The Terminal

The time had arrived. She was there too among the huge gathering of people. The friends surrounding him were more in number than his family for he was a popular & lovable person amongst them. But for her, he meant something more than that. Everybody knew who she was, but not as much as he did. They had been together only for a month, but still it seemed as if they had spent their entire life together. But all that was insignificant now. What was more important was that, he was leaving her, why only her, he was leaving a whole bunch of his loved ones.
There were tears welling up in her eyes, but then he didn't want to see tears, not now. Mustering up the last of the resolute courage that was left within her, she put up a good battle against her own self. But then his eyes kept going back to her. She simply wanted to hug him tight and say that she would always be there for him. No! She couldn't do that. She got her answer from him soon. A smile and a bat of the eyelid, that said things more than words could have explained. That was all that he could manage and that was all she needed.
The moment had passed, the time had finally arrived........ the electronic voice on the loudspeaker cried out>>>
"All the passengers to the flight ***** are requested to proceed to the security check"
Final handshakes, hi-fives, pats on the back, hugs and soppy teary kisses and a final look at his sweetheart, he pushed his trolley and moved towards his new destination. A place totally new to him, a place void of his family, friends and of course his lovely sweetheart. Last minute handshakes were exchanged and she kept looking till he reached the point of no visibility.
Some wise soul once said - Time, tide and International flights wait for none. How true !

Beyond the gates

From atop the bed, little Anandita asked her mother "Amma, do I really have to go?"
"Anu, it'll be great, trust me! You'll love your new school" said her mother as she parted her little one's hair and tied a ponytail on either side.
As she picked up the crisply ironed new grey and black pinafore and matching grey sock, Anandita remarked again, "Amma, will you come to pick me up in the evening?"
"Sure darling, I'll be there at the gates at 2 sharp" said the mother quickly stuffing chutney coated idlis into the constantly talking mouth.
With her water bottle sling on one side and a new bag hoisted firmly on her shoulders, Anandita said her prayers and before she could open her eyes, her father was carrying her to the car.
At the school gates, Anandita couldn't contain her tears.
"Big girls don't cry" reminded her mother.
Pulling her crutch together, little Anandita walked through the gates to her "School for the Disabled"

Mad mad math

This might sound ridiculous, but my hatred for Mathematics has forced me to key in this. I have no story to recite that dates back to my kindergarten class where I was sitting on a little blue chair wailing away while my teacher was trying to teach numbers!
The basic idea is that I loathe the subject with such a magnanimous despise that makes the situation worse! I find it hard to develop a liking towards it despite several sincere attempts. Today, I'm forced to learn this absolutely nerve raking concept of Laplace Transformations for my mid-terms that begin this Monday! I know this attitude won't help me with the concepts getting tougher with every semester, but I console myself with the fact that, I've survived all these years in its presence and another year won't do much harm !
Hopefully !

Unsung Glories

7 year old Nandana walked into her contemporary duplex house with a beatific smile on her face. The reason for the big grin was clenched tightly in her little fist. A cup testifying her first place in the singing competition held in her school. She walked in screaming- "Amma, ammaaaa, where are you?" Probably amma hadn't returned from office yet. She ran to the telephone and dialed the ten digit cell phone number. "The person you are trying to call is currently not reachable" repeated the electronic voice. Nandana called up her father's office next - "Daddy, I won the first prize today" she exclaimed excitedly
"That's good darling, now I'm a little busy, we'll talk later baby"
She hung up with a long sigh took the cup upstairs to her disabled grandmother's room. Nandana never liked the room. It smelt of dettol and had the most dull and vapid interiors unlike the rest of the house.
But the moment Nandana walked in, her grandmother stretched her arms out and said - " I knew you'd win Nandu, I'm so proud of you my angel ! Will you sing once again for your grandmother?"
And the smile that was swept off from Nandana's face a few minutes back, lit up the entire room as she sang for her grandmother.

To my dear kith & kin

The moment I tell people that I'm the only daughter to my parents,
And the moment I add on that I'm the only girl child in my whole family,
And next I say, I'm the youngest of the lot,
The immediate response is " Oh! A pampered girl !"
But I definitely don't think so.
Family.. Relatives..Cousins.. I've longed for these. Not that I'm orphaned.
I've grown the first 11 years of my life away from relatives, just with my parents and paternal grandparents. I do remember occasional visits by relatives, but still I never got to know anyone of them well. The day we landed in Chennai 7 years back, I was totally new to southern customs, traditions, relatives and even the language.
Nothing helped, I had no friends, for I was new to the city. No siblings to share things or thoughts with. I used to long for a brotherly love and affection.
But then, things changed. The secluded girl grew out of her cocoon. She is now totally different to what she had been.
In case any of my cousins are reading this,
"Thanks a lot for all the warmth you've shown. I love all you guys. You mean the world to me."

So much to do, so less time

After a series of poems/fiction here, I've started feeling that I'm losing that personal touch with my blog. Of course the stories will be interjected at regular intervals. I've seem to have lost continuity with the string of events happening around me.College life can't get more boring ! The 5 working days of the week seem to pass at the slowest pace ever possible. I seem to be catching up on my sleep at college and the rate at which my activities post-college-hours are increasing, I'd probably be an insomniac at the end of this semester ! And yes, my cousin gave birth to a handsome baby boy a few hours back. I can't wait to see him. But I'll have to wait.
I want to involve myself in so many activities that interest me, but academics take the major share of my time and leave me void of any time to spend in activities of my choice. Whoever said college life is fun!
I wish my semester gets over soon, I have a lot of things planned for the vacations ! Trepidation grabs me too fast so I'll just have to patiently hang in here and keep a cool head.
The countdown begins. Finally !