Alms using ‘Arms’

I remember a sense of pride hitting my brother when he was just 16, he wouldn’t want to accept he “depends” or “relies” on dad or mom. He was quick to find a job, as soon as he completed his studies, having funded his post graduation fees from sources unknown to the family! I remember Eby telling a 100 time he doesn’t want to “depend” on his Dad, trying and supporting him back instead. It was an unsaid principal instilled in ‘guys’ I don’t know how or when..to not to extend your hand for anything but then exert them in hardwork and earn it yourself.

Agreed we are in an age wherein anyone and everyone speaks of  just loss and ‘good ole days’. But how much can people lose?. The other day I saw a policeman taking 5rs from a telewala!! Yesterday I saw a cop coming in and collecting money from a chinese restaurant. I thought parents brought up their brave boys to work as cops! I thought of all jobs it was ‘police’ who were the most ‘respected’. Common they were saluted ..for what???

I sit here and toil away 10 hours a day only to get back home and go about cooking and doing the vessels. There has been n number of lazy mornings when I wish I could at least take a leave..and actually when I was without job..more than anything else I found guilty as hell to ask money from Eby for my expenses!!! I know it’s a lill too much to comprehend but it is sheer fact. Not that I dint ask or never depended, but I really wished I dint have to. Im surprised how well groomed people donning a respectable job in the society could actually walk from shop to shop and collect money. Is it any different than begging??

And we have in our society a whole gang who claim themselves as ‘Transgenders’. To me they look like nothing but men wearing a woman’s cloth. “”edited after a few comments”"It is not that I’m not sympathetic to transgenders, Im trying to point out at those who exploit ruthlessly this sympathy. I hope we are all not blind to the whole lot of  ‘healthy’ men clad in sarees extracting money from people! How crippled are you when compared to me in earning for your own food.??? They “function” in a similar way? They have money for that neat and beautiful dress, flowers, bangles and makeup! They come barge into your store and demand for “alms”..nothing less than 10Rs!!! We asked a retailer.why does he even bother to give them? He answered that if he objected theyd come in groups and attack. If he calls the police, hed have to give them atleast 500..so he preferred the transgenders to the cops!! Better part with 500 in 50 days than in 1 single day! And coming back to ‘real transgenders’, I have seen a quite a few of them employed quite normally in Mumbai. Like all of us regular workers, they get into the ladies compartment, share their work stories to friendly fellow travellers and head back home in the evening. In short Im sure that 8 out of 10 that I see on the streets today are just lazy men who are out for easy money!

I believe the custom of offering alms to transgenders started when they were not cast away from the society and not allowed to work for their living. They were some who believed their “”blessings”” are good!! Don’t tell me any of these hold true in the current society, then why on earth are we scared of them???

Now we have “saints”. Mostly Hindus I believe.. These so called “saints”, grow large beards, wear ‘religious attire’ and come with a God, goddess portraits asking for alms! The other day when I dint care to offer, I heard him curse me in a language only he knows! Please.. today when technology and reason rules or even if they don’t exist,..don’t tell me my God is going to be annoyed with me coz I saw his snap and refused to give him “alms”!!!

If these ‘healthy’ people play a part in building up a lousy society, we who toil and earn also play a part in “breeding” such parasites! If you are keen in helping an individual, try and visit an orphanage, check the credibility of the organization and provide them with a hearty meal or old clothes.. Throwing off a coin to get rid of nuisance is easy..but remember you are playing a part in throwing the Nation to the underdogs.

Summer Rain..

Rain has always brought me something sweet along with them. Be it summer or monsoon they just make me look up with expectant wide eyes and a smile on my lips. The first time I fell in love with rain was in my village. I guess no one could resist her beauty there. Long green stretches of paddy fields swaying to her rhythm were a spectacle no poet could do justice to. Every year it brought something with it. A fresh academic year, new books, new bags, brown paper covers for the books, stickers with Mickey mouse pictures. It meant a whole new beginning for me.

In college, rains meant you could take your books and go to your rooms. This meant total freedom there in a convent hostel. We need not sit in a single desk, one behind another and pass notes to converse with each other. J That was how our study was..we used to sit around the building in a row, one behind the other and talking was highly impossible, especially for us who were right in front of our matrons room. Rain meant we could go inside our room and obviously that in turn meant we could gossip, eat, look out of the window and comment on all those who come that way.

