Meera!

Meera!

That was her name. I know nothing about her, except for her name. The beautiful girl whom I met on the Nilgiri mountains. I’d never forget her, as she was the first and maybe the last love of my life. The three days I spent with her were the best moments I ever lived!

Three days with her and yet the only thing I know about her is her name! Well... a little more than her name 'maybe'.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Mom, dad and I planned to visit Ooty as soon as my examinations were over. The tickets were booked for the very next day of the last exam. We decided to go there by train, it was on my insist, as I wished to pass by Mother Nature during the journey. The scenery outside the train was as soothing as we had imagined it to be. We reached in the evening. When I kept my foot outside, the first things I saw were the place and the people around me. I always thought people at the hill stations have some special charm which made them stand apart from the rest.

We went straight towards our hotel. Dad said, we were to stay at Ooty for three days and from Ooty, we were to leave for another wonderful place which he said was a surprise!

We reached the hotel and in our room, I lay on the bed, thinking about all the beautiful and mystic mountains, rivers and valleys we passed by while on our way to the hotel. Nothing could have been more pleasant a view!

I woke up early next morning and saw mom unpacking something from our luggage. Dad was as usual sipping his morning coffee. I left the bed and went to the balcony. The picturesque outside was simply irresistible. I went back into the room and said, “Maa, I am going for a walk, will be back in a few minutes!”

Mom said, “Come back in one hour, the guide we have hired will be coming here and we have to go along with him. He has stayed here since forty years and knows each and everything about this place!”

Once coming out of the hotel, I remembered seeing a market from the balcony on the left side. Turning left I started my walk. A few minutes of walk and I was amidst lots of people in the market. I could see the shops which could only been at such places. The tea shop and some old men sitting outside on a bench, discussing worldly affairs, vegetable shops, restaurants and what not. It was a pleasant view to watch this place, something different from the usual shopping malls in my horribly polluted city! There were many other shops which sold things which tourists buy and while going through all these shops, my eyes fell on a board which read “Lakeside Book House”.

Being a voracious reader a thought struck me to check out whether hills stations sell the latest novels and periodicals compared to the cities or not. The door was shut, I tried to push open it couldn’t. Suddenly, the door came towards me and hit me on my head. I slipped off the stair on which I stood and fell down. When I looked up, I saw the most beautiful face I came across in my life!

I ha no idea in which world I was, for a few minutes. I kept on staring at her and someone standing nearby came to help me stand back on my feet. Back to my conscious, I saw the girl giggling as if unable to control her laugh.

“I am really sorry, the door opens outside!” she said.

Wow! What a sweet voice she had.

She looked wonderful in a black T-shirt, blue jeans, white shoes and pair of spectacles which indicated her to be someone who was interested in reading.

“Its okay!” I said. “I am new here, just arrived yesterday, thought of taking a stroll in the market and saw this book shop here.” I explained.

“Oh! Okay… Have a good stay, I need to go now. Bye!” she smiled and went away as though she was in great hurry.

I was going through the some magazines at the book shop and suddenly it struck me that, I had forgotten to put the medicine kit while packing our luggage. An old aunty sat at the counter, which indicated that it was her shop. I asked if there was a chemist nearby. She asked me to go six shops away from her shop in the right side. I thanked her and followed what she had said. The chemist shop was visible from where I stood, I saw the same girl whom I met outside the book shop!

I went to the shop and stood near her.

“We meet again!” I said.

“Hi! Looks like the change in weather brought you here.” She replied.

“Nope… came here to buy some general medicines, I forgot to put my box of medicines while packing.”

“Oh! So, how many days are you going to spend in Ooty?”

“Three!” I replied.

“And you are here with?”

“Mom and dad.”

“Are you here on a visit too?” I asked.

“No, I stay here, my home is behind this market.”

“Wow! That’s so cool Meera. I always wished to stay at a hill station. You’re a lucky girl!”

