The Handkerchief

As a kid I used to pester my mother with incessant questions. One day we were all watching TV. Then this ad came up

“ What is that Ammi? I asked

Ammi didn’t reply. I thought she didn’t hear me. The ad was about a cloth which is capable of absorbing all water poured on it. So I asked her again

“ Hmmm… that is a handkerchief monu” Ammi replied after thinking for sum time

“ok. Ammi I want two of them so that when ever I go out to play cricket I can use it. Pls buy it for me”

“ Oh sure monu”

For some reasons Ammi didn’t buy me this special handkerchief. Every day I used to ask her when she comes back home after her work. Because of my persistence she bought me 2 different colored handkerchiefs but not the one I saw in the ad. I was not fully satisfied n I forgot abt this special handkerchief as days passed by.

After many years I realized why Ammi didn’t buy me that special handkerchief. Now that is available in the market in different brand names like whisper, stayfree etc.

I Love You...

"Hari dont do that. That is sumthing weird" My mother told me
"Weird???Ammi what do u mean by dat? I asked her
"Weird means....sumthing strange ..not good"
"Ok,then tell me if thats not good,then y u allow Chettayi to do that"
"Monu u will understand that when u become matured"
"Matured??? What is dat Ammi?
"Hmmm...Matured means ....when u grow older u become matured"
"Ammi,How will i know that i am matured?
"When ur height equals mine,u become matured"
I used to pester my mother with lots of questions. Infact i was a 'questioning machine'. As a little kid my curiosity to know abt different things increased day by day.Even now my Ammi says " U were really nagging at times". I still remember one day i asked Ammi
"How kids r born?"
"What....????Ammi was really puzzled
"Ammi, i want to know how kids r born?"
"Hmmm....After ur marriage, when u want to hav kids, u hav to pray to God.Then god will sent an angel up in the sky. Then u can tell her ur wish"
"What is an angel Ammi?"
"Angel is God's Messenger"
"So u chose Chettayi n me when angel appeared?"
"Yes"
"Ammi....Tell me y did u choose me?? U already hav a boy. U shud hav chosen a girl like Aunty did"
"Monu...thats...When angel appeared she had several kids in her hand but u were the only one who was beautiful and also u were similing at me. Thats y i chose u"

She lifted n kissed me on my forehead n cheeks. I put my hands around her neck,rested my head on her shoulders and whispered in her ears " Am i really beautiful ?"
"Yes my dear chakkare"
"Ammiye enikku Othiri Othiri Ishta....." [ Ammi I love u very much]

U Still remember me??

20-09

I opened my mailbox early morning itself. i expected ur mail. i opened again in the afternoon....in the evening but i didnt get any. Where r u my .....? U still remember me?I thought at least on this day u would........ i understand time has this magical way of erasing memories but so soon..... i never could think of.

Do u remember when i said

" if we were born out of the same womb we would never get separated"

u wept in joy

Do u remember these words..

" Heart to Heart

Miles apart

My love for u

Shall never depart"

When u said this i wept in joy inside.

I still remember u trembling when u said abt ur first luv. Do u still remember those good old days that we spent together in our school??

U were always an inspiration for me. I still cherish those wonderful letters u sent me during my loneliness. Even though i dont call or sent mails often, believe me that u r always remembered.....cared.... n always safe in my heart

A true Story

A lady in a faded grey dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun suit walked in timidly without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer office. The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in Harvard.

"We want to see the President "the man said softly.

"He'll be busy all day "the secretary snapped.

"We'll wait" the lady replied.

For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn't and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president.

"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave" she said to him. The President, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.

The lady told him "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."

The president wasn't touched....He was shocked. "Madam "he said, gruffly, " we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."

"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly"We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard."

The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, "A building ! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard.."

For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university ? Why don't we just start our own?"

Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo Alto, California where they established the University that bears their name..StanfordUniversity, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.

Most of the timewe judge people by their outer appearance, which can be misleading. And in this impression, we tend to treat people badly by thinking they can do nothing for us. Thus we tend to lose our potential good friends, employees or customers.

Remember

In our Life, we seldom get people with whom we want to share & grow our thought process..But because of our inner EGO we miss them forever.

Give me something....

"What do u want 4 ur b'day?" i asked

Usually she doesnt think too much n her answer would b spontaneous.But this time she was taking her time. After a while she said " Give me something which is entirely urs?"
"She wants my secret box" i thought.

I showed her my secret box just once. My grandma gifted me that when i was 4yrs old n since then it was with me. She was really amazed to see its pentagonal structure, the secret pockets inside, the sliding mirrors and the popping dolls. i remember her desire to hav it then itself.

So on 27th, i packed it carefully with a presentation paper and gifted her. i thought she would jump in joy on opening it. But to my surprise she opened only the cover n returned the box back to me.

