I have been using it,  for so many days, so many times. I have got used to it and also got used to the abuse, the hatred. I traveled in the local bus, daily. The reason for this abuse and hatred was my beard. It told everyone that I was a Muslim guy. Just because of my beard, they forgot the I was also a human.! They even forgot that I traveled with them everyday.!

Not everyone though. There was Suhani, my colleague. She never said anything, which hurt me. She was very sweet. But then, she was sweet with everyone. I wasn’t special. But at least I was equal.

Then there was Rahim Chacha. He was another person whom I talked with. He told his daily experiences to me. What all they told him to the very first day they realized he was Muslim was very painful and in fact to be correct, disgusting.!

I had studied in great places, very reputed colleges and was now working at a very good company. But this daily abuse was pathetic. They never missed a chance. They just said,

“Kaum hi kharab hai sali”

They might be just a few words to blabber, but they rang everytime in my head.!!

Today was the perfect day for them. Neither Suhani nor Rahim Chacha were present today.

“HEY! Mr. Terrorist! Come here.” One of them hauled. I went towards him.

“Hmmm…Can you prove you are a Muslim?” What kind of question was that?

I didn’t answer. HOW CAN I???

“Answer motherfucker..!..Alright. I’ll check it for myself.”

I was not sure what he was upto. But what he did was shameful, disgraceful..! It was a perfect day. And he did his best to embarrass me to the edge.

He suddenly pulled my pants off.!

Everybody started laughing.

I would have cried, but I didn’t. It was the perfect day. The Bus stopped and I got down from it. It wasn’t the destined stoppage, but after going through what happened, I just wanted to run away as quickly as I could.

The bus started to move and suddenly it was blown to pieces..! Booooom….and what was left was only the non-living parts of the bus.

It was a perfect day and I did it.!

No Regret.!

PS: As far as I know this is hypothetical.

PS: It only takes 2 seconds to do the evil.

to me, de description of a gift, is not somethin on which u spend a lot. maybe yeah, sometimes when its really worth it. it may be really small, really cheap, but it should manage to hold a place in one’s heart, till de end of his or her life. atleast a small corner. he/she should be able to recap de incident wid atmost pleasure. n most important, it should be a real real real SURPRISE !!! the surprise shouldn alone answer de questions “WHAT” but also de questions “HOW” and “WHEN” as well !

before i start about THE SURPRISE, let me tell you the relation between my folks and the word SURPRISE.

first, my bro. he’ll tell dad, a few days before his birthday, ” appa…. THE DAY is only a week away and you better SURPRISE me wid a SURPRISE !!! And not to forget the fact that it should be an electronic gadget, worth nothing less than rs. 2000/- , okay !!!”

phew !!! it’ll sound like an order ! and as the days go by, he’ll start describing his surprise, slowly slowly, and finally he’ll name it and conclude by placing his orders, on his birthday. and throughout that week, dad wouldn’t have even bothered to think of what he wanted !!!

my dad is even worse! On my bro’s last bday, he was like, ” rahul, i’m going to surprise you this evening. its something you’ve been asking for, for a long time now. and its none other than a PS2 !!! “

And about the recieving part, dad gives de slightest traces of a smile on his neatly shaved visage followed by a “thank you !”well, this applies not only to my dad but to his immediate elder brother :p as well.

and now, the lady of the house and i ! we are the only persons in the nuclear family, who know the proper meaning of the noun cum verb i’ve been talking abt all this while. we both know the WAY a surprise should be recieved and the WAYS in which it can be gifted as well. so, i was only more eager to surprise mom !!!

and now, coming back to the 10th of june 2009, around 10 a.m., at the breakfast table. after the breakfast, dad fed mum with his all time favourite chocolate, and i luckily snapped it with my handphone.it was a cute picture with mum turning her face off the direction in which the chocolate was fed and dad trying hard to stuff it in ! and this is when i got the best of ideas for a perfect surprise.[:)]

my mum loves the idea of a greeting card on any special occasion.so i lied about making a trip to nokia to get my phone serviced and i left home for Archies. i bought a huge king sized greeting card there, with belle wordings. I then had the snap i pictured that morning, developed at the konica labs, above landmark, nungambakkam.

