Those were the days...

Days come and go
Some stay
Some boring
Some interesting
Some others stinks
But still we think
Those were the days!

Thus the precious days
Bound us in numbers
Question us in facts
Threaten us in memories
But still we think
Those were the days!

Memories filled with days
Dates, Numbers and Events
Good or Evil, they stay
To occupy the space
But still we think
Those were the days!

Life, the hurt butterfly
Strives to move on
Through these days
For a better luck
But still we think
Those were the days!

The last day will come
To take away them
The Memories and Past
To the land of Death
But then they think
Those were our days!

Thus came the wish!

A few months back, as said by the vegetable vendor Mohanettan, I peeped into my neighbor's green gate to check for a man named Ramaswamy. I expected a middle aged stout man who can clear the courtyard, but the man who greeted me looked old. There was a guilt arising inside and I asked very politely, "Can you please come and help me to clean the place?" He gave a nod, saying yes. Next day morning around 7.30 , this young - old man came home with his very own dagger and started his work. I got down to help him and he gave a serious grunt and said, "Move aside! I am doing this same job since thirty five years. I did the same when your grand uncle was here. No need of your help."                        

So that was how I know him. He lived in the one room outhouse of my neighbor, broom their courtyard at five in the morning, watered their plants, guarded their house, brought vegetables for them and smiled innocently whenever we met. He told me his story like many other Tamil migrant laborers have told before. He was from Royalpet in Tamil Nadu. Thirty five years back he came for work to Kerala. Then his family was in Madras. But sooner, as he said, came the tall buildings with boxes that gave jobs to many and our house was demolished by the government people. "They gave us 1000 rs", he said with an unforgettable grin. "Then I took them here, my wife and four children. My wife died some eight years back. " 

Now he lives in Calicut with his four sons working as laborers. I was supposed to complete the story. But every morning a man came and took money from him. Next time Ramaswamy came home, I casually asked about his sons. He said, "my three sons are happily married. But my youngest boy was a drug addict, now recovering. still he is not normal. So i give him money for food every day, a forty rupees.  He is married and have a son. My grandson is in tenth standard this year. He will pass and I go and meet him once in a month. I get a salary of 2000 rs every month and when i go for labor like these they too pay me well." I was taken aback. My neighbor's home is not just a home. It's a bungalow and for the money they pay, nobody will stay and do all these jobs. He has no complains, "i don't have money to find a home. here i can sleep with less worries." He never said, "they are exploiting me."

May be this is the reason why my garden has plenty of flowers, plantains have plenty of bananas and all the trees are just happy! He loves his work, so does the plants. He hate it when I leave them behind for days. He can't just stand the injustice humans do to nature. Why do man cut all the trees, he asks angrily. 

Today evening when he came, I asked whether his grandson passed the exam and he replied in his usual innocent smile, "Good to know you passed the exam. Now you have to go to college, lle?"I smiled and said yes. It was the wish from a man who inspires me every day. I didn't want to explain and say, "no i am asking about your son." I loved his wish which has nothing to do with me right now. Why should I spoil his mood saying, I passed my tenth some years back! I love this wish that came late and with a special smile. 

He has no sandals, no power glasses to read, no mobile, not even a cycle. But he has passed the most difficult exam. There are many who complains about a lost past. This man is in no hurry. He has little time to complain and more time to entertain. 

A man, in his seventies earn money to look after his grandson. Yet he smiles at his problems and greets the fortune called LIFE. 

Not every man can be a Ramaswamy. Each and every day, he can complaint about things around. But I have never seen him doing it. He works with love. What else can inspire a human life than seeing such a man every morning. May be the true spirit of life lies in between his toothless grin and the innocent smile. 

Eid Mubarak

സ്നേഹം എന്ന മതത്തില്‍ വിശ്വസിക്കുന്ന എല്ലാ നല്ല മനുഷ്യര്‍ക്കും ഹൃദയം നിറഞ്ഞ ഈദ്‌ ആശംസകള്‍!!!!

ഇങ്ങനെയും കവിത എഴുതാം !! :)

നിലാവിന്റെ ശയ്യയില്‍ നിറയുന്ന മൌനമേ
പകലിനു കൂട്ടായി വന്നിടു നീ
തെളിയുന്ന സന്ധ്യയില്‍ നിറയുന്ന മോഹമേ
ഇരവിലായി ഒന്നിങ്ങു വന്നിടു നീ

എന്‍ കണ്ണിനുള്ളിലെ പൂത്തിരി കത്തുമ്പോള്‍
കാവലായി നിന്നിടാന്‍ വന്നിടു നീ
ഒരു നേരം എന്‍ ആത്മാവില്‍ നിറഞ്ഞിടാന്‍
ശിഥിലമാം ചിന്തയായ്‌ വന്നിടു നീ

പിന്നെയും എരിയാതടങ്ങാതെ നിന്നിടും
സ്വച്ഛന്ദധാരയായ്‌ വന്നിടു നീ
പ്രണയമേ, നിന്നെ വിളിക്കുന്ന നേരത്ത്‌
മരണമായി വന്നെന്നെ പുല്‍കിടു നീ....

