Overcoming a Hill

It was one of those Sunday long-runs that I do to detox the calories force-fed during the week. Starting from the residence, the route circumscribes the entire settlement in the division area. The most difficult being the last 300 m of homecoming as the residence sits on top of a hillock. That steep incline always debilitated me.

And ergo, I always stopped midway. Today was different. Whenever I almost gave up, someone showed up from the opposite direction. Smiled. And I just didn't want to be remembered for giving up. For the first time, I survived the whole climb. Looking down from there, I pondered, sometimes we need these small nudges to make it through. To achieve an ambition. To fulfill a promise. To complete a target. To overcome a hill!

But what does he want?

At the end of the counselling workshop today, a man walked up to me with a little hesitation shrouding his face. He had been a patient listener all along sitting vigilantly on the seldom occupied front seats. He had waited till the end, for others to disperse, deliberately. "Sir, I want my son to top UPSC, what shall I do?", he questioned.

In that ephemeral moment, when I kept looking at him, I remembered the zillion aspirants I had met in Delhi and elsewhere who were preparing for UPSC to fulfill the aspiration of 'their' parents. What a pity. So much of slogging for something you don't desire and that too in vain. "But tell me, what does he want?", is all I could manage. Silence, is what he could manage. Sigh

The idea of Science

I remember back then in those school days, we had a group for all the Science Lovers (fancy cover up for the Nerd-squad) and we all wanted to be a Scientist. No one had a damn clue what it meant and what they did, but it was a cool thing to say. Today all those metamorphosis moments came flashing back.

"There is this wonderful scientist from BARC who every year takes a 2-month vacation and during that goes to schools and volunteers to interact with students and attempts to make them all fall in love with the idea of science. He took a session here too last week" said Principal of KV Tura. What a delightful gesture, if only people from all walks of life could do the same for our schools. Just imagine the possibilities it would open. More power to such fabulous souls!

A smile will do

There is something electrifying about flowers, isn't there? The pallet of colors is as rejuvenating as a splash of water from a gushing stream. The redolence is as enticing as nectar is to bees. The patterns as jovial as a beaming six year old. But all this holds water only in a garden. While it still lives and breathes.

Whenever someone presents a bouquet of flowers wrapped up in dazzling polythene material, I get saddened. Why to waste these astounding creations of nature to honor someone? Why to deprive a garden of its conjuration? If all you desire is to show a mark of respect, a genuine expanse of words will do, a passable gesture will do, or simply, a smile will do.