The Sky is Pink

And my mobile camera is just too inadequate to bring out the shades. Just wonderful!

Finding Patterns in the Sky

I thought DeepavaLi for Bangalore got over yesterday with minimal crackers but hold on, today it's been non-stop raining of smoky stars! What does that mean?

The Exalted One

Rahul Dravid is on everyone's tongue these days. People cutting across classes are using his name to mean commitment, sincerity, integrity and so much more. It's as if he'll become a dictionary word soon. But I just miss his game. I miss watching him on the field more than ever, when cricket enthuses or entertains me no more.

New Learnings

"I've been a total cow" is a very confusing sentence. I mean, if you look at the person saying it and in your head the image of a desi cow pops up. You start looking for sarcasm where it's not there. But then you think of the annoying Jersey cows which rule the roads and terrorise everybody and you kind of understand the meaning.

I could kill for some good work. I'm tired of pretending it's just round the corner. J has been very kind, knowing how frustrated I have been but it's not going to sustain me for long.

Nudges and Pushes

Anu is still not in complete rhythm with her music class and I'm resisting the urge to say to hell with it and give it up myself. It starts with her reluctance to come out of bed and proceeds to showcasing various ailments that have suddenly appeared - itching, pain in the hands, legs etc. I don't budge and she says mothers are supposed to understand their children's problems. I say I do but mothers can also see a bit of future through their own past and she shouts that I'm the worst mother in the world. I think of Parth, the 13-year old who used to learn flute when I was learning music in 2006(my third unsuccessful attempt). He had said that he hated his mother when she pushed him young into music because that was the last thing he wanted to do then. But he was now glad that she did it despite his heavy protests. Then I think of V who reminisced how I used to mercilessly dump library books on her in High School(now grateful for it, of course). So I just hold my tongue and push ourselves out.

But once on the road, things definitely get better. We discuss neutral things like dialects and sing as we walk along. We are five minutes late in reaching the class but I think it was a good bargain in the end. And hopefully, tomorrow's classes will be easier.

A Pressing Matter

MS was my classmate in Primary school. One of the easiest boys to talk to, friendly, balanced, lots of banter and sometimes serious too and we got along well. There were odd moments of discord. In 4th standard, he called V by some obnoxious name and when I threatened to tell the teacher about it, jeered me with "go and tell your father". Father was a no-no word and I was forced to escalate the matter. It finally ended with our teacher reminding him that my father was most likely to teach him in High School. This was an unfair advantage that I often enjoyed. Anyway, it was a rare blip and we patched up soon enough. But I don't remember much of him after 6th standard like most others and next I met him was like a decade later.

It was 2002 and I had gone home on leave. Going to Mangalore was customary; I love the journey, I was proud of my money then and I did most of my shopping there. So I was on my way in a shared taxi when suddenly I discovered that MS was my co-passenger. I doubt if I recognized him first; he had a small beard, looked fairer than ever and even had a headgear of some sort. Anyway, he was in the front seat, I was directly behind him and the taxi was crowded so conversation was difficult and we just exchanged general details. He reached his destination first and proceeded to pay for both of us. I was protesting when he turned back, said it was okay, smiled, pressed my hand and walked away. I hate it when someone else pays my bill but that had taken the backseat now. Why did he press my hand like that? Was it just a normal, friendly gesture? But this was a new precedent, even for me. Would he do that to others too? By then enough people around me had made me feel like a sinner on account of N and I wondered if it was MS's way of telling me that he knew about it too. That he thought I didn't mind these things. Answer was hard to come by and it troubled me.

Today if MS meets me again, he may hardly remember that day in taxi, much less the hand. And here I am, still wondering about it.

The Small Universe

P has joined his Engg. whatsapp group recently and it's time for calls and messages and boisterous laughs. It's an odd feeling. I don't know if we have a group like that but the thing is even if there is one, I don't look forward to joining it. I won't have anything to reminisce about with most of them because my memories from those days have only two people in them - L and N...I guess I can include Pal too. That's all.