A LACK-LOVELY TRUE STORY!

Talking of True Love & Mothers' Day, here's an account of a true incident which took place on the 19th of June 2006, where, forget about the real thing, even fake love was missing! A story about a helpless motherly figure who discovered that day that the world as she had imagined, was finally coming to an end...well, almost. Here i am putting up the exact text of the narration which i had written on that day.

"It happened this morning... Just as i was passing the Trade Star building on the Andheri-Kurla road on my way to office.

"As usual, the traffic was HEAVY!!! And it was agonizingly slow. Slow, yet ferocious, 'coz none was willing to wait for a second longer than he ought to... & none wanted to give even an inch to the desperate road crossers. It seemed as if not even the most supple-bodied athlete could cross that surging monster river of vehicles.

"Yet... quite miraculously... (& HATS OFF to those skillful wonders!!!), the typical upwardly mobile, tied & suited, executive Indian youth, was managing to sail through it. One... two... three. Hop... skip... jump...Oh! he's on the other side!

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!

"But in the midst of all the free-flowing young bloods, a senior lady, half-bent by her age & poverty, too was trying the same endeavor. And obviously she wasn't meeting with any success. She knew for a fact that she wasn't going to get to the other side on her own. So she looked around expectantly for some helping hand. But there weren't any forthcoming, 'coz everyone else was too busy catching up on lost ground in the RAT RACE!!!

"Such was her fright of the traffic... & such was her plight, that it brought tears to her eyes! She waited helplessly on the divider for about 15 minutes. Those 15 minutes, which seemed longer than 15 eons!

"Finally, help arrived in the form of another young lady. Just a hand to hold. Just someone to give her the confidence that she wasn't alone. That was all the senior needed to cross the three bursting lanes!

"As soon as they got to the other side, the most unexpected thing happened. The old lady did the unthinkable and seemingly impossible! She bent her already crouched body further, lay down on her front side & touched the young woman's feet with her forehead!!! Trust me dear ones, when i say that the visual was nothing short of heart-rending.

"And although her act may have been spontaneous & full of gratitude to the younger one's kindness, embarrassment was writ large on the "youth's" face. And her head hung in shame. That act of instinctive appreciation was the most befitting response to the Indian youth's increasing insensitivity to human values. A slap across our faces!!!

"Wake up guys, we're HUMANS. Not RATS!!! Please let's deserve what we achieve!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Let us not become so possessed,

Let us not be so blinded by our quest,

Let not our hearts be so dispossessed,

Let us destroy the phrase, "an unwelcome guest"

MY TRUE LOVE

True love – That’s what we’re all yearning for. i’ve found her... She’s thinking about me all the time. But sadly i’m not.

Every moment of my waking life, i strive to make my today better than yesterday and to make my tomorrow better than today. An upward slant is all i desire. So that someday, i will get "there". There as in, to a position which i consider ideal...

Back in school, all i wanted was to score well and get into a good college. I thought that that would be the best thing in the world – to hell with peace in Iraq! i achieved it. She was thrilled; i smiled. Then i sulked ‘coz i wasn’t ‘cool’ enough. i was a boring nerd. And i wholeheartedly blamed her for my state then. This nipped her budding joy. But i hope she smilingly forgave me for that. For hopefully, hers was true love…

All through college, all i wanted was to be noticed, to be heard, to be popular. i thought nothing could be cooler than that. Ready to sacrifice my carefully constructed ‘good boy’ image, i wanted to rule my ‘little kingdom’. And i did. The hordes of certificates and awards bear ample testimony to that. Crowds surrounded me all the time, seeking my wise-ness. And the female fans’ list grew almost in a GP! But much to my royal ignorance i was already ruling a much vaster empire – HER HEART. In spite of jealousy killing her every moment, she kept showering her selfless love on me. She smilingly forgave. For hers was true love…

Once out of college, the cash-hunt began. As i started chasing the illusion of the ‘ideal life’, i forgot how i used to chase her around once upon a time, wooing her undiluted attention. That was long back. She must be having faded memories of it. Or at least i hope so, ‘coz unfortunately they have been crowded out and erased from my mind. i’m sure she will forgive. Hope she smiles too. For i’m sure, that hers is the ONLY true love!

Some unknown blessed soul has defined ‘love’ as “the continual act of unconditionally putting the needs of others before your own.”

And although i can feel it, it’s not good enough. Not even a minute fraction of what she feels for me! For i never say it, she does. i never empathize, she does…always. My love is conditional, always expecting her to be there to satisfy my needs, but never returning the gesture. Hardly ever even acknowledging it. Yet i can never imagine losing her...although she must have actually experienced it so many times! i’m rude, sarcastic; never smile with her, laugh at her and am never open to getting it back in return.

Right now, the love of my life, sits relieved that i got to work on time. Till late in the evening, she waits for me prolonging her dinner and praying for my safe return. And all this, to what end? Only to welcome a grumpy face? If this isn’t true love then what is?

