A Child’s Note to Parents

Dear Parents,

Soon you would be having conference regarding my performance in school. As you listen, please remember that what my teacher might be describing may not be the complete truth. So, do not get uptight if you hear any blemish. I hope you will accept me as I am as long as I am trying.

Remember that all children do not walk or speak at the same age, nor do they learn math, reading or science at the same rate. Please do not compare me to my brothers, sisters, cousins or friends. I am unique to this world. Be realistic in setting my goals. Challenge me but do not push me beyond my abilities. Please let me be a child first before labelling me as a success or a failure.

The conference would be a picture of me at school. I am very different at home. In school, I have to deal with around 25-50 kids my age, I sometimes respond in a different manner. My teacher knows me at school, You know me at home. The real ‘Me’ is somewhere in between.

When these images blend with sufficient understanding, acceptance and love, I hope you’ll see a unique individual who can make you proud and bring happiness to our family.

Love you,

Your Kid

(We received this touching leaflet from my Son’s school before a conference. I could not help sharing. Do share this post, it is worth the effort. Because sometimes we adults are incapable of seeing a child’s point of view.)

Images courtesy Google

A letter to my classmate!

   
Hello,

Hope this letter finds you good. I felt an immediate need to write to you after visiting your facebook profile via our common friend’s profile. I was looking for a tall, gawky person but saw a different man there – aged with lined face and a pot belly. I was aghast! There was no sign of the boy who would enter the classroom bustling with energy, taking on the world in his languishing stride. 

It seems as if time has flown since I last saw him after our board exams (Kabuliwallah syndrome… remember the story?). We were sixteen then… fresh and so full of excitement to take on the world. I had half expected to find the same boy and initiate a chat with him. But for the first time, I experienced how much the world has changed… how much I have changed! In a flash, I felt being transported from teenage years right into my thirties.

He and I studied together from kindergarten till tenth. Although, we were never best of friends! Infact, I remember the boy was mean to me a number of times and I myself was not a model of good behaviour but we were comfortable around each other. I also visited other classmates via your profile but everyone has changed. Most of us have put on weight, have moved to different places, undergone varied experiences. Life truly has taken a toll on us.

I tried hard to find some semblance, something of the past in your picture but …I gave up.  You looked comfortable around your family…a typical man of the world who goes to work in the morning, returns home tired and waits for dinner to be served at night. Your wife is beautiful and kids are cute. One of them resembles you. I am glad life has been good to you. But again, you are so unlike him. He was fidgety and non-conformist. You are a stereotype family man!

He was ambitious, boisterous and haughty but you seem to avoid confrontations. He questioned everything and you seem to accept everything. I like that you are happy and settled but I liked him better – my happy go lucky classmate who would make the class laugh with his pranks. He was non predictable and creative, you are adjusting with what life has offered you. Good for you!

 I smile thinking that once upon a time,  my classmates were an intrinsic part of my world. I had enjoyed their encouragement and would take any discouragement to heart. Many a times, they were harsh and judgemental.

My classmates held the power to make or break me. I didn’t know then that all this would change so drastically. And that I would no longer have to compete with or conform to anyone’s notions. It felt good when I moved on from teenage angst towards maturity but in the process, I took you all for granted. I had never thought I would never find you all ever again…not in the same way. 

I get nostalgic remembering the last parting image of my classmates – excited bunch of boys and girls who loved to chat,  bitch, scream and dream. Where did they all go?

Lately, some of you crept into my memory and reminded me of those sweet-sour school years. Perhaps, wanting to re-live the past encouraged me to visit your FB page.  I wanted to meet you all and have a chat online. But I guess…I have lost the connect.

If my letter encourages you to find him – the gawky teenager, somewhere deep within you, then kindly let him know that I am thankful to him for being a part of my childhood. 

May be, my letter would make you  curious and you would want to check back my profile. But I warn you – you will hardly recognise me – a married woman with kids. You would not know what to say to me.

But perhaps if you let that tall boy visit my profile, he might find the quiet girl who loved doodling and reading. They will connect, have great conversation and laugh together like youngsters do. Please find and send him once for I am sure we all miss the innocent, musical laughter of our wonder years! Then, may be we will reconnect again with our past.

Best wishes for everything,

Your former friend

  
Images courtesy Google

The Solitary Reaper sang of Loneliness!

  

Dear Mr William Wordsworth,

If you were alive today, I would present this letter to you in person. It concerns your timeless ballad, “The Solitary Reaper”. I gather that you created this classic wonder while observing a farm girl reaping  in the fields and singing a Gaelic song. 

The poem says that you were not able to decipher the content of her song because of the language but you could feel the ‘melancholic strain’ in the lyrics. 

In the course of your poem, you make guesses regarding her deep melancholy. 
Was she sad for old…far-off…unhappy things? Or was it for battles, familiar matters? Or perhaps for natural sorrow, loss or pain…?

But you overlooked one big reason for her sadness that was so evident – her solitude! In that big corn field, she was intimidated by her job of reaping, overwhelmed by the enveloping solitude, and helpless due to the lack of human companionship.

The highland lass was so alone… doing cutting and reaping, all by herself. I could not help suggesting Sir, that if you would have stopped and not ‘gently passed’ by her, she would have felt better in your company. But I think you have had your reasons.

  
Her melancholic song resonates even today everywhere…because most of us are solitary. We look for friends in the big virtual world but all is artificial there. The touch, feel and presence of family and friends cannot be compensated with messages, jokes and ‘connectivity’. 
In the real world, we are growing private, we have trust issues while making friends and we have embraced isolation rather than staying ‘in touch’ physically. We are afraid of going out in order to save ourselves from hurt. We are trapped trying to ‘touch’ others through mobile screens rather than fingers.

