End of an era

If you lived in India in 1980s or 90s and were old enough to write sentences, you must have used or at least seen something called Inland letters. These were sealable letters with stamps pre-fixed and people used them to communicate with each other by writing on these and posting them in a post box.

As someone born and brought up in Kerala, a small state down south in India, I predominantly used the language of the state called Malayalam. Though my schooling was in English medium, the routine usage of English was very rare and hence my vocabulary also was quite limited.

Having set the context, I now want you to picture this. A sixty year old man who lived in Bombay, present day Mumbai, at that time asking me to write to him regularly in English on Inland letters. Once he receives the letter, he’ll read them and correct my mistakes with red ink and enclose the corrected letter in a cover and affix stamps as required and post them back to my address in Kerala! All of this with just one simple and noble objective of making my English better.

Can you imagine anyone in 21^st Century to be so selfless, go all the way and take pains to help someone to this extend? That, ladies and gentlemen, was my dearest Kochappappan!

Kochappappan, how we affectionately called him, was my grandpa’s brother who hailed from Changanacherry, my hometown in Kerala. Soon after his college days he made Bombay his home. From the time I could recollect, he was always referred as Kochappappan from Bombay! Every year he used to make sure that he kept aside a considerable amount of time to come down to Kerala to visit his brother and relatives.

Unlike many of our other relatives, Kochappappan whenever he visited Kerala used to stay with us for a month or so as we were in the ancestral house along with my grandpa. I always looked forward to receive him at our small railway station in Changanacherry, where he’ll promptly arrive on Jayanti Janata, the express train that came from Bombay which stopped for less than a minute at our railway station.

I used to wait eagerly for Kochappappan’s arrival. One, obviously to meet him and listen to all the stories he had to say about his life and how he was a self-made man. He was the youngest of the five siblings fully aware of the fact that his eldest brother, by grandpa, shouldered the full responsibility of a large family after the untimely demise of their father. Kochappappan was all but a three year old child during the time when he lost his father. As he grew up he was quite keen on reducing the burden on his brother and tried all possible ways to make some money so that he could pay for his fees and other expenses himself rather than depending on his brother. He used to write to various magazines and made a little bit of money that definitely helped him with his plan.

There was one other thing I looked forwarded to his visits.

Kochappappan never came empty handed. He always ensured to carry at least two boxes decorated usually in bright red colour paper with yellow graffiti design on them. The boxes contained a treasure that you could only find in Bombay back then! One of them was Bombay Halwa and other was Bombay Peda. The former was a confectionary which usually came in a variety of colours enriched with nuts and dry fruits and latter was a sweet made of milk. Imagine a time when you could literally see and feel the taste of these wonderful confectionaries only once a year! Something that we who live in this modern day world of expanded markets cannot even dare to imagine!

There are quite a few stories about Kochappappan which I cherish deep down in my heart. The priceless moments spent with him during my childhood is deeply etched as fond memories in my mind and I’m sure will remain there till my last breath. Every time Kochappapan took the train to return to Bombay a feeling of emptiness filled my heart but at the same time the sweetness of waiting for him to come back next year always helped alleviate that pain.

On 26 Oct 2020, Jayanti Janata left for one last time with Kochappappan as the sole passenger for a journey without a return. The train left the station with only one destination, heaven!

May your soul rest in eternal peace dearest Kochappappan and thank you for bringing a big difference in my life with your presence!  

My Shoes Teacher

It had been a while since I bought a pair of leather shoes. So I decided the other day to go ahead and get a pair for myself. I had obviously tried it before buying and was quite happy about it. As expected I started wearing it to office the next day itself.

Day one was all good. The happiness and pride of getting a new shoes reflected fully on my face.

Day two, things started getting a bit prickly on the toes.

Day three, a slight bruise started developing above my heel.

Day four, the bruise gave way to a painful cut.

I started wondering if I did the right thing to buy this shoes. I was pretty sure I did all possible checks before deciding to buy the pair. Thoughts started flowing in of going back to the store to check with them what was wrong with the shoes.

Day five, since I didn’t have another pair to wear, I applied a plaster to the cut and wore the shoes again. It felt good, though still painful.

The story continued for a few more days and before even I realized my cut disappeared. The shoes made me feel so good that I couldn’t even believe that this was the same shoes that was painful for me. Now I can’t imagine going to the office without wearing this pair of shoes!

By reading the story till now, if you have drawn a parallel to a couple in a new relationship, don’t be surprised. While this may not be the case with all relationships, there are quite a few that go through such a strain.

As is the case with a new pair of shoes, everything will appear hunky-dory in the initial days. As the days progress, the couple may start experiencing a strain with respect to their shared life. This is quite natural, just like how the shoes started getting a bit prickly on the toes.

There could be times when the indifferences between the couple may escalate to a level where it turns out to be similar as the bruises or cuts given by the shoes. People at this stage start questioning about the choices they made with their relationship.

But don’t lose hope yet, since just like what happened with the new pair of shoes and your legs, it is only a matter of time before a truce is reached between the couple. There is a catch here though! A plaster on your legs did the trick with the shoes. What is the equivalent for this when it comes to relationships? You need a plaster made of patience and reduced ego.

When a plaster was applied to the bruises and cuts on the leg, it healed itself with time. In an exact manner have patience and give time to the bruises and cuts on your relationship. What appears to be an irreconcilable difference today will prove to be a matter of a simple misunderstanding if you give enough time to reconcile. Complement your patience with the virtue of an ability to reduce your ego. You will be truly surprised to see the wonders that get created in a relationship when you create a healthy mix of these two!

