Life is easy kya karein

My school was around ten kilometres from home. The bus ride was full of fun with all my friends. Whenever I saw an ambulance on the way to school, I always made a wish. Ambulance were a rare sight in those days. When the ambulance was spotted, I used to cross my fingers. It had to be uncrossed only when one spotted a black car. That was even tougher than spotting an ambulance. May be that is why I do not like black cars. Even my Rolls Royce Phantom, will never be black. This crossed finger continued till school and was opened only when we had to do some writing in our notebooks. Sometimes, we used to uncross the finger if we saw a Red Ambassador , not a maroon one. I think the wish was like 'I get good marks' or that the ' Question paper is easy' or ' Let me get selected for the school Annual Day play'. My world depended on those wishes. The wish was never shared with anyone..  neither with the bus best friend, the class best friend, the school best friend, th...

If someone asks me what do I enjoy doing the most, my answer would be nothing. Some people like watching movies, travelling, eating, chatting, hiking, reading, running and so on. I am just content to be at home. No reading, no chatting and really doing nothing. In physical space, we keep saying I did nothing but the mind is in the overactive zone always. The nothingness seems as elusive concept. For me, nothingness doesn't come even during meditation. The mind is so wired to think and worry. Worry about a life not well lived, things not done properly, circumstances being adverse, my appearance not been like a model, my family not being like the ideal one in ad films, my town not being the best I wanted to grow up in, the extra curricular activities which were never there, the physical fitness or the sports I never got to play. The mind has this habit of making me feel awful. Awful about where I was in life and how I am now in life. It also makes me feel awful about myself as I se...

While lunching with friends, I told the restaurant owner to make the food non spicy as our guests were from Mauritius. He got so excited and said that in his young days, the 'Deos' used to come from Mauritius in the night. The consignment came in suitcases and  all the boys were crazy about them. Our guests asked them politely what he meant by Deo. Deo is the colloquial term for deodorants. The restaurant owner was  happy as Mauritius brought back so many memories of his youth.  For thousands of years I did not know the difference between a deodorants, perfumes or an After shave.  We did not get International foreign perfumes in India. We, in Dhanbad, called the perfume as "Scent" . It was always referred to as 'Scent ka bottle' . Relatives and friends going abroad would bring "scent bottles' for us. It was one per family. I did not know male and female perfumes. In some cases, the entire family splashed themselves with the same 'scent'....

 It is high time, you did this.  Timing, it is all about timing . Being at the right place at the right time is so important.  Time and tide wait for none.  There is so much conversation within me about 'time'. Time to get up, time to get ready , time to move out, time to eat, time to sleep. Half the time, I am doing something on that time because there is no other choice. I need to eat at a particular time as the dishes need to be washed and the maid comes home at that time. There is a logical sequence to do things. Time to brush, time to bathe, time to dress up.  Every one of us has the same 24 hours in a day. Some do it with so much ease and some get so stressed about the same things. I dare not refer to friends who keep saying , 'There is no time'. I feel sad for the quality of their life they are leading.   I had another story, I used to say there is no time for doing my things. I manage to do other stuff on time. I almos...

Sometimes when I am writing, I feel I have written the same before. Then I realise it has been playing so much on my mind for so long. Ranthambore seemed too special and personal a space at that time to share. We almost always do a wildlife sanctuary with our vacation. As a child, the only exposure to wildlife I had was in Calcutta Zoo. My Mom had taken me for the first time. It was so exciting and  a little picnic on the zoo grounds. I think my cousins and Masi were also there. Gir Forest was the first wild life sanctuary I had been to with my parents. I don't remember much of that though I do remember Somnath temple and Veraval. During the Travel and Tourism course, the college took us on a study educational tour to Bandhavgarh wildlife sanctuary. In the one year post graduate course, they taught us how to make an itinerary. It had to include a city with an airport, a wildlife sanctuary or some mystic natural beauty, a fort or a palace and some local art and craft shopping. It ...

A close friend from my hostel days moved to the US after her marriage. We lost touch and after years a chance meeting at a book store in Mumbai where her husband recognised me and asked me to meet his wife. She had a child who was not a baby. He was walking talking English. When you are single and you see a class mate who has moved so much ahead in her life, it just feels weird. There is an instant disconnect. Even when she is reminiscing about our wild days, I feel why is she doing that. She is a Mom now and that too of a grown up kid. When you are single, a grown up child is a seven year old. She was living a very happy life with her family in America. She was talking about what her day is like there and that is where I heard the 'word' the first time.  My friend said she is a 'Soccer Mom'. I did not know what Soccer was apart from the fact that it is a game. And ' Soccer Mom' was even more alien to me. She laughed and explained that she does pickups and dro...

Our live in help Lakshmi is an old lady. We don't know her exact age. She has grandchildren and has been working with us for many years. First 10-15 years at my parents and now with me since the last six years. She took care of my Grandmother who was bed ridden in the last few years of her life. Lakshmi has worked in hospitals in Dhanbad before that for 30-35 years. Now I am unable to do the Math as I really do not think she is that old. She is fit and has more energy than me. She is meticulous and very intelligent. She knows old songs. Has spent her growing up years in Howrah. Says during the war, they used to dig small pits and hide their small children in that for protection during bombing. Super memory and remembers all the 'hisaab' of the money I give her to buy miscellaneous items at home. She is my most intelligent house help and my mate. I talk to her the most and she pampers me the most. She has lost her husband and a son. She takes care of the entire family of o...