It’s a family gathering. Parents congregate and proudly parade their children. All the parents show keen interest in asking many questions to these children. It was an informal contest between the parents and winner was the best parent whose child answered the better.
So the questions were rapid and the answers quick.
Even I was asked one such question.
What do you want to become child when you grow big?
My reply was spontaneous: 'Software Engineer'
I heard many voices. 'Good', ' Shabaash!' .....
To be frank, I really did not know what to make of all the reactions but seeing my proud parents, I knew I said something good and I was also proud!
Years down the Line, Similar family gathering. Same Parents, different children. The Smaller ones in the family also had to get their chance.
I see him alone. Gathering had an ability to bring the worst out of him. He was like this kid lost between two worlds. One which only he could understand and one which everyone except him could understand. He did not know about the questions that were going to be directed at him. He was my Peter pan, my brother.
Slowly but surely, the elders in the family catch hold of him and he is asked a similar question.
'Whets up kid? What do you want to become after growing up'
Well the kid was surprised and he really saw no reason why he had to disclose his ambitions to any. He does not answer. He goes away. His parents ask him to tell anything that he wants to tell. He says he has nothing to tell.
He hears many voices. 'His brother will direct him', 'confused bacha','Shy'
The pressure of comparison would have taken a toll on him. I knew that he would have wanted to become something. I always knew what I wanted to become. In the same way I was sure that even he knew it. For me, it was just a case of him not opening up.
After many days one night, discussing about stars, I ask him the same question and he does not answer me. He takes time to open up and I knew it. After sometime, he shared his dilemma with me.
'Well brother, I am really confused. I feel sad when I cannot say what I want to become. When I see Formula 1, I want to become a Formula 1 Engineer. When I see astronauts, I want to become one of them, when I see electronics and how they work, I want to make electronics. So I am confused, I really don’t know what I want to become'
I don’t really remember what I answered but I remember telling him to improve his fundamentals, develop a nice base for as long as he wanted, 'once you have a good base, you can build as complex a building as you want' Well.. let’s not dwell much into what I told him. I talk crap and it’s regular.
Today I saw my brother scoring a good percentage in his exams, he finally showed to some that he is something. I always knew he is better than me. For, he appreciated the world around him better than I ever did. It took me long time to really explore my options and look at the world holistically, He did it when he was a little kid telling his dilemma about not being able to decide what he wanted to become. Today when I see my dilemma, I remember his thoughts and though I always loved his thought as an innocent thought, I have only realized of late that it was the right thought.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Following the Donkeys Trail....
So it finally happened. After a lot of false-starts and after almost postponing it once again, we went ahead and the experience has been so big that it will be difficult to describe using words. But I am going to give it a try though...
Before you people find it difficult to comprehend what I am talking about or before you try to understand the title and before you start scolding me not understanding it, let me write this pretty quickly.... I am talking about the Walk in the Lakes. I guess this description creates more confusion. okay, let me give it another try. I am talking about THE best outdoor experience four of us had because of the greatness of one special special English man. I am talking about spending a day in a region which has the highest rainfall in England. I am talking about spending a day in glorious weather with out any rain when the only thing predicted by every met department was Rain. I am finally going to put it in a simple way. I am talking about spending a day in Lake district walking beside the lakes, walking on lush green farms, walking beside the sheep and even cows, which have the capacity to haunt you in dream (don't think why I wrote about the cows, its too complex), watching the most beautiful hidden lake that we ever saw and finally climbing with out rope to reach the summit. For people who did not come with me on the trek ( Well 'trek' is what I am actually writing about ), my description may look little hyped but the fact of the matter is every thing I am writing is the truth and I write & speak only truth.
Before I start, again a big thanks to the weather God. He/ She has indeed smiled on us that day. A Big Thanks from MANCHESTER!!!!
Again let me take some time introducing the cast. There are 4 other persons including me but the real cast is one person- Mr. Phillip Harland, He likes everyone to call him Phil, I call him Sir! (I show respect to old men, he is not that old though, he is only 49 but he looks 69! at least to few, phew!!!). He is the most charming personality I met in UK and I am sure at least two among the 4 of us, if not all, will agree to it.
Here we go....