“I see, you have a good observation power”

“And I see you’re quite intelligent to make that out. But anyway, that tattoo on the left wrist could be seen by anybody while talking to you!” I said.

“But does that prove my name is Meera?”

“Maybe yes, maybe no… It was just a silly guess though. But I really liked the name, suits your personality. I’ll call you Meera for the next three days!”

“Ah! Really? And what makes you think we’ll be meeting each other everyday for the next three days?”
“This wonderful place makes me think we’ll meet each other till I am here. Now that I know you, someone who stays here, you can show me some of the special places in Ooty!”

“Sorry! I am not a guide… Moreover, I think you should spend time with your parents. After all, you’re here to spend some good moments with them. Right?”

“Correct! we have hired a guide who’ll be with us till the end of our stay. And it’ll be fantastic to spend three long days with grandpa! You’re right; I should be with him rather than you.”

She giggled and her eyes looked mystic with that expression.

“Alright! Meet me at the book shop at 10. I am your guide for three days!”

“Deal!” I said and came back to my hotel room.

“I think I’ll be on my own in Ooty. You guys go with the guide.” I told dad.

“What makes you think I’ll allow you to roam alone in this unknown place?” asked dad.

“Please dad, I want to explore this place alone. Let me go!” I lied.

“Let him do what he wants” Mom said, as she came in. “The guide is here, lets leave!”

I was ready and reached the book shop by 10. Meera was already standing there. I apologized for being late and asked her where do we start from?

“Emerald Lake!” she replied. “It is one of the most beautiful lakes here. Lets go boating, what say?”

We were in a boat and talking to each other. In fact, it was she who was doing all the talking and I just kept on staring at her, but I did shook my head, just to make her feel I was listening. She looked like the early morning and her eyes were like dewdrops on the tip of the grass. This time she did not wear her specs.

“You know what? I haven’t come across any girl as beautiful as you are!” I said.

She stopped. I felt everything came to a stand still and thought how silly of me to say that.

“I am sorry, but I just said what I felt. I apologize if you felt bad!”

“Oh! No, its alright… thank you for the compliment in fact!” she smiled and looked away.

After boating, we went to a nearby ice cream parlour. We talked on almost all the topics on earth, we shared our views and opinions, and we debated on certain things which we disagreed on.

The only topic on which we did not talk about was ourselves. When I realized that, I asked her about her background and likes and dislikes to which she replied.

“Its better we just remain stranger friends. Why do you want to know about me when you’re here for just three days? Who knows when will you come here again? You call me Meera... right? That’s it! Did I ask anything about you? I haven’t even asked your name!”

“Fine… I don’t mind. I won’t ask anything about you. Just for your information, my name is Aditya!”

“Nice name!” she said.

“Thank you, now what next?”

“Let me take you to the water falls. Its my personal favourite place in Ooty!”

“That sounds good. Lets go!”

We were again talking to each other during the walk. I was thinking about how to know more of her. As time passed by, I started to like her more and more. I wanted to spend as much time possible with her.

We were at the falls and the site was just amazing. I wished to tell her how much I liked her, but the way her mood changed at the lake stopped me from expressing myself.

We went to a restaurant which she suggested and after having a delicious meal, we departed from there. She had asked me to meet her again at the book shop like we did in the morning.

Back in my hotel room, I saw mom and dad were not back yet. I jumped onto the bed, closed my eyes and thought of Meera, her beautiful face, her mystic eyes, the way she smiled and her voice. I wanted to know more about her. Who was she? Where did she live? Why does she not want to reveal anything about her? I want to know!! Again… I saw Meera, smiling at me and going away as if she’d never come back.

When I opened my eyes, it was already morning. I realized I fell asleep thinking about Meera. Mom and dad were all ready to go. Dad said the guide would be here any minute and asked me if I’d like to spend the day with them or not. But without hesitating I replied, “Sorry dad, you guys go ahead!”

