Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The two ribbons


Ever wonder, where has the 'ribbon' word disappeared ? As a child during the eighties, I remember many girls my age, with black or white ribbons adorning their long oiled parted and plaited hair. On special occasions, all girls would be wearing colored satin ribbons.

The ribbon has shown quite some evolution. It started off with some cotton material which was quite broad and would get folded along the length of the ribbon. The next improvement came with the synthetic ribbons which are popular even today for their crease resistant property. For parties and birthdays, the satin ribbons proved to be a major attraction.

So no wonder that I loved to tie up my daughter's hair in two pony tails dangling in the air and the ribbons flying in the wind. Though, I must say that on returning from school, the picture would be reversed ie the ribbons dangling in the air and hair flying in the wind !

And do observe the face of the daughter, when her hair is getting tied, the slightest of hair pull, brings a frown upon the face and though satisfaction for the daughter is rare, any other person being preferred over the mother for doing the hair, is simply unheard of.

Such a pretty picture brought memories of my school days and the way my mother tied my hair. Though, the hands that tied the ribbons have changed, the bond between the two individuals still remains ever so strong. The elaborate ritual of oiling, parting, combing, plaiting and finally tying the hair with the ribbons is special to a mother daughter relation. The ribbon ties just not the hair, but also bonds the mother and daughter, together.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

The Convention


Early, one cold Sunday morning, a commotion of a large number of crows, brought me to the window showing the grand Gulmohar tree with its branches trimmed. I was surprised to see so many crows sitting on one tree and caw-cawing away with their gaze upon a common thing of interest.

At first, I hardly noticed what they were looking at, for all crows are known to care for their kindred and it is believed that cawing crow means the arrival of a guest. But surely a large number of crows were in no mood to tell me something. They were here wit some purpose of their own; probably a meeting to sort out some issue or mourn another crow's death.

Then I noticed something else, they would all fly from one tree to another, together and come back to the same tree which showed their common point of interest. I thought maybe a snake would be going back and forth and was attracting the crow's attention. I noticed a peculiar brown dotted object on one of the branches. "Oh! so this snake is a reason for the whole discussion", so I thought. But, the snake would not move. "Maybe its dead".

By now, all people in the vicinity were getting curious and looking towards the crows. My inquisitiveness into the matter started gaining ground when my daughter came with her binoculars. At the same time, one of the crows mustered enough courage to check on the confusing object and it started to peck on it. And then it realized that it was nothing more than a piece of cloth. The other crows also saw the futility of the discussion once the whole mystery was solved.

All the crows who were till now cawing suddenly lost interest and flew away ! It appeared as though a decision to a common problem was reached and corrective measures taken. If a bird such as a crow can understand this then I am sure most people who involve themselves in conventions should also see the logic behind it and act accordingly.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

The Indian Chinese (for Lavanya)


The Chinese cuisine has become such an integral part of Indian food; though I wonder whether a Chinese would find the same food actually Chinese food, for it has become Indian-ised Chinese food. Visit any state and the distinct flavor is quite apparent. Prepare the recipe at home and you will find something missing.

Ask any college going student of his favorite food joints and you are sure to hear at least one Chinese hangout. The Chinese joint is quite varied in the ambiance, cost, preparations; higher the price, lesser the hot chilly and lesser the crowd and vice versa. Most of the upmarket Chinese food joints are frequented by IT Professionals or those rich brat types. Such joints keep the kitchen quite away from the customer's eyes, so what goes on inside is any body's guess. Most of the college students would prefer a low cost Chinese hand cart where the unhygienic conditions are before the customer ! This makes the whole experience of eating at such a place even more adventurous and exciting. Youngsters shout over the din with care a damn attitude.

Once I visited with my family an expensive Chinese restaurant with those prop ah attendants and dim lighting and greenery and all fashionable. Sitting there sipping on the Chinese soup, I recalled my college days where finding a place to sit and eat was next to impossible. But surely the food that I had tasted before was more tasty and spicy and best of all we all friends had enjoyed the food together, had cried for water together and had checked our purses for Rs 10s and 20s !