So on a pleasant day when the rain stopped when we started, we began our trek. Some of us were so confused that we mistook the road that leads us to the climb to the actual climb. I will not talk about the people who were confused about the place. It is Grasmere (YO YO) .Mr. Phil was obviously trying to scare us by confusing us with the route but we were too excited to be scared. So as we were moving on the road, there was a path in the farms which was made for people who were keen on avoiding the road. We took the path in the farm and excitement began for us not by seeing the sights that were waiting for us but by seeing the change in the color of the shoes we were wearing. It was time to get dirty and we were more than willing. So considering that the trek has indeed begun in my blog, lets have more of the 'WE' I will be referring to in this post.
As we started forging ahead, lakes greeted us, the little bridges welcomed us, the sheep stared at us, the cows ignored us, the kissing gate allowed us and waterfalls invited us. We accepted the invitation and played before the waterfalls, not in it as we had just begun the journey and we had to keep ourselves warm. Of course I managed to injure my knee by slipping near the waterfalls (for people who know me, I know you will be saying 'Whats NEW') but the good thing was that it took me one full day to feel the pain. The waterfalls has an interesting name 'Sour Milk'. It was white so it was called Milk. We really could not get why it was called sour, it looked only sweet to us. As we continued our trekking, the sights beckoned on us and one such sight took our breath away...
I don't remember the name of this pristine lake. I will not disclose it even if I knew it.
It personally took me few seconds to actually recognize that it was a lake. Of course the sights I had access to could never be captured. It was as I said our experience. For a while, I thought that this Lake did not belong to any. Well it neither belonged to Land nor water & not even Sky. Of course Mr. Phil cleared the confusion by telling us that this Lake belonged to the Queen. I guess he is after all ENGLISH , a proud one too!. We of course took many photos at this location. Even I was tricked into photos by my friends and I must say, some surely belong to my portfolio.
We all agreed to one point though. It was indeed the most beautiful sight experienced by us.
Finally after spending considering amount of time at the lake, we started our trek towards the second hill that we were going to capture. Before it became difficult though, we managed to pass through some amazing places. Everything that greeted us while we were climbing were also present in this route and we had more of the lakes, bridges and also other fellow climbers.
We finally reached the point of our arduous trek and we had a sign board indicating the same. We had the option to go back to car or start trekking. We were game for trek but some time down the clock, few of us began to question their judgment. Few will be wrong and it should be one. It was not the girl and it wasn't me. It was Mr. Super Fit doubting his judgment. The second photo should help you in finding the super fit. Of course the three young turks among us were surprised seeing the speed maintained by the oldie n the girlie. All this while, we were encouraged by the great man to keep up the speed as he did not want us to miss on any sights. He was full of encouragement leading the pack
OLD IS INDEED GOLD
This was not exactly the arduous trek I was referring to. But Mr. Phil was always full of encouragement the way he is in this image.
Finally we did reach the summit. Not all of us reached the real summit, the summit on the summit but I did, so did the oldie n the girlie. The Summit on the summit refers to the 20 feet rock on the hill which we had to climb with out help of a rope:). It was difficult and I am really grateful to Phil that he helped me climb it. It feels complete. I just remembered one good song. Aditi made it special by actually listening to a Sufi Song on top of the summit on the summit. Now who says girls don't have their own way of making things special!!! 'Experience of a life time u see...'
Finally... Summarizing the whole thing : Trekking is wrecking the sane part of you, uncorking the insane part of you, triggering the adventurous part of you and anything n everything that this nonstop-nonsense in me decides to write... I know its getting boring but I am here to add Nonsense value. Indeed thats the only thing I have been doing for some time:) (Its really surprising to find what you can become when you try to become something which you are not. Okay... No complaints, there are still people who like me for what I am and I am happy!!!)
To put it simply though ( I am making a big attempt here...), Its you forgetting about everything and spending some time with nature in a way you can do by only trekking.
Coming to the title and why I have chosen it, It was to inspire all of us in choosing the shortest path while trekking. Well... the donkeys trail was supposed to be the shortest and I was the one who said it, well someone said it and I read it. But the only trail that was as disturbed as that of the donkeys was mine and I guess the next time you go there, you will know whose trail you are following... Confused, it will be my trail. Don't think much. I have even stopped writing!
Are u Shaking??? Its the Photo thats making u shake, not my writing. Could not loose out on a chance to improve my portfolio.