All in One

 

ഓരോ മനുഷ്യനും ഒരു കൊച്ചുലോകം ആണ്. ലോകത്തിലുള്ളതെല്ലാം അവനില്‍ അടങ്ങിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. മനുഷ്യനും ലോകവും പരസ്പരം ബന്ധിതമാണ്. ലോകം ഏകമായിരിക്കെ മനുഷ്യന് ജാതീയമായ ബഹുത്വം എന്തിനാണ്!! ചട്ടമ്പി സ്വാമികള്‍

This is a story which I scribbled long back here... Re-reading that story at a time when conversations and controversies are going on, regarding caste and creed. 

Past

My name is Guru. I lived in a sea side town. By birth I was conditioned to live in accordance to some rights decided by someone called the upper class. One day I broke the code of conduct, moved out of the den and left behind a girl whom I married. Then pretended myself to be a truth seeker. I landed upon truth one day which said, All in One & One in All.  I spoke about oneness and commonness. Then there came disciples who said, All in One & One in All. They spread it in such a way that every single human who wanted to break the code or who was in the verge of identity extinction ran on to me with fury. With that I became an idol. Then they called me Guru. I told them hundred verses to attain salvation. Then much more verses to attain happiness.

Finally one day I fell down from the vanity tree of worship. Bedridden, I laid for months and years. I treated myself, then came the doctors. They sold my diseases and made money. I jumped out of the bed, shouted aloud, All in One & One in All. None heard. I died after few days. Then there were stories about the light that zoomed out of my body. Some said, they saw me in the bus while traveling, some other claimed that I was on a coconut tree. But I was dead and on my search for a next body and place. I need to relive a better and happier life.

Present

I was reborn as a coconut tree. I am happy. I am taller than all these disciples. Most of them don't climb on my head. But still they made money out of me. They placed the board All in one & One in All in my wooden skin.

One day I saw some one placing an idol behind me. O that was me, the Guru. Then they left. My poor idol sat in rains and sun. Birds came and shit on its head. I tried shoo- shooing them. None heard. One day I fell down in the winds and I saw the broken head of the idol just under me. Oh! I couldn't bear myself. Thus I was dead again with all the coconut bunches that hung on me.

Future

I was not sure about the future. Now I have lived as Guru and coconut tree. Then I was reborn as a dog. Wherever I went, I saw my idol under a coconut tree, inside a glass cube. Under that they wrote, All in One & One in All. Then there were people to celebrate my teachings. They gathered once or twice in a year.

They were all of the same class and caste. The extinct, furious class whom in need of an out break came in branded dresses, shouted slogans aloud and forgot my hundred teachings to salvation. I barked at them. None heard. So I sat near the idol under the coconut tree and said at heart, All in None & None in All!!

Why are you asking me!

“Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me. After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together.  NOW IT"S YOUR TURN. JUMP”
― Ray Bradbury

"What are you doing now?"

In the past four years, this is the most heard question. If I am there for a marriage, a birthday party, a retirement party, or at any place where few of my so called, "relatives and family friends" gather, the only question I hear is this. I may be drinking water or talking to my not so needed relative or sometimes enjoying a cup of payasam. Many a times, I wished to say, "Can't you see? I am drinking a glass of water." Or sometimes, "No, am doing nothing." But as a part of the respect or a sort of fun I had in answering them, I said, "I am doing a PG, or I am doing some freelance jobs". No. The social codes are not constructed for those who work as freelance. 

In social codes, freelance = jobless! So each time they meet me, they repeated! 

Now I have thought several times about the purpose behind this question. Are they job donors? No. Will they sacrifice a meal for me? No. Do they owe me a future in some way? No. Then why this question? Man is constructed that way! Whats and why's are a part of it. Today I happened to be in one such place. Mostly I wish to avoid these parties! I know that they won't bring any happiness to me. So i just avoid. But accidentally today I was forced to be there. Even before someone thought of asking me, I replied, "No I am not doing anything!" 

How do you survive? Came the next question. I smiled and left the place. Should I answer? I mean do I have to? To all those punk heads who wanted to know what am I or what I will be, here goes the answer.

I was born here some 25 years back without knowing that some of you may ask such unnecessary questions to me. Then, I was much innocent(!) Now don't ask me what you mean by innocent! I meant what you mean! 

From then till here, my life was never as planned like yours. I went on doing some crap, as you may call now, lived my life in full spirit and enjoyed each full moon and rains! 

I have never asked you that same question, what are you doing now! I will never ask you. 

In my life, its me and me alone who decides how to live, how to earn or how to "SURVIVE"! If you have more questions, please keep it to yourself. Self introspection, once in a while is good. So go, do it.

Like you have seen me all these years, I have seen you too. We have met more than I have met a stranger. But still your question is so strange.

I believe you are normal and not an Alzheimer's patient. So please remember what I said last time!

I would like to thank you for the "concerns" you have on me as the "only girl" of my parents.