I can still vividly remember our whole class debating on which place to visit; was it Fatehgunj, Race Course circle or Sama Road ? All our girls' only parties happened near Race Course Circle, the sole reason being it near to our homes, but when it came to the class party, the unanimous decision would always be either Fatehgunj or Sama Road. As an exception, just for having 'Dry Manchurian', we would all go to Waghodia and eat as much as would take care of another month of craving for Chinese food.

Any venue, any menu, the discussion amongst the different groups at different times would always be of varied nature. Right from the exchange of ignorance to the suggestion of being in step, our class enjoyed the discussion with friends and classmates. No wonder the food tasted so good with added spices of discussion.

The delicious chinese food before me, brought me back to my present and I started to search for the mysterious ingredient that made chinese food so tasty. Now the discussion between friends has been replaced by a talk by my child and though there may not be the tangy taste; there sure is a likeness for the noodles and rice.

The Test


To get a certificate issued by any government organization, requires patience, pertinence and most important a very strong will to tide over whatever hurdles come your way. Right from starting with finding the location of the office to finding the officer in charge, one must exhaust all energy to finally hear of some errors or problems in one's case.

I had a similar such experience of wanting to get a certificate for which I had to take my daughter. So off we went together after the school hours and thankfully ! my daughter still had her 2 pony tails in proper condition. The rickshaw took us quickly to an old looking building and an even older looking office with just enough space for the person in charge to sit and handle the applicants' forms through an even smaller window.

Both, mother daughter duo enjoyed the discussion on the location and when our turn came, handed over the application and were expecting the receipt when lo and behold ! out came the error bug and so off we went to solve the problem. The nearest bank to solve the problem proved to be another platform for a new story. We took the elevator to the first floor and I waited for the door to open. But strange, it was taking quite some time. I was suddenly jolted from my concern when my daughter pointed to the open door behind us ! It was an elevator which had doors on the opposite side. What a fool we must have looked with our backs to the door !

On going inside, we found our waiting number was even larger than could be imagined and so we waited patiently to get our things done. As soon as our turn came the lady at the counter closed down for lunch and all that we two could do was have our lunch too ! But hats off to the punctual lady who really did not take more than 12 minutes, was attending to our request and in a jiffy, we were off to do our first work; which hardly took another 15 minutes or so.

The whole experience lasted for 3 hours and by the time we were seated in the rickshaw for the ride home, I was happy that we had managed to overcome the hurdles that were put forth before us by Almighty Himself and jokingly I mentioned to my daughter, "Hey, we finished the test !" This brought a smile on my otherwise tired daughter and who was more excited about the completion of test rather than the procedure of government application.

On and on we went about the whole experience of crossing over all hurdles and finishing the race. God had indeed tested her patience. But once the 'test of patience' had turned to a race, things suddenly looked bright for my daughter, she was more happy to have won the race and come out victorious. This made me wonder 'How nice it is to look at things from another angle altogether ?' This race suddenly made problems in life more easy to deal with. Its not the difficulties that bother you down for another view is that they are the same difficulties that gave you the tide of victory.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Resemblance


Most parents inadvertently want to hear that their child looks just like him or her. It goes without saying that even a one day old baby generates lot of talk on its resemblance to either the father or the mother. The baby shows many changes in the facial features and accordingly so do the views of others.

I was also a witness to this situation since the day my daughter arrived. Earlier, I felt happy to know that my daughter had taken after her father, but slowly, I started to long for someone telling me of the mother daughter similarity. I would dress up my daughter in lovely frocks and nice hair bands and beads and fancy shoes and so many other things; in return trying to find myself as a little girl, in my daughter.

Couple of years passed, my daughter dresses her dolls the same way that a mother would dress up her child. She has now started taking interest in drawing pictures of an 'all girl's band' and 'Hannah Montana'. Her ability at riding a two wheeled bicycle at the age of four really surprised us. She had the greatest gift of sweet talking her way through; she normally converses effortlessly with any person; old or young, shy or extrovert. With so much of personality asserting, our talk as parents shifted to what traits had our daughter inherited from which parent.