Before you people find it difficult to comprehend what I am talking about or before you try to understand the title and before you start scolding me not understanding it, let me write this pretty quickly.... I am talking about the Walk in the Lakes. I guess this description creates more confusion. okay, let me give it another try. I am talking about THE best outdoor experience four of us had because of the greatness of one special special English man. I am talking about spending a day in a region which has the highest rainfall in England. I am talking about spending a day in glorious weather with out any rain when the only thing predicted by every met department was Rain. I am finally going to put it in a simple way. I am talking about spending a day in Lake district walking beside the lakes, walking on lush green farms, walking beside the sheep and even cows, which have the capacity to haunt you in dream (don't think why I wrote about the cows, its too complex), watching the most beautiful hidden lake that we ever saw and finally climbing with out rope to reach the summit. For people who did not come with me on the trek ( Well 'trek' is what I am actually writing about ), my description may look little hyped but the fact of the matter is every thing I am writing is the truth and I write & speak only truth.
Before I start, again a big thanks to the weather God. He/ She has indeed smiled on us that day. A Big Thanks from MANCHESTER!!!!
Again let me take some time introducing the cast. There are 4 other persons including me but the real cast is one person- Mr. Phillip Harland, He likes everyone to call him Phil, I call him Sir! (I show respect to old men, he is not that old though, he is only 49 but he looks 69! at least to few, phew!!!). He is the most charming personality I met in UK and I am sure at least two among the 4 of us, if not all, will agree to it.
Here we go....
Showing us the way.... well thats where we were going!
Don't get confused, the picture just shows the direction not the summit. In a way, this post of mine is going to be the same, it will try to make you feel the experience but the experience belonged to us:).
So on a pleasant day when the rain stopped when we started, we began our trek. Some of us were so confused that we mistook the road that leads us to the climb to the actual climb. I will not talk about the people who were confused about the place. It is Grasmere (YO YO) .Mr. Phil was obviously trying to scare us by confusing us with the route but we were too excited to be scared. So as we were moving on the road, there was a path in the farms which was made for people who were keen on avoiding the road. We took the path in the farm and excitement began for us not by seeing the sights that were waiting for us but by seeing the change in the color of the shoes we were wearing. It was time to get dirty and we were more than willing. So considering that the trek has indeed begun in my blog, lets have more of the 'WE' I will be referring to in this post.
Sir, Aditi, Praveen & Sumanth (Left 2 Right).
I know I am missing. There is a little secret of mine. I am a self sacrificing idiot and I was looking more to capture my friends than me. But I am still accused of creating a portfolio.
As we started forging ahead, lakes greeted us, the little bridges welcomed us, the sheep stared at us, the cows ignored us, the kissing gate allowed us and waterfalls invited us. We accepted the invitation and played before the waterfalls, not in it as we had just begun the journey and we had to keep ourselves warm. Of course I managed to injure my knee by slipping near the waterfalls (for people who know me, I know you will be saying 'Whats NEW') but the good thing was that it took me one full day to feel the pain. The waterfalls has an interesting name 'Sour Milk'. It was white so it was called Milk. We really could not get why it was called sour, it looked only sweet to us. As we continued our trekking, the sights beckoned on us and one such sight took our breath away...
I don't remember the name of this pristine lake. I will not disclose it even if I knew it. It personally took me few seconds to actually recognize that it was a lake. Of course the sights I had access to could never be captured. It was as I said our experience. For a while, I thought that this Lake did not belong to any. Well it neither belonged to Land nor water & not even Sky. Of course Mr. Phil cleared the confusion by telling us that this Lake belonged to the Queen. I guess he is after all ENGLISH , a proud one too!. We of course took many photos at this location. Even I was tricked into photos by my friends and I must say, some surely belong to my portfolio.
We all agreed to one point though. It was indeed the most beautiful sight experienced by us.
Finally after spending considering amount of time at the lake, we started our trek towards the second hill that we were going to capture. Before it became difficult though, we managed to pass through some amazing places. Everything that greeted us while we were climbing were also present in this route and we had more of the lakes, bridges and also other fellow climbers.
Kabhi Kabhi Ghaas bhi Sundar Lagtha hain... You only need the eyes to see it. My Camera can only help so much...
We finally reached the point of our arduous trek and we had a sign board indicating the same. We had the option to go back to car or start trekking. We were game for trek but some time down the clock, few of us began to question their judgment. Few will be wrong and it should be one. It was not the girl and it wasn't me. It was Mr. Super Fit doubting his judgment. The second photo should help you in finding the super fit. Of course the three young turks among us were surprised seeing the speed maintained by the oldie n the girlie. All this while, we were encouraged by the great man to keep up the speed as he did not want us to miss on any sights. He was full of encouragement leading the pack
OLD IS INDEED GOLDThis was not exactly the arduous trek I was referring to. But Mr. Phil was always full of encouragement the way he is in this image.