At 10 AM, I reached the book shop. Again, Meera was there before me. I asked her about the day’s program and she said “Today I’ll show you the Hill side view point, it is a very beautiful place and mostly all those who are in love visit the place. You’ll get to see lots of love birds at that place!” and laughed.

I just noticed her clearly and she looked ravishingly beautiful. She wore a black dress, her hair was open today, she did not tie them and her specs were again in front of her eyes.

“We’ll then go to the Doddabetta Peak which is a very famous place here and then I’ll show you some historic places and some schools of Ooty!”

“That again sounds really good!” I said “Let’s go!”

There were heaps of couples at the hill side view point and we were having fun teasing and mocking some of the love birds who looked really funny and ones who were expressing their love in the open. The moment we thought its not safe anymore for us to stay there, we left the place to the Doddabetta Peak.

We had our lunch at a restaurant near the Peak and just before evening we went to the Peak where we could see the sunset. Its difficult to describe the view and we just stood there and stared at it. I, then turned my face at her and she was still looking at the sunset. The pink rays of the sun illuminated her face and made her look all the more gorgeous. I decided to follow her without her knowing, to find where she stayed. From the peak, we went to see some schools and historic places of Ooty. It was already dark and she said she had to leave. But, this time she thanked me before leaving and said, she never had such an amazing time since long time and that she would never forget the day ever. She turned and starting walking back to her house. I turned back to go to my hotel, but then again turned and started following her. We had considerable amount of distance between us. I was confident that she would not know I was following her. Suddenly, she turned left and opened the gate of a huge bunglow. I watched her from a distance and I could see the name of the bunglow on the sign board outside.

In big letters it read “Sunflower Villa”. I thought of going in and giving her a surprise, but then cancelled my plan, thinking that it would break the trust that she had on me. I walked back to my hotel. Mom and dad were already there, mom showed me some clothes which she bought for me.
I thanked her and said I was feeling very tired, off I went to bed. As I closed my eyes, I saw Meera!
And again the same thought came to my mind. Who was she?

I woke up. It was my last day in Ooty and last day of meeting Meera. Again she stood near the book shop. As I went near her, she smiled at me and said. “Last day huh?” “Don’t know when do we meet again, so lets make it a special meet!”

“I am ready!” I replied. I had thought of some things which I’d make clear before I went back.

She said she’d take me to the most beautiful place I’d have ever seen. She did not tell me the name of the place. When we reached the place, I could not believe my eyes. The valley looked extravagant. I could see clouds near me from the place where I stood. It looked like heaven. I even saw the rainbow. We spent the whole day near the valley. There were very less people at that place.

It was evening and I told her I wanted to see the valley again. We went to the same place where we stood in the morning. I did not waste time, I took her hand and said.

“Meera, I love you, I love you from the core of my heart and I can’t live without you. Your face haunts me everytime I close my eyes. I am sorry and I don’t know what your reaction would be and I just don’t care what you feel about me. I couldn’t keep this inside me. I love you and will love you till the end of my life!”

She smiled at my outburst and moved her hand through my hair. She said, “Aditya, you know what? You are the nicest person I have ever met! I like you too, but we can never be one. There is huge difference between us. You’ll never know. Only I know.” And she kissed me.

Meera, then walked away and I stood there gazing her as she went back. Suddenly, when she was out of sight, I regained my consciousness and tried to follow her. But she was already out of my view. I too went back to my hotel room and straight into my bed. Closing my eyes, I thought what Meera had said. What was the difference she was talking about? I thought, but couldn’t get any idea. And why did she say I would never know about the difference?

We were to leave next morning, but I decided to meet Meera at her place. I went to the bunglow, the very same “Sunflower Villa”. I opened the gate and went inside. The door was locked and feeling sad, I started walking back. An old man with a bouquet of flowers in his hand was passing by, I stopped him and asked. “Uncle, do you know Meera who stays here in Sunflower Villa?”

