Milestone Of Success

Where did we come from?

So what's going on with R, me and The Chronicles of R? A lot, to say the least.

First of all, last Tuesday The Chronicles of R touched the 3000+ unique visitors per day mark. And now we have 1500+ unique visitors per day on an average. 1500+ unique visitors per day, can you believe that! Imagine that you are in a theater and you have 1500+ people listening to you speak, isn't it thrilling? Sure it is.

Secondly, yesterday The Chronicles of R got a PR 3 from a PR 0. As you all know that right after I shifted to this new domain, all my PR, backlinks and everything else was gone *poof*. They simply vanished into thin air. And that's pretty natural, as Google treats a new domain as a new site. I have explained that in a bit detail over here. But I was not afraid of losing my PR and backlinks for one simple reason. Because I believe. Yes my dear Constant Readers, I believe and belief or faith, as you might call it, can move heaven and earth.

So what did I believe in? I believed in two things. One, I had faith on my Constant Readers, that is you. I knew that PR or no PR, you would be able to differentiate between pure trash and a good read. And you did, even when I had a PR 0, you visited my site and I really appreciate it. Without you, The Chronicles of R would not have been what it is. The second thing that I believed in was myself. Till the time you don't start believing in yourself, you would not be able to move an inch ahead in the path of success. If you cannot convince yourself that what you are doing is good, how would you convince those thousands who would visit your site daily! So, believe in yourself.

Third came another big achievement. The Chronicles of R crossed the 50,000 visitors mark. Today we had the 50,000th visitor on The Chronicles of R. It was a very special moment.

One of the most important thing that had happened in the last few months is that I have made lots of friends. Here's I would like to mention two of them, only two of them because the complete list would be quite lengthy. So please don't take offense if you don't find your name here, I love you all.

The first person who comes in my mind is John Haydon. John, based out of Boston, MA, is a singer, blogger, a social media expert and a very good friend. When I landed up on his blog the first time, it was then that I realized what I was missing. He has written some brilliant articles on social media. He has a very unique quality as a blogger and loves to make his readers feel unique. How? Well, that's a surprise. Do visit his blog and find it out for yourself, but don't forget to leave a comment or two, he really loves to hear from his readers. You can find John on my friend's list on Facebook.

Second person I befriended was Rohini from Crazy Quilt. Although I knew her for quite some time now, yet, we hardly used to interact. But since the last few months, she had been a regular visitor on my blog and vice versa. And only when I started to follow her blog regularly did I understand that she has a unique way of putting things across to her readers. She never falls short of enthusiasm and loves to converse through the blog comments.

The next big thing that happened on The Chronicles of R is that it got mentioned by two bloggeratis. Once by Hugh McLeod of Gapingvoid, and then by Annie of BlogU fame. I would really like to thanks both of them.

Where are we headed?

Well this is surely not the end. A lot remains unsaid, unheard, untouched, unseen, and lot remains unsung. But to take The Chronicles of R to the next level, I would need all your help dear readers. Because it's only you who can make The Chronicles of R a success. And I believe in you.

And today, as a mark of gratitude, I want to gift you something. An eBook (PDF) called Deep Secrets of Successful Blogging, which contains the secret to successful blogging from 30 experts, including bloggeratis such as Darren Rowse, Chris Pirillo, Andy Sernovitz, Chris Betty, Aaron Wall and a lot more. It's FREE, absolutely, completely, no sign-ups required, although you can leave a comment and let me know how much did you enjoyed reading this eBook. I would love to hear from you. Simply click on this link and start the download.

My Dream Break

When my results came out for my grads, it was as I had expected. I did not pass out with flying colors. The subjects were fine with me, mugging was not. But the Indian education system expects you to have a good memory, not brains. And I never had a good memory. I taught some of my fellow classmates while I was doing my +2. They did pass out with good results, so in a way I was satisfied.

On D-Day (R-Day rather) the moment I came out of my college I wanted to give R the good news. And although we never spoke at the instant as she was in office, I did send her an sms. Sometimes when you know that a person wants to listen to you, even if she is not on the other end of the line you don't feel the difference! Love can be so fulfilling, isn't it?

