Chiku and Sonu

The story of Chiku and Sonu

Once there was a girl called Chiku. She lived alone with her father in a huge bungalow in a town called Kolhapur. Her mother had passed away recently, leaving a huge void in Chiku’s life. But she was a strong girl.  She lived her life the way all girls her age did;  getting up early in the morning, preparing for school, packing the lunch that her maid prepared and walking to school. On coming back home, she used to do her homework, play with her dolls and go to sleep after having dinner with her father. Chiku, however, had no friends.

One summer day she saw several trucks unloading luggage into the neighbouring bungalow. Curious to see who their new neighbours were, she peered around the gate watching the goings-on cautiously. Suddenly a buck-toothed boy jumped in sight and proffered his hand to her. “Hello, I’m going to be your new neighbour. My name is Sonu”, he said. That night Chiku’s dad generously invited the new comers to dinner. Over dinner, Sonu told Chiku all about his old school and the games he liked to play, and Chiku listened. And so Chiku had found a new friend.

Every evening Sonu used to spend time at Chiku’s home, telling her about the things that happened in school, about the wart on their class teacher’s nose, about how many kites he counted on the way back. Sonu spoke and Chiku listened. It never occured to Chiku that she should tell Sonu some stories too. Sonu tried asking her about things she did in school, but to no avail. So that was the way things were. Sonu talking and Chiku listening.

As their friendship grew, Sonu realised that they didn’t share too many common interests. But they managed to find compromises. They used to spend evenings in the backyard garden, picking nishigandha flowers till it became so dark they could not see anymore. They used to collect toffees from bets with school-mates and cricket matches and put them in jars, saving them for special occasions.  Then one day, Sonu took Chiku to his home, and showed her his paintings. Chiku was amazed to see how wonderfully colours can mix to create beautiful scenes. And next day, Chiku’s dad was surprised to find them indoors instead of playing outside. Chiku had just painted her first painting. It was a sunset on a beach with a baloon-wallah and silhouettes of children playing. It was a marvellous painting. They had discovered a talent.

Many months passed, even with the exams approaching, Chiku and Sonu found time to play, and of course, paint together. One day Chiku was skipping home with a trophy in hand. She had won first place in school for one of her paintings. As she approached Sonu’s house she saw trucks lined outside, and her heart skipped a beat. She ran in to find Sonu helping with the packing. “Where are you going?”, she asked. “Why my father has been transferred to Nashik, and we are leaving today. I’ve known for week s but I wanted to surprise you”, he said. “Are you surprised?” “Oh yes, I am”, she said and ran into her house. She went to the garden and filled her hand-kerchief with as many nishigandha flowers as she could. She went in and took out all the toffees from the jar. She rushed out and handed them to Sonu. “Hey, thanks!”, said Sonu. “These are for you.”said a teary eyed Chiku. “Hey, don’t cry, I’ll send you letters from Nashik. Send me some paintings if you can”, said Sonu.

As she said goodbye to Sonu, Chiku could not stop the tears from flowing. She could feel the void growing again. She had nothing left now, not Sonu, not the flowers, nor the toffees. Only her paintings still remained as memories of the chance fate gave her to change her life.

I heard this story on the way back from Pune, on a radio channel. Many details had ot be added, but the plot and ending have remained the same. I was surprised to hear a childrens story with a sad ending, but it somewhow remained in my head. Sometimes things happen for reasons that are unknown to us. All we can do it try to take the good from what happened and attempt to move ahead.

Human after all

There is so much to learn from popular movies and serials! While I try to defend my vacation-mode entertainment spree as being stimulating for the brain, there really are so many observations to be made about the human nature every day!

Heroes… the series had me hooked for a long time and I proudly claim I hooked many others to it too. Some aspects of the story-telling and the way the writer weaves you around all the grey areas of a personality had me intrigued. No person is right or wrong, no act is good or bad, and there is no correct or incorrect behaviour. The grey areas make up almost all of our lives when we cross the age of 10 (maye even lesser for the future generations). All decisions are biased, all reactions triggered by past experiences. There is no “in” group or “out” group. There are always groups of like-minded people who converge with a common motive, but noone ever truly belongs. We are all extra-ordinary, and normalcy is not appealing anymore.

Friends… Classic television. Never get bored of it. Some nice moments… Joey proving that there is no selfless act in the world. Even if there is a lovely feeling of togetherness each individual has their own personal world, their own little demons to deal with.  You dont find great friendship, you have to work into it. Every relationship has some amount of hard work behind it. You can be yourself with people you are comfortable with, but you will lose them eventually if you dont let your brain filter some of the things you say and do. (I learned that leson a little too late) And yes, you are with friends because you need them. No-one is so inhumanly selfless that friendhip only means good times. It also means solidarity.. it means I mean it when I say I will be there for you in the middle of the night AND that I expect the same from you.