I remember an idle afternoon when again the topic of resemblance cropped up. This time I put my foot down to tell very clearly to my husband that my daughter resembled me although she looked like a father's daughter more. I went on to describe that her eyes were like mine and so on and so forth. My husband was in no mood to give up the argument. Looking at the two of us, my dear daughter pacified us both by her witty remark saying, "Oh, momma, I resemble Baba in face and I am just like you as a girl".

Listening to her very diplomatic reply, both of us burst out laughing. Hopefully, our arguments in this regard have been aptly put to rest. For more such arguments, I wish all the parents 'All the Best'.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

I was worried about you !

Late, one evening, I decided to go to the internet cafe for chatting with my husband. The little rain and damp weather could not weather me down, and so I went with an umbrella in my hand. My daughter was playing with her friends in the garden and so I went alone. She had wanted to come with me for chatting with her Baba, but I thought it better to let her play than make her sit before a computer.

It took me one hour at the cafe. In the meantime, I figured out that my in laws would stay at home and my daughter would be back from her play and be safe in the warmth of the house and grand parents. This assumption proved to be wrong as I later realized.

With these thoughts in mind, I walked briskly at home. The rain had stopped and the weather was cool. I noticed the kids playing in the garden. I did not see my daughter, maybe she was somewhere nearby. I went upstairs and found our house locked. Strange ! Who would want to go out in this weather? Any way, I unlocked the door and went inside and switched on the TV. The same time, I kept a watch on the kids still playing. Still no sign of my daughter. Worried, I went down again. One boy informed me that my daughter was with them till five minutes ago. So we searched in the approaching darkness. He also added that he saw my mother in law going out all alone. So my daughter was not with her too. All this increased my anxiety. We called out to her friends where there was a dance practice going on. The search yielded nothing.

By this time, quite a few people had got worried. So all the kids did the most practical thing. They called out my daughter's name again and again. And there she was!

Running fast like a deer, she came to me and hugged me. I could see some tears in her eyes and so I held her tightly in my arms. She clung to me and whispered softly in my ears, "Oh! Where were you Mom, I was so worried about you !"

And then I heard her side of the story. After her play, my daughter had come looking for me in the cafe and because I was seated in a corner, she did not see me in the cafe and so went back and stood guard near the gate. Unfortunately, we did not see each other when I came through the gate and kept on worrying for the other. At that moment, I realized how deeply concerned we were for each other. It was not just a mother worrying for her daughter, the daughter was also worried about her mother.

My daughter suddenly looked so grown up and mature.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Little hearts, Bigger ideas !


"A clean slate is the best for writing and reading" And so is the child's mind for unraveling the original ideas. It is the reflection in its purest form, with no dust of streamlined thinking and no scratches of objective and subjective knowledge.

Its refreshing to know the ideas of a children. They see the world with their own view, they assess with their own understanding, they enjoy with their own enthusiasm; such is the beautiful world that it becomes difficult for them to comprehend an educated person's teaching.

It was on one such occasion of a mother daughter 'home work completion session' that I asked my daughter of a General Knowledge (GK) question from her book about God making whom as the most intelligent ? I had expected 'MAN' as the answer as per the writing or at the most hearing a joyous and mischievous 'ME' as the answer. But to my surprise, I heard 'GOD' as the prompt and straight forward reply. I was surprised and on giving it some thought, I realized that indeed, my daughter had said the right thing. God, if one believes in, is truly everything.

As a person, I do believe in a super power which I call as GOD. Although, I am not those religious kinds, I do have faith in the Almighty. Whether we follow the religious books or not, whether we tell ourselves of His existence, one thing that I am sure is that the universe is too big to comprehend and bringing uniformity in chaos and chaos in uniformity, does require His divine intervention. Trusting the intelligence and doing our duty unfailingly and with full dedication, benefits all and one.

Situations open your eyes and your mind and this incident of question answer session answered many questions unasked.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Bijjoo - Pluto Deshpande


Winters in Baroda are a odd mix of chilly nights and hot days. It was on one such cool morning that I tried to find warmth in my sweater and a hot cup of ginger tea, that my Mom made for me. Lazily, I went to the veranda and took the morning newspaper lying near the gate. As I began reading, I looked over the fencing to see the commotion or rather a meeting of all the birds. Something was brewing as every bird had to say something to the other. A closer look found me staring at something brown furry thing. It was all curled around itself to escape the morning chill.

