A Boy Named Billy Jones

I just found a bucket load of my old writing! This one was written in 2003 for some contest which wanted to encourage physical activity among teenagers. There is loads of other stuff lying about which needs to be worked on. Will post it if I deem it appropriate any time in the future.

A Boy Named Billy Jones

Here was a boy named Billy Jones

Who never ever moved his bones

And because he never moved

This is what happened to him-

One fine morning he found that he

Was completely paralyzed, physically.

Too fat to move, too fat to budge

He started to panic, he was really het up

He sat on his bed like a huge block

And blubbered on the phone-“Please help me doc.”

The doctor came, looking quite grim

“Let’s face it son, you’re not very trim.

You have more fat than you can bear

And soon you’ll have no clothes to wear.

Your body’s in a terrible state

Your heart will collapse from all that weight

Now you’ll feel about eighty-eight

But soon you’ll be Billy Jones- The Late”

There was a boy, name of Billy

Who thought the doctor’s advice was silly

And reached out for another cream roll

And we’re here today to pray for his departed soul.

Begin Again (The Movie): My Two Paise

I just finished watching this weird and cute little movie, which Varun recommended, about a month after I recommended it to him by making him watch its trailer. It is one of those new age movies which is completely devoid of any clichés, and which leaves you feeling a little good, because you just saw something that you have not seen about a million times before. And don't be fooled by the trailer, it is not a chick flick. The title in itself is so poetic and meaningful. It made no sense to me the first time I heard of it, but after the first ten minutes into the movie, the whole thing suddenly began making sense. You begin, all over again. Once you have failed at everything, falling down to the bottom of the pit, the only thing left for you to do is to start fresh. I have long believed, that it is mostly those people who have failed miserably in everything they do, who have the courage to do what nobody else would. A man with a secure job and a fat pay check will not do the unthinkable and imaginative. And that, is precisely what the movie was all about.
Keira Knightley looks charming in the movie as the poor little miserable failure, Mark Ruffalo has put on a whole lot of years since 13 Going On 30. I do wish the man would put a little more effort in looking less messy, we are, after all, no longer in the 90s. That being said, I still really like him. And Adam Levine....Whoa! I think he would be my first musical crush, and no, the Late Mr. Presley at age of 16 does not count. What an amazing man, though I was quite  disappointed by the overall soundtrack. I felt like something was missing there. I do believe the makers of the movie were trying to make a point about record labels and what nots. I really don't know. But I bet Nine Inch Nails would be proud.
There was a lot of infidelity flying around in the movie, which makes you believe it is no longer possible to be in a happy relationship for too long without risking a third party these days. The views on infidelity represented in the movie are kind of contradictory to the views presented in a book I am currently reading, and I was beginning to wonder which one would be closer to reality. While in the movie, you generally get the impression that no matter how long you have been in a relationship, the moment you discover that you had been momentarily replaced, you walk out; in the book, the lady whose husband cheated on her decides to stay on and work things out. (Not a spoiler, I have barely started reading the book). Sharing a direct quote from the book here,

"...Kiki had begun to release the memory of Howard's mistake...she had weighed one stupid night against a lifetime of love and felt the difference in her heart. If you'd told Kiki a year ago, your husband will screw somebody else, you will forgive him, you will stay, she wouldn't have believed it. You can't say how these things feel, or how you will respond, until they happen to you.."

For some reason, the words made more sense than the characters' reactions in the movie.
I quite liked how the movie ended. It was simple and sweet. It makes a decent Saturday-night-lazing-in-bed watch. So if your late night class also got cancelled and you have time to spare, watch the movie. Meanwhile, go watch Adam Levine being wonderful with Jimmy Fallon here. (His Frank Sinatra!!)

Adios,
Naina

A Working Title - Part II

For Part I, click here.

A week had passed since Shalini had walked out of the office and driven off. After hours of mindless wandering, she had finally gone home. She had called one of her oldest friends from college and poured her heart out. The next day, there were return tickets in her inbox for a holiday at a beach side town, with only two words of explanation, "Let's meet." She had not needed a second invitation. It was time to make the leap. She had two days to plan. She did not tell her family about the trip, she was sure there would be objections. "It is unsafe", or "where and how will you stay?" or, "how can you travel without any female companions, what will the world say?". She did not think she could handle all of that and still make it to the vacation feeling upbeat. So she took the easy way out, and just forgot to mention the plan to her family. And here she was today, with two of her closest friends, feeling the most peaceful she had felt in years. It had finally stopped raining. They were at the beach, absorbing the weak sun and enjoying each others' companies without uttering a single word, each content in the knowledge that they did not need to fill the space with needless banter. The waves were making that blessed sound that you can only hear if you're near a shore. The breeze was gentle, ruffling through her uncombed hair, tangling it up even more than was normal. A gang of boys had arrived to play a game of cricket, they had been setting up the pitch for the past ten minutes.  Zuber had just been invited to join the game. As he got up to join in, Shalini smiled and thought how good life was, and how, at that moment, all time had ceased. The three of them had spent the last four days doing nothing, just driving around and taking in the new city, trying not to get drenched by that ghastly rain that refused to give them a break. At the back of her mind though, she knew the moment she stepped out of there, the clock would restart, with a vengeance. Body and soul would once again separate, the brain and heart would be in a dilemma. But at that moment, she was one. At peace with the Earth, the wind, the water and the sky.

She lay her head on the sand and closed her eyes. With a smile on her face and the ocean in her ears she thought, right now, this is eternity.

END OF PART II