MIRROR OF MIND

Those were the days when bicycle seemed the most exotic vehicle on earth. It was the time when you were graduated to senior class and it was the time to flaunt you cycling skills. Evening time was mostly spent learning and balancing the bicycle; sometimes with balancing wheels on either sides and sometimes without that extra support. When these wheels were removed, there was always someone ready to provide that required support from behind by holding the carrier of the cycle – your Papa. With each push to the paddle you knew your confidence was growing and that was due to the security given by someone who cared for you more than you did for yourself. The open sky, the chirping of birds, blooming flowers and green lawns, all seemed to congratulate you as you almost learnt to ride a bicycle. Feeling happy you looked behind and suddenly… you discovered that the person holding your cycle had disappeared. You were too nervous to even call out his name. Within a fraction of a second you real...

And this time it was dogs. All these years I looked upon dogs as cats’ enemies, though I had no personal grudge towards this faithful breed, I stayed away from them being over-protective for my cats. But now that I have shifted to a new place, and have no cats around me… I became quite friendly with the stray dogs of the building. Frisbee, a female dog, often visited our neighbour who pampered her with rich diet and cozy blanket. White in colour, she shone like a pearl but only when given a bath. She had lots of fur on her body and fallen ears; her eyes were naughty and expressed more than a man’s eyes usually would. Even a sight of hers would light up my face, after a tiring day. First thing in the morning I would do was, go into the balcony and call out her name from the fourth floor. And there she would show her face on the ground floor with wagging tail and tongue. As soon as she turned three, she gave birth to six puppies. Just out from mother’s womb, they were still curled up on ...

Having pet animals around you is always a delightful experience! (Only for those who love animals). Besides being good entertainers, they can be good listeners, companions, and even family members. I can very well derive that from my personal experiences. Though totally different when it comes to characteristics, cats or dogs start belonging to your family from the day they enter your family; and you wont even realize that. As a kid, I always heard an adage: Dogs have masters and cats have slaves. And after spending 20 years with cats under the same roof, I have started believing it. Right from my childhood I have been surrounded by not only one but two-three-four and even seven cats at the same time; so much so that I have lost count of the names of my cats in the past and running short of names in the present. I still remember how I missed my cats during lengthy hours in school. My first activity after I retuned home, was to look for them in every corner of the house. Sometimes a sno...

It was 1am, as me and Falgun came out of the cinema hall after watching yet another ‘time pass’ flick on the run. Our eyes were drowsy as we managed to fit ourselves in an already overcrowded elevator to reach the car park in basement. As we cross the dead, cold cars in the basement to reach ours, Falgun is busy cursing the filmmakers. ‘Chance Pe Dance’ the movie was yet another chewed subject of struggling actor trying hard to find his footing in Bollywood played by Shahid Kapoor, whose love interest is played by Genelia. The haywire script left the audience in confusion. “Such movies are just another chance for the producers and filmmakers to dance with our money,” Falgun said and I agreed. “This is not we look for when we give up on our time, money and sleep,” he grumbled again as he turned the car key to open the door. ‘Thuck’ went the door twice as we closed it and I curled up cozily in the car on a chilly, winter night. We slowly drove through the way to reach the exit where a se...

After a heavy dose of IPL match, I was surfing channels on television to cheer up my soul on an otherwise boring Sunday evening. Suddenly a ticker flashed across the TV screen on one of the news channels. It said the ATS had nabbed a terrorist suspect from a posh residential area in my city, Ahmedabad. In a country where glamour and cricket were the only two TRP grabbers, lately terrorism is the third and regular limelight-hogger. And today after cricket, yet another terrorist had successfully managed to hog the limelight, I thought. After zooming in the camera on the suspect’s covered face (God knows why do they cover the faces of such shameless creatures) and showing pointers on him, the footage shifted to the residential apartment where the culprit lived since past couple of days. My heart skipped a beat when I read ‘Parishram Apartments’. That’s exactly the same place where my uncle’s family lives. It definitely came as a shocker to me, while my other family members panicked. As we...

Those days I stayed as a paying guest at Judges Bungalow. Though the house was a bit over populated with nine girls in one apartment, the feeling of being independent and totally on my own thrilled me. It was for the first time that I was out of a cocoon, my own home in Baroda. Never having experienced a hostel life, this place and experience in a metro city – both were fantastic. My flat-mates were either college students or freshers in the job set out on a new journey with hopeful eyes. One evening when I returned ‘home’ after a hectic day of meeting celebrities and filing interviews, I came across a new flat-mate – apparently the 10th in the apartment and also seemed a bit out of place. She must be in her late forties or early fifties, but anybody can be mistaken by her lean and fit body. However, the streaks of white hair and wrinkles near her eyes gave up on her age. I hurriedly went into my room and animatedly asked my room-partner about her. “Guess what? Gupta Aunty just gotta n...

These days it has become truly essential to mention about our ‘status’ while conversing with somebody; weather we are talking about our real or virtual world. The other day when I was talking to a male friend on a random topic, he suddenly interrupted: “Hang on, what’s the time?” “It’s 5’o clock,” I replied “Gosh, I burnt all the recipes in the kitchen…” he thumped his head in disgust. “Finally, you started cooking,” I said. “No re,” he gushed… “I am talking about my virtual Café World.” OMG I wondered. How easily can a consciously random discussion be engineered into a subconscious Café World! It’s sometimes even more amazing when we become so real in our virtual world. How our characteristics reflect our virtual ways. The other day Falgun was playing Happy Aquarium, (a game on FB that includes feeding fishes and cleaning neighbours’ aquariums). Being back from tour after a long time he was liberally feeding his starved fishes. On seeing a huge dow...