I was somehow blessed to get hostels with a “nadumuttam” both during Pre-Degree & Degree. Now those who don’t understand the word “nadumuttam” – it is an opening right in the middle of a house or building. Rather the building would be constructed in such a way that there will be a small open ‘playground’ right in the middle. So degree also rains meant, closing all books, trying to reach the rain falling in the ‘nadumuttam’ from your balcony, gasp at the water being splashed to the balcony, tip toe and play with the water puddles that forms there and grumbling at the matron who arranges for the cleaning up of the space pretty quickly!

Post graduation unfortunately did not give any such facilities. There was one vast terrace and the only way we could enjoy the rains were after the rain, we could stroll on the cool terrace.  My journey to Pune & then to Mumbai made me realize how people just celebrate rain there. Even when the water was up till a little below my knees I enjoy the waded walk to my office and the appreciation that none except me had come in the team . It always brought a smile no matter where and what, a friend would remember me after a long time and call for a cup of coffee, it would be declared leave for both our offices and we could cuddle at home, hot vadapav, hot soups, hot coffee..it was a treat for the tummy too.

This summer rain in Bangalore was no different. Thanks to the ‘transit’ foodcourt in Forum the view of the windy rain outside was as pleasant as it could get. If I had no paddy fields, the very sight of vehicles drenched in a new shower was a sight in itself. And it did not forget to bring the smile with it..and this time it stayed with me till the truth sunk in and I was smiling real wide. Yes it brought the news of a new life for me. It brought the smiles of a new life that is budding within me. There isn’t any other way I could imagine I would’ve celebrated this news than that evening with the dancing rain and a cup of coffee and both of us…wondering about the intruder who’ll arrive in no time!

Love outlives troubles ;P

Laziness has its limits!!! How stupid of me not to have posted about my newfound love …the day..the minute we met.. Well..newfound would not be true..not because I delayed so much but coz I’ve fallen head over heels in love right at the age of 11! Yessss!!!

I was in class 6th when my “cricket mate” introduced me to the hottest one on earth! ;P. I sure loved taking kitchen utensils and cook rice with sand & curry with watery mud.but apparently Sumesh(5th std) & Anand (3rd std) couldn’t stand my silly games! Since they were the only souls around I gave in to their cricket, shuttle, battleships..and finally their pal..with whom I fell in love right away.

A swish with the pedals & it would take me places with the breeze lapping on my face. It was a pleasure incomparable with anything. It was then that I decided me & a two-wheeler ride were just born for each other! Now when you are in love, by experience most of you would know you will land up in a planet of troubles! WE “me & two-wheeler” were no exception!

Till high school it was just imploring/cajoling stage. The next stage of stealing glances over the fence & ‘other activities’ started from high school. In a village where girls were not expected to step out of the house without ‘body guards’ I paraded in my friends bicycle to & fro. Though I was happy to get away without falls & bruises, my brother saw to it that there were marks to remind me to stay far from such parades in future!!

There was a long gap & the next rendezvous was a cherished one as we both had upgraded. Me from a school girl to a college lady ;P (11th std) & my passion from a cycle to a motorcycle. I still don’t remember whose motorcycle that was, but I just waltzed with it throughout my huge college campus. For a change we parted without much trouble.

Then the ‘8’ that I had to take for a legal union. Trust me that was the stupidest 2-wheeler I ever set my eyes on, but since it was a solemn occasion I just stuck to my duty & got the papers in hand.

After that, we could only meet after I landed in a job. I joined as the lecturer in a college & borrowed my ‘students 2-wheeler’ when they were away on vacation. I couldn’t thank God enough for the fact that they were away, for I did have a rocking time with that dude. So rocking that I broke my leg at the right time so that I could step into the aisle of my real life wedding with a bandage on my leg!!

“It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death.” – Someone said & I believe J So after all those futile attempt at sneaking time for each other. I decided, it is time I own my passion

We may have tussles & I may get hurt again. But it is you that I longed all my life & it is you I have for myself now… Dear (Honda) Dio – Did I say I’m in cloud nine the day I got you?

PS: I purposefully dint add the snaps will post it later ;P

PPS: Thanks to Eby, for buying it for me ;P (Now you know whom you should hold responsible incase of accidents)

In a Race..In a Daze

I’ve waived away my life in the hope of living…..

