Agumbe Ghat… Walking down…

Believe me readers; it’s very difficult to stand, straight without a movement, at a gunpoint. Especially when your eyes are blindfolded by the blackest cloth of the century. That too, damn tight!

My legs were trembling when the second person with a shabby beard and eyes as wide as the blackboards of our college, walked behind me and put a black cloth on my eyes and taking it all the way back, tied it tightly behind my head. He then pulled both my arms behind my back and tied them together with a rope. I could hear nothing but the beat of my heart. Standing at the end, I was the last one to be blindfolded. After that I was pushed by him and I sensed the same case with other two of my buddies. He forced me to bend my head and literally pushed me into the van.

As soon as I sat, I felt the zippers of Sandy’s six pocket jeans. Felt relieved that atleast we were together in whatever we were, literally a dark blue van.

Though I heard them chatting, their voices were so low that I doubted if atleast they were able to hear each other. We were sitting packed tightly in the van that was being driven by the craziest driver I had ever driven with. He neither cared for the pot holes nor the turnings of the ghat. We were being thrown to our left and to our right and many a times we bumped into each other and a few times our heads bumped to the roof of the van. At any normal time, I bet all three of us would have been angry to hell, but the smallest thought of being pointed by a gun and kidnapped had left us dry.

I wish I could atleast talk but never took the risk and kept to myself. After a drive of around 30 minutes, I sensed the van taking a deep right turn and suddenly the van started shaking very ugly. The driver really had a heart colder than a stone, to kidnap three little innocent kids and then drive at top speed without even caring for them. I bet on my pocket money, he even had the suspension of the van removed just to torture us. If this was a trailer of the torture those cruel heartless guys could give, what would be the real torture we would have had to face? The slightest thought sent a chill down my spine and I sat upright suddenly only to be bumped again by another turn taken by our reckless driver.

After a journey of another 15 minutes on the worst road ever travelled, the van stopped. The van did not move for some complete five minutes but still the engine was on. The tedious journey of our kidnap started again after a not much relieving break.

Finally breaking the silence I heard a man speak, “You guys are being kidnapped”

Oh! Thanks for opening my eyes! I had thought we were being taken on a romantic Golconda ride in Venice!

“But why?” I heard Shetty’s voice.

Oh man, this guy had guts, though his voice seemed abnormally like a 3 year kid.

“You are no one to ask questions” the man suddenly whacked at Shetty.

I felt pity for Shetty, remembering the day when he had daringly stood up in the Biology Class in our PU Days and asked the lecturer, “Why can’t I refer my own notes from other books?”

“Just sit and listen to the lecture” had come a reply as sharp as an arrow and as fast as it and pierced straight into Shetty’s heart cracking its walls and then puncturing it!

“We were given orders to kidnap you” I heard another man speaking with a voice rougher than the voice of van’s silencer.

It was not like we three were obedient and obeyed their orders to not ask any more questions, but none of us dared to ask any more questions!

The journey turned silent and tedious with none speaking. We even lost the count of time we had been travelling. The van would take random turns and the driver never tiered driving as rashly as possible. It was loud screech of the brakes that woke me up. The van suddenly stopped and even the engine stopped.

I heard the door open on both sides of the van and a tough hand pulled me out. With everything dark, I had to feel the end of the door and then carefully keep out my leg, but the person or better say kidnapper, dint give me a chance for all that. He just heartlessly pulled me out of the door like pulling a bag of rice. He guided me to walk a few steps and then I stumbled upon something.

“There are steps” he said coarsely

“Sorry, I dint see them” I said, pretty sarcastically.

“There are two more” he said not even caring for my sarcasm.

Climbing the three steps I again walked into what I felt to be home. The smell of freshly cooked rice made me realize of my hunger.

Damn! This kidnapping thing had taken out all my senses!

“Now better they cook a nice sambar with the rice” I said to myself.

After hearing a door lock, I felt silence rule over us.

“Are you guys also here? Vish? Shetty?” I heard Sandy’s voice.

“Dude I am here” Shetty said

“Congrats, we have been kidnapped” I said

“Just shut up. This is no time for fun” Shetty said in anger.

“Where was your anger when we were being kidnapped” Sandy asked him

“Ofcourse I was afraid. I know you two both are afraid. We are lucky they dint shoot us or hurt us” Shetty said

“Don’t panic Shetty, it’s of no use. We can’t do anything until we get to know what all this is about” I said

“Naxals. What else?” Shetty sounded disgusted. I was sure, he too was pissed off by the rash driving more than by being kidnapped.

“It is really dangerous guys” Shetty continued after a long gap “We are finished”

“Don’t panic. Be brave man” Sandy said.

“I am brave Sandy. Else anyone else could already have pissed in his pants at a gunpoint” Shetty said

“Now please stop boasting. I know we dint piss only because we were dehydrated” I said

I heard Sandy laugh just when the door opened.

“You three have been kidnapped” we heard a voice, again as thick as a Hollywood Devil.

“Now how many times in the world would they be telling us that we are kidnapped” I thought.

“Your eyes would be tied till our boss comes” he continued.

“Oh this is new information, keep ears open” I said to myself

“It may take 10 minutes or even may take 2 hours” he said.

“But you will be served dinner now. Don’t worry” we heard a female voice.

“What??? We were kidnapped by a lady?” I was questioned by my heart.

“Don’t try to escape. Don’t try any stunts. You be good, we will be good. You try to be bad, we will be worse. Pray you remain safe till you are here. Our boss will take all the decisions once he is here. That’s all we have to say and we won’t listen anything that you say” the man with Hollywood Devil’s voice continued and walked out of the door.

I heard few footsteps and a loud bang of the door.

“Guys, there is a lady in this gang” Shetty said. His voice seemed little relaxed and more excited now than it was few minutes back.

“I am still here” we heard the lady’s voice.

It was very difficult for me to control my laughter and I heard Sandy laugh loud as I joined him. I wished if she could open my eyes for a few seconds to catch a glimpse of Shetty’s face.

