THE MOON

She waxes and wanes so often, a happening that occurs every month, that the most striking revelation is that we just observe for the no moon day and the full moon day only – that too with the help of the almanac. Strange??

How many of us learn what is necessary for our life from the moon? Appropriately called a ‘heavenly body’.

How often do we spare a little time to observe her?

Is even a few minutes off our frighteningly maddening lifestyle is too much to ask for?

Why don’t you spend a few minutes starting today? And don’t postpone it, because, tomorrow never comes. No, I am not going to hassle or beg you to do it. If you are really committed to making your short life at least a joyful one, please do so. Five minutes of your most valuable time isn’t much.

Look at her. Serene. Always at her best - not now, not today, or not even at this moment, but forever. Don’t you love her irrespective of whether she is new or full? Don’t we wait so much in anticipation, with abated breath to see her, catch a glimpse of her, hoping to be the first one to see her when she is new, the day after she is absent? Very much like the sweet suffering a loved one endures when he misses his sweetheart a day on college?

In fact there is so much beauty around us to take in, to breathe, to consume, to love – if only we could spare the time for it. We often waste so much of our time complaining about the injustice meted out to us. When are we going to realise the time we lose? In all the probability, may be at the end. You are a gifted person. You just need to seek what your interests really are.

And when all else fails, you have the moon still there for you. All yours. Untouched. Unfazed. Waiting only for you. Just spend a little time in silence admiring her and you will know that she is. Beauty. Day after day.

The last week was almost dull, boring. Well, almost. Until Thursday, when I had to pack my bags and run to Chennai on a personal errand. The journey to Chennai was dreary. I was lucky to find a window seat, luckier still to find it in an unreserved compartment on the Blue Mountain express.

Little did I expect to see my old friends so soon. Well, I found my friend at his house, delivered him his goods, had my bath, my breakfast, and left the place to meet Mrs. Kalaivani and her colleagues. On the way, I sent an SMS wishing her a very good morning; and promptly received a reply saying that I would be contacted on phone when she reached office.

As expected, I did not see her first, but did get to meet her colleagues at the office. As far as I was concerned, I had no pre-conceived images to associate any of her colleagues, with whom I had spoken to only on phone before that. To be frank, I think, they, other than those who knew me already, should have been much surprised to see me. That too, will have to wait till my next session on the phone when (if I don’t forget) I may be able to gather what had been their expectations, and whether I did fit in the picture at all.. Me, for my part, had wanted to see Mrs. Prema in person, and Mrs. Bhooma (pl forgive me madam, but I take the liberty here to say, exactly opposite the way the word sounds, or should I say booms??). Met Mrs. Anitha after Mrs. Bhooma, and waited for Kalai to arrive.

Earlier, I had tried to call Kalai over phone the previous day, to inform her that I was on my way to Chennai. But to my discomfort, I could not reach her. And neither did she call me back seeing the missed calls on her mobile. I safely guessed that it was her usual self, “after all senthil thaane.., I will call him later”. I had forgotten that it had been salary day, or else she would have called me. Period.

Finally after confirming that she had arrived, I just walked into the room stunning her. After the initial shock, we had gotten on to the usual chitchat about family, friends, children, movies, climate and wherever the talk could ever wander. Half-way through another person entered the room – was introduced to her – Mrs. Prema. She was looking so timid, and not a great beauty though, but appeared as though she could manage her children and her home quite beautifully.

My trip was so unexpected, I had never dreamt that I would be spending my day with them, my time was running short, and with an awful lot of people to meet I had to avoid trying to reach others except Tharani. I could not even think of going back to CBE without seeing him. He had so often made fun, criticized, even scolded me for not coming over to meet him. With that in mind, I informed him about my brief stay in Madras. He met me, took me with him to his customer’s place and left me back. My only guilt was that I could not meet Kalai’s mother in person, and that I could not bring myself to (break the ice?) talk to Mrs. Prema, at least to get her in a lighter mood. I think/feel that she feels a lot at home while on the phone, and not face to face.

