Short Golpo Tales!

In this series I will be sharing articles from the column I write for the ispark magazine!

Gully Gully Mein Cricket!

It’s 4am and the alarm goes off in the Venkatraman household. Amma is the first to get up and vigorously wakes up Paddu. In half hour, they are ready to go to the ground, no, not for a walk but Cricket Coaching.

This is a familiar scene in many households in Chennai and I am always fascinated to see that boy riding pillion on the scooter holding on to his cricket kit bag tightly as the father concentrates on the road! Many of them dream to hold the MRF bat like Sachin and Virat or a Spartan bat of MS Dhoni.

The parents walk on the side of the ground as their children take strike or get ready to bowl. It’s their love for cricket and the enthusiasm of the kids that make them take that extra effort to be on the ground, at times sleep deprived, buy those expensive kits, engage a personal coach, act as cheerleaders, make sure breakfast is ready, lunch box is ready and also manage the all-pervasive Homework along with their own office work.

The young cricketers on the other hand,work hard, put in all efforts to fulfill their dreams of lifting that Cup and acknowledging the cheer of millions of fans! Cricket is a religion in our country and every time there is a match, T20, Test match or the IPL, we have the whole nation united.

And it all starts here, in the ground, in the nukkad (corner), in the small gullies (alleys), where a future MS Dhoni, Virat kohli, Sachin, Krish Srikanth, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble is waiting to be discovered, waiting to wear the blue jersey. So, the next time you see a white set of uniform along with pads and cap drying in the balcony, stop for a minute, and wish that child all the very best. Who knows he might be India’s next skipper J

For more info on ispark do visit thier site!

http://isparkmag.com/

Giving up ? Not an option !

Last evening as I was grappling with a post on FB, it was quite natural to turn to my daughter to help me complete it.  "Ma you give up so easily " she chided me. As I sulked, I realised that I have been tethered to my own thoughts of feeling rather inadequate when it comes to writing.

Time for some introspection!

   

I figured that I had locked up a small list of insecurities, tucked them away in an obscure place, which I would often like to visit. Sometimes the visit would leave be feeling all scalded and would take a few days to heal.

   

But strange, that instead of working on those insecurities, I have often taken the easier route of reaching out to people, sought their help and got the task done! I have never been refused help and that made my job very easy.

But then, I simply gave up a chance to learn something new.

   

It seems like I have been deftly avoiding the process of learning and better that “something”, that I was feeling inadequate about.

   

Every day brings its own challenges, but also an opportunity to learn something new. And I realise by taking the easy way out I have deprived myself a chance to go up the learning curve.

Well it’s not too late and maybe I can promise myself to finish that course on Coursera and not switch sessions for the “n”th time. I might have to advance my waking up time though ;-).

Looks like "Prioritising" is the new buzz word that’s going to help me get there !

“What you practice grows stronger “. This sentence spoken by a lady on a Ted Talk really resonated with me and makes a lot of sense now.

Clearly, giving up is not an option that’s available if I want to learn.

Having committed to that, I promise not to be harsh on myself, exhibit some TLC and pay some kind attention to those parts of me, which need it. But the next time, I need help on finishing a writing piece, get that excel numbers out of my way or some new ideas for a workshop, “Dial A Friend “is not an option J

The Wait ....

I stared at my ticket in disbelief  : 4 and a half hours of waiting at the airport for a connecting flight to go  home ! After 3 days of hectic activity at a Lit Fest in Jodhpur,  the thought of sleeping in one’s own bed was irresistible ! I chided myself for not having asked the travel agent for other options! No wait, she did send me the ticket well in advance and I did have an opportunity to ask. Well, the answer was simple, at that point of time, I was not supposed to travel again the next day . So I will have to be content with lesser sleeping hours.  I forgave myself for this lapse.

The day of travel and the onward flight was delayed. I did not have to worry cause there was 4+ hours gap before the next flight ! I surprised myself by making this entire situation, which started off as a blame game of self to a “dekha I told you “ wala shabaashi ! As I waited and waited for the boarding announcement in Jodhpur Airport , I was overwhelmed with the company of this  vivacious lady , who had not only seen my performance at the storytelling sessions but also chatted up at dinner the previous night . She remembered my story and while doing so she was so magnanimous in paying me compliments . It made me feel so special . The conversations meandered on this and that and ended up in a discovery of mutual friends to mutual interests. How those couple of hours breezed by patah hi nahin chala.  As she offered me some jalebis , I hesitated , giving her my usual retort, that I am already sweet ( read diabetic)  She just casually commented ..”just before you eat it, look at it and say you can do me no harm” and savor it !

Janaki Khush hui and the box was one jalebi minus !

I landed up in Delhi Airport (no.2) with 3 hours to spare .  The 1^st hour went off quickly as I tried to figure out the boarding gate, walking through security, browsing through books and other stores, indulging in some limited retail therapy and finally ending up in a Lounge , thank you Mastercard !

A book to read, a fresh lime soda for company,  a match to see, a conversation with a friend , long distance,  and 3 hours was not enough !

As I finally  stood in the line to board the flight home, I was overcome with a sense of gratitude on how beautifully the hours of waiting had melted away and couldn’t help recollecting what Deepak Chopra had said “ Accept people , circumstances and events as they are in the moment. When confronted with any challenge , remind yourself "This moment is as it should be " because the entire universe is as it should be !

Hello Life :-)

A couple of days back I had to visit my aunt, in an hospital. As I entered the twin sharing room, the first patient was an 8 year old boy who was watching something on a phone, with earphones, sitting next to his mother.

Suddenly the mother looked up, and smiled at me . They were watching  Ghilli ! The mother came up to me and said her son was a big fan of actor Vijay and he had watched Ghilli more than 100 times ! After a pause, with a wide smile, said , she loved my role too. I thanked her and then smiled at the boy, who for some reason, did not make much of an eye contact with me and looked away.