Finally we did reach the summit. Not all of us reached the real summit, the summit on the summit but I did, so did the oldie n the girlie. The Summit on the summit refers to the 20 feet rock on the hill which we had to climb with out help of a rope:). It was difficult and I am really grateful to Phil that he helped me climb it. It feels complete. I just remembered one good song. Aditi made it special by actually listening to a Sufi Song on top of the summit on the summit. Now who says girls don't have their own way of making things special!!! 'Experience of a life time u see...'
As I Said, the oldie n the girlie were always ahead of us. Of course we were the ones showing respect.
After really struggling to get down the rock and after puncturing one of my pillows, we all started eating on the summit. There was chicken, burger, bread, omlette, drinks, chocolates and yes yes also a ketchup bottle. We carried all this in our bags. The idea of ketchup was mine and it was an instant hit. After our round of eating, we started the trek down. I was a picture of concentration during our downward journey. Its other thing that I managed to slip twice but did not get injured this time around. My concentration helped me. It was just a half slip. Finally we reached the car, thanked the weather god, packed all our stuff into the car and got into it. The rain again started falling. Now this is timing and we were so glad that we were on the right side of it.Finally... Summarizing the whole thing : Trekking is wrecking the sane part of you, uncorking the insane part of you, triggering the adventurous part of you and anything n everything that this nonstop-nonsense in me decides to write... I know its getting boring but I am here to add Nonsense value. Indeed thats the only thing I have been doing for some time:) (Its really surprising to find what you can become when you try to become something which you are not. Okay... No complaints, there are still people who like me for what I am and I am happy!!!)
To put it simply though ( I am making a big attempt here...), Its you forgetting about everything and spending some time with nature in a way you can do by only trekking.
Coming to the title and why I have chosen it, It was to inspire all of us in choosing the shortest path while trekking. Well... the donkeys trail was supposed to be the shortest and I was the one who said it, well someone said it and I read it. But the only trail that was as disturbed as that of the donkeys was mine and I guess the next time you go there, you will know whose trail you are following... Confused, it will be my trail. Don't think much. I have even stopped writing!
Are u Shaking??? Its the Photo thats making u shake, not my writing. Could not loose out on a chance to improve my portfolio. Sunday, March 9, 2008
A Strange Day - It is indeed a Women’s day
It was a team outing. It was other thing that the size of team was big (May be I should call it a battalion) and needed a coach to carry it. It’s other thing that most of the outing actually took place in the coach.
The day started pretty normal. Snoozing my alarm from 5:30 to 6:30 and then getting up and getting myself and my roomie ready before 7. We decided to wait for 15 minutes before we started because going on time is not cool, according to my roomie, and going early before everyone arrives is a sure recipe for becoming BAKRA. We slowly reached the place and were expecting every one there waiting for us but to our surprise there were only a few bakras out there and we were about to join them. We joined the pack and though I was initially annoyed seeing babies out there waiting in cold, our minds quickly realized that it was a good time to make an exit and we decided to go to one of our colleague’s house near by and have a great coffee by his wife.
We managed to board the coach in time, must say a little head of time(1 hour after the scheduled departure) and got a good seat where I & my roomie planned to have a good banter. But before we could start any, we were asked to move behind and had to sit separately with people who enjoyed in a way we did not prefer to. I knew I had only one company, the English countryside. Spent most of time appreciating the beauty, thinking of various stories I could write with the English country side as back ground, thinking of any business that is not yet explored by the clever English men. Then there was a halt and I encouraged by my creative roomie, well he is as creative as me:), started exploring our cameras. Giving various stills was funny and our cameras were good enuf to capture most of them. I am yet to upload the pics. Will send the link once I do.
