dreamland

  One Friday, per month – we have a fun game at my work place. During one of those games, I had a rude awakening! The game was very simple. Group of us had to form a circle facing outwards, sit in point A and then when the buzzer goes off, get up, and run as a group without breaking circle to point B. When the other team did this, it looked so easy. But when my team’s turn came, even before I got up, I was dragged by others who got up quickly to point B. Even though all of us were laughing and moved to next game, I was ashamed at myself for not getting up quickly. I kept wondering how since, I am not a lethargic person or overweight. I did quite a bit of introspection and I realized that I was simply not fit. Which means I had to do something to make my body fitter. I used to be very skinny and people would always admonish me to gain weight! Recently I had gain weight and looked healthier and it did surprise people who have seen me in skinnier side. Now I had a mission to be ...

Mother’s Day! Is there any new explanation one can give for Mother’s Day. We all know why we celebrate Mother’s Day. I have always wondered why we need to have specific dates to celebrate something – Mother’s Day/father’s day/valentine’s day etc etc. Nowadays it seems like every other day is some day – Roses day/ Siblings Day/Twins day and what not. Now it has become more of a show than anything else, but still all these days started existing due to a specific reason. So “Google” came for help again, when I started looking at Mother’s day origin and celebrations. As usual this  wiki  page gave very interesting details on how today is not celebrated as Mothers day across the world as we all think. Every county has chosen a date. In India, its celebrated today and I really liked the explanation given “ Indians do not celebrate the occasion as a religious event; its celebration is mostly restricted to urban areas where the occasion has been largely commercialized ”. ...

So after 1 week, I stepped out of my house today to buy 1 week of vegetables and groceries stock. The roads were quiet and the usual buzz of activities were amiss, as expected. I had to make 2 rounds of visits, 1st to veg shop and then for groceries. I stood in the queue outside grocery shop, and then when my turn came, kept mentioning each item I wanted from my list. For a few items there were discussions on the brand, quantity, alternate option etc. So finally after 30 mins of this, with multiple interruptions for the shop guy he got my list. Then the wait for billing for 10 more mins and the  payment.  This reminded me of childhood when we would go to nearby kirana stores and used to have this scene regularly.  Social distancing and washing hands and dresses once am back etc was indeed followed and I realized even these I took for granted. We have come a long way with digital world and fast paced where we don't stop to pause or think. But today,...

Detective Nilesh was trying to read a book when his son came running, asking if he had made the decision of their vacation destination. Would it be Indonesia or Thailand? His son, was excited as this was the 1st international vacation they were planning in their family. The 1st vacation he had in the past 2 years. His friend Rajat and his Indonesian wife voted for Indonesia, as it was their favorite and planned to accompany them. Nilesh and Rajat were family friends. Their common interest was solving cases. Both loved their work so much that they compete on solving a case they take up together. Their score was equal and the last case would have proved who won this unwritten competition. After that last case, where both of them could not get evidence for their suspects to be caught, they both were burnt and practically burnt them out. They both planned to take a break. But then he just could not forget the unsolved case. They just could not figure out why “Run” what was ...

Krithi and Shwetha, very close cousins, are doing their usual catchup at the end of their week. Krithi : “Hello Shweth! How was your week?” Shwetha : “Long and no time to breath re. But then since I want to wind up by next week to come there, am not complaining. You tell me how are things there? Vacations started for Ritu right? Went out?” Krithi : “Nah! Nothing new from my end. Same old stuffs. Ya her vacations started but Ritu has a lot of homework so finishing that fast before her favorite aunt comes home. So we hardly get time to go out. “ Shwetha – “haha, super! Ya ask her to keep whole time free for me! Ok tell what’s the latest gossip at your apartment that I should be looking at when I come there? :D. “ Krithi : “Oh yes, listen! I told you right? Mr Mukherjee and his wife had moved out. Someone new has arrived. OMG! She is full of attitude. You remember how sweet Mrs Mukherjee used to be. I used to leave Ritu with them when I go to market. This new...

