things to enjoy and moments to cherish
travelling in an ac coach but still sneak to the door and feel the rushing wind on the face
walking on the beach and enjoy a solitary moment when the waves lap at your feet
picking up a puppy and touching noses and smelling its fur(only if clean)
watch from the window as the rain comes down and then fill your senses as aroma of soil rises in the air
snuggle upto your loved one especially after a nightmare
sharing a cup of tea with your best friend or friends
just walking side by side with a loved one or friend
walking among trees preferably alone
finishing a book which we liked and then sighing in contentment
looking up at the night sky filled with stars and feeling totally insignificant
revisiting places from our childhood and feeling a sense of melancholy
see a rose in full bloom and smell its heady fragrance(careful of bee stings)
going to a place of worship not really knowing why or understanding the fundas but feeling totally at peace
THE SOLITARY REAPER
BEHOLD her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
wordsworth wrote this poem and the poem reflects my thoughts for you but with a change for in the poem wordsworth
asks
Will no one tell me what she sings?--
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again?
but in my poem to you solitary reapers of life i don't ask but understand for in the bonds of our love i am neither man nor are you women but kindred souls reaping our lives in solitude.
married yet alone,mother of children but still feeling barren in life
alone you sing but alas in silence lest your words disturb the harmony of others
alone in the solitude of sadness your cries are never heard for they are lost
in the demands and orders of your loved ones
but gentle souls you stand not alone for our solitude brings us closer
your tears flow and your cries are heard only to your hearts.
the rhythm that guides us will bring better days when the sun rises not
only in the sky but also in your souls.
like the pot at the end of the rainbow let us keep seeking our promised gold
even if our rainbows are only black and white and appear in our dreams
Very touching, Satish. In my case, it is unmarried but with children not my own. But this is not the place for airing private melancholies.
I sensed that "Water's Edge" was dedicated to your parents. My father was orphaned when he was a year old, and growing up with a succession of relatives who cared little about his well-being, he developed an incredible resilience. He in turn taught us to be strong and independent in the face of society's efforts to put one in a straitjacket. I am sure your own childhood experiences have made you stronger than you think you may be in the face of external challenges and the occasional looming sense of emptiness.
LOST SOULS
In todays fast developing cities, space is at a premium and to aquire land lot of deals are done the wrong way and tragedies follow those actions.People who move into new houses or flats hardly have a moment to know or understand the history of the place there house or apartment complex has been built on.Sometimes dark deeds leave behind traces which wait for justice to be done.For in some instances the wait is eternal yet for some the repurcussions are swift and justice brutal.
Mommy,mommy screams a young voice and shalini wakes up startled and rushes to the next bedroom which belongs to her five year old son raghu.Running in she sees her son sitting in the bed completely drenched in sweat and with a terrified look on his face.Taking him in her arms she asks him,baby what happened to which raghu points and says those children are not leaving me alone and they keep calling me to play with them.Shalini looks around and finding no one around looks curiously at her son and asks,raghu are you all right.Anyway don't worry,you must have had a nightmare or a bad dream.It is common because it has been only one week since we moved in to this house and it will take some time to get used to it.
Next day after both her husband and son have left shalini walks around cleaning at the same time admiring her house and thanks their family stars for getting the house at such a throwaway price.the only thing that saddened her was that it was about an hour's distance from the city and made shiva's commuting to office and home a painful thing.As she is cleaning raghu's room she gets a whiff of something burning and wondering if some light fuse had gone or she had left something to cook in the kitchen she rushes out but finds nothing in the oven or on the stove.Thinking she is behaving like her son she laughs to herself and goes about doing her daily chores.day turns to afternoon and slowly slips into twilight time.Raghu comes running into the house and flinging his bags in every corner and goes to switch on his playstation.slowly time drifts and night falls on the house.Both shalini and shiva are awakened by raghus voice and se him standing with his teddy bear.wondering if he is hurt they ask him what happened.raghu replies,i am not able to sleep in my room for there is too much disturbance and those kids keep staring at me.Not understanding what he meant shalini asks him to sleep with them and tucks him close to her.
Safe in his mothers arms and his dad close by raghu tries to close his eyes but is soon disturbed and he spends the night wide eyed and staring into the dark.Next day shalini wakes up with the noises of raghu screaming and laughing.Wondering what was going on shalini comes to raghu's room and sees him throwing a ball to someone and saying catch,catch it .The ball drops to the floor and comes to a halt at shalini's feet and seeing her raghu comes running and says,mum these boys are really sweet and nice.i am not scared of them anymore for they were not frightening but just wanted to play with me and my toys.Checking raghu's forehead to see if he was running fever she finds his brow cool to the touch and not knowing how to react comes to her husband and tells him of what is happening.They decide that they would take him to a doctor and get a checkup done.They go to a nearby hospital and the doctor informs him that raghu is perfectly okay and there was nothing to be worried about.
