This post was published to A soulful note from muted s... at 18:09:18 23/09/2009
Growing up... can be weird..


The older we get, the weirder we become.. Dont agree? Well, hear me out..

"Hey, give me that, its mine!" shrieked little Preeti.
"I shant, I shant ,I shant" , chanted Suraj and ran all around the yard and into the house with preeti right behind him.
"These children, they do drive one insane.." , sighed Preeti's grandfather and put away the newspaper..

"Aunty, if Suraj has finished his homework for the day, can I play with him?", little Preeti asks with eyes as big as saucers.
"I'm afraid not my dear",says aunty,"he really needs to study the whole of this evening as I dont want him to do badly yet again in the test tomorrow".
And out of the corner of her eye Preeti could see little Suraj's curly head behind the door pointing furiously towards the backyard.

And hidden away in the backyard behind bushes, little Preeti is all rebellious."Why does'nt aunty ever let you play with me these days, doesnt she know, you are the only friend I have?"

"I dont know, at times, she shouts at me so loud, i think she hates me too",says little Suraj, digging away hard at the ground with a twig.

"Would she not let me play with you after we get married?", asks little Preeti, the innocence shining in her bright eyes.

"I dont know, she might do that too, if she shouts at me this way all the time." He digs harder, the hole in the ground gets deeper.

"oh, what do we do then? shall we hide out here and live here forever, or better still, shall we go to that park across the road and build a little hut for ourselves hidden behind those thick bushes and never come back here again?" , there's a strange light in little Preeti's eyes.

"I shant go.. Im afraid mum would catch us and be really really angry with me..I think I wont marry you like I said I would. Mum would scream at me again if I did and she wont like you staying with us and all.. I'm going in now. You go home too.", the twig is neatly buried in the hole dug..

*********

Years later...
At a pet shop somewhere in the suburbs of Delhi..

"Preeti???" , says a deep male voice. The voice is that of our little Suraj who has grown into this fine young chap with a cocker spaniel at his side.

"Suraj, look at you!" , exclaims the bespectacled, pretty girl with the huge, shiny labrador."Imagine seeing you here after all these years! "

"Nice dog" , says Suraj, suddenly not knowing what to speak, though, he could still vividly recall every single game they played, every little place they buried their little flowers and every single puddle they splashed about. He hardly noticed her dog."Ever the pretty ,homely girl", he remarks inwardly.

"Thanks", she says and looks away.

So much for conversation after a dozen years between them."oh, but she did look so coy and ladylike, staring down at the dog,she's shy.." , he thinks.

They silently start walking together, their dogs eyeing each other warily. You could almost feel them thinking aloud "Am I gonna be stuck with this silly, snotty dog evermore?? Noooo...woof,woof!!"

"So how is aunty?" , asks Preeti.. Suraj eyes her pretty,petite figure as he answers, "Well, I kind of moved out of the house after college.. Its nothing serious, but you know mum - she always wanted her way in doing things.. I wasnt exactly having a great life under her watchful, overprotective maternal instincts, you see.. Oh, but yeah, i still visit her twice a month". She still looked cute as hell, with her glasses and all, trying to pull the big old dog alongside.

"uh-huh", she says and falls silent. She’s surprised as hell at this piece of update and he can see that."Ever the docile,lovely creature..", he thinks and smiles to himself.

She stops near a chemists and says, " I guess I say Bye here.. I'm, err, waiting for a friend.. It was ,umm , nice meeting you after all these years.."

"Oh, so this is where the handsome boyfriend in the story comes in..", thinks Suraj with a pang, but plays it cool. "oh, of course.. Its been a pleasure Preeti.. a real pleasure..I think I shall take your number or something and call up sometime.." The uncertain look in her eyes as he says this makes him wild, desperate almost..he goes," Look, you remember that game we used to play all the time - you and me,behind those bushes in the park? I mean, wasnt it fun,you and me marrie...."

His words are drowned in the loud arrival of someone.. Someone who is just a tall flash of reds and maroons, jingling bangles and gay trinkets, and a trail of flowery scent , before his shocked eyes..

"Suraj, meet Nazia, my friend, and Nazia, this is Suraj".. Suraj gives a weak smile not knowing whether to appear relieved or be concerned all the more..
Nazia flashes him her lovely smile and links arms with Preeti. "Arent we a bit late peeetiii...." ,she cooes.
And Preeti just looks at Suraj and goes, "See ya!".

And the once "Little Suraj" watches the pair walk on ahead, arms linked and is one confused guy. He tries not to think like a pervert and mumbles ,"I shall get her number the next time I see her and have a proper chat with her, and yeah, and get to know her.. umm.. her friend a bit too.." and groans aloud as he looks up and sees the tall pretty girl wrap her arm tight around preeti's waist and plant a cute kiss on the once“Little Preeti’s” forehead.....

