Story Sunday #4

"Stop being Childish. You are 30" my neighbour was saying when she opened the door to me. I was taken aback. But since she was looking at her younger daughter, who seemed to be sulking on the sofa, I realised she had probably addressed it to her 13 year old daughter and not to me and I had misheard the 30.

"Hi.Sit. Will be back with coffee" My neighbour said (to me this time) and darted into the kitchen. And I was sitting in her drawing room with her two daughters who were strangely silent. I raised my eyebrows to her other daughter who was 17 and she explained.

"Three days back, a relative Simi came to our house. Sis drew a potrait of Simi to show it to Mum. But Simi also saw the potrait and wanted it. When Sis was out of sight, Mum gave Simi the drawing. Sis got upset over it and refuses to show any of her drawings to Mum, Mum was trying to pacify Sis saying Simi will not be invited again. Sis then drew a drawing with her crayons and showed it to Mum. But sis had drawn only drawn the words "It was mine. U gave it away". Thats why Mum said stop being childish."

At this point the 13 year old broke her silence and said "I didnt say I didnt want Simi to come here. I just want my drawing back. And now Simi has taken it away. I would have given itto Simi, if Mum had asked me. But Mum didnt ask me before giving. Mum had no right to give it.The drawing was mine"

I hesitated then said, "But you wouldnt have been able to draw, if your Mum had not given you all the painting material and not encouraged you, and you drew it to show your Mum, and your Mum didnt give all your drawings. She just gave one away.  And she has in the past framed, some of your best drawings.Your Mum is very busy, try to ignore this."

But the little girl sulkily said  "It was mine"

Just then my friend entered with the two cups of hot coffee. And the girls left the room. As I sipped the hot coffee, I thought ,thankfully the problem isn't mine.

And then over the coffee pondered

What is mine
Doesn't everything belong to the divine.
If something is not with us due to design
Why be depressed and whine
Instead of accepting it and saying I am still fine
If only the ego's invitation we could decline
And ask ourself, What indeed is mine...

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Story Sunday #3

She knew she was supposed to feel happy and excited. Neighbours and friends filled their house and there was an impromptu party. Tears of joy ran down her parent's cheeks. Everyone wanted to be photographed with her and kisses were showered on her cheeks. Perhaps I am numb from joy, she dejectedly thought. She heard her father taking credit for the battle she had fought.

Few months back, in the first round of another singing competition, she had been eliminated. And she remembered their harsh reaction, to her blunder. They had called her a loser and had scorned her aspirations. It had hurt to lose in the competition, but nothing matched the hurt, of being disowned. The shame she felt, when her parents, said they were ashamed of her. Surely there was more to her than her performance?

Perhaps its tough love, she reasoned to herself. But wouldn't it have been wonderful, if they had been there for her, even when she lost, she wondered.

Its not the time to think, just enjoy the moment, she told herself.
Yet, wished, those around her would, love not just the victory, but also herself.

Failure is an orphan while success has many fathers,she realised, as she smiled at everyone who had gathered.

Yet, she wanted to say, Instead of just giving me this wonderful toast,
Where were you all, when I needed you the most.

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STORY SUNDAY #2

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.
SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?"
DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?"
SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"
SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"
DAD: "If you must know, I make 100 an hour."
SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow 50?"
The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that 50 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door."Are you asleep, son?" He asked."No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy."I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man."It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the 50 you asked for."The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled.Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father."Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled."Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied."Daddy, I have 100 now, can I buy an hour of your time?Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you. "The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without spending some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our heart.
Do remember to share that 100 worth of your time with someone you love. If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family and friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than onto our family.

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STORY SUNDAY #1

Fell In Love..

“Oops not again..” I checked my watch again as if that would make the time go slower. I knew the bus would have gone. To confirm it, I got a message from Sonam “bus came ...wru”.
I had an onsite call at 8.30. As usual I called the only person I think of, whenever I am in trouble.” Hello.. Tell me”’ that was his sleepy voice. I didn’t know whether I should ask him to drop me to office now. He had started from office at 12 the previous night. I was still thinking all this when he asked “Are u in the bus?” “No I missed it by 2 minutes “as if missing it by 2 minutes was good enough. “Ok I will pick u up in 20 minutes” “but u came so late yesterday, u sleep. I will go by auto.” “No. I have some work and I am hungry.. Didn’t have anything properly yesterday night”
I reached office well in time to have breakfast. After call I had little work. And I found out the so called work for Rahul was sleeping at my desk till he got a call from his PM. That was Rahul.. Full of fun, my best friend. Friends for almost a year, there was little we didn’t know about each other. It is said that girls share every little secret with their best friends. Rahul was patient enough to hear all the gossip and my jealous stories about other girls. (In turn I had to listen to his sports and tech stuff and his comments about girls (beautiful according to his dictionary)).

