~ My Joker...~

He is the night watchman of the park, roams around as if he has owned it since centuries. The canine has been a somber looking dog which I have befriended whilst I was going through my regular dose of brisk walking. Quite suddenly he started to follow me silently and behold, he just did two full rounds of the park aisle as if he was doing his sort of brisk walk.

He didn’t growl on other dogs which came to his vicinity and quietly ignored their presence as he seemed to be quite focused on walking and following me. One thing I noticed, he didn’t surpassed me though he could have done that quite easily and without any fuss, he just didn’t! I have pet named him as ‘joker’ as he do some weird things on his own, sometimes trying to catch his own tail to the merriment of all, at other times he is engrossed in his own thoughts and after calling him with lot of pooches , he would not pay any heed to your lovely calls He is a moody canine but still has become cynosure of all eyes, many walk away pedestrians lovingly call him and give him bread and mill, biscuits and other left overs of home, which he nourishes quite happily. 

Just the other day, after it had rained profusely, I went for my evening strolls and was also parallelly on the lookout for my ‘Joker’, but couldn’t locate him, I searched him at his favorite place but my search went in vain, as time passed my search went hopeless and it was time to go back home but suddenly I saw my joker cleverly hiding in the municipality installed dustbin, which he had made his temporary shelter!

Apparently, he had thrown out all the collected garbage dump and comfortably placed himself in and was enjoying the drizzling, he must be having a good time of his life. As I restrained in calling him, as he would surely come out to meet me but would have unsettled his comatose position which he was so passionately enjoying, as a result I moved on, quite happily seeing that my joker was happy and safe and had protected himself out of outpour!

Canines are very emotional fellows and can sense your mood quite effectively, maybe they have been given the sixth sense, they can foretell eventualities. My joker was upset the other day as he sat meekly resigning to situation. He was not responding in his favorite mood as I sensed that something was surely wrong with him. Then after some days I got to know that he had lost his friend to an accident adjacent to the road, he was grieving and was not at his playful best, just a cuddle and talk wont do, giving him milk and biscuits turned out to be a failure.

 I sat with him for quite some time and was talking to him in my own tone, cuddling him, trying to make his mood happy, he started to respond though not at his best. After few days as his grim mood settled, he was again at his best, as playful and jolly as I know him. Through this short instance of his life, Joker taught me a lesson though, nothing is permanent in life, keep moving, you will have your share of ups and downs, you will feel bad but uplift yourself from your grief and stalk walking…that’s Life!

~ Early Success - A Dilemma...~

What has been the intrinsic value you have derived from the money you have earned till date, has it made your life happier or have you gone miserable thinking about to doubling it or investing in all sorts of propositions that have open up the flood gates of investments. A friend of mine has been in a position of power in Big 5 accounting firms and has been hovering around numbers for almost a decade, till recently he had made a formidable portfolio to the envious of all, he was going at the right way of an ‘early retirement plan’ which most of the early successful youth aim for. He has done it but not with problems which are copious to his treading this path of wealth and fortitude as up there on the pinnacle of his professional height, he feels lonely and sidelined by average outs there in the society.

A quick view around your living, one can see many strugglers entrenched in daily living and balancing the limited amount of resources they have, the zeal for them to do this is their immediate family and friends – the souls they can bank upon at time of aloofness, but here I am confronting a guy who is all set and done at a middle age of his life, having accumulated riches and wants to enjoy his new found success but the point is with whom ?

The circle he has ventured out is always busy in acquiring fame and trying to climb up the ladder of society, the family is of support but now that the kids are on their own and have just entered collegiate education, don’t have time anymore for their ‘Rich and Lonely’ father, the wife has made her own kitty party circle over a period of time which she doesn’t want to loose as that would certainly bring back loneliness in her life. 

His parents have their own group of oldies with whom they love to gel up, as he has been ignoring them for quite some time now, destiny would settle scores with him at this juncture. The only ray of hope comes in the form of his sister who is as loving as she was when both had a brilliant camaraderie, he tells me that he calls her everyday to discuss matters and shed his inhibitions.