" I know what this means to you n also i know this is a gift frm ur grandma. So even if u r the owner now, it is not entirely urs. u didnt make it n moreover it is someone else's work. Think once again and when we meet next time give me sumthing which is entirely urs" she said

I thought hard of what she meant by "entirely urs " "i didnt make it". i know her liking 2wards cards.So i thought of making a birthday card myself. i bought a thick white paper folded it at the center twice to make it one fourth of its initial size,drew a picture of a rose, painted it yellow n made some cuts n folds so that on opening the card the rose would pop out. Also i purchased a small speaker n recorder to be fitted on the card n recorded my voice wishing her the happiest of b'days.

We met on 15th the next month n i presented her my card. she smiled but not the usual one frm the heart. i thought she was disappointed

"how much did u spent for buying this speaker" she asked
i was really surprised to hear this.

"Adi, i understand that u hav taken great pain to make this for me. But think again. if u want, i wil keep this but when we meet next time i want something which is entirely urs."

But we never met again. At that time i was naive to understand what she meant by 'entirely mine'. But when i think now, i had already given "My heart, My love" to her even before she asked

Obsessed

Definitions:

on : state of consciousness

off: state of unconsciousness

" i am not dying to live

i am living to die

So let me enjoy my time here."

" Hope i had once

Now i am hoping against hope

And i don know when this desperation ends"

I prefer to be off thats y i go to " G.R". A little away fr

m my home and on the way to my

office. Nobody recognizes me der. The boys der wear black pants and black coat over white shirt. They always smile at me and dats y i call them the smiling assassins. They serve me whatever brand of poison i order.

Once it gave me the courage to express myself. Now it gives me the calmness to suppress myself. When i am on, i go down the memory lanes which haunts me.... i prefer to be off....Yes i know this is temporary relief or as u said may be i am coward or running away frm reality but nobody, not even u, know how much i loved....

i know i hav lost her for ever but i am hoping against hope that she will be mine in this life or next.

as told to ASR

Pleaseeee Mom

Will i get the prestigious blue cap?This is the question everyone puts forward when they call me.After the news channels published it, my phone has been ringing continuously with my friends and admirers calls. Everyone wants to know my odds against other new comers. Who will be dropped? chathan asked

I have been waiting for this moment for the past 5-6 yrs. i would say that i am at the zenith of happiness. My parents especially my mom who used to scold me for the same thing is now giving me " Ladu ".

But SHE never called. Instead i did call her.

"Did u hear anything" I asked

" What " she asked

" That i got selected into the indian cricket team"

" Yeah, i know. its obvious and dont come to my house after playing in the scorching sun for many days for u will look like a dark wretched crow. Already u hav become so dark that its difficult to find u even in broad daylight. Dont create a bad impression for my parents."

" Thank you " I got what i badly needed

" Dont hang up " she continued " Remember that nobody can love you more than i do....hmm....congrats.....will always pray for u "

Today is our 1st CB series match against aussies. I couldnt sleep yesterday. i was getting ready to go for breakfast that i heard somebody knocking at my door. i was surprised to see M.S standing

outside. I never expected the skipper at my door

" Adi, today u r opening the innings with paaji. Viru is injured so a big opportunity for u. All d best " He said and then quickly walked off.

I was dumbstruck that i never expected to play the 1st match itself and too opening with the man who has scored the most no of runs in all forms of cricket.

There was a small ceremony before the match to give me the blue cap. Everyone congratulated me. i was cloud nine also nervous.

M.S. won the toss and we elected to bat. The strategy was to see off the new ball and not to give wickets for the 1st 10 overs and my job was to rotate the strike and let Paaji do all the scoring. Paaji asked me to take the strike as he prefers the no:2 spot in the batting line up. Gilly was making all sorts of noise behind the stumps. Mat was at 1st slip encouraging him.

" Dont listen to Gilly because behind every unsuccessful batsmen there is a wicket keeper" i chanted this cricket mantra again n again.

The " Monkey " was at the coverpoint making all sorts of silly pranks. Pidge had retired so a bit of relief.

" Come on Binga, Get him on the 1st ball " Gilly is shouting

Yeah , Binga is waiting for the word "play" from the umpire

" Gentlemen, are u ready??....PLAY " said Rudi Koertsen

Binga is steaming in and balls the 1st ball just outside. i was happy to leave it. i looked at the score board " last ball 147.6 kmph" " Next its going to be 150+" i thought. Luckily i survived the 1st over.Then came in M.J. Paaji seems to be in supreme touch. Magnificient drives as he always does. My 1st runs were a scratchy edge between Gilly n Mat. Gilly n co. is disturbing me in all sorts of ways. At last after playing 18 balls i got one in the middle of my bat. That gave me some confidence and the pat i got frm Paaji changed me completely. Now i shifted gears. My score was 0 frm 16 and it quickly changed to 49 off 42

