THE BUS RIDE...

Everyday when I board a bus, I feel irritated by the ever-talking, over-the-top noisy people around me. I usually prefer the window seat that allows me to think about a LOT of things, and be ignorant about the people around me. With my earphones plugged in, I wonder… everybody in the bus has a story. Everybody has a reason to be in that particular state of mind. 

 Someone is about to give up, while another has just gained something. While someone has enough reasons to complain, another has that one reason to be happy! Ever wondered why people get irritated at the slightest of action? Why one curses, while someone remains silent, showing no emotion but wait for the destination? Why the driver does not stop at certain points… 

Someone’s story, someone’s anger, someone’s happiness makes me curious. One’s reason reflects on their action and there… evolves a chain of reactions!

While someone is fighting with his/her girlfriend/boyfriend, someone boards the bus with the happiness of a newly married life ahead; someone’s happiness knows no limits as they are expecting a baby, while someone is nervous about a relative’s condition in the same hospital. Both get down with curiosities lying ahead. The driver would have had an argument, either at home or with fellow-drivers on road. The frustration, taken out by harsh driving, but also keeping in mind our safety. And then, there are the cute school kids who worry about standing together with their gang despite the crowd and say, “I did not complete the assignment. Hope the bus reaches our stop on time…”

YOU ARE NOW PRONOUNCED AS EX-HUSBAND AND EX-WIFE

They say, “Marriage is a heavenly bond, the couples decided by God.” Nowadays, there is a small addition to this saying- “It is ended in court…” 

A lovely and wonderful part of life- marriage, that not only links two people but also two families and culture, is celebrated as a grand event. It has all reasons to be treated as one.

The rituals, the environment, the laughter…oh and not to forget, the food, stays in everyone’s memory forever! Two totally different people come together to spend the rest of their lives together. Of course no marriage is a “happily ever after” story. There are ups and downs. It depends on the two to stay together to make these ups and downs a peaceful journey. 

Everything has a solution. I believe in it. Why would problems or misunderstandings ever exist if there were no solutions at the end of the tunnel…. It is the same logic as Black and White, Male and Female, Plus and Minus- everything has something! The main cure to these problems is to solve them at ‘that’ given moment and not let it pile up like one’s laundry. You take your laundry out later, it doesn’t give a good feeling, right!

It is saddening that there are so many “made for each other” couples who become “who the hell you are” couples. Caught between the tug-of-war is the kid. There is something called the “Can Do/Cannot Do” concept (I sincerely thank a very special sir of mine to acquaint me with this). Got a problem? See if you ‘can do’ something about it. If yes, then go ahead. If no, then cheers!! Honestly, I have had so little things to worry about, since then.

Instead of pointing out each others’ faults, try to focus on the so many positive things that actually brought you together. Instead of nagging about not having time to spend with each other, try to set aside that “special” time. The journey would seem much happier and peaceful. I pity the couples who go ahead in the same path, without each other. Is that all you know about each other… Also, your attitude would be reflected upon on your kid. Remember, as you sow, so you reap!

All you got to do is sit down and talk. What more than to talk to your loved ones… That’s what they are there for!!

20

Another big step in one’s life. Marks the end of teenage. 

I too felt a change. Not only in me, but in others who are 20. From having a birthday party in teenage to making eye or organ donation, the change is simply wonderful!!

I feel happy and proud of the people around me, who are thinking about others and not themselves- now and after the end of their lives. Saving a person’s life by donating organs, giving a person the gift of sight by donating eyes, is truly a noble work to do. A lot of people I know have already signed up for either one or both of the noble causes!

Once when getting branded clothes was important, saving others life seems important now. Thinking of the future, what higher studies to be done, where to work, what to get, how much to spend, how much to save… phew! It sounds tiring and interesting. 20 does bring about a sense of understanding, of oneself, the world and what not. The change is loveable, the responsibilities, challenging. The journey ahead seems exciting with so many tasks to be ticked off the ‘to-do’ list. Everything seems to be in a different perception, everyone right and strong in their point of view, sympathy and empathy seem in abundance, anger when necessary and forgiveness to let go…

I also wonder from where suddenly so many “relatives” appear suddenly. 20 gives them an open invitation. Their phone calls have a standard line “I know a boy. Marriageable age. He is my husband’s colleague’s sister-in-law’s husband’s cousin.” No thank you..!

I do not know what is ahead. But I know that it is exciting and that I’m ready for it. I feel myself grown up. Hey! I’ve asked my father’s permission so as to sign up for eye donation. Maybe one day I’ll adopt a tiger as well…

I SAW THROUGH MY TELESCOPE MY COMMERCE BOOKS…

I was in class 6 when Kalpana Chawla’s shuttle crumbled. Every news channel showed how the shuttle blasted minutes before landing. There… I was inspired. The passion of astronomy was in me. I wanted to become like Kalpana Chawla. I wanted to go to space… explore the unseen, set my foot on the Moon, on Mars! The thought of what lay in the dark fascinated me.

