The Case of Case Writing

We went to the street,
To follow a lead.
Some hit the jackpot,
Some failed to get a slot.

Then the transition came from field to data,
Where we floundered in the now and was is.
Impressed as we were with the entrepreneur,
There was time when there were delays due to busy schedules.

Egos were deflated, advices given but not taken.
Some were lost in translation or trapped in protocols.
From long conversations- half in mind and half on screen.
Came out a case which added to our KASH.*

Hope we get a green signal,
To put it in spiral binding.
And enter a class one day and say.
This case written by my batchmate,
Tells you how to manage the customers and their tastes.

written in April 2008.

( This is for all those PhD scholars out there and for those who aren't too. It was written in my second year of FPM here in IIM A when we had a course on management teaching where we had to write a case with a decision problem for class teaching. It was great fun doing it. My first academic work. I wrote it along with Dada (Bhaskar Bhowmick) my batch mate from the strategy area. We got it registered in the IIM A case repository also, all thanks to his efforts actually !! This poem was written in the last class on the last page of my register while others were presenting !! :) and after a long long time ..actually rediscovered my writing skills during writing this poem. The poem describes our journey from the field to the case when we went out randomly on the streets to search for a lead. Some went to restaurants, paanwallas, chaiwallas and the likes.. Our professor told us to just go walk the streets and discover some interesting leads. He recounted his days as a consultant when he used to leave a poem behind on the desk of the CEO after completing his assignment based on his experiences of the project. This inspired me to write and I read it in class too. It added to my *KASH i.e. Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habit too !!!!!!! :) So long then .. Hasta Pronto !! ) 

Je Me Mi ....

Scarlet red and Inky blue,

Green trees and Primrose hues.

Glassy lakes and Frothy streams,

Crunchy snow and Scented expanses.

Long tresses over flowing dresses,

Elegant band around the wrist telling time. 

Wordy new worlds in my hand,and

Tricky questions to expand. 

Lyrical melodies through the night,

Playing keys of black and white.

Looking at life through pinholes,

Travelling afar happily burning soles. 

Celluloid dreams and

Piping hot steam from mi madre's dishes. 

Cups of memories and full of brown succor too..

and, Lengthy sessions of loquacity. 

Putting together imagination in parts and,

 The small picture, things and moments. 

Peeping from behind the fluffy white the lovely disc of love,

All that I wrote above and how ..

I love. 

Written on November 1, 2010. 

( Ok so even for me deadlines mean nothing .. and I am late by an hour and fifteen minutes for the October poem. Kudos to me. But here is it ... My favourite things and those which I love to do. My birthday present to me. Till we meet next ..Happy Deewali !! :) )

 

Links of Life

Small hand wrapped around a finger.

It pulls up small legs on their feet.

Catch them when they trip.

Small hands hug on tight after a fall. 

The fingers.. now all on call embrace, encircle, ensconce. 

Links of love. 

Sweaty palms, high fives and down lows.

Holding on edge to edge, wrist to tip.

Round and round they trip and slip.

Back slaps, pats and punches. 

Caress on cheeks , ruffling hair and fingers on lips.

Links of joy, of friendship. 

Folded palms, or hands raised in prayer,

Fingers crossed or making the cross.

Hands on heads giving blessings all across. 

Links of hope. 

Hands raised in greeting , or a chance meeting.

Sometimes raised in anger or regret. 

Or to take on the world with just a closed fist. 

With nothing in them only destiny and grit,

And the will to reach the final tryst. 

Links of life.

Written on 1st October, 2010.

( In the 18 months of this blog this is the first time I have been late in posting the monthly poem/post. Sorry about that !!! This is the September poem. Hands... so many gestures ..so many expressions and feelings. My favourite.. when a baby holds on to your finger. Her whole being around that one appendage of the whole human body, and as I had mentioned in my last poem a hand disappearing in another in love :) Till then ..and this time we meet sooner within this month. My month !! :) ) 

I Can ..Can You ?

I break my own heart everytime,
Build sand castles and raze them to the ground.
Write my life story and erase it each time,
I dream and wake up again and again.

I listen to everything you say,
Hear that too, which you don't.
I live by your smile and,
Die everyday.

I collect things and surround myself with them,

Colourful, beautiful and bright.

You call me the 'material girl',

But they are only to fill spaces and crowd you out. 

I look at you and see you looking back at me,
Hoping you would read what my eyes are trying to say.
I look down, look away and blink,
Scared of the happy possibilities.
While you complement me on the brightness of my eyes.

I like the way my hand disappears in yours in a shake,
Holding on I walk the line far ahead in the future.
Only to be brought back by your head shaking with mild amusement,
At my absentminded glazed look.

I fight with you, argue and say clever things,
Pout and be petulant and peevish.
Be jealous, possessive and shed angry tears.
All this and more, while walking a step behind.. silently.
You tap my head to look for me , 'lost are you?' you smile and say.

All world's a stage and, I am the best actress.
I am having the time of my life and yet in this mad merry muddle medley,
I miss you, though you are beside me.
I don't want a promise, or a bond, or this world or any other.
Hold my hand and walk with me,
I can.. can you ?


Written 24th August, 2010.

