A Magical bell....

After a tiring day at office, finally I am back at home. Let me sit on my lazy chair for a while, take rest and then see what else is left for the day. 

Comfortable lazy chair, I wish I would be you in my next incarnation, so that, I could always sleep. Saying this, I went to a little nap which took me to a wonderful dream land.

That’s me in a cloudy palace, what am I doing here? I am searching for something, what’s that? That’s a bell. I am so happy holding it. Why is it so? Hmmm let’s find out what’s happening with me. I look so rich (at least in the dream) I am holding a bell which I found in this cloudy palace. I rang the bell; a servant comes and keeps my diamond studded shoes on the velvet carpet!

Here I am in a gorgeous chariot, going around my palace. I feel I have the power in my hands and I have to use it. Do you know what that power is? It is a bell which made me a princess. This bell had a special character- if I ring the bell and wish for something I want; it grants me the wish in eye blinking time.

I was a normal person with lots of ambitions to achieve. Suddenly I was a changed person with power in my hands. And all my ambitions looked small in front of the power I had got. I didn’t give a second thought as to what happens when I lose this power. I started converting all my ambitions into reality. I cut beautiful trees and constructed roads, I thought chariot is old fashioned and wished for luxury cars, I built factories, and I changed a real naturally built region into a concrete jungle. These were all made by just ringing the magical bell.

Finally after all my ambitions were done, I had to appoint more people to look after them. I appointed Chief Ministers, MP’s, MLA’s etc. etc. to administer the world I had built. One fine day at my palace I am resting with the magical bell next to me. A person rings the doorbell of the palace. Where my servants are? No body are seen? I took the bell rang it. Guess what? It’s not working.

It took a while to understand what had really happened. 

After I had built my own concrete jungle and gave a name for it as development of the society, there were people who were jealous of my progress. The news of me having the magical bell had already spread so far, that people without my notice wanted to have it and fulfil their wishes as well. When I was resting, the bell which I had used was replaced with a dummy one by the authorities whom I appointed and was used for corruption without my knowledge.

After I see there were no servants to open the door, I go near the door to open it. I was stabbed and killed by the person at the door. This was to maintain the secrecy of the bell. 

Again the door bell’s ringing and this time it’s not a dream and is a reality.  The dream had taught me a lesson .I was scared to go near the door. I panicked what if someone stabs and kills me. Then comes an aggressive voice from my sister who is standing outside in a heavy rain, yelling at me, Ranju, can you open the door for god’s sake. How many times I have to ring the bell?

I explained the whole story to my sis and with a big laugh we got out of my dream and wished this dream would not come true because if we have something so easy to make our dream come true no one in this world would strive to reach their goals.

Ranju….

Always keep smiling and laughing, it costs nothing...

Human is the only being on the earth, who has very special qualities which separates him from other animals in this world. Yes, that is his thinking power, reasoning power and most importantly smiling and laughing power. 

Imagine one fine day; you lose the power of laughing…. How will this world be? Turn around and you see all grinning faces have turned into sad faces. You get up in the morning expecting a nice bed coffee from your mum or wife; you see them serving with a gloomy face. It is always said that, your day depends on your mornings. So, you in turn feel bad seeing them and whole of your day goes for a toss.

With the same mood you get ready and start to your work place, the person waiting at the door to pick you up for your office has no smile to welcome you. You are again let down. And after a while you get to know that even you have lost the power of laughing and smiling at others. You go crazy and try smiling but you can’t. 

You enter your office and see miserable faces everywhere. Your colleague is unhappy, boss is unhappy, boss’s boss is unhappy, client is unhappy. Even you are unhappy coz all around you are unhappy. You start working with the same thing on your mind that why am I not able to smile or laugh at others? You go in front of the mirror and try smiling. Oh, you are laughing and smiling. That means you are normal.

Again you come back to your seat but now you can’t smile or laugh, you think, what’s happening with me almighty, why am I not able to smile at people? Now you peep outside your office window and see a little girl selling flowers with all smiles on her face and you are astonished. How can this little girl smile when I am not able to? You rush to her, stop her and ask, Hey, how are you able to laugh and smile at others when others can’t?

