Was she really blind?

During my frequent train journeys I keep meeting a variety of people who make me feel this is a world blessed with a plethora of incredible individuals.




On one such journey I met her. She must have been all of seven years old and was traveling with her parents and younger sister. Clutching her doll bag she seemed shy and quiet, unlike her sister. Although I noticed her non-child-like nature initially, I didn’t quite bother since I was concentrating on my book.


After we all settled in and the train had taken some pace, I noticed the younger girl was jumping all over, playing, and asking constant questions with her bright eyes. The other one’s participation, was verbally active, although not physically. Both sisters shared an amazing rapport and coordination and the younger one was always ready to answer queries within her means. Their interesting chatter attracted my attention and I couldn’t stop noticing that the elder girl wasn’t looking up at all. She wasn’t troubling her parents but asking intelligent questions and engaging them instead. I could gather that although she was blind, she was really sharp and gifted in another manner.


I finally had a chance of talking to her after a long time. Both sisters were sitting beside me and chatting amongst themselves. I realized that she was really blind. I was reading the collected works of Ruskin Bond. She asked me what I was doing and felt the book with her fingers. She felt my face and my hands too and her fingers seemed to know me well. It was as if she could see with her finger tips. She asked me my name and asked the meaning. She wanted to know where I stay, where was I headed to and what do I do. She told me her story too in the most interesting manner. Then she requested me to read a short story to her. She listened intently and enquired after that. I was amazed at her knowledge, her intellect, and her different views and opinions about a particular thing.




The family got off the train at their destination. That little girl had left a massive impression on my heart. As I lay on my train berth, thoughts about her filled my mind. Her awareness, her calm nature and her constant curiosity made me marvel at the fact that when one of our senses does not work, God always compensates somewhere else. This girl’s attitude towards life left me wondering whether she was truly blind.

Time stands still at the city of my childhood

Every time I visit this small quaint town I feel like I’m reliving my childhood. It’s as if time forgot to touch Allahabad when it passed by. Everything from the buildings, the neighbourhood, the old playground, the local people, the old school building, the shopkeeper, the rickshaw puller, and even the old guard seem unchanged.




Although all these almost unvarying circumstances seem

strange because it’s been decades since I left Allahabad, but what makes me most happy and rejuvenated is that my feelings, emotions and sentiments towards the place and the people remain unchanged. My degree of emotional connection with the city makes me want to return again and again. It adds to my zest of life, and removes the boring and challenging routine which I face everyday in the big city where I live and work. The place always reminds of me of my Mother, the naughty days of school, the happy festivals, the scolding of parents, the fighting and laughing with pals etc. All these memories refresh me and give me strength to live life once again. They never fail to bring a smile to my face and brighten my day.




And now, sitting alone in my room, reminiscing about my old home, I recall some instances which make me feel passionate and urge me to return to the therapeutic little town.


Allahabad is the place where I spent the initial nine years of my life with my parents. Although I was born in Kolkata, I grew up in Allahabad. Today, at 35, I live alone in New Delhi and work here.


I spent a happy and colourful childhood with parents and friends in Allahabad. The house I grew up in is located in a remote part of the city and is big with a garden full of fruit and flower trees and plants. My father’s passion for flora and fauna always kept the greenery around the house. I was very content with climbing trees, playing all boyish games, running about, being mischievous and hurting myself. Parental scolding and beating was part of the game and was never thought of as an ordeal.




Usually, my mother had to deal with my troublesome nature since my father used to be away for work most of the time. She was my constant companion teaching me every important thing of life. My father’s return meant several complaints and some angry and disciplinary moments, but that was always short-lived. Their love was the integral part of my life.




I studied in St. Mary’s Convent and was good in studies. I agree I was careless and my teachers always complained that I was the most talkative girl in school. But when my report card showed my good results every year, I eagerly looked forward to my prize of the biggest bar of chocolate. Perhaps that’s why chocolates are still my favourite. Birthdays were always special with an early morning gift and usually a dinner treat. I remember my parents threw a grand party once inviting all and sundry. The food was yummy and the gifts were to die for. I must’ve been seven years old then.




I remember the first time I rode on my father’s Lambretta scooter sitting behind him with my arms wrapped around his hip. My mother feared I would fall off, since my usual place was to stand in front holding the handle. But my father took the gamble and taught me to be brave. Although all the rides are not as vivid, but I do remember some when he dropped me to school, or we went to see the Ganga river, or some monuments etc. I always looked forward to the times when the three of us went to visit his friends. I recall, we had met with an accident once and my father hurt his finger badly. Mother and I were not much hurt. In an after thought, perhaps, I might have distracted him somehow, I can’t quite remember that.




We moved to another city called Indore in 1984 when I had completed Class III, since my father changed jobs. I could sense both my parents were very upset, especially my mother. I suppose I had mixed feelings. Sad to go away from this beautiful place and friends, yet excited to see a new place, make new friends, study in a new school, and meet new people.




It’s been many years since then. We finally moved to Kolkata at the end of that year and my mother passed away the year after that, to cancer. My father has moved back to Allahabad ever since and still lives there.


I visit him as frequently as I can.


We often reminisce the wonderful moments that have passed and feel both happy and sad about them. So although physically time has stopped in Allahabad, the poignant bond beckons me to visit time and again.

My Beautiful World

I’ve been living in this modest two-roomed flat on top of a building for the past five years now. When I moved in here I literally felt on top of the world. My friends and family loved my den and it has been a venue for many a small get-togethers in the past.