It may not be the most impressive of topics to begin with for an amateurish writer as me!
But then, I'd be happy with the knowledge that I started off the first of my literary endeavour with an uncomplicated piece of thought about my country - India.... Cliched though the topic may sound. It really makes me wonder at the way I've taken the fact for granted that, my country is mine by birthright and that It really isnt necessary for me to acknowledge my gratefulness in any way... It was almost that, being born into India, and living
in the bowels of the great subcontinent itself was a gesture of thankfulness from my part.... As I look back, 24 yrs from today , I really wonder if i've ever wanted to express my thankfulness to India in any way - I can vividly recollect memories of criticisms mouthed at the sad multitudes of the underprivileged in the country, the disorderly, unkempt and polluted towns and cities,unsatisfactory infrastructure and the lackadiasical administrative
bodies..... But try as hard as I might, I cant remember one single thought of my having thought about my role as a citizen - I was just a spectator, like many others - attributing my minimal contribution in improving the state of things to the philosophy that - 'Nothing ever changes here, simply because people are comfortable in the very discomfort that they live amidst'.., forgetting the fact that in thinking so, I sadly fell into the same category.
Ironic, isnt it? And now,as I wake up day after day ,in this esterwhile capital of the colonial empire, London, I cant but help reminisce of my wonderful country and yearn to wake up again to the unnaturally warm,sultry mornings of my hometown Chennai,in the beautiful state of Tamilnadu and experience the microcosm of what I could call the Indian way of life.

It is not a secret anymore - our ancient past, much older than the civilizations of Egypt and Babylon, that had bequeathed its descendents riches in plentiful, of which we proudly carry forth even now , the non materialistic part - our culture ,to be more precise, having lost the other riches in the long course of history.Even having seen the most extreme of poverty, we've steadfastedly hung onto our riches from the past and beliefs in indealism.I'm
sure, few countries would have attracted as many conquerors as India had in the annals of time, that it makes you almost wonder whether it was her riches alone that brought forth battalions from far and wide, or some magical charm that she was capable of exuding, which enamored these mighty heroes to come hitherto...I wouldnt want to delve into all this history as much of it is well known by now, but , my point here is to simply make a confession, one that
might cause me acute embarrassment, in revealing that I owe the knowledge of my country's astounding past, not to my textbooks of Indian history ,or to the tales told by grandmothers, but to a couple of episodes of an amazing documentary on India, on BBC , by Michael Woods.Wait, there's more - And that it took me 24 long years to actually realise and make a little sense out of what my country's intriguing past meant and how little impact it had on me..
Believe me, I'm not here trying to call in for an excuse to point fingers at the Indian education system or blame them for my ignorance, but it still doesnt make sense as to why I do not see in a country like ours, with so great a history , actually do anything about making the current and future generations stop, ponder and wonder at the magnificent times that India has seen in her history , going back 7000 years in time.I never, for instance, have met any person in India say, with a passion to travel across from the east to west from the north to south, unravelling
history and reveling in it.. But I can list out atleast a dozen acquaintences whose life's dream was to travel around the entire of Europe,Australia and where not. It could be that Indians do not try and reinforce the importance of our history in a better way on the newer,younger
generation who are starved for want of a proper insight into our past.. Very few infact are even aware of the fact that India , is the world's most ancient surviving civilization, with a distinct unbroken continuity stretching back into pre history.

History , I feel , shouldnt just be an isolated part of our curriculum, it needs to be made less fearsome and more lively to young minds inorder to ensure that the vast sea of information, with its numerous names,dates and years doesnt intimidate them,but rather , flow across and sink in with a kind of impact that would make them understand it better, if not, crave for more!! Disjointed chronology of happenings in history, mere chapterisations and undue emphasis on certain periods alone, would make the entire history learning process a monotonous drudgery for our young and dynamic minds. Instead, a subtle stress on the fact that every momentuous
event of Indian history, from the most ancient Indus valley civilization , stretching across to the Aryan age to Medieval India and the great Mughuls to the long and ardrous freedom struggle and liberation, needs to be progressively taken one after the other , each era culminating in the start of another, that the transition doesnt appear random,broken or out of place.

Now that was just an idea of sorts that just came to mind when I pondered over just how many people still get turned off at the very mention of History - the root cause often seems to be a strong hatred for the subject imbibed deep inside, ever since their good old schooldays.It did Come as a huge surprise to me that a subject so diverse, so vast that it literally cannot have boundaries defined,and comes along with an opportunity to delve into the past of our
great ancestors and find out the deepest of our society's roots , could so universally be detested.No other study would let you understand and be comfortable with your own rich culture...Think about it.