A word of caution though. These are things that every couple go through, new or old. The combination of patience and reduced ego may not come handy right from the beginning of a relationship. It may need to be cultivated as a habit over a period of time. What it requires is a conscious effort and an ardent desire to bring in positive changes to our life.

Just like many other life skills that we learn, this definitely is another life-saving skill that we all need to learn and apply all through our relationships. May you be blessed to acquire the skills of patience and virtue of reduced ego to enjoy a fruitful life together with your sweetheart! 

Breakfast in Paradise

It was one of the finest mornings in late November. Our eldest cousin brother in the family, whom we affectionately called Kochachan, came home with an exciting news! It was the 30^th day of demise of our aunt’s father a couple of days later. Normally a news like this wouldn’t have generated much of an interest among us kids in the family. Usually my dad would’ve represented our family and attended such events. But it was destined to be different this time.

The function was planned in a resort named Orange County in Coorg, known as Scotland of India! The resort, one of the finest in the country, was owned by aunt’s family. We were to have an overnight trip on a train followed by a bus journey through one of the most scenic routes in southern part of India. A day was planned at the resort and were to return home shortly afterwards. Paying homage to a departed soul never was so appealing!

Kochachan, along with my elder brother and I started the trip from the railway station in our small town of Changanacherry. It was a late evening train to Kannur, one of the northern districts in Kerala. The night journey was quite uneventful. We reached Kannur station as the sun was about to wake up. Got out of the station and crossed the main road and found a tiny tea shop that welcomed us with piping hot black tea. The lovely dawn was made even better with the aroma of the tea. As we had to cover about three more hours by road, we soon found ourselves on a bus to Madikeri, a famous hill station town in Coorg.

I remember falling asleep again soon after the bus started. Couple of hours later, closer to 8 o’ clock, my brother woke me up. The bus seemed to have stopped in the middle of a forest. It was lush green all around us. We could also hear the sound of a waterfall somewhere nearby, but couldn’t see it though. We got out of the bus and was told that we have a 30 minutes stop there to have breakfast. I wondered aloud about the prospect of finding food in the middle of that wilderness! That’s when Kochachan pointed to something across the road.

We crossed the road and at a short distance we could see smoke coming out of a mud chimney. It was an uneven slope from the main road which we climbed down to see a little hut thatched with palm leaves that has become quite dry with age. The driver of the bus was heading to the hut and since there didn’t seem to be any other signs of a restaurant we all followed him. Hunger had already started to do the job and I could hear my tummy getting ready with an orchestra.

We were about to step into the hut. That’s when my brother made an awesome discovery! A narrow country road was seen next to the hut which led us to a small yet pretty waterfall the sound of which we heard earlier. The early morning mist along with chirping of birds and gorgeous butterflies covered with a riot of colours playing around us, all painted the picture of exactly how Alice would’ve felt in Wonderland!

The clock was ticking and since we only had a few minutes left, we headed back to the hut to have breakfast. We literally had to bow our heads to get inside and were welcomed with a few wooden benches and desks. On one corner we could see a live kitchen in action. A couple of frying pans were placed on top of red bricks and fire from the woods collected from the forest fuelled them. A lady was making fresh pooris, an authentic Indian breakfast dish, in one of the pans and the other one had some curry being boiled. The burning firewood seemed to provide more light in the hut than the 60 Watts bulb that was hanging inside. This completed the hotel.

Some of our fellow passengers were just finishing the breakfast. As we sat down on the benches, the owner of the hotel placed clean banana leaves in front of us that served as plates. I was half expecting him to recite the menu with available items. Instead he came over with a bowl of steaming pooris freshly made and served us three each. I loved pooris and awaited the combination of bhaji a delicious dish made of potatoes. Instead the guy came to us with a dish that was bright red in colour. For a moment I thought it was some curry made of beetroot or so. But we were served with the last thing I expected as a curry for poori. A fresh catch of sardines cooked in grounded red chilly flavoured with locally available mint leaves and a bunch of other secret ingredients.

We were all taken aback for a moment as it was the first time in our lives we were greeted with this combination of curry for pooris. Nevertheless hunger conquered all other emotions and we dived into the breakfast served. ‘Heavenly’ would’ve been an understatement! As we gulped down each portion of this strange breakfast combo, we could feel our taste buds dancing around as though in a combination of ballet and jazz.

The aroma and spices of curry married to the freshness of poori accompanied with the relaxing sound of the waterfall placed in a magical environment was the perfect setting for world’s best hotel! It was indeed breakfast in paradise! A befitting prelude to our journey to the heart of Coorg, a wonderland in itself.

 

The 2-Minute Story

Just like any other average IT guy from Bangalore, during the initial decade of the Millennium year 2000, I was super excited with my first ever onsite trip as part of my project. That too to the dream land of US! The double bonanza in my case was that it was going to be my first flight in my life as well.

I only had a few days before the three months visit. Being single at that time, there wasn’t too much to pack in any case. Nevertheless I got myself a few stuff that I thought will be required during my stay in Atlanta. While the preparations was on, Anjana my cousin sister, who was in Bangalore at that time, was concerned about my food there. As customary for most of the single Indians then, she advised me to take a few packs of Maggi Noodles. She said it’ll come handy in case of any difficulties there. Maggi at that time was only Rs 10/- per pack.

Though it was going to be my first international travel, I rated myself above average when it came to travelling in general. I took special pride in the fact that I could adjust myself to any situation, especially food. With the confidence of a seasoned traveller, I rejected her idea as quite trivial and responded to her with a cliché statement, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. Little did I know that I was in for a big surprise when I crossed the border of India!