In the hustle of life, I guess this is what exactly happened or happening to me!.

I’m busy at office, trying to hone my skills to cling on to a thin rope that is being cut from one end in the name of recession. I’m busy perfecting my body to stop people perceiving me as a watermelon, elephant, puffs and what not! I’m busy perfecting the role of a part-time homemaker lest I’m not chucked out of the role following incompetent performance!

Results?? Well being busy in office obviously means being sulky with your colleagues & boss, the latter being a comparatively more dangerous target.

Busy working out with a constant glance at the weighing scales, when nothing seems to work ends up in just hogging.! Too busy in the household chores means cribbing about/to your partner to a phenomenal degree! In short, very simply put, I managed to run through life at an amazing speed and stumbled & spoiled all that was on my way. I had no time for faraway bonds and messed up with all those in the vicinity!

What I wanted was just a little time to breathe. To take in the trivial joys of life. To be able to jump at the sight of the full moon in all its glory, to stand and watch the “aero planes”, to run peek at the ‘ice-cream’ vendor with eager hopes of getting one. Endless is the list.

Today everything is easy & readily available and hence not as valuable as it once used to be. Today getting a new dress is not an occasional festival matter, so I no longer have reasons to wait for that ‘special day’. Today, delicacies are not restricted to birthdays, so somehow it is just another day to remind me, I’m growing old.

There were days when I would listen to a song and muse over the lyrics a hundred time. Now lyrics are out in the open for you! You better shy away from them for their ostentatious meaning. There were days when I used to read out poetry from a printed-paper back book and admire the beauty

I was once acquainted with the word – emotional quotient – by my dove. I guess that is what is needed for my perturbed mind. To delve deep into my own realm of thoughts, my emotions and assess how well I handle them. To be able to sit, stare and smile at the trivial beauties of life. To calm down, for the race would just land me in a daze!

Demands – Wanna be alive!

Election campaigns do the round through the city. They call it as my privilege to vote. They term it’s my right. Every common man I meet, has only one question to ask. What is the point? Who will turn out to be different?

Every single day Bangalore newspapers are filled with murders, rapes, robbery and harassment. No..you got me wrong if you imagined it is the old fashioned way – when there happens one murder somewhere and for a week you read about it as a TV serial. Now each day dawns with a fresh crime and by the next day this particular one is gone and forgotten. And murders are no longer out in the dark. Most are stabbed right in the middle of the road in daylight or in their own houses.

I might question the police here. I heard that there aren’t enough police force considering the population of the city, but I see them swarming in like bees when people with the tag VIP make the rounds. But before I put the blame on them there is this great law enforcement or do I term it loose law enforcement by our honorable President I want to talk about.

With crime rates soaring in the city, we now have to welcome a new law. Unless and until a person’s crime deserves 7 years of imprisonment as per law, he cannot be arrested. In short, a major holiday for all law enforcement forces out there has been granted. Let people steal, harass, rape or do whatever they want, till the imprisonment is for a term of 7 years.  Either ways our law was hilarious! as far as I could remember the misconduct of a drunken person in public deserves only “24 hours in prison and a fee of 10 rs!!”.  Thanks to the new law now crime would be a waltz for people out there. With all the murders waiting to be solved there was this blogger arrested for having created a community against a party who came to fame through their atrocities alone. So again freedom of press has become a crime more grave than stabbing. Oh I forget I guess we can zero it down as the importance is not anymore is who does what..it all depends on ‘whom’ it is done to.

Will I be arrested if I very respectfully ask our dear President, what with this new law, how is she expecting the common middle class to survive? All I ask for is her to walk the roads of this city with us for one day and tell us how this new law would help anyone but criminals.

Mail forwards flood my inbox with the ‘crime history’ of almost all in the parliament. Not that I believed it then but with the entry of some who have traded the country’s emotion now standing for elections I guess I should start believing them.  (Why aren’t we demanding people with spotless records to serve us?)And considering this, I should not be alarmed that no one is bothered with the new law that might change the face of crime.

Happy women’s day to all you women outside this city. As for within this city, girls – be busy with pepper sprays, kick boxing and self defense techniques, there isn’t much time for you to celebrate womanhood and all. Be glad to be alive and to have been spared today and be aware tomorrow can be your turn.