I am what I am! I will be what I want to be!

If you have still more concerns, please wait. I am no Nostradamus to predict my future and i live in a state where people are killed like chickens! SO PLEASE SPARE ME! 

I know this may annoy all such "well-wishers". But I am helpless. I am fed up answering your questions! Now please SHUT UP & SLEEP TIGHT!

If at all I am doing something, which need your help and blessings, I will send an invite. 

Please wait till then...

If again you ask me the same, my answer will be, FCUK OFF!

Aum

Anjana

Here Comes June!

June June Go away

Come Again Another Day

Little Johnny wants to play

June June Go Away

June is a month which each of us here in Kerala would remember for the scent and smell of new things. The new bags, shoes, uniforms, umbrella and the rains that come down on the very first day! No worries! We all get into that open gates to greet our last year friends, find our classes, meet new teachers and much more. The class is shuffled and our best friend may not be with us. The verandahs, the benches, desks, chalk pieces, dusters, black boards, the never ending assembly, youth festivals etc etc. Its a month of rains and I have memories of a stinking shoe and socks. Yeah! we had a tie in our uniform till some of us called it "Dog Chain". 



Its June my dears, the month of rains, new bags, new friends, new umbrella, new days and all new life for the younger ones! As the clock tics into another academic year I see the smallest and biggest of my next generation zooming their goggles into those pretty bags, umbrellas etc. For me, the first day of school was memorable and adventurous. Not because, I was a naughty kid. I had a fall. One like Humpty and Dumpty! I and Amma got ready for the first day. I was so happy, says Amma. With the new bag, shoes, uniform, water bottle and umbrella, we both, Amma and me got down to school.

In those days, our house was in a midway. A cycle can go. A man can go. All of us who lived in the way can go. But not an auto. So we took the short cut to the main road. There was a stone on the side where the short cut take a turn to the road. "Padhom" there, I go down with the umbrella, new uniform and all my new things! As I woke up, a small piece of my teeth in the front row, lay smiling on the stone. Hands were hurt. So with a broken teeth and a hurt lips, I returned home.

A cycle that came behind hit me and I had a fall! From then on my journeys to school was in an auto for a few years and then in the school bus. When this June gears up to welcome all the sweet hearts back to school, I wish all of them the very best. May you all raise as men and women with heart and hand. May your life be filled with light and soul! Happy School Days ahead!

Aum
Anjana

Turning 25!

"You are turning 25". As one of my friends said, I smiled. How fast, I mean how easy the days have gone. While I look back at the past quarter of life, I see the different roles I donned. They stay apart and I wonder how a man perceives the roles offered in life without any objections. From a child who chants Geetha to a spiritual speaker to a psychology student to a Sales Personnel to HR Manager to Jobless girl to Freelance Writer.. Life was different indeed ! In school days I liked my teachers and being approached for advices. So I had an immense desire to be a teacher. Later in high school classes I saw some of crime thrillers and I wanted to learn Forensic Science. In between came some books as a token of love from my dearest Muthassan aka Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati. These books pushed me into the art of mind, psychiatry. In the plus two classes I had to dissect a cockroach and the smell of the dead, made me feel "Yuck! I can't do this again". With this I migrated myself into a more comfortable zone called Applied Psychology.  

After the graduation classes, as soon as i joined in the sales front there was a keen interest in management which led me to an MBA course. I learned the whole course my own. Thanks to internet! Today when I am enrolled for a post-graduation in Applied Psychology, I know life has in store something interesting for me. 

What all do the society expect from a twenty five year old girl? A professional degree! A 'standard' job! Marriage! These are just few. It may vary for many. I still remember the day I decided to resign my job. As usual I went to my office. While climbing the stairs, I thought, why should I do this every single day? Why do i see the same stairs, same old building, same board, same colleagues and managers? I know I am bored, then why do I continue? It was at this same instance I decided to type a resignation letter to my boss. It may have surprised some, but most of them were sure that I won't stick on! No I can't. I was bored doing the same thing everyday!

From that May 2009 till here, it was interesting. It was adventurous. With no salary at the month end, all I have to do is wait.. wait..wait and wait for the money of my writing assignments. Money was less, but the happiness I earned was priceless. It was then I realized my real career. It has been a few months since I started to work on my book. Life looks clean and happy these days. More hope ponder around. More sweetness shred on me. I don't have daily reports in my mail. No appraisal. No salary hike. Indeed this happiness is inexplicably great. As I cut my birthday cake, i don't expect any of them to smear it on my face.  Yet, it tastes the sweetest! Happy birthday to me I say and eat my slice of cake with all smiles!

Thank you my world! Thank you for all the smiles!
Aum
Anjana

A hand to start!

Hello World,

Hope all of you are doing good. I was busy telling people that I am doing something great for the past few months. So I couldn't come back here and write a few words. Like any other blogger, I am back here after a long time. But never underestimate. I was writing all my thoughts here. All of a sudden my inaccessible blogger page began to work and I am here telling you my stories. 

Love Life.. Live Life..

Aum 

Anjana