She sells a flower to you first and while taking it, you smile at her and take it. Again you are in that trauma that how can you smile now? She now tenderly answers you, Smiling at others when you receive or give something is a real power given by god…. You can only see others smiling when you do the same thing. When I sell my flower no matter how the other persons face is, I smile and sell them. So, in return I get a beautiful smile from them.

Now, as you got the perfect response.  You rewind and go back to what all happened in the morning. I was the one who dint smile at my mum or wife when she served me, I could have smiled. I was the one expecting wishes from the driver, I could have wished him. I was the one who felt all my colleagues were unhappy because I was, I could have waved and spoken to them with a gag which I daily did.

You realise now, World cannot stop one day and take away your happiness, cheers and laughter. It’s Human who mistakes and stops doing certain things which he is capable to do without expecting from others.

So, always use your power of smiling and laughing coz it costs nothing……

Ranju....

What else could be better than a Play?

“This is my 74^th show. I have participated in all the shows till date. And of course I will be in the next show as well. Without me the show cannot go on”. 

All the above statements which I made are very true except the last one. Yes. It was my 74^th show, Yes. I participated in all the shows but without me the show could still go on…. Because I was amongst the audience.

This Art form made me so crazy that, at any point I would think, What else could be better than a play? I wondered how the artists performed in front of live audience. How could they change their thoughts and usage of stage so spontaneously?  How would they maintain those expressions without getting distracted? Many question marks but only answer was the person’s involvement into the character.

By the end of my 74^th show of the same play, I was so much into the heroin’s character that I had the same expressions of the main lady of the show every time when she changed her expressions. I knew the dialogues by heart. When I came home I started acting in front of the mirror and I felt I was better than her. But who would appreciate my acting? Only I should. No one knew about my hidden talent of acting. So, I could not expect anyone’s appraisal. Keeping it to myself, I felt prouder day by day acting in front of the mirror.

Finally this evening I am very happy coz this is my 75^th show of the same play. As usual I was early to the play to catch the first row and be seated before anyone could. This was because I dint wanted to miss the heroin’s expression. I sat in a seat in the front row, I was feeling as if I am on the stage, as if I am acting and of course no one’s watching me, coz no one’s around. I laughed at myself, and consoled myself for not being a part of such a fantastic art form.

“Ho!!!! What am I hearing? The heroin’s not well, what? she is in hospital? Gosh, how will I run the show? Where is my back up Artist? You guys could not reach her? I have sold more than 1000 tickets. I am ruined….”This is what the Director of the play said when he could not reach both of his Artists.  I heard all these from the back stage as the hall was noiseless. I entered the back stage, I saw the director worried. I went near him; I rushed all my guts and told him, Sir, I heard everything. I can help you. He was astonished to see someone from audience in the backstage and tell that I could be of his help. He suddenly stood up and asked, can you find a backup for me? With all my guts again, “Sir, I can act for you.”

Director was literally shocked. What? someone from audience could act? I can’t believe it. I explained him my acting skills and how many times I saw the same play. I gave a quick audition as well. Director was impressed, permitting me to play the main lady’s role and told his last few lines like this “Any way I am ruined, Let me give you a chance”. These words of his, made me little disappointing. Yet it was challenging.

God, what am I doing? There are nearly 1000 audience. Finally, I am in front of them. I was on that grand stage. The things which I admired in the last show had become reality to me .Those lavishing screens, those bright lights, and most excited and anticipating audience. That experience was totally speechless and unexplainable.

I am done with my role as a heroin, I got the loudest applauds. And here comes the happy Director to introduce me. He thanked me on stage and gave a speech to the audience regarding me and my acting skills. He was overwhelmed to have someone from the audience to act for him. From that day, I was given a role in his play. Without prior experience I got a job, for this I had to thank myself and guts inside me.

That day I recollected my statement which I made before -

“This is my 74^th show. I have participated in all the shows till date. And of course I will be in the next show as well. Without me the show cannot go on”.

And how it is changed now -

“This is my 75^th show. I have participated in all the shows till date. And of course I will be in the next show as well. Without me this show couldn’t have been completed”. 

Believing in yourself will make you reach the dream, which you thought was just a Dream.

Ranju..

I want to stop my age……

“I am turning 25 next week. I am so nervous. God, don’t make me 25 please….