It is my privilege, they say to go and vote for people who have criminal records to boast of, to help people get into crime.  Many of us would be familiar with the old movie concept of public demands of water, roads, facilities to those who stand for election. The endless bed of roses they promise. Recently in paper there was one board a girl was holding..just one question to those whom we painfully elect and allow to rule us – “Will I be ALIVE till the next election?”

 

Love with Levity

 

Levity is one word I’m in love with. I cling on to it as much as I can like a victim from a crashing plane to a parachute. As much as I’m in love with this word, I guess I irk people around me!

 

You’ve forgotten the keys! – Oh its ok – I can spend another hour outside reading my ‘fiction’ with the help of the streetlight (err was it Tolstoy who did it before?..not sure!!). You’ve taken all the keys with you! – Borrow the neighbor’s lock for once! Keep some money with you – Oh I have the bus fare. You haven’t combed your hair, your bindi is not there, you look like a disaster!– You say the same when im ‘best dressed’ with all possible feats to beautify myself! Anyways I’ll carry a comb and ask my colleague for a Bindi! Oh I love hop the wall, pop the corn life I was floating through.

 

It isn’t all that easy everyday I guess. Especially when I get into a Volvo to escape the ‘poking crowd’ and sit next to the ‘well dressed gentleman’ ahem no I’m completely conscious of the probability of the readers in here and I swear I didn’t notice any further. Anyways It wasn’t easy to sit there and search a bag that is ditto to a school bag and churn out coins from among all the other trashes (my endeavor to save the roads from litter.. you see) and count it right there with a stranger staring at you as though you have landed right from another planet all for the heck of forgetting your purse! I almost thought I might have to ask for a rupee or 2 when fortunately one of the innermost pockets of the bag gifted me a long forgotten coin!

 

So I entirely understood the plight of another ‘well-dressed’ person with an ID card and US accent climbed up to the first floor of the building and knocked at our door for 70Rs! He even offered to keep his gold plated watch with us. Since Eby was there to deal with the whole situation I conveniently sat there behind the curtain in the comfortable sofa enjoying my ‘chocolate ice cream’ only to be shocked to hear my husband deny that man.

 

??!! He ought to be in utter disaster if he had all the patience in the world to learn US accent (quite perfectly I would say), and then go around for 70Rs! But Eby had for a change become a Sherlock Holmes! How was he drunk this early? He said he met with an accident, Y dint he have any dust or dirt in his clothes, why did he climb up till the first floor when there were actually more people downstairs and other houses nearby? Why did he fumble when I said there weren’t any bachelors in the house he claimed to be his friend’s house? Why didn’t he approach occupants of the same building who would have at least known his friend? Why couldn’t he call up a person he knew? Why didn’t he take an auto to someone he knew and then pay the Rick fellow? What if I kept his watch here and he later claimed that I robbed him of all his belongings and the watch was a proof! What with the happenings here for the past few weeks, how can I trust anyone! (Did I hear appreciations for living with a detective? J thank you!)

 

So the next time I forget my lock inside and ask for another lock I’d better be safe that the neighbor doesn’t think me a crook forging keys! Next time I dream of borrowing a rupee or two I better not risk being mistaken for a planned deceptive ‘watever’! I can’t blame Eby for being reluctant to part with an odd figure of 70 bucks to a drunk ‘well dressed’ stranger. Nor can I come to think that a person who looked like that would intend to do anything! But the fact is, his branded clothes, shoes or a gold plated watch & accent did not save him from the humiliation of being turned down for 70rs thanks to the happenings around us in Bangalore. For here, with the horrendous surging of murders & robbery, people sure seem to go to hell in a handbasket! No one seem to have any clue whom to trust and whom not to.       

 

There was a time when the world and our thinking were not like this. A time when the good old village of mine, never heard of conning. There was a time when you step out of your house with a bruise and you have your whole village asking about it. Don’t know about other cities but thanks to the cops in Bangalore (who seem to be in an indefinite slumber) and the crime rates soaring up faster than skyrockets – we are left on our own. Get hit, Get lost, Get strangled no one would help or rather no one would dare to!! That extra money, extra pair of keys and extra caution L seems inevitable! Alvida dear levity!

 

 

 

Much Ado about Nothing!