After a few minutes of silence, which seemed like months, we heard few voices and then the door opened. Again after few whispers, finally the man with Hollywood Devil’s voice said, “We will be serving you dinner, rice and plain daal. We won’t open your eyes but we will give you plates into your hands. Speak only if you need water. No more food will be served. You are not in a five star hotel”

After a minute my hands were untied and I felt a hand holding my left hand and kept a plate on my left palm. Holding the plate in my left hand, still sitting on the floor leaning to the wall of an unknown home at an unknown place I checked the food on my plate with my right hand. I felt my heart cry out for all those poor humans who had no vision and still managed to be equal in all ways to us. Feeling the hot rice and daal, I mixed it and took it into my hand and put it in my mouth. There neither was any spice nor any salt, making it the best cooked plain daal ever. Without much treat for my tongue, I simply munched the rice in my mouth. Atleast we got something to feed our hungry stomachs.

After a short dinner, our hands were wiped by paper and we were given a glass of water. While drinking water, I heard a loud screech of brakes. Suddenly it seemed like the activity increased in the home while our hands were tied back again. We could hear voices, footsteps, opening and closing of doors. All the rough voices continued feeding into our ears till sometime and then everything died down. The door of our room opened and then within seconds closed with a loud bang. It felt being slapped every time the door was banged.

After that loud bang, silence prevailed. Everything turned so silent that even the wind coming in between the gaps of a closed window to our right brought a shiver in us. Every passing moment started teasing us with our heart growing more and more tensed. The hair on the back of my neck that had risen on hearing the loud bang had still not settled down.

Though everything seemed adventurous, deep down under my heart, even under the layer which was trying to be humorous, I was damn frightened. Being kidnapped is obviously no fun to celebrate. All the numerous scary thoughts buried under were now being woken up by the silent wind blowing in.

I had to break the silence but I was now too scared to speak anything that might land us in more trouble. I even felt Sandy and Shetty would also have been feeling the same. There was no string of doubt in it.

The silence continued scaring us with a mysterious hum in its tone. I felt the wall and the floor turn cool with every passing minute. There was now no use in thinking of anything.

Banggggggggggg!

I heard a loud thud on the door. And then the door was opened so furiously that the door went all the way and hit the walls on both the sides. Then we heard few footsteps and whispers.

I felt a hand hold my left arm tightly and pull me up. I stood up. He, I knew it was a man’s hand holding me by its firm grip, pulled me ahead and I stepped ahead like a sheep stepping ahead when pulled by a rope tied to his neck. After a few steps, he reached behind my head and untied the knot in the black cloth that had been tied on our eyes.

To be continued…

Please do leave a comment below if you are liking this and are more than eager to know what happens next…

Vishal…

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Agumbe Ghat

The month of August had just started and the college days were running away at their usual speed with loads of college fun. I still remember the day, August 6^th 2005. I was sleeping like a wooden log when my Dad woke me up. Taking a look at the wall clock hung right above my desktop, with one eye still closed, I found the time to be 4 PM. What the hell, I had just slept for 40 minutes and it seemed like years. “Ah! What a sleep it had been” I appreciated myself. But why did my Dad woke me? That was a question to which only Dad could answer.

“What happened Dad?” I asked rubbing my right eye and trying to sit up.

Just then I heard Sandy calling my name at the top of his voice. Getting my answer, I stepped down from bed. Opening the window, facing the gate of our home, I shouted back, “Will be there in a minute”

I quickly washed my face with cold water and walked, still in half sleep, towards the gate where Sandy was sitting quietly on his bike, with his hands folded, watching something far away with his small but sharp and dark eyes. I disturbed his silent mode when I walked over to him on the dried leaves, and the six foot tall stud unfolded his hands and held the handle of the bike turning towards me easing the stern look in his eyes to a smile.

“Shetty’s home?”

“Now?” I asked, yawning.

“Anytime. I was getting bored at home” he looked surprised to find to me sleeping at this odd hour.

“Let’s go. Even I was bored and finally slept off”

Within seconds we were riding towards Shetty’s home. We three had been friends since the time first dinosaur was still in an unhatched egg! We had done every stupid thing a gang of naughtiest friends could do together. Had been together in the class on the same bench and shared what not. The deepest of the deepest of our secrets had turned into the loudest laughs amongst us. Every place in my town was our hang out and every time of the day was right time for the three of us to meet. Even getting into different colleges had not stopped us from hanging out every other day.

I was thinking of the days we used to play cricket among ourselves after each of our exams when Sandy stopped his bike in front of Shetty’s home and shouted loudly. As though he had been waiting for us to arrive, Shetty ran out of the door of his home even before Sandy could complete his name.

“Dude, did you hear me call you or you had started running out of the home before I called you?” Sandy asked him.

“I heard your bike” said Shetty, sheepishly smiling like a child, pressing his already neatly groomed hair again with his right hand and holding the clutch of Sandy’s bike by his left eye.

He was still smiling without any break and looking at both of us with his eyes wide open, like a child who keeps on smiling till his presence is considered and his smile is taken as an application for his request of running out of the home for a game of cricket. His innocent peaceful face had never changed since the first day I saw him and even now he was looking as innocent as he had looked in the kindergarten. 

“What were you doing?” I asked him growing suspicious of his smile.

“Nothing” he said, still smiling.

“I smell something fishy” I said.

“Nothing. Believe me” He was still smiling.

“Then why the hell are you smiling like an idiot?” Sandy asked.

I tried getting down from the bike but Shetty stopped me saying, “Let’s go out somewhere”

Though we were more interested in why Shetty was behaving like that, we agreed to his proposal and Sandy turned his bike towards the market with Shetty following us on his bike.

“We should have taken three more Mirchi Bhajjis” I said, breaking the silence, after we finished eating the bhajjis we had got from the famous bhajji shop and sat peacefully in the park of our colony, munching them.

Over all the years we had grown up, two things had never died, our friendship and our love for Mirchi Bhajji!

After the bhajji’s, our round of talks, right from college till girlfriends started. We sat on the bench for hours talking about every possible thing in the world till the Sun set and the brightly shining silver clouds started floating in the dark moon lit sky. 

“Next Monday is the 15^th August” Shetty said

“Any function in your college?” Sandy asked.

“I am not sure of anything. I will be taking rest or else will be going to my aunt’s place.”

“What about you?” Sandy turned towards me.

“I will be at home. No plans for the Independence day” I said

“Let’s plan some trip” he said

We spent the next half hour in a gruesome battle on arguing with each other over the place and finally settled on vising Agumbe. Three reasons that supported us on selecting Agumbe, Sandy liked the place, Shetty too liked it and so me!

The next Saturday, we were sitting in the KSRTC bus headed towards Shimoga. The cool wind blowing through the window was spoiling the neatly groomed hair of Shetty, who had occupied the window sitting and was as happy as a child winning a chocolate from his mom after reciting a poem rightly the day before his test.