After my results I was under pressure to pursue a career, most importantly a job. The job became a necessity, more so because I was freshly out of my previous job with ICICI because of my accident. So I started searching for jobs in domestic Call Centers under her advice. Me, a friend of mine, Santosh, one of his friends, Sumit who had recently come down from Delhi after his campaign in a Call Center went out of business, the three musketeers started looking for a job in Calcutta. Every now and then the three of us were to be found in the interview venue together. But life was not that easy, and we went for rounds and rounds and rounds of interview before it happened.

One fine morning while I was sitting back at my Aunt's, Santosh called me up saying whether I was interested in appearing for an interview for a Delhi based company. Neki aur pooch pooch! So in an hour or so, the three of us met outside Hotel Hindustan International which was the venue that day for the interview. We never knew anything about it except for the fact that Sumit, being from Delhi, told us that it was one of the best companies in Noida. It was only half way through the interview that we came to know the name of the company, ExL Service and they were hiring for a Tech Support Process.

Although I was not sure about Santosh and myself, but I was pretty sure of Sumit getting through the interview. Afterall he had prior experience in the Call Center industry. R's phone was out of balance and so was unreachable. I am talking about 2003, at that time the Lifetime pre-paid offers were just a dream, at that time we were even charged for incoming calls, and so I was feeling a little down.

When I went inside the venue, the excitement died down completely. There were BTechs, CCNAs, CCNPs that went to try their luck there. I was looking like a big fat lump of lard sitting in between them with a mediocre BSc degree. It was one of the most tiring day of my life, the interview process was completed by nothing less than 12:30AM. That was the first day of my life that I had stayed out of my place till such wee hours at night, everyone back home were worried.

We were first interviewed by an recruitment agency and then by the HR of that company. The HR was a pretty looking girl, Nandini. So in the one-to-one round with the HR, I had to act smart. I went through the HR round in a breeze *ahem*. In the final round, which was a telephonic interview with a Group Leader from Delhi. His name was Aakash Chowdhury. A very soft spoken guy and one of the most knowledgeable person I have ever met in my life. He asked me several questions, a few of which I never knew but was not afraid of admitting the same to him. Then he asked me a very stupid question, does the resolution of a computer depends on the Monitor? I said of course it does not and went ahead to give him quite a global gyan about what is resolution and how to go about increasing it. In the end, he said that I was brilliant because out of all those BTechs, CCNAs and CCNPs, I was the only person who answered that question correctly. Surprising! So finally I got through.

Was it sheer luck? Was it my ability to convince people? Or was it my computer skills? I still don't know. But whatever it was, it gave me a dream break that many people would die for. I was selected to be a Tech Support Associate in ExL Service for their DELL campaign. My first official job, with DELL. A reason good enough to fly high up in the air, above the clouds.

Blooming Love

Sometimes the support from a stranger works miracles, she was a miracle. She still is. R used to work in a domestic Call Center in Calcutta near AJC Bose Road. A meritorious student, her ambitions were soon marred by the socio-political structure of our country after she passed out. So we were sailing in the same boat, although I would say that she was a much better struggler than I was. And she never fell short off optimism, atleast not for me.

It was a late night at home. Everyone was asleep except for me. I was still recovering from that accident which almost killed me. I was watching a movie on Cable when my phone buzzed. It was an SMS from Indiatimes chat. I had registered there feeling bored with life and nothing else to do, my computer was broke after an unfortunate power surge.

It was R's first SMS for me. She wanted to be my friend. And since then I never had to turn back to anyone else for friendship, love and solace. She was always there for me, always. At times for me, she even forgot her own self!

Her introduction was short, sweet and crisp. And it never took me time to sweep her off her feet with my inborn charm of a true Libran *ahem* Slowly one thing came to the other and we never knew when, but we fell madly in love with eachother.

We used to meet near Forum Shopping Mall, it was the most convenient place for her as it was a 10 minutes walk from her workplace. And moreover we had a place to sit on a crescent shaped marble chair so that we could get lost in eachother's eyes.

R and I mainly used to talk over the phone, we hardly used go out together. Reason being, she had her office, and I was not used to dating or hanging out with someone. Come to think of it now I think it was a blunder, the times we shared could have been much better. And she deserved a lot more than that.