Today, my friend finds himself in a complex vagary of life, where most people want to be financially secure and then start a retired life, he has achieved the acumen at a middle age and now has ample time to defy his aloneness! The other day he told me that he has started to invest his riches in Himalayas to find ‘Solace’, an escape from the daily buzz of life, hearing this I was quick to interpret his state as a ‘Victim of Success’ as his achievements are now paining him to do more as he enters the highness of the sophisticated society, though he doesn’t want to be a part of it anymore, but the pulls will not leave him for quite some time now! It was his own choosing to break the shackles of his middle class upbringing and do something ‘Big’ in his life, he did but not for a price, which he is paying now.

His confused state of mind is a learning allegory to me and may be to many who would read his story – everything you achieve will come with a cost attached to it, weather it is time, money, health, family all needs equal respect…you ignore any one and you fall to your nadir… As the conversation ended, a prelude to a next phase of our life, all I could tell him is ‘Best of luck!” for his future endeavors, as I know that he has the acumen and the skill to fight it back , I expect he would be a better caller the next time we converse on the state of his living.. till then let’s wait and watch!

~ In between Times…~

 The two wanders around the streets of our mart, they know the narrow lanes and the gangways crisscrossing between the shops and offices and have been a regular visitor every summers far away from their home in Rajasthan. Both of them are school going kids and have taken a ‘Break’ due to Corona pandemic as their government school have gone virtual. They need not be present in the class as they have an excuse of low or no internet connectivity, though they sometimes log-in intermittently to ‘See’ who is online and who is not or just to say a simple ‘Hi’ to their fellow classmates.

Raju and Monu are new to our office vicinity as just the other day I spotted them loitering around looking for prospective customers who would offer them to polish their boots. As I asked them why they have come to so far of land just for this menial job – quickly Raju replies “Bhaiya, this is the easiest of the jobs I could have learnt without doing much effort. I am in class 9^th and I know some computer too, but no one will give me a desk job, also I don’t have a shave yet so I don’t look big enough to be doing an office job.”

Monu the other street urchin was at its elementary best – when I asked him to pose for a photo of his which I will make him show in Computer, he was elated and stood with his favorite ‘Stand Straight’ pose, though somewhat grinning, he has his own story to tell – He is from Ajmer, a popular town in Indian state called ‘Rajasthan’ and his father is a cobbler here in Delhi – as per him, quite boldly and with a steadfast accent he tells ‘This is a family business and I can earn quick money out of it, moreover, I don’t love to study and be restricted to the confines of school. He is in class 7th in the same school but he has one penchant quality - he is sharp minded in looking at people who could be his prospective customers.

As there was something which was captivating me to join them in some sort of conversations, a nearby tea stall did the trick. My new found friends were invited for a morning tea cuppa, to which they readily agreed. We three had a nice morning conversations with a cup of Tea and our desi snacks – “mathri’ (flaky biscuits), which quite coincidently we all loved. That is the only parallels we three could draw as we differentiated in our thoughts of what life is, may be at this age of my life, the empirical’s that I have lived far outlive theirs and they have much to understand and experience to come to terms with my observation of life – as they say ‘time is a big teacher’, may be one day they will understand the true meaning of our little conversation.

As we emptied our tea cuppa, it was time to disperse as for Raju and Monu , they had done their breakfast and had to find customers to earn their daily bread and butter, for me it was time to go home and start my daily chores. As I said byes to them, the meeting had profoundly made me think about the life ahead for these youngsters, full of life they were and didn't much knew what lies ahead as they are missing on the prized time of life doing nitty-gritty of things which they should not , the pennies they are earning is a huge contrast to the time they are wasting, though they are loving their freedom now but a time would come that they will have serious regret of what they have shaped their lives… 

I wanted to converse with them more, but today’s meeting was meant to be as an introductory liaison , may be next time I meet both of them we will set the accord straight…may be they get back to their homes and start concentrating in their studies… till then, eagerly waiting for that meeting...

~So this is the end...~

Walking down the aisle, the slow moment of his body is a side effect of the age he is going through in his life. The body has turned fragile and is weak enough to carry its own weight. Slowly but steady degeneration of body has happened. But is it the end for all of us, the cycle from birth to its inevitable death? A question caught my mind as I see the octogenarian trying to walk passively and wishing everyone ‘Ram Ram’ as a gesture of his presence.

