Happy Birthday Sister

This post has been selected by BlogAdda as one of the top posts or BlogAdda's Tangy Tuesday picks Jul 31, '12.

17 years back, I was nearly 3 years old. I don't remember things that happened on this date. I wish I could remember them. This date has always an exulting and a wonderful impression in my heart. My mom told me that I was outside with dad and grandmother taking care of me. I wish I should have been inside viewing the first sight. My only sibling's birthday today. 28.07.1995. Love you!

I am still excited by the thoughts of how you would have been in your childhood days. I have heard mom quoting you as a silent yet an adamant girl. I still remember the way you threw my certificates down because you didn't get any in your L.K.G. It still makes me surprised the way you told that you would get all of 'em in the next year. You did get them. How much perseverance you had in an age in which others don't even know that word! Love you!

Amma has always found it difficult to put up with us. We grew up together playing, laughing, chatting, shouting, learning and most importantly fighting. I don't remember a day pass without us fighting with each other eventually leading our mom to scold us. I still remember the way you pushed me. I hit hard against the bureau. Blood started gushing out. You, my dear sister, started feeling for it, a bit crying came near frightened and touched my wound. Love you!

I am a lethargic guy but you are not. This ends up with an advice from amma and occasional scoldings. You will support her every time you think she might scold you too. Else you are always against me laughing and will silently see me. I will always wait for a strike back. But eventually I will forget and we will be together again. Love you!

It was my twelfth standard. I had fallen down from the bike and ended up with a multiple fracture. Oh I could not have gone through that without you. You helped me day-to-day. You helped me in putting my shirt on, feeding me occasionally, writing my stuffs, drawing my records, mental support. Love you!

I got a state rank in my twelfth and got a seat in Anna University. Its your support which helps me throughout my life. I always wanted to hug you and tell thank you. I am telling this now. Thank you di! Love you! 

I may have hurt you a lot, made you cry a lot. But I am sure it is I who have cried more every time than you did. I remember the way you cried a lot when I cried every weekend in Pondicherry coming back from Chennai. You consoled me. You sacrificed a lot for me! You have accepted every change for me! You have been my moral support! You have been with me always next to amma and appa! Love you!

I just don't know if I can manage without you ever in my life. I was cherishing feeding you some days back. That is the first time I have ever fed you. I am assuring you that I will be with you always! I am not sure if I will be so strong emotionally during your marriage. I always want you by my side! Love you!

Happy birthday di! Have loads of success in your upcoming years! Be strong always! Be soft always! Never reduce your affection for us - me, appa and amma for we are the ones who love you a lot! Love you always!

P.S: Today is my sister's birthday. She is seventeen now. She is all I have got. Yes I am gonna give her a present! Its a surprise!

Kya itna bura, Meri maa

I met this girl on a hot summer day. I had been watching her for the past few minutes. What was she doing? I saw two more people near her. One had to be her mom and the other one! She must be her sister, two or three years older than the first girl. Her posture was bad. It looked like that she had been practising some stuff. Her hair looked weird and messy. I walked in her direction with a notion of starting a conversation with her.

"What are you doing kid?"

"I am practising, anna!"
("Anna!" It touched my heart deeply!)

"Could you please explain?"

"In fact I have been practising hard for the past few days. And today is going to be my first stage performance. I am not exactly excited. Till today it was only the other girl who has been performing. From now on I also have to do it. It is going to be a duo performance. I am all ready except for this skillful move. I have to climb over her shoulders and bend myself over her back to touch her feet and then she will jump. I fell down twice trying that move, hurting my lower jaw. Check the wound!"

(It was a bad bruise! She continued pointing at the other girl.)

"She says that it will be difficult to perform this in motion. So, I must practise hard. No one listens to me. Thanks for listening anna." 

"Wait, Who is the other lady? Your mother?"

"She? Oh no! I don't know who she is. All I remember is I was alone wandering the city and ran into this group one day. They told me that this would help me. She tortures me. If I refuse to perform, she won't give me the day's food. Do you know something? Now-a-days I eat twice a day. Its a great and a wonderful thing and so I have to do this to get it."

"Hmmm..."

"That girl has been performing for the past few years. I will collect (she thinks!) beg for money from people. But I don't know why people don't give us money after our performance in train. They could go to big concerts and shows paying thousands but not ready to spare us a coin! Do I earn or have plenty and beg? This will only help me feed myself. She (the lady) told me that if I earned more than ten rupees in a compartment, she might give me one more idly this night!"

(I cried! She continued.)

"Anna! The train is coming! I have to start! Can you tell me an "All the best"? "

"Eh.. All the best ma! All the best!"