I reached Atlanta on a pleasantly warm summer afternoon in the first week of June. It was a 16 hour long transit flight via Paris and I was naturally tired. I hit the bed as soon as I got into the rented apartment. I slept like a log and by the time I woke up it was eight o’ clock in the evening. I got out of the bed and the first signal my brain sent was of hunger. It was a studio apartment which had a well equipped kitchen. But what’s the point in having a great kitchen if there is nothing to cook?!

Since the place we stayed didn’t have a restaurant, I decided to take a walk to a gas station I had earlier spotted near our residence. The fridge at the store there had a few frozen food items and I opted for a Lasagne which was one thing I felt I could try. I brought it back home and heated it up and had a good feeling about a pretty filling dinner. The next thing I did was to message my sister and let her know that I started my life very well as a Roman! All what she said was, “Wait and watch”. I brushed that comment aside and hit the bed again since I had to start with the office early morning the next day.

A couple of days went by. I was enjoying the change of place and appreciating the difference in food unlike what I used to have in Bangalore. It wasn’t too long before reality hit hard. The breakfast served at the residence was quite a monotonous menu as it was the same food every day. The junk food I could get at the office cafeteria was making me feel bored to the core. I really longed for some ‘real food’. Somehow my sister’s face started appearing in my dreams with her classic smirk saying, “Didn’t I tell you?”

Days were going past and the frustration of not able to have anything that suited by taste buds haunted me big time. One day a colleague suggested visiting the nearest Indian store. I had no interest as I never bothered to cook. Nevertheless I tagged along and reached Shivam, the Indian store where you could buy lot of things from India. I was browsing through the shelves of the store without any interest what-so-ever while my friends were busy buying groceries.

As I was about to turn back at the end of an alley, my eyes got stuck on a familiar bright yellow pack. The words Maggi Noodles appeared on the pack which seemed to beckon me. I almost ran to the shelf and was about to grab the pack when I looked at the price tag displayed. It said $ 3 per pack. Considering the currency exchange rate, it was close to twenty times the price in India!

I could see my sister laughing at me from the face of the pack. I tried to hide my face and took a few packs paying a handsome amount from my allowance. The price you pay for not listening to your sister!

Tail End: Dedicated to my loving sister and all brothers like me who never listened to their sisters and ended up in deep trouble.

My Alchemist Moment

Ever since Corona hit the shores of UAE, we’d confined ourselves to the safety of our home. To be precise, from March 2020 till today as the calendar announces the beginning of a new month, September 2020. New ways of life demands new ways of passing time. How else do I justify my new found interest in balcony gardening? Something I never paid attention to and left as an exclusive passion by my sweetheart. My involvement was limited to appreciating the beauty of the flowers and clicking a few pictures occasionally.

All these got changed with the extra time I had in hand as there was no travelling to and fro office. It all started by seeing the tomato plants blooming and eventually producing beautiful looking baby tomatoes. The happiness of plucking tomatoes that grew in our own balcony was beyond words. There were a few other pots as well, some with plants and others empty. The sack of potting soil was lying in one corner of the balcony.

As the interest in gardening started budding in my mind, I searched for the packets of seeds we got from a local supermarket a while ago. Among the packets there was one of cucumber. Since the hot summer season was still a couple of months away I decided to plant them in one of the empty pots. Never did I imagine that filing a pot with some soil, planting a few seeds and watering them every day and waiting for a sprout can all be such rewarding feeling. The happiness was multiplied to see lots of tiny yellow flowers filling the pot. I could sense my better half watching all my excitement akin to a little boy who got a brand new toy!

The cucumber plants with their yellow flowers gave us a lot of joy for a while. Then it started dying down one by one. The increasing temperature was one of the reasons I believe. Nevertheless I was not going to stop with one set back. Seeds from every other fruit and vegetable we bought at home started to find its way to various pots. Some of them sprouted and others didn’t even bother to show up. Many of them followed the path of the cucumber plants.

Planting of seeds became such a frenzy that I soon ran out of pots. I started thinking of getting bigger pots as I was determined to recreate a ‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ in Dubai! As the summer months hit Middle East it was getting even more of a challenge to grow the plants with temperatures climbing and was soon going to cross 40 Degree Celsius! Hence every time I raised the point of buying new pots, my sweetheart shot the idea down stating it’ll be a worthless effort and convinced me that we’ll buy it closer to end of summer.

I visited the Hypermarket nearby, though rare, during these Corona times. Every time I walked past the aisle where they placed gardening items, the pots there seem to beckon me. I’ll stand there and look at them with the dream of a blooming garden and almost immediately the image of a hot summer sun breathing down an intense fire put a burning hole in my dream. In between, an opportunity even came up when one of the occupants from the next block was moving out and were selling their big porcelain pots. The asking price was quite high and considering the summer story, the thought of buy got a thumbs down. The game continued and my dream remained at large.

While this was going on, a thousand miles away near the shores of Mumbai, Shabana Begum was restless at her home. She was stuck in Mumbai for the past three months due to Covid while her family of husband and two grown up boys were in Dubai. They stayed a couple of blocks away from us though we had never met them. In addition of being away from her family for this long, Shabana was equally worried about her other ‘children’. She had a lovely garden in her balcony with a variety of plants, flowering and otherwise. Her major concern was that in the entire home she was the only soul who showed some concern towards the plants. She was truly worried about their plight especially with the summer hitting its peak.

Shortly enough she managed to get onto a flight to Dubai and as soon as she reached home, a heart breaking sight greeted her! What remained of her beautiful garden to which she put her heart and soul was reduced to a handful of plants which luckily survived the heat despite of being rudely ignored. Soon, another unpleasant news also was broken to her. The family had to shortly shift out of the apartment due to personal reasons.

