The Milk Man and The Milk Thief

“Kaun sa mujhe Taj Mahal banana hai! “-This was one of the lines he used to say when any of us ask him to prepare the bill. He was none other than our Milk Man who had not taken any payment from us for 1, 2,3,.......nah, but for last 12 months to be precise. It seemed he was in no hurry to collect the payment until that day when it had to come to an end by an unknown and unseen stranger. In short, this stranger was The Thief (“Chor” sounds better).
So here the story continues:
Whenever you stay in a shared apartment with your friends, there would be one friend cum roomie who would be taking all the responsibilities of paying the bills on time and on the contrary, there would be also one amongst them who would be least concerned about the same. Well, not to divert the topic- the bill for the milk was the only one which was remaining pending for almost a year and it was difficult to catch up with this Milk Man, as his working time coincided with our sleeping time in between the snoozes of the alarm clock. Moreover, none of us were so great to wake up and collect the milk at 6:00 in the morning. So to make our life easy, he used to put the milk packet in the bag that was hung in our door grill which we collected after finishing our slumber. It continued like this till that day when the Milk packets started vanishing from the bag and we could not tolerate this nuisance anymore. We had even planned to catch the thief off-guard but that also failed as none of us were ready to keep an eye on him by waking up so early. There was an instance, when we had kept spoiled milk in the bag to see what happens and that also got stolen but just for a day, as the next day the thief returned the spoiled milk. Though the Thief’s identity could not get revealed but the incident gave us enough reason to ask the Milkman to send us the bill without any procrastination.
Next Day:
The bill finally arrived which read- Rupees Fifteen Thousand Only. Rest is Finance!

A poem dedicated to my Little Sister!

From the day you were born
I think we have something in common
That has made our bond stronger.

From watching cartoons, to making drawings together
That’s how we grew up by understanding each other.

Do you remember something called “wawee”?
Which used to be code language between you and me
Where every words end with A or E.
There were no days when we had a fight

And that used to make all things between us cool and light.
If I was the open book then you were the reader,
Though sometimes it used to make you sleepy sooner or later.

If I am the flower
Then you are the water to shower
So that I don’t turn pale
When I am sad or in pain.

May you have infinite reasons to cheer
So that I will be convinced that somebody is answering my prayer

Wish you lots of smiles
And a successful journey of unending miles.

The Trip

When everybody in the house start telling you about settling down by using the word starting with M and ending with E, and you sit down in one corner and think about something else like to go on a break or at least out of the room to avoid the conversation. Then you realise telepathy works when you receive a message from one of your friends and you reply with a smile by saying –Yes. Then everybody stares at you with a hope and before they misinterpret your “Yes”, you clarify them by saying “I am going on a trip with Friends” and you leave the room with their “wish-she-says-yes-to-M.....e-that-promptly” look on their faces.
About the Trip:
It was more of exploring different areas of Kuala Lumpur (Malyasia) by going local than as a tourist. Some moments were humorously tragic specially the one in Casino and last moment planning, booking and cancelling of going to an island. It was overall a fun filled trip in spite of four friends having 4 different tastes (Heritage,, Hills, Adventure, Food) regarding visiting places.

Happy Mother's Day!

When certain things make us look “cool” as per our friends, the same thing might look like a fool to her be it like wearing a dress, having a hairdo, or the way we carry certain things. If we get injured or fall sick , the first few moments would be surrounded with nagging from her containing list of all the “Dos” which we don’t do and “Don’ts” which we do and then it would be followed by her infinite compassion and care. She may not be the best cook in the world but the stomach does not feel satisfied without eating her cooked food. She may be a critic in front of us but she never stops to praise us behind our back.
When we don’t take food, she feels hungry; when we cry, she feels the pain; when we are happy, she is the happiest. Dedicated to all the “Maa” in the world.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

With Kapil Sharma's fiasco being in the news currently, it teaches us few corporate HR lessons:
1.Mid-Air fight between Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover:
Respect is more important to an employee than his/her salary. No matter you pay him/her well but then if you can’t respect your employee, then you can’t retain him/her for a long time and anytime he/she may leave the company.

