CELEBRATIONS

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 33; the thirty-third edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'Celebrations'

CELEBRATION 

                                                                                                                   - i_duft

THE PUNCHING MACHINE IN THE OFFICE DISPLAYED 7.35pm. EVERY FOLLOWING SECOND BLICKERING AS IF THE WATCH WAS WAITING FOR ME TO LEAVE SINCE THE REST OF THE STAFF HAD ALREADY LEFT FOR THE DAY, LEAVING ME AS A DISRUPTION IN THE CLOCK’S RESTING TIME.

FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS THERE WAS A WHOLE LOT OF HUBBUB AMONGST THE LADIES, EACH WANTING TO KNOW ABOUT THE OTHERS’ PLANS FOR THE DAY, THE SHOPPING THEY HAD DONE, THE FOGGY NIGHTS AND MOST OF ALL THE GIFTS THAT THEY ARE GOING TO GET FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE SPOUSES.  WHEREVER YOU GO, WHOEVER YOU PASS BY ON A ROAD AND WHICHEVER CHANNEL/FREQUENCY YOU SET ON YOUR T.V. SET OR RADIO RESP., IT WAS THE SAME TUNE THAT THE WHOLE NATION WAS SINGING.

MARRIED MEN HAD LEFT EARLY TO BE WITH THEIR WIVES, AND WOMEN WERE BY AND LARGE ON AN OFF TO GET DECKED UP FOR THE FAST AND THE FOLLOWING CEREMONIES DURING THE DAY. THE OCCASION… WELL, KARVACHAUTH!

 FOR THE REST IT WAS A DAY OF CELEBRATION; FOR ME A DAY FILLED WITH SORE MEMORIES.

 DHARMENDER BHAIYA’S BOISTEROUS VOICE ALARMED MY ALREADY DISARRAYED MIND TERRAIN AS HE BROODED,

“CHALO RUCCHI MADDUM.  GHAR NI JANA.   APKI MUMMY NE BI TO PHAST RAKKHA HOGA NA AAJJ.   UNKI MADDAD KARNI HOGGI.   CHALO CHALO JALDI KARO PHIR CENTRE BANDD KARUN AUR MAIN BI JAUN”                   

I HAD SPENT THE WHOLE DAY TRYING TO VEIL MY UNEASINESS, CAUSED BY THEIR UNTHOUGHTFUL BANTERS ON MAN, WIFE & FASTING, WITH A FAKE SMILE. BUT THIS LAST REMARK TOOK IT ALL OUT OF ME!

                                                               

***

“Ma you’re 50 now! Look at your health first. Why can’t you make an exception this time by not observing the fast and giving priority to your wellbeing? Have you forgotten the acidity and then the anxiety attack you suffered the last time that you are again taking the chances? And then you even promised that only if your body allows you’ll fast. Are you even listening to me or am I jabbering all this to myself!”

“Wo pink wali chudiyaan kahan rakh di?! Iss ghar me kabi kuch nahi milta! Zara neeche dekh to. Aa gyi saari ladies ground me? Hey bhagwan! Wo puja ki thali kahan rakhi ab maine? Abi to yahin thi!!”

Her *pink churiyan* and *puja ki thali* concerns were more substantial to her at this particular moment than her health!! It annoyed me and I considered taking up my appeal to the high court; in this case, my father.

9 pm papa returned home and I welcomed him with my ranting about how his much-loved better-half was avoiding her physical condition by keeping herself dehydrated and famished just to abide by the patriarchal norms of the society. But to my surprise I just got a smug smile in return. My father is of the opinion that theirs’ is a more physically strong generation as compared to ours allergic-to-all generation. And so he straight away dismissed my appeal as being overrated.