I call the gorgeous lady and remind her that its Women’s day. Of course the lady knew it before me and apparently gave a treat to her male colleagues celebrating the occasion. I can’t imagine the faces of her colleagues though.... :) . I started praising her , "Today I am celebrating the most perfect woman I ever met. You have raised the bar a lot. You have made my life difficult. You are special........." I expected her to blush but the lady did not show any weakness and she started talking about the trouble her male colleagues were giving her. Well... she still remembered the topics that irked me. Of course I enter into an argument but slowly realizing that the lady has high BP decided to pacify her by telling Sorry. Being a lady, she started talking about the workload, the mental tension, the responsibilities and how she would love it if she stopped working. Of course she does not realize that the only thing that keeps her moving is her work and she would be more unhappy if she were doing nothing. The Lady, My MOM, knew that I knew all of this. I tell her a sweet good bye and end the conversation.
My MOM is my everything. She was my hitler in my childhood. She was also my genie. It’s so funny to imagine that there were very very few occasions when I had to really open my mouth and ask for anything. I always had everything I wanted before I asked for. She was my best friend after my school. She is of course the one who has the most arguments with me. I will always remember the occasion when I was boarding the train to go to chennai to start my professional life. Mommy was angry on me for deciding to work rather than doing something special (It was a shame to her that her son, the son of a proud bank manager, her special son decides to go everyone’s way. well I had other ideas then) and managed not to show any emotions during all my packing. It was after all the first time when I was going to be away from house for a long time. But when the train started, I saw her crying, tears were flowing, it took a lot of effort from my friends to pacify her. I was her best friend but still My Mom was supposed to be very strong and seeing this side of hers for the first time ever made me understand how pure the heart of mother is. If I owe my destiny to any, it’s her. My dad may have few things to say on this declaration of mine but I take this liberty being a SON. She is a sports woman, a fighter and a real leader. She exceeds all my expectations every single time and for once, I hope I exceed her expectations with my success.
This day like everyday is about to end. The myriad of emotions I experienced today makes it a little strange. Of course now a days, I have more strange days rather than normal days. Anything that’s related to women is strange and it’s really no wonder that A Women’s day, as it should, turned out to be strange day.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Ek Choti si Love Story
Maggi (a 2 legged Freak, an amazing lover of pets (something he did not stop being even after getting a big kiss from a street dog), my Lovely brother) calls me ‘Brother Brother….’
I rush out with some kind of fear knowing really well that my brother does not call me unless he is doing something crazy. All my fears come alive when I see a 4 legged alien with him. It took me sometime to realize that it’s actually a cat. It’s not my mistake that I mistook it for an alien. It was just too young, it was about to Die. It was the like seeing the alien in ET taking its last breath. I stood there still not knowing what to say.
Maggi jumps into action. Searches here n there, takes money from my purse with out even asking me and goes out. I really did not stop him as after seeing him for 14 years, I understood when to take a back seat. I did not know what to do except seeing Savithri, our house maid, trying to comfort the cat. Maggi comes back with a baby bottle and starts feeding the cat. I was not sure if the cat was going to survive but I was sure about Maggi’s intentions. My parents seeing the whole drama warn me that this cat is not going to stay with us. I assure them that I hate cats and we will leave it after it becomes little healthy. I wasn’t actually sure that it will become healthy.
The next day I get up and see that Maggi got up before me. I don’t believe this ever happened until that day. He was of course valiantly trying to feed the cat and for a change the cat started responding. Maggi was proud and to be frank even I was, not proud of me, but of MaggiJ. As slowly every one left, I realized that I was going to be alone with the cat. Maggi realized it before me and had big plans for me. He gave me a schedule of feeding the cat.
I was just too lazy. I had movies to watch, games to play and friends to chat. So in stead of I moving out, I decided to bring the cat into my room. To make sure it did not move away, or fall, I placed it on my bed and blocked all its exits. 2 days passed and the cat started moving here n there. The boundaries I erected for the cat were still good enough. As days flew, I started seeing the Cat grow (Cats grow really quick). For some strange reason, the cat started drinking milk only when I gave it. Maggi did not like it but he was in love with too many street dogs and was not affected by one ditch. I was sceptical about the whole thing. I knew the cat was taking more of my time. I was waiting for it to grow so that I could leave it in wild.
One day when I was too busy playing games, I suddenly noticed that the cat was not around. The boundaries I erected for it could not stop it. It was I guess time for me to leave it out but for some strange reason, I was frightened. I searched the whole house trying to communicate with the cat, ‘meow, bow bow, my darling etc etc ‘I don’t hear it. I go out and find the gate open. I see a dog going out of the house. I run to see if the cat was around. It wasn’t and there was also no blood in the Dogs mouth. I scare the dog away. I was relieved but I was frightened. Suddenly I was scared of searching for the cat. I was worried of what I was going to find. I sat before our car and was trembling with fear.