Sultry thoughts engulfed my mind as I repeatedly passed him after every round. He travels at a slow pace but his zeal to cover the ground is remarkable. I quickly put myself at his place and wonder, if at all we would be in flesh and blood, would we be having such zeal to still come to park for our own benefit and try to defy the aloofness which age causes along with zillion other anomalies!

The answer which came to my mind is ‘God knows and only time will tell.”, at almost half of the gentleman’s age, we are at a point of life where we have started to bear the brunt of worsening bodies – tender bones, lack of agility and various other pitfalls. The whole life we are chasing our dreams and trying to fulfill our deepest desires to be left in such a situation by passage of time when we stand almost helpless and a living on an bonus time each day!

He comes with his benchmark attire, a tericot trousers with a neatly pressed Shirt along with his pet shoes and a cane stick, which gives him an aristocratic look. He takes his own time to sit and roam around the park and has no fixed route to follow, though he comes at a fixed time and leaves the place before twilight, owing to his weak eyesight.

Just other day, the gentleman was seen encouraging the kids whilst they were playing their games – may be a thought ventured onto him and he started to remember his younger days – hopefully, we would also end up living the same life when we are done with our current responsibilities of life and age would not be on our side, days would be counted for the final inevitability, though many of us wont like to talk about it at this juncture of their life.

“So this is the final end when your most favorite possession, your body, won’t be listening to your commands, you will have to tread it quite shamelessly to stay fit and be independent at that fragile age of your life…” ,I told myself and overtook uncle, with my thoughts that there must have been a time in his life too, when he used to overtake many other pedestrians. 

Quite unthinkably so, the cycle of life would keep on repeating itself till eternity and today its his time to walk slow as this is what he can do to the best of his abilities, tomorrow we would be in his footsteps and someone would be observant towards us and thinking about his old age… the end would be a new beginning …

~ What Women are...~

Indian women Hockey team captain Rani Rampal letter cascading human endeavor and triumph to achieve a marvelous feat of victory – a dominion where male chauvinism and patriarchy has been the center point for this type of sport. Her personal vendetta and fight against all odds, the circumstances which lead her to believe on herself abilities combined with her power of thought which showcases a fine example of what Champions are made up of !

Her verbatim, “I wanted an escape from my life; from the electricity shortages, to the mosquitoes buzzing in our ear when we slept, from barely having two square meals to seeing our home getting flooded when it rained. My parents tried their best, but there was only so much they could do– Papa was a cart puller and Maa worked as a maid.

There was a hockey academy near my home, so I’d spend hours watching players practice–I really wanted to play. Papa would earn Rs.80 a day and couldn't afford to buy me a stick. Every day, I’d ask the coach to teach me too. He’d reject me because I was malnourished. He’d say, ‘You aren’t strong enough to pull through a practice session.’

So, I found a broken hockey stick on the field and began practicing with that– I didn’t have training clothes, so I was running around in a salwar kameez. But I was determined to prove myself. I begged the coach for a chance and told him “Sir, maine bahut mushkil se convince kiya unko finally!”

But when I told my family, they said, ‘Ladkiya ghar ka kaam hi karti hai,’ and ‘Hum tumhe skirt pehen kar khelne nahi denge.’ I’d plead with them saying, ‘Please mujhe jaane do. If I fail, I’ll do whatever you want.’ My family reluctantly gave in.

Training would start early in the morning. We didn’t even have a clock, so mom would stay up and look at the sky to check if it was the right time to wake me.

At the academy, it was mandatory for each player to bring 500 ml of milk. My family could only afford milk worth 200 ml; without telling anyone, I’d mix the milk with water and drink it because I wanted to play.

My coach supported me through thick and thin; he’d buy me hockey kits and shoes. He even allowed me to live with his family and took care of my dietary needs. I’d train hard and wouldn’t miss a single day of practice.

I remember earning my first salary; I won Rs.500 after winning a tournament and gave the money to Papa. He hadn’t ever held so much money in his hands before. I promised my family, ‘One day, we’re going to have our own home’; I did everything in my power to work towards that.

