Making friends feel special

You are strong enough

But face an accident very tough,

Your friend consoles you even on your cough

But you insult him by a reply very rough

‘I will manage, I am hard enough!’

You may be good and very knowledgeable,

Though a failure makes you extremely unstable,

Your friend comes and tries to enable,

Your morale and understands like an understandable,

But you hurt him again and say, ‘I will manage, I am capable!’

You may be brave and owned with dare,

But still feel lonely and always in despair,

Your friend comes and showers upon all the care,

You leave no opportunity to hurt him and say,

‘I will manage, hard times have taught me how to fair!’

Instead of ‘I will manage’ why don’t we say

‘I will manage with my friends on my bay’

Though we will solve our issues on our own,

Yet your presence will make it a complete different play

And your absence might take us to a totally alien way

It is only togetherness which allows beautiful memories to stay!

Bunny’s eight hours without mom

                Bunny: Mom! Where is my laptop?

                Mom:   It’s on the table!

                Bunny: Where? I can’t see it.

                Mom:   See here it is! You already have four eyes. Do you need more?

                Mom:   Honey! when did you last organize your room and wardrobe?

                Bunny: Umm… I think just two-three days ago. December 5, 2013.

                Mom:   Checkout your room cleaning video on youtube. Verify the date. 

                            It is December 5, 2011.

                Bunny:  But mom! It is already neat and tidy!

                Mom:    No TV and facebook from now onwards!

                Bunny:  Room will be cleaned in one hour mom. J

               

                After one hour-

                Bunny:  Mom! It’s done. You may enter.

                Mom:    Good. I am going to my aunt’s place and will be back in eight hours. 

                            Will you manage?

                Bunny:  (Confidently). Of course mom! I am 15 now! Will definitely manage.

                After two hours of mom leaving-

                Bunny:  Hello mom! It’s me! Do you remember where my blue Jeans are?

                Mom:    You organized your wardrobe just now. Right?

                Bunny:   I know but I can’t find them anywhere here. L

                Mom:    Second cabinet, fifth row from the left, second from top.

                Bunny:  Got it mom!

                After three hours thirty minutes-

                Bunny:   Hello mom! It’s me again! I have already eaten all what you had made.

                Mom:    All?

                Bunny:  Yeah that’s right mom. Four chapattis, rice and daal.

                Mom:    I have soaked some rajma in water.

                            Just add two cups of water in the cooker and boil them till it whistles thrice. 

                            Rest is there in the recipe book.

                Bunny:  Alright mom! Love you.

                After five hours:

                Bunny:  What’s up mom!

                Mom:    Yes honey!

                Bunny:   (Happily) Um…Mom I managed to find the pressure cooker.

                Mom:    That’s good.

                Bunny:   But I am kinda stuck somewhere.

                Mom:    What’s the issue?

               Bunny:    As told by you, I added two cups of water in the rajma and 

                             placed the cooker for boiling.

                   It has been 90 minutes and no whistle in the cooker yet.

                Mom:    Did you cover the cooker with a lid?

                Bunny:  Why? You did not mention this in the procedure!

                After six hours:

                Bunny:   Sorry mom, I am disturbing you.

                Mom:     No. Tell what happened?

                Bunny:   Um… Tomorrow is my physics test. Electro-magnetic induction. Chapter 10.

                Mom:     Okay. All set?

                Bunny:   Yeah. Almost. Just one issue.

                Mom:     What’s that?

                Bunny:   Just found out I have lost my physics book volume 2. 

                              Will have to miss the class.

                Mom:     Chapter 10 is in volume 1 and it is in first cabinet, third column, 

                             fourth from bottom.

                Bunny:   Really? L

                Mom:     Check it out.

                After seven hours:

                Bunny:  Hey mom! Missing you J.

                Mom:    Come to the point.

                Bunny:  Can I go for hangout with my friends?

                Mom:    Are you over with chapter 10?

                Bunny:  Catch you later mom.

                After eight hours:

                Bunny:   Hey mom! Done with chapter 10. Can I go now?

                             Wait! Someone is on the door.

                Bunny opens the door.

                Bunny:   Hi mom!

                Mom:     Hi! All okay?

                Bunny:   Yup.

                Mom:     I’ll get a glass of water.

                Bunny:   Mom! I am done with chapter 10. Can I go now?

                Mom:     I find some rajma stains everywhere in the kitchen.

