“HE THROWS AT ME A PEACH, I GIVE HIM A PLUM”

There are two types of people in this world:-

1.) Who lose their temper at every other second, and

2.) Who remain calm for most of the time but when they lose it, as some learned people say, “they spark the damp firewood”.

I think the later ones are quite dangerous and guess what??; by God’s grace I fall into the same category. I am not telling you all this so that you fear of me.

I haven’t have fights at all in my life except those “cat fights” with my sis which still happens daily on almost all things. I am talking of the serious fights, which include punches in the stomach, powerful kicks, which leads to the blood flowing from nostrils to mouth, to neck and the blackened swollen eye; before a group of people come in between you. It all looks like the same bollywood films, but it actually happens. I, myself have come so many times in between my friends and sometimes enjoyed their contretemps, but never got a chance to be the cynosure of all eyes. Not that I fear of them, but I choose to avoid them.

I have seen people in my family fighting for property, money and all other issues that you can think of. At that time I was too young to take part in one. I tell you, it was till date, worst time of my life.

I always believe that it’s not the physical strength that matters, it’s the mental strength and the grandness of heart which holds the key. At that time, whenever there used to be a WWE match in our veranda, I used to run to the terrace away from anything, everything. I used to weep, yell, pray to god.

Gradually, the situation improved, but I didn’t stop going on to the terrace. I still go for a daily stroll in the evening away from all the routine works; where I am all by myself, gazing towards the sky, towards the birds flying back to their abode, the setting sun and the dark clouds spreading all over the sky. It’s all that serene beauty of nature that has now become my old friend and there is one corner on terrace which is still the best part of my home.

And all I can say now that these things, have made me mentally strong to face the life ahead.

MONSOON RAINS!!

MONSOON RAINS!! How eagerly we all wait for the monsoon rains after being baked in the sun for almost four consecutive months. I want to ask all of you:- is there someone amongst you, who hates rains?? If yes, just let me know :-)

In northern India, the summer comprises of almost 8 months with people craving for rains, but I hate them. I know you must be thingking that this man is crazy. I'll tell you why. The rains come and there is sudden change in temperature. Due to these unannounced variations in temperatures, I catch what you commonly know to be “common cold”. As the name suggests, it’s quite common among people, but the consequences of “common-cold” in my case are not very common. What follows, is sneezing spree at least 10 times a min, a blocked nose and the headache. And if I don’t take medicines on time it can get me viral fever. This is what I've been going throuh for the last 20 yrs - every time there is attraction between the positive charge of earth and negative charge of clouds (right, na?). The scent of the wet ground which is appreciated almost by everyone, is one of the foulest odors for me.

Secondly, whenever it rains, all work comes to a halt. Thanks to our inadequate drainage system. The situation really worsens in my area. I can’t go out for work. The population of skeeters surge with a rate of 10^10 every minute.

Last week, the Lord Indra became generous for the first time this season and it was raining cats and dogs. I went out in veranda and I saw a young girl of around 5yrs old enjoying the rain in her veranda. She was soon joined by her younger sister. As the younger one came, she fell down. She stood up and put her right leg forward and fell down again. But she never cried. She stood up again and warily came out. Both started to enjoy the rain with their arms stretched, facing the sky with eyes closed. They cuddled each other as I stood there watching them. The first time I realized how much do people love rain. I wanted to become part of their celebrations. Soon their mom came and admonished them and took them in.

That day I realized what I am missing in life. Keep enjoying the rains so that I keep enjoying watching you.

COUNTRY LIFE

It's june end and it is scorching hot; waiting for the monsoon desperately. This time of the year is generally of summer holidays and it reminds me of my visit to my maternal grandmother’s place. I haven’t been there for some years now, but I still remember every detail of the splendid country life.

Surrounded by fields, it’s a small village; ohh sorry, it was a small village; now its no longer a village as mum says. You know how moms are attached to their native places - dismissing their childhood abode as small, isn't exactly the wisest thing to do.

Every time you go there, it's all the same. You will never find anything really special. People wake up at about 4 in the morning. The same sounds, whiff of fresh air, the villagers walking along the sides of the road to the market, women with sacks of grass supported by their petite shoulder blades, unwaveringly steady. The small stalls at the end of roads, the naked brown children skittering through dust, dung spread loosely through roads, bullock carts, et all...

They are never in a hurry. It seems that they have all the time in the world. I can’t understand one thing - they really don’t have any private life. The neighbors, the neighbors’ neighbors and their neighbors are all part of one family. In fact, any one from that village is as dear as any other family member would be.

I remember at night, there were power cuts for hours and there was no inverter as saving grace, so we used to come out in veranda, lay the Chaarpai and lie on it. I used to get miffed by the mosquitoes' monotonous humming around my ears even as I sought cover...

But in one aspect they seem to have won the race; in terms of happiness... I think they are much more content in their simple, rustic life. They have little ambition. The satisfaction level in city people is much less.

So this would be a rough picture of the country side and if you have been to one, it would probably remind you of your own visits...

EXAMS EMOTIONS AND UR FAVORITE PASS-TIME

So finally, my semester exams have finished and since I was booked in my room for past one month, I am short of ideas. But I have come up with something that most of us can relate to.

 All of us give numerous exams in our lives. And I know that almost everyone of us have some superstitions in mind. I also have some, but their intensity has decreased now. Some of them were:-

 I would not shave before the exam. I had this in mind that it would spoil the paper.

To use the same pen and wear the same clothes in every exam if one of them goes good, and vice-versa.

 I have given many national level papers and I remember seeing thousands of parents waiting eagerly to receive their kids. And I used to scrutinize among them to find out my dad. And when you find them, what do you see? Hope on the face that my kid has done well. I think this is the one thing that I cherish the most and would continue doing so. When the results come, and you have done well, then that feeling of pleasure is ultimate. And for that ultimate feeling we are doing so much hard work. Isnt it?

 Now, enough of exam talk. Let us move on to something which interests us the most. I know many of my friends who are crazy for one damn thing, and they can leave everything else for it. Some of them are crazy for gaming, some for music, some for reading and bla bla bla…. For the last few days I have been thinking hard on whether I've got something special of that kind, but couldn’t find one. I have never been into anything with mad passion; probably can’t take anything beyond a limit because I get bored and want to switch on to something else. Still, life is not over yet and the game is still on. Let's see - One day I will find one for sure.

 But the thing that I want from you guys is that you have to post a comment and tell me that one damn thing that you are crazy about and why. If you haven’t got any like me then think a bit and tell me. Could you do this for me? Please...  I don’t know if I am asking for something out-of-box. Try it. Okay?!!