A Biased View

Teddies, dogs, barbies and dreams, Chocolate, butterscotch, strawberry ice-creams, Fairies and princes in their magical palace, The villains with their black evil malice, School and all its friends, fun and work, Home and in it, Cartoon Network! Building friends and our playground, The broken tooth that was never found, New clothes and new hair pins to match with them, Toys and colouring books by the dozen, Tellytubbies, Noddy and Scooby Doo, That one school trip to the zoo, Wearing mom's clothes and her huge shoes, A new pen and pouch driving away the exam blues, Wanting to grow up, wanting to be tall, Tired of being the youngest one and small, Tired of being called the kid, Learning to cycle, learning not to skid, Falling, bleeding, yelling and crying, Not understanding what was meant by 'dying', Envying mom for not having exams, Wanting to be the celebrity with all those fans, Dreaming of the day with no school, The day I'll be a teenager, you...

They asked me a million times, the same thing over and over. "Who do you want to be when you grow up?", they said. Somehow this question has been a constant safe resort for all the distant or close uncles and aunts I (and most of you, I'm sure) have had. They always are interested in our future plans, though often forgetting our answers within the next blink of an eye. Somehow it has collectively become a part and parcel of the Indian (and now worldwide, it seems) psyche, that a person is worthy of notice only if he's working towards some end, passionately. Another thing is, this question that I fully dissected by gauging the motives behind, the tone of and the way of asking, has evolved into something that needs a 'materialistic' answer. I mean, there's this famous saying wherein a kid said "I wanna be happy" when asked this question, and was thought to be simple and innocent by the adults who most probably returned with the same question a few...

Some people think they know themselves. So well. Every facet, every thought, every reaction seems to bring no surprise. And I never was one of them. But then, I thought I had the basics right. A person who can manage fairly good in academics, quite comfortable with elocution, clumsy as hell in anything to do with sports or grace, okay at friendship, good at maintaining relationships, and really senti whenever things ended. But then, everyone's life has that moment. If you're lucky, you'll have not just one, but many of these. This moment alerts you to some change in you, some parts of you flipped inside out, to show colours which never existed on your spectrum before. This change can be a slow, subtle and calm one, or it can be a huge bang, boom and splash. The calm one is peaceful, so where's the fun in that? The banging change is the one that turns your world upside down, making everything topsy-turvy and is something every adrenaline junkie eyes. I never knew I was...

I can barely breathe. As I feel the whoosh whoosh of my seemingly scarce breaths, I want to tell you a story. My story. I was born with 8 siblings, and our mom was a single mom. She didn't ever tell us about our dad, and we never pestered her, as she was good enough for both. She would give us all we needed, keep us warm and happy. She was the main focus in our lives, we would do whatever she asked, and she rarely, if ever, was wrong. Though she wasn't a very emotional woman, I knew she loved me a little better than my siblings. Maybe because I was a little weak at times, got a cold and fever too often. I still remember how once when we were kids, and others were ridiculing me for feeling cold all the time, she had bought a new blanket, a unique one, made by an old woman who was the only obstetrician and also a magic-worker in my mom's village. She had silently walked in while we tossed and turned in our sleep, and covered me with it, and I don't think I ever felt more...

She was a beauty, yes she certainly was, Made to be perfect, with just no flaws, She had a heart of gold and a will of steel, She was exuberance and joy on a reel, She was a wild kid, a daughter of the breeze, She glistened in the dew, and flew with ease, She wanted to be let loose, and so she sauntered, She walked in, and the whole view was altered, So many she had belonged to, so many she stood by, She was the reason why, many a man would die, He sought her, her love and eternal peace, He fought for her thinking her rightfully his, He fought, for over a decade he fought, His legendary struggle, in a new era brought, His intentions were noble and actions were brave, And his fight a new meaning to destiny gave, He dreamed and won her, welcomed her in, A tricolored necklace right under her chin, He gave her a most magnificient abode, New and renewed, his dreams flowed, But now that he has her, there seems to be, A need to chain her, not set her free, Her meaning a...

She had a way with words, and he hardly ever spoke, She was careless and free, and he fixed all she broke, She ranted on for ages, and he was content to just listen, She tried to let it go unseen, but he saw the tear glisten, She didn't want to tell anyone, and he never tried to ask, She didn't show it much, her feelings were always masked, She wouldn't communicate, though to him she often talked, She thought he didn't notice, and his intelligence she mocked, The year was a year of trial for him, and he repeatedly failed, The attempts he cautiously advanced, she repeatedly assailed, The fears and worries he had about her, were getting bolstered, The rebukes that he got from her, his dread they slowly fostered, The repelling and rude ways and anger, didn't get him to surrender, The first day she left early, he peeked into her office and calender, The year gone past he couldn't see, it was wiped neat and clean, The past and present ...

She was the first one to look me into my eyes, A smile and a tear together appeared on her face, She taught me to be patient, good and kind, She was the first friend I ever embraced. He taught me to be strong, to stand on my own feet, He taught me that back then, and yet teaches me the same, He taught me how I was the best but still could improve, He was the first friend to call me by my name. She was the first one I cried to when Mom yelled at me, She was the one who thought I was prettiest of them all, She taught me to love animals, and humans all alike, She was the first friend who saw me crawl. He was the first one I knew who loved to read, He was one who saw my first tooth break, He taught me how to ride, read and swim, He was the first friend who left and made my heart break. She was crying too when I entered school that first day, The last day, t'was her hug that made me cry the most, She taught me a good friend could heal better ...