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Every One Has A Story To Tell

Everyone has a story to tell, it depends on who is listening. I close my eyes and think of the time I have spent with the people in my life. I have seen sorrow where smiles were first expressed, I have discovered joy behind pools of tears. In the long walks of life, every stranger that we meet, leave memories, write stories. I am yet to hear something original, something compulsively different from the rest of them; the masters have written it all in great books and brought to life in great movies; but that seldom matters. What matters is that everybody has a story to tell. Stories of conflicting desires, missed opportunities, gained love and lost lovers. My stories are precious to me, they define me. So are yours, hold on to them, tend to them, care for them.  I am my stories, without them, there is very little left of the idea called me.

My Pot of Gold

Raj, please come out baby, there is a rainbow in the sky. Ya I see that, Its been a while Long while Raj, so long since we saw a rainbow! 18 years, its been 18 years since we saw a rainbow. Do you believe what they say? Yes I do Please! Don’t be so naive, its just grandma’s tale No I believe, I believe that there is a pot of Gold Offo! Then run behind it, tum bhi na! I did once, I chased a rainbow across the river, I found my Gold 18 years ago…. And you know what? What? She still shines as new.

The Birthday Present

Mom calling us to have Payasam Today was my mom's 60th birthday. The last birthday she would celebrate at office, for she retires this month end. Like all original Mallus, I am not with her, I am in a far away land doing god forsaken things to lend credence to what we call a "Job," and so is dad and Sis, all at different places.  I wished her in the morning and then I waited till noon to hear from her. She called at 3.00, quite emotional and said: "Thank you for the cake and the flowers, my colleagues had forgotten my birthday, your cake reminded them and they sang me a birthday song!"  Thank you Rajani (my sis) for prodding me to send the gift. That special woman in my life felt special today, away from family, but connected and cared for. The power of gifts is in what they do. Allindiaflorist.com delivered again. Thanks to them as well.  I wish I could be there with her today, thank God for the cake... and the flowers. Happy Birthday Mom.

Sunsilk Girl

And when it was time to say goodnight, I would hold you close to my aching heart... and just before it was time to let go, I would breathe in the fragrance of your shampooed hair.  And as you walked into the night, I could see them catching the light: streaks of lightning shining in the night.

Tadpoles In A Swimming Pool

I had two ways to deal with my frozen shoulders, work less or workout more. I chose the second option and got myself a membership in an Olympic size swimming pool run by the Town. I have at best been an unwilling swimmer. There was a pool at school aeons ago, and I remember drinking most of its water the first time I tried my hands at swimming. I knew it was time to drink some municipal water as well and I was game. It has been over a month since I have been swimming. I drink less of water these days and keep observing the people splashing around. There are the kids, most less that 7 or 8 years of age and they streak through the pool like tadpoles, they are all around, and had our mouths been a little more accommodative, us adults would have actually swallowed a couple of them accidentally and no one would have known, they are so small and all over! Then there are the frogs, the experienced swimmers who keep their head down in the water most of the time and float around like large toad

Weeds In My Garden

It feels like yesterday when you were with me. The clear skin glowing through your sleeveless green churidar was a sight for sore eyes. The silken spread of your hair would let through glitters of sunshine from the window sills, you smelled of fresh jasmines on a warm winter night. It was only yesterday that I breathed you in, only yesterday, it seems, that I could bathe in your nearness, your presence. I wish I had told you, when there was still time, how much you brightened up my dreary life, how you used to slow down time for me, how you used to fill more of life, in every second you were with me. Its has been a long time since I went out on a walk, long time since I have looked out of window sills and longer still since I have seen a sunrise. Everything, reminds me of you.

Pushing Out The Poor

When I came to live in the suburbs of Secunderabad 6 years ago, the place used to have all the old world charms of a very small town. Traffic was scanty and people had loads of time. "My Family Cafe" was round the corner and there used to be an old waiter who I fondly called Kaka who used to work during the day and live in a small room nearby. Kaka vanished some two years ago. There used to be a cobbler who used to run his business out of a one room shop quite close to my apartment. The shop is now a Air conditioned beauty parlor. The cobbler too disappeared a year ago. So did the cycle repair shop, the tiffin outlet and the ladies tailor.  The small suburb is now a congested city with bike showrooms and super markets. The rentals have gone up and so has the cost of just about everything. The cities do not sustain the poor anymore. The poor fight for survival and then they disappear. Its almost Kafkaesque!. I have survived, but the poorer in my community have disappeared. If