The swift river flowed around me, a reassuring cool embrace.
With power to sculpt mountains, she instead chose to sculpt me.
With energy to erode away entire countries,
she instead chose to erode my vices.
With ability to awe the universe,
she instead stayed by my side and made me, me.
The rock that stood rising up to the stars, always by my side he stood.
Never a moment's rest he sought when I needed his guidance and support.
Unchanging integrity,an example was set,
for me to follow was but another step.
No matter how dark the day had dawned, the rock stood solid by my side.
With his peak among the stars and galaxies, never did he choose to overwhelm me. Humble and pious moments did we share,
he inspiring me to flow in the stream of life
with integrity and flair.
My constant companion, a true friend.
A rare bond that we share
that eternity cannot send to oblivion.
A comfort and an aide to banish boredom,
on dreamy summer afternoons and chilly morning jaunts.
Physical distances do not matter,
imprints of these special people reside in my soul
and will remain
after this universe has seen its last star.
Sunday 17 August 2008
Thursday 14 August 2008
The Second Class Coach
Rosy Kutti knew that it would be impossible to get a seat on the train at such short notice, but her daughter had called her again and as usual she had cried over the phone. Especially in the last month, the distress calls from her daughter had increased in frequency. Maybe, if Rosy had let Mary continue with her studies, probably they would all have been better off. She had hoped that her son, Ebenizer would one day grow up to be a great doctor or an engineer and would pull the family out of the hole. He grew up to be a drunkard and gambled all the money that Rosy earned by working twelve hours a day as a maid cleaning houses and washing vessels and clothes.
The train was crowded just as she had expected it to be. What with all the holidays coming up, people were going home to their families. Though she only had an open ticket, she decided to take her chances in the reserved coach. She wasn’t the only one, the aisles were choked with people and the TTE who was making his slow way across the train would have on any other occasion thrown the open ticket holders out of the coach, but today, he was in no mood to do his job right as that would entail a lot more effort than was humanly possible.
Rosy found a comfortable spot to stand at. She positioned herself next to a compartment which was predominantly occupied by families who were traveling together. She stood next to the backrest of one of the seats and leaned her tired back against it.
Rosy had decided that Mary had been through enough, she couldn’t allow her daughter to be punished for no reason by her insane drunkard of a husband. She would now be able to channelize all the anger that she failed to express towards her son in the direction of her son-in-law. Besides, she had been spending too many Christmases in the company of her drunk son, this time, she wanted her daughter by her side when they held the special mass that she loved so dearly as it meant that she could sing all her favorite songs that she had learnt at Sunday school as a child.
The seat that Rosy stood right next to had a harried young father seated on it. Shanmugan was traveling for the first time in his life in the second class compartment as the first class had been booked months ago. His wife and his two year old daughter were next to him on the inner seat.
Shanmugan was not happy with the situation at hand. He had been holding his piss for the last hour because he couldn’t imagine how he would be able to make his way through the crowded aisle. His wife pointed out that the vendors from the pantry car were doing alright. Following his wife’s advice, he followed in the wake of a ‘bhajji’ seller and managed to reach the toilets at the end of the compartment after fifteen minutes of jostling. By the time he came back, Shanmugan was not at all a happy man! He was a successful business man who made big bucks, this ought not to be the way for him to travel! He had suggested chartering a helicopter, but his wife had objected saying that he should stop frittering away his cash and probably start a savings account for their daughter’s college tuition. Shanmugan had wisecracked asking if she wanted him to save up cash to buy a college, but to no avail and there he was, in a crowded, hot and smelly compartment of the largest rail service in the world!
Rosy had taken Shanmugan’s seat when he had been gone. She had been working weekends too for the past two months and today had been an especially arduous day which had begun at three in the morning. Shanmugan though was in a dark mood and took immense offence at Rosy having taken his seat. Didn’t he have enough troubles in his life already? What sort of a twisted mind was responsible for his fate?
What irritated Shanmugan even more was that now he would have to fight his conscience and that too after a very exhausting duel with his sphincter muscles. Rosy was an elderly woman who seemed like she could really use the seat more than anyone else in the coach, but Shanmugan had always been able to silence the voice of his conscience and he did it in his own inimitable style. His father had taught him well, there can be no conscience in a business man’s life. Good advice, Shanmugan had followed it from day one and had managed to dethrone his father from the business and had taken over the empire.
“Are you crazy woman? Get out of here or I’ll call the TTE!” shouted Shanmugan. As he shouted, his daughter who had taken a special liking to Rosy and had snuggled up in her lap woke up with a start.
Rosy glared at him and silently got off the seat, she knew better than to argue with these rich snotty types, she had worked for too many of them and knew that they were self centric and it would be meaningless to try to hold a civil conversation with them, they would simply snub you.
Rosy went back to her standing position and the train moved on. Shanmugan sat down grumbling and muttering loudly about all the dregs of the society giving everyone a hard time. Rosy chose not to reply and simply stood next to Shanmugan’s seat.
