Best of My Dreams - Sweetest Mistake (2)

The platform was much of rush with people who came to receive. I was standing proud to pick up my kids – for me they still seemed to be kids but my instinct said they all are grown up. I silently cherished my kids first train journey 15 years ago to Madurai – the heaven, my mom is there. She is still there living peacefully expecting me for every summer vacation with my kids. It has been a three year gap as I could not get my kids out of their work. I thought my mom would be expecting us for a long time and decided to be there after this New Year as a surprise!

At last, my kids arrived and my son straight away hugged me up! I remembered my son hugging me every evening till standard five when I used to pick him up at school at Delhi Public School, Kolkata. I could sense how much he missed me with the intensity of the hug. Aishu is all well and it seemed she is enjoying her profession a lot. They both were still fresh as it was just a 3 hour journey from Chennai. 

With the wild traffic, we reached home after 1 hour and Priya seemed to be busy preparing while we all entered. The joy of mother is something special always. She is much amused to see her matured daughter and proud to see her son pursuing at one of the leading institutes. Three years ago Aishu left us for her project at Chennai and stayed there since then. We missed her a lot. But still Priya would ruin atleast 10% of my fortune in calling her daughter! We all sat in our dining table together after three long years!

Abishek could not resist asking, “Dad, Its 10 years since I have asked you about this!”

“I remember kido and is there any problem in asking once again?” I winked.

“OK. Why do we alone celebrate December 30 as our New Year while all others do it two days later?” he still had the puzzled look over me. I travelled 10 years back when he first asked me the same question. I even wondered he is same as his mother, remembering every single moment of life!

I looked at Priya and she said, “We will start discussing after our lunch!” Priya’s orders have its own weightage in our home. I usually won’t say no, Aishu will follow me and Abishek will never go against his mother!

Priya has grown far more in her cooking style from when I married her! She has made a variety this afternoon, a rice pulav, chapathi and paneer, fish curry and rice! “Awesome lunch” said Aishu. “Your mom knows Zero cooking at your age Aishu!” I said. Priya interrupted, “It’s an act of diet measure for your weight at that time darling!”

“Surrender” I said!

Abishek was not at all interested in such conversations. He wanted to know why our new year was 2 days early. Priya looked at me and asked, “Shall we start clearing Abi’s doubts?”

 

It’s all about my Mistake!

Best of My Dreams - Sweetest Mistake (1)

Whole world is set for the New Year. This year it seemed to be more splendid for no reason. Whole of Kolkata is decorated for the New Year eve. For every individual it’s going to be a beginning of something but for me it’s the end of something. 

It’s the last day of my professional life. She decided this for me long back when I was 28. I am 45 now. She is a kind who expects only words filled with love and affection and nothing else. I wonder how fast the earth rotates and it rolled over nearly half a century that soon! I experienced, 2 years love as my friend and 25 years friend as my love! She is Priya. 

Whatever my work, I have never left out this day to celebrate. This day is special – really special. My kids are flying back to Kolkata from Chennai for this special day. My elder daughter Aishu, research scholar at Chennai nuclear research center, is straight forward, simple and exactly opposite to her mom – exactly like me! My son Abishek just joined IIT Madras for his engineering and is returning home from hostel for the first time for his semester holidays. He is much of studious and sincere guy and exactly opposite to his dad – not like his mother even! But I see me in him when he was much close to his mother! 

For my children, it’s a long wait of 10 years to know their parent’s marriage story. I and Priya have prepared and censored certain areas and say the story crisp to our best friends. My children were my best friends; in fact I had all my relations as my best friends and all best friends as my relations! 

I went personally to pick up my grown up kids at the Railway junction. Kolkata’s platforms are one of the longest and I had 30 more minutes for the arrival. I left Priya in home as she would prepare something at least today! I was all alone in the busy platform and I ended up calling up my sweetheart. That was the usual practice for me as she will never let me feel alone. A little bit of romantic dialogues to start the conversation for which Priya easily fell off and said, 

“You have never changed even at 40’s!” with her sweetness filled voice and creamy shyness creeping up the cheeks. 

“I am feeling young today! I feel like 20+ still!” I replied.

“Much girls around?” she questioned.

I said, “Holiday rush. All hostellers moving back home!”

A pause which travelled years together within fractions and a silent smile prevailed at both the ends.

“Nostalgic uh?” I continued.

She smiled to herself and said “Come home soon honey!” and hung up the call.

I was smiling at those guys who were walking along the platform with water bottles and books for their girl friends’ travel. “They were making memories” I said to myself. An announcement of the much awaited Jan-Shatabhdi bullet train came and it’s the last few minutes for the arrival.

It’s all about my Mistakes!

