Jaadu ki Jhappi

Wake up Asif !!

Asif looked up to see himself in his Abbu's arms. It has been a long while since he felt this warmth. "What happened to you, Asif-beta ? You were the most positive lad I ever knew. You are far better than any of your peer group. You are even better than me." Asif was still silent, his eyes were tired, failing to make proper eye-contact.

Slowly, Asif told, "I have lost everything that I earned that I worked for over the years. I lost everything I wanted. Is there no value of my good intentions ? Is there no value of hard work and sincerity. Is God so cruel ?" Abbu said, "No beta, It is just a bigger test that you are facing. Human life is full of such tests, and as long as you are not compromising on your values and integrity, you are doing pretty well. Remember one thing, you live for a purpose, as long as that is not achieved, don't give up".

Asif woke up from his sleep with a start, looked around to see no one, but he could still feel the warmth on his chest.

Horcruxes

Once again a tribute to J.K. Rowling

"Why does Professor always open up the Harry Potter books " ? she whispered.

Professor Bandopadhyaya heard this, but was not bothered much. He continued the chapter on Horcruxes. "The author has replaced love with the word magic at several places, and this is true for the act of creating Horcruxes too. The author is trying to convey the message that a person distributes portions of his soul by the relations he makes. The deeper the relation the more you distribute. It is a very complex phenomenon. The worst you could do is to fall in love and split your soul into exact two pieces. That is a very terrible thing to do, but then it has its joys too".

The girl with the black bindi asked meekly," Professor, then what happens when people split up" ?

The professor smiled, "I am afraid you asked this question my girl, never-the-less it is a good question! You can only split your soul. There is no way to regain that part. Once lost, its lost forever".

A deep silence had gripped the classroom....

Reflections

He was as usual going back from work, cribbing over the ever-increasing work load, tax slabs and increment.

The hooded man came in silently and sat next to him. He remained aloof of him for some time. Only did after some time he realize that the man was trying to type something in his old mobile phone, which seemed older than him. He felt his new smartphone in his pocket and heaved silently. I am definitely well-off than him, he thought to himself.

When the conductor came, he pulled out a 100 Rs note for 25 rupees ticket, whereas the hooded man pulled out coins from his pocket and counted change for 20 rupees. "Next to the college stop", he muttered silently. He turned to me and said, "My son has got a merit seat in this college, I am going for his term fees payment".

He observed the hooded man get down from the bus,outside a mirror-finish college, and the old man walking past the gate, into a small building. He imagined that some day this man's son will pass out from this place, and probably drive out from this gate in a BMW, while he will still be still looking out from his AC bus......

Worship

" So why don't you talk to her any more ? You don't hate her, do you ?", Anwar asked him.

"After years of being together, you still don't know me. Do you ? I do not carry hate with me. My feelings for her can never turn to hate. It will always be there, like a peepal leaf in an old book. I know she does not like me, but that does not matter to me", Asif replied.

Anwar said, "Well then whats the use of keeping this old petal in your book ? You can discard it. You will find a new love".

Asif replied slowly, "That's how you see it. It is love for you. But when you love a stone, its called worship".

Cataract

"Dont worry, It will be over soon", Dr. Paresh said.

Asif was on the operation bed, scared to the core. No one would have thought that a game of cricket could have brought the kid to this state. Cataract due to trauma was the medical term described by the Doctors. The eye lens is a soft object, which can harden due to trauma, i.e. a physical injury. In this case Asif was unfortunate to have been hit by a cricket ball on his left eye. The Trauma slowly hardened his eye lens. Finally the soft eye lens turned into a hard mass, making him half-blind. Dr. Paresh would replace the hard mass with an artificial lens. He was brought back to present by a needle pressed below his left eye. He gripped the sides of the table to control the pain.

He couldn't understand how much time had gone but when he woke up, he could only open his right eye and the left eye was bandaged. He found Dr. Paresh standing next to him, smiling. The Cataract has been removed successfully he said.