Every moment of my waking life, i strive to make my today better than yesterday and to make my tomorrow better than today. An upward slant is all i desire. So that someday, i will get "there". There as in, to a position which i consider ideal… But somewhere along, long back i have forgotten that my ideal world waits for me at home. It comes to life when i rest my tired head in her lap. And as her fingers stroke and sift through my hair, i feel heaven on earth. Isn’t this feeling exactly what i yearn for, what i live for? Isn’t this the only driving force and the motivation for my being? Then what is it that i have been chasing all this while? Trying to dig a launch pad i guess! Only making the crater deeper… What a fallacy my life has been!

I want to say something to her. And my heart truly aches for those who can’t do the same.

“Ma, I love You”

HAPPY MOTHERS’ DAY!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

i've seen Your struggles ending in vain,
And felt Your very trifle little joy;

Endless battles that caused so You much pain,
And You smilingly enacting the "Destiny's Ploy";

Simple it is, 'tis so easy,
To stingily praise & endlessly criticize;

But it will take a lot out of me,
Just to match Your angelic strides!

LONELINESS

Imagine yourself marooned on a beautiful, virgin island, which is full of Nature’s miraculous bounties. A sun-baked white beach, with mountains on your back... Venture interiors & you find hordes of lush greenery – palm trees, wild orchards, ever-flowing waterfalls et all. Everything is yours for the taking. But as always, there’s a price tag attached to this revelry. And that is, that you are the only one of your kind in that place. The price doesn’t seem much, for you have since long craved this freedom. It isn’t too hard to imagine, isn’t it? You know why? ‘Coz after all, we all lead a similar life anyways!

We’re all alone in our exotic little island, cut-off from the rest of the world. Feasting on all the material indulgences – Armani, Gucci, Prada, Honda, Tissot, Nike, Renaissance, Marlboro, casual sex, booze, Ecstasy, rave parties… all ever-flowing wonders! And we monsters devour it all in just two-&-a-bit-something days beginning Friday night. The price? Not much, considering our six digit monthly jingle bells! For the interim five drab days – back to slogging our s*** filled a** off at our swanky little… a bit too little cubicle! By the next weekend, we’ve completely circumvented the circumference of our isle. Nothing new to discover or experience. Neither is anything in sight in our occasional accidental gaze into the horizon. So we’re back at it, off on our trodden track once again.

“Man is a social animal.” I remember this line from one of the social studies textbooks in school. Note the words ‘social’ & ‘animal’. Fact is that we’re all beasts! The only thing that keeps us unique is our sociability. Without it we would lose our essence. Did i say, “we would”? Yes, but quite mistakenly. Because actually, over the past few years we HAVE progressively lost our ‘mingling & bonding’ sense.

How long do you think this will last? How far will the utility sustain? How soon will we burnout? And while we fumble with the answers, many more are a begging. Sample these – When was the last time we lay our head in our mother’s lap, got a hair-oil massage from her, played chess with our father, helped out our junior siblings in their studies, bristled our fingers through a sleeping kid’s hair, ‘made love’ as opposed to just having sex, did charity, helped an elderly cross the street, did something… anything to make someone else smile?

When was the last time WE smiled from ‘ear-to-ear’? Or ‘eye-to-eye’ as i prefer to call it.

I guess you get the point. So let’s light a fire, make some smoke, carve out “HELP” on the sand, build an arc… Let’s do something, just anything & get us off this place ASAP! ‘Coz someday eventually, the loneliness will make us lose the only thing that’s still left with us – our sanity. Just as Tom Hanks lost it in Cast Away when he found a friend in a volleyball. And he cried too, when they were separated!

Being in “real” relationships is our basic nature. The more we stretch or bend it, the harder it will snap back.

Why am i suddenly ranting about this loneliness phenomenon? ‘Coz i see it all around me. And being lonely is the thing that i dread most. Not that i hallucinate about the furniture trying to eat me or the walls trying to crush me when i’m alone at home! No, nothing like that. It’s just that over a reasonably long period of time, you tend to feel a vacuum around you. One that sucks out all your energy from within!

Family members running all over the place, friends who got busier every passing year; some of them who couldn’t care less. Nobody seems to have the time or intent to listen to you. Patiently, selflessly & just nodding his/her head in agreement. It feels as if i’m a nobody; my very existence being denied to me. Not that i’m complaining ‘coz everyone, like me, has their own priorities. It’s just that, once in a while, the brimming heart…overflows…

P.S.: था ने कई कई मैं समझाऊँ, के थारे बिन जी ना लगे... (So many times have i explained to You, that i am so lost without You...)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Never before did i feel so vulnerable,
And never was i so alone.

The night-sky seems darker than ever,
And the days are so forlorn.

Gone are the days of glory,
When my heart like pure gold shone.

Everything looks so hazy, except the fact,
That i must keep marching on.