Leisure in class five

Mrs. Sen made the entire yellow house participants recite ‘Leisure’… way back when I was in class five. Her aim was to get somebody from the yellow house to win the annual recitation competition…dint make an inch of difference to me, coz I was in green!
But those 2 lines that were literally hammered into our eardrums still resonate with a similar effect… “What is this life with so full of care, we have no time to stand and stare…”
Natalia recited well. But Siddharth got the prize. Neither really understood the poem or rather they were too young to fit it into the grey scale of their cerebella.
We had all the time in the world to finish our homework, play with our friends and fight with our foes. Yet we managed to wake up fresh the next morning to get ready for the Wednesday drill. The aloo parathas for lunch were just mama’s way of saying….take care, study well through the day and be a good student. We didn’t bother about our hairdos or uniform. All we knew was ‘mama would fix it all’. Papa was perfect with his crisp ironed shirts and polished shoes. So I expected him to do mine as well. Afterall … ‘like father…like daughter’.

2 minutes of the “Jana-Gana- Mana” felt like an hour while 15 mins of the short break was always less. Anil sir’s punishment was always the best…we were almost always challenged to move around the school with tags of being donkeys!! And princi had his ways to mend us. Thick skinned buffaloes we were…..proud and happy when punished during the assembly. East to west was always ‘east-toto- westo’ for our highly accented south Indian geography teacher. Ranvir was always ‘Run-beer’ as Mrs Sen used to call him. What fun!
‘Chaklee’ - meant to be a snack, for us it was some kind of a spiral sling. Hurling it at our angry Ganeshans (aka strict biggies of the school) was just another pass-time. Hops n bats, hopscotch, hide n seek, lock n key, land n water, London statue, catch n cook were some of the games we played. Unit test, terminals and open-house day formed a complete torture-triangle. Even half a mark was a matter to pass or fail! “How could Anisha score more? I’ll beat her next time”….
We fooled around but studied when it was required. My birthday-your birthday- birthday parties-gifts & return gifts, teacher’s day & parent’s day were most thought of. And most awaited holidays for Rakhi, Dahi-handi, and Diwali & Christmas…
Picnics and outings, annual days and sports day were altogether different events towards the end… “Esselworld or national park this time?”…
Gleeful we were and little did we care….
What is this life with so full of care……

Magenta's on my mind

I am at my maternal unc and aunt’s. I definitely know my aunt is fond of pets, but I don’t know what my unc thinks of them. I have been to their place many times, but today it all seems quite different. I feel as if I am entering an unknown place, but a nice peaceful house. Something is new. Is it the new crimson curtain in the hall or is it the bunch of paper flowers kept near the table? Is it the botanical greenery soothing my eyes or is it the new velvety carpet brushing my feet?
I see my cousin. She is more beautiful than I’ve ever known. I think she resembles some celebrity. I just cannot recall. She’s never rude or probably doesn’t know how to ill-talk. But today she seems to be just the opposite. I am still wondering how to converse with her. And then I just start. We are talking about dogs…. (Definitely dogs and not guys for a change). I like labs and she loves golden retrievers. We talk poodles and pinks. But in a minute I see there’s a new creature in their house. A magenta colored lab…..strange. Isn’t it? I have always been scared of dogs…but I adore them too. And now I have just geared up some guts to cuddle this new pet of theirs.
My unc, I learnt, hates to have them home. But for some strange reason, he today is just enjoying with the magenta magic! What’s wrong? All strange things happening today? Suddenly my niece lands in there. What a surprise again. But I see her as a grown up teen when all I know is that she’s just three. And she’s telling me she hates her other cousin….my nephew again.
I just can’t stay here any longer. I realize that this is either real and I badly need to catch up on time or its time I open my eyes to reality (whatever’s real either way!!)

I wanna meet Anu ..who's gonna be traveling to Russia soon. I have Pya's wedding to attend next week in Kerala where I plan to gift a magenta sari. Wishing I can catch a glimpse of the backwaters and the greenery there! I have been thinking of changing my home décor and getting myself a makeover too. And I am thinking of getting a pet. Last week I saw my niece and nephew fight at a family function and I just relived my of my sibling- rivalry- sessions. But all I know now is… its time to get into the daily routine!!

Did I just try and fit the jigsaw of my life in my dream? The characters in my dreams are as real I am. My dreams are always crazy and I do remember most. Quite often it’s a combination of dreams and a permutation of the characters!