Being Little

It’s not been too many years. But just a few years ago, 14^th of November was all about excitement, was all about joyous celebrations in school as we dressed fancily for those programs organized by our very dear school teachers for us children. But much to my disappointment, all this WAS.

    Yes, 14^th November is even today celebrated as Children’s Day. But it seems like all that excitement (for dressing up, just because it was one of those few days of the academic year when we didn't have to wear those then-boring school uniform), all that ecstasy of Children’s Day was left behind when we left school. I still remember the school farewell day, the only day sarees became an obsession for us then and our school principal addressed us as “young ladies”, which was then followed by a question, “or children?”. And we responded in chorus- “Children”. How we craved for being children ever since!

     And all those years of growing up had made me forget that 14^th November was Children’s Day, until somebody reminded today!

  And to add to it all, me and my friend, on my way back home from college today, passed a school that lies on the way, and as I watched those little kids running towards their school bus to get a window seat, it made me reminisce my own school days, when we used to do the same. At that very moment, we realized that these same kids would be dressed up in their best little frocks and shirts, because it was their day.

  But then, why would it be just their day? And why can't it be our day as well? Why can’t we, at least for a day, get rid of all those petty issues that keep bothering us, and celebrate being a child once again? And after all, we’re surely going to get back to our pretentious behavior of being an adult, and that child is yet again going to be caged somewhere! 

Monsoon and Food!

Oh yes! I do have monsoon plans. I have a list of places to visit, if not in this monsoon, maybe the next. But most importantly, I have a list of food items that I’m not going to miss, and the rains are only going to add the fun of having these food items (mostly street food).

      So, the “birth” of this ‘Monsoon Food Plan’ can be traced back to a time long back, when me and a friend of mine were discussing about all the amazing street food in and around our college. The plan goes such: on a day when it’s raining heavily, we walk a little from our college towards Matunga Station. Exactly opposite the Station, there stands a “Pani Puri” stall (it’s called “New Pankaj”). What’s special about the mouth-watering pani-puri here? Well, unlike the usual pani-puri, which is filled with hot ragda, this one conatins some normal filling, but what makes it delicious is the ice-cold, tasty Paani. I shouldn’t be talking more about this, now. My mouth has started watering, literally.

     So, next, we walk back towards our college and on the way lies our favorite sandwich stall, Subhash Uncle’s sandwich. The chocolate sandwich there (with extra chocolate) is just something one can’t resist because as soon as you pick up a piece of sandwich to eat, you realize that the chocolate is melting already! But the chocolate sandwich is not the only sandwich on the menu, rather, in monsoons, I would prefer having an ordinary sandwich with extra-ordinary taste.

    So by the time we’re done with the sandwich, we’re half full and with immense enthusiasm, we march towards our beloved ‘Ruia College Canteen’ and order for a plate, or two, of Bread Pakodas with some delicious chutney and sauce and when the plate is clean after having eaten every bit in it, there comes a loud sound, in chorus- BURRRPP!!!

   We’re full and we realize that we can’t eat anymore, so we simply move out of college and have some tea from a nearby tea stall. With the last sip of tea, we realize that it’s time to go home. But wait! We’re still not done with the list, so all we can do is wait for another rainy day.

      And now that this ‘another rainy day’ has arrived, we, in full determination of completing this list of food items, walk outside the college and halt before a vada-pav stall (the stall earlier stood outside the I.E.S school nearby, so we call it the “I.E.S vada-pav. But it has now been shifted near our college, much convenient for us, anyhow!). And after eating the vada-pav, we enter “Mani’s”- the very famous South-Indian food joint, just a few steps away from our college. We have the “garma-garam Dosa or Idli”, along with the extremely yummy chutney.

      Our previous list was supposed to end with the vada-pav, but we realized that without including “Mani’s”, the list was simply incomplete! A very significant addition, indeed!

      So this monsoon, this is something that I and my friends are certainly going to enjoy. Well anyway! Happy Monsoon! 

The Music Called Laughter

The long, fun-filled day had sort of come to an end as we boarded the train to come back home. Usually, train journeys are about me plugging in my earphones and enjoying the music- the music that I intentionally listen to, from my phone, and the music that is created by the trains (oh yes! After having traveled by the Mumbai Locals for more than three years, the sound of the trains does become music, not a pleasant one, but neither an unpleasant one). But today’s journey was not the usual one. Today’s journey was pretty much about me gazing through the window as the train passed through several stations. Today’s journey was pretty much about listening to a music that was being echoed in my ears- that was the music called “Laughter”.