I got the shock of my life when the old man replied.

“Who doesn’t know the story of Sunflower Villa here? The wealthy couple and their beautiful daughter died in a plane crash last month. The house is locked since then, but some people say they have seen ghosts around the house and some nearby places!”

And thus, I realised the "difference" between us and got the answer to the question which haunted me again and again since past three days, "Who was Meera?"

Early Mornings!

The holidays have begun. I had planned to do a lot of things during these holidays, while the exams were going on and one of those in list was the morning walk.

The main two things that I did during exam days were to read and to eat. The guests who came to my place had started ranting surprising statements like “You have put on weight!” and “Your cheeks have become chubbier than before!”

But, when the time came to put my plans into action, I was lying on my bed like a dead duck. Menon uncle and dad regularly go for their morning walk since past few months and I thought its better to have some company rather than walking alone.I thought when I became familiar with the habit; I would make my own route and go alone every morning.

According to my calculations, I had expected the walk to be a nice, calm and healthy experience, as the company was mature and sensible, until I realized these guys were even worse than women and kids. Uncle and dad stopped at a couple of places to call up the other members of their group of walkers. There was hardly any topic which they did not talk about. They hit silly jokes at each other and teased one another like little kids do. They burst out laughing on some silly jokes which resulted into half of the people in the park deciding to head towards home. Kids refused to come to the park due to the laughing impact.

Next day, I told dad to carry on with his gang while I would choose some other place where they would not get disturbed by me!

It was too early when I left home and the sky was almost dark with a bluish shade. The stars were still blinking and the lamp posts on streets were still on. It was a splendid view. The only ones I could see at that moment were some newspaper boys, milk men on cycles and some street dogs. The atmosphere was very pleasant. Fresh breeze blew through the hair, the chirping, twittering birds, grazing cows and the dim lit place would leave one to wish as if the whole day would remain in the same way, like a beautiful portrait.

This time I chose another park near my house. I saw a few people who were practicing Yoga. I sat beside them and tried to do what they did. They took deep breaths and as I observed and copied them, I felt this soothing effect from my nostrils, to my lungs, chest down till my stomach.

As some time went by, I saw some people entering the park. Amongst them were little kids who had come to play. They played badminton, some threw flying dish at each other, some played on the swings and slides and some were busy with the couple of dogs which roamed around in there.

When I passed by them, I saw that these kids had even given names to those dogs! The dogs, namely; Jimmy and Buzo behaved as if they were their pets.

There were a group of old men who made a private group on the benches to discus about world politics, sports, entertainment, history and much more. Not to forget, there were a few beautiful girls busy with their exercise and some young boys to stare at them.

Walking and jogging is in fact a really satisfying work out for lazy bones like mine. Though I have a habit of rising early, I did not have a habit of doing any physical exercise. The morning walk is indeed a very nice experience with such an amazing climate for company.

Though, still many of us would prefer the cozy bed and the warm blanket! ;)

The Strange thing called... Life!

Its strange… yet so very interesting!

We come into this world alone and we leave this world alone. The journey in between this arrival and departure is known as life.

There are so many people who travel along with us.

Its just like the train, from its starting destination to its ending destination, it stops at various stations; different sets of people arrive and depart at every station.

Life too, has various stations just like a train. When it reaches to a certain point, the people who were with us depart and the new sets of people enter our lives.

Some of them travel along with us for a long time and some of them come and go away in no time. I did observe that a person comes into our life with a particular purpose or reason. It maybe anything and it is THAT reason by which they are attached. Once the purpose is over, they bid farewell and leave.

Secondly, life is confusing! There are times when people try to avoid each other and once they are away from each other, they miss them like anything.

People who come into our life can be parents, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, strangers and many more. Each and every category of person travels with us upto a particular distance in the journey of life.

