Apple of someone's eye

A silhouette against the rapidly darkening evening sky, on two black pipes, almost parallel to the Ghy Stadium Fly over, suddenly attracted my attention. When I closely looked at the figure, I saw a little boy, making an effort to take bath from the water oozing out of a break in a pipe. In a fleeting moment my mind replaced the little boy with the image of my son…..and my heart missed a beat. My son, apple of my eye… the little boy, apple of someone’s eye… I couldn't imagine my little one taking such a risk (a mere slip from the pipe would lead to a fatal accident) for a simple daily routine. The mother of the child may have the same fears…. I couldn't help the child…. as I drove down the fly over, I uttered a silent prayer for his well being. ~ the little apple of someone’s eye. Amen!

Fleeting Thoughts

Sitting alone on a side stair of the Navagraha Temple (the temple of the Nine Planets), some fleeting thoughts knocked the doors of my mind. Today the temple was almost empty, with very few people, no monkeys were monkeying around. There were only a few yellow robed pujaris loitering about, in laze. They too seemed to be in bliss—their faces did not wear the anxious look. (Competing for clients). As a child, a young girl, a teenager and then a woman I’ve travelled up the hill to this temple umpteenth number of times….but always in haste… to finish fast and leave. I felt peace was missing at the place, maybe coz everybody left back a piece of their bad luck back there. But today was different……I found a lot of peace and tranquility in there. It is truly said, that your eyes sees only what you want to see, your heart feels only what you want to feel. I had no worries, no obligations, no deadlines---just had to wait, to be, to feel….the zephyr, people moving about, the general hubbub(by now some more devotees had come).I tried to just flow with the flow, did not analyse anyone, anything. Just accepted every moment as it came. Acceptance is a unique quality. It makes you one with the universe. Everybody has a bit everyone in them. I have a bit of everyone in me…….a daughter, a mother, a wife, a lover, a virgin, a vamp, a caring woman, a cranky nut, a giver, an extractor, a protector, a saint , a sinner, a seeker…………then why should we judge others. We are all one. Once I read a line that gave a lot of insight into who we really are….it read, ‘ I am a soul, with a visible part called the body’. So true…… If one goes inward one finds the soul…YOU are nothing but a soul…carrying past life experiences and gathering more knowledge in this life, preparing for the next and the next. In every life the soul is endowed with a new body….its house. It is immaterial what kind of body we are in. It may look good, ugly, nice and alluring, repulsive…….it is just a house, but what actually matters is the Soul. The body changes...the eternal soul is what we are. Every lifetime is a learning experience for a Soul. It is our duty to enlighten ‘It’.

My Auto...My Ferrari & its chauffeur

How can you change an Auto rickshaw into a Ferrari?......very simple, just think it is. There are certain times when I had been completely dependent on an auto-rickshaw for my travel…and those were indeed amusing experiences. Basically I am too impatient to wait for my car (most of the time) and so I requested my husband to arrange for an auto, so that I may use it when the car is not around. He fixed up a guy called Pradip…..And a journey of sorts through the roads and by-lanes of our dusty, stinky, chaotic city, started. I don’t mind traveling in an auto at all, except for very hot days. It is actually faster and better. A company for many years now…..I wanted to share with you a few observations and incidences. This Pradip chap is a big time talker. He kept me intrigued with his varied encounters with traffic police tales his auto- stand companions, his plans to dispose the old auto and buy a new one, his wife’s suspicious nature…..etc. etc. This chatter box was oblivious of the fact whether the other person is interested not . I got so bugged that I decided to carry my head phones. It so happened that one day, I was listening to the radio..…noticed him say something…..but didn’t pay attention. He looked back, and I said, “Dada, sorry I can’t hear you. I am listening to the radio”. He seemed a bit upset, but that was how I wanted my auto rides to be, peaceful. This went on for some time. And then one fine day I decided to listen to his blabber (wanted to understand their lives a bit) and finally gave up my head phones. It really annoys me is when people cannot maintain time and this guy was well ad versant in it. One day he had me standing near the gate with my belongings…..and almost twenty plus missed calls, I was mad at such irresponsible behavior. He was 25 minutes late and smiled, “Madam, son’s school time you see. I dropped him at school and came”. And what about my school time, I already missed assembly? I told myself. That day I was so angry, I thought I would definitely fix up another fellow. The stories of non punctuality were many, excuses varied. One day he said, “Madam, my wife is expecting , I had to cook lunch”. I was furious, but managed a smiled. I told him, “Dada, time is valuable and mood very important, you upset me a lot”. Another day I called him to drop me at my French class . I told him that I had a class at 5:30 PM. He turned up late again. I stood at the gate as usual for over15 minutes, fired him when he came, and near the traffic point quipped, “I’ m already late for class now, drop me at the Hanuman Temple”. The fellow couldn’t connect. I saw his confusion, but he didn’t dare ask. Before getting down I said, “ If my husband comes to know, that I missed class because of you, you will be done for good.” My French teacher is very particular about time A funny incident happened a year ago. I called him for half a day as I had to run some errands. While in transit, he said “Madam, I have started a new business”. He described some products. I didn’t pay much attention . Then he told me about a particular product, a slimming pill supposed to be very effective. Before I knew it, a packet with 90 pills (3 months course) landed in my house. Actually I wanted to encourage him in his new venture and bought it (secretly I also wanted to shed those extras –kilos).Next day when I showed the strips to my hubby, he super scolded me. “How come an auto guy, sold this junk to you? Why did you even entertain him?”. I said “Well, it supposedly works”. Experimentation is risky at times. I used the pills for 10 consecutive days, just to see if it worked and on the 11 th day I was so weak, hardly could manage to get up from bed. I immediately stopped the pills. It took me two weeks to recover. Next when I met Pradip, I told him about my horrible experience but he was not ready to listen, and rambled about the benefits the other ladies had had from it. He asked me if I had it with milk ( I actually never heard the milk part). That very day he showed me a weird looking bottle and said it is a very good massage oil for pain. “Madam this will work hundred percent, just use and see”. I was so bugged, I said, “Go and sell it to my neighbour , she has got pain everywhere”. The days in My Ferrari are now few and my chauffer never showed me any product again. But his stories continued… I still jump into it whenever I get a chance and go for a ride.