                             Please help me clean them.

                Bunny:   But mom!

                Mom:     No chats with girlfriend from now onwards.

                Bunny:   (Angrily). Alright. Where is the cleaning cloth?

                Mom:     You are wearing it as your T-shirt.

                

You are next!

What strikes you first after reading this title ‘You are next’? Is it a ration card line? Is it an interview room? Or are you thinking about a hospital queue? Okay here I clarify that no I am not in a hospital waiting for the nurse to call out my name and say ‘You are next’. I am not standing in front of Physics lab waiting for Mrs. Ganguly to shout my name for the viva and say ‘You are next’. Nor am I waiting for the interviewer to speak out my good name and say ‘You are next’. Not any amongst these. Then what does this phrase imply? Well it implies that you are the one next for marriage! Seriously!

The other day I met my friend, 3 years older to me, on my way to office. I knew her as a lively, energetic, and a passionate girl who became my friend in college. But to my surprise, the only visible shade of color which I could decode from her face at that time was of nervousness, confusion. As a reply to my curiosity, she then put forward an explanation which compelled me to pick up a pen and paper and write this article. She had recently been to her cousin’s wedding and now was the only unmarried woman left in the complete Khanna dynasty. Knowing this fact, every single person of Khanna clan had cast a remark ‘You are next’ which had left her completely restless.  

Since times immemorial (may be!), identifying remaining unmarried girls and boys in the clan is one amongst the thousands of rituals of wedding ceremony taken hold over by innumerable aunts and uncles. These uncles and aunts (in particular) might forget to take their daily Blood-Pressure pills; might forget the way to their homes; might not remember who wore what BUT once identified, they will forget you only after you tie the knot. And if it is not an arranged one, they won’t leave you forever.

Looking at my friend, it is certain that dealing with the family pressure of getting married is a million times more difficult than the work pressure of achieving your targets. First, in most of the cases, you have to decide a person in one or two meetings only. It seems as if you are there to bargain something in the whole-sale market. We want you to spend some 20-25 Lac. Girl should be working but earn lesser than the boy. She should be ready to leave her job, and sacrifice her career anytime after marriage. And if she demands to continue working she should not expect any support for any sort of work from anyone. She will not be able to share her salary with her parents. She should have all the qualities of a good Indian wife even if the boy is a dumb ass. And if you are not for arranged one, then May god be with you! The first step itself is the most difficult one. And once you ‘book’ your life-partner, you will start arranging for money to have a lavish big fat Indian wedding. That money will be put to a major waste and will cost your parents a loan of lifetime. Why not have a simple temple wedding and invest that lavishly wasted money instead to buy a property for yourself or something useful? And if something goes wrong with the decision at first step, your life will become a living hell. You will be left alone singing sad Bollywood songs. Total loss: negation of happiness, wastage of hard-earned money, bereft of solace, and a sad tale to be told for the lifetime.

See the repercussions! But, like every problem, there is a solution to my friend’s tension too. Two factors, wisdom and family support, are of utmost importance in making the most important decision of your life. With love, affection, support and wisdom of family, an enthusiastic girl might not ruin her present in needless worries; decisions taken might not prove disastrous. Marriage as an institution might establish firmly. And above all, life will have its meaning.

Slow living

It is not very often that a statement, a beautiful statement made by a person compels you to think. And of latest the term ‘Slow living’, brought to my notice by my Paulo Coehlo obsessed friend, is stirring me to look for its grave definitions and explanations wherever possible.

And till now, I might have gone through some 10-20 web pages related to ‘Slow living’. I had read about numerous movements in my school history books but nowhere could I find the description of slow movement! Slow living has its origins in Slow movement which began in Italy with the concept of Slow food! Who might have thought that here, on this earth exists the world institute of slowness with the motto ‘everything worth doing is worth doing slowly’? It is totally bizarre to think about the paradox of time, “In order to perform fast you have to be slow’. Hard to bear the fact is that summits by the name of ‘Slow Living Summit’ also take place. And Greg Foyster has embarked on a cycling journey with the ‘Changing Gears’. And we have a slow coffee in this world of instant food! Amazing!