I boarded the train and put on my headphones. I was picking a song in random. She and her companions also boarded the same compartment thus started her performance. I prayed God that she should not fall down doing that move. I was praying hardly! She did that in a superb way. A train of thoughts followed. By then, she came near me asking for money. 

The crowd near me advised that I should not encourage these people who are begging. They complain that they must go to work. They have a opinion that they are frauds and must be handed over to the police. I don't know about the rest. But I know that this girl is getting an extra idly if she gets 10+ in a compartment. I know. I opened my purse and took a 10 rupee note and gave it to her. She grinned. She finished her job (!) and came near the door to get down. I patted her back telling that she will be saved one day! She didn't seem to understand.

There are people in this world who are confused to choose one from a list of desserts after their supper. There are people in this world who just neglect the food thinking that that has something to do in reducing their body fat. There are people in this world who think that their life standard is not high comparing with the people above their standards. Remember friends, there are people in this world who don't even get a proper meal per day! 

I don't know if I encouraged her by giving money. I don't care about the people who tell that these are frauds. But I am contended by the smile on her face. I am so happy by the way she looked me when I handed her a ten rupee note. I am satisfied that she might get an extra idly today!

Kya itna bura, Meri maa!

Bloody name please!

This post is going to be a drama! Watch out for dialogues!

Amma to Vasudev: Dei Vasudeva, Go for that marriage da. Its next weekend only and you 'll be free here. Attend please!
Vasudev: No amma, I am not going. Do not compel me.

(Phone rings)

Vasudev: Hello
Dad: Hello Vasudev, One person wants to speak to you! Find out who it is!

(Oh not again! His dad has this habit of giving the phone to a person whom he is supposed to identify!)

Vasudev: Appa! No, not again please. Tell his name and give him the phone. Appa!

(Silence. He finds out that the phone is being handed to some one else!)
The person: Hi Thambi, How are you?
Vasudev: I am fine... (What should be his age?) Uncle! How are you? 

(From now on the author has decided to call "The person" as "Uncle".)

Uncle: Yeah pa. I am fine too. Can you recognize me? You must have seen me in your childhood.
(Here comes the catastrophe! Oh you seem to know that I have seen you in my childhood and yet you are asking this! I would have hit you in your face if you had been in front of me!)
Vasudev: Aaaahhh... Hmmmm... Errrr..

Uncle to Dad: It seems he doesn't remember me! I will tell him my name!
Dad: Don't tell him! He definitely would not have forgotten your name. May be he could not recognize your voice! I will give him a hint!

(Shit! They are playing with me!)

Dad: Dei, You remember the uncle who amma often used to talk about?
Vasudev: Which one? Mamma speaks about a lot!
Dad: Dei that uncle who used to mock you in your childhood days. You used to tell "Thakali" as "Kathali" and "kappal" as "Pakkal".
Vasudev: Oh! Him! 

(Shit!)

Uncle: Happa! You remember me! You still misspell "kathali" for Thakali"? Hahaha!
(Aiyooo!)
Vasudev: No uncle! For God's sake I am twenty years old! You still expect me to misspell words? No uncle!
Uncle: Just Kidding! ........... (Talking)

After 10 mins,

Uncle: (Talking)

After 30 mins,

Uncle: (Talking)

After one hour,

Uncle: Ok bye! I have talked for an hour but it seems like ten minutes. I will come to Chennai next weekend! I will meet you then!
Vasudev: Bye uncle!

(Hangs down the receiver)

Vasudev to amma: Next weekend I am leaving for that marriage to Madurai!

(I must never attend my dad calls here after. Even if I attend, I should cut the phone immediately if he passes it to a person without telling me his bloody name!)

The Art of the Humiliated

The holy place of Varanasi is famous not only for its historic divinity but also for its shelter to a large number of human beings, animals and plants. This story of a seed dates back to the Before Christ period where several inspirational people filled the land of the Hindustan. Yet it was the famous Kali Yuga where the bad personalities such as anger, lust, racism etc., existed. It was the very much beginning of this Yuga so that even the small hurts caused to the people were considered as sin. Humiliation, insult, ignorance, inferiority accounted a lot.

There was a big banyan tree near the banks of the sacred Ganges in Varanasi. The story is not about this tree but about a seed. This tree was considered sacred and was worshipped by the people of that place. This tree bore a large number of fruits and leaves. It was magnificent and blissful. The fruits of the tree when they fall down were taken by the people to their home and worship it. This tradition continued. Every day there will be at least a new fruit hanging from the tree. Once there was a heavy downpour in that place causing a lot of catastrophic damage. The huge tree also suffered a great loss losing some of its branches and aerial prop roots. Every part of the tree was crying out loud and was angry at the nature for having done this. One of the old parts of the tree suddenly shouted out " Its the bad luck of that new fruit which is born today. Its bad fate has led us all to sufferings. Lets abandon it." It was the senior part of that tree and almost everybody accepted that. It prayed and begged a lot telling that its nature's effect and not it's bad luck. But no one listened. The branch shook and the fruit fell down. #First Humiliation.


