WHERE THE END MARKS THE BEGINNING............

As I sit here writing, my mind goes back in time - a week or so - refresh the memories that will always stay fresh in my mind: our final days in school. Moving backwards in time is quite tough. But the once you are into the world of your fnd memories, I think it is worth the difficulty.

That day, we decided to play our last cricket match - our class and the adjoining class. The game reached a sort of an anti-climax even before it started - lack of space. Yet, it could not hamper our spirit to play one final game before leaving school. We are old rivals(on-field only) - the rivalry is 7 years old. And as if to pacify our hearts burning with that fire of revenge and to be declared a champion, the match ended in a tie - even in the super-over. That inspired me to write this post - the beginning of the end.

And the week that followed was quite emotional and the "floodgates" opened - it was our last week in school(and the preparatory marks were also given).With slambooks, hugs, photo sessions and tears, it could have made anybody sentimental. Afterall, we had spent 12 long years in school - having shared almost everything: our secrets, our likes and dislikes, punishments and even bunking classes, sometimes. Those 12 years had built a strong sense of unity and oneness amongst us - even when one was caught doing wrong, we stood by him and saw to it he came out unscathed.

That week saw even quite a few teachers getting emotional. Afterall, they had nurtured us for so long. We had bid adieu to all our familiar haunts and fellows and our very dear school to embark on a voyage where still uncertainty shrouds many of us. A voyage that will take us far - away from all our familiar-till-now places.
I only hope we all are successful on our voyage(s).

Then came our final day - the final ever - in school, after which we would never be alowed to step into it as students. As fate would have it, our class got jinxed dat day for various reasons - our final assembly programme could never be presented. Yet, we enjoyed viewing it as a class - together for one final time.
Again, there were more more hugs, more pics and more tears. Ah!!!!!!! how I wish I could relive those 12 years again and again and over again. How I wish for a "time turner"(HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF ASKABAN)!!!!!!!

Now, sitting at home, with no expectations of meeting my friends again in school, I feel cut off, chopped from the world I belong to. The truth is yet to dawn upon us that our school is not the world but a part of the world. Sometimes, I feel it is better if that truth dawns upon us. Sometimes, I feel  it is beter if it doesn't.
All that awaits us now are the board exams and that endless wait of hope and expectations until the results are out. And then, take a plunge into the a sea  of new people with a "school" of old fishes and explore the new world with enthusiasm...................

"..........If winter comes,
Can spring be far behind?"          - P.B. SHELLEY

OF WAR – Once Upon a Time……

Sitting on a stone was an old man.

He had an unearthly look.

For his left leg he had a stub

For his left hand – a hook.

Walking down the road, I was amused by his sight.

I felt an urge to talk.

“Sir, how is it that you have only two limbs?

Will you be able to walk?”

His right hand he placed upon my head

Over me, he cast a spell.

His piercing look bore into me.

His tale he began to tell

“It is the story of revenge –

The tale I will tell you now.

It is the story of treason and hate

With a little shade of love.

Once there lived an able king –

Courageous and just was he.

He had a daughter – the heir of the kingdom –

Who was admired and loved by me”

I asked him “How did she look? Was she beautiful? Why did you admire her?”

“The princess was charming.

Had an enchanting smile did she.

She was beauty in human form,

As beautiful as beauty could be.

She was generous; She was kind

She was character personified

She was the owner of a magical voice

She was our kingdom’s pride.

I served the king, his General I was.

I was his comrade; He was never a boss.

Many a war we fought together, many a war we won.

Once I did save him from death

From then we became one.

One fine day, I asked the king

If I could marry his daughter.

For a moment he stood still.

Then, he burst into laughter.

‘Who are you?’ the king asked

‘to ask my daughter in marriage?

You are after all, my General.

I want a prince with lineage’”

The old man continued “This insult I could not bear. The king had hot me where it hurt most. I decided to take revenge and make the king pay for his words. His most trusted General was to become his enemy, for the king had destroyed the love I carried for his daughter”

He continued:

“Then came a war – a fierce war.

What a huge army our’s was!

The king was away fighting the enemy king.

Of the army, I was the boss.

On sending the troops to fight the enemy,

To assist the king I went.

‘Oh! What a chance!’ I thought

‘A chance fate has sent’

In order to fight the enemy king,

I went and joined my boss.

When the chance presented itself,

I slew my Master’s horse.

Our king fell down. I thrust my sword

Through his mighty heart.

He swung around and with his sword,

Chopped my two limbs apart.

The war was lost, but not the kingdom –

It was gifted by the enemy king.

I was the king, I ran to the princess

But I could not hear her sing.

The princess had died, the people – enraged!

They knew of my deed.

They pelted stones, they hit me

Till I could no longer bleed

They carried me atop a hill.

They nailed me to a tree.

With the tree, I was burnt,

But my soul was not to be free.

My story ends here” he said.

“Oh! Let him not be a spirit” I wished

“Who are you, then?” I asked aloud.

Right before my eyes, he vanished!!!

IN AN "EGG"SHELL(not nutshell as the phrase goes)

This post is not to discuss anything serious. They are just two anecdotes.

 It so happened that I returned home from school to find my brother a little excited. "A pigeon has made a nest on our bathroom window sill and has laid an egg". He has an inclination for nature and that sort of things. There was no doubt he was excited. He derived great thrill in watching the bird everyday as it sat incubating the egg. No doubt we had to bang the bathroom door several times when he went to bathe those few days!!
Even I slightly caught up with his enthusiasm and was seen climbing onto the chair to watch the egg - I am shorter than him; so what? Even Tendulkar is short -
 My brother recently joined a gym(nasium). He wants to gain weight and develop stamina and fitness!! He doesn't have a body that can be boasted about - nor do I. The gym trainers initially made fun of him he says "admiring" his body. Even the other people who come to the gym chuckled when they saw him, he says. And that made my brother extremely determined to develop a body and gain weight. He heard them say that eating eggs will help build a body. And that trigerred off a series of events which i enjoyed receding to the backdrop of all the drama:
   Soon after coming home he told our mother that he wanted to eat eggs. We are a strictly vegetarian family. Infact, eating eggs was something we could not imagine(though many had eaten once upon a time). He called one of our cousins who was his "senior" and asked him how he ate the egg. Let us not go into what he told and what my brother asked again. That was it. He told how he had eaten the egg.
  Then my brother called up another senior in the family - senior in age this time - who said something not very encouraging about eating eggs. He - the senior -  too is an activist for vegetarianism. And my brother was caught between to opposite currents - to eat an egg or not. And in that cross-fire in the mind, I don't think he had his meal properly that day(meal of rice) - I don't exactly recollect.
  And today, the egg is no longer on the window sill of our bathroom(my brother has no hand in it - I swear). Maybe, a cat or something ate it. Maybe, it fell down. Maybe, it was shifted to a place where it is safer. I hope it is the third.
  And today, my brother is yet to taste an egg - an omlette or whatever the dish is made of the egg. Maybe, he will never eat an egg. Maybe, he will eat it in secrecy. Maybe, he will eat it in public. I hope it is the third.
 This is my brother - in an "egg"shell.