Seasonz Chapter 1 - Happiness and Beyond It…(Part 4)

The link to the previous part is available on the below link:

 

Seasonz Chapter 1 - Happiness and Beyond It… (Part 3) 

 

I hit the elevator button to reach the 3^rd floor and I expected the lobby to be overflowing with kids, however it posed a deserted look, which made me quickly glance at the watch. Okay, so it was the time of the day when every little one’s brain is made to work at 300% more than its capacity. As I crossed each door, I could sense that they were being sucked into the boring lesson of History or having a mighty battle with the magical numbers from Mathematics or trying to find a balance to their life equation by reading Chemistry.

The visuals brought in a small smile on my face, as I continued walking along the corridor. But what I missed to notice was that, I was being watched by Mr. Shekhar, right from the time I had stepped out of the elevator. Regaining my senses, I scratched my head not knowing how to react to the unexpected situation and to get past through it, I just wished him, “Good Evening Uncle”.

Very slowly he approached me and gave me a small wink asking, “What Raghav, fell in Love with someone huh?” 

You seem to be walking alone, talking to yourself and smiling, all the while since you stepped out of the elevator.

Smiling to his words, I nodded signaling a big “No” and asked him in return, “You are usually found to be on your evening walk by this time and what a surprise now, you are at home today?”

With a broad smile he pointed his fingers towards his house’s entrance. I could find extra pair of footwear around it and made a guess that he has got visitors. Meanwhile uncle cut me through by asking, “Raghav, did you find the wine shop at the end of the lane open?” I got some friends and we would like to share a drink, since we are all meeting after a long time. 

Thinking hard I replied, yes uncle, I did find it crowded while returning home and I would suggest you better reach out soon, as you might run out of good stock.

Going by my words, uncle bid me adieu and walked off majestically. As he marched off few distance away from me, I shouted “Having fun huh!!!” with a wicked smile. Acknowledging to my words and to the way that I had asked he just gave a hand gesture signaling yes and disappeared.

A funny man and the most liked person in our community, Mr.Shekhar is an ex-serviceman, retired from the Indian Air Force some 4 years back. A Flight Lieutenant by rank, he is our neighbor staying with his lovely wife in flat 3B. Aunt Usha Shekhar does need a special mention here, especially for the sweets that she makes during every festival. More than the sweets that she prepares, by heart she is sweeter and every kid from the age of 2 to 20, loves her.

They are survived by 2 daughters, both of whom are married and well settled with their family somewhere in the western part of the world. During this tenure of 4 years of settlement at Pune, not even once I have witnessed either of them visiting home.

However, couple of time when Uncle used to have difficulty in connecting to Skype, I had helped him connect thereby introducing myself to his daughters then. Such introductions are more common to me as I end up at most houses fixing up some technical glitch. And this was due to the misconception among my neighbors that I was a tech savvy, capable of fixing any IT related issue, just because of the degree that I hold.

Oops, sorry I have not let out a word about me so far. So, here you go. I am Raghav, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from one of the nation’s prestigious university, the College of Engineering, Pune. Being graduated out of such an institute with a first-class degree in hand and an on-campus job offer with one of the leading software and consulting providers of the world, Cognizant Technology Solutions, as an added topping on the tossed base it leaves anyone with the impression that I was trained to handle such technical stuffs.

Though I hardly agree to their misconception, on the other hand they can’t be put to blame, as well. So, I just take up each of those assignment and make it a chance to speak to the people over there. By chance, if there is a girl of my age, then I try to be of a little more help to her through other means too.

Ok, not to be too optimistic about myself, I do agree that I can fix stuffs but that is not my real me. My fascination is something way bigger, something that not many dream off. I am mad about aviation in and out. And I believe it was not something that got inculcated into me over the days, but it is something that was hidden deep within me, nurturing over the years. 

Wait a minute! 

