapp.

Then it hit me.

None of the dancers had expressions. I mean, some looked haughtily at their partners, the others looked like they were dancing with their siblings or cousins! There was neither fire nor love nor despair nor ecstasy in their eyes or faces as there should have been – they were dancing after all!

So the brief lessons I learnt are these:


I take longer to find the perfect picture to add to a blog post than I do writing it!
Buzzing in the head is no reason to not write. Write anyway. Edit/delete later, but you cannot make up for lost time.
I have lost the ability to function without internet – need to fix this immediately!
And most importantly, when you dance, your expression matters as much as (if not more than) the dance itself.







See what I mean. Look at Ralph. Image from favim.com, The English Patient (not the movie that inspired the poem).






Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com

Please do not reproduce the material published here.

This week has been - there's been a loud buzzing in my brain and apart from inspiring a scary story, that incessant buzzing has blocked out everything else. Also why I was a little late in posting my Creative Wednesday post for this week. Also why I didn't learn anything significant this week except for a teensy thing which I knew any way.

So my creative juices were feeling rather like a rope left to dry in the sun, and I had been struggling to get my thoughts right when the poem The Nostalgia For Happiness struck my mind. It was inspired by a movie poster I had seen. I wanted a nice picture to go with the poem, but I did not want to use the same movie poster. 
Once inspiration strikes, the words battle out whatever bees and buzzes are blocking your head and you can't rest until you've written them down. That's what I did, and in record time! But the picture was a challenge. I tried all kinds of Image search keywords but despite coming up with the pose I was looking for, none of the images were - umm, what I was looking for. [Excuse me, there's noise in the head; I can't think] 
For some time I could not figure out why I was not satisfied with the many results Google was politely serving me as I rudely hit key after key. Add to that, the fact that the internet was sluggish at the time. When the internet is slow, I become such an unfocused person that I start reading the labels at the back of lotion bottles, or the status lines my contacts have put up on Whatsapp.
Then it hit me.
None of the dancers had expressions. I mean, some looked haughtily at their partners, the others looked like they were dancing with their siblings or cousins! There was neither fire nor love nor despair nor ecstasy in their eyes or faces as there should have been - they were dancing after all!
So the brief lessons I learnt are these:I take longer to find the perfect picture to add to a blog post than I do writing it!Buzzing in the head is no reason to not write. Write anyway. Edit/delete later, but you cannot make up for lost time.I have lost the ability to function without internet - need to fix this immediately!And most importantly, when you dance, your expression matters as much as (if not more than) the dance itself. See what I mean. Look at Ralph. Image from favim.com, The English Patient (not the movie that inspired the poem).
Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.

When they met, she gave him a wistful smile
Laden with the yesterdays spent
On the clouds of heaven filled with joy
When the happiness seemed endless.


On the rim of her eyes 
The image still sparkling clear remained
And the rustle and swish could be heard
Of her skirt, autumn-coloured.


As they waltzed together around the empty ballroom
Once a drop and then up he did lift
Slow was the music, filled was the wine glass
The music faded into the sugar touch of lips


A touch of lips she had thought would last forever,
But moments die and people change though;
Preserved memories stretch in time
Diminishing the present even more so.


The music fades, and the wine is drunk
A kiss remains nothing but
A heaviness from the past on swollen lips
This she knows, and so does he;


But they let the memory of the dance remain
The nostalgia for happiness
The swish and rustle of an autumn-coloured skirt
And the kiss they thought would never end.

Image Source: Pinterest

Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com

Please do not reproduce the material published here.

When they met, she gave him a wistful smileLaden with the yesterdays spentOn the clouds of heaven filled with joyWhen the happiness seemed endless.
On the rim of her eyes The image still sparkling clear remainedAnd the rustle and swish could be heardOf her skirt, autumn-coloured.
As they waltzed together around the empty ballroomOnce a drop and then up he did liftSlow was the music, filled was the wine glassThe music faded into the sugar touch of lips
A touch of lips she had thought would last forever,But moments die and people change though;Preserved memories stretch in timeDiminishing the present even more so.
The music fades, and the wine is drunkA kiss remains nothing butA heaviness from the past on swollen lipsThis she knows, and so does he;
But they let the memory of the dance remainThe nostalgia for happinessThe swish and rustle of an autumn-coloured skirtAnd the kiss they thought would never end.



Image Source: Pinterest
Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.

Alvira sat for a long time on the park bench, looking at the families enjoying themselves on Saturday afternoon. There were picnic baskets on spread out mats, colorful balls and Frisbees, children laughing, little baby girls in cute puffy frocks, concerned mothers calling out to children to stay safe. She smiled at the happy chaos. She smiled at the dogs fetching balls and at the babies crawling around in their diapers and hair bows.