2.Chandan Prabhakar and Ali Asgar quitting the show:
If a well performing and influential employee leaves the company then there are high chances of others following him.
3.Being one of the top shows in the Country and the recent dip in the TRPs:
If a company has reached to a top position, it is not due to one individual but team effort.
4.Speculation of not renewing the show contract by the Channel:
If the employees are not happy, the company may not sustain for a long time…..
Dedicated to all the Corporate out there.

“Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim…..”

“Naina barse rimjhim rimjhim…..”
When you stumble upon a song from the 1960s and it enchants you in such a way that you feel like listening to it more than once, followed by watching the whole movie.
"Lag ja gale....." is equally captivating!

The Moon!

When your Sunday goes like a Monday, doing all office work and then when it gets completed in the mid of the night, you open the window and see this.... What a treat to the eyes and the mind!
The Moon- single yet so romantic....

The Palmist!

Once when I was taking a walk, I came across a person sitting under a tree with few books by his side and a board was hanging in one of the branches with a picture of the palm mentioning in hindi as - “Janiye Apka Bhavisya” i.e. “Know your future” and then I realised this person is a Palmist. I got the curiosity to know what he has to tell about my future and with full excitement I went near to the tree where he was sitting. But then before I reached there, I stopped and thought -Why not let my future reveal itself? I don’t know what it holds but I don’t want to brood over something which has not happened to me yet. Moreover, life would be so boring to know everything before in hand. Isn’t it? And then I changed my way and started walking back.
#CityDiary #Thoughts

A Boy with Dreams!

I was waiting for my Train to come and then there was an announcement that the Train is running half an hour late. Without any choice my waiting time became longer and I took a seat on a bench in the platform. Sitting there and after giving a brief browse to here and there, I became lost in my thoughts. Before I could think more, I was interrupted by a voice asking me for the time. I realised that the voice is coming from a person sitting next to me, a young boy, shabbily dressed, must not be more than 18 years of age. After I told him the time, I got the curiosity to know about him so I started the conversation and found out that his name is Maynak and he paints houses and buildings in different locations of Odisha, along with 5 others in his group and he is the youngest among them. Now I wanted to know about his family so that I can find more to the reason of working at this tender age. I came to know that due to his father’s ill health, he had to leave his studies so that he can work and earn for his family. But something that caught my attention was that when he proudly continued –“what if I could not complete my studies , I have my younger sister and brother and will never let anything to be an obstacle in their education. May be when I would earn enough, I shall complete my remaining education, start a company and become big. “. To this I replied with a smile that -Your thoughts are already big , and wished that his thoughts would come into action someday. With this note, the conversation came to an end along with my waiting time and bid a good bye to him as I boarded the Train.

The Girl !

Once upon a time in 1940s :
When she was in her school, she used to top in all the subjects and that made her dare to dream of pursuing higher studies like her Uncles who then ,one was studying Barrister in London and another one was a successful Doctor. They were very much supportive regarding her dreams and one day insisted her father to let her go to the city and study further. By looking at the enthusiasm of his own brothers, he agreed to it but the acceptance was short lived when other relatives started making him rethink on his decision with the four destructive words –“What People would say?” and ending it with that it will be difficult to find a suitable groom for a well educated girl. This point was enough to change his mind whereas in the other room of the house, the girl had already taken out her jewellery and was preparing to enter to a city life. While India was preparing herself for freedom, she was preparing herself to enjoy the freedom of pursuing her dream. She was happy that finally she will study and become something in her life as per her choice, but then that happiness was short lived when her father took the decision to not to let her go and get her married instead.

70 Years later......
She is my Grandmother now. She is 88 years old but still then that has not deterred her from holding a book and read the lines with her round specs. She still gives a sigh while recalling those memories but feels happy and relieved when she sees women in the present generation, progressing well in their personal and professional life. She has a piece of advice for all-Don't underestimate yourself because you are a woman, respect and love yourself before you expect others to respect and love you.
Dedicated to all the women out there. HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY!!!

P.S. It has always made me wonder where she would have been today had her father let her go to the city that day.