Is it me, my paper or… Guys/(girls too) please help me know as to whats wrong with who!

Couple of day before, in the paper the front page talks about Pakistan admitting its involvement in Mumbai attacks (which speaks the gravity of the situation for both countries) and very close to it with same importance is given Muthaliks – Pink chaddi  & his khadi sari news.. By now you all know what the whole thing is about! The next day same thing confronts me in the front page – Muthalik and his sena going haywire about V-day in other parts of Karnataka, being calm in Bangalore, Bajrang Dal being the berserk forceful matchmaker somewhere and being the placid “krishna love” admirers handing out Vday cards elsewhere!  And guess what I had to read on the third page of the vary same paper? Group Kiss in Mexico enter Guinness!!

There is Indian security issue at hand, there is an airshow here with 26 countries participating, there is this recession issue to deal with..etc!!!And the senas were busy buying chaddis and selling khadar saris. I wonder what they would have done in Mexico? Suicided or mass murdered? or would have themselves entered the Guinness record as the greatest match maker in the world.

It is so damn easy for a handful of youth to get into a pub and beat up girls, It is easy to stand in groups, catch up a couple and tell them to marry. Excuse me protectors, we looked around anxiously when we were wrapped up in 6 full yards of cotton cloth, travelling with our spouse when guys tried to poke their finger at us? Where were you? having tea breaks? Oh ok, perhaps these “Guys” who are out there, just to make travelling a torture for us girls is helping protect “Indian Culture” as well? These “Guys” who just make walking on roads an aerobic exercise for us (what with their dashing from all sides) is actually protecting the ’sanctity’ of our “culture”?

MatchMaking – Do you even know what marriage is all about to marry off young couples just because they held hands? What rights do you have to claim that my country’s marriage belief is founded on the basis 0f ‘holding hands’?

Pub – What happened to “Sri Ram” value of treating women with respect?  The media story of Mangalore Pub Assault wasnt actually showing any “Maryada Purushottam” followers there!!

Indian Culture – If we have a couple more of such leaders, India wouldnt be there for them to protect Indian Culture!!  They will be so busy weaving Khadi Sarees for us, when the world around would have reached greater heights of progress and crushed us in seconds!

I’m appalled that one person as old as Muthalik can actually talk ’such nonsense’, I’m alarmed at Acharya’s reaction to the whole situation! (Il need a seperate post for all those remarkable remarks!!), I’m dumbfound that there are actually youth who help sena and bajrang dal carry out their stupidity!, I’m blinking at the media making it their front page headlines for so many days! I’m confused as to how useful an exposure for the elections this would be for the particular groups! I’m sitting with my jaws dropped to the floor thinking how stupid can a whole nation get!

I certainly do not need a culture which will put me in the condition girls are put to in Afghanistan sans the protection they have. Im as wrapped up as an egyptian mummy is and guys keep peeping for one ‘open space’ and they give me the crap that they are trying to make the bharatiya naari? what about Ram jaise “maryada purushottams”?

I certainly dont have to take my time out and go stand in long queues, take the pain to chose some leader who displays such foolishness or allows during his tenure such foolishness!

I guess all those with sanity think this way! Is this nation at this juncture having too many self proclaimed rulers? Are we all sleeping to endure with those who think they are ‘Hitlers’ and force it upon us? Is it because our leaders have nothing regarding, security, development, recession  issues to deal with? Is there going to be a new department called Moral Policing? Moral Policing Minister – Mr. Muthalik! ?

My weekend trip – A tryst with Nature

 

I got 2 days for my eyes to feast upon. Now, as I relish those lovely moments let me try to frame it with words..the images I captured with the eyes of my mind. Now before you read the whole things and judge me a ‘psycho’ let me tell you to consider it in a more ‘relative’ term ;P.  For someone who hardly stepped out of the “office – house” consistent & infinite loop..it sure is worth writing about.

 

Our start off on Friday evening was eventful. A whole lot of chaos of getting late & yet another creative brain claiming the conductor that we are reporters from Aaj tak & would like to cover his ‘fuming’ at us has to be termed as eventul!! J

 

Saturday dawned with a ‘mind bathe’ in the river sowparnika. The ripples of flowing water alongside the greenery was worth watching though a dip in it was not ‘thinkable’ as the nearby masonry was taking its toll on the river. From there we went to Mookambika Temple. This is one temple which I was told I wouldn’t be able to make it unless the deity wanted me to! So to sum it up I had been to “the place” where I “had wanted” to go all my life but thought it was “impossible to”. The very mention of the word ‘tour’ would make me spring with joy so imagine the effects of a much-awaited one.