Just then the children rushed downstairs bubbling, “chand nikal gaya! Chand nikal gyaa!” to their starving mommies. I quickly went to the kitchen to gather all the puja accessories for maa to make a move to the terrace so that she could finally end her hunger strike and gain her normal state of being back. Collecting all the things I called her. Gradually she walked out of her room but with a considerably feeble gait and a pale face. She’d been lying in her bedroom since the time she came back from the Karvachauth puja. Assuming that she might be having little weakness, I let her rest undisturbed. She had merely taken five steps towards me and I heard a thud on the floor. There she was; collapsed within seconds; lifeless in a jiffy.

                                                                                                ***

THE DAY LEFT A PERMANENT DENT IN MY MEMORY AND EACH PASSING YEAR ONLY INTENSIFIES ITS HURT. CELEBRATIONS ARE NO LONGER AWAITED; THEY ARE AN INCESSANT STING IN THE HEART.

 Maa, WHY DIDN’T YOU LISTEN TO ME THAT DAY? WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE US JUST LIKE THAT?! IT’S SO EMPTY WITHOUT YOU…

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: MEGHA MALIK, Participation Count: 02

Queer but true!

• This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 32; the thirty-second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'An Untold Story'

Here is an untold story of the time when the universe was recently created and so were all the planets, the stars, the galaxies, and the creatures. God had adorned the Earth with Mother Nature which further aided the origin of a variety of creatures, from the pettiest to the enormous. Human was one of the creation & so was the tiny mosquito. Since everyone was new on earth, none was familiar to the other.

It so happened one sunny day that a man, who was among the first ones on the earth, retired to his cave for a quick day’s nap. While he was resting, there came a mosquito in his cave. Now he came in search of food, which he gets by sucking the blood of us humans; but that day something else happened. That day the mosquito by complete chance happened to notice something which he had never ever seen. He saw that a beam of light was falling on the man’s face and there he found a thing very attractive. Its maze like structure and tender surface with a tiny red mole just like a beauty spot, was irresistible to him. He was so awestruck by it that he started hovering around it, admiring it from every possible angle.

While doing so, his buzzing made the object of his affection vexed and she was awakened. When she saw the petty creature wandering like a coxcomb, staring at her incessantly and creating a noise, she said in an irksome tone, ”what’s with you boy? Can’t you see that i am asleep that you are creating such miserable sounds?”

“Who are you, O heavenly creature?” said the lovelorn mosquito, completely unaffected by the former’s tone.

“I am called the ear” she replied with the utmost vanity and said to him, “but who are you?”

“They call me mosquito” he said in extreme modesty.

“Well, whoever you are I don’t care! What I know is that you are annoying me by not letting me sleep. So you better leave” said she with the highest conceit.

“Oh, I sincerely apologize for that but I am helpless, you see. Since the time I've seen you, I can’t take my eyes off you. My heart started singing and I couldn't stop the words of praise from coming out of my mouth!” said the lover.

"How dare you … you insignificant fellow! Just go away from here at this very instant else I’ll order my fellow hand and he’ll drive you away, you lousy thing! "said the ear; the anger mounting her now.

The mosquito was hurt a bit but his feelings never budged. Thinking that his love will melt her beloved’s harsh feelings, he stood there smiling. The ear, after seeing this got all the more fiery and immediately ordered the hand to wave off the mosquito. The hand followed what she said and then came the first blow. Fortunately the mosquito escaped this one and was still smiling and saying “I love you, my ear and I will always do so no matter what you do.”

He again took a chance and went near the ear to see her, and the hand seeing this didn't miss the opportunity and there he gave the second hit. But the mosquito got second time lucky and again said,”I know your anger is only momentary and you’ll definitely fall for me, and then I’ll be waiting for you with my arms open and my heart beating only for you”

While saying this last line, the mosquito didn't realize and he came near the ear, and this time the hand didn't miss the target. The poor mosquito received a hard blow and fell badly on the Earth. The ear smiled victoriously on her lover’s defeat. The mosquito, in his last few breaths, took the vow that she’ll not be retrieved from his love so easily. In fact, he’ll keep coming back till the time the ear confesses her love for the mosquito; and till then he’ll keep humming to her his infinite love for her!

