The clash of The two cousins- Part II

Rich and classy interiors, glassing floor and clean carpets. The lavish reception hall housing posh furniture, untouched newspapers and magazines and the LCD TV screening the company’s recent hype and honors. An access to enter any door within the floor and this rule applies equally from the company Chiefs to the housekeeping buddies. So if you forget your ID card, better then go back and work from home.  Every room will be aptly lit, amply spaced and enormously cold! One must understand that these aren’t facilitated for the living entities, but for the systems that run nonstop inside the office.  The pantries and café at every floor will brim exactly like Hogwarts kitchen, only that you have to pay for everything that you grab from there. People will seem young than they are in real. A silent formal grin is spread in the air around and no question of under dressing in here. Every individual is entangled with a Colorful story outside that is often covered by their classy formal clothing. Bio-metric tracking like Marauder’s map can trace any trickery happening inside the forbidden corridors (office cabins), secret passages (lift lobby) and the dark dungeons (basement and parking lots). During her first day induction she was accompanied everywhere, she even had the privilege of people opening doors for her till she got her own access. Then with a tag, she was left free ;-) First few days she was walking bewildered where to park, who to call, landing at the wrong floor, taking lift to different side of the building, forgetting to scratch ID and jam at each door. This is the brief understanding of Sruthi about her new office.

(Pls don't read this like any serious life quote, Read it like ":-p")

This grown up girl is a new member at her uncle’s place, which was just a 10 minutes’ drive from her office. After being in hostel for around six lovely years, Sruthi is starting a totally different venture at this new dwelling. This house, her second best home is one of the oldest in the street and all neighbors are connected to here like kin and kith. Cement floor, white washed walls, Kitchen with store room and plastic pots, dark painted door frames, no false sealing, outside stone bench, open water well, washing area, and bathrooms, heavy hanging sweet mango tree, street corner temple, walking stick long umbrella and Granpa’s name registered in every mind and brick. 

 Grany to hand out something or the other to eat and drink all the time,( this includes bitter herbal tonics, millet and multi-grain porridge too),  aunt to cook all her fav, uncle to praise and cousin Aarthi to pest and play with. Aarthi’s ink pen, record drawings, uniform, double plat, ribbons, a feet tall floor desk, folding black board, ladybird, time table, text books and more.. These just wobble Sruthi’s present and send her back to school. Each time when she sees her little cousin and aunt quarreling, Sruthi gets reminded of her Ma. Maternal side affinity is more intimate and naïve they say, and this holds true in case of Sruthi too. Her school time summer vacation spot has now turned to be her place of stay and she is loving it like before.... 

The rightly named “Winner”

I am Vijay, the rightly named “Winner”. To be left behind alone in a downtrodden society and rise to a level that I am now, is nothing but victory. I earn to spend.., to spend for Nidhi.  I earn enough to educate her, I give her all comfort in life that I yearned for. I am a wanderer as my job demands me to be and I am passionate about it. For this reason I don’t get to spend enough time with the Kid and she too understands it. But each time when I visit her place, I see my joy in her eyes, in her growth and progress over the years. Her stories will bring a feel that I have never been parted from her.  When her fingers grip the pencil tight and scribble down those four lines notebooks, when she recites a poem to me complete and exhales, when she showcases her newly painted Stars, clouds, trees, hills and hut I brim with joy and pride that is no less than hers.

Time..,It continues to kill one’s innocence, nurtures new one and it never stops. I am a big grown up family man now and my little Nidhi is grown up too. It is been years now since we met and today am sitting with my entire family at her graduation day. The whole audience looked up, out of their phone to hear the success story of the gold medalist. Hiding her emotions behind the podium, she stood there hosting confidence, to tell not just a story but the thrusting realities. She didn’t boost about her rank, or blame all the toughness she has endured, which anyone who had grown up like her would have. Instead she called her life a bliss. She told her juniors to strive hard and be optimistic. When talking about her future plans, she said “In a long run I will open a school to bring up many other unknown “Nidhi”s and try to be a “Vijay” to each one of them. If not for him, I am just another left out anonymous girl of this fast developing society”. With that her speech ended and the entire heads turned towards me. Wondering whether the entire applause was for her or me, I stood up there holding my tear, afraid to blink. Yes, I am “Vijay”, the rightly named “Winner". I have given back more than what I received from the society, and that's what true victory is all about. 

