THE BENCH.....a short story

She had no umbrella, this beautiful lass. But the rain could hardly damage her sweet countenance. The freshly fallen rain had given the air a sweet lemony, earthy scent and she stood out like a fresh daisy. As she he sat on the bench and keenly awaited the arrival of every bus, she reminisced all his memories.
Her heart skipped a beat every now and then. She was looking eagerly towards the road and the myriad vehicles passing by. She scanned each passenger that got out of the various buses plying through that route.

She looked for that familiar fair face of her beloved with that dark forelock dangling across his broad forehead. How could she ever forget that face. She recalled the promises he made under the moonlight. Those loving eyes full of love , pure tenderness, the eyes that only spoke the truth and nothing else. That musky perfume that he wore, the feel of his heartbeat as she lay close to his chest, all came back to her like it was only yesterday
People told her that he wouldn’t come. Not many come back from war and battle. But deep down inside her sincere heart… she knew, he would.

An elderly gentleman sat next to her. For a few minutes he looked caringly at this oblivious soul staring out at the road with the eagerness of a teenager. Then slowly whispered into her ear “Did he come?”
Without turning back she replied “Not yet”.
“But he’ll be here soon, you’ll see”
The old man only smiled. He had no reply for hope. No one could break the strong faith this girl had in her loved one.
“Its getting dark. How about coming again tomorrow?” He asked.
She looked troubled “but….”
“Don’t worry, you can come back again here tomorrow”, he asserted.
Hesitatingly she stood up and took one final glance at the road.
“Come now dear, we don’t want to be late for dinner do we?” the old guy asked
Slowly he placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her to the nearby van.
Even as they sat inside, she couldn’t stop looking out.

The old man beckoned to the driver, who quickly dropped his cigarette and got in the van. He looked furtively at the puny lady. Then he started the engine and drove away.
“Has she been coming here everyday doctor?” he asked.
“Yes, every day….everyday since the last 14 years”, the old man in the white coat replied.
The driver was unperturbed. He had seen far many of them, all different types. But he couldn’t help but be amazed at this lady and her lost love as he drove to the mental institution.

THE SWINE FLU SCARE

“ACCHOOO”…. I sneezed and apologized to my fellow passengers in the 12: 40 kasara local. They looked at me with utter disdain and in a flash covered their faces with masks, handkerchief and the nearest lady’s duppatta. Feeling like an ostracized whore, I quickly exit at my station and curse that speck of dust that dare enter my nostrils.

What is it with people? The media hits a ‘BREAKING NEWS’ and suddenly people are conscious of the air they breathe. Not minding the fact that we have been breathing Tuberculosis bacilli, chicken pox viruses, second hand cigarette smoke, sulphur dioxide, methane from the neighbourhood tabela, ammonia from the urinals ( or roadside) and God alone knows what for the past decade.

Everywhere people are frantically covering up their noses and mouth with masks which the chemists are gleefully selling. This is the same generation that thinks twice before wearing a condom to prevent AIDS and other STDS.
‘Roche’ the company that markets TAMIFLU must be laughing all the way to the bank already.

The only thing we need to fear is media hype (the very ones that run after tantrik babas and the neighbourhood cat that fell into a drain and calls it BREAKING NEWS)
The media generated mass hysteria is creating fools out of the already fear stricken lot and we are surely to blame.

All you have to do is keep your resistance hig by eating good food , sleeping well and living a carefree life. dont just run to the nearest testing centre because you sneezed and overload the already burdened medical centres.

Ps: There is a 1.8 % chance of dying in a road accident, so please stop crossing the road.
There are high chances of getting complicated malaria and dengue fever, so please sleep in an armored truck.
Also there are high chances of lung cancer due to pollution, so stop breathing.

REMEMBER: THE ONLY THING WE NEED TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF

HAPPY B'DAY MOM

Many many happy returns of the day to mom.

Got her a nice jade buddha statue.







We saw this little guy sitting in a shop a few months ago and she liked it a lot. I happened to have a wierd feeling that day that i should get it for her birthday. Suprisingly that was the last piece inthe store and the owner told me that it was there since a long time. Maybe it was destined to come home to mom.