It was because of R that I became an SMS junkie, I still have an incredible text-ing speed of 70 wpm. Mostly we used to chat during late nights, when the whole world was asleep. The world dreamt in their sleep, we dreamt lying awake.

I still remember that night. It was one of the most memorable night for me. I was waiting for her SMS and all the while twisting and turning in my bed. All of a sudden a gust of cold breeze hit me hard on my face. My bedroom is on the 4th floor and it has 2 big windows in it just next to my bed. The windows open to the houses nearby, but those houses are at a distance. And in between there are lots of greens. No, I don't mean we have a money making press here, I mean trees, plain simple green tress. So during the monsoon I enjoyed watching rain from my bedroom.

Later that night all hell broke loose. It started raining cats and dogs, and it seemed that that night the cats and dogs were having the fight of their lives. But I was too lazy to get out of my bed to close the windows. So the occasional gust of wind which brought in the monsoon shower through the window drenched me from head to toe, but I paid no heed to it. Rather I was secretly enjoying it while hiding under my quilt.

Monsoon can bring the poet and the lover inside you. The poet because the virgin nature, bathed, offers you her body to write on, to write upon. Lover, because the dampness of the monsoon brings with it a sense of warmth. You want to snuggle up close with some someone for warmth, you want to hide your face behind her ears and hold her fragrance forever inside you. And you can take my word for it, during monsoon, the lover is not romantic, the monsoon love can be pretty wild.

That night when we finally started chatting it was still raining, and in that ambiance we forgot the concept of time and that she would have to go to her office the next morning. We played a little game of textual Antakshari. She would write a song and send it to me, I would write a song and send it to her. Childish, isn't it? Yes, there is a kid hiding somewhere inside her which only I can find.

That night, I would not say I was in heaven, but wherever I was I never wanted to come back to reality.

[If you like this story then consider subscribing to The Chronicles of R. It would help you to remain updated about the latest happening here.]

Jab We Met

In the backdrop of the Vidyasagar Setu, the sky had painted itself with myriad colors. Yellow, pink, brick red and finally blue. It looked like a chameleon, trying to hide itself within the arms of night.

It was a summer evening in 2003, I was standing on the terrace of our apartment. My final year exams were over for good, although the results were not declared by then. The college said it would take another 2-3 weeks, and maybe another 3-4 years to actually get the Pass Certificate. Calcutta University *sigh*.

We had recently shifted to this apartment. New place, new people. And finally, not only I had my own bedroom but a bed to sleep on. Over the past couple of years I got too tired of sleeping on the floor of the living room.

I was searching, like everyone else of my age then, for a job. Whoever lives here would know that that's one thing which is hard to come by in Calcutta. Although then I never had high hopes for myself, what can I possibly get with only a BSc degree to boast about! Fine, I had some fancy Tech certifications below my belt, and a 6 months experience as a faculty for a group of students hungry to learn C/C++ with the most boring eyes I had ever seen in my life. But those are simply nothing. No one wants to see what you actually knew, they always wanted some fancy degrees. So the search was on, and while admiring the beauty of the summer evening, the nagging feeling was still there at the back of my mind.

After a few days I did get a job. It was with a franchisee of ICICI bank personal loans division. But right out of grad school, I was not pretty sure how long would I be able to survive with this. Nonetheless I gave it a try, and failed! Miserably. I could not convert a single lead. And after a week or so one fine day, while I was returning to office to report to my manager about my yet another day of failure, I had a major accident. You see, I was not quite used to traveling by buses. But I had to, and that day while getting down from the bus I twisted my ankle and fell out of the bus. I would have nearly got run over by it had it been no for the fellow passengers hollers. The moment they saw me disappear below the bus they started shouting for the driver to stop the bus, and so he did, thankfully.

I could not go back to office, I could not even walk. Called up for emergency, and when I went back home I was feeling frustrated. With myself, with the world, with everything. And as a result I went into hibernation for the next 2 weeks, sitting back at home, pondering over what had happened.

That was when I met R for the first time.

The 25 Random Things Meme

This is the 25 things meme that is taking rounds of the internet for quite some time now. Yes, I have put a THE in front of it as it had become so popular that a search in Google would reveal 1,460,000 results, so we should put some respect to it. So without further ado here are the 25 random things about me that you were better off not knowing.