    

  

The clash of two cousins- Part I

Aarthi is been shuffled from section B to section A, at her school for reasons god knows why. Being parted from her best buddies she sits grumpy in her new section with even grumpier looking mates. To stand in straight lines, bite finger nails before teacher checks, and wipe shoes clean with the other leg socks, sing high the lines you know well and just move lips for those that she doesn’t. Watch how neat the boy standing beside is and make plans to dirty his shirt during that days games hours :-p. Slip a spoon or two in between class hours and pass chits about all silly stuffs. Call friends in the name of doubts, but usually to continue the stories that was left mid-way. Study more but show that out less and secretly check others marks and crave to beat them at least in next test. Call it a day when the last bell rings and empty your water bottle drawing patterns along the road, to save dad’s scold. Throwing shoes (which would go round and round in the air before it lands), socks at the room corner and the heavy bag on the first chair that is before, she would enter the house sweat and sticky. At home her time sweeps with snacks, serials, movies music and home works all going hand in hand.  Nearing tenth grade, she is going through shrinking games, restricted TV hours, tuitions, frequent tests and burdening books. Elders crouch her with advices as if it’s some life changing race ahead. This is the definition of Aarthi's school going in short. 

And at home the only girl child stays with her hyper active granny, best cooking mummy, calm and simple dad and “can’t define” cousin, Sruthi.   Having late office hours and very kind manager, Sruthi is an extra gloom to our Aarthi. She will be stretching and yawning at 8’ o clock! in the morning, when Aarthi enters home after her early morning tuition. Daily, the elder cousin will lazily couch with a coffee watching the other busy hunting for ribbons, canvas shoe and cycle key. It’s only then that throwing dirty socks, tickling, pinching and showing faces takes place. The same teen will behave so sweetly in the evening, for a ride in the bike and that yummy road side bites that her cousin would buy for her. Sruthi is portrayed as a very strict teacher at home, so that mom will believe that they do only studying when both cousins sit together inside the room locked. The elder cousin is liked by the junior when with lower grades, to skip Saturday eve tuitions for a movie, buy weekly once pizza, and especially when she lets her to shine out wearing her cloths and accessories.  With mock, laugh and giggle they get to bed fighting for softer pillows and corner of the bed, each night.

Next day again blooms with a cold war for a reason that could be nothing or anything. The same story repeats and the morning funda ends when, with hot lunch and heavy load of books Aarthi kick starts her every day journey, smiling broad at the stroke of her school bell. And this way she began liking her new section A and her cousin by the passing of each day.  

The sacred tale of Trees

I am the Aswatha Vrksham, the universal symbol of immortality and I am here to tell the tale of “we trees”. I, like the eternal soul never die but change forms. It was me, who Lord Krishna proclaimed himself to be. I stand as the court for all countryside verdicts and under me people gather to discuss important issues and take major decisions. Some intelligent fellow in the long past associated me with Yama, the lord of death and since then I am believed to be the abode of ghosts. And for this reason people never lie in front of me, fearing the Vetals hanging down my branches might possess them. So I stand there for ages as sole witness for all panchayat cases and unwritten judgments. I have a female counter part, the Pipal. Her leaves are more heart shaped and tender than mine with long tapering tail. As she gently flaps them with the breeze, it’s a soothing music for the ears. She is a real magic to this earth and every living being on it. She breathe out more oxygen during the day and sighs out less CO₂ in the dark. Not only humans, even we do night shifts ;-). More technical if I get into, she follows Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM photosynthesis). Her leaves keep the stomata open during the night which lets in CO₂. This CO₂ is stored mostly as malate in her vacuoles which are later put to use in the photosynthetic kitchen during the next day. At day light, her stomata are kept closed to reduce water loss by evapotranspiration. In short, hers is an excellent adaptation in arid conditions.