I turned to my left and was surprised to see Sandy in deep sleep. I wondered how he could sleep peacefully avoiding the rattling noise of the window pane, the sound of which was deadlier than the sound of a highly developed machine gun I recently watched on the Future Weapons series of the Discovery Channel. I presumed a heavy breakfast was helping him with his sound sleep.

Turning towards my right, I saw Shetty curiously watching the sight outside the window blinking his eyes every two seconds to avoid the furious wind blowing in. He groomed his hair every minute and right the next second, the wind would blow off his hair and would laugh at him and his annoyance.

Finding nothing interesting in the bus nor outside the window, more because the view being blocked by Shetty’s hand than by the scenery outside, I closed my eyes and started thinking of what awaited us in Agumbe. Just when I thought I had fallen asleep, something shook vigorously and I almost jumped out of the seat. I had to open my eyes when I almost rose in the air for few milliseconds and my ass thumped back onto the seat. Hearing a murmur in the bus, I looked everywhere and found every passenger in the bus equally disturbed and annoyed as I was. I even heard few abuse the driver who was happily driving the bus at the same speed giving a damn to what passengers said. With the top two buttons of his Khaki shirt open and a white towel rolled around his neck, he was driving happily, chewing his favorite tobacco, just like I play NFS on my desktop, except for the part of his Khaki dress, towel and tobacco! He had to be a die-hard NFS fan and thought the narrow road full of pot holes and speed breakers to be the frictionless roads of NFS. My anger turned into amusement when I noticed how much he was in love with his own style of reckless driving!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when the Sun turned complete red over the vast light blue sky which had now been lit orange and yellow by the Sun. The sky above us was light blue fighting hard to turn dark any moment while the sky in front of us was glowing with a mixture of hints of red, orange and yellow, changing every second. It seemed like the burning Sun changed his mind every second and kept on painting the sky with the colors of his choice. The view point on the Agumbe Ghat was filled with people, dying to catch a glimpse of the World Famous Agumbe Sunset. The road was now almost blocked by a number of cars randomly parked. Cameras clicked every second. Families and friends were discussing about their own opinions about that moment, but it turned complete silent when the Sun touched the horizon. He looked a red ball neatly balanced on a vast ground. He was burning red hot and the red and orange lines painted behind him agitated like the flame of a candle. A single cloud that had dared to enter the area where his rays reached, was glowing bright with a pure golden outline.

The more I avoided my eyes to blink, the more they blinked, cheating me of the mind blowing view. When my eyes opened after blinking for the hundredth time, I noticed the quarter part of Sun had vanished below the horizon. His brilliant shine seemed to go down with him, with more and more of the sky turning cooler and darker. Within seconds, half of the Sun was down. The remaining half looked like a golden dome of a building thousands of miles away. It was no more than few seconds before the Sun completely went down the horizon, taking all the bright colors from the sky with him, promising everyone to rise again the next day, just more brighter than he was yesterday.

The crowd turned back smiling and walked back towards their vehicles with a memory of lifetime captured in their hearts. The last hint of yellow died on the western part of the sky and the sky turned complete dark. The Sun had definitely made his presence, I thought. The cool sky was now peacefully looking at the three of us who were still standing on the view point looking at the sky. Time flew by and the stars started popping out as we still stood looking at the vast sky spread till every point our eyes could see. Life seemed peaceful, without a single string to disturb us. It seemed like the brain had slept without any work and the heart was humming a tune and the stars were twinkling to that tune!

A heavy dinner and a peaceful sleep under the dark silent sky helped us tackle all the exhaustion of the journey. We were fresh and full of energy when we sat in the mini bus enroute to Udupi. All three of us were equally eager to catch a glimpse of the very famous and one of the most pious idol of Lord Krishna.

After Lord Krishna’s darshan and heavy meal at the Krishna Mutt, we spent an hour at the Udupi beach and decided to head back to Agumbe. I was sitting at the window watching the greenery as the mini bus started climbing the famous Agumbe Ghat. The wind blowing on my face without any consideration was furious but was full of the freshness and was as unpolluted as the air can be. Shetty, who had taken the window right in front of me was also enjoying every moment of the ride. Sandy, sitting in front of Shetty, was also equally enjoying the ride.

The bus had just turned from a dangerous hair pin curve and was picking up speed when the driver changed the gear. Suddenly we heard a loud blast and the bus shook without any control. The driver tried his best reducing the speed of the bus and bringing it to halt, but by then each passenger in the bus was scared to death. Everyone started talking, chanting prayers, discussing things when the bus finally stopped, but I could notice each one of them had their hearts in their hands. To be true, even I was scared to hell. When the situation seemed in control and the hair on the back of my neck slept back, I turned to my right to take a look out of the window. The bus had stopped just on the edge, beside the two feet cement wall separating the road from a very steep fall. Raising my head a bit I tried to check the depth of the fall and just the thought of it sent shivers in my stomach. The driver and his navigator had got down to check what seemed to be a tire puncture.

After they declared it was a tire puncture, and they would fix it but would take some time, passengers started stepping out of the bus. Being equally naughty, we three were among the first of those passengers. We strayed hopelessly around the curve for a while, when Sandy said, “It’s just about three kilometers from here, let’s take a walk. What say guys?”

I was the first one to agree with him. Shetty was quiet and his silence showed his opposition but had to agree as we had the majority of votes. He went inside the bus, got his bag. We then started walking uphill on the narrow road towards Agumbe.

Sun had already set when we started walking and the sky was growing darker with every step we took. The more voices of birds and bees we heard from the surrounding forest, the more silent our hearts grew. It seemed as silent as it was not! We could hear queer voices at times and suddenly we could hear not even a faintest sound. Even moon was hiding behind a cloud and was enjoying our lonely walk. The stars shining now and then kept on questioning our choice of taking a walk. None of us had an idea of the time as even the bus we were sitting in, sometime back, overtook us.

We had covered around a kilometer but had remained silent all the way. Breaking the silence, Shetty said not risking to raise his voice above the buzz of the bees from the forest, “Is someone following us?”

We turned back suddenly and saw nothing. Both of us nodded a NO to him and kept walking, with an increased speed.

“Now?” Shetty asked again in a whisper, after we had crossed a curve.

We again turned suddenly and saw a middle aged man walking silently but not bothered to notice us. He was pretty close to us and we could even recognize his face.