Sensing the somewhat confused look on my face, the mother, explained that her son was epileptic and that he was undergoing  treatment. She then pointed out to something on the phone to her son and he suddenly looked up and stared at me. He took the phone , paused the scene where he could see a close up of mine and then held the phone against my face . He did this a couple of times and then for a brief moment smiled at me and  what I felt at that moment was pure magic ! The mother continued to talk as I went closer to the boy and asked what his name was.

“His name is Jude and he has lost his speech” . I was numb and did not know how to react, but the mother kept  talking and requested if she could take a picture with Jude to show her elder son.

I stood next to Jude, who was a little restless. He did pose for a second and then turned away. The mother explained that  Jude actually  preferred seeing me in the small screen along with his favorite actor, and was quite content with that J

As I left the hospital, I kept thinking of Jude and his mother who had gently showed me how it was all about wearing the right kind of attitude, no matter what and be content in life !

Thank You !

As I was about to cross the road during my evening walk, I stopped short when I saw the signal turn red, and stepped backwards. Just then an auto rickshaw driver drove past, but not before he said: "Thank you for stepping back madam!” smiled, and drove away.

It made me smile too! 

Thank yous always make me happy, and, when I use this simple expression for someone else, it makes me happier!

The joy on my chef’s face, at the office last week, when I thanked him for a tasty daal and Roti was a mix of surprise and a huge sigh of relief. It's like this: he would always put chillies dabaa ke (full on) and I would run to fetch that extra glass of buttermilk to douse the fire within. After many polite pleas, he had finally got it right. I smiled and said a wide grin wala thank you and since, he has been a happy wala Chef.

I think feedback is necessary but more important is the thank you that accompanies it. 

Like the other day, when my maid walked in with a guilty look after a couple of days’ hiatus, she was greeted by a song and a thank you. She had a puzzled look - but then the whole atmosphere turned all fun and madam worked that day with a happy jig and a gait that could put a sprinter to shame!

All thanks to a simple Thank you!

Practice the art of gratitude that books preach, that God-men speak of, that Holy Books write - but you know what, it has to come from within.

It all begins at home when you take that one extra moment before you rush off to school, college, office and say thank you to Amma/ Appa  - or in my case my Mom-in-law. The entire morning kasha-masha (chaos) which could have almost ruined the rest of the day is miraculously turned around and the feeling is priceless.

As I stepped into a cafe in the course of my walk this evening, to have a coffee, I was in for a surprise. They gave me a card which says that the drink on my 10th visit to their cafe is free.

Well, some might say it's a marketing gimmick but it was as if  the Universe was giving me an ishara (hint ) that I need to visit this beautiful zen-like cafe more often as I need to complete a couple of tasks for myself which have been buried under the label of procrastination !

And in that moment, I said a big thank you to myself for I had at last succeeded to be with myself and my thoughts.

As I said a big Thank you, Dinesh at the Cafe wondered what that big smile was all about!

After all, I was just paying forward the Thank you I received from the auto rickshaw driver :-)

Celebrating Me !

When I attended a workshop on storytelling a couple of months back in Bangalore, little did I expect it to be a spiritual journey where all roads led inward? How do I tell a story ? Do I feel the story? Am I true to the story? And as I asked myself these questions, there was this little voice which kept asking me, “why is it that you think so much?”

At first, I dismissed it as a frivolous thought - but as hours ticked by, the voice became more resilient. I realised that I have spent too much of my time thinking what others might think about me, my actions, my emotions, my thoughts and so on . It was never “ME” It was always “THEM”.

First and foremost, I recognized the need to break certain myths to accept myself the way I am and in doing so, perhaps there could be some ‘Mad’ realisations of the Self?  Yes I am an emotional fool and get teary eyed at every happy or sad occurrence, but that’s me and that is how I am. Yes there will be aches and pains of different varieties every day, but I have the option of looking at the brighter side of being alive, and being able to appreciate everything good in my life. Of course, there will be differences of opinion with family and colleagues and friends and it is okay to be in that space. No emotions I try and tell myself, are eternal. And love will prevail at the end of it all, engulfing me in sheer joy and happiness!

It’s true that no one recipe fits everyone! If I think yoga makes me calm and work-outs make my heart race, it is so. But it might not be the same for everyone else! Like that morning when my Yoga teacher remarked “listen to your body”, I knew she was asking me to focus and focus on me rather than looking around and trying to see who was doing better than me!

In this day and age where my attention span seems to be so limited, it is like there are multiple windows open on my laptop as well as in my head. I am learning to forgive myself for the overwhelming lethargy at times and applaud the hyperactive me at other times.  I so agree with SRK’s quote “Realised the best cure for life is happiness, laughter & a liberal amount of tears. The rest is inconsequential “

That few minutes of the “power nap” just after lunch is the best-est nap ever. Or Sneaking in that delicious mouth-watering chaat at Ballard Estate, Mumbai, near Customs House; eating it with that piece of papadi instead of the spoon, staring at him with disbelief when he says it’s Rs.25 for Sev Puri and Rs. 20 for Bhel puri? The Bhel just got tastier J

The sudden trips to the local tea kadai, having that special masala chai with butter biscuit cannot compare to any expensive hotel ka chai. Chancey illa! The big tub of popcorn with lots of masala and coke as you enter the world of fantasy showcasing your favourite hero, that feeling is priceless!

How often do we do this to ourselves? Just pure indulgence without feeling the guilt pangs which seem to accompany us wherever we go, whatever we do. It’s these stolen moments that make life so much more interesting and happening.

And what I thought started as a spiritual journey of looking within actually turned out to be simply savouring every moment in life and in the process celebrating me!