Over the fence

“Aunty, please throw our ball back.” A kid requested me while I was on my morning walk.

I looked in that direction and saw three kids of almost same age peeping through the fence covered with climbers.

“Do you have any idea where it is?” I asked.

“Behind the cars in the parking!” “In the bushes near building pillars!” “In the grass growing adjacent to the fence!” Three kids pointed in three different directions. For the next fifteen minutes, I was searching the ball as per their directions but all in vain.

“Where did you saw the ball last time?” I inquired.

“There!” A kid stretched his hand towards the top of the fence.

“So there it is!” I pointed towards the ball as it was struck in the climbers and didn’t fall on the other side of fence.

While passing from that area during my daily walks, I had near about 15 times searched the ball and threw it back. It was a little effort from my side to encourage children to play outdoors and to be away from mobile /video games addiction.

Black Lotus App – An app that will change your life forever!

“Di, Black Lotus App for guided meditation is wonderful. I did meditation and chanting on Black Lotus and it was so reliving. Yesterday, I was having migraine because of some workload at office or because of extreme weather or both. Instead of taking medicines, I did guided breathing meditation on Black Lotus. And you won’t believe di, my pain just vanished without any medicine or massage. It felt so good.” My cousin told me. “I was introduced to this app by you. This App changed my life. I thank you, di from the bottom of my heart.”

“The guided meditations are in Om Swamiji’s voice, a mystic from the Himalayas. Many people including me find it very easy to meditate on Om Swamiji’s magical voice.” I explained her.

“Whenever I went in my mother’s room, I always found her busy in chanting mantras or hearing discourses by Om Swamiji on the Black Lotus App as at this age she couldn’t read much and moreover she was confined to her room because of her health related issues.”

“You can also even ask a question to Om Swamiji and can read the answers of the questions asked by others in Swaminar option.”

“That's great!”

“It is like a video game where there are different levels and you have to cross them to WIN. The Black Lotus has 10 levels and each level has ten sublevels. Select the option home, then the Path, then Achievements and you can check your progress in meditation, chanting, kindness, mindfulness, honesty, sincerity, self-discipline, reading books, world peace meditation sessions and some task related to Black Lotus App.”

“Oh! That sounds amazing di! At which level you are?”

“I have earned the badge ‘Explorer’ which means I have crossed two levels. Further my five sub levels have been crossed.”

“Now, you are close to win the next badge.”

“The next badge is Seeker and I am working hard to win it.”

“Oh! I am quite sure di, you will win all the ten levels.”

“One more interesting feature Black Lotus App have that you can do RAK, Radom Act of Kindness like planting a sapling, leaving a surprise tip, feeding birds, caring a stray animal, helping a family member, forgiving someone, making someone smile, helping a colleague, carpooling, donating items, educating a child etc. You can also share your story about an incident where you have done a RAK or a RAK done to you. And you can read the inspiring and motivating stories shared by others.”

“So, it is radiating positivity!”  

My extraordinary father

I was damn scared.

I was counting currency notes from the counting machine. Everything was moving fine. When all of a sudden in a bundle of notes it started taking two notes together and began tearing them. The speed of machine was so fast that before I could realise what was happening and I could switch off the machine, it had already torn 64 notes of 1000 denomination. Some were shredded so badly that I could not recognise which piece was of which note. All I could see in front of me was an amber-red colour ocean of bits. My heart sank.

It was a big, rather very big mistake. My boss, my father was definitely going to scold me heavily for this mistake. Usually he scold me even for making small typing mistakes of full stop and comma. And, now this is BLUNDER! I meekly get up from my seat and went in his room. I narrated the whole incident and waited for being chastised. But  was surprised when he only said, “Collect all the papers carefully and bring them to me.” He forgave me and didn’t scold me.

I did as told. For the next ten days, he pasted and joined the note pieces together just like solving a zigsaw puzzle. He pasted them with such perfection that no one could tell from where that note was torn as not a single joint was visible.

Now, he is no more. But I always wonder why he scolded me so much on pretty things and didn’t scold me for such a big mistake? May be because he was an extraordinary father! :)

Thief! THIEF!!

“Madam, I want to see the CCTV footage as somebody stole my scooty from the parking space of your premises.” Mr. ‘Z’ hurriedly and worriedly told me on the phone.

“Let me talk to the concerned person. I call back you in two minutes.” I put the balm on his wound with my calm voice.

After two minutes, I called him and told, “The concerned person is out of the town and other staff members have left the office as it is 6:15pm. The concerned person will reach the premises tomorrow sharp at 9:30am and will show you the whole coverage from different angles. Please bring your pen drive if you want to save the clippings of the scooty thief.”

“An unknown scooty is parked here, in front of the premises. Whose is it?” He said with a surprise and put the phone down.

After thirty minutes, he called back and elatedly told me, “Madam, I found my scooty.”

“Where?” I asked with a surprise.