I started planning- to take up science in class 11 and then pursue Aeronautical Engineering. I maintained a scrap book, filled with all the newspapers clips, articles and photos of astronomy. I even wrote my first poem then-

“My aim is to become an astronaut,

Astronomy is my aim!

I want to go to space,

With NASA’s rocket race...”

I know it sounds silly!! OK… very silly, but hey, I was in class 6.

Few of my teachers came to know about my scrap book, and one fine day, my principal called out my name in the morning assembly (class 8 then) and told the entire school about my scrap book. Every teacher saw my scrap book. They knew for sure that I would certainly become an astronaut. When my father got a transfer to Bangalore, my principal presented me a book; in it she had written “A gift for your fabulous collections on astronomical wonders.”

I had my first encounter with space in Bangalore-my visit to ISRO. It was for a seminar for school students. One memorable experience, that made me love space more and more. My second encounter was when my father bought a telescope for me!! A small and portable one. My joy knew no limits. 

It all ended….  

My score in class 10 was not upto the school’s cut-off. My father thought of getting my admission done in PU colleges. The fee was indeed more. I did not want him to spend so much when the fault was mine. I joined commerce in my school only and that day I cried for 7 hours straight!! I took up commerce with computers. I now took that as a chance to fulfill my father’s wishes and dreams, the ones he could not fulfill.

I did update my scrap book for about a month after that, but could not anymore! The gift from my principal is still with me, will always be!

Now, I give my full efforts and get the best of marks.

When some kid asks me something about space, I explain. When he/she asks me “How come YOU know so much?” I smile. When I came in contact with my former school friends after 6 years, they had only one question for me, “You’re in Commerce??? What happened” I smile. When I saw my father proud and happy when I got the highest mark, I smiled. Also, when I see my friends literally suffer in engineering, I smile..!

I guess my best friend was right all along! I am in commerce for other, better things to happen, of which I got absolutely no clue!! That also makes me smile…

CHILDHOOD...

I see the kids around me now. Playing… with their Play stations and I Phones. Their holidays being spent with their heads buried in the gadgets. I do not envy them, but feel sad for them. These “latest” gadgets deprive these kids of “actual” and “real” fun. I find it amusing that these kids sit at home saying, “The weather is too hot”. When I was a kid, it used to be a reason for us to play cricket, get drenched in sweat and run back home to pour a jug of water on our heads. Ah! What blissful days. I miss them. Given a chance, I would run back to those memories to relive those moments.
Being a gang of 20-25, or sometimes more, our routine during holidays was playing cricket in the morning in our apartment parking lot (and we never complained about the ‘perfect place to play’.) After 3 hours of cricket, we ran home to calm the rats running in our tummies. After that, we played ‘board games’, mainly because there were a lot of people who took the afternoon nap. But the amount of noise we made fighting and laughing over these board games surely didn’t make their nap peaceful..! Games like LIFE, Business made our afternoons complete. We would end the game only when somebody’s mother called for the evening milk/snacks quota. We would again meet after 2 hours of studying. The night was the time to play Hide-and-seek. What fun it was to play hide-and-seek in the dark..!!

How blissful and fun were those days. Truly the kids of today are missing out on the actual fun a kid can have to the maximum extent. A boy I know, is in class 8, and already owns an I phone 4S, laptop and a play station. I don’t want to sound too old or traditional. Hey I too am a freak, but not at the stake of my childhood.

Kids are missing out on the joys of playing under the scorching sun, having a fight and patching up. The only fight kids are now having is with their parents to get them the latest gadget! When I was in 8^th, I used to fight for the latest geometry box or Pokemon 3-D collection! Also, I would accept my father’s NO for the things he refused to buy for me at my immediate demand. I thank my father for the timely NOs.

I fear that these kids would never know “pittu” or “gilli-danda”. Simplicity is the perfect happiness. Breaking windows by playing cricket, falling and getting hurt, finding the craziest place to hide during the game of hide-and-seek, was something Great and a moment of being proud then. The scars on my feet and hands remind me of the way I fell… and make me smile. I wonder what these kids would feel proud of… having the latest gadget? Eh! Every third kid I know has gadget. Every third kid is asking me “Are you on Facebook?” while the question back then was “Are you going out of station during holidays?”
I too love gadgets. It amuses me of how people can make something like this that changes the world in a click or a press or a touch! It is the age in which these kids have to be familiarized with them!!