After representing my state and playing in several championships, I finally got a national call up at the age of 15! Still, my relatives would only ask me when I was planning on getting married. But Papa told me, ‘Play until your heart’s content.’ With my family’s support, I focused on doing my best for India and eventually, I became captain of the Indian hockey team!

Soon after, while I was at home, a friend papa used to work with visited us. He brought along his granddaughter and told me, ‘She’s inspired by you and wants to become a hockey player!’ I was so happy; I just started crying.

And then in 2017, I finally fulfilled the promise I made to my family and bought them a home. We cried together and held each other tightly! And I’m not done yet; this year, I’m determined to repay them and Coach with something they’ve always dreamed of– a gold medal from Tokyo."

~ Looser's are Winners...~

Sports have been an integral part of one life, during our younger days almost everyone was engrossed in playing his / her favorite sport till eternity – the only time we went back home was due to a reprimand from our vociferous grandparents…

Now that many of us sit at the cool comforts of our homes and watch the Olympics, there are many teachings that the sport camaraderie tells and speaks volumes about.

For many a ‘Bronze’ is a well-deserved medal than a ‘Silver’ which though has a high pedestal when one receives it, but it is only ‘Won’ when you fail, quite contrary to the Bronze which you have to “win” to procure it! so when our favorite P.V Sidhu won the coveted Bronze medal, it taught me a lesson , you have to fight till the end when you have fought your battle and still emerge as a winner after many defeats!

By this logic, a Bronze medal winner is happier than a ‘Silver’ medalist though he has a higher rank. The Bronze medal has been won by the grit of the player though he lost his contention to ‘Gold’ or ‘Silver’. The player does not loose his aim even after the defeat and continues till the last end with a hope of ‘Winning’ the ‘Bronze’.

Following the Olympics spirit, we have seen many examples of humane emotions overpowering the power knacks of sportsmen. A case in point is Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi facing Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim in the final of Men’s high jump when the Italian was injured and was not able to compete further – earlier both had jumped 2.37 meters and were on a tie! The sportsman spirit took the better off the Qatari athlete and he withdrew from the final jump and thus another sporting history was made – that the ‘Gold was shared for the first time in the Men’s high jump event on compassionate grounds!” , though Olympic rules allowed this to happen and due permissions were taken on this before arriving at any decision.

For many of us this is no little wonder, Olympic Gold is the ornament one would like to wear as a triumph of a powerful win in an event – it strongly portrays the effort and shinning spirit of the athlete to be at the top – a well deserved notion of a winner!

From motivational adverts “ Ma mein gold wapas le aayi” by Bhawani Devi - India’s first fencer to qualify for Tokyo Olympics’21, the charisma outshines other aspects of life – the shine of the metal overshadows all other ‘misses’ and one creates history, though this time a small step but the vision and focus have set ground for others to emulate, your name gets embarked in the memories of time for ever.

The precincts of the games give you an adrenaline rush down your spine, with zillion watchful eyes for that ‘Golden’ moment, it surely takes guts to offer your ‘Gold’ to someone else – there are no winners but only presets which become historical moments of time and are always remembered for its beauty and uniqueness.

There are many dejections too but every failure again teaches us that we are lacking behind in our effort as the opponent has something which you still have to achieve in order to get past him. The testimony of time is the only motivation one can have to achieve the unachievable. So when Indian weightlifter ‘Mirabai Chanu’ gets us a Silver, the first of its kind in our Olympic history, the whole country erupts – the story unfolds when she tells us about the hard work and toil she has gone through for that piece of metal. We all concur with the results but conveniently skip the journey!

So next time when someone stands on the pedestal, think about the path the sportsman has treaded to stand infront of the camera for those eye-catching moments, we should be engrossed in our thoughts about the slog and sweat one must have gone through to be where they are!

~ Ravish & a Life Head On...~

He comes in the gasp of selling things – from items of daily usage like kitchenware, scissors, combs, knife and all sundries, he is still a student with a rock-solid aim.

The current economic distress has hit upon his family and as a rational, “Ravish” took upon himself to support his father to run the family show. In doing so, he has for sure taken up the responsibility of a obedient son and a family member. The task is daunting but he is sure that he would be able to accomplish that...

