A small bar of Cadbury’s dairy milk would cost as much as Rs. 25.00 but when my daughter relishes it as if there is no tomorrow… It’s priceless…
No I am not talking about cricket. That’s the last thing I’d ever talk about unlike my other friends, colleagues and cousins.
Well, it’s been a while since I really scratched my head off for some good thinking material. And it’s been a God knows how many months… that I lost track since something came from my heart.
It’s been that 7 month itch I guess. So many things happened and how come I never found words to put them down? Sometimes words, thoughts just flows like a river and some times they just lie there. Stagnant!
Life these days changes in a instant and for me it’s kind of been a roller coaster ride. So many ups and downs but the cycle of life keeps going and better late still, I have come to realize it. When you go down, you certainly have to come up through the process of learning and understanding what is best for you and the people around you.
Now I am back home. Back for good. Bursting with enthusiasm, the joy and extra mile that I want to cover for my personal, career and spiritual inclinations. Home is where you start and where your heart lies.
I hope I get to do all that I always wanted to do. One baby step at a time. And I hope I get to do all these in my lifetime and inspire people around me.
I hope to continue writing my experiences and I hope you keep visiting me leaving your precious thoughts.
Good to see you.
Catch you soon enough.
An amazing love song Written and sung by SEAL. This song and this album in particular took away he Grammy honors. SEAL apparently won the best male pop vocal performance. This also happens to be a song from the Batman franchise featuring Nicole Kidman and Val Kilmer. I absolutely love this fab song and would dedicate this song forever to my lovely wife. With the Valentine’s just around the corner… I can only croooooon this song over my wife’s ear….
There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea.
You became the light on the dark side of me.
Love remained a drug that’s the high and not the pill.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh,
The more I get of you,
The stranger it feels, yeah.
And now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the gray.
There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain,
My power, my pleasure, my pain, baby
To me you’re like a growing addiction that I can’t deny.
Won’t you tell me is that healthy, baby?
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh, the more I get of you
The stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the gray,
I’ve been kissed by a rose on the gray,
I’ve been kissed by a rose
I’ve been kissed by a rose on the gray,
…And if I should fall along the way
I’ve been kissed by a rose
…been kissed by a rose on the gray.
There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain
My power, my pleasure, my pain.
To me you’re like a growing addiction that I can’t deny, yeah
Won’t you tell me is that healthy, baby.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh, the more I get of you
The stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the gray.
Yes I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray
Ooh, the more I get of you
The stranger it feels, yeah
And now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the gray
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the gray.
Enjoy this video and sink into the lyrics above….Fall in love and sing in to thy ear of your valentine!
I was born during a cold month.
During diwali… the festival of lights
8 days after Gandhi jayanti…
The time when most schools would have their mid term exams. Oh… how I used to hate my birthday then!
But that’s just about it. Those were the times. No matter what, it was so chilled out. No cares in the world…
And then unlike everyone… I was reborn again… that day was 12th Feb, 2003.
Today is 12th February, 2011
Technically speaking, I am 8 years old.
Still very young and lots of things to accomplish and thats the way I see it.
And still learning the school of life everyday.
I remember vividly the day I first set my eyes on Sowmea. Wearing a blue saree. Sitting on the floor. Eyes gazed down and refusing to see up. As if she is being tested. Tested to see how much patience she can endure. Then came “Can you sing a song?” situation. A typical filmy one actually. A usual thing when the groom’s lot ask the bride’s folks. She did and how? Boy! I was floored. I still feel she could have made singing as her career!
But that was not all. I’ve had so many friends in my life (Yes, girls of course) But sowmea was different in all aspects from all of them.
Shy (Until she wanted to!), unbreakable, strong, focused and absolutely no-nonsense girl.
She was none I had seen…. Ever! And by now I know her soul completely.
I wouldn’t have realized this today had I been any different then.
I then think of it as God’s game plan towards a person’s self realization. And I am so glad it took me this long.
I guess over time every couple complement each other in many ways than one. So much so that they begin to act like one, think like one. If one faulters, the other fixes it… And surely in my case, I would fault forever and she would mend the things and both of us by now realize this. While I keep promising that this year on I will be any different than the last, it would only be brushed off as another lame excuse and I think like an eight year old kid, I have conveniently done so!
And I don’t think we would have been any happier than we are today. Besides the little tuffs that we have on and off, the mutual admiration that we have for each other is so immense that any other issue would only pale in comparison.
On this very special note, I would wish all my readers, contributors, friends, family and well wishers a very Happy Valentines day!
If you have to express your feelings to some one who matters the most then do it now.
Don’t wait.
And to Sowmea, the love of my life a very happy anniversary today!
Based on an original idea by my wife….
Prologue
Palanpur is a typical village like any other… tiny farms growing wheat, rice, sugarcanes; a small river; government school; a small clinic; a huge banyan tree under which there used to be weekly panchayat meetings. All important decisions are taken here. Everyone loves to be part of this village for various reasons but for a very special one.
There was Raghu kaka.
A man with an uknown past and lots of stories. He was the village’s very own Pied piper. A man who could charm kids with his opulent weaves in story telling. So much so that all kids were practically drawn towards his enigmatic character.
Palanpur, present day
With so much excitement they all yelled as if orchestrated “Wow, Raghu kaka!”
“So? What did we all learn today? Can anyone tell me?” asked Raghu kaka.
A small hand rose from the corner of the group. It was Gattu the youngest boy in the entire twenty something group of kids.