I wana stop my age.” This was my prayers to god daily when I woke up. I had this bad perception, that if I am aged I can’t achieve anything. This was on my mind till my 25^th Birthday. 

I understood I was wrong, when this week passed in my life and made me realise that the good deeds which we want to do, cannot be stopped by our age. The incident which I faced in this week made me thank few people for making me realise what life is.

I went to one of my friend's place to a kitty party, like me there were many ladies who had the same perception of the age and they were talking about me turning 25 the next week and making me conscious of my age which I hated too much. I gave a fake smile as if I am not irritated and walked away from that group and sat in the balcony for a while and here I meet a small kid. His greeting annoyed me because again it made me conscious of my age. Guess what? It was, Hi aunty. I controlled myself because he was a little kid and of course he had to call me aunty and not” Hi babe”.

I started talking to him and asked him, what was his age? He told I am ten years aunty….. From behind the balcony door enters his mom and tells, hey he is not ten; he just turned five last month. But he wants to fast forward his age. So, whenever someone asks his age, he tells them he is ten. I was surprised by this and asked her why does he do that? Here comes the answer by the kid himself. Aunty, I wana achieve my dream goal of becoming a car racer and I will be given the licence to drive only when I grow older so, I am forwarding my age. I understood, I am stopping my age and here I am meeting someone who is forwarding his age. Nice learning for me this day. I went home with a cheerful smile on my face.

After two days I was crossing a busy road, I saw a middle aged women well-dressed crossing the road with me. I was not conscious this time, coz she anyway looked elder to me. As it was a heavy traffic road we had to cross the road together to stop the traffic for a while and go to the other side. She thanked me for crossing along with her and we started with general talks as we were going to the same mall nearby. 

We got to know each other and I asked what she did and I get a shocking news because I got to know then, that she owned chain of restaurant’s at that age. I felt that I was very small in front of her. It was again a new learning that, age is not a barrier for becoming successful in life. We waved each other and went on our ways.

Opps….. Tomorrow is the day I am turning 25…..Excited to see all my friends and many gifts at the party tonight but at the same time very conscious of my age. I went out to buy some stuff for the party which was arranged for my birthday tonight. In the market I hear a familiar voice calling my name. I turned back. Ho, it was my aunt who met me after very long. We were happy to meet each other after a long time. 

Again general talks like what I did? How are my parents Etc….. Etc….. After answering all the questions, it was my turn to ask her the same things. She then told me that she is a writer now and she had written more than 30 books. She is a yoga teacher; she teaches music in a nearby school; she helps her husband in his business; she is a volunteer for a blind school and with all these she is a home maker and a moral mom to her kids.

This lady came like my wish angel on my birthday’s eve and showed me what life is. Seeing her I got to know age is just a number and not a full stop of the things which we have to achieve in our lives. From this, I realised that I cannot stop my age but I can stop worrying about my age and start achieving things which I thought was just a desire.

Today is my Birthday. I am celebrating it happily and without worrying about my age. I enjoyed my birthday party and started my unaccomplished deeds the next day of my birthday. Like this, we meet many people in our life, which will leave an impression on our souls that cannot be erased. 

Think of these people who made you realise something good and helped you stop worrying. Thank them and become an unforgettable impression in other’s lives as well.

Each day is a new learning, learn it with great thirst………

Ranju…

Still Waiting……Will you come back?

I was in my class one when I met this wonderful person called Vijay. How can I call him just Vijay? He was very particular about his name I mean, he wanted everybody to call him by his full name "Vijay Vittal". 

It was the first day of my class one. We were all feeling as if we have been graduated from some B- school when we stepped from UKG to class one. We had our own group of friends and we refused to take any one else apart from our group mates. Then a sweet little boy enters the class. He is not from our school!!! So not in our group was the first expression of all the group leaders. Strange but true we had the great Groupism long back in school days…..

I was the leader for my group, followed by my group mates Aashu, Anisha, Kumar and Shaam. Vijay comes and sits next to me and then asks can I sit here? This was how my friends reacted when Vijay spoke to me for the first time.

 Aashu- (She was very fat and foodie) so, her reaction goes like this: - Ranju we are not taking him for the lunch break right?

Anisha- (Very pretty and friendly girl) Hey this boy is as fair as me; I think we can take him for the lunch break.

