Learning to write Letters

As the rain drops come down heavily, I open the door for the freshness to come in......and sweep me away!! Its still a joy to feel the tiny sheets of water caress your face......I have been waiting since morning for the Postman to come........Suddenly memories flood in.....This time, of my childhood when I was learning to write letters. Taking the ink-fountain pen and racking the brains, splitting the hair...to extract the words.........to start is the problem....Once the flow starts, then it is easy; this is what people say. Those days inland were in so vogue....those light blue folding mechanism...I had often tried to draw the images of the entire system of postal services in our country........how would my letter go to its destined place?? Tried to even imagine the people carrying it to the destination.

Well, returning to the very process of writing the letters......it was no doubt a laborious task.....our school education system has been a blessing.........it teaches you how to be formal and aristocratic........letters of various hues; some from a friend, some for a leave application, some for employment, some for blood relations, and so on.......But writing letters in childhood may be because of spontaneity too, like some lasting memory, some sights that you couldn't just forget, or some achievement you think as your own.............But the most diffcult part is when you write a letter on your parents' demand and then have to read it to them.....So there is a case of rough draft and then with the corrections (they always appeared inadvertently)!! Such labour and that too just to fill words in some pieces of paper............As you grew in age, love letters had to be the norm, according to the film world......But that in virtual reality, thats just an illusion!! For, people in relationships have resorted to much more advanced forms like e-mail, messaging, scraps and chats.........so letters have lost that touch too, except when some one takes the pains to gift a card!!

Coming to think of all these now, can make one laugh........the rains seem to have stopped now. The postman should be here any moment......hope my parcel is intact!!

Summer Rains

The heat and dust has settled temporarily!! Though dust storms continue to sweep the city, there is an amount of respite.....The fragrance of the soil heralds the arrival of showers, which are soothed by the clasps of thunder and lightening!!As the rains wash down the city, suddenly the clay pots and 'machine ka thanda paani' seem a thing of the past. There is a sudden thrill along with the chill in the air. Even the squeals of the mosquitoes have subsided..........

Sitting in my room, I open the backdoor allowing the breeze to caress my face.....the pitter-patter of the raindrops hums a soft tune....With occasional thunder rolling down, the dark clouds give the hope of more showers......Watching the trees and the earth soaked with the first rains in Summer rekindles the childhood innocence....of trying to dance in the rain, splash the puddles of water, and bring out one's creativity through paper boats!! As the night advances, rains don much more magical attires!! The calmness of the night is broken by the cries of the peacocks......in those thick jungles still untouched by the increasing human forays, there could be sights of peacocks spreading their serenic aura....................where the snakes could still offer a tough challenge to the mongooses...................where Neelgais roam about in a carefree manner.................

Summer Showers have its own unique charms, for it announces the impending arrival of the monsoon.......people build new theories of these squalls calling them signs of the phenomenon called Global Warming; call it by whatever name, rains also lock people up in their charming worlds............They also bring an unsual and unwanted lethargy...............Though avoidable, such laziness is often ignored............all this because in an ever moving world, 'getting wet' is often a big spoke in the wheel of time!!

Birthday Musings

The 21st of November always brings with it the critical fact that I have completed one more year of life; the underlying feeling that the pirannaal has marked another milestone in my life; a short pause before the journey unwinds itself again. But as each Birthday passes, the candles and the cakes move apart further.........There are no more new dresses, no more gifts, no more sadyas, no more distribution of sweets and no more gala celebrations, no more love-filled strokes on my cheeks or ruffles on my hair by ma, no more early morning shower..........Perhaps each birthday is a further realization that life has got to move on...............

This birthday saw my sister presenting me a wrist watch-from her salary, which reminds of the fact that she has already taken the plunge into the swift currents of employment and livelihood issues. Now it comes down to either a phone call, or an sms, or an email, or to the maximum extent, a detailed birthday card......Life away from home is really sinking in.........The coziness and comforts of Home have been replaced by the daily slog in the hard life................No wonder they say that life is not a bed of roses..........Birthdays just drift in the wind, where the only companion is solitude..........where your heart and mind is at peace.............May be the only impressions left are nostalgia..........the bygone days of Childhood.............who was that poet who wanted to go back to those days of innocence, and thought of climbing the coniferous trees to reach the heaven?...........................

Musings on Mother's Day!!

Today, the 2nd Sunday of May, is International Mother's Day!! I'm not a great admirer of such ''commercialized days'', but still this day has remained etched to me since my childhood. Every year, my mind wanders back to those 'good old' days with my dear mom. A sudden whiff of memories come thrashing into my mind. I remember a line in one of those old comics that I used to read in my boyhood days. "God couldn't reach everywhere, so he made Mothers". How true!! This relationship between a mother and her children has always been an unbreakable chord which is built on the foundations of Love and Tenderness.

My mother always keeps going back to those days when I was a toddler. How I used to trouble her by breaking all my toys, not having my food properly and as to how I-was of good size in my infant days-used to travel with her in trains and keep demanding tea, in the sultry summer and the compartment being over-crowded!! As I passed into my teens, I again troubled her by picking up quarrels with her, not telling her about the class tests, lying her about my grades. But, as my age passed on, everything changed and I sometimes developed a feeling that I was moving away 'mentally' from my mom. I became a man, driving bikes and cars after getting a licence, became eligible to vote by acquiring the Voters' ID card and am at the doorstep of getting a Master's Degree. I feel the 'alienation' is getting stronger now!!

Mom, where are your loving arms? where are your smiles and cajoles?? I need them, ma!! Reading one of the books gifted by one of my cousins, containing stories by Malayalam authors on Mother was heart aching!! The emotional attachment of the mothers to their children has transcended eons as it is reflected in those stories. Even, in these summer nights, I yearn to sleep on your loving lap, with you caresssing my hair by running your hands through it; I also love to to hear you scolding and even beating me with those lovely hands, that you've burnt innumerable times trying to cook the best food for me; I am eager to hear you talk about those past days, when you used to hold my hand, while walking back home in the evenings from the school. Mom, where are those days?? Where have they disappeared?? Are those footprints on the sands of time been erased by the tide of 'life', which always brings up a 'new act' each day?? I still feel the warmth of your 'thalodal' when my body temperature rose to levels, which they call 'pani'. I still want to relish your Banana Payasam' that you prepare with so much affection for me. Even the "Chemmeen Curry" is still on my lips!! Those Onams, Vishus, and Deepavalis spent with you have gained an eternal status.

Mom, when I seated you behind my bike and drove you, it was one of the most cherished moments of my life. Let many more such good times remain in my life. Whom should I thank for you being a wonderful mother to me? My sincere prayer is, if there is a process called "Punarjanmam", I should be again your loving son!!. May be the elders are right. Mother always acquires the prominent position among the relationships. The nostalgia keeps sinking in,as the sun sets and twilight shudders into the horizon. I am shaken from my musings by that beautiful song, "En Amme, Onni Kaanaan Ethra Naal Njan Kothichu......."