With an aching heart, Shabana posted in the women’s WhatsApp group of our apartment about her intention of giving away her pots. There were no pictures though. As luck would have it, my sweetheart was one of the first ones to see the post and even before anyone else could lay claim on them, she was quick to respond. It was agreed that we’ll visit Shabana next day and take the pots.

We reached there thinking of a couple of pots and what greeted us was nothing short of a jackpot! Multiple outdoor type large pots with such assortment of plants, that even belittled by dreams, were waiting for us to be grabbed, all for free!

I stood there in her balcony awestruck in silence! All what I could do was thank three people. God first, then my wife and finally Paulo Coelho!

The Universe conspired! 

Positive Batteries

The first time he heard about the assignment, Alex thought it was mission impossible! After some deliberation he decided to take up the challenge. The next few weeks were one of the most harrowing in his career. Numerous meetings and discussions, lot of new faces, heated arguments and finally at the end of the third week he had a feeling that he conquered the Everest. The project report was ready, sitting in a beautiful blue office file smiling at him.

Alex was confidence personified when he presented the report to the top management. He was more than sure about the decision in his favour to award him the work and was all set to start immediately. He even had a plan of action charted on how to execute this project over a period of next six months. The conference room was filled with positive vibes.

It didn’t take too long for the picture to turn gloomy. The management soon found reasons not to approve the financials proposed for the project. They asked Alex to rework on the whole proposal and submit it again. All what it took to water down the tireless effort of many weeks was just fifteen minutes. Devastated was an understatement to describe his mental state.

Alex couldn’t believe what just happened. To him, it was one of the most fool proof project plans he ever worked on. He signed the report in his blood! Yet…

Derailed with the thoughts he returned to his seat as a lost warrior. It was a sore sight to those who knew him. None of them had seen him in a state like that. Nisha, one of his colleagues, was the first one to approach. She had seen him work on the project and in fact helped him many times to get some contacts and data required. Alex had shown her a draft version of his report and she was equally confident that he’ll come out of the meeting in flying colours.

She convinced him to go down to the office café for a coffee. Neither of them spoke a word. She ordered his favourite latte and waited till he opened up. And when it happened it was nothing short of a downpour. Nisha acted very well the part of being a good listener. Alex appeared quite relieved at the end of his rambling.

She then convinced him that not everything was lost and asked him to look at the brighter side of things. With the work done, he now has direct access to at least ten new people in the organization and a couple of them at CXO level. In addition, he delved into an area which he always wanted to learn, but never got an opportunity and this is exactly what happened this time. On top of all this he got a slot to present an innovative idea to the top executives. The best part was, they didn’t reject his idea which happened for many and was the end of journey for most of them. On the contrary they wanted Alex to review the proposal from a different angle and present again. The door was still open!

He looked up from the latte cup. Nisha could see the sparkle on the coffee foam reflecting in his eyes. The energy that seemed to have lost started making its way back and with a stronger conviction this time.

Soon enough, Alex was back at his desk and in a matter of days he presented the revised proposal to a larger group, the Board of Directors. This time, there was no turning back. The Board unanimously approved his plan. The project was launched and was completed in record time. The return on investment was unprecedented in the history of the company that Alex soon found his name in the list of Chairman Award winners that year!

Standing on the podium, after receiving the award, Alex just made one statement, “Thank you Nisha, for being a positive battery in my career!”

Eucharist 6000 Miles Away

2020 will go down in the history as a defining year for mankind. After a gap of hundred years, human beings are forced to stay totally indoors with the fear of being annihilated by a microorganism, the likes of which the world has rarely seen from the time of inception. A similar incident was cited in 1920s in the form of Spanish Flu.

The day when I turned 39, I started working from home. Five months later, as I write this, sitting in Dubai, the practice still continues with the exception that I’ve started going to office once a week since the last couple of weeks.  

Covid-19 or Corona virus has redefined literally everything in our lives. Starting from grocery shopping to getting a car registration renewed is all done online. E-learning, from being an exceptional form of learning has become a norm for offices and more importantly schools. Business folks who vehemently insisted on the absolute necessity for face-to-face meetings happily conduct sessions online. The world has locked down itself within the perimeter of an electronic screen.

Spiritual wellbeing was equally impacted. Along with everything else, Churches and other places of worship were all shut down. Being a part of the Holy Mass and receiving Eucharist was no longer possible. The Holy Week also was not spared as it came in between the lockdown period. Churches across the world made arrangements for live streaming of Holy events so that people could be a part of it. We started following the routine of taking part in the Holy Mass on TV, something that was never practiced in our lives before. Even with all these, something was still missing.

While we tried to be a part of the Holy Mass on TV from various churches, we truly felt a gap in experiencing Christ. That’s when it happened. One day we chanced upon the Daily TV Mass from the historic Loretto Abbey Chapel in Toronto, Canada. Father Michael J Coutts celebrated the Holy Mass that day. It was magical! He took us to experience the divine feeling of being one with God in that short period of time we were in front of the TV. We didn’t even realize that we were not in a Church. Through his beautiful homily and the prayers that directly touched our hearts along with the lovely songs from the Church choir team, we truly celebrated the Holy Mass as though we were doing it right in the presence of Christ our Lord himself!

It is indeed a blessing to share the experience of having someone holding your hands while standing at an Altar more than 6000 Miles away and still elevate you to be one with the Spirit of the Lord. This we believe is indeed a God sent gift and we all look forward to the days when we could join Fr Michael and share the happiness of Eucharist with the Miles no longer separating us!

We also have a dream that one day when this crazy pandemic ends we would love to visit the chapel and share the bliss we experienced with Fr Michael himself and even celebrate a Holy Mass along with him engulfed in the holiness omnipresent in that historic chapel.

