The Amulet

Chinmoy sat there looking at the sea, the cool sea breeze blasting his face. 

He took in a deep breath. The wind is a little strong. It might rain he thought. The sea looked murky as dark clouds gathered above and big waves crashed at the shore. He loved coming to the beach every evening after work. It soothed him after the endless data crunching and the long client meets. He mostly came alone to just sit and observe; the sea, the people, the multitude emotions and the random activities.

He could see an old couple sitting together sharing a joke over a plate of bhel a little distance away from him. A boy was selling balloons to the kids who were gathered around him. He saw street urchins running behind the mobile ice cream van, the vendors selling various street food ,the elderly taking their evening strolls and people like him rushing back home.There was nothing unusual or interesting, but he was enjoying the humdrum.

It was then a little girl ran up to him and begged for some money, "saabji kuch paise de do, khana hai". Chinmoy absentmindedly took out a five rupee coin from his pocket and handed it over to her and looked the other way. He found it very awkward when kids came to him begging. He somehow felt guilty.

Some five minutes later he found the beggar girl coming his way, this time accompanied by another girl.The new girl was older and must have been about twelve or thirteen years while the younger one seemed to have been about eight. Both of them walked up to him. The younger one looked lost and sorry, and the elder one looked cross. They were sisters.The older girl asked the younger one to return the coin but the kid hesitated. 

The older girl then slapped her sister and took the coin from her hands and handed it back to him. "Saabji maaf karna, par hum bhikhari nahi hain." (Sorry sir, but we aren't beggars) They then turned and walked away.

Chinmoy was taken aback by the suddenness of it all and couldn't react. But more, he was impressed by the small girl's self respect and honesty.He kept observing them. They went to the nearby traffic signal. The elder girl pacified the younger one. She took out some lemons, chilies and strands of copper wire from her bag and started weaving them into amulets. While the little one waited at the side sobbing, the elder girl took to the streets selling those amulets as a good luck charm to the cars. She sold each for five rupees and by the end of an hour she had sold some nine to ten of those charms.

She then bought ice creams from the mobile van for both of them and then both the kids happily licked away the ice lollies.There was a smile on his face and a warmth flooded his heart. 

He got up and walked to them to get his amulet.

P.S. : At times one needs to revisit places as memories are tagged along with. Indu thanks a lot for drafting it so beautifully! A Long time ago though :)

 

Feet and shoes

Feet don't wear shoes these days,
Instead Huss puppies,Sketchers wear some feet

Some pair of shoes doesn’t get apt feet
and some feet don’t get a perfect pair of ‘em
Perhaps those feet felt so mortified,
They couldn't build the courage to get into a pair

All of a sudden some feet became so great
Many searched shoes for them...alas! they couldn’t  find any.
Some shoes turned out to be obsessed and egocentric
Hence remained confined within a glass selling for life

Some feet were running on road
They were restless, tired and desperately needed a pair of shoes
Well...they ran...ran a lot, became still and rested forever
Probably they ran with a hope to get a pair at least!

A few feet were blessed with a pair of wings
They learned the hard way to fly and they flee
Rarely they used to step on ground
But they possess utmost no of shoes

 

A mime

I saw my audience from the greenroom

Gentlemen, graceful women and ecstatic kids; 
see themselves off; 
dancing their lives through the world

 

My eyes became cold and intense,

Gazes both void and esteem;

My look was scabbard in shades of diffidence,
perhaps they were searching for a familiar face

 

My lips became hushed and dead, still, unmoved, unmet;

The sound of my smile was left unsaid,

And touch of my voice was unspent

 

My white mask demeanour a sham

Tried to be as mischievous as I could

Well…I didn’t use any phrase;

Yet the mute mime remained an epigram

 

Neither had they seen the unsmiling lips and icy eyes, 
nor my silence killed the fun

They all looked instead as the mime hypnotized...

After a long wait they all burst into laughter

 

 ‘Bravo’… ‘What an act!’

An enthusiastic audience shouted from the corridor

The show got over with a round of applause,

A pinch of denigration and self-satisfaction

 

I went back to the greenroom

Removed the costume and I looked at the mask

Well…I wore masks that always smile;

To hide my feelings behind a ploy

 

One after another the audience left the hall

“Adieu my friends...

You may never again be at my sight

Merry part to merry meets again”            

It's everywhere light tonight

It’s everywhere light tonight

Fireworks...glittering lamps…connected hearts

And of course…'the happy’ folks…

I can see them; the ecstatic, contented and rejoice ones

 

Someone from ‘that happy’ set of folks asked

‘Do you believe in reincarnation?’

I smiled and said

‘Yes my friend…I do’

 

No throttle pain n suffering

No adieu and no more fears around

Light pierce through the gloom

Illuminates the mind and soul

 

Things swivel…waits for the dead right moment

A shaft of light is procreative enough

to expunge the pain…the tear drenched face

Adds an element of love and joy

Conjugation of body and the soul occurs

It proclaims the means of life, n ya…It is!

‘It’s enough...u have gone mad’

The same folk whispered n’ ran

 

Yes…it’s lunacy to ask why and how…

to unleash the fervent n’ to chase an enigma

Some are vivid…a few are lonely and rest are alright

Well…it’s everywhere light tonight

 

A tale of two eyes

For the past couple of days partaking dinner at 9.30 pm was a regular affair for Chinmoy. He indeed deserved some peace of mind after a hectic day at this WIMWI campus. Usually the canteen is less crowded around 9.30 pm. But the mass usually consisted of the same set of people. She is his peace of mind. Probably the feelings are mutual as she always gave him a pleasing glance whenever she looked at him (well, entire world lives on probabilities...at times infatuations are so good ;) ) . 