Why do not you have a look at how my desire took its wing finally out of me and how I was aspired towards touching the sky? In addition to it, do witness bits and pieces of my childhood days. I do promise you that it will not be a long flashback.

So, people why do not you immerse your head into the giant pensive filled with my memories and experience few scenes of a young chap who was notorious yet adorable traveling through the time to reach here. Grab your seats and fasten your seat belts to travel into the pages of history.

 

To be continued…

 

Seasonz Chapter 1 - Happiness and Beyond It… (Part 3)

The link to the previous part is available on the below link:

Seasonz Chapter 1- Happiness and beyond (Part 2)

Being the only child for quite a few years, I had enjoyed all the goodies that my parents vested upon me, however that was not for a long time. It was a warm day at Coimbatore, the Manchester of South India, a city known for its perfect blend of weather and natural resource. My mother was at operation theater and I was scaling the hospital along with my cousin not knowing how to pass off the time.

As I was a kid, I wasn’t aware of the pain that my mother would be undergoing during the operation. After a while, my relatives had all gathered together and were exclaiming in joy and exchanging happy message. Not knowing the exact reason for the sudden outburst, I rushed forward making my way through the crowd. Through the crowd I could see the happy face of my father while he was holding a small package on his hand.

I slowly came close to him and he bent down to show me what he was holding. Draped in soft towels was my sister, pinkish in complexion and sleeping so adorably. Her hands were so soft just like a feather and all on a suddenly she stroked with her little fingers onto my cheeks. I couldn’t control the joy. Taking a step back I started running madly around the hospital shouting “I got a baby sister”. Right from the day she arrived at our house, I crossed all borders to take good care of her and even at that age I took the vow within myself that “I will love her with all my heart & soul and would do anything for her”.

If it was to put her in the cradle or dress her up or play with her, I would be standing well ahead of my parents. Though being very small, she used to easily identify me from others and naturally our bonding started strengthening up. Very soon the naming ceremony was held, and the beautiful princess of our family was named Ankitha.

Ankitha started growing up and so was the amount of bonding between us. She always held my hand everywhere we go and even slept in my room leaving her room empty, almost every single night. Days passed swiftly and as my father was a government employee, we had the privilege of travelling the length and breadth of the country. The fun just didn’t stop with the travel but rather staying there, knowing the people, their customs & tradition and growing up there. For us, our friends were diverse and so was the schools too. Days passed, months flew, years crossed and Ankitha turned out to be an intelligent, sweet, adorable, understanding & a beautiful young lady. A short smile from her is enough to uplift & wade off your bad mood.

With the sight of her smile flashing through me, I returned to my senses. The park was in front of me and kids had slowly started moving out, as it was getting late. I resumed on with the drive towards my home. As I approached the apartment gate, two hot girls highly glamorous in their ultra-modern outfit and with the latest gadgets in their hands were eagerly looking out for someone waiting at the entrance. Being a guy, it is a tendency to look at girls, as I had mentioned before, and none would go without noticing them.

Looking at them even more closely. I instantly recognized them to be my neighbor. I greeted them with a small smile, but they just turned off their heads, as if they didn’t notice me at all. Ignoring the incident, I drove straight to my parking spot, killed the engine, took off my backpack and walked in the direction of my home, when suddenly a loud screeching noise filled the zone.

I rushed forward to check out what had caused the sudden commotion out there. Closing the spot, nothing was visible except for a dense layer of dust storm that had dominated the place. As the dust settled in after a few minutes and when couple of people had all gathered hearing the sound, we saw, at a distance high end modified car, gleaming and shining in the moon’s bright light. A sudden reminiscence event flashed right before my eye.

This was the same Audi with which I had a close encounter minute back. It posed an intimidate look. Within minutes few guys stepped out and went straight ahead to give a nice hug to the waiting girls and drove them off. Anyone who had noticed those guys could have easily predicted that they were the spoilt brats of any cash strapped family, wherein “money” is after all a common term and that had no big value to it.  With nothing much to do there, I cursed myself for walking down to check what had happened and made my way towards my home thinking how money plays a different role with each class of people.