Asif's right eye looked at the Doctor, he wanted to ask him something. He was happy that the cataract of his eye has been removed, but what about his heart. Can that be removed and replaced ?

The Heavenly Shower

The Brahmin was tired.... Too much of traveling happened during the day.

But it was also a sunday. He always made it a point to visit the local temple and offer his prayers to the lord. But today even though the temple was on his current path, he was tempted a lot to return to the shelter of his home. He looked out from his bus and saw clouds gathering in the sky. That made him even more lethargic. Also the hot day had made him sweat profusely and he was badly in need of a bath. How can he have a darshan without a bath? He decided that he will give the temple a skip.

As the bus approached the temple, he felt a throb in his heart. Of course god wants the pure mind of a devotee, not his body. He looked at himself. He was totally shabby. He felt his hair, they were completely ruffled and dry. Still he could not stop himself from getting down at the bus stop next to the temple. Determined, he walked towards the temple which was roughly a kilometer away.

Within a few seconds came the downpour. It was not a drizzle, it was heavy shower. He cursed himself for getting down from the bus. It was turning out to be a horrible decision. And even though the Brahmin remembered running for 2 minutes, by the time he was at the temple corridor he was drenched. From head to toe. The temple priest eyed him and muttered," You seem to be well -washed. Go on, the aarti has just started. You are on time".

After his prayer the Brahmin walked towards his home, enjoying the clear sky of the evening.

Violin Class

Asif was disappointed.....

Ammi could sense his disappointment in the way he approached his room and threw his bag away. After all he had waited for so long. And still for some reason he was not allowed in. He felt so insecure, so unwanted.

Unable to see his mental conflict, Ammi hugged him. "Whats the matter son" ? she asked.

" I am disturbed", Asif said, eyes moist and ready to burst.

Ammi kissed his forehead and said, " Beta, didn't you learn from your music instrument class" ?

Asif looked at his ammi in surprise, probing for an explanation.

Ammi said, " Your favorite violin. What it does do ? When disturbed, it creates music. Music that is magic. Magic that fills every ones heart with happiness. Create music, my son".

As Ammi was preparing rotis, she could hear Asif practicing his notes.

Attraction

"Here, have this Khatti-Meethi Gooli".

Ali-bhai has lured hundreds of children with this statement, but this boy was unfazed. This worked on most of the childred, he thought to himself. He could then go on and sell them wherever he could, there is such a huge demand. Ali-bhai then produced a Kit-Kat from his pocket. The boy still remained still. Ali-bhai watched him closely now. He was thin and pale, eyes had a stony silence in them. Ali-bhai started searching for something bigger in his pouch, and then finally pulled out the doll. "Come take it, he told". This time there was some reaction from the boy. Screaming loudly, Asif ran away, crying .... away from the attraction.

Ali-bhai muttered, "What a strange boy".........

Mother's Love

The cub was crying.

Her heart ached. She was a lioness, but the sight of her cub crying out of hunger caused her unbearable pain. She set out for the hunt. She stalked the plains for a prey. There was a small herd of goats grazing near the babool tree. Without wasting time, she launched her attack. The herd ran in all directions, only a pair of goats remained still. It was a she-goat and with her a baby-goat. This was easy for the lioness.

She walked slowly towards them. The baby goat did not understand the over looming danger and was calm. The she-goat however was terrified, but held her ground to protect her baby. The lioness sniffed both of them and then roared.....

The She-goat said weakly, "Please spare my child, eat me. You may also be a mother. Please spare my child."

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Hunger now satisfied the cub was now in a playful mood and played chase with the monkeys. The lioness too took rest under the shade, and smacked her lips and wondered, the tender flesh of the baby goat was really tasty.

Silence

It rained again..........

He loved watching the rain. It always made the environment cool. It also brought silence. Silence due to the empty traffic on the road. Silence due to the people, birds and animals that have taken shelter in their nests. The loud silence of the downpour....

Far away, she was also watching the rain, in silence..........