Curiosity made me go near it and to my surprise, I found a perfectly healthy golden brown coloured pup. I lifted it without fearing it or its mother, for there were no pups near our house to fear the wrath of their mother. The warmth of my hand and the sweater made the pup immediately take a liking to me and it made a soft noise as if to thank me for holding it. I took it inside the house and held it close to my mother. The pup nudged my mother with its wet nose and saw a startled look upon another member. My mother loves animals, so I had no problem of convincing her to let me keep it. Now the next step was my father; and the biggest shock was that he had no objection at all. By this time my sister also came out and was mighty pleased to see such a sweet little pup.

The first day saw the pup in an investigating mood, roaming the garden, the house and getting to know his new 'family'. We were no less at studying our little pup. It had a lot of weight and it would walk with an effort. Its ears were big and they would flap over his head. Its big black eyes were very friendly and would make anybody pick it up. Its paws were very big and it had perfect five claws on its perfect 4 legs. The only thing lacking was a name. My sister came up with the name Pluto because of its similarities with the original Walt Disney character. So Pluto it was !
Somehow, I could only say Bijju instead of Pluto. My mother would lovingly call it Ladoo. Whenever my mother would pamper Ladoo, he would be all on seventh heaven, he would smile and be all attention to whatever my mother said. During such times, me and my sister were treated as unimportant. Our pampering had no effect, since it was routine and was something that Bijju completely ignored. I would call him 'Joot Baye', an Indianised version to say 'Good Boy' and also because Bijju slept on a jute bag !

Another change that one can notice is that the 'it' changed to 'he'. Pluto was our family, and he also made us his family. Whenever we had family get-togethers, he would sit among us and listen with full attention. At times, I feel that he would comprehend all that was being said. Pluto understood Marathi ! He understood our joy, anger, sorrow and most important of all; he understood us. I also saw him ignore us when he wanted to laze and sleep. His personality and preference would always show.

My mother would make it a point to keep him chained in the garden for 30 minutes at least but you should see the ruckus he made. He would dig up so much earth near him that we had a free digger; the one who dug at all the wrong places ! When we sisters returned home in the evening he would want to be immediately set free and would also show us the dug up pit. I think he wanted to be treated like us.

During Navratri, a festival celebrated with lot of enthusiasm; who would want to miss out on the good traditional music and dance and being together with your own group; well, so during such late night events, Pluto would be awake, waiting at the door for us to come back. Normally, he would be fast asleep in the house not bothering to be the watch dog that we would have preferred. But during such occasions, he would be worried like any caring and worrying parent and his incessant barking would ensure that we returned well on time.

One incident stands out to prove how well Pluto considered himself a Deshpande. My sister had invited two friends over for some project discussion in the afternoon. She was having some late lunch downstairs when her friends arrived. My mother showed them in. All this while, Pluto was eyeing them squarely and so my mother asked them to make themselves comfortable in the upstairs room. The two friends casually asked Pluto to join them, and surprise of all ! Pluto was ecstatic at being asked for company and happily he went ahead of them to show them the way. He needed no introduction or assurance of their identity. We were all dumbfounded. Our little Bijju considered himself more of a human than a dog.

We had a very happy nice time with Bijju and his lovely antics. To this day, we still cherish our fond memories of him. I am sure he found his own place in the sky, the twinkling bright star still smiles down below at us. The star who considers itself not a celestial object but an angel to cheer us up when we need it the most!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Abnuma

'Living in an independent house has its set of joys and sorrows.' So went the general opinion about people who preferred other housing schemes such as flat system in a building. But my parents had a different view to it. My mother loved to have a garden, and that too a well maintained one; my father saw to its cleanliness besides watering the plants. My sister and I would be of help only occasionally during vacations in trimming the plants, tilling the soil and getting the compost pit ready. But together, it made the effort worth it when the whole family enjoyed in the company of the small lap of nature; which included not just plants and trees but also animals, birds and bees.

