The Balloon

 

I was having tea at a roadside shop when something on the road caught my attention. When I tried to check what it was, I could see a big helium-filled balloon being carried by someone. The balloon was special, since it had a “balloon inside a balloon”, something I had never seen before! Then I tried to find out who was carrying it. Next few moments were bursts of one realization after another. 

It was a lady who was carrying the balloon. She was an overweight lady; really-really overweight. Then I realized that she was overweight like the new mothers who are taking care of newborn infants. She was carrying the balloon and nothing else and the big colorful balloon was floating in the sky. There was something different in the way she walked. What was it? I noticed that she was not looking up at all and had kept her eyes down while she walked, as if she was embarrassed or feeling shy. Her neck was also trying to sink. It became clear that since she was carrying a big special balloon all alone, she was feeling shy because she was a grownup lady and not a kid. It may be normal to see children carrying balloons, but not adults. So, to sum it up: she was a new mother taking care of a small kid, she would have gone somewhere and on the way back home she came across a helium balloon seller and hence she bought a big one for her child. She was walking feeling shy, for what will people think about her carrying a big balloon! She was also clearly excited imagining how her kid would react seeing the balloon and was trying to reach her home as soon as possible. Now, all this was too much for me, and I started getting tears in my eyes, and hence I looked away and moved on. But that special scene of an excited mother bringing balloon for her kid, got captured in my memory like a painting.

May God bless her and her kid.

- Rahul

The Accidental Prime Minister

 

The legacy of former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has been a matter of wide debate. Some rubbish him as a cowering and weak PM under whom widespread corruption and scandals happened, while some focus on the good things India achieved during his tenure. In year 2014, a book titled “The Accidental Prime Minister” was written by his media advisor, Sanjaya Baru, and it had generated a lot of attention. After few years, a movie was also made with story based on the same book, and it had also created lot of buzz. Somehow, I had missed both these buses. Until now, when I ‘accidentally’ came across this movie on Youtube (I don’t know if loading full movies is legal or not)

 

I really liked this movie; especially the role played by Akshay Khanna as Sanjaya Baru. But not only Sanjaya Baru; all characters and roles in the movie have been portrayed wonderfully. Not watching it for all these years was a loss.

After this movie, I searched about the book and about the author and got myself a bit updated on the political front. I would recommend watching above movie to understand what all happened for a decade at the highest power circles.  

- Rahul  

Lost Dog

 

Governments build nice and clean footpaths and sidewalks, but how many of us walk over it these days? I was walking on a stretch this evening for about two kilometers, when a funny thing happened.

I noticed a little shadow behind me and when I looked, I was in for a surprise. There was a dog following me. After I saw him, he came right besides me and started running or walking there with me. I felt strange. And a bit scared. Then I noticed that it was really a big size dog; white; and it had a rubber collar on his neck. While I was walking at a consistent speed, he was almost running for a while, and then going slow, then catching up. It was very clear that he was planning to walk besides me. I wondered if he was mistaking me for someone else he knew. I felt guilty of deceiving him and thought of ways to make it clear that I was not his friend. So much for clarity! After a while, it became clear that I did not need to fear him, since he was someone’s pet and he was purposefully walking besides me, perhaps seeking my protection. I also noticed that while running, he was looking at the buildings on the roadside, as if trying to recognize places. Was he searching for his home? Was he lost? Or worse, abandoned? I started feeling bad for him. It was clear that he was lost, and he was just going that way searching for a place he knew. I started feeling very-very sad for him. Then, it got worse.

We all know that dogs have territories. So, I and the lost dog reached a corner which ‘belonged’ to another dog! There were two of them. One of them had lots of furs, and again seemed abandoned since stray dogs can’t be furry I guess; while the other was lame, with one leg hurt, perhaps in some dog-fight or some drunk human tried to run over him just for fun. Those two dogs saw this big white dog walking besides me and started barking at him. My heart started pounding. Was there going to be a street-dogfight? Was I going to be the poor meddling victim in the war of the dogs? I tried to shout and shoo away those two dogs, but they were unfazed and came very close. I decided that no matter how much I empathized with my big white lost dog friend, I was not ready to get injured protecting him. So, I stopped and moved towards a tea shop on the roadside. The white dog was now all alone, so the two territorial dogs started barking at him from very close distance. A scuffle could start anytime; and then the big white lost dog also barked back at those two. He had a heavy voice! Certainly, this royal big white lost dog was up to his mark. The two smaller stray dogs got a bit scared and stopped chasing him; and he kept walking. After realizing that the place was now safe and I was alone once again, I left my hiding place and went on walking.

After about 10 minutes, when I reached a roundabout and took a turn, I saw that the big white lost dog was still walking straight while searching for some building or home. Since we parted ways, I can only imagine and wonder if he ultimately found his home or if he had hard time running like that being hungry and thirsty, and entering the ‘territories’ of other stray dogs one after the other. I don’t know how his journey ended; was it happy ending or not. But I remember how sad I felt for him. And for this world.

May God have mercy on all of us.  

- Rahul

Clueless In Cairo

While passing through on my bike, I came across a small kid, probably 3-4 years old. He was just standing there on the ground besides the road, near the small dwellings of his family, and was looking at some vehicle moving on the road. He was wearing only a vest stretched long enough to act as a lower garment too.

A few minutes afterwards, I came across another kid who was also looking at someone, with the same expression. I felt something was strange about both these kids’ expressions and then I realized what it was: both of them looked “clueless”.

I know that both were very small kids, both were boys, and their “clueless” expressions were due to their innocence. At this age, kids’ brains are still in development phase and hence they do not understand what is going around them, hence their faces look so innocent. And sometimes, expressionless, or “clueless” as I have put it.

But there was something which got me interested in their clueless expression. Are we all not ‘clueless’ in this world, in our own ways? Just think of our purpose of life, just think why we are doing what we are doing, towards what end goal? Are we really knowing who we are, what we are doing, and why? If you think about these, you will realize how pointless most of the things we take so seriously in our lives are!

I found the kids and their clueless expression as truly liberating. In a sense, those kids were not really clueless. They “knew” what was necessary to know, at that stage of life. It is we, most of the grownup people, who are clueless, because we know lots of stuff about pointless things and nothing about what really matters.

I am waiting to see until when the memory of those two kids and their clueless, innocent faces lingers in my mind. Until it fades and becomes pointless, in this pointless world.

- Rahul

Note: I have tried to name the title of this piece on the lines of movie titled “Sleepless in Seattle”, just for fun.