1. I can read, write and speak fluently in 3 languages. In fact I speak English and Hindi way better than Bengali, which is my mother tongue.

2. I am scared of ghosts, noisy firecrackers and thunder.

3. My right foot is slightly smaller than the left one due to an accident during my childhood days. Although it's invisible to the naked eye.

4. My sunsign is Libra whereas my moonsign is Gemini.

5. I used to be an amateur palmist.

6. My favorite season is monsoon.

7. I had taken courses in singing from a Guru for for almost 3 months. Then I sort of got bored of Rabindrasangeet.

8. I have a secret crush on Kareena Kapoor. Okay, now it's not a secret anymore.

9. Although I love to say that I am an open book, more often than not people have complained that I am the most difficult read.

10. I am hypersensitive and a bit too emotional. I still cry seeing the lamest movies in the theater.

11. My favorite subject since my school days is Computer Science. I always wanted to be a Computer Engineer.

12. My first computer was rechristened by R as Celu. It was a Celeron 1.2 GHz.

13. I am a divorcee.

14. I have taken professional training in Kyukoshikan form of Karate for almost 2 years when I was in school.

15. I have been to all the metros in India except for Mumbai.

16. I don't forgive, neither do I forget.

17. I am a self-confessed chauvinist and egoist.

18. I am an ardent fan of WWE.

19. I am a born loner.

20. I hate to be left alone. I want myself to be surrounded by friends.

21. Yes, my left ear is pierced. It's not a falsetto.

22. I feel fascinated by nature, women, words and technology.

23. I consider myself to be a love-sick puppy.

24. My favorite food is Biriyani and Meetha-Dahi.

25. I hate lizards and liars. I consider them fall in the same rank.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day R

Antaheen - Ek Opekha

[I had stopped writing in Bengali a long time back. But after watching Antaheen on 31st January, 2009, I felt the need to write in Bengali once again. On one hand this is about R, on the other, this is another tribute to Antaheen, one of the best Bengali movies that I have ever seen.]

The Chronicles of R Has It's Own Domain Now

Yesterday R and I took another step towards the success of The Chronicles of R. Yes, finally The Chronicles of R has it's own domain. Now The Chronicles of R is at http://www.rajtilak.net. Althought it's still being hosted by Blogger and honestly, I don't have any immediate plans of changing the hosting service for my site. Mostly because of my affinity towards Google and it's products. Also because over a period of time this place has become our home. Why? Because as Rocky Balboa once said, "Ya know they always say if you live in one place long enough, you are that place". So in a way we have become this place.

I would like to thank all of you for all your support, your comments, criticism, and everything which had helped us move on to achieve greater heights. Thank you.

And I also remember another Rocky Balboa saying in the same movie, "You know I couldn't have done nothing without you. Yo Adrian we did it", I would like to say the same thing to you R. We did it R, together we did it.

The Journey With R

Who is R? The question that have intrigued my constant readers and some of my closest friends over and over again. Is R real? Is R a fiction? Is R a dream? Is R my love interest? Is R a human being? Does R's feet still trod the face of this earth? Well, these were just a few of the questions that I was faced with every time the topic of R came in our. But when the topic came up while I was discussing my writing with Sandip a few weeks back, and I felt a sudden urge to let the world to know who or what is R. So, here it is. R, at her best.

R is real. She's not just a figment of my imagination, although it's true that R is my dream. Confusing? Let me explain. How do you define reality? Many people would define something to be real only if they can get grasp it with their hands. Now let me ask you a question, do you dream when you sleep? You can't catch your dreams, does that mean that your dreams are not real? It's somewhat like the Heisenberg theory, you cannot say the moon exist when you are not looking at it except it this case we are talking about R and not the moon.

I am a dream, even though I do exist in reality. I am R's dream. Many people find it difficult to accept the sublime, they find it difficult to dream dreams that are dreamt with our eyes wide open. For them it's an atrocity, cause they love to stand on their feet held firmly on the grounds of reality. So for them I gave R a name, I gave R her vital statistics, I gave R everything a real woman might have. But still, her ethereal existence remained. I guess that's what makes R more charming, cause R is a fiction in reality and vice versa.