“He was in bus with us” Sandy said.

“May be, even he decided to walk just like us” I said

“I saw him at the shop in Udupi” Sandy said.

“Yeah, and he got into the bus just after us” I continued.

“I bet he is following us” Shetty said, with a frightened look on his face.

“Yes, I bet he is following us. I am sure we will be robbed at next curve” I said.

“Or maybe he is one among the naxals?” Sandy said

“Shit man. We are gone” Shetty said.

“What if he kidnaps us?” Sandy asked turning at Shetty

The frightened look on Shetty’s face turned more serious. His stepped started picking pace as both Sandy and myself slowed down.

“Walk fast” Shetty whispered again.

“No use buddy. His group will be waiting for us at the next curve. The same thing happened few days back. A few people driving a van kidnapped a boy walking lonely on this same road.” Sandy said winking at me.

I could not control my laughter and started laughing loudly and Sandy joined in. Shetty turned at us with a surprised look. His face was blank as he saw us laughing at him. He scolded us for making fun of him and scolded Sandy for suggesting the crazy idea of taking a three kilometer walk in between the forest. He again scolded Sandy for telling him a fake kidnap news.

We had almost stopped walking and were laughing loudly without giving a damn to the situation. I turned back and was surprised. The man who had been walking behind us was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did he disappear?” I exclaimed.

Both Shetty and Sandy turned back and looked for him. We decided to wait for a minute to wait and check if he would come. Our faces turned serious and the laughter disappeared as we dint find him anywhere in our sight. Just few minutes back he was so close that he could hear us and we could see his face and now suddenly he disappeared, just like the flame in the wind.

The night never seemed more silent and the road never seemed lonelier than then. We stood looking at each other’s faces without any word.

It seemed we were equally hit by the sudden disappearance of the man and our hearts were now beating with equal speed, a speed which was not normal. The walk had suddenly turned more lonely and fearsome than we had ever thought.

Without speaking another word, we started walking faster towards Agumbe. The next curve, which was not the last one, was few 200 meters ahead of us. We walked briskly amid the deep forest and queer noises and took a turn at the curve.

As soon as we took the curve and came on the straight road, our eyes opened wider than a hippo’s jaw and our eyeballs popped out. We stood motionless and so did each of the hair on our body.

Together we said “Shit! Really?” as a heavily built shabby man with the broadest shoulders I had ever seen, holding a gun, walked towards us from a dark blue van with two more leaning on it, both holding a gun each and staring at us with all the hatred in the world…

To be continued…

To Sandy & Shetty & Our Agumbe Trip,

Vishal…

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Happy Father’s Day!!

 

“Dad! Get me a pen while coming from office”

And there you get a new pen right on top your study table.

“Dad! This is not the right book. I needed the other one. I had told you to check Dad”

And there right in front of you comes the new book which you wanted, along with it vanishes the frown on your face.

“Dad! Tomorrow is my exam but I don’t have an eraser”

And there comes the eraser before you grow tenser. Behind you stands your dad rubbing his wet hair. He is happier seeing you get ready for exam than worried about himself getting drenched while bringing the eraser for you.

“Dad! Tomorrow is my first Interview”

And there flows words of wisdom and the best set of advises along with a set of the most beautiful ties he has.

These are just a pinch of salt from the vast ocean. Yes, that’s right!

A Dad is just like an ocean. Everything that goes on in his mind always remains hidden deep under. Accepts anything that comes at him. Always stands afoot in protecting the ones who belong to him. Always protecting the family.

Our Idol, Our Superhero, Our Ideal Person, Strongest Man, Most dedicated Employee, The perfect Businessman, The Mathematician, The Doctor, The Scientist, The Cricketer, Our ATM Card, Our Bodyguard, Our Remote, Our Driver, Our Adviser, Our Friend, Our Teacher, and Our Pride!

One Person, Million Roles!

He is the first Idol for any Son and the strongest person for any Daughter.

Ask any daughter how her dream boy should be and she would draw an image of her Dad filled with his characters. Watch any girl stepping down from the stage collecting her award, her legs would be running towards her Dad just to hug him. Her Dad is her Man of Steel, he is the most handsome person she has ever known. A word against her Dad, is an insult to her.

Similarly ask any kid what he wants to be and his first statement would ‘Just like my Dad!’ He is every Son’s Pride. Dad’s footprints are the blueprints of every Son’s growth. Fitting into his shoes is an ambition of every Son.

It was long back when I was sitting in a park along with my friends after a wonderful match of cricket. On a bench just a meter away from us were sitting three little kids. Looking at them, I guessed their age to be anything between 10 to 12 years. They caught my attention when I suddenly heard one of the kid shouting “Engineer”

As I turned to them and increased the reception power of my ears, I heard the kid saying, “I want to be an Engineer just like my Dad. You know what?”

The other two kids were looking at him with their eyes wide open.

He continued, “My Dad is the best Engineer in the world. You know, the size of the machines he designs is bigger than the size of my room. I just want to be like him. Wake up early morning daily, wear the neatly pressed shirt and his red tie and just like him will drive the car to my office.”

“Even me too” another kid started speaking, “will become a Doctor like my Dad. Everyday patients queue in front of his clinic and he is so busy treating them but he has never ever forgot to buy me something while driving on his way back home”

They then turned at the third kid and more than them I was curious in hearing what he had to say. 

Before he could speak anything, my friends got up and I had to leave along with them. As I entered home, I saw my Dad silently watching the News. As soon as I entered, he turned at me, smiled and turned back at the News. I wondered how he could notice me while in middle of a news. I never notice him entering home while I am watching a Cricket Match.

I had my dinner, finished my studies, watched TV for half an hour and finally switched off the lights and closed my eyes just to see the same three kids from park stand in front of me.

They asked in unison, “What do you want to become when you grow up?”

Before I could think anything, they questioned again, “Will you become like your Dad?”

I sat up in darkness and started thinking of the question. The answer could have been simple. Just one nod. One letter – YES!