 

The only consolation I have when the world around calls me dumb ;P is that ‘I was born on the day my people celebrate the day of this Goddess of Literature.(yeah I see to it that I declare it as and where possible & it is with great difficulty I fitted this sentence here..phewww..) So it goes without saying that each step of my way in her sanctum was with awe. I found myself writing on those stones her name so that she would bless my pen forever, watched the kids start their first step of their journey to knowledge. This was one of those places devoid of captions & catalysts to stir up our devotion. And since devotion was one of those things which worked best without catalyst I had a great time with my inner self & the supremacy.

 

After noon we had a ‘bumpy’ or any ‘appropriate superlative’ ride to the hills of kudajaadhiri. Superlative coz by the team we reached the top a couple of us were completely shaken. The photographers were at work and the elders were at an easeful pace. I couldn’t spare a moment of mine to either. The view in front of me was the elixir I could ever hope to see and the tranquility it brought with it diminished the chaos around into distant clutter.

 

The trek uphill was worth it, trust me – for every step we took. I fell in love instantly with lush green abyss in front of me so much so that eby was left behind ;P. The trip to murudeshwar was the next day. Was much more easy when compared to this and yeah with a lot of perks on your way with the landscapes and sea playing hide & seek as you travel. It was hard to keep your eyes open but the thought that a person like me cannot ‘afford’ to miss the smallest visual treat helped me stay awake.

 

If it was greenery in Kudajaathiri, it was cool blue that soothed my eyes in Murudeshwar. As far as eyes could reach it was blue. The horizon where sea & sky met was blue and up even the sky was blue. And to compliment that we had huge structures in ash & golden . Now here in Murudeshwar I dint feel anything close to folding my hands and bowing my head. You know it was meant to attract, and attracted I was. It wasn’t a place, which allowed you to go back & explore your inner self. It had eye-catchy structures and scenery and as all guys invariably put it, when it is there for us to see, might as well open our eyes wide and see; P.

 

After a small  break (though unforgettable as I had my first fall in the sea!!) in a beach nearby, we went to Udupi Krishna temple. I don’t think I can put it in words the emotions that this small silent temple evoked in me. The fact that the trip was almost over clubbed with the confusion whether we would actually have time for the darshan before boarding our bus let me down a bit. But finally when we actually could have the darshan, Krishna especially in his quiet humble abode, glowing with gold sure had the effect on me as he would ever have, if not more!

 

I sure should thank my cousins, esp the avid traveler (by now this has become his pseudonym in my friend circle) for gifting me moments that don’t wear off with time, and sights that just don’t fade off J. Infact I guess I should thank them more to have roped in eby into a travel spree which was almost impossible for me all these days ;P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers of Different Hues

Today Im “congratulated” for having “successfully completed” two years of “marriage”.

The irony that lies within makes me laugh, but anyways let me dress up and celebrate it as my birthday as again ‘birthday’ probably is a day – your parents got/met you!

 

And I guess I have more reasons to celebrate this day coz somehow I’ve proven myself and the world that the co-existence of species from two entirely different planets is actually possible and errr yeah ..pleasingly possible!

 

2 humans as opposite in their nature as God ever would have created! I mean if there isn’t a better antonym than south pole..for north pole, there couldn’t be a better one for me as Eby ;P.

 

 If I love pastas or subway – he feels they are bland to the extent that he would have considered it’s goat feed if not brought in the special plate. Every time he eats meat and I get a chance to watch it closely I watch him in such a manner that cannibals aren’t far ;P

If I would hop into any vehicle to anywhere just for the kiss of the breeze, he is tougher than an elephant to move from hither to thither. If I’m a spontaneous spender, he’s a stickler for savings. If I were obsessed with books, he wouldn’t even touch one at gunpoint! If he can spend a whole night exploring a mobile, I’m as allergic to it as school children are with math books;  (err cited my example here!)