A few days back, another friend of mine told me why don't I find some other alphabet like "S". I have been engaged romantically with other alphabets too, I have been with S, I have been with M, I have been with A, I have been with C and with a few other consonants. But they were all R to me. R is not just an am alphabet Darling! R is a poem. R is a song. A song that my heart keeps on humming. This song is very sweet, serene, soothing, melodious, amorous, enigmatic, consistent, chimerical, surprising. Something like the pitter-patter of the raindrops on a crowded sidewalk. Some people don't hear it even though some like me can die many deaths to sing it forever. R is unique, yet R is in everybody.

I maybe the creator of R, but R has her own existence. Her mood, her thoughts, habits, attitude, ego are not restrained or dominated by me. I am not an authoritative figure in her life. R has an existence of her own for which she does not owe me anything. So you can safely conclude that R is not my alter ego. R feels, R hates, R loves and R pouts. And so today I am giving R her own voice too. I am too mundane a person to speak for her. So now, I'll let R complain, and love too.

R is a melodious journey. It's the journey of a lifetime together. The destination of which is the doll. And the destined ones are the players. And what they play in the basking sun with their colorful dreams is the game we all know yet find it too ambitious and onerous at the same time. It's the game of love.

I Love you R.

Rajtilak Bhattacharjee
[ I owe a lot to Sandip to give me enough courage for this. ]

The Year That Was

2008 is slipping away from our hands like sand. It's another couple of hours and then we would welcome 2009. Another year,with which myriads of unknown experiences awaits us. So I thought about writing something in retrospect. This is all what 2008 was like, a plethora of emotions and feelings.

I am not an ardent fan of centrist views, so I would not say that 2008 was a mixed bag. In it's entirety, 2008 was a year of heartaches and heartbreaks. It was a year of mistakes, a year of treachery, of unfaithfulness and betrayal. Although I would not like to call them my faults because they are what makes me a human. But yes, I definitely had made a mistake. I made the mistake of not being firm with my decisions because of which I had lost my self-respect, my self-esteem. But I am a person who learns from his past mistakes, I am not afraid to admit them and/or acknowledge them. So what have I learned? I have learned that true love does not cannot coexist with disdain, dishonor and disrespect. However dear your loved one maybe, if she does not know how to respect you then she does not deserve your love and affection.

Now although I am not a centrist in my view towards life and it's intricacies, I am not a whiner either. 2008 was also a year of shaping up, shaping up as a dreamer. I painted my dreams with new colors, I started to discover hues that I never thought existed. And it was fun. I matured as a writer. I put my efforts on The Chronicles of R and it showed it's results, I got appreciations from people who authoritative figures in both writing and blogging. Genuine appreciations which often put a smile on my face and helped me move forward in life even when it seemed quite impossible to do so at times. Although my mistake made me get away from The Chronicles of R for quite a while, you would see that there is only one post in the month of November. But then after a prolonged conversation with my ego and id (which I called hibernation) I recovered, and I made a comeback and I got my reward. Today The Chronicles of R flaunted a PR3, thank to Google. Thank you Google, it was a nice New Year's gift. In 2008 I was introduced to online marketing by a friend, philosopher and guide who chose to remain anonymous. Thanks to Inam, I was introduced to Srijan. And not only helped me to grow culturally, but it also helped me spend some beautiful evenings under the open sky, listening in awe to some of the eminent figures in the literary domain.

In 2008 I came across a number of good friends, some Sweethearts and Darlings. There was a consistent flow of constant reader on The Chronicles of R, some of whom went onto to become personal friends. And my friends' circle grew quite a bit from nada. I also found my own personal Santa, you are one of the best things that happened to me Ms Santa. The reason I have dedicated a separate paragraph for these people is because they have helped me find myself. They have helped me shape my dreams, sometimes unknowingly.

The most important thing that happened to me in 2008 is that I came to know R more intimately. I came to know R the way she wanted me to know her. Her happiness, her anger, ego, doubts, insecurities and a everything a woman wants her man to know about her. In 2008 I came to know myself through R. And through R, I came to know what love is. And I decided to introduce R to the world. You need to hold onto your horses for another couple of hours, I would let you know who or what R is, what does she do, where she lives at 12am tonight. With the dawn of 2009, R would come out of the veil of mystery that surrounds her.

