Reserved for One: A poem

We don't trust enough

We don't pour out our hearts 

Telling all our secrets, our fears and surrendering to each other.
Completely and wholly. 

We can't. 

We've been taught to be cautious. 

Learnt to be guarded. 

Only a legal commitment allows exposure of the heart. 

Because what if you walk away

With the treasure trove of my insides

What if you laugh, use it against me, judge me

Hate me. 

But what if you're the only one who gets it. 

And even if you leave one day. 

You'll be the one who knows. 

And I won't care what you do with everything of me. 

Because I was meant to love you anyway. 

Letter from a Hogwarts Teacher to Hermione

My daughter Ariaana is a big Harry Potter fan.

For her summer holidays she's gone to spend time with her grandparents. So I thought I'd write her a letter. But not just as her mom, as a Hogwarts Teacher. And since her favorite character is Hermione-  I addressed it to the character. 

Dear Hermione,

This is the third time you've not attended my class! I know you think divination is completely useless but if you don't pass my class young lady, Dumbledore won't allow you to go to the next grade. 

But instead of insisting that you attend my class let me try to convince you my dear that what I know you can't learn anywhere else.

Your birthday is on September 19, 1979. 

In Tarot your birth cards add up to  19, 10, 18, 9. 

They're the Sun, Wheel of Fortune,  the Moon, and the Hermit. 

You will always have wonder in your life, innocence and high vibrancy. But sometimes you can hv mood swings and you must be aware of them and not let them bother you. 

And you obviously already know that you'll be very fortunate in whatever you undertake. 

However there will be times when you'll need solitude. You'll need to introspect. And when you reach out for friends, they won't be able to understand you as well as you understand them. I pray that you realise then that there is inner light,wisdom and guidance from the universe that will always help you and you will find success. 

As I look into my crystal ball I can see that you're loving the nature around you right now and are in no mood to study at all! You've also developed some new skill? Is that so? What is it? 

Are you liking this new skill? 

I can see several people listening to your words as you speak. You hold their attention. You'll be a good leader and commander. 

Oohhhh there's something else that's coming up. Beware of becoming too full of yourself. No one likes so much ego darling. So don't only talk about yourself. Ask questions about others. 

Harry seems to like you a lot. Ron is a bit of a scaredy cat. You don't need boys on your life right now anyway! 

I'm going to end this letter by saying that not everything needs to be practical logical and rational in life. While science is making progress, there are several unexplained mysteries of the universe. To understand people better we don't need science, we need divination. A divine power that comes from God. 

Not everything in life will have answers through logic. Some answers will come from seeking divine intervention, meditation and mindfulness. 

Stay true to your inner strength while I'm trying to stay strong and not lose my marbles in this class with all these hooligans. Where is Neville? He's not here either! 

Divinely yours,

Professor Trelawney 

My World Cup Love Affair.

My father took me to Paris in 1998 for the first time. I had begged him because I wanted to see the art, history and culture. But every evening when we were sitting for dinner somewhere there were gigantic TVs and the entire restaurant becoming an animated audience for The World Cup. And soon art and history was left behind for football. 

Until then I'd never seen football. I only knew about love for cricket and tennis. But after watching a few matches with the French, I was hooked. The euphoria when their team won, the disappointment when the others scored and the pride they felt for each player was magical. It was like this enormous, all encompassing, ecstatic group energy that I'd never experienced or felt with anything else in my life. 

But the best part was when France won the World Cup! My Dad and I were walking through the millions of people at Champs Elysees, singing and watching parade after motor car parade whizzing by, handing out flags, food, beer, hugs. The whole country was celebrating n it was pure, clean, unadulterated fun. 

Since then I was hooked. I needed to see every match, cheer for my teams, and got to know the players a little bit better (very good looking, fit men add to the sports attraction!)

The next time I watched FIFA was when I was shooting for the film Boom with Kaizad Gustad. During breaks, a few of us would dive into restaurants to watch the game. I remember standing next to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan in a small restaurant in Dubai when Brazil was playing. And I was more interested in my team winning than taking a picture with him. When Brazil won the World Cup beating Germany 2-0 that year I kind of remembered that both Amitji and I had prayed for them n we made them win together! 

In 2014 I was in New York City when the World Cup was happening. It was my solo trip to explore the city, life and myself  but I found myself at bars cheering on my team with the rest of the people there. A really cute guy asked me out that day but Germany was beating Brazil 7-1 and I was far more interested in why my team was making so many mistakes than making a mistake with a white guy that night! 

This FIFA I'm not in any fancy country but my own home in Mumbai and watching it. I still feel the thrill when a team almost scores. I can't believe that Coutinho did that kick. And for all the sleepless nights I'll be having, I'll always remain a FIFA WORLD CUP fan.