Though the mosquito died then, his love for the ear still continues.

Still in the midsummer nights, we find a mosquito humming his love song for the ear and still there is a hand waving him off.

But the trend has altered a bit.  Just like the young gals now a days, even the ear has 10-15 mosquitoes hovering around her, all trying their luck at the same time …lolz

                                                                                       -i_duft 

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: MEGHA MALIK, Participation Count: 1

Barren memories in a barren land…

I had a struggle, a struggle with self last night

Had another sleepless night

A baggage of memories, of him, that I was carrying

A burden of questions, unanswered

Some raised eyebrows and some inquisitive expressions

Those deep black pupils, evil

Those hairy white fingers, cold

His words, deceiving

  His silence, misleading

DISGUST is what the coward oozed

Excuses he made maintaining the cool

I let him free but tied myself

Became Orpheus, got stuck in Hell

Now each day passes snapping that deal

No amount of indulgence makes me heal

Last night I put all of them, all his reminiscences in a leather bag

I threw it in a dig, covered it with the soil

Buried it in the ground; no more toil.

Beheld it as the time passed by

Nothing grew out of it, not even a plant

Barren memories in a barren land                                                                            -i_duft

My Purpose

Creating... is NOT a piece of cinch! I wonder how God did it. Man! It requires passion, ideas, source, inspiration, endurance, and definitely time. I have read about the great Shakespeare. How did he manage to write such a colossal range of texts, which, by the way, are not just texts but holy books. He certainly had a craving for creating lives out of his characters. Creation, for them (the writers), was a pure phenomenon, just like music is to Lata Mangeshkar. I’ve heard that she starts her day with prayers and ‘riyaz’; nothing is more important to her than her music. She doesn’t sing to please others; in fact, she knows that each art form is purgatory and so she does her bit by making people let loose of all their anxieties and just relax with the help of her voice. That is her ‘Purpose’; her life’s calling; something that makes her happy. It’s like meditation.

That is what I intend to do too with my writing. 

An Empty Space

It was 11.30 am, Friday, and the Delhi Metro had a considerably shrunken crowd, which was a little hard to gulp!  Frowning at the sight, I scratched my head and tried to recall the date, which was 22^nd of July, so it certainly wasn’t a public holiday, nor did any bomb blasts happen in Delhi lately, for I definitely couldn’t have missed it in the news, and the cricket fever too had long rested in peace. Now the big question was that where the bushels of people travelling via metro disappeared. While I was boggling my mind with these options, my blackberry buzzed. It was Guru on the line.

“Kahan hai be sale? Kabhi to time pe pohonch jaya karo!” babbled Guru.

“Abe kamine tu kahan se time pe pohonch gaya aaj?! Finally tere gharwalo ne tuje laat mar di.. hain!” 

“han be… unhe pata chal gaya ke main tere bacche ki ma banne wala hun!! Ab to tu hi mera sahara hai prannath. Jaldi aao main apki rah tak raha hun” mocked Guru.

“Abe dhokebaz ! itna kuch pet main hai, ek choti si bat aur nahi rakh sakta tha. Tuje to main a ke batata hun! Chal the train is here and I’ll be there in 20 min. Tab tak mere bacche ka khayal rakhiyo mere bacche ki amma.” Both of us disconnected the call, laughing.

I got inside and, making my way through the people, got to my favorite place, the joining place of the coaches.  I had barely settled down when a piercing heel drilled my toe. On top of that, its owner threw a sorry to me the way someone throws alms in a beggar’s saucer! I was left in excruciating pain and a severe abhorrence for heels. Luckily, I got a seat and rested my foot. I switched on my I-pod to switch out of the trance of pain and let go. I had closed my eyes, when I felt a resettlement in my adjacent space. So I had to open my eyes, give my adjoining seat holder a ‘one more push from your elbow and I’ll throw you down’  look, and got back into my pose.