The view from the terrace is of a green field and lots of trees on one side and of some more buildings on the other. The sun rises from the far end of the field and sets behind the buildings. I marveled at the thought that I get to feel the morning freshness, see the clear blue sky, the starry night, hear the happy chirping of the birds and enjoy the seasons despite being in the middle of a big, polluted city where all this cannot be thought of.


My house is close to the airport but never was I disturbed by the planes. As the years passed a new airport runway was constructed and the aircrafts now fly right over my head in their new route, one every 1.5 minutes. My peace and tranquility have been jeopardized by the noise to such an extent that watching TV, talking on the phone and talking to someone has become quite impossible now. Sometimes I feel I’m facing a 9/11 disaster right in my living room. This has made me hate the sight of aircrafts.


When I gradually came to terms with this constant noisy atmosphere, I noticed, to my horror, one Sunday afternoon that, the field and the trees overlooking my terrace did not exist any more. This spoilt not only a playground for the local kids, a walking track for the health conscious, but my view as well. I always thought the greenery was to stay. Apparently, the authorities are constructing the road there connecting to the other end of the town. That’s all good, but I’m left with lots of dust and mud and ugly brown construction site with machines to look at.


Although I had plans to move out of the best place in the world which has been my home till date, I've stayed put. I decided to live with the surrounding pains. Today, the green playground (although a smaller one) has been relayed and the road beyond it has been extended. Hence, I’m glad modern construction did not kill my environment. The sun continues to treat me with golden and pink sunrise and sunsets everyday and I'm so glad I changed my mind about leaving this paradise.

My Sister, Friend, Mother – I miss you!

It’s not often that we experience the loss of so many special people at the same time in our lives, but when I lost my sis-in-law a couple of days ago, I felt I had lost all. She came into my life when I was all of eight years and I never imagined even in my scariest nightmares that I will lose her one day. Although I’m sure my brother and nephew have lost an integral part of their existence, her loss has created a vacuum in my life as well.


Teaching me right from wrong, scolding me, educating me, standing up for me, supporting me, believing in me, and above all loving me through the years, she has always been outspoken yet wise in every advice. Her behaviour and respect towards one and all and her ever-smiling face showed her mettle in whatever she did. Simple living and high thinking was her virtue.


She was a brave soldier fighting a deadly disease in a cool and composed manner without any complaint. This taught all of us to be an optimist and the correct attitude in handling a situation. I regret being away from her the past few years and I wish we could’ve spent more time together. Although she suffered a great deal and died young, I’m glad that the Almighty relieved her of the pain soon.


I know you will live in my heart forever, but I will always miss you my dear sister, dear friend and dear mother.

Is this due to global warming or the Mayan prediction?

The recent devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the one in China some time ago adds to the list of several such major natural calamities in 2010 and 2011. We’ve already witnessed tragedies such as in Haiti (Earthquake Jan 2010), in Chile (Earthquake and Tsunami in Feb 2010) in China (Earthquake Apr 2010), in Eastern India (cyclone/ tornado in Apr 2010) and in Iceland (eruption of volcano Ejyafyallakjokull in Apr 2010)and Japan (earthquake and tsunami in Apr 2011). All these have brought forth disastrous misery to hundreds of thousands of people of those regions and it seems the worst is not yet over.


In addition, we cannot ignore the extreme weather conditions the world over. The summer of 2009 saw heat waves across India and Europe which caught people unawares and took many lives. Many parts of central and northern India also faced drought conditions. 2010 had extreme monsoons too. And 2011 also had very hot summers and quite a lot of rains as well. The world was not spared in the winter of 2009-10 as well. India, Europe and the USA were subject to excessive cold waves.


Why is all this happening to us? Are these the after effects of global warming? Or is the Mayan prediction of the world ending in Dec 2012 coming true?

Let your child blossom

An insurance TV commercial I saw some time ago is basically about discovering the potential of your child and letting him realize it. It says: “whatever your all-rounder’s dreams, we make it possible”.


The commercial shows a child excited about winning a competition in school announces it to his parents. The parents, instead of exhibiting joy and encouraging him, ask what he won the prize for, bicker about whose family’s smarter than the other and which spouse’s brain has the child inherited. This leaves the boy thoroughly confused and he meekly informs that he’s stood first in painting. The parents, quite shaken, applaud him, but continue to bicker and blame each other’s families for such artistic inheritance.


It’s strange and disheartening to note that normal human nature is such. First of all, they want their children to win every competition/ battle of life. Secondly, if it’s painting instead of academics, that’s almost shameful. Why can’t parents let their kids grow and bloom naturally, and encourage and support them whole-heartedly?
This commercial appealed to me a great deal. The expression on the child’s face spoke volumes. Please dear parents, listen to the unspoken words, comprehend the latent talents and let your children blossom and become masters of their vocation.

My Boudi-my friend, my Mother, my life

My boudi, Shubhra, has been in my life since I was 8 yrs old. She got married to my brother then and was almost my Mother, since my Mother passed away when I was 10. Today I'm 35 years old and she's very unwell. She's suffering from Hepatitis B, a critical form of Cirrohsis etc. and it's very complicated. She's been suffering from these liver ailments for a long long time now and I can't take her suffering any more. There was a time when she was getting better, but things have got real bad now.


We've shared so much for these years that its hard to put a finger on them. It's difficult to count the things we've enjoyed doing and how much I fear that those times are seldom going to be repeated now. I live in Delhi and she in Kolkata and we hardly spend time together. We often talk, and nowadays its more about the illness. She's always on my mind and am always worrying and anxious about her health.


Dear God, please cure her, please take care of her and grant her good health with Your Grace. I dont want to lose a great friend and a great part of my life. I dont want to lose my Mother again.