But I thought deep in dark. Will I ever be able to become a Xerox copy of my Dad? He smiles even while he is in midst of his project delivery. He discusses with me about Cricket Match even if he is worried about some office crisis. He sits with me till I pick up from dullness even if his eyes are closing after a daylong work at office. He kicks his scooter even if it’s raining so that I get what I want. He picks up my call even if he is in between a crucial calculation. He changes the channel and plays my Mom’s favorite serial even if he is interested in the Election Results being aired. He never forgets to check the windows and doors before he goes to bed. He never forgets my wish list even in between his numerous meetings. He has spent his only Sunday teaching me ride a bike. He kept on calculating my growth and my studies and my career all the day while sitting on a couch. He kept on working hard and saving enough to meet my expenses. He kept himself busy mending my mistakes, keeping me healthy, selecting the best clothes for me, walking me over to the best malls, providing me with the money to watch movies in the best theaters, filling my bike’s tank every week, selecting the best college for me, staying awake to open door late nights, changing his favorite restaurant to match my choice, identifying my loneliness, my needs, my likes, my dislikes, my strengths, my weakness’, pouring advises over me, helping me understand the toughest math theorem the night before my exam, demonstrating mannerisms and etiquettes, teaching behaviors and consciousness and what not! He never allowed me to sense his anger, his office load, his meetings, his deliveries, his pressures, his likes, his dislikes.

When I came home running, one day, holding my left hand after falling from bike, he said being strict, “Take care from next time. You have to ride slowly” and took me to doctor leaving his files immediately.

His voice gave me a lesson of caution alerting me. I became more alert since that day. But when I think deeply today, I still remember him stealing a look at my wound from the corner of his eye and frown while clinching his fist feeling my pain but never letting me feel it, instead inspiring me feel stronger.

Can I ever be like him? Can I ever step into the shoes of my Idol?

I opened my eyes at the three kids and said, “I can just keep trying and may be one day may reach till his shoulders. But I am sure, my shoulders will never be stronger than his. My heart would never be as large as his. My brain would never be faster than his. I will always be a part of him, will never be him!­”

I closed my eyes and felt two tears flow down my eyes wetting my pillow as I heard all three of them saying, “Whatever he says, I will be just like my Dad when I grow up”

I bet, we can switch off the TV and turn at our Dad and ask him, “How Dad? Holding my finger when I walked, holding a webcam as I ran, Teaching me write my first homework, Helping me understand my Math’s theorems, Buying me My Bike, Selecting my first Tie, Standing right beside my shoulder in every step of my life. How can you be so strong? How can you play all the roles, be my side always, be perfect in your work and yet sit back peacefully on that couch holding the newspaper without ever saying a word. I never heard you yelling or complaining. How Dad?”

And he would just smile back silently without a word and turn back to his Newspaper… Just like the Ocean…

For all the Superheroes out there, silently reading newspaper but deep inside, worried about a million things and calculating another million things to keep everyone in the family happy…

I still remember the day

And the advises you gave me on the way

When I had held your hand tight

While crossing the road without any might

I never saw your sleepy eyes

Nor heard your silent praise

While we sat together to learn the math

And while learning the bike on the lonely path

The bundle of your advises

Helped me tackle all the surprises

Watching you over these years

Helped me fight all my fears

Your support has always been the key

To kiss my successes in this journey

Your finger's warmth as you taught me walk

Still helps me gain my strength as I talk

I now know I have to keep walking

Till I reach where you keep dreaming

You are the reason I have never been sad

Thank you for being my lovely Dad

To My Strongest Superhero and My First Idol…

Vishal…

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When I went for a walk…

 

It was the month of June!

A most hated month for children when the boring schools reopen, a most loved month for the farmers and the Water Department expecting the rains, an irritating month for all the adults who hate being disturbed by the dirty pot holes and splashing mud on their way to office, a month eagerly awaited by the drought hit people, a month which annoys mothers when they try hard to dry off their kid's clothes and a month being taken in hundreds of ways by hundreds of people. Whatever may be the hundred ways, this month is definitely loved to the top by two, noisily croaking frogs and silently romancing pairs!

All these years the rain for me meant playing rough football with my chuddi buddies in the field, spending time inside house with dad and copying his novel reading style, getting a warm head massage from my mom to dry my hairs followed by her special coffee, missing the games period in school and sitting in class trying to understand why the Moghuls ever invaded India.

But this year I had just passed out of my college. My final semester had completed just a week back and I was pretty sure of clearing my exams. So, in my mind I was an Engineer! But on Papers, I was still far from being Engineer by 35 marks in all the four subjects and then nothing in the world could stop me in joining the MNC I had already got offer from!

I had woken up late and was still lazily drinking my coffee sitting in the couch and blankly glancing the newspaper. Nothing special caught my eyes and I folded the newspaper and kept it back in its place. Thinking of watching something on the TV was a wrong idea as it would disturb Dad who was concentrating on some of his files sitting right in front me. I scratched my head thrice when I heard Mom calling in for breakfast. I ran in holding the coffee cup even before Dad could turn.

Spending two more hours with breakfast, bath, 46 channels in TV, and then 20 minutes of FB and then the lunch dint help me kill my boredom. I thought most of my friends were experiencing the same boredom just like me. If it was the same day two weeks back, the whole gang would be sitting on the stairs of the college cracking jokes on each other. I realized how much I missed my friends. If it was not them then I would be sitting silently in front of Tanu in the Library watching her cute fair face while she read sincerely.

I cursed VTU for finishing my college life just in 4 years! I was still in dilemma if I had to ask my friends to gather at the Mamu’s Restaurant for Mirchi Bhajji or to ask Tanu to meet up. Before I could put more pressure on my grey cells, my mobile alerted with its message tone. I unlocked it and read a forward message from one my friend. My thought was right, even he was hell bored and was sending some useless forwards. As I kept back my mobile and switched on the TV again, my mobile beeped again. My face turned all smiles when the name on the screen flashed Tanu.

 Shall we meet in eveng?

Wow! What better could I have asked for? I jumped on the bed carefully hiding from my Dad and replied

Yep!!! J

Within seconds I got her reply

Nice! J Had lunch?

Ys jst now.. U??

Hd Chapati and Aloo curry.. wht did u eat?

Veg Pulav :D

Oh.. ur fav.. so now u ll slp nicely

We continued chatting and by the time I released it was already evening. The day had turned hotter but it was still brighter with Sun’s sharp rays. We decided to stop chatting, get ready and meet at a nearby mall where she had to buy a new dress for her cousin’s marriage.

I jumped up from bed, ran in to get fresh. With a short shower as I walked out fresh, Mom was watching me in disbelief with her eyes wide open.

“Why did you take bath now?”

“Because, your Son is going out now” I said smiling at her

“Now????” she asked in disbelief.