“In a nearby area, in front of a house. Somebody took my scooty, leaving his behind.”

“Somebody took it mistakenly or consciously?”

“He didn’t even know that he had made a mistake as he was busy in studying in his room.”

“Were the colour of two vehicles same?”

“Mine was black in colour and his steel grey.”

“The scooty thief was absent minded or colour blind or studious guy?.” I thought.

Thorns on the road

An elderly woman who was traipsing with the help of a stick stopped in the middle of the road; bend down very slowly, maintaining the balance of her fragile body, picked up something. I observed her while on my evening walk. On coming closer to her, I noticed she was holding a dry branch of bougainvillea with lots of long and sharp thorns on it. She threw it in a nearby dustbin.

In my heart, I admired her for picking up thorns, which was a tedious job for her at this age, and for throwing them so that others are not hurt.

Facebook Friends

“I have 5000 friends on Facebook. If I have to add a new friend then I have to unfriend someone then only Facebook allows me to make a new friend.” A poet told me. “My Facebook friends include models, singers, dancers, painters, artists, homemakers, teachers, politicians, bureaucrats, etc. How many friends do you have?”

“Less than 200! Only my relatives and close friends are on Facebook.” I told him.

“Wherever I go, whatever I do, whomever I meet I keep posting on my Facebook. My creations, my lines, my poems all I share on Facebook. You can also share your writings on Facebook and make more friends.”

“For that I have my blog.”

“Today I met you, I will share our photo on Facebook with a few lines about you! Why don’t you share my photo and my poems on your timeline.” He started typing on his mobile with a very fast pace. I must say that I couldn’t type that fast even on my laptop. While he was busy with his mobile, I noticed his dark circled sunken eyes behind thick glasses and thought, “Apne aankein to kharab ker he rakhe hain, mere aur kharab karvayega!” :D

A blind date with endangered species

Many travel to explore, some to rid boredom and a few to learn. But I travel for Self Exploration. My bucket list always consists of places of pilgrimages like Rishikesh, Haridwar, Uttarkashi, Vrindavan, Puri, Rameshwaram etc. My travel inspiration is always to meditate, to do yoga and to realise Self. I am quite open-minded person therefore this time I decided to go on a blind date, without planning, going to a place that is unknown, to have rewarding and unforgettable experiences. #TheBlindList can be exploring the unknown places in the world, #SayYesToTheWorld where nobody has reached before, experiencing nature to have enriching moments and spine thrilling adventures.

I went alone in hills covered with forests with my camera, telescope and a water bottle. Leaving the main road, I started walking on the steep rocks. Reaching a considerable height, upon a flat rock I adjusted my telescope for some bird watching. I was trying to focus on a pied wagtail but it was focused on sociable lapwing. My poor focusing capability and my good luck to spot it. I watched the movements of this critically endangered species for near about two minutes! Then a pair of saras crane came and started feeding upon weeds. I watched this spectacular event of a vulnerable species with my naked eyes. I was distracted by a hissing sound behind me. As I was alone I was extra careful. I turned around and spotted a king cobra coming out of bushes. I froze not out of fear but out of precaution that I become untraceable for snake. It could recognise only vibrations on ground made by feet. Another king cobra appeared. My good luck a pair of vulnerable species and my bad luck I have nothing to protect myself from these two venomous snakes. To my relief, they rolled down the rocks. On reaching ground, they coiled around each other. One of them lifted its head from the ground. The other coiled around the other. One over the other, in the air, on the ground, in the grass and on the rock; together they were everywhere. They were dancing or fighting, kissing each other or attacking each other whatever they were doing but I couldn’t kept my eyes off them. From nowhere a green peafowl came, grabbed another snake and flew away. The two stopped fighting and went away in two different directions because of fear or because of sudden disappearance of the reason of their fight!   

Before green peafowl (endangered species) could find a strong branch to adjust itself, a leopard attacked it. To protect itself from sudden attack, it released its grip. The leopard, a vulnerable species put its claws on its fleshy body. The bird tried to fly. They both rolled in air and fell on the nearby bushes. The sloth bear, a vulnerable species made a loud noise when its sleep got disturbed. Moreover, it slapped leopard that in haste lost its control over its prey. The family of smooth coated otters (vulnerable species) attacked the snake that fell nearby. After finishing their meal, the adults were giving swimming lessons to the young ones in the nearby wetland. An adult otter stood on its two hind legs, looked towards me and winked. It dived back in water. I was so much mesmerised that I forgot to shot such interesting incidents.

Meanwhile the sun moved down. I started my journey back. I felt a sticky thing on my leg. An Indian pangolin (endangered species) was licking with its long, very long tongue! I took out my camera to make a video but my conscience stopped me because after sharing it on social media, many would want to kill it for its beautiful shiny skin. I wanted to save it from being killed so I put camera back in my bag. I captured the movement and activity of that animal in my memories forever. Let us live and let them live!