Thirdly, it is strange due to one more reason. When we are small, we crave to grow up and when we have grown up we wish we could have never grown up! Moreover, though the life is ours, we are never able to live it as we want it to!

Last but not the least; life does not give us all that we wish to have. The wish that, the people who have already got off the train of life, come back again is never fulfilled.

There is a new set of people waiting for us at the next station of life, which too would get off at some point and this would continue till the day we reach the final destination of Life!

Indeed...Life IS strange! :-)

Hey Ram!

It was Sunday and I was reading a book, suddenly there was a jarring noise of a truck under our building. When I went to my balcony I saw that it indeed was a truck. It was full of furniture and few men were lifting and placing them down on the ground.

Mom came to the balcony and said “I guess the furniture is of our new neighbours who were to come today!”

They were quite a young couple, as if they were just married. They came to our house to ask some water and my mother, who eagerly waits to receive guests, had her wish fulfilled. She gave them water, made and packed food for them so that they wouldn’t have to prepare it after all the hard work of shifting their house.

After completing her hospitality she came back and told me “They are Mr and Mrs. Menon and they have a son named Ram who is just five years old!”

I asked her where their son was and she replied that he was at his grandfather’s place and they’ll bring him here once they have settled with all the furniture.”

My mother is more talkative than what I am. She was eagerly waiting for the new neighbours and now that she has got them, she doesn’t leave them alone. I wondered how the little boy Ram would be like. I imagined his character a couple of times and created him as an obedient and a cute little kid and garnished him with the usual mischief that children do. But never ever had I thought that he would be a devil, until he came to stay with his parents after a few days. A kid whose name was Ram with a character which did not suit his name at all.

Initially he did not speak to anyone and would just run away to his mother when someone called him to them. He became so familiar with my mother that it looked as if they knew each other since long time. She pampered him a lot by giving him lots of chocolates and this guy used to take advantage of her pampering.

Once my mother went to the terrace, I was in my room and I had closed the door but did not bolt it. While I was busy reading, I saw a little shadow come into the room and thought it must be mother who came back from terrace, but when I peeped through the door, it was Ram! He was walking around the kitchen slowly and went to the place where the chocolates are kept. He looked here and there, seeing no one around took a handful of them, put them in his pocket and ran away. I was shocked with what I saw at that moment.

Few minutes later, I saw my mother and him coming back together. Ram innocently asked my mother pointing towards the chocolate box “Aunty… chocaate!” and my mother readily opened the box just to see that there were hardly a few of them left in it. At that very moment she looked at me and said “You are eating a lot of chocolates these days. Are you a kid to eat chocolates?” I was surprised again and when I looked at the thief, he gave me a devil’s smile!

Once when I returned from college, Ram was playing with a little girl under the building. As I was climbing the stairs, I saw him kissing the girl on her cheek!

When I met him, I asked him “Dude! What on earth were you doing to the girl?”
And he replied “I saw Papa doing that to mamma yesterday before going to office and I was playing ‘House and Office’ with the girl and we had to behave in the same way our mamma and papa behave!” I was flabbergasted with that reply.

He used to run around the building, knock on people’s doors, ring their bells in the afternoon when everyone was taking rest. Once he hit a boy with a cricket bat while playing. People used to advise him, scold him and try everything to lessen his mischief, but he used to show his tongue and run away!

Once when old Thomas uncle who stayed on the first floor was sleeping, Ram was playing on the same floor and was shouting at the top of his voice. Thomas uncle got disturbed and came out and scolded Ram. When he went back to sleep, he forgot to bolt his door from inside. Getting the opportunity, Ram crept into his house, took his spectacles which were kept on the table and ran away. He went on the building terrace and threw them down. Next I know is the scene where Ram’s father giving brand new spectacles to Thomas uncle.