 

To be continued…

Seasonz Chapter 1 - Happiness and Beyond It… (Part 2)

The link to the previous part is available on the below link:

https://krish-thefriendly.blogspot.com/2020/09/chapter-1-happiness-and-beyond-it-part-1.html

Feeling pity about the folks around me, I had to crane my neck to the maximum to see by any chance if the traffic will clear anytime soon. With no luck in my favor, I sat down patiently on my bike again and took out my mobile. To my shock I could find 20 missed calls from Ankitha, which were already blinking on my mobile. Naturally the blood started pumping heavily, I started sweating and I was in a dilemma whether to give her a call back or not. I could easily visualize the scene on what happens the moment she picks up my call and that gave me cold shiver all through my spine. However, before I could receive the next call from her, to my relief the vehicles have started moving and the traffic was easing out slowly.

I hit the throttle to the maximum and the speedometer would have already crossed the safe threshold of riding, but I was not bothered about anything around me. Violating couple of signals, giving close cut to few city buses, there would be many who would have abused me of my driving. Despite multiple violations my only target on mind was to reach the destination on time. As I was nearing the target, a shining band new Audi A4 gave an unexpected entry from the wrong side of the road making me to hit the brakes at the instant.

The Apache responded timely to my sudden command and thereby came to a halt with a cool skid ensuring that I did not budge off.  A quick decision thus saved me and my baby (my bike) from grave disaster. Coming to a standstill very close to the Audi, I hardly gave a rough stare and went on abusing who on earth gave him a license to drive, even though in the past few minutes I myself had broken 100s of traffic rules.

It was exactly 7.55pm and I was in front of the designer’s store, which was my destination. Rushing into the store, I handed over the slip to the lead designer who rather receiving me with his pleasant smile gave a very dirty look. I could easily read his mind from the reaction that he gave. It was the closing time and I had come in exactly then. Giving a heavy sigh of frustration, he went in and came back with a neatly folded dress robe.  I collected the package, placed it with utmost care into my backpack and hit the bike’s engine back to life, getting ready to face the ultimate challenge.

Though with a small sense of accomplishment and joy I was heading back to my home. It was a short drive along the main road, but just to enjoy the cool evening weather, I took the streets and rode gently enjoying the breeze hitting my face. At a distance I could sense some people movement, as normally the street wore a deserted look. I wondered if I had taken the wrong turn and entered the street, but anyways continued riding through it, as any street within the area ended up near my home.

As I was approaching a residential zone, an unusual sight welcomed me there. Of course, being a teenager who had just passed out of college, all my focus was always directed on to those good-looking hot girls, who flaunt the city 24/7. But what caught me here was a completely different picture. I could see many tiny faces brightly lit up running, jumping, rolling, shouting and doing all sort of mischief that they can possibly do. Having a closer look at the area, it was the corporation park where people usually come out on their evening walk. Since it was Friday, children had come out to have their gala time and dominate the whole place, as they had full 2 days to be away from school.

I was smiling looking at those happy faces when my eyes suddenly fell upon a pair of kids. In the far corner of the park there was a small girl in her cute baby pink dress, hair neatly combed and with an innocent look held her brother’s hand, who was just a year or two older to her, trying to make his sister climb the slide. It was so cute that I instantly stopped my bike and looked at the innocence in them. The determination to make her climb the slide was seen in the brother’s face and the confidence that the brother will not let her down was seen in the tiny girl’s face. It was more of a bonding than just a relationship, which was felt there and that even the grown up’s hardly show these days. The little boy took her sister around the park, also help her climb the swing and rocks it off for her, sit on the other side of see-saw and enjoyed looking how merrily she loved it. There was not a single moment when the girl refused to take a ride and that was the amount of faith & confidence that she had on her brother. And that sight of them, took me down the lane, to a time, that was 18 years back.