Gilmore Girls… The TV version of chick flick movies…but a lot more intelligent. Mother daughter relationship. What we expect, what we get, what changes all that complicated mess. Knowing that a hug will heal but wondering if a hug still means the same…..(make that whether a hug had a meaning earlier???). Holding on the the good old baby years when there was no adolescence, no internet, no boyfriends, no clashes of good/bad and right/wrong. Dealing with disfunctional families, disfunctional societies, a disfunctional way of growing up. Finding new ways to connect and unsurely taking those wobbly baby steps again…this time in a different direction.

How I Met Your Mother… A lovely way of describing relationships and life. It is a long and funny description of people and their ways. The dynamics of relationships and how they change are explained so well in this series I wonder how male directors can get so sensitive Not a general rule…but most guys might not like this series…but belive me, there is a Ted inside every guy I’ve met. Ted Mosby, the architect who wants to be successful, meet his soul-mate, make a family with her, and is ready to take the fall several times before he finds the perfect one for himself. …. yeah… cheesy…but believable.

So hey…feel like figuring out whats wrong with your life?? Try watching some feel-good serials…. trust tejasee to find philosophy in comedy

Lessons from alice – IV

“… Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time? … “

“But alas… either the locks were too large or the key was too small..but at any rate, it would not open any of them..”

Lewis Carrol

Alice’s adventures in Wonderland

Friend

I wasn’t looking for it, but some how it came, and found me.
Before I had a chance to react, it wrapped it’s warmth around me.
Like a thief in the night, it has come and gone.
I have nothing, but that vision to reflect upon.

Until chance comes again, I’ll let my thoughts dance upon the wind.
All day long, in my mind, I walk love’s lonely street.
Like a tired man that longs to sit, but just can’t find a seat.
Then, there it was again, up ahead, to light my way.

Only to vanish once more, just like all my yesterdays.
Until chance comes again, I’ll let my thoughts dance upon the wind.
I don’t know where I’m going, and where I’ve been isn’t much to speak of.
I just know my heart is always showing, leading me to some far off love.

Just when I give up the fight.
Here it comes to make the bad things good, and the wrong things right.
Only to leave me lost and lonely again.
Drifting away as my thoughts dance upon the wind.

It has a name, I think they call it friend.

I came across this poem when I was searching for something  to write to people who have made a difference in my life during my time in college. We just finished bidding farewell to each other. Its just four year but so many things have never happened in my life in such a short span of time. I’m sure everyone will carry loads of memories. The bunking, the picnics, the screw ups, the tears, the laughs, the first crushes, the broken hearts, the new beginnings… so much to remember… so much to forget. A lot to forgive and some to hold on to for a lifetime .

Just like all important things in life, that are invisible to the eye and illusive to the brain, friendship baffles me. I’ve picked up some gems, (using that analogy i could say i’ve discarded some pebbles :p ) What baffles me is how much changes and yet some things will always remain.

Everyone has their own definitions of what a friend should be. Some one to hang out with, some one who can keep you smiling, someone who knows everything about you, and likes you inspite of all your short-comings. All these are just the basic requirements we all grew up with as kids. But as we grow up, there are a lot more things expected from a true friend. Things that really cant be put to words. Things that inspire vague posts like these :p There is so much to be said… maybe some day I will.. but not yet… for now… this post is all i can come up with.

Brida

I don’t know if it was me or the author, but I found the story going round and round without reaching any conclusions here. As usual Paulo Coelho delivers a story of love, strife, quests, knowledge, magic and emotions. Brida is a young Irish girl who is in search of knowledge about magic, about the world and more importantly about herself. She struggles to find her destiny and is torn between her relationships and her quest to transform herself.

There are always times when we question ourselves; our behaviour, our decisions and choices. Not many of us are happy with the kind of person we have become. The answer according to this book, lies in finding a soulmate. Someone, who shares more than juts love and physical attraction with you. A person who, technically, contains part of your soul. It says, there are pieces of us scattered all over the world. And when you find your soulmate, you find that missing piece in you that completes you….. just a profound way of saying you feel complete when you are with your soulmate.

The story although extremely filmy for my taste makes sense, at least till you are paying close attention. This was not one of those Paulo Coelho books that i just could not put down. Somewhere on the way, I realized I had no clue what I was supposed to be inferring from the book. That you keep trusting and sharing and being let down till you find the so-called “true love”? That you prepare yourselves for several risks till you finally find the perfect match? Well in that case I’d say you’ll be really lucky if you find your soulmate among the first hundred relationships you have!!! But yes, for me a soulmate truly is one who makes me feel complete. And I must say I’m pretty lucky I’ll just tweak the famous Alchemist quote here… When you really need someone, the entire universe conspires to let you find them, and help u keep them

Cheers!!!