Suddenly I saw something trying to climb on my leg and I saw the cat. I was so elated, so happy… I brought the cat back into my room. I was going to have this cat, yes this girlie thing as my first pet. I decided to search for a name. I heard my dad call me with so many names like tinku, minku, chinku that I decided to call my cat, DINKU and yes this was going to be well n truly my cat. And when I decide on something, no objections are going to change it. I announce the arrival of Dinku into our family to my parents and brother. My brother was happy for me and my parents, knowing my gigantic short temper, decided not to comment anything.
I loved eggs, omelette and I made sure Dinku loved them. It indeed could not have enough of them. I wanted my Dinku to also play with balls. Dinku was a boy according to me. I bought lot of table tennis balls and I found that Dinku did love playing with the balls. It saw the balls as a rat and started practicing its predatory instincts playing with the ball. It was indeed amazing seeing sharp nails come out of its short legs when ever it saw a ball. It was growing up.
It slept on me when I was reading novels. It moved around my monitor when I was playing games and it moved around my legs when I was eating. It was in Love with me. My mother warned me that Cats don’t love people and its sleeping on you only because you are very puffy. Somehow I knew that she was wrong. My Dinku was no ordinary cat. It was my cat.
Dinku had little trouble with identifying bathrooms and decided to use carpets or beds to answer its nature calls. My mom warned me that if its going to continue, she will leave the cat. She obviously did not comment when I took a holy bath to protect Dinku. She was left speech-less.
The Holy bath: Dinku was about to answer one of its nature calls in moms bedroom. I saw something fishy and raised it so that I can take it outside. Unfortunately answering nature calls was still involuntary with Dinku and it was in the process of ejection. With out knowing what to do, I made it eject on my shirt and took it outside. Mom saw all of this and she finally realized what Dinku meant to me. I could not find any bad smell. It was after-all my Dinku and I was responsible for everything it had to offer.
I played hide n seek with it when ever it decided to hide in the car. I played its watchman when ever it decided to roam around. I helped it learn climb the walls. I was its partner in everything it did. So did Dinku really love me? Well it did and everyone knew about it when I wasn’t around.
I had to leave my Dinku as I was going to start my professional life in a strange city.
I got regular calls from my parents informing me about Dinku’s progress. It stopped eating and its growth stopped. It was sick. After hearing 3 weeks of pain, I came back to meet Dinku. It was struggling. I bombard on my parents for not taking care of it. Even my brother could not explain how he, the famous pet lover, could not take care of it. I spent the next 3 days spending time with Dinku, making it healthy. This time around, when I was leaving, I was told by my Mom that they are trying their best to help Dinku grow but that it was not listening to any of them. If it misses you again, we are going to leave it.
After a week, I get a call informing me that my parents decided to abandon Dinku and that it was already abandoned. I asked only question, ‘What was its reaction when it came out of the gunny bag’ My dad ‘it was scared of us and ran away from us’. For a change I saw tears in my dad’s voice. I had my own tears to contend. I immediately rushed to my room and spend the best part of that day crying. I never cried so much in my life. Indeed I can feel the tears when ever I remember it.
Looking back, Dinku brought only joy into my life and I hope it is still alive n kicking. My Dinku was exactly like this and its how it played with my antics.
I rush out with some kind of fear knowing really well that my brother does not call me unless he is doing something crazy. All my fears come alive when I see a 4 legged alien with him. It took me sometime to realize that it’s actually a cat. It’s not my mistake that I mistook it for an alien. It was just too young, it was about to Die. It was the like seeing the alien in ET taking its last breath. I stood there still not knowing what to say.
Maggi jumps into action. Searches here n there, takes money from my purse with out even asking me and goes out. I really did not stop him as after seeing him for 14 years, I understood when to take a back seat. I did not know what to do except seeing Savithri, our house maid, trying to comfort the cat. Maggi comes back with a baby bottle and starts feeding the cat. I was not sure if the cat was going to survive but I was sure about Maggi’s intentions. My parents seeing the whole drama warn me that this cat is not going to stay with us. I assure them that I hate cats and we will leave it after it becomes little healthy. I wasn’t actually sure that it will become healthy.