 A TRIAL Scene 1 - Two law associates are talking at the corridor of a long court room halls. Pranav : Where are you heading Sam? Samantha : Court room 5, of course! Don’t you remember Pranav? Today is the trial day for Vikash. The driver who ruthlessly killed that poor little girl Sabani. Pranav : That was such a tragedy right! We have come across so many cases, but this was brutal. We believe these drivers, employ them and send kids. But, see what has come upon. It really troubles me. Sam : Oh man! That’s true. I heard, he kept denying about committing the murder even after the Assistant Commissioner literally caved into him. Pranav : Oh! You do have your sources (smirked Pranav). Since this is a pro-bono case, who has volunteered to represent Vikash? Sam : Mr. Jaswesh Saini. Can you believe that? Pranav : Wow! Really? Generally, he doesn’t encourage taking up cases where there is a chance of losing. This is clear cut case of murder for money. Sam : Yeah that...

Raj opened the door and switched on the light of Amit’s house. He still could not believe it! His best friend, Amit, was dead. All of 35 years and dead due to a cardiac arrest! He still remembered their dinner 2 days ago on Amit’s birthday when they had met at their favorite restaurant. He was perfectly fine and even contemplating taking a break from work to visit his brother. Work which kept him awake for more than 20 hours a day. Being a cop was not easy. But he was one of the best in his team. They both had started their career together and had become best buddies in those 3 months of training. Through all the ups and downs of the cop life, they were there for each other, even when duty took them to different cities. And the next day Amit was dead. He shook his head and looked around. A small room at the front with a section carved as kitchen. Last time the kitchen was used was for making coffee. The utensils were still in the sink. He entered the small bedroo...

I was walking to my stop to get on my ride back from office. Instead of taking the usual shuttle from my office block to the main gate, I got into the mood of walking, despite the laptop bag! The distance is close to 1 km. There were many people walking the same distance both ways so I was forced to alter the pace of walking. First 2 times someone slower to me was walking ahead of me, for a moment I got frustrated. Friday evening – the last thing I wanted to be was frustrated! Then suddenly I remembered the video games we have played as kids. Do you remember Contra and Mario? Those Video game era, where we had to share the video games and it was only allowed during summer holidays. Different video cassettes were exchanged and played! Well, I suddenly started thinking of each of the people walking alongside, as the obstacle we face in those video games! Also during that walk, the entrance/exit of other buildings are there. So the vehicles entering/exit also make you stop for a...

Diya stood at the edge ready to jump. She had lost everything worth living for and was feeling completely alone! Reema wiped tears, looking at the photographs, missing her friends. Finally divorced, she wanted to reconnect with her old world she had lost touch. *Phone Ringing* “Diya, Reema here. I need my best friend now!” P.S - This post is part of weekly challenge that me and my friends have started to get us back to our passions of writing and art work that we all used to do!!

Last weekend saw me and my husband attending something pretty interesting! Human Library – is a novel concept which has started its edition in Hyderabad 1 st and now in Bangalore. We both had registered out of curiosity. We got a mail confirming our registrations and a time slot was given for us to come. We went to the venue wondering how the event will play out. There were 7 books from which we could choose. We realized that time slot was just 1 way of confirming for 1 book but we could actually visit other books in other time slots if it were open. Each book topic had got us curious but with time constraint and slot constraint, we chose 2 books to attend on that day. I mention attend here, as the book(author) shares his/her story and we can have discussions/question-answer as needed. Since this was the 1 st session, there was 30 mins time slot fixed so that everyone will get a chance with the books. I am not going to share on what were the books and what was dis...