“We should always love all and have no enemies” Asserted Gattu as if he understood it better than anyone in the group.
“Well done Gattu! I am truly impressed” said Raghu kaka in a rather surprised tone.
Gattu was barely three years old. Thin, fair with little brownish hair on his mane. Today was Gattu’s first day on the story session with Raghu kaka. And the session was outstanding like all other days.
It was exactly five years before when Raghu kaka started narrating stories just as a way to cope with boredom and a way to forget all that he had been through. He had two disciples at the start. It was more of a baby sitting process for a working family. Both the parents were busy in their farms and didn’t find time to take care of their kid and that’s when Raghu kaka pitched in.
Raghu kaka lived just on the outskirts of Palanpur village. The house was built entirely by himself with no support from anyone. His was a small house build of bricks, clay and the roof covered with neatly sewn coconut and palm leaves. The verandah was large enough to occupy atleast fifty people. There was a bamboo fence and just before the fence is a green patch of grass border with various flower shrubs grown in beautiful patterns. The well was on the back yard with generous growth of mango, coconut and chickoo trees. Tendered like kids, Raghu kaka would water the plants generously removing all weeds and taking care of them as his own.
It is common in villages to find a new resident and everyone talking about them and going over to their house with gifts or supplies as a way to welcome them. But with Raghu Kaka things were different.
When Raghu kaka came to the village no one liked him. He was tall with a heavy frame and resembled much like a local wrestler. He had a rather coarse voice with unusually added accents in English which many villagers didn’t understand or rather were jealous to even think about him. He was an ex army man and was always on his own ever since he lost both his parents after which he enrolled himself in the platoon thereby giving himself to the nation.
And for the last five years he has been ruling the hearts, minds and thoughts of the kids.
Raghu kaka had a way with storytelling. He had all sorts of stories. Some thrilling, some epics and most of them having a mystical thread to it. And while narrating the stories he would ensure that his kids would enact certain parts of the story so the kids are part of the story and live the characters. His room was ladened with all necessary props that aid his story telling. And almost all his stories would have learning or two and that’s what Raghu kaka would strive for!
That’s one thing kids love when it comes to the times spent with him.
The stories of Raghu kaka would reach everyone in the nearby villages to the extent that he was kind of star amongst the locals. People would love to hate him and talk behind his back. They would prompt rumors about him to bring down his popularity but nothing would stop a kid from going to his house at the stroke of four pm in the afternoon.
This was a regular feature…
There was another dimension to this. While not being with Raghu kaka, kids would be on their own locked inside their rooms. One could hear voices coming in from their rooms. That’s when the village Sarpanch Vikas Deshmukh decided to sneak into his son’s room one day. All he could see was his son facing the wall and talking as if in conversation. That really left him deeply concerned and puzzled at the same time. This has probably been going on for a long time with all the kids and this became a constant topic in all the homes about what relationship would hold between the kids and their stoy teller. The Sarpanch decided to take action. He called for a meeting of all the parents under the famous banyan tree where most discussions were held and a unanimous decision was finally taken.
For the next year or so, none of the kids were allowed to step out from their homes except for school. Many a times the kids would sneak out to just have a glimpse of Raghu kaka and even that was stopped now.
With nothing much to do and no hopes of seeing the kids again, one could witness the withering of the lovely garden. What was so green and colorful was now nothing but dark brown color all over the house around Raghu kaka’s house. It’s been more than a year and when loneliness starts creeping in it takes a toll on one’s health and the mental status. Raghu kaka who was once had a tall and strong stature has grown seemingly weak with no interest in the present nor the future ahead of him.
The next few months that lasted and whatever remained of him, Raghu kaka would talk all by himself and narrate stories all to himself. As if he could see a whole bunch of kids in his verandah, he would enact all the roles by himself. Wear costumes, adorn the make up and live all the characters that he had created all those years. No one was then allowed to pass by his house. It was one of those banned areas for all adults and kids alike. The story teller was reduced to nothing but a mad man for the entire village.
It’s been almost a month since the death of Raghu kaka and deep inside all the parents have a sense of relief that they will not be resorted to stopping their kids to go here and there especially to that house where Raghu kaka stayed. Now it all seemed only normal that everyone was back to routine. The harvest season just got started. The schools are busy preparing for their exams. And everyone just busy in their own fragments.
As for the kids the sadness only grew with each passing day. The person they adored and loved the most is no more and the very thought of not being able to see Raghu kaka for ever would only make the rest of their lives with regrets and sorrow.
The sarpanch finally came up with a solution that would only bring a smile onto the kids faces.
The house of Raghu kaka was now under the guidance of a worker who would clean his house and keep it neat and tidy. The place would be filled with kids in the evenings. It was a recreational area of sorts for the kids such that everyone in the village could not deny and only hope that this would bring loads of joy and happiness in their lives.
Epilogue
Now everyone is free to walk past Raghu kaka’s house. The house is back in shape again. There’s the lush green grass with lots of marigold, rose and sun flower dancing to the tune of the breeze. The butterflies come in full swing daily and so do the kids.
The Sarpanch is happy to see Raghu kaka’s beautiful house and the kids playing in the verandah.
But today they all are silent and sitting in a circle. There is an empty chair in the middle and all the eyes are fixated over there. They are unanimously nodding their heads uttering their usual “Hmms”, “yes”, and their ever so favorite “Wow, Raghu kaka!”