It is quite natural that due to the garden, we had quite a few animal visitors. Dogs would come to the house to enjoy the cool shade of trees in summer, dig earth in winters to enjoy the warmth and give birth to puppies in the rainy season. Cats were too proud to do anything in the garden; they preferred to be indoors commanding our full attention. Squirrels too found the surrounding conducive for jumping from tree to tree and eating tender buds and ripe fruits. The birds would visit the small container of water (that my mother ensured to keep full with fresh water) to either drink water from it or have an elegant bath in it by spreading their wings and flapping it till some of their friends kept a watch for danger which existed in the form of our cats. And not to forget the bees, they had also found a niche for building their own understanding of a home ie the honeycomb. At night or early morning, the mongoose family also roamed the garden and gave us a glimpse into their own world.

This all suffices for the ideal description of our family garden and our love for animals and how together we all stayed in perfect harmony. But one day, we had seven additional sweet little guests. The dog had given birth to seven puppies; all precious and tender. We were overjoyed and ecstatic ! Our parents warned us not to be too involved for they were stray and would live by the laws of nature. Indeed the average ten year old life of an Indian stray dog is full of struggle and stressful.

However, my attention was caught by an ugly looking though very healthy male pup. It was quite boisterous and active. Had it been good looking, it would have made a good home for itself. But God had other things in store for him. As most of the puppies perish before they complete their first five months, nature was no good to this set too. The ugly looking pup had become more ugly due to malnutrition and all his brothers and sisters had died too as a result of eating stale roadside meat. The male pup had survived the food poisoning but had become weak as a result. To add more to misery, one evening, it came with a profusely bleeding jaw; one could see that it was very hurt and would not survive the night. It did not allow us anywhere near for it would cry at the sound of human voice and steps. We retreated.

The next morning, we expected a dead pup, but there it was; still lying on the ground with a bleeding jaw that clearly exposed the broken and missing teeth on the left side. Its sight made us wonder of who could be the perpetrator of such an inhuman act. The wound showed that it was hit with something big solid object. All that we could do was pray to God to have mercy and end its suffering. But fortunately, there was an improvement in the situation. The puppy allowed us to come near. We did try to clean the wound and feed it milk with a crushed painkiller dissolved in it. But no! the pup would have none of the milk nor the console of humans. It did allow us to touch it but it's distrust of the humans was quite evident. His eyes reflected suspicion of us all.  The agony and blood loss had made it more weak. The good thing was that once it was in our garden, it had hardly left its favorite spot which gave us hope.

The second dawn, with its bright reddish orange glow, brought us back in this world from our deep sleep. A walk in the garden, brought us to the place where the pup had slept last night, but hey ! the pup was missing. Where could it be ? 'Must have wandered to some other final resting place' was all that we could think. But surprise of all surprise, there it was weak and tired sitting near the banana plants. It lifted the head and with a faint smile, it wagged the tail. Again, we gave it milk to drink and although with difficulty, it drank most of the milk. The bleeding had stopped too. All that remained was a swollen jaw and a battered soul.

Slowly the pup regained its strength and against all odds, proved to be a winner in the race for living. In the next week, we saw a tremendous change in its spirit; from broken to a winner. My mother fed it regularly with Indian bread and milk. She would feed him early in the morning in the backyard, for which she had to open the back door. Our pup, who slept on the front porch, would come running in the backyard on hearing my mother's footsteps. Gradually, it started showing confidence in our family members, it wagged its tail whenever we went near it, allowed us to touch it and in return it loved us dearly. We had to work hard to earn its trust. Gradually, over a few more months, the ugly pup metamorphosed into a healthy though ugly dog. It looked different with its half set of front teeth missing, its one ear standing upright and another ear in horizontal position, the body and tail covered in long fur (unusual for an Indian breed) and the color of the fur, a combination of white, brown and black. We lovingly called it Abnuma.

Abnuma loved the garden and would guard our house with all its courage. I wonder if I should call it courage at all; for its battered soul had yet not healed. Abnuma was too much afraid of people all because of the teeth breaking incident. At times, it would not even bark, only look suspiciously at strangers. Strangers in turn looked at Abnuma with hesitation for they saw a different dog; not a timid one. The situation would become so funny that Abnuma was afraid of people and people were afraid of Abnuma; for he did not bark. And as the popular belief goes - 'Dogs that don't bark, bite'. Many strangers never dared to enter our house compound; all thanks to Abnuma. He (the 'it' changed to 'he' with time)  hardly left our house, but it was all going to change for the better.