One evening when I came back from a friend’s place and parked my vehicle, I saw Mr. Sharma sitting on his scooter looking really depressed. I asked him what the problem was. He told me someone pulled out the air from the tyres and he urgently wanted to go somewhere. He told me that not only his, but each and every vehicle in the building was without air in their tyres! I asked him if he suspected anyone and he back answered me back instantly “Who else could it be other than that little brat!”

Again, the next scene that I saw was Ram’s mother going to each and every house in the building and personally apologizing for her son’s mischief. Ram was a good boy for a whole one week, but after that one more incident took place. Mrs. Mehta had kept a bhajan at her place and had invited everyone in the building to attend it. Though I was not interested, I had to go as Mrs. Mehta had a beautiful daughter!

When I entered the house and looked for her daughter, I couldn’t find her anywhere but I saw the little devil standing near the statue of God. I called him near me as I did not want him to touch the sweets that were kept near the statue. He refused to come to me and ran away elsewhere. When the bhajan was over and everyone turned to go back, they saw that the door was locked… from outside! I immediately smelt something fishy and looked for Ram and found him not to be anywhere in the house. Ram’s mother was very embarrassed at this mischief. We were locked inside the house till evening, as each and every member of the building was at Mrs. Mehta’s place other than my father who had to go to the station to pick my aunt. He came back and opened the door which was bolted.We were locked in the house for almost three hours. I was feeling really awkward with so many aunties around me and cursed that little brat for doing this.

Thomas uncle used to go for a stroll on the terrace every evening. He did the same that day too and sat on the bench after his walk. He did not know that Ram was hiding under the bench and waiting to experiment his next prank on him. Thomas uncle closed his eyes and dozed off and at the same time, Ram tied the laces of his shoes to each other from under the bench. When Ram got up to run away, Thomas uncle opened his eyes; he felt a strong pain in his chest and struggled with himself on the bench itself. Ram turned around and saw that he felt unconscious on the ground. He immediately ran towards Thomas uncle and tried to wake him up, then he ran down to some people who were chatting outside their house and said “Thomas uncle unconscious on terrace! Please come, please come fast!” but no one listened and just ignored him thinking that he was upto some new prank.

He came to my place and pulled me from my chair and told me come to the terrace. I pushed him and asked him to get lost as I was busy with something and did not have time for any of his tricks on me, but then he started crying! Then I thought there is something really serious or else he would not cry, in fact none of the people in the building has seen him crying ever. I went with him and when I reached the terrace, I was Thomas uncle lying on the ground as if he was dead. I rushed down and called other people who came up and took Thomas uncle to the hospital. After a few hours, the news came that Thomas uncle was alright and could come back home.

We all had a sigh of relief and on that day the little devil had become the hero for everyone. The ones, who did not listen to him when he called them, came up to him and apologized. He raised his collar and with an attitude, told them “Never mind guys, mistake forgiven!” ;-)

A Song!

Alright! Now, here is a song which I had recorded long time back. I guess I was in 10-12th Std and remember doing all these silly things other than studying!

This is just a dummy recording and I was not prepared at all. It is just out of curiosity that I am posting this on my blog. Please listen to it and give your reviews, though I know they won't be nice ;)

Below is the link which u need to click and it will take u to the site where I have uploaded the song.

http://www.esnips.com/doc/1b4e38cd-0fd9-4dfc-9fdd-930848879df5/03-Track-3---My-Song!

An Unforgettable Trip!

I went to my Grandmother’s place to spend my holidays. She lived in a village which was situated in the interiors of south India. I always longed to spend my holidays at a place where one could obtain peace of mind and co-incidentally Grandma asked me to stay with her for a few days.

The place was so remotely inside that while traveling I felt there would be hardly any people living in the village. I had to take a lift on a bullock cart after a two hours travel in bus from the station. As the cart rattled, I observed the surroundings which were lush green and it seemed as if I was playing in the lap of Mother Nature. I could see green fields, some farmers working in them, hundreds of birds, hills and mountains at far distance and lot more.