This always made Chinmoy shy away. At times Chinmoy would also try catching a glimpse of her but with bad luck at its peak, always gets noticed by her friends which made him blush tomato red. Gradually he started loving this game of hide and seek. One day he didn’t find her in the canteen. 

 

‘It’s ok…she might already have had dinner, anyways it’s almost 10 pm now’.

 

Next day, again no show.

Even the day after too!

 

Chinmoy looked around; he checked his wristwatch numerous times. He cross-checked the gigantic wall clock in the canteen. ‘It’s just 9.20 pm now. She will come today’ he consoled himself.

 

Be it lunch, snacks or dinner; Chinmoy never spent more than 10 minutes on food. However; today, he spent almost an hour in the canteen trying to buy time for her. No way! She was not around. 

 

What could be the reason?

Is she not well?

Has she gone somewhere?

Is her boyfriend in town?

Has she gone for a long vacation?

Has she left the programme! (As first year is damn rigor by nature!)

Is it that she doesn't like to see me around and decided to stop coming to the canteen!

These questions raised a tempestuous storm in Chinmoy’s already troubled mind.

He was unable to sleep the entire night.

 

Next day, although he was getting late for a team meeting, he thought it would be wise to have an ice cream after dinner and go. He finally saw her next to Amul parlor. She gave him a fleeting glance but he conferred her with a glare. Probably his eyes were expressing the thoughts…

‘It’s more than 3 days, where were you? 

Do you have any idea how much I missed you? 

Aise bina bataye koi jata hai kya? 

You do whatever you want to do, I am not gonna look at you’.

 

She glanced back at Chinmoy with a caring smile and blinked, vivid as if she was apologizing for her mistakes. He couldn't but smile back.

 

 

 

N.B : Love can be best defined when you look into someone's eyes and suddenly you go all the way inside their soul and you both know it...

 

Letting Go...

One of the hardest lessons in my life is letting go.  

Be it remorse, fury, betrayal, failure or love.

Change is inevitable.

 

In-spite of knowing everything; we tend to fight against odds and decipher a swift make over.From nowhere, one's laptop wallpaper starts to exhibit the quote: "A person must accept finite disappointments, but never lose infinite hope”.  There is always the urge to run back or to hold on.

 

“A little more perseverance”, “once more”, “a little more effort”, “almost there”… these phrases propel us. One gets frustrated amid “Holding on” and “Letting go”.

 

Alas! Life is not a movie. Well, there is an irreconcilable difference between a movie and life. The former hardly runs for three hours and the later; probably for more than three decades.

 

Loving is not easy either.  

When we love someone, we love them, rain or sunshine.

Crude reality (often goes unnoticed) bundles up with some romantic nuance. 

 

But at times, they can’t comprehend and I don’t grumble.Life is too short to be implacable or malicious.

 

What I have learnt,i.e. things change...folks change.

At times the intent is real, but people love the illusory.

They eagerly wait to unfurl a delusion…which doesn't exist at all!

 

Life goes on in an everlasting hide & seek trail where neither you; nor me can hold each other forever. I am not giving up...but let me accept that some things weren't meant to be.

 

Take care!

 

P.S. Sometimes your heart needs more time to accept what your mind already knows...

 

 

An accident

Prashant yelled ‘Aabe kumbhkaran saale uuth jaa…first I will drop you at your bank and then go to my office’.

 

‘Ehh…what’s the time man?’ Anurag  asked.

 

"It is already 9 am and unlike you; my office doesn't allow to start my day at 1 pm. We work like typical human beings; not like nocturnal creatures. Tum saale khaoge idhar ki and gaaoge udhar ki. Kudos to such ‘brain drain’ organisations. 

 

'Aabe stop cribbing. It’s ok. But dude, at least don’t abuse my Arnadaata’ (who pays one’s salary) 

both laughed.

 

Prashant started wiping his bike with a piece of cloth. It’s not an unusual scene these days. This moron illustrates an eternal love for his brand new jet-black Honda CBR 250. However, after he was fully convinced that his bike looked superb; they set off for the bank.

 

‘Shit!’! A Tata Sumo was trying to overhaul from the left, resulting Prashant lost his balance and both of them fell down on the road. Fortunately both escaped unhurt… not even a single scratch on their body.

 

They saw that the sumo stopped ahead and one heavily built man emerged out of that. His appearance didn't match with an image of a driver, rather looked like a goon of a typical bolywood masala movie.

 

“Aare…giir gaye kya? Malum nai tum saab chhokra loog kaise gadi chalate ho. Abhi halla nai karne ka. Ye lo 100 rupiya, tumhare left indicator toot gayi hai, marhamaat kaarwa lena. Aab bhago yahan se.”  (Oh! You guys slipped off the track…don’t you know how to drive? C’mon…I can see your left indicator light has been broken. Now don’t make a show over here. Take this 100 bucks are repair that. Now get lost from here.)

 

The driver said and offered 100 bucks.

Prashant gave a momentary look to Anurag, then to his much adored bike. 

 

‘Bang’…Without uttering a single word, he gave a tight slap to that man and said: 

‘Now you take 100 bucks from me…aapni marham patti karwalena’.