His smile, as elegant as he is, covers his daily struggle but he is sturdy and has a strong resolve in his mind – to be working in an MNC as a software engineer – his aim’s are high, considering his current situation. Ravish is soft spoken and on the first look would make you believe as a mundane hawker with no distinction but when you start conversing with him, you will find the real tinge of his character.

I was astonished with his soft-spoken English stance, not by an iota of any expectation or surprise, I dived into that short-lived communication that we had just the other day in my local flea mart. He was at his best of moods and I saw him after quite some time as due to various restrictions imposed as covid protocols throughout Delhi.

As always, he has arranged his cart in a pristine way – not a single item is off-track and all of his ‘products’ (as he calls them) are stacked cleanly to the customer’s delight – This is the first tinge that you get of him whilst you will meet him.

A general chit-chat lasted for about few minutes and that happy and shy smile was ingrained in my thoughts – whilst I took his snap, I told him that he would soon be seeing himself on the web with a short parable – no surprises, I knew he is addicted to the net and his best friend – his smart phone ( as many youngsters today are).

“Sir, this is the best companion I have, I study and download my chapters from my phone – this is my virtual class as well. I also chat with my friends and share pics and study notes. Occasionally, I watch movies!”, I gave him the URL where he would be reading his story, whilst I make him virtual, Ravish’s zeal has an intriguing caption – “The Man with a hidden Desire”

So what motivates my street Smart “Hero” to work for considerable hours of the day and then become a focused student in the night – he reverts “ I want to get my family out of poverty and the misery of living a downgraded life, I want to help my father and that is my single minded aim.”

The firmness in his voice was the only bet which can make you think about his sturdy aim, he is adamant to become something in times to come.

Though as a good Smartian, he hardly gave me any discounts, but smiled, which captivated me to give him whatever he asked, his confidence beseeched my bargain and I succumbed to his salesmanship.

Here, I am seeing a next gen businessman in the making, the tricks, and tirades of business, he is learning from the ground. He has not taken the anti-situation of life as his destiny as most people do, he is struggling each single day as it comes and one day who knows what comes out of his struggle... 

“As they say a journey of thousand miles start from the first step.” – Ravish has taken the first step and his journey has just begun, I will hope that he proves this saying for me to emulate his story to many other souls who have succumb to the pressures of day to day hassles and have almost given up on their aims and aspirations – till then, let the time be the best answer to our expectations and journey of our life….

~ Darkness is Just Beautiful...~

Treading the aisle of the park, I see the elegance of love to its mystified beauty. The old couple generally comes before twilight when there are less gentry doing their chores and when the tarmacs are mostly clear of gushing crowds. They must be in their mid-70’s and are ailing with multiple disorders as one can clearly observe.

The best part of their bondage is that they walk in their own composure and speaking incessantly to each other. The lady’s uncle is always at his narrative best and is mostly engrossed in parroting the description of the park and its ambience as they move slowly and steadily.

The unfortunate part being Auntie’s blindness as I observe that she wears her dark glasses to avoid the sun’s direct glare, but as they say ‘Every cloud has a silver lining.”, and hers is an elegant smile on her face, which makes her charming and a noteworthy character treading past you, holding his beloved hand and drowned in her own thoughts.

Sometimes I see them sitting down on the bench with a flask opened up and both having their evening tea-cuppa and enjoying the generosity of nature – with chirping birds, squeaking of squirrels and not to forget the pooches, who sit in front of them majestically with eyes glued to those biscuit packets and with a hope of getting some of them.

The best part of both of them is the camaraderie between the two – as if they were born for each other in this lifetime. Aunty, though has severe constrains to her sight, has seen the whole of the world as she creates her own little world based on the commentary by her loving husband – as I again say , her smile says it all. I can’t imagine a world without seeing it with my own eyes, just mere closing my eyes and trying to emulate a life makes me shudder with fear and gloom, how this lady has lived without seeing the world for so long. How does she visualize things and forms her own image to the words she quietly listens from her husband – just magical it may seem!

Both the aged ‘Lovebirds’ as I call them are a beautiful sight to watch – at this ripe age of their life, they both giving each other the much needed support and strength to continue is just a teaching for all of us – Quite hopefully, a day would certainly come in our lives when we along with our spouses would be sitting idly in a park or our balconies and talking of the journey of our life, remembering those beautiful moments of time when we were young and in control of our bodies and mind.