Slowly, Abnuma started to go further than our house, he went a few houses down the street, then further more to the end of the street and then the whole colony. This way, he gradually expanded his jurisdiction and made himself the boss of small dogs as he had no big strong contenders to compete with. True, he had little competition from other stray weak dogs, which helped him to survive. Whenever we called out his name, he would come running as fast as a leopard, his hind legs crossing the front legs, his long hair all flowing in the air and bringing along with it, his long bushy tail. We watched with pride 'Our Abnuma', how magnificent he looked. He  may have been half wolf and half dog but one thing for sure, he belonged to our family. At the end of two years, Abnuma had become quite noticeable and admirable. His soul may have been battered but now his spirit had mended.

He waited at the gate for me and my sister if we ever got late in the evening. He always preferred to sit in the porch in our company. He enjoyed the company of birds and mongoose too. Slowly his confidence grew.

Once, we all friends were enjoying our talk on the porch and the now five year old Abnuma was sitting near us. He felt happy to be around us. Suddenly, one of my friend started talking a little bit more loudly and with her hand stretched, she started towards me. Abnuma found it offensive; immediately he started barking and growling. We were all taken aback by his behavior, for he never barked, he only cowered in fear in front of others. Quickly, my friend quietened and we all pacified Abnuma. His personality was becoming more visible, he was very protective of his family.

During my summer vacation, one of my neighbor asked me to coach his son in Physics for about a month. I agreed and visited his house where I was teaching his son on the first floor. After about 45 minutes, I saw Abnuma standing on the first floor door and wagging his tail. He had found the ground floor door open and had hoodwinked all to reach the first floor on listening to my voice. He found it perplexing that my voice should come from the neighbor's house. Finally, I had to leave the session in order to bring a very concerned Abnuma back to our home. After that day, whenever I went to the neighbor's house, Abnuma would patiently wait outside the neighbor's house and walk with me to our home.

When Abnuma was six years old, he developed a problem in his ear. His ear swelled and we contacted the Vadodara Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (VSPCA) and told them the problem. They said that it was a common problem which required surgery. We agreed to go ahead with the surgery and accordingly he was taken to the center. Abnuma had never left his colony and was fearful of strangers, so no wonder that he would find it difficult to be at the center for a week. My mother took me to the center on the second day itself. We found Abnuma in a corner with his bandaged ear. The surgery had been successful. The blocked blood vessel had been taken of and the swelling had gone. The doctor asked us to keep Abnuma at the center for another three days. I looked at Abnuma and his eyes locked with mine. It is difficult to describe what I saw in his eyes, but one thing for sure, he was pleading with me to take him home. I started crying and did not feel like leaving him for a minute longer. Looking at my face, my mother had no choice but to ask the doctor to let us take Abnuma home. The ride back home in the Indian rickshaw was the happiest moment for Abnuma. He sat with his face in our lap. Was he glad to be back in his home !

These are the most fond memories of our beloved 'Abnuma'. He lived a very normal life for another year and the best of all was that he showed us how a battered soul or broken spirit can be fixed with will power and a little caring hand to make life even more beautiful. His memory till this day brings tears to our eyes but also shows us that life is all about surviving hardships and giving joy to all.

[Abnuma contracted a skin disease later on, and gradually became weaker and weaker and finally had to be put to sleep to free him from his misery.]

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Theory Of Relativity


Great, indeed is Albert Einstein to have formulated such mind boggling theories in Physics at a very nascent scientific age.

   "Man's imagination in the beyond, his faith within and his ability to prove things is truly surprising and inspiring"

His gray hair and casual style are as confounding as are his scientific theories intriguing. One wonders of his day to day simplicity in living and his complexities in thinking. As a reader, I also savored most of the stories on him and his unpredictability. No wonder that most of his kindergarten teachers found the little boy not like other kids. Oddity can be a specialty or a disability; who can predict the potential within.