Later in the evening when shalini leaves raghu with shiva and is about to drive out to the supermarket to pick up some provisions,raghu comes and says he also wants to come with her for he needs to buy something for his friends.By now used to his imaginary friends shalini seats him and places the seatbelt around him.Driving with raghu in th backseat shalini's thought are filled with what could be going on hers son's mind.Meanwhile raghu is pointing to places passing by on the road and telling somebody what those places were.Reaching the supermarket and going inside raghu rushes towards the ice cream parlour and keeps pointing to the different flavour.The place is not very crowded but the few people who are shopping there throw vague glances at raghu but don't take him seriously since he is a kid.Raghu comes upto shalini and says i want you to buy two cups of chocalate,two cups of strawberry and then turning back as if talking to someone to make sure what they want he turns back and says and two chocobars.Shalini not knowing how to react to her son's demands decides to buy them but just then the air around turns really cold.Wondering what was going on she finds raghu missing and fearing for his safety she searches for him.She finds him in a corner staring at a man who is shopping for some medicines.Just as she goes towards her son,raghu screams at the man,murderer,why did you hurt my friends.The man not understanding puzzled by what was happening moves threateningly towards raghu but by that time shalini intervenes and apologises for her son's strange behaviour.She tells him that raghu has been behaving strangely since they moved into their new house.The man a very tough and dangerous looking fellow looks glaringly at raghu and then softens his expression and asks shalini where they were staying.When shalini mentions their address the man's expression changes to something of fear and horror but manages to smile and wishing shalini the best of luck in their new house leaves but not before throwing a strange look at raghu.
Returning to their home shalini tells shiva what had happened at the shop and says she is really worried at raghu's behaviour.Late in the night she wakes up raghu playing in the garden and peeping from the window she sees him walking on a branch.Freezing in fear she watches as raghu does the impossible and walks the length of the branch which should have been physically impossible for a boy his age to do without an adults help.Totally scared she watches raghu jumping up and down in joy screaming once more,once more.Not able to watch the scene anymore she goes down to the garden where she sees a ball flying by itself,a cycle riding without anyone driving it.Nervously she calls for her son and gathering him she rushes back to the room and puts him to sleep holding him tight.
Next day morning with all three of them sitting at the dining table,shiva and shalini question raghu about what was happening and who he had been talking to and playing with the past few days.Raghu cheerfully says,dont worry dad my friends are really sweet and that their names were raju,mala,shekar,lata and kumar.Both shiva and shalini look at each other and ask raghu why he was not introducing his friends to them.Raghu turns around and talks for sometime and then turniing back says with a serious expression that they were wary of adults because they might hurt them.He went on to say that his friends had been lonely for nearly 20 years and were happy to play with him.Not knowing what to do shiva starts to ask around and finds out that the place where their house was now built had originally housed an orphanage for children,but then about twenty years back a fire had broken and had burnt the place down and in the process five children were burnt to death.
Still confused and a bit worried about their son raghu they decide that if things were going to go on the same way then they would sell the place and move to some other location.Tired all three fall into a deep sleep with shiva and sahlini holding raghu between them.At about two in the morning,raghu wakes them up hurriedly and tells shiva and shalini that the bad men have come back to kill them and point to the window.Hurriedly shiva gets up and slowly tip toes to the window to see what was happening outisde their house at this time of the night.He sees a vehicle parked and a man gets out from it and shalini recognises him from the supermarket and tells shiva about it.just when shiva is about to pick up the phone to call the police,it goes dead.Hurriedly he treis his mobile but strangely no signal.Raghu come up and says dad don't worry everything will be fine for my friends are going to help us.The bedroom opens by itself and then shuts by itself.All three stare and then look out the window to see what was going to happen.The gate opens without anyone near it and shuts itself on its own.
The man who got out of the vehicle is talking to another person,you think i am going to let a kid ruin my life and name i have earned in the society.i have killed before to become rich and i am goiing to kill agian to protect what i have worked so hard to earn.Saying this he gets out of the vehicle and opens the boot and brings out a few cans filled with petrol.The petrol cans lift and are emptied on the man and his vehicle.the person who came with him seeing this strange happenings flees fearing for his life.Not knowing what was happening to him the man looks around to see who had poured petrol on him when a matchstick lights up and seeing it the man realises that something bad was going to happen.He turns to run when something trips and he falls to the ground.Gathering strength he climbs into the vehicle but realises the vehicle won't start.The remaining cans of petrol lift from the ground and are poured onto the vehicle.By now desperate the man tries to open the vehicle doors but it is locked shut and it catches fire.The man screams in agony and dies an agonising death.Watching all this in horror shivaa and shalini turn when their bedroom door opens and he sees five children come in.They come to raghu and touch him tenderly then like a morning mist they slowly start to vanish.Gentle words could be heard saying bye raghu bye..