The next day I get up and see that Maggi got up before me. I don’t believe this ever happened until that day. He was of course valiantly trying to feed the cat and for a change the cat started responding. Maggi was proud and to be frank even I was, not proud of me, but of MaggiJ. As slowly every one left, I realized that I was going to be alone with the cat. Maggi realized it before me and had big plans for me. He gave me a schedule of feeding the cat.
I was just too lazy. I had movies to watch, games to play and friends to chat. So in stead of I moving out, I decided to bring the cat into my room. To make sure it did not move away, or fall, I placed it on my bed and blocked all its exits. 2 days passed and the cat started moving here n there. The boundaries I erected for the cat were still good enough. As days flew, I started seeing the Cat grow (Cats grow really quick). For some strange reason, the cat started drinking milk only when I gave it. Maggi did not like it but he was in love with too many street dogs and was not affected by one ditch. I was sceptical about the whole thing. I knew the cat was taking more of my time. I was waiting for it to grow so that I could leave it in wild.
One day when I was too busy playing games, I suddenly noticed that the cat was not around. The boundaries I erected for it could not stop it. It was I guess time for me to leave it out but for some strange reason, I was frightened. I searched the whole house trying to communicate with the cat, ‘meow, bow bow, my darling etc etc ‘I don’t hear it. I go out and find the gate open. I see a dog going out of the house. I run to see if the cat was around. It wasn’t and there was also no blood in the Dogs mouth. I scare the dog away. I was relieved but I was frightened. Suddenly I was scared of searching for the cat. I was worried of what I was going to find. I sat before our car and was trembling with fear.
Suddenly I saw something trying to climb on my leg and I saw the cat. I was so elated, so happy… I brought the cat back into my room. I was going to have this cat, yes this girlie thing as my first pet. I decided to search for a name. I heard my dad call me with so many names like tinku, minku, chinku that I decided to call my cat, DINKU and yes this was going to be well n truly my cat. And when I decide on something, no objections are going to change it. I announce the arrival of Dinku into our family to my parents and brother. My brother was happy for me and my parents, knowing my gigantic short temper, decided not to comment anything.
I loved eggs, omelette and I made sure Dinku loved them. It indeed could not have enough of them. I wanted my Dinku to also play with balls. Dinku was a boy according to me. I bought lot of table tennis balls and I found that Dinku did love playing with the balls. It saw the balls as a rat and started practicing its predatory instincts playing with the ball. It was indeed amazing seeing sharp nails come out of its short legs when ever it saw a ball. It was growing up.
It slept on me when I was reading novels. It moved around my monitor when I was playing games and it moved around my legs when I was eating. It was in Love with me. My mother warned me that Cats don’t love people and its sleeping on you only because you are very puffy. Somehow I knew that she was wrong. My Dinku was no ordinary cat. It was my cat.
Dinku had little trouble with identifying bathrooms and decided to use carpets or beds to answer its nature calls. My mom warned me that if its going to continue, she will leave the cat. She obviously did not comment when I took a holy bath to protect Dinku. She was left speech-less.
The Holy bath: Dinku was about to answer one of its nature calls in moms bedroom. I saw something fishy and raised it so that I can take it outside. Unfortunately answering nature calls was still involuntary with Dinku and it was in the process of ejection. With out knowing what to do, I made it eject on my shirt and took it outside. Mom saw all of this and she finally realized what Dinku meant to me. I could not find any bad smell. It was after-all my Dinku and I was responsible for everything it had to offer.
I played hide n seek with it when ever it decided to hide in the car. I played its watchman when ever it decided to roam around. I helped it learn climb the walls. I was its partner in everything it did. So did Dinku really love me? Well it did and everyone knew about it when I wasn’t around.
I had to leave my Dinku as I was going to start my professional life in a strange city.
I got regular calls from my parents informing me about Dinku’s progress. It stopped eating and its growth stopped. It was sick. After hearing 3 weeks of pain, I came back to meet Dinku. It was struggling. I bombard on my parents for not taking care of it. Even my brother could not explain how he, the famous pet lover, could not take care of it. I spent the next 3 days spending time with Dinku, making it healthy. This time around, when I was leaving, I was told by my Mom that they are trying their best to help Dinku grow but that it was not listening to any of them. If it misses you again, we are going to leave it.
After a week, I get a call informing me that my parents decided to abandon Dinku and that it was already abandoned. I asked only question, ‘What was its reaction when it came out of the gunny bag’ My dad ‘it was scared of us and ran away from us’. For a change I saw tears in my dad’s voice. I had my own tears to contend. I immediately rushed to my room and spend the best part of that day crying. I never cried so much in my life. Indeed I can feel the tears when ever I remember it.