i then drove home, had home made CHIKEN BIRIYANI [:p] with amma, and then she was off to her so called SMALL afternoon nap, which commences by 1 p.m., or earlier, each day and extends upto 4 p.m. or even later. it was then, when i flicked a picture from mum and dad’s marriage album, the one which was shot during their honeymoon trip to kodai, 21 years back [:)]. i stuck both on the left side of the card, with the header “BEFORE” and “AFTER” [:D]. i then filled the card with all the words my heart felt, while looking at those two beautiful pics [:)]. i was indeed so very proud of them. [ TOUCH WOOD ] after my work was done, i put the FINISHED card into the envelope, and hid it in my study draw, and i too dozed off. [ frankly speaking, there is nothing like an afternoon nap.[:p] ]

as usual, as the case may be during any of the special occasions, we were dressing up for dinner outside, that evening. and i being the last to do so, as always, ended up locking the door behind me, when my folks were waiting for me in the four wheler, with its engine roaring. before i slammed the main door shut, i left the card on my parent’s bed.

after dinner, we reached our garage after a slow drive. dad and i took a walk down the road, which we do sometimes after a heavy dinner. mum and bro went back home. i was anxiously waiting outside the building till her bedroom lights went on. after i assured myself that she was reading the card, i continued the walkings with dad and the general talkings followed.

in 10 minutes time, i found myself and appa climbing the stairs, leading to our apartment. i was really excited. we stepped in, and i opened the bedroom door to find amma looking at the card and then at me, due to the creaking of the door . i looked into her eyes.

they told me she was moved.

they told me she was proud.

they told me she was happy.

they told me she was speechless.

they told me she was excited.

and ABOVE ALL they told me she was SURPRISED [:)]. i was satisfied. it was possibly the words i wrote in the card,which got her so emotional. seeing all this i really din’t know how to react. her eyes, wanted to shed tears any second, but then, her heart wouldn’t let them do so, cause of the amount of joy it was experiencing then. it was so TOUCHING !!! amidst all this, she opened her mouth and said, ” i’m proud of you, sharath ! ” and shed a drop of tear from each of her eyes. it was a moment of mixed emotions, for both of us. it was a moment ONLY between the mum and the son.

those two drops of water, i’ll never forget. and those two glorious minutes, only between the mother and the son, i can never forget, all my life. ALL MY LIFE !!! and the words, she spoke, kept ringing in my mind all night . [:)]

tell me, what more, could a son, possibly want from his mother ?

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dedicated to all those who share the best of mum and son relationships !!!

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Its with my dad that I debated on current affairs and issues of the World. I remember our long conversations and debates ranging from Ethics (Reliance vs Express) to reservations (Mandal Commission) to Communal tensions (Bombay blasts). Appa travelled frequently and I used to long for him to get back and have our talks.

He was such a perfect dad, always sacrificed his comforts for the sake of family… he drove 25 Kms each way in Bombay, just so my school was walking distance.. But come weekends, and he would drive us to Juhu, Gateway, Powai temple, Worli seaface, whatever my fancy… Never did he say no to me.

While we lived in luxury and got all we ever wanted, he taught me the value of money and the need to respect it. If, today, I am a good girl (well, that’s how I am), its because of little things he taught me… from roughing it out in Bombay trains and BEST buses and not be chauffeured about. He had an amazing ability to bring me back to reality.. I remember this particular scene of coming home with my M.Sc results, I had topped the Univ, I said. Appa, had that smile and twinkle on his face and said, “Oh, the others in your class are worse than you?”.

Appa had a great weakness for sweets;-).. this is probably an understatement. Many times, he would joke that he simply had the dessert spread at parties and skipped the main course!! So, he would take the trouble of discovering the best, local sweets in the city he was in, and buy it for all of us home.. I surely have taken after him for sweets.

As is customary in our family, it was time to get me married and my parents were dead keen to do so before I started my doctoral programme. That was so tough on him and me. Even to this day, I feel almost guilty for leaving home… because that meant appa had not anyone to speak and share his thoughts… apart from mom ofcourse… So, off I left my dear home and city of Bombay to set up home in Madras. Life is so unfair, parents shower their love on children and then promptly send them packing after marrying them off, and both find the separation so tough.. My parents missed me and so did I. But my inimitable dad promptly retired in 10 months and came off to Madras. He claimed it had nothing to do with me being in Madras but come on, we all knew what was on his mind.

Life is different once you’re married and soon it was time for me to leave Madras as husband got transferred in office. And so life went…

Well, simply put, I owe my life to him.. the values he brought me up with, the discipline he imparted, the shlokas classes we had in the evenings and the impatience he showed when I didn’t get the Sanskrit pronunciation right…. the jokes he shared from his office work… Oh, I miss appa. I realise I’ve been very lucky to have such a great dad…