The other side of the coin

We were on our first ever family trip to Europe! Though travelling along with a two year old and a six year old poses its own challenges, we decided to take the plunge. After a few days at Amsterdam and a short stop later at Cologne, we found ourselves on a train to Stuttgart in Germany. The journey was to be an average of three hours. We ensured to book seats for a section in the compartment designated for families especially with the little ones with us.

Kids as usual were super excited about every aspect of a vacation! They loved train rides especially and could feel their excitement in every new sight that came their way. Soon after the train left Cologne a pretty young lady came and sat near our area in the compartment. She had a book in her hand and a headset on one of her ears. As soon as she settled down, we could see her trying to catch-up with the reading. After a while I felt that she was not able to concentrate on the book, with the chatter of the kids. I could see her getting disturbed and I told our little ones to remain quiet.

The calm lasted a few moments as the excitement didn’t let them be seated for long. They were back in action shortly. So was the annoyance of the young lady. She tried to communicate through her glances and we tried without much luck to translate the message to the kids as well. The drama went on for a while.

As the train crossed half the distance we had to cover, the lady closed the book and looked at me. I could see rage burning in those eyes. She blurted out all her irritation on me and asked me to make the kids shut up.

Being a tourist in their country, I tried my best to remain composed and reminded her that she chose to sit at a designated family area and there is a limit to which you could keep the mouths shut of little children. I guess the message was delivered well. Shortly after that she moved to another area where she could bury her heads deeper into the world of imagination with her book.

We thought for ourselves that a trip that was to be full of beautiful memories might have been destined to end up with a bitter experience like this. While we were still trying to pacify ourselves, the train rolled on to the platform of Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, the primary railway station in the city of Stuttgart. As I was taking out our luggage from the other end of the cabin I could see a middle-aged man approaching my wife and telling her something.

My wife and kids all got down from the train along with our stuff. I could see a glow on her face which did a wonderful job of removing the cloud of gloom that hung above her after the unpleasant incident on the train.

The man earlier told her, “Mam, I’m sorry for everything that happened between you and the young lady. Let her say anything she wanted, please don’t bother. You are blessed with two beautiful angels and I enjoyed every little sound made by your kids. They were music for my ears. The world cannot be deprived of such sheer joy. God bless your family!”

The rest of our trip was one where we could only find positivity all around us! 

When I met a Prince

It was early 1990s. The small town of Changanacherry in Kerala woke up to an incredible news! We’re going to have an exhibition in our little town. So what’s the big deal about exhibitions? Has there never been exhibitions before? Of course there were many and people loved to be a part of these. So what’s different this time? What was getting exhibited made all the difference now. It was something the town only started hearing off late. An exhibition of a curious invention called ‘computers’ that is meant to change the world!

Getting ready to step into my teenage years, I was obviously super excited with the prospect of seeing this magical thing. All of us in the town counted the days to the exhibition and awaited in anticipation. Finally the day came and people flocked in large numbers to see the machine nick named as the game changer of the world.

We got into the building where the exhibition was conducted. I remember standing in a long queue and waiting for my turn to be near a computer. Soon enough, we stepped into an air conditioned hall, which itself was a luxury in my town. There they were! A few boxes, some in square shape and others rectangular. Got to know later that they were known as monitor and CPU.

There was a glass partition between the viewers and the magical boxes. There was no way of touching a computer. The exhibition literally allowed you only to have a glimpse of future! There were two or three computers, each one of them displaying some or other images. One of the computers attracted a huge crowd, especially kids. The organizers of the exhibition were having a tough time to control the crowd.

It was finally my turn to be in front of the most happening of the computers. There in front of me stood a small square box where certain pictures could be seen in black and white. Some of the images from the book One Thousand and One Arabian Nights appeared to come alive in front of me. Shortly enough came a writing on the screen, it read ‘Prince of Persia’. I was seeing a computer game for the first time ever in my life!

He was the simplest of the Prince I ever imagined! Pictured in a dungeon wearing a white jump suit trying to reach a level where an imprisoned princess awaits him to be saved. It was to be the most exciting game I’ve ever played in my life. Needless to say the exhibition was a grand success!

Little did I know that day, in a couple of decades I’ll literally end up in Middle East with my job in the land of Royals next to erstwhile Persia!  

Love in Corona

Alex circled red today’s date on the calendar. It had been three months since he started working from home. The concept was quite enticing for him initially, but soon reality hit him! While at office he had some breathing space in between meetings. Whereas now, all what he does is jump from one meeting to another as everyone is on Microsoft Teams and is just a call away.

The day wasn’t different. A series of back-to-back meetings were lined up. Even the space on the Outlook calendar he marked for lunch got double booked a few minutes back. It was going to be a working lunch like many other days. To tell the truth, Alex started to get a feeling that he missed his office! The only thing that held him back was the virus which was still at large outside.

He had earlier made a cup of tea for himself and prepared some coffee and milk for his wife and kids. Soon enough, he got into the crazy schedule of meetings during the day. After a while his tummy started making noise. The internal alarms for hunger started getting active. He was hoping that Nisha will soon have something made for breakfast.

It was closer to 10 o’ clock when Alex got a teeny bit of gap between two meetings. He quickly checked in the kitchen but was welcomed by empty dishes! Nisha was quite busy with E-learning for their younger daughter in Kindergarten. Alex got a bit annoyed as hunger was something he couldn’t hold longer.

Soon he got into the next call and was in between a heated discussion when his elder son barged in shouting ‘Love you Appa’! Alex before even realizing what he was doing, asked his son to get out of the room. The air was getting more tensed with a deadly combination of hunger and disturbance.