Looking back, Dinku brought only joy into my life and I hope it is still alive n kicking. My Dinku was exactly like this and its how it played with my antics.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Blast from the Past:)
Its 6 in the morning, a Monday morning:( and I am reading. I keep telling myself that its ending and that its just matter of surviving time. The 'it' I am referring to is a monster. Its amazing how sometimes seemingly simple physical structures start haunting you, they take the form of a monster and scare you to nuts. I must say that I was never scared of this monster but yeah, it was indeed a monster. The introduction of monster can wait.
I start my brand-old bike (Pulsar 150, it unfortunately looked anything like new only until it was in the showroom, dont blame me for the condition, blame the global warming, blame the pollution.... again I am deviating from the topic), pick-up my friend and vroom on the highway. One side of my brain was trying to mug-up the words that I read in the morning and the other side was telling me to maintain speed. Its indeed annoying for a guy if a girl overtakes him on a Honda activa. I am not giving any hint that someone over took me and that someone was a girl. Anyways struggling through the juggling act of my brain, I manage to reach the monster.
I managed to meet my gang, the Goa Gang (it was the name suggested by girls:):):) ). The atmosphere was pretty tense, everyone was reading, everyone was criticizing the monster and everyone was surviving time.
Coming to the identity of the monster, the monster is my engineering college and this college, encouraged by its reputation, has decided to conduct internal examinations on Monday morning. Let me not get into the details of what I & my friends think about writing an internal examination on Monday morning, every Monday morning (yes!!!). We managed to complete the exam, some managed to cheat their way and some honest fellows like me failed their way.
Later, All of us sat in the canteen and started thinking of ways of surviving time. Coming to time, our engineering days were ending and many of us with a job-offer in hand could not wait to turn pro.
When everyone came up with their own ideas of surviving time, I asked a simple question. "How are we going to survive time after our engineering? We will not even have a college to survive????"
Every one laughed at my question but I began to see that this question, albeit funny, made all of us realize that a monster also has a life and we were unfortuntely very much part of that life. When some one sees a life ending, they recollect the good things about their life and most of us managed to realize that there were pretty good things that happened in this life.
I will use this series to recollect some good things that happenned in the monsters life. I must warn before hand that I am using my memory to recollect things. My memory has the ability to fragment and these fragments with their own twisted stories is all what is present in my memory. Do comment on what you think of this adventure / misadventure of mine...:)
I start my brand-old bike (Pulsar 150, it unfortunately looked anything like new only until it was in the showroom, dont blame me for the condition, blame the global warming, blame the pollution.... again I am deviating from the topic), pick-up my friend and vroom on the highway. One side of my brain was trying to mug-up the words that I read in the morning and the other side was telling me to maintain speed. Its indeed annoying for a guy if a girl overtakes him on a Honda activa. I am not giving any hint that someone over took me and that someone was a girl. Anyways struggling through the juggling act of my brain, I manage to reach the monster.
I managed to meet my gang, the Goa Gang (it was the name suggested by girls:):):) ). The atmosphere was pretty tense, everyone was reading, everyone was criticizing the monster and everyone was surviving time.
Coming to the identity of the monster, the monster is my engineering college and this college, encouraged by its reputation, has decided to conduct internal examinations on Monday morning. Let me not get into the details of what I & my friends think about writing an internal examination on Monday morning, every Monday morning (yes!!!). We managed to complete the exam, some managed to cheat their way and some honest fellows like me failed their way.
Later, All of us sat in the canteen and started thinking of ways of surviving time. Coming to time, our engineering days were ending and many of us with a job-offer in hand could not wait to turn pro.
When everyone came up with their own ideas of surviving time, I asked a simple question. "How are we going to survive time after our engineering? We will not even have a college to survive????"
Every one laughed at my question but I began to see that this question, albeit funny, made all of us realize that a monster also has a life and we were unfortuntely very much part of that life. When some one sees a life ending, they recollect the good things about their life and most of us managed to realize that there were pretty good things that happened in this life.
I will use this series to recollect some good things that happenned in the monsters life. I must warn before hand that I am using my memory to recollect things. My memory has the ability to fragment and these fragments with their own twisted stories is all what is present in my memory. Do comment on what you think of this adventure / misadventure of mine...:)
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