Over up. I was at the non strikers end. " Dad n mom would be watching this. SHE would be really proud of me. When i score my 50, there would be a roar in my home " All these kinds of random thoughts came to my mind. I came back to strike

"Tak Tak Tak"

" Gilly is doing his job " i thought

The bowler started his run up

"Tak Tak Tak"

"F___k Gilly u should not be doing this when the bowler is on his way." I walked off the stumps to complain to the umpire

Again "Tak Tak Tak"

" Gilly is not doing this " i realised

" Its drinks break, Get up Get up Get up uuuuuu KUMBHAKARNAN" My mom waking me from a well made 49 off 42 (3x6, 4x4)

" Yeah i am coming mom " Till now i had only doubt. Now i am pretty sure that my mom is an aussie supporter that she never allows me score a 50 even in my dreams....

Yaadein...

It was march 28. For the 1st time in that particular academic year my heart was beating fast to get to school. But it was just 8 in the morning 1 1/2 hrs earlier than usual. Everyone in my home were really surprised to see me doing my routines myself.

Usually my mother had to poke me up in the morning,carry me on her shoulders until she reaches the washbasin to brush me up. ( I loved to sleep on her shoulders even at 7-9 yrs ). It was mandatory in my home that only after brushing one should talk. So after brushing I try to coax my mother to allow me to sit at home with grandma so that i could skip classes and play

cricket. Out of 180-190 school days, I used to have either of fever, stomach pain, headache, feel to vomit etc for 150-160 days. When nothing going right my way I desperately said to my mother

" One day i will get a job like you and i will take leave to sit at home "

But 28/03 was really really different and special in its own way. I was the one who openend the gate with the watcher. Half an hour later I saw my class teacher staring at me

she asked " Hari why are you so early? Your exam is at 10.30 only. "

" Ma'm got some doubts. so i thought of coming early and clarify " I said

" Good boy " said she. But ha ha u all know me......

I didnt talk to my friends. I was desperate to write the exam. I was really angry when the supervisor distributed the paper at 10.34. I completed the exam in 1 1/2 hrs. Only after the stipulated 2 hrs one can get out. So I waited impatiently. Then the bell rang. My class teacher came, collected the answer sheets and she said

" Today, as you all know our school is closing for the 2 month summer holidays. what r u going to do? "

" Happiness " was flowing out of me when I heard " 2 month summer holidays ". Yes I was waiting for that only.

" I am going to my grandparents home " said nikdha

" I am going to learn knitting and help my mother in cooking...etc " said chutty

" I am going to my uncles home, prepare for next yrs etc " said saitha

Seeing my 70mm wide 'smiley' face teacher asked " Hari, u??"

" Ma'm i am going to play cricket from after noon onwards "

Laughter spread like a virus

Gone r those days. Hardly 2 months sorry 2 days we get these days. So drenched up in this rat race when a " we wil do " frm our boss means " u hav to do" and the so called cost cutting power point " mockumentaries " means salary cut and my old wish of taking leaves turning out to be loss of pays, petrol bill, phone bill, other expenses makes my pocket empty half way through...

But i daily thank god that i am not married.......

If I Could Go Back.........

Some things in life are quite different. Ever wondered why people think about " those " things and say if i could go back??? Fact of the matter is that some things in life which if we miss once they are gone for ever and because of that only they become special or the most cherished memories or even an ever lasting pain.

After a long time when you walk down those memory lanes these special things would be the

first to come up in your mind and

say hello to you

Well, what would i do if i could go back??

There are umpteen things that i would

do, tell, correct if i get a second chance.....

Let me list out a few

1. If I could go back, I would have gooooooneeee back sooooo far that i would still be in my mothers shoulder sleeping, waking up only to pester her...play ...kiss her... ha haaaa hoooooooooo

2. If I could go back, I would have studied well enough to beat Rahul Vijayan, Shilpa, Anu etc to be the 1st in my class

3. If I could go back, I would have practiced and run harder to beat Sam Stanley to become the sports champion

4. If I could go back, I would have scored a bit more so that my team could lift the MH Cup

Once when i was a kid, i saw SuperMan rotating the earth backwards in order to win his once lost love and i really believed that could happen .... but now i know thats fiction

Okey... Tell me what would you do if you could go back???

My LOVE Letter

Place : Myheart

Date : 25.03.09

From

Me

To

You

Sub : Declaration of my love

Dearest You,

This is to bring to your kind attention that the undersigned is in severe love with you. Through this letter , you are requested to accept the offer. This offer is valid for ever and is exclusively for you. You are assured of exciting prizes in future.

It is also informed through this letter that if this is leaked to your father or brother, then you are liable to pay my hospital charges.

Waiting for your confirmation

Yours lovingly

Me