THE SOUND OF NATURE

There are 2 roads to reach my house. One is a town, the other is a quiet road. Even though i have many friends in the town stop i always get down at the other stop. You may wonder why. That is because you don't know the story of the beautiful bamboo trees near that stop. I have known them since i was 6 years old, I used to go walking with my father early in the morning.

Every time we pass the bamboos we would stand there and enjoy the serene beauty in them. Its like they were talking to me in their own language.

      Now, even after 10 years I get down the bus at the very same stop beside them. And even now i can hear them talking to the earth, to the sky,to the wind, and to me.

       A few days earlier i got down and ran eagerly towards my friends but i was rooted to the spot seeing 2 of my friends had disappeared and the third was  being chopped down. i walked slowly towards the trees, the wind blew so hard and loud that it was as if my trees were crying and i was crying too.....Now i always get down at the town stop. And when people ask why i just shrug and say "my friends are gone"....and those poor people smile and nod understandingly even though both they and i know that they did'nt understand a thing.......about my friends......and the sound of nature...... 

LOST

Do you remember old frnds, whom u may never see again but abt whom you will never forget. Yes, I remember each face very clearly but of them i'd like to mention some.

In 2nd standard I had a frnd named rahul....he was my first frnd who was a boy. He was not lyk other boys who considered themselves as brahmacharis. We used to sit in one bench so we shared a lot of things. But during the summer vacation his arm broke, and i remember him going away with that arm and a sweet smile.....

Then there is nikhil (i found him recently on orkut)... oh man he was funny. Anu and me used to snatchhis delicious aloo parathas away and make him whine....(for fun of cos...see wat a big bully i was)....he went away all of a sudden.

Then comes vishal tripathi, who came and went lyk a whirlwind. He was unaware of the devil boys and theit\r evil intentions. As he didn't know malayalam they made him blive that "patti" is a gud word....(there is nothing wroing wid the word but u cant call some1 that na?) I remember a small incident abt him. In social we had an assignment to write abt waste bins with lids....i wrote mine had one...he came and asked me "did urs relly hav one?" i said no ...he said "mine too"...and we laughed together...(see the thot of fooling the teacher is very amusing as i did'nt lyk her at all....)

Then anjana, she is a long lost frnd. I mean she was with us for only 1 year. But she left a permenant mark on my heart....she was the kindest and coolest gal i ever knew......she was so light hearted and easy going that everyone was her frnd. Its too bad that she is'nt around anymore na?

   Now cums my favourite and she is the one who united our group. She was a wide-eyed, vibrant girl,who was not only plucky but naughty too.

Actually she was totally my type of a gal. She too was here for a very short tym, then she also went away...she did'nt want to though...and we gradually lost contact...

Its kinda strange and funny when we recollect each face and still know that u may never see any of them ever again....but i blive...that the earth is round and....we will all be together sometym.....    

SORRY

That day i had a big fight with my friend. She was ignoring me for absolutely no reason. She was actually refusing to talk to me. I was so sad and sorry for weeks together. Finally i told the whole episode to my best friend. He told me to go and say sorry to her. I was stunned by his advice. I asked "but what did i do?". He said " it is not what you did, it is what you can do now. Besides by saying sorry you wont lose anything."
I said " of cos there are lots of things to loose, my dignity being the first. He laughed and said "thats where you are mistaken geet, you think someone who once hurt you wants to hurt you again. The truth is that she maybe waiting for a simple sorry."
I pondered over what he said....call it my superego or something but i didn't make up my mind to say sorry....but after a couple more days....i thought...."shut ur ego up geet and go say sorry to her...."
Finally after 7 months and 12 days (i did'nt add the hours,minutes and seconds bcos i dun want this piece to be too melodramatic.) i decided to talk to her.
I boldly went towards her. She looked at me not-so-coldly-as-before. I saw a little ray of hope.