We all were looking for pongal holidays, which meant pongal and sugarcane instead of pizza and coffee. I was looking forward to seeing all my cousins. I enjoyed those 5 days more than what I expected. On the first day it took me around midnight to realize I needed some sleep. When I checked my mobile before sleeping, it had 15 messages from Rahul. I felt happy and guilty for not seeing them before. I called him and we talked for 2 hours. Next day my brother asked me “were u on phone the whole night” “no only for some time and it was Rahul”. I don’t know y all the brothers are so protective about their sisters. My brother didn’t like the reply “Who ever it was… what’s the need for u to talk at such an odd hour.” My mom came to my support and asked my brother not ask any more questions to me. On the day when I had to leave, my mom was packing snacks for me when she said “I know u and Rahul are good friends but take care others don’t mistake it”.I didn’t expect this from her, I asked her “what do u think?” “It doesn’t matter what I think, u can’t go and explain it to everyone” .there was something in her voice which made me promise her that we were good friends and there was nothing to worry about.

I wanted to tell Rahul all this. After office v went to ice cream parlor. I was telling him everything I did for d past 5 days. When I asked him what he did. He replied “I fell in love with u” I thought it was one of his jokes. He told me to think properly and give him an answer the next day. Later in the night I was in bed trying to sleep but mind was full of what Rahul had told me. From the time he had left me in parlor, he had messaged me telling me about his love for me. I knew Rahul will also be awake. For some reason I didn’t want to talk to him now. I was sure if Rahul was in love with some other girl, I would be the first one to help him in every possible way. But the girl being me was something which I was not able to cope up with.
I don’t know when I slept. I had his photo beside me when I slept. My best friend wanted to be my lover.
Rahul was waiting for me in Food Court. My mind was saying NO and my heart said YES. He gave me a chocolate and asked me what my decision was. It was my heart which replied first leaving the mind to rest for some time. “Yes” that’s what came out of my mouth. That day was my happiest day. Everything changed after that day. Each and every second I was thinking about him. It was so wonderful to be in love. We treasured every moment we spend together.
I could say I got my first heart attack or it stopped working when my dad told me they had seen a guy for me. They wanted me to come home during the weekend to meet the guy and his family. I discussed this with Rahul and we decided I should tell my parents about him. We took leave on Friday and visited all the temples we could (I was appearing for an exam after many years). I boarded my bus with a smile on my face and told him I will surely convince my parents.
My results were declared the next second I came out with the answer.” he is from a different caste. U can’t marry him”. I was not going to live with his caste but in his heart which didn’t have any caste. But destiny had something else for me.
Dad had a heart attack. I had cried so many times during my childhood for chocolates, dresses and what not. I saw dad crying for the first time in my life. Mom kept telling me how much they loved me and everything they did was for my good. My brother stopped talking to me. At last I had to say “YES” for the guy (I didn’t knew whether It was my heart or mind which said it)
Mom said she will talk to Rahul and explain things. But I wanted to tell it myself. I told him everything over the phone. He told me he will ask his parents to come and talk to my parents. I told him to forget me. He wasn’t ready to hear that. He said he will do anything to marry me. Slowly I started ignoring his calls. I couldn’t think about telling him to forget me. It pained even to think about that. I got engaged and returned to office with invitations to hand over.

I met Rahul in the ice cream parlor. I told him I was getting married to the guy my parents have seen. He said he can’t live without me. I told him I can’t do anything. He shouted at me and left. I knew he cried d whole night. He started ignoring me from that day. The day before my marriage I hid all our photos and gifts in a room in my parents place. I was trying to lock all my old memories. I got married. Rahul never spoke to me after that.

My mobile was ringing. It was Rahul.”hey wake up or u will miss your bus today also”
I thought about the dream I had. Rahul was waiting for me in Food Court. My mind was saying NO and my heart said YES. He asked me whether it was a “YES” or “NO”. My mind replied “NO”. I knew I was breaking his heart. But I didn’t want him to suffer later. If he feels now, I will be there to take care of him. He was my best friend and I wanted him to be there with me for ever as a friend. I hope he soon realizes that all the love stories don’t end in marriage. “I am sorry Rahul”

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