This fruit started weeping. No one listened to its crying. It had no idea as of what to do next. It prayed to God requesting Him to kill it or at least that it should be eaten by some animal. It was a one-day old fruit. It had time to die. Several beings passed by but none noticed it. After a day a rat came by the place, saw this fruit and wished to eat it. When it was about to, a large python grabbed the rat and helped its stomach. Is the fruit really bad lucked one? #Second fear.

The python didn't leave the fruit. It tried to pick that with its fangs but it dropped it. It became a poisoned fruit. Now the same fruit prayed God that none should take it. The fate! A small boy picked up the fruit and bit it. Thus came the effects with the boy getting instantly poisoned and he fainted. People witnessing this took the boy to the doctor. This fruit became a poisonous fruit. They ran behind the fruit and smashed and burnt it for it should take no one's life further. #Third Misery.

The fruit was dying out of the burns and it let its only seed to come out. Till now even it had suffered all the bad things. The fruit died advising the seed to go to Ganges to get rid of its poison. The seed went to the Ganges and washed itself with the water. Its bad luck that it drowned in the river. #Fourth Bad luck!

The seed fortunately lands in a place far away. It was unconscious for a long time. There was periodical rainfall and sunshine. This helped the seed to grow as a plant and then a tree. A century after this seed became a huge fig tree with poisonous creatures around. People feared to come near it and the other tress started making fun of it. No one came forward to clean it. #Fifth Insult!

A bright morning! It woke up and saw a stranger sitting under it. It was wondering who it could be for no one wished to come near it. It didn't know. He continued to sit for a long time with his arms folded over his laps. The poisonous creatures were gone. The tree became bright. They started worshipping the stranger after a long time including the tree. One day the stranger left. People from far places came to see the tree where the stranger was sitting. The situation was exactly the reverse. It tried to overhear who the stranger was and why they were worshipping it. 

"Whats the speciality about the tree?"
"Its the Bodhi tree under which Lord Buddha meditated!"

The tree started crying happily! # Last Happiness, Success, Joy, Pride!

P.S: This is pure imagination. Nothing factual! Sorry that its a bit lengthy :D

Tin-sheet huts

I was on my way to college in a bus. A very crowded one at the peak hour in which I could not even stand on one leg. I bent down to see the place the bus was crossing. The view I saw was a remorseful one. The bus was pacing on the Grand Southern Trunk road. To my left was the breath-taking view of our great airport and on contrary a row of tin-sheet huts to my right.

Who are all these people?

Why do they live in these tin-sheet huts?

What would be their job?

How much money would they get as income?

Have you ever seen small kids and women cleaning the highways in the morning as early as 4.30? Have you ever seen people laying roads in hot sun? Have you ever seen a builder fall from a high building and survive with fatal injuries? Have you ever lived without electricity for an entire day? Have you ever bathed in a open space with people seeing? Have you ever stood in a long line for using the restroom?

Images: The Hindu

Pity. My thoughts are about those who have suffered all the above mentioned. Poverty must have struck them hard and made them adapt to any situations they are living in. Those people are the migrant workers who live in a bad condition. Those are the people who lay our roads, build the malls we walk in for shopping, construct the educational institutions we study in, sell items we buy cheaply, lay metro rail roads, clean the roads every morning. They are the one who eat only once a day, wear the same dress for long days, strive for us. They work hard for the welfare of us, the people yet no one seems to take care about them. For about 500 people employed at various sites, there are only a few toilets and an open bathing area! What an irony! They labor for building a metro station with the most comfortable facilities but they don't even have the fundamental needs.

Images: The Hindu

Not only the lack of fundamental amenities but they are also under scrutiny from the locals and the police. Robbery, ridicule, racism, rape, refrain and what not! There are under aged, under educated, underpaid, underemployed, undernourished! There are injuries and casualties everyday but nothing seems to come out! They toil this hard in dreams of sending some money to their families living away from them but even that seems like a far-fetched dream.

"The Chennai Metro is expected to be completed by 2015!"

This is a happy news for us. This is an achievement for the Chennai Corporation. This is a prestigious accomplishment for the State Government. But remember that this is the blood of these laborers! Please think about them!