Saturday, 25 March 2017

...

It was the month of July when the sun becomes unsparing. The heat reaches its peak, sapping energy of the innocuous creatures. Myra had come early from college that day and was expecting to be asked what she was expected to do!

“Myra, don’t welcome a beating for yourself and look sharp to get the reports.”  Myra’s mom was in no mood to accept any excuses. But, for the girl, getting up from the couch came with reluctance, given she was enjoying the TV remote in her hands in her brother’s absence.

Muttering under her breath, the 18-year old, hurried from the house and reached the lab to collect the reports. She galloped out of the not so handsome building with the envelope tucked under her arm. As she crossed  two blocks, all of a sudden, a street light pole fell down beside her and she was saved by the skin of her teeth. Amid the panic-stricken birds and perplexed bystanders, there she was, white as ghost. Irrespective of the loo, her nerves got cold and her heart was thumping at the speed of a bullet train. Myra's eyes were opened wide, jaw half sunk, fists clenched tightly, and goosebumps exploded over her skin. She hallucinated as if someone had shackled her legs. The girl could hear the hubbub of people who had swarmed around her. The excruciating shock had robbed her of her senses for a few minutes. Someone from the crowd quaked her and said, “You are saved dear. By the Supreme’s grace you are safe. How lucky! You had a hairline escape.” A gust of wind helped her retrieve her lost senses. she was about to shed tears but sniffed them back.

Feeling wobbly on her knees, she got back home. The TV remote laid on the couch waiting for her to grab it and start pressing the buttons like crazy. But it laid there and there only…

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

When you sacrifice your kulcha in the face of adversity!

Haggling with the rickshaw wallah for a few seconds, we paved the way to the Delhi ridge. But before we could march ahead the aroma of the kulchas tingled our nostrils and the very next moment, we had them packed for the ‘picnic’. But we hadn’t walked even three steps when we realized that the monkeys have an eye on us and our hotly packed bread. Seeking refuge in my satchel, the food was safe. We ascended the steep track. All we could see were trees, monkeys, more trees, squirrels, even more trees and birds…love birds, perched here and there, everywhere!

When we found a vacant bench after an innocuous search of five minutes, I promised to treat myself with the three oranges I had in my bag, then and there. The moment we rested on the bench, a squirrel began frolicking around us. I thought that the pickle in the chholey will satisfy her but she mistook us to be too generous that she called her friends too for the lunch. And lo and behold! The squirrel hopped on the bench when we had had not many morsels of the bread. We got up hurriedly, clutching all our paraphernalia and whisked from the place only to encounter a monkey gawking at us. My first instinct was offering him my food, which I did. So, did my friend. But two kulcha rolls (which we had managed to make in the meantime) didn’t seem to appease him. At the back, we could hear guys making sundry remarks. Fully equipped with his sharp canines and harmful intent, he was in an attacking stance. God bless those boys who scared the animal away with their loud cacophony otherwise I wouldn’t have been writing this so amusingly.

The intuition was deep-rooted that the monkey was still eyeing us and can attack us anytime with his entourage. So, while retreating, we made sure to be tails of a random couple!

P.S.: The ridge in DU’s North Campus is
Green
Beautiful
Lovers’ friendly
BUT
In the face of ADVERSITY,
you might have to sacrifice your kulcha!