I might have omitted a few things, those were unintentional. As it is I am not saying my Oscar acceptance speech here. Hope 2009 brings a year of joy and happiness for all of us, hope 2009 brings a change.

Happy Birthday R

Happy Birthday R :)

The Dancing Waters

It took you years
To cover those stair that
Lead to the roof.
But finally
Today we were their,
Together.

The sky was a somber gray
Overcast
With the monsoon clouds.
It looked down upon us,
As if with lots of barren
Expectations.

You went to the edge of
The roof
And stood there,
With you face towards
The wind. The chilly
Wind
Ruffled your hair
And
You looked like Medusa,
While I stood there
Enchanted,
Beguiled, mesmerized, bewitched
By your charm.

You held yourself
With
Both the arms, as if to
Control yourself
Just so that
You
Don't fly away like your
Own emotions.

I slowly walked upto you,
And
Embraced you in my arms,
While Clayderman played
Cavatina
From a distance.

The moments lingered on
With
It's elated, magical effervescence
And the world seemed to have
Condensed
To a singularity.
And the roof, an island.

You turned around, your head
Was slightly tilted on one side and
I saw a speck of tear
Rolling down
Your cheek, it was accusing me
For keeping you
Unaware
Of these alluring
And beauteous journey called life.

I closed your eyes
With my hands like a witch.
And
Kissed you, gently, slowly
On your lips.
And time
Seemed to have stood still.

Enthralled, we stood there.
Motionless,
Savouring the taste of the
Dancing waters.

[ I won't be home this Christmas, but tomorrow is the birthday of R. So I am publishing this today. The Chronicles of R completed a whole year. Hopefully, it won't stop here. I would like to thank all of you for making The Chronicles of R your journey. Your comments are what made me move on. This is the birthday gift for R. And what can be a better gift to R than a poem, so here it is. Once again I should thank Sandip for showing me the dim imagery of this poem. Thanks Sandip. In the end I would like to wish R a very Happy Birthday. I love you R. ]

The Birthday Girl

The Chronicles of R is about to celebrate it's 1st birthday. The official post for The Chronicles of R is dated 25th of December, 2007 and it's almost a year now since I started this journey alongside R.

It had been quite a journey with it's unusual ups and downs. Sometimes R seemed too distant to touch whence sometimes she melted in my arms. Sometimes she was sitting right in front of me, sometimes R seemed just like an illusion. And although it may seem like it yet I must tell you that I have not reached the heights of Twain-ism yet, rather I had quit smoking and boozing altogether.

The truth is, in a way I am afraid for R to find me, I'm afraid to know what would she say to me, what would she think of me. Wouldn't she loathe me seeing how ordinary I am? Wouldn't she abhor such a mundane life? Or would she simply hold my hand and command me to take her to the moon? I am skeptical about finding R. So I have left the option to her to find me. I am like an Ogre. No, I don't mean to say that I stink, what I mean is that I have layers. Let R unfold them, gradually. Just like I have unfolded her emotions, her pain, her tears, her laughter, her sarcasm.

I would leave it upto R to find me.

[Picture courtesy Sandip]

Revelations of R

It's been quite a while now that I have planned to reveal the identity of R. But somehow I was very skeptical about the whole thing. Yet, thanks to Sandip, a very dear friend of mine who provided me with enough courage to accomplish this daunting task that lies ahead of me, I have planned to remove the veil of mystery behind which R lived, dreamt.

With the dawn of the new year, R would get her own voice. With the dawn of the new year, R would get her own identity, her own dreams. It's time R be known.

Deathly Pale

Which side of the moon
Were you looking at, that
It had left
It's everlasting impression
On your face.

Your eyes, sunk deep inside
Looking
Like craters on the
Moon. A sign of years of
Sleepless nights.
They
Sure leaves a hollow feeling
Of discomfort.

Your face, pale as a cadaver
With all it's glory
Of
A full moon night
Sans it's beauty.