I loved to read; hence I had taken many books along with me. As I knew I won’t get any facilities to enjoy as at home I had to stick with some thrilling novels which I like to read the most. I had almost a dozen of them which would last for all the days I spend. At home, Grandma had already prepared lunch; I took my bath and sat on the floor to have some food. After all those regular dishes it was a pleasant change to have some fresh food. My stomach was full and I felt like taking a nap, the journey had left me with no energy at all. Grandma arranged my bed and off I went to sleep at once.

When I woke up I saw Grandma was getting ready to go somewhere. She told me that there was a bhajan at one of the houses in the village which would last whole night and almost everyone from the village will be attending it. She asked me whether I would be able to stay alone at night or would I prefer to come along with her. I told her I had planned to go out to see and explore the village in the evening. She told me to come back before it was dark or else if I lost my way, it would be trouble. I told her not to worry and carry on with her programme.

I changed, locked the door and went out. The picturesque of the village was beautiful. It had been almost dark due to the dense trees and forest around, though the time was just 5 PM. As I knew the village was quite small, I thought I would make it home easily; hence I walked all along the small road which had small houses and huts on the side, but it seemed none of them were at home. There was total silence all around and I could not see a single human being even at a far distance.

The air became more and more chilly as time went by and except some peacock voices, I could hear none. Suddenly, it was quite dark and without me realizing, my heart started to beat faster. I decided to turn back and return home. As it was quite dark, I got confused as to which road had I taken to come this far. Now, from far end, I heard some voices. Yes! These were human voices and they were singing. I immediately realized that it was coming from the place where the village bhajan was being held.

I went into the direction from where the voices came from and found myself at the field. I had to cross the field to reach there and the path was too thin to be visible in such darkness. I carefully started walking and reached the middle of the field, but now I couldn’t realize as to from which direction the voices came from. It was total darkness and I was in the middle of a vast land where there was no one around, except some wild dogs who howled continuously. My heart was beating even faster and I felt I was perspiring even in the chill weather.

Suddenly, when I was looking around and deciding where to go, I saw someone standing at a distance. I couldn’t make out who it was as I hadn’t taken my torch, but I see that it was a male and had worn a hat. I called out but he did not reply, yet I thought he was looking at me. I got tensed and ran as fast I could without looking back. As I ran, I saw a small cottage which had a yellow bulb lit and the door open. I sprang into the cottage and shut the door. The cottage had no furniture except some wooden scrap and loads of dust. There was a window which I went to close and happened to see a house nearby, but had no lights lit. I thought the residents must have gone to the bhajan.

I had by now realized that I’ll have to spend my night in the cottage itself. It was very creepy and I was scared like hell. I could still hear the bhajan ranting from somewhere far off. My legs were paining like anything, I went to the corner of the room and sat down. I felt sleepy and as soon as I closed my eyes I heard *KHAT KHAT KHAT*, someone was at the door. I asked who it was, but no one answered. The knocking went on for a few minutes and suddenly stopped. I went to the window to peep from the side and see if anyone was still there. As I peeped, I could not see the person standing, but his shadow was clear and I could see the shape of a hat on his head. I latched the window and suddenly the knocking began again. This time it was furious knocking, he was bashing the door open. Now I lost it and screamed as loud as I could and fell down unconscious.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was laid on a bed and an old couple was sitting beside me. They told me they found me in their cottage behind the house lying unconscious. I got up in a jerk and looked out of the window and saw the cottage where I went last night. I told them that I was lost and had by mistake entered the cottage as I was afraid of dark. I even told him that I saw someone standing in the field. He laughed and told me it was just a scarecrow which the farmers had fixed over there. The man gave me a glass of water and asked me to take some rest. I told him that I had to go home as my Grandma must be tensed on not seeing me since last evening. He told me I can do what I wish to. I asked him his name so that I could tell Grandma as to where I was. He told me his name was Venkataraman and he was a business man.