The Aswatha Vrksham

  It’s all true that I am most majestic among my family, the king of trees. I shade and shelter innumerable life forms upon and around me. But this same massiveness and lasting nature of mine keeps me away from homes. My life is an analog to that of a hermit. There is one among us who clones with the life of a household human. His acquaintance with families and presence in ceremonies is something I envy about him. He is the symbol of renewal. Full of flesh and sap, perpetual dying and rejuvenating kind! He is the Banana, who is believed to be the devaguru Briaspati himself! Having him is equivalent to have a guru at home. This perennial herbaceous man is the cheapest storehouse of calorie and vitamins. He is head to toe full of health. The mat root system, false stem (pseudostem), broad leaves, flower stalks and instant energy fruits are direct benefits.

The Holy Basil

Next is my love, the holy ‘Basil’. A royal princess as her name describes. Tulsi, as she is otherwise called is the icon of purity and queen of herbs. She works wonder against body and skin disorders, repels insects and poisonous serpents, sharpens memory, fights cancer, slow down ageing and lot more. Anyone who speaks of Tulsi will hold dear to Neem too. The bitter elixir, universal cure all, air purifier and earth nourisher. My list will further extend to Mango, the symbol of love and fertility. Its fruit, the food of gods, when raw is a sour charm and when ripe, it’s wholesome nectar. Its root, bark, leaves, flower, fruit and even the seed kernel are important ingredient in various portions of Ayurveda. 

Keeping science aside, all of us are regarded sacred in Indian mythology. We have great significance in all religions. It was under my lady Pipal, (Bhodi tree as it was known later) that lord Budha got enlightenment. The glorious palm tree was mentioned in the holy Bible and Quran as the symbol of joy, cheer and life. There are also references which states that this tree resembles life of a Muslim. Fig, olive, pomegranate and many among us find places in different holy texts according to where we and that particular religion originated and flourished.  Still people go around us murmuring chats and tie knots over us in prayer. I wonder how much of their wishes have come true. But nobody can deny the fact that we keep a positive vibe around us and intoxicate all beings. May be this was what people saw as sacred in us. We chariot health, energy, charm and grace into life thereby enlightening them. For these reasons, wise old men associated us with divine. For days to come, we will bind to our virtue, never cause harm, teach more giving than taking and continue to be the pioneers of goodness......

"I bow my head in reverence to our ancestors for their sense of the beautiful in nature and for their foresight in investing beautiful manifestations of Nature with a religious significance." – Mahatma Gandhi

                 

A Bonafide Love Story ......Through Proper Channel

I am a Leo in my early twenties studying at a psychopath school. Like many other fortunate youth of my age, I too got to meet my “Love of Life” here. She is my phantom of frustration, opposite of hope, she is my hell!! This only girl child is been pampered and spoiled at home . I can’t control laughter at her sorrows and hence keep my head bowed each time she starts with her silly agony. Its drizzle inside, when she strolls across my lab. And can u imagine what a drizzle inside a chemical lab would be like? That feel smells like pungent rotten egg! Its like a chemical spill! Its an acid burst! When her dazzling red car passes, it’s a freezing chill runs over me. I can sense her even from distance, stop whatever I am doing and rush to a safe hide out. Yaeh, so much thick is our wavelength. I have a mate, we both work in lab together. He too has similar feelings for her, like me. But there is one thing about this love.  There will be many people in love with the same person, but you will feel yours as the most crazy and wittiest. Whenever I go out with my friends, her topic comes into discussion. I have tried not to bring her everywhere, but I can’t help it!! She brims out of me somehow. I discuss about her foolishness, her pointless arguments and her ability to never understand anything. During every such discussion, my friends burn their stomach not because of envy but because they laugh out that hard. I love her more each day for every reason stated above and she loves me back equally by awarding me with least possible grades.

Now that classes have ended and results have come, we broke up officially. But still I can no way let her go that easily. That disgusting stare of hers as I enter and leave the staffroom every time is still buried in my mind.  Without being able to see her parade walk, her freaky costumes, her bursting scold and repulsive gestures…ahhh I am dying each day with joy and peace. Babe.... I still miss you. :-p :-D