The day continued to be very hectic and by the time he got up from his seat it was quite late into the evening. In between the day, which was nothing short of crazy, there were multiple fights he picked up with his wife and two kids. Before even he realized, they had retired to bed even before he could mend the gap and didn’t even get a chance to kiss them good night.

Alex decided to settle down to watch TV for some time. It was his favourite news channel that cracked alive. A news item was in progress about the latest victim who succumbed to Corona, a four year old little girl. The video showed a house in a locality that was quite familiar. In fact it was just two blocks away. Alex recollected seeing the news a week ago about a little girl getting infected and taken to a hospital.

He saw an ambulance leaving the house and the sight of a heart-broken father that will melt even the coldest of the hearts. The father was heard lamenting, ‘They didn’t even show us her face. I couldn’t even kiss my little angel a final goodbye. The last thing she asked me was a simple box of crayons and I denied even that to my child!’ Little did he know that he was going to get a second blow the very next day when his company will announce a round of layoffs and his name was in the list!

Alex never felt his heart so heavy. Grief overpowered him. The series of images on the TV reminded him of how petty were his issues for which he fought throughout the day with those who matter. He switched off the TV and headed to the bedroom. The three souls that meant more than anything else in his life were sleeping. A ray of light found its way into the bedroom. In that dim light he saw the angelic faces of his loved ones. They all seemed to lack the usual shine. All of them appeared disturbed with the experience he gave them through the day.

He sat next to his little one. She was holding her favourite teddy. The words on it read, ‘World’s Best Dad’! Her curly hair had fallen on to her eyes. As he gently parted them, tears started rolling down his cheeks. He tried to stop them, but in vain. They fell on to her lovely little cheeks. He was afraid he’ll wake her up. She stirred on the bed but didn’t wake up. Instead she took his hand and wrapped them around her, one of her most favourite ways to sleep when she experienced the greatest safety in this world! 

Father’s Day

It had been twelve years since his son started at the new place. As a father, it was heart-breaking to let his son be taken away and allow him to grow up elsewhere than at his own home where he was provided everything. It was a strange situation, one he prayed that no father ever had to endure. These are the times even the mighty ones seem to be helpless.

One solace was there though. He had a palatial house at the capital city which was a centre of attraction for many. People from far and near used to flock to this place which he was kind enough to open for the public. He had promised his son’s new guardians to bring him once every year to him. They kept their word always.

As usual they came to the father’s place this year as well. They used to take some of their relatives also with them. After spending a considerable amount of time, the group returned to their native place. Father and son met near the main hall of the house. They had lots to catch-up from the previous year, starting with his recent twelfth birthday celebration. As they spoke, a few of the elders and prominent citizens of the city happened to walk past them. They heard the child speak to his dad and was quite impressed with his depth of knowledge.

They invited him for a debate which was the custom those days. The son loved it. He promptly said yes. Debates those days were serious affairs. People got engaged in conversations so deep that they seldom realized how time flew.

Three days went by and he was right in the middle of a very interesting argument, when he was interrupted by a startling cry of joy! It was his foster mother who found him after three days of frantic search, after they realized that their foster son was not with them when they returned to the native. She was a bit annoyed at him for staying back and even expressed her displeasure openly.

His father was watching this from the far end of the hall. Interestingly he didn’t make any move, though the eyes of father and son met. They knew it was time for him to leave.

Nevertheless, the son didn’t conceal his disappointment. He told the mother, “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

Joseph, his foster father touched his shoulder and looked into his eyes. They had the same glow as his father’s. They returned home, together.  

The Crown

Longinus marched into the open hall of the Praetorium. He was accompanied by three soldiers representing major legions that belonged to Judah, a significant province of Roman Empire. He was the chosen one to be crowned as Centurion of the newly created group of legionaries, the fearless infantry men.

After Caesar, the Roman Governor alone is authorized to crown the new Centurion. As the custom was, Longinus stepped forward and knelt down in front of the Governor. A silver tray was brought to the Governor on which a beautiful crown rested, made of red flowers of Euphorbia milli. The red appeared quite intense. Longinus remained kneeling.

The Governor lifted the delicate crown and placed it right on his head which appeared to fit well. To ensure that the crown stays safe, Governor pushed it down. Longinus writhed in pain! Right in the middle of the crown along with blood red flowers of the beautiful Euphorbia milli, there was a sharp thorn which pierced directly into his flesh.

Help arrived in no time. Before Longinus was further affected, they removed the crown and tossed it aside. A soldier brought another crown made of a different set of flowers. The crowning ceremony went ahead without any further interruptions.

The Praetorium was soon empty with the Governor returning to his palace. The guests had all gone back. The hall was cleared of everything unwanted including the crown with the thorn. The trash was dumped behind the Praetorium near the scourging pillars, including the crown.

It was destined to rest there, adjacent to the wall for the next three years and grew itself into a plant with sharp thorns all over. A man was brought in one fine day for scourging, apparently of no fault of his. Longinus was the Centurion still and one of the soldiers took a long stem from the same plant and made a befitting crown, but this time instead of one, it was covered in thorns.

The man cried in pain as Longinus pressed the crown on to his forehead, precisely the way he cried three years ago. They mocked at him and gave him the name ‘Rex Judah’…

The Bowl of Pilate

Claudia had been in labour for a few hours now. Word was sent to him that it was an unusually painful time for her. Pilate walked to the balcony of the court, feeling helpless while looking into the endless boundaries of Judaea, the province he ruled. It was not too long ago when he stood exactly at the same spot and assessed the agitating crowd which was getting even more restless with every passing moment.

