When The Building Came Alive

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Kasturi Dhama Apartments — the play area where many evenings came alive. The lights would go out without warning. For a brief second, the entire building would fall silent. Then, from somewhere in Kasturi Dhama Apartments, a chorus would erupt. “Yayyy!” It is difficult to imagine children celebrating a power failure today. But in the Bangalore of the nineties and early 2000s, a power cut did not always feel like an inconvenience. Especially in the late evenings, it felt like permission. Permission to stop whatever we were doing, leave the darkness inside our homes, and step into the building outside. Before Kasturi Dhama became home, we had moved through a few different parts of Bangalore. My family had begun in Srirampuram and Vyalikaval before gradually cementing ourselves in Malleswaram for the next few decades. My earliest memory is of living in a vatara —a Kannada word loosely used for a building or a cluster of homes—on 15th Cross, near Karur Vy...

From then on..

As a kid you were,
Lived life without fear,
You were filled with awe,
By things that you saw

The first time you crawl,
You are ready for a brawl,
People around you tear their hair,
That doesn't let you stop the fare

As you grow up to walk,
And you are ready to talk,
The questions that you ask,
Takes even tough people to task

Your first day at school,
Is not all that cool,
To learn, they think you are ready,
But it is not all that heady!!

You have found your best friend,
To talk about the latest trend,
School is not all that bad,
You end up telling your dad!!

Things take their course,
One find day, you are in remorse,
What is wrong, people wonder
Why did I do it? You ponder!!

You decide it is time to patch up,
Though there are others in the batch,
Its only him to whom I can go,
And he just can't be my foe!!

You are now in your teen,
And it is time to preen,
You look up and down,
To catch the stare of anyone in gown!!

You realise you have a crush,
Thoughts of her you can't brush,
It falls on another; your gaze,
The old one is now in a haze

Time to prepare for tests,
Its your fun that rests,
You work hard all night,
To score well with all might!!

You grow up to succeed,
And reflect on your past deed,
It was a lot of fun,
Now you are always on the run!!

She is my best friend; you think
You fight; Your friendship on the brink
You miss her too much,
You have fallen in love as such!!

Now, you know the difference,
That there is a huge fence,
Between infatuation and love,
And how you are truly in love now!!

New thoughts reflect your mind,
Mature they are, you find!!
As you take time to introspect,
You hope to have a bright prospect!!

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