 

The list is endless and equally endless goes the fights we have! I had no clue you could actually fight for reasons like forgetting your ‘bindi’!! and he had no clues that CID’s are less qualified to me when it comes to interrogating the time he reaches home! (For further reference on this topic, you can contact him & I’m sure he’d have an exhaustive list..to the extent that he’d prompt guys with ‘single’ status to stay where you are until death do part u & your peace ;P)

 

But I have to admit that in 2 years these differences have become an inevitable part of my life. It is with much awe that I see that I’ve been absorbed into a different globe, with the freedom to retain my ‘alienisms’. It is with great gratitude that I observe the same shoulders that I fight with is there to lean upon to cry over (mostly over the very same fights ;P). It is with a little apology that I ponder over any moments I have spoilt & for the moments that remain to be spoilt..(as unfortunately I’m born this way & fortunately I’ve been accepted as I am. ;P)

 

 

As different hues in a bouquet add beauty & life to it, we existed with our differences complimenting each other. There are seasons there that come and go and for which we need to make allowances for. But Hopes remain that spring consistently knocks our door.

 

Art of Friendship.

For me friends were just another set of people who lived elsewhere with different parents – whom I could talk to during class and play with  during breaks. They just are there when i see them and I dont care where when I dont. 

When i started caring, I found myself entangled in emotional webs any time i step                       
into a new place. There were “friends”, “only mine” friends or
“mine too” friends.

“Friends” were all those who smothered you with compliments.

 ”Only mine” friends were those to whom you talked too much and just for
that sin you expected the penance of them talking only to you.

and “mine too” version were those great looking,
exceptionally talented, college famous personalities
who happened to have a casual chat to which you’d cling on
for your life and say “guess what we spoke about the other day…yeah we r
tht close you know!!”

Im inviting trouble when I say Noor is my ‘best’ friend. She doesnt even know the existence of this space and other
close friends consistently visit here So let me put it this way..If there is a way of friendship she was my ‘Noor’.

The streak of light that taught me what that bond was all about.

I never realized what friendship was until the day i saw tears in her eyes for a situation that I was going through. Before I could cry or complain about it..i saw her eyes moisten and wondered whatever in the world that would be for. I never realized the meaning of the bond till I found myself screaming & crying out of joy for a beautiful victory of hers. She made me realize that being friends just doesnt mean hanging out together but going out of your way to think for the other.

We had seperate ‘gangs’ I guess..she being the ’sort of celebrity’ and me being a ‘nerd’. But she somehow would have thought and sorted out almost all the problems I have managed to create.  She, more than me knew I had talents in one arena and areas of improvement in another. And suddenly friendship for me never just stopped in having a blast together but being there for each other.

Yet we did have a blast together in our own way. We would drool over people we thought were handsome and play pranks on others who thought themselves great. Most of the teachers mistook us to be great listeners & attentive/obedient students when actually we would have escaped through the back door when we saw some lecturers come through the front.  No we wouldnt let that tarnish our image, we would walk upto our respective favourite professors and ask unnecessary doubts. If it’s her favourite, she’d ask the questions and I just need to tag along and vice versa. And yeah almost all the pranks that college life normally bless our lives with!

I guess Ive always tried to put up my best ‘me’ in front of others till then. Kind of wearing the best dress when you go out. With her, I have actually voiced out the worst ’self-criticism’ that ever run across my brains. I never resented being a blabber mouth or a boring mute. It really dint seem to matter. Coz then there was one person in the wole wide world who accepted me with all the flaws I could ever imagine.

It has been 9 years now. We have seen each other grow, take different fields, stride different paths. Have seen different people cross our lives and been there for each other through thick and thin. And today things that I wouldnt dare to look into a mirror and talk out, I guess Id call her up and speak.

I had thought of writing an ode to her on the eve of her birthday. You all know that procrastination is just another word for a libran like me..by now. Nyways “better late than never” as someone (probably like me) put it. So let this be now when I miss those innoce days of friendship in the daily grind, this day when people step out as swiftly as they step in with more wounds than warmth. This age when friendship has no space or time.

If I do have friends today or rather people who value my friendship, I guess I owe it to her. Coz she was a walking/talking book on the “Art of Friendship” for me

 For her I dedicate this line which has stayed with me long after I finished the book..with a seemingly equal passion with which the author must have written it…

For you, a thousand times over….