There stood the man right next to him who they called Messiah. They wanted him crucified. Pilate wasn’t helpless then, but was confused. That was a new feeling for him. Being the Governor he was usually clear on his decisions. But it was different this time. His conscience seemed to be troubling him a lot. Decisions appeared hazy. But the mob kept pushing him to the wall against his will.

He was about to make up his mind when the note arrived. It was quite unusual for Claudia to interrupt him in between a trial. He knew it must be that important. What he read made him realize even more, but didn’t help ease the situation. On the contrary it added to the gravity. "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him."

If there was one man who could free the accused, it was him. He was the last word now, since Herod also sent the man back. It was a fight between honesty and power. He didn’t want to upset the sentiments of the mob and always preferred to portray himself as a pro-Empire man. The accused meant nothing to him, compared to the throne he will stand to lose if the decision was to free him. He crumbled the note from Claudia and his conscience died along with that.

There was only one thing left. He ordered for a washing bowl, took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" The verdict was given.

His thoughts were interrupted by a messenger. The man had a grave face. Pilate had been summoned to the inner chamber where he could see Claudia lying down. She no longer was in pain. He looked around for the baby. The midwife was trembling while trying to wash her hands covered in blood. One look at her face and Pilate knew something terrible happened!

She kneeled down in front of him and pleaded for mercy. The baby couldn’t be saved.

That was the moment when the train of thoughts that got interrupted earlier, returned to him.

All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

Katie’s Mystery

She was welcomed home with a cry of joy! The round little eyes seem to have sparkled when the entire family greeted her as soon as she stepped in. She was truly delighted and was literally flying high!

Katie, that’s what the family decided to name her. Dad, mom and the two little ones in the family were all excited to welcome the third child into the family! She was a born charmer and carried herself with an air of power that held her together. Katie was such an active creature that she was seen all around the house. One moment she’ll be seen hiding behind the curtains in the hall; a few moments later she’ll be hanging besides the kitchen door. She loved to float around and enjoyed the attention everyone bestowed on her.

She was the precious jewel of the family who had this uncanny ability to make everyone filled with happiness! All went well till one day when the little boy of the family noticed something strange about Katie’s legs. They seemed to be losing its strength. The girl appeared to be losing weight from one of her legs! They tried every possible cure that can be given in the world to her. But soon, things went from bad to worse. Katie’s second leg also started appearing malnourished.

None of the medicines seem to have an effect on the little girl. Sadly enough in another few days the mysterious illness got into her arms as well, first affecting her left hand and later the right. They all prayed for a miracle which is all what was left to do for them.

Katie survived for a few more days. With each passing day her body became weaker and weaker. On that fateful day as everyone in the family gathered for an evening prayer, they could see Katie with droopy eyes and a very fragile body looking at the picture of God as if she was receiving her last rites. Soon she slowly descended and let herself lie near the prayer mat.

The little ones in the family tried to lift her up and place her on their lap. All what they heard was a gasp. It was the last bit of air that was left in the helium balloon in the shape of a girl. Ten days back dad was holding the thread while bringing her home from the carnival ground.

RIP Katie.

A dad’s dilemma!

It was bedtime again the other day. Our son had slept off already and our four year old girl was on the bed, but as usual resisting sleep big time with her condition yet to be met that Amma (mom) needs to cuddle and be with her till she sleeps!

Here is exactly how the conversation went between mom (M) and daughter (D):

M: Why don’t you sleep dear? Amma needs to finish something.

D: No! I need you here next to me.

M: Wait, let me ask Appa (Dad) to come and join you.

D: No, I want you.

M: Oh, so you don’t want to cuddle Appa and sleep?

D: No, I want to sleep only with you.

M: Shall we then send Appa away?

D: What?! Send Appa away? No!

M: Why not?

D: Of course not! Because he is our Appa!

My heart was filled with all the love this sweet little world could offer! But soon came the remaining part of her statement.

D: Who will then drive us around?

Dedicated to all the loving dads around the world!

The Second Chance

‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ is a recent Malayalam movie that got released starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Biju Menon. Soon after the movie got released, a controversy started doing rounds about one of the scenes in the movie. This is the scene where Koshi, the character played by Prithviraj slaps his wife.

Later when a journalist questioned Prithvi on him going back on an earlier promise he made, of never acting in scenes that are outrageous to a woman, he made a very interesting remark. He mentioned that this was the only way to factually represent a problem that exists in our society today even when the parties involved are highly educated. What was even more fascinating was the statement that followed. He said ‘Kannamma’ the character who is the wife of ‘Ayyappan’ hailing from a lesser educated background would’ve walked out of the marriage if it ever happened to her.

You might have guessed where I’m heading to, with this narration. If the guess is that I’ll be touching upon the importance of giving due respect to the women, then guess again! It isn’t that the topic is less important. On the contrary it is one of the most critical topics to be discussed in any forum that talks about relationships. But enough and more has been said about it. Hence I want to focus on the possibility of a second chance each one is capable of giving the other in a relationship.

How often have you ended up in a situation where you misbehaved with your partner to an extent that you made him or her feel that it is not worth living with you anymore? The affected party in such situations have two options ahead. The easier option will be to decide that your partner is not worth to share your life with even for another day. Quite a few take this decision and find the ‘easy way out’ of the relationship. But I really want to talk about the others who take up the more challenging option and lead themselves as well as their partner to a more meaningful life in future.

Option two is where you give a second chance to the one who inflicted pain in you. Definitions can be very relative when it comes to severity of mistakes committed to you by your partner. A slap on a face could be an unpardonable offence for someone whereas for others it is pardonable once if they see hope at the end of the tunnel.