So many thoughts on the Greatness of a human being, came to my mind, but hey ! I need to keep my blog on track too. What interests me is the title ie Theory of Relativity. This title is also so much relative just like the theory itself. The theory speaks of the movement of objects in trying to explain the concept. Even my thoughts about this is in line with the actual theory but instead of the objects the focus for me is a person in two different situations.

I still remember the city I grew up in, the city with its familiar people; the daily vegetable vendors, the shopkeepers, the sweepers, our maid and not to forget my set of friends who made me define myself and my place in this world. I always cherish memories of having a 'cutting' chai and the spicy Indianised Chinese food along with my friends constantly discussing either the problems as faced by a teenager or the aspirations of the young generation. I also cannot forget the good parts of bad roads or the bad parts of good roads ! How traveling was enjoyed due to the good spirit and a longing for the 'yet to have'.

All this suddenly changed when after a decade, I stood all motionless in an 'unknown' part of the city that I so proudly call my home. The location was all same, but I was out of place. No familiar faces, no recognizable buildings, no friend to share the chai, no road having that familiar pothole; in short, nothing that I could relate to. The city had moved leaving me back in time. Only a select few people were there to actually make me understand the reference.

Standing there, watching the world go by made me realize that the people had indeed moved quite far ahead, I still remained a decade back. I surely was among the fast and moving person in the new city that I currently stay, but going back made me feel completely out of place. I was still living in a world that was 10 years old and people around me had reached a new destination in time.

This made me wonder whether Einstein's theory was any different. And frankly speaking just like the two objects, its people who either stay behind or move forward. Theory of Relativity is indeed a relative subject; at times talking of objects as subjects and some times talking of subjects as objects.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Me - The Driver, and He - The Instructor


Different people have different phobias and lucky people have none. God surely knows how to come up with innovative phobias and make people name them. Luckily for me, He did not have to make a big effort. Like most women (let me exclude good and efficient women drivers), I had car driving phobia. For 33 years, I kept myself away from the driver's seat and was happy to be in the back seat, carefully trying to avoid my commenting on other drivers. Its not that I don't drive, in fact I drive to my place of work using a two wheeler, but driving a four wheeler was simply not my domain, or that is what I considered.

At times, I did try to imagine as the driver and came up with a smug feeling as to whether I was driving a car or the car was driving me ! Thats something quite fascinating. I am sure that all the scientists who engineered a 'driverless' vehicle got the idea from people like me.

But to cut the sorry state short, I had to learn driving if I wanted to be more independent in a foreign country, thats what my husband told me. I was simply afraid, its like asking a child to go in the dark and switch on the lights ! I was that child trying to run away from darkness, in the process forgetting to bring in the light. How true ! So many of us try to run away from our fear or our phobias and in the process, we also miss the better side. And I for one, did not want this to happen to me. I decided to grab the bull by its horn.

And so there I was holding the horn, oops the steering wheel of the car after duly completing all the enrollment formalities. I was told of my instructor, Ram by name. I was wondering if he would be those scolding types who would do me more harm than good. There he came, a short thin man with black thin sharp mustache, I would say not more than 30 years of age. I had a sinking feeling as I had a notion that all men with mustache were strict disciplinarian.

With a short crisp clear voice, Ram Sir, as I called him, repeated all the driving instructions; that I had already learnt in my theory class. I was the first student for the day starting at 7 in the morning, with a much lesser traffic and a cool breeze. But I was perspiring sitting with the driving wheel in my hand. But off I drove, taking a turn, putting the brakes, switching gears, looking in the rear view mirror, the list is endless; for all things require coordinated effort and I was enjoying it. I was happy that I DROVE the car, as I stepped out.

The next day proved to be quite good, I was able to take a U turn, change gears and then Ram Sir commented on the improvement. Next he asked me to park the car behind another car and apply the clutch and brake. The bumbling fool I was, I hit the accelerator instead. "Excellent !" was all that my instructor commented. This made me take a resolve not to commit the mistake again.

Who would know, I would invent other bumbling areas ? The next day saw me with a stiff steering wheel, to which Ram Sir coolly said that I need to let go off the wheel and let it steady itself. This made me take a resolve not to commit the mistake again.