When the first family that packed up and left glanced at her, she smiled a goodbye. Soon all the families left and the bright yellow afternoon turned into a golden orange evening. The evening air felt fresh, cool and crisp with the hint of distant spices. It turned soon to a reddish dusk, and then to a purplish night, turned greyish blue by the street lamps, around which insects with transparent wings had begun fluttering. Alvira got up and buried her hands into the pockets of her trench coat. She attracted no attention, a solitary figure, trying to take up as little space in the world as possible by hunching her shoulders, and bowing her head as she walked.


She stood on the pavement, waiting for the light to change to cross the street. Suddenly, her mind was assaulted by that image again – Navneet, briefly turning around to wave to her, when a drunk driver rushed in from the wrong side and hit him. The car had sped off without stopping. He had been caught, but Navneet – Navneet did not survive.


Alvira was twenty three and a widow. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get that image out of her mind. Every time she slept, she saw the car hitting him. Loneliness and grief drilled into her very last cell. She found no distractions she could immerse herself into.


Then finally, one Saturday, she went to the park – to look at the happiness around her, to look at happy families, at children, and picnic lunches. She walked back, crossed the road when the light turned, despite remembering Navneet again – had she ever really forgotten him, even for an instant?
She reached home and carefully locked and bolted every window and every door. She wiped the bit of dust that had collected on the kitchen platform, and threw out the milk that had been lying in the fridge. Then she went to the bedroom, and slowly withdrew from her trench coat pocket, a bottle she had clutched as she walked back home. A bottle of strong sleeping pills. She gulped them all down with water.

She never woke up.


This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com

Please do not reproduce the material published here.

Alvira sat for a long time on the park bench, looking at the families enjoying themselves on Saturday afternoon. There were picnic baskets on spread out mats, colorful balls and Frisbees, children laughing, little baby girls in cute puffy frocks, concerned mothers calling out to children to stay safe. She smiled at the happy chaos. She smiled at the dogs fetching balls and at the babies crawling around in their diapers and hair bows.
When the first family that packed up and left glanced at her, she smiled a goodbye. Soon all the families left and the bright yellow afternoon turned into a golden orange evening. The evening air felt fresh, cool and crisp with the hint of distant spices. It turned soon to a reddish dusk, and then to a purplish night, turned greyish blue by the street lamps, around which insects with transparent wings had begun fluttering. Alvira got up and buried her hands into the pockets of her trench coat. She attracted no attention, a solitary figure, trying to take up as little space in the world as possible by hunching her shoulders, and bowing her head as she walked.
She stood on the pavement, waiting for the light to change to cross the street. Suddenly, her mind was assaulted by that image again – Navneet, briefly turning around to wave to her, when a drunk driver rushed in from the wrong side and hit him. The car had sped off without stopping. He had been caught, but Navneet – Navneet did not survive.
Alvira was twenty three and a widow. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get that image out of her mind. Every time she slept, she saw the car hitting him. Loneliness and grief drilled into her very last cell. She found no distractions she could immerse herself into.
Then finally, one Saturday, she went to the park – to look at the happiness around her, to look at happy families, at children, and picnic lunches. She walked back, crossed the road when the light turned, despite remembering Navneet again – had she ever really forgotten him, even for an instant? She reached home and carefully locked and bolted every window and every door. She wiped the bit of dust that had collected on the kitchen platform, and threw out the milk that had been lying in the fridge. Then she went to the bedroom, and slowly withdrew from her trench coat pocket, a bottle she had clutched as she walked back home. A bottle of strong sleeping pills. She gulped them all down with water.

She never woke up.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.

I got on the wrong side of my class when I watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and exclaimed, “What shit movie is this?!” They looked at me like I was a blasphemer. Like I had just uttered things-that-must-not-be-uttered. But the truth was – that movie was stupid. Even as an almost-twelve year old I could see it was just. plain. stupid.

And I dared to say I hated it when everyone else was going gaga over it (I came to know years later that even my mother is a fan (she still watches it when it comes on TV!)! Oh! That feeling of betrayal!). This met with some interesting remarks from and they ranged from “Tum bachi ho. You don’t understand such deep emotions.” to “Oh you like only those kind of movies *snigger*” I did understand deep emotions (enough to know Kuch Kuch Hota Hai had none), but frankly I didn’t understand what “those kind of movies” meant until I was older and someone made the same remark in a different classroom, but during a discussion about the same movie. [For those who still didn’t get it – the kind of movies recently banned (and later un-banned) by the Ban-Noodles-And-All-Anti-Sanskriti-Things government. If you still don’t get it, well, tum bache ho]

Obviously I am remembering this movie this week for the obvious reason – Friendship (Friendships? Friendships’? Friendship’s? Friends?) Day was celebrated on Sunday and if nothing else, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was an advert for it. I’ve been against “Days” of the social-media-warm-fuzziness-give-me-some-Likes-please kind since a long time. In my opinion, all days should just be renamed to, “Let’s pretend we care” Day.