With each passing day, we all are approaching our may-day years, and this would be the time which we would be strongly wanting a company to assist us for our daily chores and for killing boredom.

The octogenarian couple as I see them today is a pre-emptive notion of our times to come, I always look forward to seeing them every day whilst I brisk-walk and jog on the aisle and every time I see them deliberately, I am amazed on the smiles on their faces and the happy mood they are in – I have no further clue about their family or how many children they have or if at all they live with them or not but all these questions and apprehensions become futile as I see both of them engrossed in their own small world and as a complete family altogether … Bless them as I concede this truth and looking forward to seeing them tomorrow with the same vigor and vitality of life… setting a true example of love, romance and care at this stage of one’s life…

~ Festivity Of Life...~

Enjoy the festivity of life in full glance of nature, you are here for this lifetime and would be born in another dimension, circumstances and situation and family considering your current doings in life.

Pamper yourself at times of gloom and distress when you find no way out sitting in the confines of your home and have nothing to think or do – the mind is blank and caresses unequivocal thoughts and wanderings which may make no sense today but that is the work which mind is supposed to do!

Taming the mind has been the most arduous tasks in the world, keeping it under control and focused confers you with a role of a “evolved soul” – sometimes mind will make you fear things out of proportions – the fear of failure or of the unprecedented happening coming your way  - After all , life has always been a journey of chance – think in the retrospective, we all took big chances to reach to a level that we are today – many of the chances bore fruit and we succeeded in our efforts, for others, we miserably failed but survived – that is the beauty of life – we will surely fail in many other chances that we intent to take but the ‘Keep Walking’ attitude is what will make us reach our true destination and achieve a goal.

Many years later, thinking in the retrospective, we all will realize what we missed – sometimes it came to us naturally as we did not succeeded and would get to understand the way providence plays to fine-tune our life’s journey – We came here for a definitive purpose and so are we struggling to find that.

The rigmarole of daily struggle has mechanized our life’s and beyond , our thinking and daily acts have no major substance left for enjoyment – turning robots ourselves, many of us do feel dejected at the end of the passing day. We need to come out of the whirlpool by our lateral thinking, we have many responsibilities – true that, but we are our own selves too!

How many of us cherish each day with gravity of thoughts that each passing second wont come back ever, so will be the events that we are going through or experiencing? In between, we have to make ourselves happy and focused towards our objective – be it career, home, family and other precincts of our journey on this planet. Educate yourself just not to earn your bread and butter but also to be a keen observer of this ‘Silent Play’ of life – how situations and time is subtly changing, and we are just unmindful of such a change. 

A day would come that we all have to call it quits – your favorite possessions will be somebody’s else – you did all the hard work your mind and body allowed you to do for a day that you have to give it to somebody and move out of this world’s affairs – only to be remembered sometimes or may be not !

As they always say “Time is a big healer” and your loss would surely be compensated with other happiness which our family members would seek – the best part is be a part of this journey with your focus on yourself too – with all might, do silliest of the things which you are inhibit of , dance like you have never dances, play any sport as you are a kid, sing on top of your voice to let the world know that we have arrived, do any such activity which makes pace with your soul and gives you that internal happiness that you are chasing like a never ending chimera of life – for one day

As it rains, the sounds of falling droplets made me write what I did – the conjure of thoughts in my mind has been given shape as words – you have your own dialect of living – start with what you love doing and see what changes it brings to your attitude and your acts of living… till then … enjoy the dance of nature and have a cup of tea or coffee and be with your best friend i.e. YOU!

~ A Soul Aloof…~

He is ‘free’ from his responsibilities and have set his foot on doing things which otherwise he could not have done. His journey of life is as fantastic as the man he is – always making you smile and cracking pranks and jokes when he will meet you. ‘Sheel Uncle’ as we always have called him ever since we have known him for so many years in the past, he has shared our growing up years and quite often used to see us playing games in our local park.