I said slowly..."i'm sorry....". She laughed and asked "for what?" . I was stunned. The next thing i knew she was crying and hugging me. Whatever that i had done to her (which shud've been a big thing) she had forgiven me instantly.....i cud've hit myself real hard for not saying sorry before.....she held my hand and said 5 words " i missed you so much".....

A VEG DISASTER

My mom is a pure vegetarian. I don't  know why, some people think that its strange. I mean we are the odd ones wherever we go.
      It happened during a marriage reception. Mom, my sis and me were seated around a table. As usual came the paper plates and the ENORMOUS quantity of rice. Before we knew it an unsuspecting man started pouring chicken curry into mom's rice. She almost screamed. Everyone was startled. Suddenly 7 or 8 people were around our table. The man looked so worried and confused that mom started laughing. He changed the plate and when we said we wanted veg people serving started shouting "pachakari" "pachakari".We all started laughing very hard.
        Then dad asked for a veg side dish (i mean upperi)....This stirred every person who was serving. Each set down their task and went in search of pachakari.!...they were shouting pachakari pachakari the across the tables, by that time we had almost collapsed from laughter.
            Then a man ( i think who was in charge of pachakari!)...came and said in an apologising tone "i think its over" then added as a consolation " it was there in the afternoon and definitely it will be there tomorrow!" i had difficulty in breathing because i was laughing much too hard....

                IT WAS A TOTAL VEG DISASTER!!!

A 'COLLEGE' BUS RIDE

'cole', 'cole' the cleaner was yelling at the top of his voice. Only if u know what he is yelling abt will u know what it really means. Didn't understand? Well its like this, when he yells 'cole' 'cole' he means college that is medical college.

Now back to the story. I was weaving my way through a crowd of old aunties- this is a speciality of 'college' bus. ONLY when you travel in it will you know HOW stubborn these aunties can be- "Hey kid!! move over there, budge here"...(the conductor is much better)- What a headache, Stepping on our toes, almost pushing their hair into our mouth ( that is definitely a nightmare). I, somehow managed to get inside the bus. Even then i had to hang on the roof with my feet in the air.

Another unique feature of the 'college' bus is that, it only appears after 8 buses to vellimadukunnu. Once you enter the bus stop, you get damn bored by hearing the "innathe" "innathe" of the lottery ticket seller. If you stand there long enough you can actually by heart what they are saying.

Once we are in the bus, we must immediately start thinking about getting out, which happens to be as hard as getting in. Once we manage to convince an aunt into moving, our bag get stuck between another two (u cant blame me....my bag is big...blame the authorities) With that we manage to get at least two glares and several stares.

And then, when we finally and literally JUMP out of the bus, it leaves with a puff...and there...ALL the dust gets into our eyes. We stare at the bus with a sigh and start towards home.

TEMPTATION

I was sneaking into the kitchen unnoticed by my parents or my sister. I slowly opened the cupboard, cautious to make no noise, and took out a piece of chocolate cake. Oh no! What's that noise? its my mother coming. Its too late to hide. I was like a cornered rat.

I saw a frown beginning to develop on my mother's face. Oh no! Usually these frowns are followed by long and boring lectures on vitamins, minerals and such tasteless things. Oh yes, it went as i predicted to be rescued only by her mobile ringing.

I sped up the stairs hoping she won't continue the lecture. I still had that piece of cake. I started munching on it while turning the pages of my chemistry textbook.

The next day, it was maths period. The teacher was dragging the already boring lessons on circle. Suddenly my stomach gave a grumble and my head was full of circles.

I was eager to know what mother had kept for lunch. Yeah i know its surprising as earlier referred to it as tasteless but this situation is different. My stomach gave another grumble as the bell rang. I ran out of the door.

After tuition, I walked down towards my house. My legs were rooted to the spot right in front of my favorite store- the bakery.

There was shelves full of cakes, halwas, ladoos and other delicious sweets which were much too expensive for my pocket. I finally gave up staring and swallowed the saliva in my mouth, turning with a sigh towards my home.