Even if we summon our courage and cry out, very few hear as everyone is looking and listening to their phones.

Alone we are “cutting and binding the grain”, and there is no one to listen to our “melancholy strain”. So guess, our plight is worst than the solitary reaper! She had you to applaud her Sir, we have no one.

If I were to meet you in person, I would urge you to write on “our solitary generation” too. But this time you would know the reason for the ‘melancholic strain’ in our lives. I really and truly wish you were here today to sing of our solitude.

I thank you profusely for this poem and applaud its relevance even in our world.

I beg to remain, Sir, your most humble and obedient admirer.
Images courtesy google

A Short Laughing Message for 2016

  
My Dear,

2015 slipped away like a fine muslin cloth! It is now time to bid Good Bye to the old year and welcome the brand New Year 2016. My first year of blogging has been incredibly delightful, all thanks to You! I have a world of good wishes for You but primarily, I wish You a year full of laughter. 😀

The Sanskrit book ‘Dasarupa’, a treatise on Dramaturgy, lists six types of laughter. They are:

1. Smita – A sweet faint Smile
2. Hasita – A smile slightly revealing tips of the teeth
3. Vihasita – Gentle laugh in which mouth opens a little
4. Upahasita – A little more pronounced laughter with some body movement
5. Apahasita – Booming laughter that brings tears to eyes
6. Atihasita – Doubling with uproarious laughter

I hope and pray that the New Year brings to you abundance of Joy every day – Smita with tea in the morning, Hasita in the breakfast hour, Vihasita during lunch, Upahasita post lunch, Apahasita in the coffee break and Atihasita during dinner time! Laughter, laughter and more laughter….:)

Stay blessed and healthy friends, see you in the New Year!

  
 

A note and gift for Santa Claus from a four year old

  Dear Santa, 

I have been a good boy this year. I am sending you a ring this year to say ‘thank you’.

 I wish for:

1) A spyglass

2) A dinosaur for my little brother Aviraj

Thank you,

Adiraj

  
 
(This is what my four-year-old came up with when I asked him what he wants from Santa Claus this Christmas. He thought about giving first. He said we should give star war ring to Santa Claus, make him happy and also cook food for him. He also thought of giving carrots to Santa’s reindeers on their arrival. He went on to tell me about the gifts he wanted – Spyglass like Jake the pirate. And wished for a dinosaur for his baby brother. 

So, together we put together this special note and gift for Santa Claus and have kept it at a safe place for Him. Hope we make Santa smile this magic season…Ho Ho Ho)

Allergic to E Challenge

I’ve been nominated to take part in the Allergic to ‘E’ Challenge by The Storyteller’s Abode. Thank you very much for the nomination. I couldn’t resist taking part…

Here are the Rules:
1) Write a whole paragraph ( a paragraph sounds easy right?) without any word containing the letter “e” (still easy?)
2) By reading this you are already signed up.

3) Challenge at least five bloggers to do the challenge. They must do it within 24 hours or it is considered as failure.

4) If you fail or pass, suffer in the Page of Lame.

5) If you win, wallow in the Page of Fame.

6) Link to the Allergic to ‘E’ Challenge page.

Please read my entry here: 

A Letter to E

Hi,

It is sad but I will shun you for this post. I am sorry. I know my works can amount to nothing without you but I got to do this. I took up this task and I stand by it. 

You know, I cannot say anything without you. You stand at 2 in your gang of 5 but you stand out.

Truthfully, scribbling any word without you is a trauma. I want you back,Now!

Yours,

Shivangi

My nominations are whomsoever reading this entry. Are you ready for the challenge? 

Last Letter from a Complete Loser

Dear S,

I know you would look at this letter too with disgust. But before you trash it just let me tell you that your father loves you a lot. I know I lost you after your childhood…you were my friend when you were a kid. Then you grew up and distanced yourself from me. You were somewhat right in thinking that I was a childish, idealistic loser. Yes, I have always been that…I regret not giving you adequate backing ever. You always had to struggle in life. I couldn’t even give you a decent education.

The other day, I really felt horrible when one of your friends told me that you are in urgent need of money. I felt helpless and broken! Well, you will think that I am rambling some nonsensical stuff…but be patient with your father.

Something has happened that needs to be confessed here. Please bear with me. When I heard about your financial crisis, I went and bought a lottery ticket on an impulse. You will find the lottery ticket enclosed in the envelope. But there is something else I need to tell you. Try not to be mad at me…

The day the lottery results were supposed to be out, I was very positive about winning. I was planning I would surprise you by gifting all the money. But as I walked towards the store, I witnessed an accident. A young man…about your age..was lying in a pool of blood. It was so shocking! It was as if you were dying…and then I bargained with God. Yes, the same kind of bargain with God…that I have done throughout my life…for which you have always hated me.

I said, “God, I give all my luck to this unfortunate young man. I swear I will not redeem the ticket even if I win it. Just save this young man here,”

I must add that it was stupid of me to bargain like that…but regretfully I did. The young man thankfully revived. I won a huge amount but I just couldn’t redeem the ticket. You see, I have never broken my promises with God!

I know how much you need this money …you don’t have a job right now and you have a family to look after.

So, after a lot of thinking I have thought of breaking my promise with God. I will let you redeem the ticket but I will do penance for it in my own way. It is hard for me to break my promise with God…and I know my God would forgive me as He has forgiven all my sins…but I will be restless in my heart if I don’t pay for breaking my vow.

Your mother is no longer with us but I think she would approve whatever I am going to do. Do take care of your brother A as you have always done…he must have received my last letter to him by now.

You will no longer find me on my last address..but you will find some memories, some belongings and love there. One last request..try not to tell my grand children that I was a loser!

May god bless you all!
With love,
Dad