“Yes. Why?”

“It’s about to rain. Stay at home”

“Mom, its fine. As soon as it starts I will come back”

“Let him go. He must be bored. He hasn’t even stepped out of that bed since last three days” Dad said as he walked into the kitchen to get some water.

“Ok. But take care. And return back as soon as it starts raining. And don’t ride in rain.”

“Anything you say Mom!” I said spraying deo all over my body.

One last look in mirror, I looked fine in that blue jeans and dark brown polo T-Shirt. I left the top button unbuttoned but sensing Mom would notice it, I buttoned it and walked out of the home yelling a loud bye to Mom and Dad. Wearing my helmet, I started my bike and sped out from home. It was really a hot evening and the roads were empty helping me ride faster.

As I walked out from the parking of the mall, I saw Tanu sitting on the bench outside the mall waiting for me. She looked gorgeous in her cream colored Kurti over blue jeans. She was sitting in the shade of tree but few naughty rays passing in between the leaves were disturbing her striking her face. She had held her wallet against those rays and was trying to save her little eyes from them. As I walked near her, she brought down her wallet and her bright fair face glowed like glittering gold. She turned at me blinking her eyes trying to escape those naughty rays and smiled. Her smile! What a cute little smile was that. The perfect smile with both lips making a design of an overturned rainbow with little dimples on both ends.

As she stood up, still smiling, I couldn’t help not noticing the design of maroon colored flowers neatly printed all over her cream colored Kurti. Each one of the flower had five petals that twisted at their end to their right and it seemed like the flower had been captured when someone holding it was swirling it. The curve of the petal was exactly similar to the little curve created on her cheeks by her sweet little dimples.

As I stood in front of her, she frowned and said, “Late by 8 minutes”

I smiled silently and said, “Can’t escape the traffic these days” and raised my shoulders carelessly.

She hit me hard in my stomach and held my left arm and started walking into the mall saying, “Liar!”

“So you have come out for shopping with a liar?” I asked as we stepped into the AC Mall from the hot environment. It felt nice as the cool wind blew on my face and Tanu’s grip on my arm tightened.

“Yes. A Sweet Liar. Any problem?” she asked turning at my face and again turning back at the shops.

Sun was about to set as we walked out of the Mall completing her shopping and a glance at my Casio displayed 6:40 PM.

“How about taking a walk in the park? I have one more hour” she said.

“Anything is fine with me. I have the whole evening”

“But it might rain anytime” she said

“Yes, let’s take a short walk and then return home”

We then walked to the parking lot where she kept her shopping bags in her Activa and turned back towards the exit. Crossing the road we entered the park and I saw many other people ranging over all the ages were present, many of them walking, few of them just enjoying the comparatively cooler park, reading books, and busy chatting.

The sky now looked dark with few silver colored clouds lazily sitting at their places looking at the other dark clouds planning the most awaited rains. The Sun had almost reached the horizon and was about turn off his light any moment, while few his brightest rays were still lighting up the sky at west and it seemed some huge red fire was burning somewhere far and the flames rising up made the western part of the sky turn red while the eastern part looked cooler and darker with the sky still trying its best to look cool blue.

As we took few more steps, holding each other’s hands, a cool breeze blew suddenly. A sudden relief seemed kissing my face freshening me up. I noticed the leaves on each of the tree and plant dance joyously along with the breeze. Silently I turned to my left and looked at Tanu. She was busy noticing a small kid who was quarreling with his mom who was persuading him to stop playing. Tanu had let her hair loose and few of them suddenly broke the line and moved out freely along with the wind. They raised and moved in front of her face and covered her cheeks from me. A few even managed to go till her little sharp nose and then raised till her eyes, blocking her view and then suddenly fell down on her nose and cheeks as the wind stopped. She then neatly, still looking at the kid, raised her left hand and slowly took all those hairs and neatly placed them back behind her ear and moved her hand again, combing her hair. It was then that her hand hit her earring and that, shaped like a chandelier, oscillated twice and stopped back at its place.

Suddenly I felt a drop of water on my cheek. It was the most expected time, I guessed. The first rain of the year! And I was out to enjoy it with the most beautiful girl in the world! As I was thinking how romantic the evening turned with the colored sky, dancing trees, cool breeze kicking away the dryness and the heat and cold drops of water touching my face now and then; upon this, cutest girl holding my hand; few more drops fell down on my face, shoulders and head.

I turned at Tanu and she too turned at me the same time. I noticed two drops of water on her nose shining like a pearls. She blinked her eyes and smiled at me. I too smiled back at her. She loosed her hand and raising her hand to her nose to wipe those two drops that were tickling her and then childishly smiled at me narrowing her small dark eyes. I was still smiling noticing her childishness. She then held my arm tightly and said “It’s gonna rain. Wow!”

“Yes. It’s already started. First rain of the year…”

“…And we are together” she continued resting her head on my shoulder slowly.

It then thundered in the sky and made a quick shape of a randomly twisted line and lighting up the sky for a second and then disappeared without even leaving its trace. As Tanu heard the sound she tightened her grip and raised her head looking at me.

“You know Vish, I always wondered what design the lines made and how it looked in the sky. But I was always afraid of thunders and closed my eyes and missed noticing the design every time” she said and giggled a little over her own fear.

I joined in her giggle and said, “Watch it today, I am with you”

She turned at me and smiled. Suddenly there was another thunder and she quickly closed her eyes. Before I could say anything, the frequency of water drops increased and yes, it was the first rain of the year!

Water drops fell all over her forehead and in within minutes, it started raining. Everyone including every leaf on every tree was drenched in water. Mother Earth who had dried up and waited patiently for water finally got the rain. Every falling drop of water drenched her thirst and the wetting soil sent up a dull dust into the air with a signal carrying the message of thanks to the sky for the rains. Within seconds the earth's smell of first rain surrounded us. It seemed the whole world danced rejoicing the rain. As the pace of rain increased, every person in the park started running towards the best available shelter. But every tree and plant in the park stayed at their place enjoying the rain.

I turned at Tanu and noticed her smiling like a kid with her eyes still closed and enjoying the rain. Her wet hairs now sat back in their place but her cheeks still glowed as the water drops flowed down to her little round chin. She looked gorgeous than ever. The happiness inside her out beat the tress plants earth and just everything. When she opened her eyes she noticed me looking at her and raised her eyebrows questioning me. I raised my hand and pointed at her and then made a signal of super. She blushed and turned at sky again. I too looked up at the sky which was showering the much needed rain. My eyes fought hard to escape the water drops and kept blinking every second.

