Bubbly

(Genre: I suck at poetry)

A message in a bottle....

The bottle is green
Corked on top
Elegantly placed
in a bucket of rocks.

A ribbon round the neck
golden foil adding gloss
Waiting on the table edge
to pick up and unlock

Two glasses long and slender
Called flutes by bartender
Shining pure as chroma
Narrow mouth preserves aroma

Pop goes the cork
when I shake the bottle
And out fizzes the drink
Its celebration full throttle

Pour it in a flute,
a burst of effervescence
The glasses rise for a toast
to acknowledge your presence

Some call it Champagne,
others say its Sparkling wine
I like to call it Bubbly,
and cherish it when i dine.

A Stretch in Time

(Genre: Just Like That)

"Hold on the line for 2 minutes.", "I'll call you back in 10 minutes", "I'll see you downstairs in 5 minutes" says Dhamini.

Had I not been any smarter, I would be:

a. Still holding on to the phone
b. Still waiting for her to call
c. Still waiting in her office Parking Lot
d. All of the above

Obviously the correct answer is (d). But smartness doesn't help and I am still stuck at (d).

In I(W)ST (Indian Women's Standard Time), "5 minutes" can sometimes last for hours and days altogether. Sometimes you try to budget for it by saying that you are waiting at the door even when you are actually 10 minutes away, but still the "5 minutes" stretch to gulp down your 10 minutes grace period and takes 10 more minutes (if you are lucky). If you give 15 minutes grace, then "5 minutes" will stretch to 25. You just cannot win.

What do you do when at the end of it all, you see her rushing towards you with hands holding her ears, smiling and saying sorry at the same time ?