Hard to make a stand

Different views and different lives, we all opine and advice
Second chances and first impressions, we all make judgments
Forgiveness for one, punishment for the other
Its hard to make a stand

Your wrong is my right, my take is your give
Who is selfish who is not, we all point fingers
But none here stands with a pure conscience
Its hard to make a stand

Darker than dark, brighter than bright, is there a scale?
Tears of happiness and days of joy
Life is a psychologist’s ink blotch
Its hard to make a stand

His mistakes, her nightmares, her life, his plight
Your meat my poison, the other side of the same coin
Ignoring thoughts never seemed harder
Its hard to make a stand

Let’s Do The Things We Normally Do

Saw this one on TV before I heard it.. A first.. anyways…really liked the video as well as the lyrics… and dido’s voice rocks as usual

Let’s Do The Things We Normally Do

Let’s pretend that we’ll be here tomorrow
And I’ll try for you to be a little more on time
I know you need to say you know you’ve let me down
But you haven’t and it’s hard to talk with people all around

Please don’t say how proud you are
Lets do the things we normally do
I’ll say see you later
You’ll sing a line or two
From your rebel songs sung out of tune

Don’t hold my hand for longer than you need to

Lets forget that we’re here and make some plans
We’ll go for walks
Sit on the bench we always sat
I’ll tell you every little detail of my day and so will you
Don’t try to stay awake
I’m feeling tired too

This is just another day
Let’s do the things we normally do

I’ll say see you later you’ll sing a line or two
From your rebel songs sung out of tune

Don’t hold my hand for longer than you need to

Armored cars and tanks and guns came to take away our sons
And everybody’s stood behind
The man behind the wire
There’s a fight to love
A fight to have
Your bed’s a battlefield and back
And all of this will just be stripped away

Let’s do the things we normally do
I’ll say see you later you’ll sing a line or two
From your rebel songs sung out of tune
Don’t hold my hand for longer than you need to

Don’t look me in the eye more than you need to

Don’t try to say goodbye if I don’t want to
Don’t say how proud you are
And say I’m far away
and take along your
and say a word
and I can say fade away

Tour Nepal :)

Snippets of information/advice:

• Most Nepalis hate Indians…especially those that try to bargain
• 80% of Nepali economy depends on tourism
• Manisha Koirala doesn’t get too many roles lately because she smokes and drinks…. (part of our guide’s speech )
• Its nothing great for 40 odd people to alight from a single compartment local train in mumbai with huge bags and luggage in 3-4 seconds. (felt like we had achieved the impossible though )
• Listen to doctor Tejasee and don’t cover yourself too much. The more u try to snuggle, the more cold you’ll feel :p
• Don’t go for elephant safaris in Chitwan. You get to see elephants getting tortured.
• Don’t tell Melissa ( featured in the 2nd photograph) you are going to click a snap. She can’t help smiling
• All waiters in all hotels call you their sister ( yet flirt with you)
• All faces at the Gateway Of India are turned away from the Gateway. They are all looking at the Taj hotel.
• Shut your mouths in U.P.
• Learn to adjust. Learn to enjoy in any situation. Learn to wait patiently for food and hot water. Dont be a baby (unless you want the attention of the chivalrous guys )
• Time with friends is always fun-time. Enjoy it while you can

Lessons from Alice – III

“… I wish I hadn’t cried so much!” Said Alice, as she swam about, trying to find her way out.”I shall be punished, I suppose, by being drowned in my own tears! That will be a queer thing, to be sure! However, everything is queer today…”

by Lewis Carrol

Alice’s adventures in Wonderland

Dear Santa

Dear Santa

I have had a wonderful year. Thank you for all the gifts. The surprises, the warm smiles, the laughter shared with friends, the many tears of happiness. I have realized this year that I am truly lucky. Feels like I have emerged successfully through all the tests that were put before me. So I thought long and hard before asking for what I wanted this time.

I want strength. For the following reasons:

• to accept that some things wont change, and some are bound to change.
• to answer exams 
• to have self-control, not self-pity
• to think of a world in which toddlers know about terrorism and bunkers on golden sandy beaches.
• to fight uncertainties
• to live in a world that thinks santa only brings commercialization
• to understand
• to stop complaining
• to naively believe that the future is going to be exactly as planned
• to hope that the naivety is not a mistake
• to realize that making mistakes not the only way to learn

PS: I didn’t know how big a sock I needed for ’strength’ its ok with me if you give me a huge sock along with strength.