Tanu loosed let my arm loose and raised both her arms. Holding up her hands freely, she swirled slowly just like the flowers on her Kurti. As she swirled, her hair too tried breaking loose and the drops waiting to fall down at the end of them splashed onto my face. I was busy falling deeper in love with her while watching her enjoy the rain like a kid who has nothing else to care about in the world. Her face reflected the joy in her heart and was glowing brightly. I was standing enjoy the most romantic scene of my life.

Finishing her round, she opened her eyes and looked at me. I was still enjoying watching her.

“Enjoy the rain Vishhhhh. It’s the first rain. Ahhhh. I soo much love this smell”

I did not want to break my smile and open my mouth in replying her. I held her both hands and pulled her closer to me. She was now smiling blankly at me. I held her hands and bent down my head. My forehead touched her head.

“A small dance?” I asked her

She just smiled and we stepped our legs together in sync holding each other’s hands. The water drops falling down on the leaves provided the most romantic music for our dance. The sky was now darker but it seemed the Sun was still peeping very very far away and was watching our dance. The silver clouds now seemed being burnt with red border from the dying rays.

When I opened my eyes after four steps, I saw her and was completely lost in her face brightly shining with the bright street lights inside the park. Her eyes were still closed but a drop of water on her eyes lids fell down as she opened her eyes.

She looked right into my eyes and locked my eyes when we heard another thunder and a moment of bright light in the sky appeared like a flash light from God’s camera capturing the most romantic scene of my life. She smiled as the thunder disappeared and said, “My eyes dint close. This is all sooo romantic Vishhh”

“And you are sooooo beautiful Tanu” I replied still looking into her eyes as she blushed bending down her head.

We both smiled at each other and walked back towards the mall, holding each other’s hands and enjoying the fresh air with the smell of first rain, cool breeze with a mix of the cold rainfall, dancing leaves and the singing earth with a chorus of different creatures out of their home enjoying the rain!

Welcoming the monsoon,

Vishal…

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Happiness is a Choice!!

 

Happiness!! Isn't it something that we never understood but we always wanted to savor? But what is happiness? How can we achieve it? Is it available on sale? Is there any way we can earn it? Can we live with it forever?

Seems pretty difficult questions. We may try few random answers but as you go on thinking deeper, you never get to the bottom of these answers. And wait! If you all are expecting me to answer these questions here, today, in my blog then you are wrong! I am just going to tell you all wonderful people a short sweet story!

As it goes… Once upon a time when the Sun was still round and the frogs still made that queer sound and the trees still grew from the ground; there was a city well known all across the globe. In that noisy city lived two twins. Sonu and Monu, like any other twins they two loved each other a lot no matter what happened and how far their sibling quarrels went.

When they stood facing each other, people wondered if it was only one and the other a mirror. They looked exact the same only difference, Sonu was seven and half minutes older than Monu. They had studied separately but grew together. They had different tastes but shared everything. They now worked in separate firms but lived together. To look at, no one could make out who was who among them, but being with them also made no difference, they both were equally patience and soft spoken.

As days passed, Sonu started noticing changes in Monu. Monu was growing restless, his face clearly reflected the depression in his heart. It was a clear bright full moon day’s night with the thousands of naughty little stars twinkling at each other as though they were cracking PJs and having fun among themselves and a big round white ball, just like a weightless cotton ball freely floating in the air, when Monu was sitting on his armchair and staring at the night sky without really enjoying the beautifully lit sky.

Sonu walked into Monu’s room and placed his hand on Monu’s shoulder. Suddenly waking up from his thoughts, Monu turned back and looked blankly at his brother. Sonu smiled peacefully and sat on the bed beside the armchair and looked outside the huge window. The silence prevailed for few minutes.

Breaking the silence, Sonu said, “Monu, do you notice that tiny little star between the three bright stars?”

“Where?”

Sonu got up and moved across to the window. Pointing his arm towards a group of stars, he said, “Right over there, two stars are very bright and the third one is little dull. Right in between those is a tiny little star. It looks so small, but when it shines just look at it. It has the strength of overpowering all three of them only if it was nearer to us”

“Yeah right”

The silence again grew. After few minutes, Sonu said, “What’s the problem Monu? Why are you depressed these days? I haven’t seen you happy since a week. Is there something bothering you?”

Monu turned at his brother for a second and then again turning back to the sky, “I am not sure what is biting me” he continued, “but something is really wrong with me. I am not able to find happiness in anything that I do. I am not finding any success. Whatever I do, whereever I go it just seems that everything is irritating me.”

“This is pretty bad Monu. Why dint you tell me before?”

“I don’t know Sonu. I just don’t know what to do. How to set things right? All this has been drilling my mind since a week.”

“It’s so easy. Just walk back and mend everything that went wrong and be the same as you were earlier. Everything will start falling in place and as they say, ‘Time heals everything!’”

“Yes Sonu you are right. That’s what I had decided to do tomorrow. But…” Monu break in between and fell short of words. He was still lost in searching the brightest star in the sky.

“But what?” Sonu asked.

“But what if nothing falls in place. Even if everything falls in place but will it be the same after that? What if

I start feeling the same again? What if I grow more depressed? It seems to me that happiness is a myth”

Sonu, suddenly turning towards his brother said, “No Monu. Why are you speaking like that? Happiness is not a myth. It’s just everywhere, it’s in you, around you, it’s in air we breathe, it’s in the water that we drink, it’s just in everything we do everything we feel and what not.”

“Then why am I missing it Sonu? Can you tell me how can I get that happiness?”

“Monu! It’s the simplest thing in the world. Imagine happiness as Oxygen and everything else as other components of air. Now when you have air around you, you will definitely intake it all, including the dust, the smell and even this Oxygen. It’s then deep in your body, the air is filtered nicely and your body chooses only the Oxygen and kicks off the rest.”

“Sonu, I am not getting” Monu said looking at Sonu with his eyes wide open and his jaws dropped down.

Smiling at his brother, Sonu continued, “You got the Oxygen part? Right?”

“Yep” Monu nodded, still with his eyes wide open.

“Now coming onto happiness. Whatever you intake is a mix of everything brother. You just have to filter out the rest and grasp in the happiness. You will have to feel that happiness, enjoy it and then respond back.