Shanmugan took his daughter onto his lap and the rocking motion of the train gradually cradled the little one back to sleep. As she slept, her little head slowly came to rest upon Rosy’s hip and the tender mother in Rosy involuntarily put her hand over the girl’s head and slowly patted her, the little girl’s hand reached out in a state of drowsiness and seeked out Rosy’s hand. “Amma” cried out the girl. Shanmugan jerked in his seat and so did his wife. Their daughter had spoken for the first time and she was doing it again! There it was, she said “Amma” again! Rosy continued patting her little head and the girl looked up into Rosy’s eyes and repeated. Shanmugan in spite of himself had tears in his eyes. He didn’t know what to say, but Rosy just looked at him and smiled in her usual serene manner and all Shanmugan could do was to return the smile.
The train moved on…
The train was crowded just as she had expected it to be. What with all the holidays coming up, people were going home to their families. Though she only had an open ticket, she decided to take her chances in the reserved coach. She wasn’t the only one, the aisles were choked with people and the TTE who was making his slow way across the train would have on any other occasion thrown the open ticket holders out of the coach, but today, he was in no mood to do his job right as that would entail a lot more effort than was humanly possible.
Rosy found a comfortable spot to stand at. She positioned herself next to a compartment which was predominantly occupied by families who were traveling together. She stood next to the backrest of one of the seats and leaned her tired back against it.
Rosy had decided that Mary had been through enough, she couldn’t allow her daughter to be punished for no reason by her insane drunkard of a husband. She would now be able to channelize all the anger that she failed to express towards her son in the direction of her son-in-law. Besides, she had been spending too many Christmases in the company of her drunk son, this time, she wanted her daughter by her side when they held the special mass that she loved so dearly as it meant that she could sing all her favorite songs that she had learnt at Sunday school as a child.
The seat that Rosy stood right next to had a harried young father seated on it. Shanmugan was traveling for the first time in his life in the second class compartment as the first class had been booked months ago. His wife and his two year old daughter were next to him on the inner seat.
Shanmugan was not happy with the situation at hand. He had been holding his piss for the last hour because he couldn’t imagine how he would be able to make his way through the crowded aisle. His wife pointed out that the vendors from the pantry car were doing alright. Following his wife’s advice, he followed in the wake of a ‘bhajji’ seller and managed to reach the toilets at the end of the compartment after fifteen minutes of jostling. By the time he came back, Shanmugan was not at all a happy man! He was a successful business man who made big bucks, this ought not to be the way for him to travel! He had suggested chartering a helicopter, but his wife had objected saying that he should stop frittering away his cash and probably start a savings account for their daughter’s college tuition. Shanmugan had wisecracked asking if she wanted him to save up cash to buy a college, but to no avail and there he was, in a crowded, hot and smelly compartment of the largest rail service in the world!
Rosy had taken Shanmugan’s seat when he had been gone. She had been working weekends too for the past two months and today had been an especially arduous day which had begun at three in the morning. Shanmugan though was in a dark mood and took immense offence at Rosy having taken his seat. Didn’t he have enough troubles in his life already? What sort of a twisted mind was responsible for his fate?
What irritated Shanmugan even more was that now he would have to fight his conscience and that too after a very exhausting duel with his sphincter muscles. Rosy was an elderly woman who seemed like she could really use the seat more than anyone else in the coach, but Shanmugan had always been able to silence the voice of his conscience and he did it in his own inimitable style. His father had taught him well, there can be no conscience in a business man’s life. Good advice, Shanmugan had followed it from day one and had managed to dethrone his father from the business and had taken over the empire.
“Are you crazy woman? Get out of here or I’ll call the TTE!” shouted Shanmugan. As he shouted, his daughter who had taken a special liking to Rosy and had snuggled up in her lap woke up with a start.
Rosy glared at him and silently got off the seat, she knew better than to argue with these rich snotty types, she had worked for too many of them and knew that they were self centric and it would be meaningless to try to hold a civil conversation with them, they would simply snub you.
Rosy went back to her standing position and the train moved on. Shanmugan sat down grumbling and muttering loudly about all the dregs of the society giving everyone a hard time. Rosy chose not to reply and simply stood next to Shanmugan’s seat.
Shanmugan took his daughter onto his lap and the rocking motion of the train gradually cradled the little one back to sleep. As she slept, her little head slowly came to rest upon Rosy’s hip and the tender mother in Rosy involuntarily put her hand over the girl’s head and slowly patted her, the little girl’s hand reached out in a state of drowsiness and seeked out Rosy’s hand. “Amma” cried out the girl. Shanmugan jerked in his seat and so did his wife. Their daughter had spoken for the first time and she was doing it again! There it was, she said “Amma” again! Rosy continued patting her little head and the girl looked up into Rosy’s eyes and repeated. Shanmugan in spite of himself had tears in his eyes. He didn’t know what to say, but Rosy just looked at him and smiled in her usual serene manner and all Shanmugan could do was to return the smile.
The train moved on…
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