However, it was that last vision that my retina captured, when I straightened my face before shutting my eyes again, which required me to behold the view again.

And that was the first time I saw her.

She was sitting right in front of me engrossed in her mobile when she suddenly lifted her eyelids blinked at me, pursed her lips thoughtfully, nodded as if she approved of something and then returned to her cell.  In that short fragment of time she had passed on a part of her confusion to me. I was no longer a stranger for her for she had made me acquainted with a habit of hers!

 I kept looking at her, waiting for I don’t what, while my I-pod strung my feelings into a melody, as the song said, “How did you know… I needed someone in my life… that there’s an empty space in my heart… you came at the right time in my life…”

I won’t tell you what happened afterwards. Whether I spoke to her or I didn’t; whether I met her or I lost her; or are we together or not, since it’s not about me or my life or me meeting her. In fact, it’s about those empty spaces that each one of us has in our hearts. The spaces that even we are ignorant of; and which remain so until we come across that one special person, who is like that lost piece of our lives’ puzzle, which when found, completes our existence.

 Their departure may be fated but their arrival is pre-destined!

                                                                                               -i_duft

A Parting…

It was 1^st of July, The Doctor’s Day, and Akruti’s last day in the Model School, where she held the position of a TGT for 3 years now; too long for her but too small in eternity. It was not the experience that made it seem eternity but the monotonous routine her life had succumbed to and she longed for a breath of fresh air. Duly she was to start her life afresh from this very day, had it not been this last ‘do’ for which she was made to extend her notice period for yet another snail-paced day at work.

It was 11 0’ clock and she was counting each minute of the passing time. It seemed to her the longest day of the year with nothing new to offer. All the guests had arrived and even the alumnus, some of whom she recognized having vague similarities with their childlike features. She had spent 12 years of her life as a student there, four years away from it and then further three years with it as a teacher. It looked as if she grew with the institution, as an inseparable part of it; knew each building, all the rooms, the walls, the people and even the air. It was here that she took her first step to enlightenment, to friendship, to love; and yet this part of her life was not getting over while the others, her batch mates, had become years ahead of her. Now it was her turn to detach herself from the ‘school-life’ and move on.

The clock struck 11.30; the function was at full swing and the people still pouring in. A lot of the alumnus had cleared the medical entrance tests from her school this year and some were doing their internships in the renowned medical colleges all over India, making the school proud. Hence, the first time in the history of Model School, ‘Doctor’s Day’ was being celebrated and all the students along with their parents were cordially invited to listen to the bragging about the school’s achievements.

Being on her toes since the morning, Akruti felt tired and searched for a vacant seat preferably a corner one to allow her mobility in case of a sudden need. So, she got one just in the right row and at the right place, and she rested her feet. It was when she bent a little in order to loosen her stilettos that a confidential tone took her attention. It was a tender voice trying to be authoritative, maintaining the low pitch giving some excuse for not being present somewhere; it served a complete foil to the speech of the speaker on the stage whose commanding voice trying to be gentle, yet maintaining a sharp tone was thrusting upon his listeners his indispensible presence at the occasion. She turned her face to right only to see her adjacent seat-holder also bent, barring the noise as well as the sight, by keeping his hand on his left ear and attending a call from the right, sounding a little vexed, and whispering to the caller, “…it’s a G.O. (gazetted off) and I am not in the hospital but somewhere else. I am sure there must be other J.R.s (junior residents) on duty in the male ward having knowledge about that patient. Why don’t you take the rest of the details from them? I’ll talk to you once I get free from here. Ok. Bye!”

She saw him disconnecting the call and was carefully placing her plaits back when their eyes met. Both of them were bent, hiding behind their front chairs. The only view visible to them was each other’s amazed faces. Both were looking at each other, trying to recognize the familiar features when a sudden call interrupted them and brought them back to their straight posture along with the mild pain caused due to the curved poses.

