A blessing in disguise

I had always found this particular habit of my little sister extremely irritating.

Just about when we were about to reach our home, right at the top of the steep hill and open the gate, she would immediately run back down the hill, to the playground there. I would then have to go back, hold her hand, and almost drag her back all the way up.

Little did I realize that she was helping me with my endurance skills and deep breathing techniques which would prove invaluable when I became a world class marathoner later on in life 😀

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This post has been written for the Write Tribe 100 Words on a Saturday prompt where the post had to be about the picture at the top of this post.

Looking back at New Year celebrations

From the time since I can remember, New Years meant only one thing to me, the fact that Christmas Vacations at school were almost over and that I would have to go back to school, and more importantly I was close enough to my birthday that I would already start feeling a year older.

Now, while I was younger, and I mean till the time I was around 10 yrs old, I used to look forward to my birthdays quite a bit as they meant that one day of the year when I could do almost anything and get away with it without fear of any retribution. And the added bonus was that my parents would almost surely buy me a gift which I would figure out the best way to put to use to any which way. All these years I used to look forward to New Years’ eve as they got me that much more closer to gifts.

The next ten years, from when I was 11 till I was 20 were also fun years, when it came to New Years’ eves and my birthdays. These were years when the gifts became less important when compared to the company of friends, family, cousins, etc on New Years’ eve. And given that none of these folks smoked or drank meant that we had quite fun times on these days, sitting around, playing indoor games, catching some idiotic programs on TV, generally having a good time. And the fact that we were all teenagers meant that we didn’t have any care in the world, and that no topic under the sun was taboo. We were bold, fearless, ready to take on the world and weren’t afraid of anything.

20 was the age when I started working, and this marked a significant change in my personality. From this point onwards, most holidays started being treated as stress-busters from a hectic work schedule. Weekends, New Years eves, all these just became an excuse to take some time off from work, grab a beer and vent our frustrations out. Given that I had quite a few friends at the workplace, most of these sessions would invariably involve bitching about the supervisors, catching up on the latest workplace gossip and rumors, and looking back now involved quite a bit of ‘bad blood’ about colleagues who we didn’t particularly like. The older me today looks back at those days and cringes with shame at the total waste of time, energy, creativity and effort in such meaningless weekends and conversations. But then I guess these were also part of the journey called ‘growing up’ which all of us have to inevitably undertake in our lives at some point of time.

I got married when I was 27 and this yet again marked a huge change in my personality. This made me more responsible as a person and directly affected the way New Years’ eve was celebrated as well. The last few years have all been at home, silently heralding in the New Year with family (and at times friends as well). These are more modest, sedate, silent affairs where it is just a bunch of friends sitting around, having dinner, having good conversations, musing about the year(s) gone by and sharing our hopes and fears about the year(s) to come. I guess as good wine and whiskey mature over the years, my personality too has undergone similar changes as time passed by.

While I am not a big fan of retrospectives where I try and analyze all that I have learnt in the year gone by, I always ensure that the lessons I have learnt stay with me. While I do appreciate the fact that most of us use the New Year more as a new beginning, I personally would rather use each and every day of my life as a new beginning where I put the lessons I have learnt to good use. And 2014 is going to be no different.

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This post has been written for the Write Tribe Wednesday prompt –New Year.

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All images in this post have been sourced from Google Image search.

Karna – The last few moments

Courtesy : mythindia

After having lived a life in which he was ridiculed for being a charioteer’s son, in which he had to battle his own brothers due to his loyalty and friendship with Duryodhana, the end was finally drawing near for Karna.

As he lay there on the battlefield fatally wounded by Arjuna’s anjalika astra, Karna could recollect Kunti’s last visit to him. That was the only time that she had even visited him in all these years.

And then, the sun streamed through. His father, Surya, the Sun God had arrived to take him away from this mortal world.

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This post has been written for the 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups – Week # 111 challenge where the post had to include the phrase “the sun streamed through”.

 

Bhima and the Saugandhika flowers

Image courtesy: deviantart.com

Right from a very young age Bhima had always been very proud of his physical prowess. So much so that his pride bordered on arrogance due to the fact that but for Duryodhana, nobody else in this world could pretty much match up to his physical strength.

One fine day when the Pandavas were in exile, Draupadi was enchanted by the sweet soulful fragrance of a flower. When she asked Bhima about the smell, he told her that it was of the Saugandhika flower. She immediately insisted that he get her some of these flowers so that she could adorn herself with them.

As he was walking in the forest searching for the source of these flowers, he thought he heard someone call out his name in a low tone. At first he dismissed it believing it to be a figment of his imagination. However, he heard it again. This time he was alone in the middle of an empty field, but was certain that he heard someone whispering his name.

Going closer to the source of the sound, he happened to be moving along a very narrow path on which only one person could walk at a time. He then suddenly noticed that his way was blocked by an old monkey which was sleeping right in the middle of the path.

Bhima then asked the monkey to move aside and make way for him. When the monkey did not even respond to him, he was enraged and ordered it to make way for him. To his order, the monkey replied “I am too old and weak to move. Push my tail aside and make way for yourself.”

By now Bhima did not even have the patience to argue with this monkey who was wasting his time. He bent down with the intention of pushing the monkey’s tail aside and continue on his quest of finding the flowers. But he could not move the monkey’s tail even an inch. Despite his best efforts, he could not even lift the tail, let alone move it aside. He then realized that this was no ordinary monkey and he then asked “You sir, are no ordinary monkey. Please tell me who you are.”

When Bhima asked this question, the monkey mysteriously smiled and then revealed his true form. He was none other than Hanuman, the elder son of Vayu and therefore a brother of Bhima who was also the son of the Wind God. “I am Hanuman, your brother. I have come to warn you that the path that you and your brothers have chosen is perilous and fraught with dangers.”

Bhima unsuccessfully trying to lift the monkey’s tail

Hanuman then proceeded to show Bhima where the Saugandhika flowers would be found and then before bidding farewell embraced his brother. The purpose of this embrace was two-fold. While it increased Bhima’s already formidable strength and physical prowess, the second and more important purpose of the same was to help Bhima shed his ego so that his modesty and humility would add even more prowess to his already powerful personality.

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This post has been written for Today’s Author Write Now Prompt for Nov 1, 2013 where the post had to include the phrase he was alone in the middle of an empty field, but was certain that he heard someone whispering his name which is the reason why this phrase has been specifically highlighted in the post.

God walks back into the pavilion

During  the course of his 20 yr old cricketing career, he had seen enough stadiums, played in front of enough crowds, amassed a crazy amount of runs, won many Man-of-the-match awards, but there was one thing that he had never managed to do.

He had never managed to perform so badly as to get the crowd to boo him off a cricketing field.

And that is the reason that he is called the “God” of cricket.

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This post is my tribute to Sachin Tendulkar [Link to Wikipedia] who retires from cricket in a few days from now. Here’s tipping my hat to probably the best cricketer that my generation has had the pleasure and privilege of watching and enjoying.

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This post has been written for the Trifecta Week 101 writing challenge where the post has to include the following definition of boo : to show dislike or disapproval of someone or something by shouting boo