Death

Nothing like death to put things into perspective.

Finis

The soldier settled down to the normal middle class life of a State Government Employee. Had kids and then some more. One day his wife fell ill and needed a blood transfusion. The docs gave her blood of a different group. She died.

The rest of his life he spent making ends meet while bringing up his five kids. I do not know if he was a good father or husband or even if he was a particularly good human being. But what i always will cherish for the rest of my life is that we had the coolest grandfather in the whole world!

I see so much of him in Junjun. The expressions on his face, the unending imagination, the impromptu dances and so much more. And this I have written so that when he grows up, Junjun will know what absolutely amazing stock he comes from!!

Achacha (for some reason we ended up calling him that although he was my mother’s father) passed away in his late eighties and at his funeral, there was much fondness and much laughter as all his children and we his grandchildren recounted the various tales we had heard over the years. Surprisingly, each one of us had heard more or less the same stories.

I suppose because they were all true :)

Part 4

I don’t know from what and I don’t know how. But he once rescued a boy who turned out to be the son of one of the elders of an African village. In return for his brave gesture, he was invited to a feast in his honour.

Quite thrilled he was…till he saw a man bearing on a plate, the head of a goat.

He hoped against hope but the plate surely and steadily made its way towards where he was sitting and was placed with great ceremony right in front of him.

He looked around and smiled questioningly.

They told him happily - as the chief guest, it was his honour to eat the eye of the goat.

The eye of the goat. All his.

He looked around again to see all eyes on him. Suddenly they looked like people one would not like to mess with. So he gulped. Prayed. Smiling, he dug out the eye and popped it into his mouth. Bit into it. Pretended to chew and then swallowed, with tears in his eyes.

A great cheer accompanied his swallow. The feast was officially underway.

There were no more acts of rescuing by that particular soldier.

Part 3

He was a soldier.

Crossed half the Sahara on foot.

Never forgot to mention how everyone in that group licked their lips anytime someone took a leak.

The bullet burn on his scalp was soon visible as his hair began to thin and a question on that scar would see him proudly launch into the ethics of warfare …

“There are certain rules a side observes and one of these is to never shoot at someone’s back. But the enemy didn’t have any such code of ethics. They actually shot when I wasn’t facing them!

And when the self righteous cries died down, he would whisper with a twinkle in his eye…I wasn’t facing them because I was running for my life!!!

:)

Part 2

An anniversary.

A day special enough for him to hire a taxi and take her to a movie. The evening was perfect … till the drive back home.

The taxi man swerved sharply to take a turn and she had no time to stop herself from falling heavily onto her husband and grappling him to retain her balance. The taxi man took a quick look in the rearview mirror to see if they were okay and this is what he saw or rather heard (but in malyalam)

" LADY!! What will your husband say if he sees you behaving like this??!!"

She did not speak to him for about a month after that particular anniversary celebration.

Part 1

He saw her walking down the street.

He could not see her face.

All that he saw was her thick long long long black hair,lovingly entwined to form a luscious plait.

He fell and fell hard. Without even seeing her face.

They got married and as night dawned, he waited anxiously for his bride. His bride with the beautiful long black hair.

She came. Closed the door behind her. Turned slightly away from him and started unbraiding her hair.

He watched in awe.

She unbraided her hair half way up and then removed that part of her hair and hung it up on a hook on the wall.

And they managed to live quite happily ever after.

:)

junjun

"i wonder what i did to deserve this"...

Its amazing how you go from saying this with a sense of wonder and awe... to three years later, when you are saying the very same thing while pulling your hair out.

Draupadi

If that is what it takes to be

A heroine in mythology

Boy am i glad i'm only human

Someone who'll fade into oblivion!

Shy Gal

Junjun, did you finish all your lunch?

Yes Amma!!

Super...did your teacher say 'good boy'?

No Amma.

Why da?

I think she was shy.

!!

...and we're back!

Just read my previous entry and realized i sound like i am moving to a different planet. Actually, we just moved to a neighbhouring state. One which amazes me because :

1. A minimum of two cleavages appear in the daily newspaper (remember how our parents had to FORCE us to read the newspaper...well our generation will have to HIDE it from our kids)

2. A fellow parent at jun's new school moans about not having a maid although she has a driver, a cook, AND a 'helper' boy. she doesnt have a job AND they are a NUCLEAR Family. Talk about a tough life.

3. Everybody speaks different languages

4. I found out that best friends are always the best...even if you are getting back together eons later.

4. Doesnt matter where you eat, the food is FANTASTIC!

5. People are either very well turned out or are wearing something that is 'in' and looks totally gross on them

6. Three different people had this to say when i told them we had just moved from coimbatore " Oh, we were also in Chennai for a few years" (hunh???)

7. There are a zillion ways to spend money.

On the flip side,

Jun's school is not as good as his earlier one. UKG will definitely see him somewhere else.

But this place is exciting.

It is new, young and stylish...not to mention expensive.

Here is a toast to Chiranjeevi land. Rajini rules! ;)