“Miss Akruti!” called out the voice.

“Huh” uttered Akruti stunned by the apparent intrusion; she quickly turned around and saw that a student was calling her. “Yes” she said to her.

“Ma’am, the head-mistress is asking for you. Please come quickly” the girl said.                      

“Yes, I am coming” said Akruti coming back to her senses. She again looked at her beholder. He carried a little smile but before he could say anything she said, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll just be back.” And she rushed to her call.

She returned within 20 minutes. The seat was still vacant. And he was still carrying the little smile. She took her seat and once again both looked at each other and it was he who started, “Akruti, you’ve changed!” He paused to search for the correct words and resumed, “…you look slim, and very different!” he said, his raised eyebrows and the same agreeable smile, which grew bigger, implying the pleasant surprise.

She too responded with a smile and said, “Thanks, Virat. But you haven’t changed much except for the glasses which are the symbol of becoming more studious and serious.”

“Why, even the politicians wear spectacles. But that doesn’t inject even an ounce of seriousness in them, does it?” And they exchanged laughs at the light-hearted banter.

“I remember how introvert you used to be in the school time Akruti. But must say, what an incredible change, huh!” Virat said, his eyes gleaming with pleasure.

Their perfect location made them invite less attention and allowed them to be nostalgic, pulling each other’s leg, enquiring about their respective professions, and the prospective future plans.   

The function soon ended and the time, felt Akruti, was flying. She hadn’t glanced at her watch even once after they met, and now when she did, she was recollecting the hour and a half that went away like a finger-snap! Everyone proceeded for the lunch organized in the garden area. Akruti, now shifting from the initial inhibitions, progressed to the personal chit-chat mode. She started by asking him about his family and further moved on to the college and finally… Girlfriend.  Although hesitating a bit, she merged the question about the girlfriend into the pep-talk to give a more by-the-way impression and said in a curious tone, “…so, you must be having a girlfriend by now, no!?

Her eyes were trying to maintain the eye-contact; the eyebrows first raised and then frowning subsequently; her teeth biting the gums; her lips still trying to maintain the nervous smile; her fingers pursing the border of her sari; her toes slipping beneath the fingers; and her brain zeroing-in the apt fake responses it would supply to a “yes, I do! Or no, I don’t!” replies. And she recollected the last time her body malfunctioned like this was when her XIIth board results were out!

She couldn’t tell Virat about her forever long crush on him. That how she still remembered each and every day of the time they shared as classmates. The recesses where Raima used to eat away all his lunch, the English class where he was made to read the chapters, Mini, the girl she used to despise because she was paired with him by the other classmates, the amazed look by him and all the other eggheads of the class when she scored the highest in the Sanskrit exam and how he asked her for the answer sheet to have a look at it and how she felt for the first time ever the burning under her cheeks; and many such innumerable memories of which her brain was a storehouse.  But she could never reveal him this part of her. An unreasonable fear would never let her do so. Her heart wanted to hear a ‘no’, her brain, on the contrary, was ready for both.

At last came the reply. “Ah, first promise me to keep it a secret!” said he mischievously.

She nodded and he continued, “I do!” scratching his head innocently, “actually she was my classmate in the college and now we are placed in the same college. But the problem is that we belong to different communities; I am a Pandit and she is a Punjabi. So, let’s see what happens! And what about you? I am sure you must be having a boyfriend too, aren’t you?”

Akruti was numb for a moment as if had flunked in her board exams but at once recollected herself and lied about it. Since she couldn’t stretch the lie providing him with some more details, she decided to change the topic. He asked her about her no. She gave him a false no. since she didn’t want to play the role of a third fiddle.

It was 2 o’ clock and the time had again started to hover around her. It struck her that Virat was that last chord and also the last reason that bound her to stay back for another day in the school, and that now she could break free from the shackles of her past entirely in order to enter a new phase of her life.

