Creativity Unleashed - Part 2

If you have been following my blog you know what this is about...if you are at a loss, you can go back and read the post Creativity Unleashed ;-)

The 2nd Poetry Competition was tougher...there was a word Consigliore which I had never heard off ...this poem I named Obsession...Enjoy
(I)
A love so deep, in a heart so tender,
Enslaved was I, my soul captured…
The rapture of first love captivating me such,
No other reality did exist.
(II)
Yet something was missing,
You saw me as your consigliore,
Someone you could lean on,
You liked the absolute oblation of self,
Yet your freedom you chose to keep,
(III)
In walked that handsome stranger,
And you decided to walk into the sunset with him,
The shaft of hopeless love pierced deep through my soul,
Slowly draining the life from my being
(IV)
The shared sense of ethos dying a painful death,
A broken raft lost in the stormy sea…
I consoled myself with thoughts of revenge,
Fueling the monstrous beast within…
(V)
The sun was shining brightly,
I walked up to you my darling,
You were with your lover smiling radiantly,
You looked at me with your dark beautiful eyes,
The jealousy corroding like acid
I picked up the 38 and aimed,
In the end all that remained was a pool of blood…

Luck By Chance

Every storm has to lighten out, die down, wash out to nothingness...and all that is left to remind you of the storm is a whitewashed clean, moonlit beach. How do I know - I used to sit in the verandah of my parent's place in Chennai -- watching the rains, thunder and storms...and the peace after. Life follows an analogous path...sunshine, rain,storms and then peace.

We had a busy week and a busier weekend...we unwound with an atypical Hindi movie - Luck By Chance. It was thought provoking -- talking about a man who charms, manipulates and weaves his magic through Tinsel Town, not believing in luck but his success rest in but the charmed vagaries of lady luck....on his way he tramples a few friends and his love and in the end he is at the pinnacle of success but all alone...is that enough?

Craig's List has been my new best friend...the source of offering up all our wonderful treasures that we have accumulated over the years that we finally need to get rid off -- the 3 TV stands (all unused because of course the TV is mounted on the wall), my wonderfully traditional Coffee table that doesn't fit in with our new design ideas...my study table which stood me good stead when I got my straight A's in school...need I go on...

The next couple weeks will be exciting and interesting and I will definitely keep you posted...

Half Priced Sushi and Peter Senge

Have you had weeks in your life where Peter Senge's principle of Learning Disabilities suddenly makes sense - I had read the "Fifth Discipline" in 1991 and I have to admit that a lot of what he talked about took a couple more years to get internalized in my system. There are of course days when I have to give myself pep talks on - Me not being just my position but moving beyond to objectively look at all I have experienced and internalized over the years. Learning has come in the form of organizational learning, on-the-job learning and most importantly life's learnings that I am applying to the work on hand.

My 2 and half year old son has taught me a lot about Product Management -
(A) How to prioritize and focus on the most important things
(B) Say No when it makes sense to say No (Other than Mama and Dada, his first word probably was No)
(C) He asks for help when he knows he is overwhelmed (he makes a pitiful face and says Help!)...Applying that principle at work requires more finesse but I am learning (Isn't a Learning Organization all about Shared Vision and Team Work).

The past 2 weeks have been hectic with work deliverables but the weekend has been a peaceful respite - we took K2 to the Zoo and to the temple.

Yesterday was a very warm day and we made our trek upto San Mateo to buy Non-Fat Icecream Yogurt and passed by this really crowded Japanese Market -- when I asked someone about the crowd...I learnt about this half-priced Sushi Deal at 6.30 PM. What can I say...I didn't pass up on a good deal ...I snagged a couple Sushi Bento Boxes - Vegetarian California Rolls (no raw fish for me )...What a deal ! Don't ask me what is for lunch tomorrow -- now you know.

Other than that hanging out and about with the family...introspection is my middle name this week.

Deconstructing a Rainbow

Do you have mornings where you get up with a heavy head and a cotton wool feeling in your mouth and a urge to snuggle back under the comforter and not have to get up. I had one such moment last week on Thursday. My wonderful 2 year old had obligingly passed along his cold germs to me...score! The weather did not really help, it was cold, raining and gloomy and the feeling of funk was settling on thick. It did not help that everyone at work went - Why M -- you are looking sick, and I felt sicker. We haven't really been eating very healthy this week. We have eaten out a lot more this week...we have tried to keep it light on Oil and salt.

Friday was a quiet day, and we spent a lot of time watching HGTV and watching the home transformations...Saturday was rushed. We took some measurements for new furnitures, rushed K2 to his Little Gym and ate some really greasy chinese dimsum for lunch. Dinner was light - a miso soup, fruit and a yogurt. I got up in the morning feeling relaxed and made some french toast for Krish (with vanilla, cinnamon and free range organic brown eggs). We had some poha for brunch and pretty much relaxed at home. No customary trip to the farmers market today. Dinner was grilled fish with mushroom rissotto and some greens. Work will be busy tomorrow...so goodbye weekend and hello Monday...

Monday and Tuesday last week were wet and gloomy, dampening the spirits. However while we were coming back from work we saw the sun burst valiantly through the dark crowds even with the steady drizzle of the showers...and voila there was a beautiful Rainbow...it was uplifting and heartening. Here's a picture I took on my E71 from the car...so did you capture your rainbow today?

Creativity Unleashed...

When I was on maternity leave about 30 months back, it was life changing, exhilirating and also mind numbingly boring. Imagine going from 14 hour work days to almost no brain work...when my baby went to sleep (which was a lot)...I travelled the world and visited my friends through their blogs. During one such blog hop, I discovered a poetry competition that had been organized and I got hooked. Every week we were given a couple words and we had to come up with a poem around those words. The words for the first competition were - Changeling…Fury…Paramount…Aphrodisiac…Tantalizing…Shroud…Weave…Engage...and Empower. I was very creative as a young girl but lost it somewhere along the way...this was my first effort at poetry (rusty with 10 years of disuse)...

(I)

Looking at me with huge longing eyes was this wee changeling...

Standing half drenched in the fury that the skies had unleashed...

Her hair unkempt, her body so thin that the ribs one could count.

I looked away from that barely shrouded picture of poverty...

She showed me a glimpse of a world I did not want to see.

(II)

Weaving her way unsteadily to me,

She stared at me...my prosperity a tantilizing bait of things unknown

Yet paramount in her was the need to survive,

Looking in through the windows of my fancy car,

She implored with her expressive eyes..and I drove away...

Leaving behind a trail of dirt.

(III)

Money... my ultimate aphrodisiac,

Why should I engage in this fruitless battle with my conscience,

When I could empower my capitalistic self to multiply,

In my world, there is no time for pity....