      A few of my friends have told me that I laugh like a monster, uncontrollably and really loud- so loud that the sound might disturb people even at a distance (by the way, they call it the “khatarnaak vaali hasi”). But even then, what is it that makes me say that these echoes of laughter sound like music to me? I wonder! It’s probably the smile that appears on my face as this music of laughter plays itself, or it’s probably the realization which dawns upon me that it is this laughter that makes me forget the world around me. It’s probably just the happiness that I experience as I listen to these echoes of laughter, or it’s simply the fact that it is this laughter that has given me an opportunity to write something after almost A MONTH.

       Whatever it is, this music called laughter is very special to me and no LOL, no ROFL, or no WhatsApp “emoji” can ever define it. And yes, I truly believe that laughter is the best medicine. So don’t keep smiling, KEEP LAUGHING- as loud as possible! 

Revisiting Childhood

I had no clue what I was going to do the entire day. It was a Saturday and I was at home, jobless! I didn't want it to be like a usual Saturday when I would just wake up late, spend some time here and there, have lunch, take a nap and somehow spend the rest of the day waiting for Monday. And I just wasn't in the mood to read anything at all. Hence, I took a brave step and switched on the television with the hope of finding something worth watching. And luck did favor me.
I was glued to the couch, totally engrossed in the television, just like my childhood days when I used to switch on the television just to watch my favourite cartoon. Luck did favor me, for that day I revisited my childhood, as i watched 'The Lion King'.

The Lion King- that movie just makes me drift towards those memories of my childhood days. Those childhood days when Simba, Scooby-Doo, Dexter, Tom & Jerry, Popeye, Powerpuff Girls and many, many other cartoons were an integral part of our life then, because these were not just cartoons. All these were more like friends because we almost lived with them. It was, and still is, so difficult to pick up one and name it the best.
I wonder why people complain about not getting their childhood days back. Well, of course, you won't get them back. But who ever said you can't revisit them? And for me, watching my favourite cartoons all over again was and is the best way to revisit my childhood. Each day of childhood that never ended without watching Popeye eat spinach and gain so much strength, watching  Scooby-Doo and his gang unmask the monsters and find the real culprit, watching Tom & Jerry run after each other for no reason, watching Simba roar royally and become the Lion King.
I would still smile throughout the episodes of Scooby-Doo and tears still roll down my eyes when I watch The Lion KIng. I would still laugh while watching Tom & Jerry and I would still switch on the television only to watch these cartoons, if they were still being aired. And the fact that I'm most glad about is that the child-like demeanor is still present and I would never want to lose it. Because watching these cartoons and getting engrossed in them is possibly the best way of getting away from all my worries- small or big. Because it was Lion King that taught me 'hakuna matata'- no worries for the rest of your days. It was Tom & Jerry that taught me real friendship. It was Scooby-Doo that taught me that cruelty can not last long.
I had always thought that television provided the least of entertainment, for there was nothing good being aired. But i have realized that the idiot-box could sometimes act as a vehicle to take you back to your childhood.

Relating exams to...."Mythology"!

Exams, exams! They’re a terror. And I just needed a break from my studies when this idea of relating certain aspects of exams to certain events, characters etc. in the Indian mythology, popped up in my mind. Here are a few analogies.

1. THE COURSE: the course is just like the way to Lanka, which Ram travelled to get Sita back, with so many hardships, and the most problematic hardship being the vast ocean between Kanyakumari and Lanka. The ocean was crossed only when the ‘Ram Setu’ was built. Hence, the course is like a vast ocean made up of subjects, with a huge wave of six new subjects to be faced every semester. And this vast ocean can only be crossed with the help of some such ‘Ram Setu’.

2. THE EXAM: The exam, or the ‘pariksha’ (as it is known in Hindi/Marathi), could be related to the ‘Agni Pariksha’ that Sita had to go through to prove her sanctity. The exams that we go through are no less. It is proved that you have studied only when you pass these exams…oops! I mean ‘Agni Parikshas’. The only difference here is that Sita had to go through this just once. We, the students, have to go through it more often.

3. THE QUESTION PAPER: The question paper is just like the ‘Chakravyuh’. Only adept people can ‘easily’ solve the question paper.

4. THE TEACHER/THE QUESTION PAPER-SETTER: The teacher or the question paper setter is like Krishna, for he/she provides you with guidelines to go about the exams, just like Krishna provides guidelines to go about life in the ‘Bhagvad Gita’, The teacher could also be related to Krishna because he/she provides you with a question paper as long as “Draupadi’s Sari”.