(So finally a Can poem or rather the Can poem. There are some tributes in the poem to my favourite songs and favourite lines in songs. For e.g. Walk the line by Johnny Cash; ' क्या गिला हम करे वोह बेवफा भी नहीं, हमने वोह सुन लिया उसने कहा भी नहीं .. Pyar kar from Dil toh Pagal Hai; ' घडी देखि थी तोह उसने अपना हाथ रख दिया था उसपे, कितने बड़ा हाथ था उसका, उसकी दोनों कलाईयाँ बंद हो जाया करती थी उसमे, lock हो जाती थी' ... Aasmani Rang from Sunset Point; मुख़्तसर सी बात है तुमसे प्यार है .. Tum Pukar lo from Khamoshi. इसके आगे हम , और क्या कहे जानम    समझा करो !!! :) )

For Better or Worse ...For More or Less...

Lashing tongues, loud and tense;

Overloading the already taut nerves.

Venting out vitriol, they hoist shallow vain between them.

Everlasting and forever. 

Anger ebbs and flows.. dissolves in tears.

Near the end, they look at the beginning.

Down memory lane they walk, hands wringing.

Halting at moments..memorable and mundane.

Again and again their eyes look..  and they listen,

Together to the music of their own hearts.

Everlasting and forever.

Written on 16th July, 2010.

( This poem is dedicated to a little angle who's in need of a lot of love and best wishes .. and who celebrates her first b'day without her parents today !!!!!!!! :(  For more love in this world , more understanding and more.. just humanness.. I looked at my diary toady where I note down b'days and anniversaries  and I saw that I have struck out two marriage anniversaries of friends' ..one because of differences between them , and one was torn apart due to tragedy. One could have been an anniversary .. but was not to be. Love junta love, be more patient and listen more, talk less. Few minutes of  listening time you give to another soul might just be the one thing they were looking for. Be more accepting of the idiosyncrasies of people around you because no one is there to match your criteria of what people should be like, and how they should live. There is a far better authority doing it since time came into being. You may say its difficult..but it is not.. just do what you would want the other person to do unto you. I try to do it and truthfully have succeeded quite a bit. This all  might seem preachy to you but it is truly heartfelt. Inspiration came from a forward I got where the Washington Post had asked for two rhyming lines, the first one romantic and the other one least romantic. So it got me thinking that love and hate go together and you have to choose between the two. Do notice the how each line starts...And have more Saffola .. "teri dil ki baat main jaanu" :))

Onomatopoetical Water !!!!!!

Clap of thunder and its due,

It falls on cue.

Crackle of lightning lights its way,

And day becomes night and night day.

Black clouds bang their heads together,

The clanging makes many hearts go asunder.

Heavens are filled with numerous galloping steads,

Following the grand maestro's lead. 

It drips, then drizzles.

Drops and sizzles ...on the parched land.

A droning deluge, it waves its magic wand,

Leaving no stone unturned,

Or any space free from squelching mulch grand. 

Pitter patter on the terrace, plunking on rooftops,

Spinning like cartwheels; its hard to stop.

Its gushes to meet the sinewy spring, 

Making it strong and with watery wings.

And, the gurgling brooks get a second look.

The trees dance to their leaves strummed like guitar string.

Cascading down vales and valleys,

It joins in the merry din.

Bobbing heads, shake off the beads of melted white,

Squealing with laughter and jumping in pools of fun and fight.

Shivering fingers find warm hands,

Stealing looks of joy, and; 

Writing silly notes on wet sand. 

It washes away tears of many,

Unseen, unheard by any.

There is overflow of mirth and laughter,

Of joy and pleasure.

Hearts meet and run free,

Reminding of times gone down some busy street.

It then is shushed and hushed,

To a murmur; as the heavens above go for a slumber.

And the skies open up to a new light,

Which wakes up the earth with new sight. 

Written on 18th June,2010.

(Rains.. beautiful, mesmerizing, musical, and melodious. I like watching the rain and not getting wet in it,  to the surprise, and disappointment of many. Well what can I say .. one of the blissful thing would be to have a great novel in hand, a warm cup of tea in another and sitting on a cushioned wide window sill .. better still inside beautiful French windows and just watching the rain and reading. And remember the nursery rhyme 'I hear thunder ....pitter patter raindrops...' Happy Monsoons !!!!!!!! :) ) 

My Beloved Eve

Every day I wait for you keeping a,

Vigil through the smelting heat of summer time, till you arrive.

Everything stands still, though the sun is out but my day never begins.

Noting each minute as it passes; I wait till you descend to my abode,  

             resplendent in twinkling black sight.

I welcome you with open arms.

Never to let you go, till the day do us apart, but as all,

Good things must come to an end, 

So must you, my dear evening, fade into the morn and say goodnight.

Written on 19th May, 2010

(Short and sweet !! The fastest poem I have ever written. Thats because the story idea was given by a friend who was frustrated with the heat and imagined the evening as a girl and I wrote the script !! :) The concept of evening as a girl, who comes late, stays for a short time and you want her to stay longer yet she goes even before you realize she is gone.This is the second poem from a guy's perspective. The first one was 'I see the world through you' . Till we meet again !! )