(To be continued…)

Seasonz Chapter 1 - Happiness and Beyond It… (Part 1)

The light was slowly fading out as the blanket of dusk began to smoothly cover over the mountains letting out a magnificent sight, a sight pretty much hard to miss. The trees were dancing to the gentle wind, the birds chirping around happily and the cloud raising its curtain to reveal the hidden treasure of the sky, as the planet was getting ready to welcome the approaching night.

It was the time of the day when the heaven opens its glorious gate to everyone, showcasing a spectacular view of the heavenly bodies. However, very few get the time to sit back, relax and relish the beauty of it, as most of us are programmed to move on a fast-forward mode thus ignoring the beauty around us.

These days there are no room for a selfless life, especially with the city dwellers, as their livelihood is tightly packed, leaving room for relaxing and getting connected with the nature. But, amidst this materialistic life, in contrary, the other part of the city, i.e. the rural life witnesses a totally different set of activities.

The countryside was experiencing and enjoying the art of nature as they always get to do so. Evenings were specifically meant for gatherings. Old men were seen sitting in groups with large country made cigars in their hand and enjoying their usual evening chat. Children running around playing merrily while the women had gathered out in large groups, exchanging different recipes and to add some extra spice to their conversation, even gossips too. Overall, the true essence of nature was to be felt there.   

Moving slightly away from the countryside and landing amid the famous Ferguson College road, one could sense the life of the modern world here, with bustling activities happening in 360 degrees around you. And such a sight would be a whole new experience for any newcomer from rural place to this splendid city of Pune, the city well known as the educational hub of India.

Located in the Western Ghats, the city is roughly positioned at around 150 kms from the business capital of the country, Mumbai. It boasts of its inclement weather and the right geographic zone giving a year-round of pleasant living. And not to forget on the back to back festivals that are celebrated across the city by all section of people. Around the third quarter of the year, the air is completely pumped up with festive mood and there is never a moment of sadness filling up into you.

Now with the rising population, the downtown had witnessed constant remodeling of its infrastructure though still preserving the rich heritage of the city. And to mention here, how different the city may transform into, there is one thing that never changes, and it is “Vada Paav”. A street dish that is so popular among the locals and a must try among all the tourists, one can easily lay hand on them almost anywhere in the city. The city never runs out of eateries and local food joints.

Though the city was witnessing rapid change over the years, there is always a watchful eye on the countryside from getting destroyed. The flora and fauna are well preserved with minimal destruction done due to the constant expansion of the city.

Now coming back to the city life, the aesthetic appeal of the bird’s song was nowhere to be heard around. All that one could witness were long queues of vehicle stranded in the evening traffic and the continuous honking of the horn which dominated the area, well apart from the gorgeous women walking over the sidewalk. People were trying to find their best possible way to head home amidst the heavy traffic, but it was hardly clearing out.

A fat traffic constable was sitting lazily at one corner of the road, showing even the slightest interest to clear the traffic. He can’t be blamed as well, since he was aware of the situation and it is a routine happening almost every week. The chaos at the road had no special reason but rather it was Friday evening and the weekend hangover had already taken upon the Punekars.

Gang of stags and couples could be seen thronging the street getting ready for the “Friday Madness”.  Pubs, Bars, Clubs and private party lounges were about to witness a heavy turnover in terms of both people and profit. Also, these places were expecting a very good business, as it was the first weekend of the month and people would be cash loaded.

A week full of pressurized work at the office, anyone visiting the club was ready to shed a good amount of money, just to relieve themselves from the weeklong stress. Hmmm, well they can’t be criticized about spending so lavishly. It’s their work nature that drives them to spend a lot. Each one is literally stripped off by their boss and a mental relaxation is very much needed to come out of the stereotypic life, which they are forced to lead.

(To be continued...)