But that’s a topic for another day. This year, I came across other people who were 1) hating on “Days” 2) hating on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. And they were not being trolled for it! This is interesting, because I spend a large part of my growing-up years (I’m still growing up, by the way) believing there was something wrong with me – I always ended up hating all things popular, aforementioned movie, Hrithik Roshan, kulfi, alcohol, everything! But this year, suddenly, people were finally coming out of their closets and admitting that they hate Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Suddenly, I felt I was not alone anymore! There were others out there, like me. All those years they pretended like it was ok for SRK to behave like a dick were washing away and I wanted to paint social media with colours of that garish pink lipstick Kajol wore in that one scene with the hashtag LogicWins!

So here’s what we’ve learnt:
1) Never be afraid to voice your opinion. [even if it’s against the government or SRK – at most you will be trolled, and your naani and maasi will also be trolled. (But that has nothing to do with this post. (Social Media Trolling – Coming Soon to Petrichor and Clouds))]
2) SRK once claimed he can even romance a pillar. While I will not state anything obvious about romancing pillars (because my blog will be banned) I will say this – the man’s romanticism causes nausea. And what a crappy tagline for a movie is “You Know You’re In Love When…” When what? You watch a movie about outrageous college-goers, death, heartbreak, and logicfails?
3) The number of friendship bands on your wrist (if you kids still do that) is not an index of your popularity. If you’re still worried, go to the nearest temple and get some dhagas.
4) LogicWins should be a trending hashtag, don’t you think?
5) Lastly and most importantly:

Image from www.pelfusion.com

Emma Watson has spoken.

Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com

Please do not reproduce the material published here.

I got on the wrong side of my class when I watched Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and exclaimed, "What shit movie is this?!" They looked at me like I was a blasphemer. Like I had just uttered things-that-must-not-be-uttered. But the truth was that movie was stupid. Even as an almost-twelve year old I could see it was just. plain. stupid.

And I dared to say I hated it when everyone else was going gaga over it (I came to know years later that even my mother is a fan (she still watches it when it comes on TV!)! Oh! That feeling of betrayal!). This met with some interesting remarks from and they ranged from "Tum bachi ho. You don't understand such deep emotions." to "Oh you like only those kind of movies *snigger*" I did understand deep emotions (enough to know Kuch Kuch Hota Hai had none), but frankly I didn't understand what "those kind of movies" meant until I was older and someone made the same remark in a different classroom, but during a discussion about the same movie. [For those who still didn't get it - the kind of movies recently banned (and later un-banned) by the Ban-Noodles-And-All-Anti-Sanskriti-Things government. If you still don't get it, well, tum bache ho]

Obviously I am remembering this movie this week for the obvious reason - Friendship (Friendships? Friendships'? Friendship's? Friends?) Day was celebrated on Sunday and if nothing else, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was an advert for it. I've been against "Days" of the social-media-warm-fuzziness-give-me-some-Likes-please kind since a long time. In my opinion, all days should just be renamed to, "Let's pretend we care" Day.

But that's a topic for another day. This year, I came across other people who were 1) hating on "Days" 2) hating on Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. And they were not being trolled for it! This is interesting, because I spend a large part of my growing-up years (I'm still growing up, by the way) believing there was something wrong with me - I always ended up hating all things popular, aforementioned movie, Hrithik Roshan, kulfi, alcohol, everything! But this year, suddenly, people were finally coming out of their closets and admitting that they hate Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Suddenly, I felt I was not alone anymore! There were others out there, like me. All those years they pretended like it was ok for SRK to behave like a dick were washing away and I wanted to paint social media with colours of that garish pink lipstick Kajol wore in that one scene with the hashtag LogicWins!

So here's what we've learnt:
1) Never be afraid to voice your opinion. [even if it's against the government or SRK - at most you will be trolled, and your naani and maasi will also be trolled. (But that has nothing to do with this post. (Social Media Trolling - Coming Soon to Petrichor and Clouds))]
2) SRK once claimed he can even romance a pillar. While I will not state anything obvious about romancing pillars (because my blog will be banned) I will say this - the man's romanticism causes nausea. And what a crappy tagline for a movie is "You Know You're In Love When..." When what? You watch a movie about outrageous college-goers, death, heartbreak, and logicfails?
3) The number of friendship bands on your wrist (if you kids still do that) is not an index of your popularity. If you're still worried, go to the nearest temple and get some dhagas.
4) LogicWins should be a trending hashtag, don't you think?
5) Lastly and most importantly:

Image from www.pelfusion.com

Emma Watson has spoken.


Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.

Is it raining blogger meets this year? I am not complaining, quite the opposite, actually! We should have more meets.

The latest one we had was organized by Indiblogger and Flipkart, to introduce the new Image Search functionality on the latter’s mobile app. If there’s one thing blogger meets have been doing of late, it’s waking me up early on weekends! It was held in the legen-wait for it-dary Hard Rock Cafe – a place I’ve been meaning to visit since the time I moved to Bangalore – I guess there’s a time for everything!

Magnificent ambiance, I tell ya!

My favourite bit about any blogging event is meeting people – blogger friends, old and new. We had a full house at the Flipkart Image Search meet and it was unbelievable! Honestly, it’s the first time I’ve interacted with so many people at an event! Any event – blogging or otherwise!

The Indi Band

Now let me tell you a little bit about the Image Search Functionality. It is simply what they say in it’s tagline – point, shoot, buy. If you like a fashion item – clothes, shoes, sunglasses, watches, wallets, etc., you click a picture of it using your mobile cam (through the app) and it detects the pattern, colour etc and gives you matches. Pretty impressive, don’t you think?

Punit Soni, Chief Product Officer, Flipkart 

Now a lot of apps and/or app functionalities don’t work on Windows mobiles, so obviously at first I thought that this new feature wouldn’t be updated yet. But when I opened the app, I was obviously glad to find the little camera icon next to the search field. More like, grateful, than glad. Something on the lines of, “Thank you for being the only people willing to do something for Windows phones!”

As children, when our teachers taught us something new, we immediately tried it out – starting from the first time they taught us how to clap or something! Similarly, no sooner had they stopped describing the functionality, we all whipped out our phones and began clicking – at the clothes and watches of those sitting beside us!

Soon after there was an activity that required us to do exactly that! We were split into teams and afterwards, as you can imagine there was a lot of noise!

There’s a photo of a photo of my wallet. (Pic from the Indiblogger Facebook page)

Team # 6, clicked by Jeffrey JK

In addition to the Image Search Functionality, we were also given copies of the new book released by IB called 10 Love Stories.

Lunch!

I think #FlipkartImageSearch it’s a great feature, and they should expand the functionality to other items as well. It’s like Shazam, but for shopping!!! Try it out!

Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com

Please do not reproduce the material published here.

Is it raining blogger meets this year? I am not complaining, quite the opposite, actually! We should have more meets.

The latest one we had was organized by Indiblogger and Flipkart, to introduce the new Image Search functionality on the latter's mobile app. If there's one thing blogger meets have been doing of late, it's waking me up early on weekends! It was held in the legen-wait for it-dary Hard Rock Cafe - a place I've been meaning to visit since the time I moved to Bangalore - I guess there's a time for everything!

Magnificent ambiance, I tell ya!
My favourite bit about any blogging event is meeting people - blogger friends, old and new. We had a full house at the Flipkart Image Search meet and it was unbelievable! Honestly, it's the first time I've interacted with so many people at an event! Any event - blogging or otherwise!

The Indi BandNow let me tell you a little bit about the Image Search Functionality. It is simply what they say in it's tagline - point, shoot, buy. If you like a fashion item - clothes, shoes, sunglasses, watches, wallets, etc., you click a picture of it using your mobile cam (through the app) and it detects the pattern, colour etc and gives you matches. Pretty impressive, don't you think?

Punit Soni, Chief Product Officer, Flipkart Now a lot of apps and/or app functionalities don't work on Windows mobiles, so obviously at first I thought that this new feature wouldn't be updated yet. But when I opened the app, I was obviously glad to find the little camera icon next to the search field. More like, grateful, than glad. Something on the lines of, "Thank you for being the only people willing to do something for Windows phones!"



As children, when our teachers taught us something new, we immediately tried it out - starting from the first time they taught us how to clap or something! Similarly, no sooner had they stopped describing the functionality, we all whipped out our phones and began clicking - at the clothes and watches of those sitting beside us!

Soon after there was an activity that required us to do exactly that! We were split into teams and afterwards, as you can imagine there was a lot of noise!

There's a photo of a photo of my wallet. (Pic from the Indiblogger Facebook page)
Team # 6, clicked by Jeffrey JKIn addition to the Image Search Functionality, we were also given copies of the new book released by IB called 10 Love Stories.

Lunch!I think #FlipkartImageSearch it's a great feature, and they should expand the functionality to other items as well. It's like Shazam, but for shopping!!! Try it out!


Copyright Petrichor and Clouds 2015 at petrichorandclouds.blogspot.com
Please do not reproduce the material published here.