Best of My Dreams - Pun

A busy day once again, Bangalore is at its high after the technological boom this year. Many fresher zoom in to the professional life with a great career in their thoughts and slackened engineering graduation in their hands!

One such day,

Our hero is an Engineering graduate from Tamil Nadu. It’s just a month over after he joined at one of the best service companies in the world. He was really excited and started off from his home a five minutes earlier so as to feed his bike in his own salary for the first time. He had his own plans for the evening, a get-together of all his college friends at Bangalore who have been recruited along with him. He texted his friends a very great morning and started for the office. His enthusiasm was just because he has missed his friends much with the long gap of 3 months after the college life. He was completely overjoyed with the thought of get-together at Garuda Mall.

When he reached his bike he found that his bike needs immediate attention of its family doctor – the next street Mechanic! He pulled his bike through huge difficulty and finally reached the place to find it to be closed. There was a hanging board which stated – “all my income today are donated to the Government Buses!” He was confused a bit with that board in his hurry but understood a little later that the mechanic would not open the whole day. He decided to park his bike back at his room. 

With a hell lot of sweat, he found his watch stating a different time than usual. He will be usually late by 5 minutes, but then he was nearly late by 20 minutes! 

Bangalore is a busy city where all the hi-fi buses are crowded and local buses are nearly empty. He took a normal faired bus just because he is late! To his astonishment he found the bus was nearly full leaving a single seat near a woman who would be aged around 28 to 30. The travel was nearly 45 minutes. Our hero was really tired walking to and fro to the main road thrice and he has no other option left. He stood near the seat waiting for an invitation from the woman. She never turned up. 

“You are not in Tamil Nadu dude. It is Bangalore. You can take that seat for granted”, an inner voice shrugged him up.

He took the seat immediately with that voice and feeling something odd to travel with a girl for the first time in bus he tried to stand up and leave the seat empty. At that time, the girl looked up with a seductive smile and so he sat back. 

He started with a smile and said, “Hi, I work for a MNC. You?”

She replied, “oh you too. Great. I am a prostitute!”

He was dumb for the next 30 minutes of travel. 

Comedy or a Brain-Drain?!

Best of My Dreams - Regret

A silent start to the journey of life begins when a child begins to stand up, walk and run on its own. We start alone, parents’ guide us for the first 10 years, friends shower their care for the next 10, a love that loves more than you do for the next 10, children’s love for the next 10 and once again in life we start walking alone!

As I started walking I noticed a clean road, crystal clear sign boards and every driver following the traffic rules. I wonder how would be this if I were walking on the platform of India rather over the London Bridge. I stood over the pavement of the heavy traffic bridge witnessing the calm river. Thames was flowing clear and silent. 

Walking along with the memories of your missed ones has its own feel rather walking with your loved one. A lonely walk could always bring the unsaid memories up in our thought rising from the heart! 

A mistake mistaken for a noble cause, a love loved for no reason – A flash of thought that threw me back to India.

The last day of my college life, everyone knew that those were the last few minutes together and exchanged one last gift to their best friends whom they never want to miss! Exchanging of slam books and autographs, wishing best for everyone for the future and it marked the end of something which everyone, both criticized and cherished, the most.

The final bell rang, and it was one last bell we would hear which we hated the most in our college life! She was standing firm with her soft hands curling over the steel fence expecting me to say those words which we both had in our mind in common. I stood silently looking at her eyes which was restless and looking for a word of relief. A love unsaid for the past four years. I had a card to give it to her but she had nothing except an open thought. 

She started, “Bala, All the best for your future. You will get to a very high position in your life. Hope we will be in touch always. Anyways, best wishes for the rest of your career!”

I had a mixed feeling whether to say or to give the card straight away. I responded with a smile which gave her a dilemma state whether to walk away or to wait for the reply as I have never spoken alone to her earlier. She still had the firm grip over the steel fence as I stretched my hand forward with the card. She got that card, turned back wished me all well again and started walking in the corridor. 

I stood resilient at the same spot looking at her direction waiting for her to turn back atleast once. She walked and faded away. I reached my hand to the same steel fence which held her hand one last time barring my first hold. It was just a 'Thank You' card but she kept that closed as she feared she will fall for it! She walked away without opening her heavy heart and also the card.

If she have opened her heart or rather I, it would have been 'We' instead of 'I' standing over the bridge now - cherishing those days!

With the thought of my last day, a missed chance which changed my life, a tear drop rolled over the cheeks and hit the surface of the water creating ripples. Within seconds ripples vanished and river seemed undisturbed again!

Life moves on. With time, the ripples vanish but the path traversed by the tears over the cheek remains forever reminding of the Love – The First Love!