Kumar and Shaam (Most naughty and so called brave boys) - Ask him can he go near that tamarind tree after 6 in the evening, if yes, he is in. Finally after all the witty things done by my group mates, Vijay was in our team. That day just passed by listening to his old schools stories. We all went home happily as we met a cute little friend. 

From the next day onwards we all became so close that, we five were inseparable. We played together, ate together, sat together and also copied together in tests and exams. I was very poor in Hindi and my helper, of course it was Vijay. I passed a big terror of my life (Hindi) because of him I think. 

It was our midterm holidays the next day of our Hindi exam. Mostly all kids will be happy to have their holidays but we all refused to go on a holiday. We missed each other so much that we took all our land line phone numbers and called each other upon our parent’s permission every alternate day. 

It was again start of the school after our holidays and we all were excited to see each other and tell our holiday stories too….Aashu had become more fat, Anisha more pretty, Kumar and Shaam because of their mischievous behaviour had wounds on their knees which was expected. Vijay and I were very happy to meet each other. I still remember his chubby cheeks shaking when he spoke….  We all went to the candy shop next to our school in the lunch break because of Aashu. We had 50ps each and it was a huge amount then. We all took candies and while returning a cycle guy hit me and my only candy fell down. 

Disappointed and shy me… Did not ask anyone to share their candy with me. Everybody were ready to share their candies, but because of my shy nature I refused. I still remember Vijay throwing his Candy without eating which normally kids won’t do.

Days passed and we all were ready for our final exams. Again Hindi and again Vijay the saver of the terror. All the exams were done and we all were again sad coz of the long vacation. I was sent to my native the day after my exam. All others had their own plans. We all bided a sad smiley faced adieu to each other and were out of the school.

This was not the same vacation me and my friends had as we had the last time. It was very boring without them. We had the phone call idea for a few days and it did not last long as the phone bills were scary to our parent’s as it was a long holiday and mine was an STD call. We lost touch and we had only our stories to talk about with our family. But how much will our family people listen? Even they got bugged. Holidays went on with lots of expectation on the day one of class two.

Ahhh!!!! Sigh of relief to all of us coz it was the first day of class two again. This was a very bad day for many kids and parent’s .As this day bought lots of weird crying sounds and consoling sounds.

I was excited to meet all my friends. As I had mentioned before no one had changed from their physical structures. It was 8.55 AM and still Vijay is not in. My face was down as I expected him very much that day. That day passed without Vijay. Me and my team mate’s very disappointed went home after the school. We were charged up the next day expecting Vijay. Again same 8.55 AM and no Vijay. We ran to our class teacher and enquired about him. She had no clue. He stayed near the school. So, we went in search of him, but his home was locked. As we were very small we could do only this much. Here I learn the importance of social networking sites. Now, I imagine I could have pinged Vijay if he was on FB, Gtalk or other SN sites. Fact is, couldn’t imagine all these at that point of time.

We all were let down from what happened and we never met this superb friend again… Not even now when we have so many social networking sites because we can see many Vijay Vitall’s in the search criteria and we can’t recognise who our friend Vijay is, as we remember only his 1^st standard’s innocent and chubby face. Days passed, Years went but we all have only one thing on our mind and that is,

Still waiting….. Will you come back?.......

And this story is dedicated to my unforgettable buddy Vijay Vittal.

I thank God for the way he made you, distinct, special and
unique. You were not made from a common mould.
~ Erwin W. Lutzer

Ranju….

Lekhani welcomes you……..

Lekhani, it means pen. This is known as a weapon in the writer’s hand. To sharpen this weapon, a writer should use a stone called thought. Before writing my Lekhana (Article), I was very sceptic as to how will I open my innings in this field, which has grown so vast? How will I reach people who have different likings than mine?  How? Had become a big question mark to me. But there is a word called INSPIRATION, this is what I got when I read my Sister’s blog. I started writing my thoughts when I saw the way she expressed her feelings through her writings. May it be a serious one, or pulling someone’s leg. She expressed it so well, that I went into the character and came back to the present. For inspiring me to express my feelings, I thank my sweet sister Ramya….

I hope you all will support me, correct me and inspire me…….

Here we are. ME and MY Lekhani welcoming you all to my world of Lekhana (Articles).

Ranju :)