Grandma was waiting for me anxiously outside our house. She hugged me as soon as I came near her and scolded me not to go anywhere without her consent. I told her about the whole incident that happened the night before and about the old couple who looked after me.

“Which old couple are you talking about?” she asked.

“Mr.Venkataraman and his wife” I replied.

I again fell unconscious on the floor when she told me this.

“Mr Venkataraman and his wife had committed suicide by burning themselves alive last year due to debts in their business. As he was a very nice man, the villagers have put a huge statue of his in the middle of the field for his remembrance!”

The Lost Season of Letters!

A few days back, my mother ordered me too clean our store room. I had to do it as my dinner was at stake if I made any excuses. The store room looked really creepy when I switched on the yellow bulb. It was full of newspapers, magazines and lot of things which were disposed in there which we do not use at all. There wasn't a single paper on which dust hadn't gathered. I was confused about from where to start. Hence, I took the small wooden table and sat on it to decide. While glancing through the room, I saw a large plastic bag which had been disposed at the corner. Stretching my leg, I pulled the bag near me and opened it. It was full of envelopes, bank correspondences, some bank statements and a few inland letters.

I pulled out some inlands to check them out. The letters were of Grandma when she used to write us every month, long time back. They were written in malayalam, as I cannot read the language I put them side and took out some envelopes. Some of them were marriage invitations, others were some random brochures but between them I saw a colourful letter which attracted my eyes. The letter was of my cousin which she had sent me some ten years ago maybe. She had made various drawings with colourful sketch pens around the places where she wrote the actual letter. I was in sheer nostalgia while going through the lines which made my eyes go wet as I finished reading it. I leaned back on the wall behind me and closed my eyes.

Sweet old childhood memories were all over my mind attached to writing, sending and receving letters. As we did not have a telephone in those days, my sisters and I used to be in touch through letters. I remembered how we used to share our problems, incidents and experiences through those letters. The expressions and feelings that one could deliver through hand written letters are not to be found in todays modern means of communicating.

The love and affection of a person towards the other could be felt while reading a letter, as the person has personally bought an envelope and stamps, wrote and went to the post box to drop it. Moreover, the joy of reading one's own name on the envelope and letting people around you know that the letter is sent to ME! is something very special :)

I remembered how I used to recognise the relative by the letter even though I cannot read my native language, by the handwriting on the address page. On a festival like Rakshabandhan my sisters used to send me Raakhi alongwith a long letter. Immediately, I used to tear a page from one of my school notebooks and sat down to write a reply with a 1000 watt smile on my face.:)

I even remembered how I used to sit beside my father when he used to write a reply to Grandmother's letters. I even used to ask my parents to read the line in her letter in which she has asked about me!

Travelling through these memory lanes, I even remembered a friend whom I had met just once in life. He lived in Chennai and was a neighbour of one of my relatives. We became pen-pal friends and wrote each other regularly. When I heard that he changed his residence, I could not write him anymore and nor did he after that, later I too changed my place, hence we lost touch since then. I hope to get a hint of him someday. :)

We have had the same postman who drops letters since a decade. Earlier during Diwali, we used to tell him to come a few days before the festival began and gave him the Diwali bonus and personally I used to fell really happy because I troubled him a lot when I expected any letters :). But now, its hardly any worth giving him a baksheesh, as he visits us only to drop some bank related letters, credit card and telephone bills. :(

The season of writing, sending, expecting and receiving letters has faded away into time. I don't think it would ever come back. With the advent of technology, the new means of communications like emails and SMS have took over and people have changed according to the trend. Though an email of SMS is just a few types and clicks away, they do not carry the freshness, the feeling and the magic that a letter used to convey.

Ah! How I miss the season of letters. Do you miss it too? :-)

*SPLASH!!!* I opened my eyes and saw my mother standing in front of me with a water jug. Oh heck! I fell asleep in the store room itself. I realised, no dinner for me today!