Most of the couples in their early years of relationship are truly in a state of ignorance about each other. You will really know someone only when you start sharing the same roof. This state of ignorance, especially during the initial days, leads to behaviours that may easily be misunderstood as non-compatibility by both parties. This is where a second chance stands crucial. It is absolutely essential to realize that these initial misunderstandings, if amicably resolved on time, will lead to something very beautiful.

Still doubtful? Ask this question to any of your loved ones who had been married for a few years. During the initial years of marriage were there incidents that made them believe that they had to call it quits? Ask them if they could even imagine taking the first option and if so what would’ve happened? I am pretty sure the answer will be all the beautiful moments they experienced together as a couple till date happened only because either of them gave a second chance to the other.

Giving a second chance to your partner isn’t a bad thing but it is equally important that the recipient learns to respect this decision. It requires mutual effort to ensure that the second chance is utilized in its right spirit and more importantly understand that there isn’t a third chance!

May you have the grace to provide a second chance to a loved one, if required and the ability to accept the fact that you are now given an opportunity to make things better! 

Battery Low

‘A real pervert you have become!’

Tony could scoop the sarcasm out of Ann’s voice. ‘Who gave you the license to talk all these nonsense?’ He could easily make out the pseudo seriousness she added to her tone.

‘Your dad and mom, precisely three months back!’ He said. That was when their wedding was officially fixed in the traditional Central Travancore way in Kerala where the culture of arranged marriage still exists at large among the Catholic community. Three months since that lovely day, Tony was on his way from Bangalore, where he worked, to Kottayam, his home. He counted the number of times they met in between. It was exactly eight times and this trip will be his ninth, his lucky number! Two days later they’ll be a couple, officially engaged.

‘This seat is so uncomfortable’, he started complaining. He was seated on the left side towards the back row.

Ann couldn’t hold back her discontent. ‘You truly deserve it! How many times did I remind you last month to book the train tickets? The lazy bum you are. Finally ended up on a State Transport. Now better shut up and enjoy the bus ride.’

He was miffed, but all what he said was, ‘I can see an empty seat behind the driver. Let me check if I could shift there.’  Beep… Beep... Tony saw the alert for low battery. ‘This thing may get switched off soon.’ He told her.

‘Can’t you charge the phone in the bus?’ There was a silence for a while. ‘Hello… Tony, can you hear me?’

‘I forgot the charger.’ That was all what he could manage to say. Silence spoke for her. He didn’t want to provoke her any further and so while shifting to the front seat he quickly changed the topic.

‘Did you think of the destination yet? I’ve told you I’m not into beaches. Why don’t we look at some of the hill stations? It’ll be awesome with the winter chill and a perfect setting for a honeymoon trip.’ Three months were more than enough for them to realize that they were designed quite differently. But somehow they managed to find a middle line.

Decision making came naturally to Ann. ‘Let us settle on Mauritius. You’ll get your mountains and I can enjoy the beaches as well’. By now, Tony had started to develop the skill to differentiate between the arguments he at least has a scope to win and others where he stood no chance. This was a classic case for latter. He conceded without much debate. There was a hidden agenda as well. She agreed to do all the planning and he was super happy that he doesn’t have to break his head for the trip. The fact is she didn’t trust him with the bookings, just the way he goofed up the train booking and ended up travelling on a bus which they both disliked.

Half way through the trip, the bus stopped for dinner. The battery icon lost all its charm and was reduced to a delicate single bar. The conversation continued. She was still confused about deciding on a wedding gown as against a saree. He tried to make informed suggestions, but ended up doing a pathetic job. Attires planning was never his strength. 

Soon after bus left Salem border everyone in the bus was in a deep sleep except for the one soul who was having an awesome time with his sweetheart. The time in between a wedding fixing and actual tying of the knot is purely magical.

‘Hey, you never said anything about meeting tomorrow?’ Tony was getting quite impatient. He could hear her chuckle at the other end of the phone and it was promptly followed by one of the final alerts from the phone announcing a critically low battery.

‘I’m really sorry, Appachan said no more meetings till the engagement is over’. As soon as she said this, his face turned a deep crimson red which could be seen in the blue light of the phone even in the darkness inside the bus.

‘For God’s sake we are in the 21^st century! When will these ever change?’

While Ann could feel his frustration, she almost half wittingly enjoyed the moment since these will never come back to life once they are pronounced man and wife a couple of months from now.

‘Patience dear, patience. Learn to appreciate the value of waiting. I can assure you that the wait will be worth it.’ A mischievous smile found its place on her face as she finished the statement.

Tony lost it and snapped, ‘Your trash can, that’s exactly where this philosophy should rest. I’m going to come over to your place tomorrow, you better be ready’.

‘Tony no! Let us not make a scene at home. You know how much I love to be with you, but this probably is one last time I’ll have to be daddy’s girl’. She pleaded.

‘I’m going to hang up’ Tony was furious and he almost banged the phone to the seat.

That’s exactly when the last bar from the battery icon disappeared and the cabin became completely dark. Ann barely heard his last words but she was sure she heard a loud thud and heard Tony screaming.

Beep... Beep… Beep… The call got disconnected. She tried dialling him. ‘The number you are trying to reach is either switched off or not reachable’. She hit the bed with a smile and soon was in a deep sleep. The beautiful emerald green waters of Mauritius slowly started filling her dreams.

She was up a little late in the morning. She knew that he wouldn’t call her. As always, she kept aside her ego, took her phone and called him. His phone was still switched off. ‘That’s strange’ she thought. ‘He should’ve reached home by now and charged his phone’.

As soon as she walked into the living room, saw the newspaper lying on the sofa. The heading read, “Truck crash into a KSRTC bus from Bangalore, 20 feared dead”.

She had a strange feeling. It felt exactly like the sand disappearing under your feet when the waves recede into the blue green waters of the ocean.