Even after being reminded of Manish’s birthday, I forgot to get him his b-day card, but managed to get Kalai and Mrs. Prema one each. Even so, it was very delicate to tell her that I had forgotten her son’s b-day card (what a shame!). Meanwhile, Mrs. Prema (so gracious of her) presented me Lord Krishna, neatly packed, with clear instructions that I was not to lose him, and that it was good to have him (Krishna) around (so very thoughtful of her).

The frightening part, you know, is, these little gestures keep reminding you that a lot are watching you, think that you are someone great, hold you in such respect, remind you from not faltering and from misbehaving. Dear people, I am a normal human, bound to go wrong and erring all the while, so, I will try not to. You may keep your fingers crossed on this too..

The best part of the day was the lunch together at the office, and should I say, icing on the cake(?), was the b’day treat exclusively for this cake lover at Cakes n Bakes. Two yummy (like Kalai, pl forgive the comparison Kalai) choco cakes which were sure to raise (raise??, i'd rather say shoot!) my sugar levels completed the celebrations for me. Bonus: getting wet in the rain (the saying goes: it rains only when gr8 people come to the city!!)

My return journey ticket number was somewhere near the 300 plus, with a little pressure from my friend, he did get an EQ released for it, confirming a berth for me. Hopefully, I’ll make my next trip to Chennai announced well in advance and with a couple of days to spare. Bye.

WHOSE FAULT?

Auto rickshaws packed with school children and brimming with their ever-bulging school bags and lunch bags, rushing past in the morning hours through the mindless traffic is a common sight. It is the same with public transport buses too, also call taxis and vans. How many of those kids ever make it to the top? The statistics making u feel uneasy?? LOL. Forget it.

In the case of buses, there are instances, where we see the bus driver taking the liberty to pass up on a bus-stop where he notices school children with their heavy bags – implying a simple point: the child with his or her school bag occupies the space supposedly required by two persons.

Who is to be blamed? The parents? The education system? Or the schools?

Parents desirous of providing their children affordable education in the best schools do so unmindful of the distance the schools are (or their residences as the case may be). What does this imply?

That only a few of the schools (though following a common syllabus) function to the desired level? How often do we graciously accept that the blame for a student’s grade does not lie entirely on the teaching staff alone but also partly on the children learning there? Not much of us, though. (Now, please don’t ask me what is my stand in the issue. I’m undecided).

As with any conflict there are two sides to the issue. As far as the teachers are concerned, he or she will be motivated to teach the children better only when there is a positive feedback from the kids studying. He expects the student to score well. It is commonly agreed that all the staff aren’t alike. One may be well capable of expressing his ideas and thereby succeeding in creating a curiosity in the student. While, another may not be so; thoroughly educated but unable to put forth his ideas to the student the way he needs to be taught.

In the Asian or the American countries, the scenario is strikingly different: a student residing in any place has to get himself admitted to in the schools available in that locality or vicinity, regardless of the social status of the parents. Of course there are exceptions- if the parents wish that their child should have a much better schooling, they have to pay through their nose to have their child admitted to a school far off from his home. It is expensive. This demonstrates that all the schools alike have the same standard of education, acceptable by all. So, why the differentiation more pronounced in our country?

Makes one wonder whether education is becoming a booming business after all. Doesn’t it? Well, I’ll say you keep your fingers crossed...

Lebanon shelling.

SORRY DOESN’T MAKE A DEAD MAN ALIVE.

All of us know it. The irony is that we still use it. Well, you might wonder what it has got to do now..?

The Israeli air strike on the Lebanese town of Qana in the early hours on a Sunday last month had left 54 civilians including 34 children killed.

In its deadliest bombing till date, the attack on the town of Qana, repeatedly, had left a bloody carnage. (Even bloodier ones followed, you might very well remember the picture of an Israeli lady holding a few months’ old baby, both dead, lying amongst the rubbles of a building). An entire building received a direct hit from the air raid. Eyewitnesses have said that parents had held these dead children cradled in their hands, still clothed in their pajamas when they had gone on sleep earlier.

After the bombing, the Israeli government had vide a statement, regretted the civilian deaths caused.

It was also reported that the rescue workers found it hard to proceed, stunned by the scale of the carnage. Unless some restraint is exercised by the Israelis as well as the Hizbollah, the end to all this misery and suffering is nowhere in sight.

No wonder they rightly say that “THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR IS INNOCENCE”.