At this moment, Akruti was not annoyed, instead she felt light. She took a deep breath, wished Virat luck for his future and with his girl, and bid him goodbye.

 ‘The Parting’ didn’t create a void in Akruti’s life. In fact, it cut away all the junk from her life and created space for the New Beginnings that awaited her arrival!

                                                                                  -i_duft

The Doorbell

It was 2 pm when the doorbell rang. Radha was as usual home, nowadays not working. She opened the wooden door leaving the main-gate locked to see the unexpected visitor. There he was standing in front of her with his luggage still carrying the Air India tag, suggesting the recent arrival.

“Yes”, she said, “who do you want?”

“Radha, are you?” the visitor confirmed.

“Ya. But I didn’t recognize you”, she said appalled.

“How would you? You never agreed to exchange pics on Yahoo!”, said he innocently.

Her eyes protruding, as if every shocked nerve of her body sent the current to her eyes. Dumbstruck for a moment, then she said,”Sandeep, oh my God! O shit! Oh... I mean… Is it really you?”

“Well, told you I love Idliz!! Now if you’ll only let me in, so that we can at least see each other.”

“Oh yeah! Sure!” said she still unbelieving. “You look more of an IITian let alone a Doc!” she said out of the casual first impression.” Sandeep was around 5’10”, in a regular Tee along with Cargos and those woodland shoes; shabby hair with a grown beard. “Boys will remain boys”, she thought.

“Well IITian is good. At least they are better paid! By the way you are too beautiful a teacher yourself. You should try hand at cooking, considering the mail-id rahda_idliz@yahoo.com!” said he with a sly smile.

“Don’t tell me you seriously came all the way from Hyderabad to Delhi for the Idliz, you hog!”

“Primarily, yes and secondly to see you.”

Radha was blushing, but quickly came back to normal. They chatted. She served him snacks and drinks. They chatted again without any knowledge of the time; completely caught into each other’s words.

It was then that the bell rang again. Radha saw the time and terror struck her. It was 5.30 pm and her mother was back from the office. Sandeep, seeing her pale-faced, asked her the reason. Blood gushed into her heart; it started throbbing so hard as if it would run out of her body to catch the next flight to Hyderabad!

Another doorbell rang and she was trembling. She told Sandeep to hide himself somewhere, anywhere, behind the door, in the balcony. She truly wished him to just disappear. Then there came the knocking and her mother calling from outside, ”Radha, open the door!” she was so frightened and dumb out of terror that she was sweating. Sandeep was just standing, and the luggage was there. What would she do?

“Radha a a a …” came another call from her mother, “wake up! It’s already 9 am and I’m getting late for office.” She woke up alarmed, and then relieved that it was just a dream; else she’d definitely had a cardiac arrest!

After she had sent her parents to the office, she sat placid & recollected her panic-stricken situation once again; her mind wanting to know what if… what if it was reality, what if it had actually happened. What would have she done?

Abandoned thoughts flashed in her mind. She put herself into the situation again and thought that she could have taken some more time in opening the doors and told her mother afterwards that she was into a deep slumber and didn’t hear her (since she’d done that earlier and she was good at acting too), and meanwhile hidden him & the baggage in her room, so that when her mother would freshen up he could slip out of the house and just evaporate without leaving any mark of his presence behind; a timid thought on her part though! Then there came a little gallant idea. She could have opened the door, let her mother meet Sandeep, which was very hard to imagine taking into account her mother’s skeptical behavior; and the result she knew would have been expected; life-long taunts, danger-warnings against all guys, flashing like the breaking news, 3 times a day and further brain-washing phone calls by her mom on the cons of letting a stranger in the house… phew!

She was much relieved that it was just a dream, and much obliged for the ‘reality-check’ that the whole thing gave her!

                                                                                                                             - i_duft