The Awakening

Sitting beside the solemn river
And listening to its crackles,
The realization makes me quiver
That I am born free, yet bounded by shackles.
Can I change my destiny, my fate?
Act here and now, before it's too late.

To traverse the path strewn with dainty roses
And awaken to a new, salubrious dawn,
Work assiduously till the day closes
With more poignance and substance, and less fawn.
Can I find roses without thorns?
But, I'm ready to take the bull by the horns.

Nothing worthwhile has come easy, nothing ever will;
It's time to sound the gong, and beat the battle drum;
My inner demons have lived long, they need a bitter pill;
There's more to life, and the best is yet to come.
Can I re-discover the child within me, the spring of joy?
I want to be myself, and give my best try.

A Trip Down The Memory Lane- School Days

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school."  

-Albert Einstein

Today, I feel like writing something about my school life. Some of my best and unforgettable experiences have come during this phase of my life. Sometimes, I secretly wish that I could go back in time and be a schoolboy once more, but alas, I have managed to do it only in my dreams, and I know that it is the best I can get.

School life was that phase of my life where I lived a completely carefree life. Come June and I would be geared up to face a year full of fun and excitement. Of course, there were tests, homework and so forth, but who really bothered about them? I was a proud member of the 'Last Bench Club' which consisted of a group of five to six people. The little things in life fascinated us and we endlessly explored new ways of playing pranks and making mischiefs which in turn, forced our teachers to explore new ways of giving punishments. "You will be given TC if you repeat it next time" and  "Bring your parents to school next Saturday" were some of the most famous cliched dialogues which I used to hear day in and day out. The only time I studied was during the day before my exams when I used to get some sort of supernatural powers to cover the entire syllabus in such a short span of time!

And then, there was ‘gully cricket’. Oh! It was the best thing since sliced bread. Bricks turned into wickets, the road turned into a pitch and the Coconut tree branches transformed into bats. Since there were some houses on the off-side with glass windows, we played only on the leg side. Maybe this is the reason why I am a strong on-side player [Citation needed…:-P]. Ross Taylor might have had similar conditions too when he played during his childhood, as is evident by his high percentage of stroke-play over the mid-wicket region!

This was also the time when I developed my love for reading. I used to wait eagerly for the monthly issue of ‘Champak’. Champak’s June 1995 issue was my first. I have still preserved many old copies of Champak. Also, once in a while, I used to get copies of ‘Tinkle’ and ‘Chandamama’ too. The folk tales in Tinkle were my favorite. But it was Champak which inculcated in me the habit of reading, for which I’m very grateful. If it was not for Champak, I might never have ventured into the realms of Sherlock Holmes, Malgudi Days, Harry Potter and so forth during my later years.

There were some very good programs on TV during those days, unlike the ones we have today. DD National was the only channel during my early primary school days. For mythology lovers, there were serials like Mahabharata, Ramayana, Krishna and the likes. I think most of the Indian homes in the 1990s got their TV sets because of these serials. Such was their impact! I was a big fan of Alif Laila and Tippu Sultan. My mom tells me now that I used to have my food only after watching those shows! But, I feel DD’s USP was, and still I believe it is, the advertisements. The haunting tunes of ‘Mile Sur Mera Tumhara’ and ‘Baje Sargam’ are still etched in my memory [By the way, I have forgotten ‘Phir Mile Sur’ long back…:-P]. Whenever I eat jalebis, I am reminded of the Dhara advertisement, with Parzan Dastur’s ‘Jalebi!’ exclamation still ringing loud and clear in my ears. 

The animes of Mowgli, Donald Duck, Aladdin, Baloo, Scrooge and co. were an integral part of my life (I didn’t like Mickey Mouse then, and still I don’t know why!). Later, came the colorful world of Star channels to sweep us off our feet. Now, I hardly find DD channels in people’s houses anymore. Everyone has moved on, I guess.

Well, time doesn’t wait for anyone, does it? It’s been a long, long time since I have left my school. I have forgotten many of the things that have happened since then, but the memories of my school days have managed to stamp their indelible existence in my mind [ROM flashed!?:-)]. I wonder whether it is the same with all the 90s kids of my generation. When, and not if, the gadget for time travel is invented, I most certainly know where I will go first…;-)

On The Banks Of The Neckar

July 1^st, 2011. It was my last day of deputation in Germany. I stayed in a place called Heilbronn, which was about 40 minutes drive from Stuttgart. I had come from office early that day. My room was in utter mess. Half of my packing was yet to be done. I came to realize the bitter fact that I had procrastinated too much in this regard. And trust me, packing your baggage for a first-time-return-from-deputation-journey is a colossal task. By the time I was finished, it was 1.30AM in the morning!!! My flight was at 7.30AM and I had called the cab to be present at 4.00AM. So, I had around 2.5 hours at my disposal. My idea of a 4-5 hours sleep was long dead and buried. And, I was in no mood to sleep, anyways. So, I decided to take a night walk along the banks of the Neckar [a river which flows along the city of Heilbronn] for one last time. It was 1.40AM when I left my apartment. I planned to come back by 2.30AM.

