Parallel

I fly

I sink,

I laugh

I mourn,

I coy

Outgo,

I sleep

Wide awake,

I drive

I halt,

Confident

I wary,

I forget

I remember,

Undecided

Resolved.

Rocks on tracks

Having lived three-quarters of my life in Ambala in the railway colony, I had come to consensus with the crude realities of life. I would pass the railway station daily in order to enter the main town area which housed all the schools, markets, church, temples, tuition centres etc. Initially, I used to cross the tracks on foot and later on the bicycle. Nevertheless, what remained the same, untouched and unchanged, was the state of the people who slept, ate, drank, bathed and lived near the tracks. I would see the faces daily; sane people become insane; children earn money much before I was given pocket money. I saw them convince people to give them money way before I learnt to speak correctly, and then survive with one piece of cloth all round the year when the many I had were insufficient for me. Such was the condition of thousands who flocked the railway station every year. I would pity them, yes, I would. I would sympathise with them, but I knew not how I could empathise. I thought I would do a lot for all the people, who I reckoned did not merit the life they were living, but just did not know how. The possibility seemed bleak. I wondered if life is such. Turmoil would rise within me. Is there no way, I would think. These things would not leave me.

The Mystery of the Missing Shoe

"Jutha Kathi Galeche??"

"Hahaha....""hohoho......" the basement of 52/10 C.R. Park rang with laughter as a small boy tells his vivid story. The story goes - "Raju Kumar Kamat" urf Raju, who shares my last name is my office boy. It so happenned that Raju had to attend a marriage in his wife's village, name: Majorha - in the land of Laloo, Bihar. He buys himself brand new shoes from Delhi in his quest to flaunt his possessions at his in-laws house.

Raju wears the brand new shoes throughout his three day train journey to his native place and later on the big wedding day. Afters days of showcase, Raju gets tired and replaces the shoe with the Indian chappals. (The skin of his feet, "ahh...sigh!")

Fun days were over for Raju. It was time to go back! Raju prepares to leave, bags are packed and blessings taken. He proceeds to the aangan (Veranda).

Raju: "Jutha Kathi Galeche??" (Where is the shoe?)

Relative: "taalab mein toh nahi pekh diya kisine? Mein dekhta hoon." ( has someone thrown it in the lake? let me see.)

The shoe was nowhere to be found. One out of the pair had gone missing!

Missing! In-laws were offering their shoes to Raju. But Raju held his dignity intact. He refused and came back to the city in his Indian chappals with a single shoe in his bag. Days passed and then a month was gone. He called every possible day, from the office phone, to enquire about his shoe.

A man was travelling to Delhi from Bihar (No, it is not Raju). Raju was in Delhi. Some other man travels to Delhi. He too is carrying a single shoe in his bag. He reaches his destination. He digs his hand into the bag and retrieves the lone shoe and hands it over to another person. The person smiles and gladly accepts. Raju Kumar Kamat was a proud owner of his Rs. 350 pair of shoe with a distinct change! Change it was. The sun, the rain and the dogs were a friendly company to the loner - "the shoe" it travelled parts of the village. Didn't possibly make a change in the places it travelled...but in itself...what a change!

I-D

I have humble beginnings, I’m sure of that. Born in a village called Amboori, at a distance of 150 km from Trivandrum in Kerala, I (I’m told) cried my way into the world. My mother was there. My dad took 40 days to find time in this frenzied world of work in order to catch a glimpse of his firstborn. Nameless I was for a few days. One fine day, however and unasked moreover, my name was delivered to me. A two-rupee stamped inland letter, signed by my father, carried my identity in its ink. I never liked my name until I read the Spiderman comic series in school. But now I identify my name as a part of my personality which is way beyond being pleased by sharing a name with a comic book celebrity.