All I knew about slow living till now was some catchy lines like ‘living every moment’, ‘achieve your dreams’, ‘consider life an adventure’, ‘you can win if you think you can’, etc. And I had also watched “3 Idiots” which is against the “Life is a race” phrase. My contemplation about slow living would always take me to this. Since childhood we have been taught, we have seen, and we have observed people running everyday to make it for their lives. They get up at 5, spend their day doing monotonous, moribund chores, eat as much as possible, and lament on their lives becoming melancholy. This process repeats with every passing day and they give a damn to what course their life has taken, whether they have achieved what they wanted, or if they are doing what they admire; let alone the thought of increasing their knowledge be. Charles’ Darwin’s theory of ‘survival of the fittest’ rules this world and they synonym fitness to money. They unconsciously use every single minute of their lives in making money. They constantly worry about their job and thrive to provide a good living to the family.

In all this hustle-bustle of life, they are forgetting to enhance personal, community and environmental well-being. They are perhaps failing to introspect. They are forgetting simplicity in the glitter, glamour, and shimmer of the modern life-style. They are forgetting the requirement of ‘survival of the fittest’ theory: “In order to be efficient, productive, and perform fast, you have to have a peaceful mind and for that you require to be slow”. 

The story of hurt sentiments

Before anyone comes and sues me for hurting their sentiments by copying their idea, I hereby declare that this post is completely my idea, my views, and my thoughts. In short, it is originality at its best!

I also apologize to all whose sentiments will be hurt after reading this post. Who knows I might get arrested by someone because I have hurt their sentiments! After all creating a ruckus and asking others to apologize on the grounds of their ‘sentiments getting hurt’ is the biggest trend these days.

The other day Mr. XingXoXing’s 2 year old son plucked, by mistake, a bright red rose flower from Mr. YingYoYing’s green garden. I am sorry if you find it difficult to pronounce Mr. XingXoXing and Mr. YingYoYing. Yes I could have chosen some easy to pronounce, earthly names like Mr. Chaddha or Mr. Sharma. But then, you see, I do not want to spend my days and nights waiting and being afraid of the moment Mr. Chaddha or Mr. Sharma will come with all the Indian media (I dare not take their names!), sit on fast unto death outside my home, and force me to apologize. So I chose some Chinese or Japanese names. I know these people have lots of important tasks, other than creating a ruckus on their sentiments getting hurt, to do. And that is why, I guess, they are way far developed than India. But I assure you; Mr. XingXoXing and Mr. YingYoYing belong to India. Anyways where was I? Yeah so, our Indian Mr. XingXoXing’s son plucked a rose from Mr. YingYoYing’s garden. YingYoYing, being Indian, went crazy. His deep and out of the world sentiments were hurt. He lodged an FIR against Mr. XingXoXing and then Mr. XingXoXing was forced to apologize face to face and also on twitter (Today’s fashion you know!).

Later when Mr. XingXoXing’s son WingWoWing grew up to be a director, he directed a movie based on some UVUV community in India. He had done complete research on them, had burned the midnight oil and the movie was a result of his months of hard work. Everything was perfect about the movie: story, cast, crew, dialogues, songs, etc. It was sure to do a good business. But just one fault brought down everything. The mistake was: people of UVUV community were shown to be wearing a 3.755 meter cloth in the movie whereas in reality they wear 3.754 meter! Complete 1cm difference! What next? Sentiments of UVUV community were deeply hurt. They lodged nationwide protests and did not allow the movie to be released anywhere in India. Whole of the media went crazy. All of the time slots were booked only to have discussions on this ‘most important’ topic. UVUV people sat on fast unto death and broke their fast only when WingWoWing apologized publicly and of course on twitter! WingWoWing could not bear the insult and left the profession of director.

A few years later when elections were going on in WingWoWing’s locality, another calamity befell upon him. What happened was WingWoWing expressed on facebook that he does not like the pink color of the symbol of the party contesting for elections in his area. Consequence? Volcanic sentiments of the contesting party were hurt. He was arrested, sent to jail for 6 months and forced to apologize on the national TV; needless to say on twitter too.

Time passed by and our WingWoWing turned 75. He had not received his pension for the last 12 months. He went to pension office to collect his meager pension of Rs. 5000. What he got was just Rs. 2000. He complained to senior officials, waited for another one year. No action took place. Now that his justified sentiments were hurt, he decided to do what was done to him. He sat on a fast unto death motion. None of the media highlighted this issue, no action was taken, and he died within four days. Nobody’s sentiments were hurt, no apologies were made and no one mentioned him on twitter.