Hopefully, I did well on the 4th day and Ram Sir asked me to take the fourth gear. "THE FOURTH GEAR?" Oh, I was nervous as hell. "So do you think the sound has changed ?" asked Ram Sir. "Yep, it does", was my quick reply to hide my ignorance of the effect of the gear. "Well, I have a sore throat!", said Ram Sir. "Hey ! I thought you were talking of the car......... " was all that I could mutter and see Ram Sir comfortably enjoying the joke. After that, even I could not control my laughter and driving further became more fun.

The fifth day proved me as a good student, but not one without faults. I had started getting used to listening to my teacher's instructions and acting accordingly. Ram Sir mentioned before a crossing to see the road and take a good judgement. I like a fool, simply started to see in all directions ! "Hey, you need to just take a view, not enjoy the view !", said Ram Sir. 'Very clever', I thought.

Writing all these humorous incidents, made me wonder of my instructor's role; 'Isn't God doing the same?', I thought. God lets you take your decisions and lead your life, but at the same time, it is He who gives us the directions. It is under His guidance that we take the course that we have already taken, the path that we have already travelled. At times, God puts a difficult situation before us and lets us react; at times he makes us laugh by allowing us to enjoy the journey; but the most important thing to remember is that He is there for us all.

My instructor taught me many things as far as driving is concerned, but the biggest thing that I learnt was trusting myself with the knowledge that GOD is there for me. The past few months had been difficult for me and my husband due to job pressure, but the driving lessons taught us to trust God and follow His directions.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Save for a rainy day !!


The little girl in red and white frock, jumped in the puddle; with muddy water splattered all over her. The sweet smile and water dripping from her curly black hair, added to make the picture perfect. The rain also danced to her steps and the rain drops falling on the puddle, rose higher and higher to touch her and be close to the child and shield her from the wind; wanting to blow the clouds away.

My daughter's excited voice brought me back to my warm home. Her wide eyes showed delight and excitement at having got up from her afternoon sleep to find the rain and all the excited children dancing and playing on the ground below. The sweet smell of wet earth was still fresh in the house.

'Can I go out and play ?' asked my daughter, excitedly. And out she went on hearing a yes and seeing a smile on my face.

I watched my daughter and all her friends having a nice time in the rain, getting wet and splashing in the water and a different look on their face. Even the trees and plants sported a new look. The flowers were also dancing to the tune of the raindrops. The wet grass shone like a green carpet and the grass blades trying to stay afloat the rain water. The birds were all grooming themselves and having a bath, the animals looking silently at the rain.

The rains had finally arrived to the dry region and arrive they did with a full thunderous shower.

I hurried in the kitchen to make some hot pakoras. They are expected at such times and I could already get a faint smell coming from the kitchen belonging to my neighbour. My daughter would surely hurry up and ask for a plateful.

By the time, my work was done, it was already over 2 hours since the rain started. I sat down on the cozy sofa and looked out of the window. The kids were now collectively working out some game and trying to build a barricade to trap the water. I wished to go out and play with the children. 'What is it that stops me ?' I wondered.

I went down to call my daughter for some hot pakoras. She looked at me with water dripping and her face lighting up with joy. 'Come on Aai ', she called out to me and came running towards me, to hold my hand and drag me into the cool and happy moments of getting drenched with water and mud and the joy of playing in the puddle.

All the kids gathered and around and we all played 'Ringa ringa...'The happiness was manifold and made me realise that I would rather save my mature behaviour for a rainy day than miss this joy away!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Mirage



My grandpa once told me of a golden deer,
      running here there and everywhere;
Thought he saw water near
      Alas ! who would tell of the imaginery well nowhere.

Years passed, I grew big and strong
      My father told me of his animals and fields;
At the farm I felt the days short and nights long,
      I worked hard and realised my dreams.

I am a man now and living in luxury
      I have people working for me
And have nothing to worry ?
      Is it really? For I am rich only by money.
 
The market holds the cash in stacks,
      The banker boasts of lending so many.
The Bull and the Bear each patting on the backs
      Why am I standing so lonely ?

I dream to go away and own a farm
      How I remember my grandpa's words so warm !
'Aye my child ! The deer is safe in the foliage'
      'Alas !' I say, this is just a mirage.