Now look you saw the sky, what did you see? Practically nothing. Because you were busy enough not to filter out what you took in. I was free enough to filter my view and notice that tiny little star shine brightly and found happiness in that.”

The expression on Monu was changing but his eyes were still wide open while he turned to find that tiny little star.

Leaving Monu to enjoy the picturesque view of the sky, Sonu continued, “Now Monu imagine you are working hard at your office and suddenly your manager comes barking at you. Do you take in that? Yes you would. But I will never take it in. I will listen to him, take in if his words have any work or advice for me and forget the rest. They are the dust particles. Instead I just simply turn back to my laptop, start working, do my work, and enjoy a cup of coffee, because that’s Oxygen. That’s were happiness lies.

You are having a chat with your friend. Something turns up and he suddenly irritates you or annoys you. You have choice on how you react. Either shout back on him, start a quarrel, turn the environment sour, end up in a disgusted quarrel resulting in a bad mood and hurt friendship. Else, think for a moment, filter out his anger, understand his position, take in the real friendship that existed among you guys, console him, if you fail, change the topic, if even that turns useless, just remain silent. When he is back out of his anger you will be the first person he would talk to and thank. That’s happiness. Wasn’t it easy to filter?

You are rushing to office and almost running on the pavement when a car speeding by spills dirt onto your trousers. You shout at the guy without getting anything. Curse yourself. Scold your luck. Hate the world. Kick the pavement. Decide not to vote the government and by then you are left with nothing more to think and reach office late with rest of your day spoilt. But if, in the same situation, imagine you spend a moment filtering the things and taking in the right decision and giving out the right reaction by ignoring the car, decide to be more careful next time, hurry to the office, wash off the dirt, walk to your seat, tap on the shoulders of your teammate, crack a little joke on what happened, ask him for coffee and then start work. You know now what you did?”

Monu nodded his head signaling a big NO.

“You just chose happiness dumb! Imagine you are sitting with your girlfriend.”

Watching Monu blush, Sonu stopped for a second and then continued, “Monu. I said to imagine, you don’t really have a girlfriend. Now stop blushing like a girl and listen.”

Monu’s face turned serious and he tried punching Sonu on his right shoulder. Escaping the punch, Sonu continued, “Now you are with your girlfriend sitting in a Coffee shop having a nice talk. Suddenly something turns wrong. She starts yelling at you. But you remain calm and console her. If not successful then let the time do its magic. You chose happiness and saved your wonderful relationship.

Let me tell you one more situation. You have been assigned to a new project. You are learning new thing, working hard, spending your whole day, but still nothing is working out. Results aren’t coming in. You start getting irritated. Curse the project and start hating everything. See now you just took in dust instead of Oxygen and that will only result in bad health!

Instead you stay calm, start thinking back. Find out solutions, learn again and again. Take help, take advice. Rearrange your work. Start all over again. Aim at the results and concentrate on the work. You now took in the Oxygen and that would only result in a better delivery of your project, which is nothing but a good health and nice mood, which is nothing but happiness!

A guy stares at you in bus, smile at him, else ignore him and look at the beautiful world outside. A guy is sleeping our shoulder in train, get up from the seat walk to the door and enjoy the cool breeze. You drop coffee, look at the design the flowing coffee is making and try to make out the map of the country the design is resembling instead of cribbing. You fail in a test, concentrate more on your studies, and enjoy the subject. You are getting beaten from you teacher and feel ashamed, it’s your mistake, stop cursing your teacher and your fellow friends for laughing at you and stop thinking it as end of your schooling, instead learn from it and prove him that you just changed into a boy he always wanted you to be and your fellow classmates start admiring the boy at whom they were laughing few days ago. You don’t get recognized for your team award, forget it, work hard, else look out for what you missed and make that up. You had a quarrel with your wife, ignore it, instead walk into the house in evening carrying a bouquet of roses and surprise her. The food isn’t tasting good, adjust, it’s not your last meal. You are sweating badly in a queue, and the smell is driving you crazy, try holding your breath and look at your watch for how many seconds you can do so and remember the times you played the breath holding games with your friends in swimming pool.

You watch sunrise, pick the beauty. You go to a waterfall, try enjoying the chilled water. You are walking alone on a road completely exhausted, pick the cool breeze and the wagging tail of dog trying to pick its best food from the garbage. You watch a film forcefully, try having fun among the lines of the film, or else enjoying the heroine's beauty. You end up waiting for your friend on a sunny sweating day in front of shop, stop being annoyed and use the time in having a soft drink or taking a stroll in the shop or noticing a naughty little boy licking the ice cream that melted and flowed down on his arm till his elbow and his mother trying to avoid him in doing that while opening her wallet to take out her hankie to swipe off the ice cream off his arm.”

Monu was now smiling imagining all these little things and the happiness that popped out from them. He was lost in a world of his own. It seemed his body was now being transformed into the minute Alveoli of the Lungs that observe only the Oxygen into the blood! He, in his heart, now pledged he would always take a moment and think twice and would choose the right reaction he would give on every action that happened on him.

His face that portrayed a sullen silence since week was now glowing brightly like the small kid carelessly licking ice cream off his arm.

He turned at Sonu and his eyes were already thanking his brother. Sonu was also smiling happily noticing the change in his brother’s face.

After a silence of few seconds, Monu turned back at Sonu and asked, “Sonu, how did you manage all this?”

Sonu smiled at him and said, “Few years ago, when I was travelling in bus, I noticed the writing on the back of a Truck. There was a long line written on it, with may be ten to fifteen words. But because of the speed of the bus, I could read only the first four letters.”

“What were those?” Monu asked, not able to control his curiosity.

“They were, ‘Happiness is a Choice’”

“I am happy I could read only those and chose in only those words”

“Did you never bothered about the remaining part of that sentence?”

“Monu, as I read that, I then and there itself made a choice of not bothering about the rest and from that moment my application of ‘Happiness is a Choice’ started. I had got the message what I needed.”

“Very true Sonu. Happiness is definitely a choice. I will from now on make the right choices.” Monu said turning back at the tiny little star which was still shining naughtily challenging the other bigger stars!

I would like to take a moment more in telling you readers that the topic on Happiness was suggested to me by one of my SundayReader…

And, the quote ‘Happiness is Choice’ is inspired from the “Mr. Monk Goes Camping” episode of my favorite serial, Monk…

Vishal…

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