5. THE RESULT DAY: The result day is the day of a face-off between the teacher and the students. Hence, this is simply relatable to the day the Kurukshetra war began or the day Ram and Ravana came face to face for a war. This is the day that creates history. I better not mention who takes the role of Kauravas/Ravana and who takes the role of Pandavas/Ram. No controversies, Please!

6. THE DEGREE: The degree is just like the “parrot’s eye” which Arjuna aimed. So, when the teacher asks you, “What do you see while you aim for the degree?” you should simply reply, “I see the degree only”.

7. And finally, WE-THE STUDENTS: The students are the sufferers. Hence, they can be related to Sita and Draupadi. But well, we would love to take up the role of Kumbhkarana and just sleep peacefully!

Travelling

      The other day, I came across a quote. The quote said, “Travel. As much as you can. As far as you can. As long as you can. Life’s not meant to be lived in one place.” I totally agree with this quote. Travelling is something that provides you experiences, that gifts you memories that you can treasure and you can cherish lifelong. But well, is travelling only confined to packing bags, reaching the destination, discovering the tourist attractions of that particular place, satisfying your taste buds with the delicacies the place has to offer, clicking lots of pictures, packing up and coming back home and exclaiming ‘ghar toh ghar hota hai!’ , and then probably writing a travel account? Is that all travelling offers? Is that travelling all about? Well, I believe that’s NOT what travelling is.

        All of us, whenever we travel, do come across solitary moments. Moments where there is only you but there is nature to accompany you.

       When you go for boating late in the evening in complete darkness, even though there are people around you, you only feel the flow of cold water as soon as your hand slips into the water. You only feel the light of the stars- stars that fill the sky, and you feel complete silence! Now that’s something travelling has offered me.

       When there is a waterfall a few kilometers away, the music of the gushing water, late at night- a silent night, seems like a lullaby. That’s something travelling has offered me.

       Early in the morning, when you step out of a tent, in a desert, in the month of November, the drops of water falling from above, that touch your skin, that feel as cold as ice, those which make you go numb. That’s something travelling has offered me.

      I have travelled very little, and hence, I don’t have many experiences to describe.

      But, another question, rather questions, keep popping up in my mind, when I talk about travelling.

      When we listen to our favorite music, the journey that takes place from the beginning of that particular music track to the end of it; isn’t that travelling? Travelling through our favorite music?

     The journey that takes place when we read a book, from the very first page to the last page; isn’t that travelling? Travelling through words?

      The journey that takes place when we meet people; From a person being unknown to us to that same person being completely known. Isn’t that travelling? Travelling through the souls of different people?

      And most importantly, the journey of our life. From the time of our birth to the moment we breathe our last. Isn’t that travelling? Travelling through our own life, to know ourselves better?

    It is rightly said- “Life is a Journey”, because, I believe that every moment we are travelling. And hence, for me, travelling is not a hobby. It’s an experience! 

      

Not Knowing What to Write...

      Each day, almost every moment, there is one thought that crosses my mind-‘I have to write’. The very next moment, there is another thought-‘I don’t know what to write’. And that’s how the brainstorming begins. Brainstorming yourself to think of a topic to write about. Brainstorming to write something where you can express your opinion.  Even while I write this, I don’t know what will come next. And hence comes the thought of writing about “not knowing what to write”. How ironic!

       Writing about ‘not knowing what to write’; well, that’s quite difficult a task. A task where you don’t know where to begin and you’re equally clueless about the end. All you know is that you have to write; for it provides peace, it provides pleasure; it provides satisfaction about the fact that you have written something, you have scribbled the pages (no matter how badly). All you know is that you have to continue writing because your mind simply counterviews the idea of not writing; because the mind knows well that it is through this writing that, tomorrow I will know of what I have to write. It is through this writing that I will develop and fabricate ‘my style’ of writing, where I will emulate no other writer; because writing is personal. Your written works are something that you are and not something that you wish to be like or someone you aspire to be like.

       Writing is not something that comes when someone forces you write. Writing is something where thoughts flows from your ‘mind’ to your ‘hand’ and then onto the paper; just like tributaries flow to meet the river and the river flows to meet the ocean- the ocean which is a masterpiece created by the coming together of countless drops of water. And unless the thoughts flow from within, writing is pointless.

       And most importantly, writing is not something that gets over merely by stating a conclusion. Because writing is forever; writing is immortal.