            The Neckar Bridge is just a 10 minute walk from my apartment. It was quite a warm night. The weather widget on my cell was showing 16° Celsius [Yes!!! When you stay in Germany for sometime, 16° C feels warm… ;-)].  Hmm… You must be wondering when the woman will make an appearance in this article. After all, this article is about a woman, right??? But, if you have had any prior experience dealing with women, you will appreciate the fact that waiting is indeed a virtue with them…;-)

            So, let us come back to the Neckar Bridge. At right angles to the bridge, there is a long walkway, lined with wooden benches, which runs parallel to the river. There is a bench, on the back of which I have marked a very small ‘K’. This bench is very special to me. I went up to it and sat on it, contemplating the occasion which made it so special…

--- 2 weeks ago ---

I was sitting on the banks of the Neckar when, I saw her. She was exceptionally beautiful, dark and vivacious. She had a tropical flavor to her complexion. I guessed she must be from Brazil. I don’t know what it is with me, I keep thinking about Brazilian beauties all the time…;-) Anyway, she came and sat on the same bench on which I was sitting. Well, I won’t bore you people with all the details of my conversation with her. It started off with mere exchanging of formalities, as it happens in most cases. But, surprisingly, it went on an on and on. It lasted for the whole of 4 hours, 45 minutes [I measured the time later. During the conversation, time just flew by on rosy wings…:-)]. Mostly, she talked about her life. I was very cautious. I had learnt never to let a girl know too much about your life, and I had learnt this the hard way…:-( So, I thought, let her do all the talking, and I would be content with listening. And, it was a great sight to see her talking so freely and openly. Then, we talked about relationships. Well, at that point in my life, I had never considered relationships very seriously. My life was pretty much screwed up, and I didn’t want any girl to come into my life and aggravate matters further. So, I had stayed safely out of any kind of relationships. But, with her being at my side, my perception of a relationship was undergoing a drastic paradigm shift. I was beginning to feel very comfortable in her company. Since, I was a newbie as far as relationships are concerned, I put up a naïve face and listened to what she had to say about it. She gave me a girl’s perspective about what they expect from a relationship. Then, we discussed some philosophy. My guess was right. She was a Brazilian and a huge fan of Paulo Coelho. She almost gave me an instant summary of ‘The Alchemist’. I loved the way she looked. I loved the way she talked. Even though I was putting up a calm demeanor in front of her, inside, my emotions were tearing me apart. My heart and my mind were fighting a world war. I was at my breaking point.

Before I could say or do something stupid, her cell phone rang. Her friend was calling her to get back to the railway station. She was supposed to go back to Paris that night. I didn’t want this conversation to end. She had taken me to a whole new world. But, suddenly, I landed back to earth with a jerk. She had got up to leave. Something inside me prevented me from asking her cell number. She just looked at me for sometime. I could not decipher what those eyes were conveying. I too simply stared at her. The fact that I can never meet her again was very hard to digest for me. I still remember the last words she said to me, “I spent such a wonderful time with you. I hope that I will meet you again. Goodbye.” With that, she turned and walked away. I kept watching her graceful movements until she disappeared around the bend. I just closed my eyes and sat down on the bench. I still could not believe what had happened. But, life had thrown a lot of curves before and it didn’t take long for me to recover from this one. I just smiled to myself when I reflected on what had happened for the past few hours. It was time for me to go back to my apartment. Before leaving, I made a small ‘K’ mark behind the bench, so that whenever I came to that spot, I will always be reminded of the beautiful moments which I spent with her [You can still find that ‘K’ mark on the bench. If any of you happen to visit Heilbronn, don’t forget to visit the ‘K’ spot… ;-)]

--- Back to the present ---

            Tringgg… Tringgg… Tringgg… My cell phone alarm shook me up from my reverie. It was 2.30 AM. The time had come to say a final goodbye to the Neckar. I saw the ‘K’ for one final time, turned and walked back to my apartment. I checked my mailbox, since I had forgotten to check it for the past one week. There were a couple of letters addressed to me. But, I didn’t have time to read them. I put them in my pocket and walked towards my room.

--- Nine hours later ---

I was seated comfortably in my window seat of my Paris-Bangalore flight. Everything had been smooth. There was a small scare during the security check at the Paris airport, since I was carrying two kgs more in my cabin bag [which included some things which were not allowed according to the rules, but rules are meant to be broken anyways, aren’t they…;-)]. But, no harm was done. All was well and I was on my way back to our ‘Incredible India’.  I remembered the letters which I had picked up from the mailbox. I thought of going through them. The first one was from the town municipal office regarding the confirmation of de-registration. The second one was from… Guess who??? No, no no… Not the Brazilian girl…:-P In fact, I don’t even remember whose letter it was. Oh... How I wished it was hers!!! But the fact is, I don’t have anything now to remember her by. Only her aura of elegance and beauty remains. And, as John Keats magnificently puts it, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’…

PS: 
I wrote this article for the Essay Writing competition organized at our company, Robert Bosch as a part of the Women's Day celebrations in March, 2012. The topic was 'Woman- An experience which changed my life'. My article won the first prize...:-)