The Moonstruck Mystique...

Some people have them some people don't. I am the former. Well, which is right? Now this is another of those questions that don't have an answer. There have been plenty of instances where I have been severely criticized for having one. I know of friends who are forbidden from having opinions let alone voicing them only because they are girl children while their male siblings have a say in matters. There was a friendly neighbour back home in Kerala who came home on a Sunday morning and was talking to dad and me. As my dad was on the look out for a groom for my sister, he turned towards me and asked what kind of a guy we were looking out for. Since he had majorly aimed the question at me and my dad was waiting for my answer too; also for the fact that I was clear about it, I told him what I thought... not from dad's point of view but mine... that my sister had spent enough time outside India that she wouldn't want to find a guy who lives abroad especially in places like...

Shruti woke up quite early that morning. She ran to the hall where her mother was sitting with her cup of coffee and the newspaper. Shruti hugged her mother and asked 'How many hours, mumma?'. Her mother smiled, '..another 11 more, baby'. Shruti was both happy and excited, yet very restless. Being an only child, coming to India for her vacation was always something she had waited for. Her grandparents, her uncles, aunts and most importantly her cousins. While having breakfast she imagined herself playing in the garden with her cousins at this very time the next day. She couldn't wait to get there.... She saw herself sitting at the window sill watching the rain. Her grandmother would've saved some of her favourite mangoes for her. Her granddad would take her around the village. She wouldn't be asked to come back in and study for now she was going to enjoy her long vacation. By lunchtime Shruti was losing the little patience that she had. She phoned her fa...

And now the summer is here; slowly yes but its getting severe.... Sweating panting and bathing all day wish for a while the sun would fade away... Come the night and there's still no respite Can't bear the heat try as I might... Sunscreen, umbrellas, glares are out but do they help, I truly doubt.... Drink water, have fruits says mom I've done it all and yet no calm... Crying about it is of no use so no more of these woeful rues.. Look around and watch a while so many things worth a smile.... Light cottons and wearing colors bright not only nature, people are too a delight.. So from now come summertime I will throw a smile and write a rhyme...

Its a warm summer morning.. and I'm spending it lazily reading Ruskin Bond. His stories and true life accounts have always been close to heart. It has the innocence of childhood, the inquisitiveness of an adolescent and the simplicity of a young man as he writes during the various stages of his life. His writing always evokes a feeling of nostalgia and romanticism in me. I imagine myself walking in the orchards at Dehradun enjoying life's simplest pleasures. It is like a dream-sequence. Warm outings, walks and bicycle rides in the garden, reading a book under a neem tree, watching the colourful butterflies fluttering over the pretty flowers going back to the bunglow to have lemonade and snacks in the evening. Where people have not a worry in the world.. people who live in tune with nature. It feels as though I've spent my vacations there.  I just love reading Ruskin Bond. I become a dreamer. I reach another world. An unpretentious, pure, austere world. P.S: I guess the ...

As an afterword to my previous post, I would like to tell you that this was only my part of the story. From being a very bright smart happy child I turned into a poor kid who would yell at people around me and throw a fit time and again. My family was forewarned of such actions which was a result of the heavy medication that I was taking. Some instance are not forgivable. I fail to remember even one of these instances and till date cannot believe them. But I must say my family had to have mustered some courage to accept these temper tantrums without breaking down. I could not have asked for a better family. It is by way of such instances that I learnt what true attitude is. My family could easily have given up and quietly accepted what came our way. But the way they kept building my confidence is just amazing. A few months before this incident while watching Sudha Chandran's ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudha_Chandran ) performance on t.v. my sister told me that she is dancing ...

There are times when something triggers off a flurry of thoughts; it brings back memories of some life altering incidents in life. Such a thing happened to me yesterday. I had to visit a hospital to meet a friend's mom who had had her leg amputated. People who know me know exactly what would've gone through my mind. It was a month after my 8th birthday. It was on Onam day. We were to go to Pappa's place. While walking on the side of the road with pappa, a truck driver rammed into me and crushed my left leg. Its funny that no one has ever told me what really happened. I can only remember it as a film reel... with small portions cut off. I guess it is what I saw between losing consciousness. But for all I know I might've even dreamt these things instead! I am lying on the road with a wheel over my leg. People all around are yelling at the driver. He raised the accelerator. Amma is...looking.. ( I don't know what I took the expression as... I didn't even underst...