Neetu sat patiently waiting for him to come. She looked around but could not see him. She hoped he will come before his parents came home. This was her little secret that she cherished. She knew that her parents would never approve of this. She didn’t want to get caught when these moments gave her the happiness she has been yearning for. It was not that her parents were bad, it was just that they were strict and wanted her to study and be the “good girl”. She had always wanted them to approve of what she does but they were too busy to notice this. Being a single child, she felt bored at home doing everything herself. All her friends lived quite far and she was not allowed to go alone to meet them. The one time she had thrown tantrum to go to her friend’s place, her mother had made her sit in the dining table and tried to explain the “safety” reasons of not allowing her to go alone. But it didn’t help her mood and only made her angrier. She still remembered the day she met him...

As the princess  (she is called this by her friends but I have always seen her dress unlike-princess!)sat in front of laptop, I peeped from behind and saw her google for shrieking shower and found the answer as "faulty faucets". Bless these new technologies and the technical terms it keeps throwing! Soon the Biker(I have always seen him with camera and not bike!) came and they laughed over the shower incident and slept off. I wondered how long these 2 new folks will stick on here. This was my place and all the previous folks who stayed had left this house thinking it was some kind of bad omen but then they never realized that it was because of me! The next day again, princess got scared of the shower for a second and then reminding biker to get a plumber to fix it, both of them left. With the whole house to myself, I started snooping around. They had not unpacked everything but the 1st things I saw outside were some kind of strips of colorful papers and glues etc even ...

How life can change in a week! And that too in a total mixed bag. On one end we were celebrating the arrival of a new joy to our family and very soon on the other end, tearful farewell to another soul! Mind and heart needs the power to handle and deal with situations that we have to face suddenly. And such times are the ones when you see your parents and uncles/aunts at their emotional breakdown and you realize that you need to step up and take care of them and the roles have slowly reversed! There are times I wonder why life is cruel also. I got a chance to visit Vishranthi yesterday. It’s a place of destitute women. What started as a small Monday afternoon ladies club of meeting and sharing ideas and recipes and having “ladies time” soon turned to a charitable trust which led to this place called Vishranthi . Right now providing shelter for 170 women, this is one of the well known homes being run in Chennai. Ironically, the woman who started this amazing servic...

The Rains in Chennai which started this year during mid October had me worried a lot but it didn’t baffle me till 30 th Nov, Monday. 2 quick personal trips to Chennai during month of Nov, gave me a sample of what the city was witnessing and I came back to Bangalore on 29 th Nov. A narrow escape for me. 30 th Nov saw the worst rainfall the city is ever going to witness for some years(hopefully!) All the network connections went crazy. One quick call from my mother informing me that power is cut and network is also going down and not to worry about my family at Chennai made me realize the week wasn’t going to like previous ones! Different whatsapp groups were created by to quickly check on our Chennai colleagues of our department as no mails/calls were working. A few others from different locations were also added to check on their Chennai counterparts and then started a marathon tracking mission of 2200+ folks based out of Chennai. Similarly other department folks also g...

Present Day : She looked around her as women sat in groups working hard on getting the final touches of their entrepreneur journey ready! One of them looked up and spoke,” Ma, Am very confident we will do well. Thank you so much for teaching us, showing the path and helping us.” She smiled looking at the confident women around her, who once were meek and quiet and facing their own sets of challenges at their home. Each woman in this group of 20 were from different background and of different ages from 17 to 55 – newlywed, widow, abandoned wife, happy mother, grandmothers, single women – from all the walks of life but in one small village. The only common thing they had was dreams of doing something of their own! Another woman got up and said, “Yes Ma. Your family is so lucky to have you. Am so happy you came here to our lives. It feels like we are going to fly!” A tear came from eyes as she turned to hide it from them and looked out of the window, remembering her families...

The silence was deadening as she slowly opened her eyes. She looked up to see her attacker’s triumph face while the only sound came from the sword which slashed through her stomach . Undeterred she got up raising the nearest blood stained sword shouting – Jai Hind! And the curtain fell with loud applause from the audience!