Now that his only son has left him alone for greener pastures overseas – though being offered to accompany him, he blatantly refused ( as he once told me, though don’t know if it was a genuine truth or he just spoke to save his son’s character!), he has been meddling with petite affairs of locals, be it of his locality or neighbors, though nowadays I see him quite often spending time with shopkeepers in a nearby market. One thing for sure I have to claim about Sheel uncle – he has been a man of integrity and honesty as I have benchmarked his character through an incidence that happened long back.

As street urchin’s, we used to spend zillion hours during the day passing time in a nearby park and uncle’s home was just adjacent to our playground and as a natural inevitability, one day his glass window got shattered by one of our cricketing shots  - Just then, all hell broke loose as Sheel uncle just could not control his anger and broke our cricketing bat 😊. As kids, the neighborhood’s sympathy went in favour of us and Sheel uncle soon realized his folly and paid us in full the amount required to buy the bat of same stature and quality, not a penny was compromised. Further his large-heartedness bestowed us that day when he bought cold drinks for us as well and did not demand money for the damaged window!

That parable still has an strong stamp on my mind whenever I see him roaming around in aloofness – His wife is no more and there is nobody who he can share his loneliness with…We as grown up kids now always make it a point to greet and share our past memories with him, which he always remembers , believe me times certainly changes.

Many of us living in colonies have such people who are singletons and there is nobody who they can call friends or acquaintances, more so , they are vulnerable to changing times and are hawk-eyes of criminals. We as a society can be a soothing stance for them – just sharing or cracking a simple joke or giving some moments of our life and talking to them certainly makes a huge difference to them.

Remember, our days would also come as our kids would be busy in our own lives – may be out of this country and we would be in a situation to live like Sheel uncle – our family would be our neighbors and old friends with whom we have shared our life’s moments and now they are in the same carriage as we are in.

The oldies as I always say are full of life’s wisdom – the only flaw is with us that we are so super busy in chasing our dreams and aspiring to be ‘Something’ totally oblivious to our approaching years… for that would be the most demanding years of our life’s… with health bottlenecks and we requiring a constant care …a good friend or a neighbor would be our only hope for a witty talk and survival…till then, be someone’s companion and share a joke or two to help pass his boredom… someone is seeing you doing this…!!!

~ Nature’s Bounty…~

It silent but working, it is most caring and benevolent and showers us daily with her motherly love, but we as humans have turned her down day and again and have been cruelest to her.

The recent covid mayhem was filled with lifelong lessons which we ought to learn and practice but as history of humanity goes, our memories are short term and fragile. No wonder the forces of nature knows how to deprive us of our living and it does so time and again. Back and forth the cycle of forgetfulness and nature’s punishment goes on and on…

I came across a beautiful and educative parable today which all of us should earnestly read and learn from and here it goes…

When a 93-year-old man was discharged from the Corona ward, the hospital staff asked for 13 thousand more rupees when he started walking after paying the bill. This amount was left to be added to the bill for some reason. On asking he was told it was a one day oxygen bill. The old man started crying after hearing this.

Seeing the old man crying, the doctor said, ′′ You don't cry, if you can't pay this amount, let it be. ′′

Then that old man said something, hearing which the whole staff started crying.

He said, ′′ I'm not crying over this bill, it's not hard for me to pay this bill. I can easily fill this. ′′

′′ I'm crying because I've been breathing for 93 years and I haven't paid a penny for these breaths. If the cost of breathing a day is 13 thousand rupees, then you can understand how much I am in debt to nature so far. ′′

′′ I never thanked nature for this precious gift of oxygen. ′′

Friends, this world is a game of nature. Our body and our every breath is priceless. We can thank nature by keeping it clean without teasing it.

Be in one with nature every moment, thank him for his blessings and remember him every breath...

′′ Take care of trees so that breathing is easy ′′

Our relationship with mother nature is not only of give and take but also of love and care, the more we will oblige towards her caring nature, the more it will be beneficial to us all. Remember what has been given to us as ‘Free’ can be taken back anytime be it our life or natural resources pertinent for our daily existence, we all take these as granted but when the test of time occurs, it is we who will be the real sufferers and time and again this has been truly proved to us…. Be thankful to your surroundings and the circumstances bestowed on you as everything here has a purpose… respect and care is what is the need of the hour…