I cannot hold your breath to
Create
Caricatures of my heart
On a frosty window pane anymore.

I am lost, lost within you,
Yet I live,
While
You once had died in my arms.

The Chronicles of R : A New Beginning

The Chronicles of R started a long time back, honestly I don't even remember when. Initially it featured as my personal online diary but then I deleted everything. My writing a personal journal was sort of a hobby for me which surfaced every now and then and then sank deep down in the depths of everyday life as mysteriously as it had once shown it's ugly head. So by deleting my posts I never lost much. I don't remember pretty well but I think I also wrote a couple of poems which were not even worth a dime. Not that my new poems are worth a million, but atleast I have the solace that I was honest when to myself when I wrote them. And this continued for sometime.

Things took a different turn last Christmas when I was taken aback by a comment on one of my poems "Lonely this Christmas". I never really thought that I created something which would earn me a comment from a person who's writing I adore a lot. And since then I never turned back. I went on writing and The Chronicles of R started to reach people and touch their hearts like it had never done before.

R was always a mystery, I have been asked about R by my friends and almost all the readers of my blog. In Fali's blog The Chronicles of R is listed as "Intriguing R". R was, is and would be my love interest. It's been almost 5 years that I haven't met R. Yet the bond that we had shared once was so strong that R and her memories still help me write, she still help me live. And yes, I am crazy about R. I have always said that people fall in love, but a lucky few rise in love. I rose in the love of R.

Now for the past couple of weeks I was hibernating. Not in a cave but in the midst of a sea of emotions. I was in a trance of self-introspection through which I realized a few bitter truths of my life. One of them is that I have been dishonest. I have been mendacious to both my readers and to my own self. I almost turned The Chronicles of R into a commercial blog! I brought in SEO tutorials which could not have been a part of The Chronicles of R. The Chronicles of R was never a commercial blog. It was meant to be about R and so shall it be. I am not a person who turns blind eye to his mistakes, so it's time for The Chronicles of R to come back. I'll give The Chronicles of R a phoenix like rebirth. Because The Chronicles of R is my commitment to R. The Chronicles of R is R herself.

It's time for The Chronicles of R to be reborn.

Lost - The Final Chapter

This is my last post as a poet. I am sorry to say but I have lost the poet in me, I guess I have lost the dreamer too. Now, I am only an ordinary human being. I really had a lovely time with all of you, my constant readers. But I don't have anything for you anymore. Without R there is no Chronicles of R. Wish you all the happiness in life R, wherever you are, with whoever you are. This is for all of you, my last poem.

Lost - The Final Chapter

Over the years it had happened.
And today, when I looked at myself
In the mirror, I saw that I had lost
Myself in your love. I have lost me.

They say an innocence lost can
Never be regained. Maybe one day
While walking through the busy streets
I would meet myself once again.

Maybe I would see him standing
Right in front of me. That day once again
I would laugh, that day once more
I would smile. That day we would sit
Together over a fuming cup of coffee,
I and my "me". And we would chat
About sweet nothingness, about
Fallen Angels. And maybe, just maybe
I would live once more.

I love you R. Ami tomake bhalobashi.

Metamorphosis

Once I was a dreamer, a poet
And an ordinary human being,
Now,
All that is left of me is
A very lonely soul,
Waiting to die in her arms
Which are not there anymore!

Useless

Kuch Shabd, Tumhari Khubsoorti Ke Naam

[This is my 100th post. Celebrating this moment of joy with The Chronicles of R, with R by my side]

"Tum kitni pyaari aur khubsoorat ho shayad tumko abhi bhi pata na ho. Kabhi baarish mein bheega hua bagicha dekha hain, lagta hain na ke kisine ussmein naye rang bhar diya ho? Ya phir garajta hua badal se baarish ki boonde girta hua dekha hain kabhi? Jab chahre pe girte hain to lagta hain ke badan ka kona kona bheeg jaye paani ki boondon se. Kabhi chaand ki chaandni ko apne hathon mein samet kar dekha hain? Tumhari khubsoorti ke agey yeh sab banawati lagti hain. Pheeka padh jata hain iss kaynaat ki har koi khubsoorti. Phir bhi adhura raheta hain tumhari khubsoorti ki taarif."