My Roy Uncle

The balmy spring; the soothing winds, the sun kissed weather, the bright colored flowers, the chirping birds and yes, the arrival of leaves on the trees. Enough to celebrate i guess. Sitting thousands of miles away from home, all i wish is the presence of all my loved ones. Loved ones, some of whom have left the earth and are perhaps enjoying spring in their paradise and some who are rapidly growing old. How i wish to hug them and stop them from growing old! Ha ha, you can call me an emotional fool though. Leaves comes on trees and sheds, and with time we all march towards our common destination.

The world is full of wonderful people and i have seriously been fortunate to meet a few of them. They have made or left some long lasting effect on my mind and heart. Their words, their life stories are exemplary especially to me. let me share the life story of Roy Uncle. Sekhar Chandra Roy whom we have always known as Roy Uncle ever since we know him have always been a fatherly figure to me and my brother. A man of great value and thinking. Never to give in to the false or malicious practices of life. A noble soul and deeply religious who never had food without offering to the Almighty. Full of fun and love for life he used to bring warmth and happiness wherever we went. As kids we used to amazed at his energy level to work hard and simultaneously enjoy every bit of his life. Roy Uncle lived the same town where we lived and had a small business. Even though small, he used to earn a decent amount to send it to his wife and son who lived in the village with his mother. His mother who wasn't fond of city life refused to come and live with them. His father left him a few years after his son was born. So his wife who used to teach in a local school used to live in the village with his mother and son. Every month Roy Uncle used to come to the Post office to send some money home. The post office was near our home and so he used to pay us a visit while on his way back home. My father and Roy Uncle used to good friends. I am not very sure how they met but whatever little i know they once met at a local bus stop. The bus was late and soon they started chatting. The bus was late by a couple of hours but they did not realize because they were in deep discussion. After this conversation they perhaps promised to be in touch which they still continue. Back then there was no phone or internet, so most of the time Roy Uncle would visit us or my father used to visit him at his work area. Even though Roy Uncle was frequent visitor at our place we don't have too many memories of his wife or son visiting us. His son was a year older to me and every year he would invite us to visit his village to celebrate his sons birthday. Back those communication wasn't good enough so we never went to their village but we used them  when they used to come to town to visit any fairs or festivals.Life continued smoothly for few years and our parents always used to hold Roy Uncle with great respect.

One summer vacation we went to our relatives house with our mother. We returned a week later. The next day my mother enquired my father if Roy Uncle visited or not to which my father looked surprised and said that its more than a month that he didn't visit us. My promised to enquire about him on his way back from office. I remember it was a rainy evening. The rain was getting heavy with every passing hour and me and my brother were trying to play even though we were fighting more. My mother was anxiously waiting for my father even though she knew he was getting late due to the heavy down pour. My father came home almost two late than his usual time. He was drenched and so was his lunch bag. He took off his shoes and put his clothes for drying. My mother offered him tea and some snacks. The conversation mainly centered around the rain even though my father spoke very little. Even though we took little notice of this fact my mother could read his face perhaps. The dinner time approached and my father hardly spoke. My mother grew restless and asked him to which my father didn't give her a convincing reply. My mother persuaded him a bit more to which he was completely silent. My mother grew more impatient. Gradually he revealed that he went to Roy Uncle work place. What he told was unbelievable. Roy Uncle's family, his mother, wife and his son were traveling to a nearby village to  attend a marriage ceremony when their car turned upside down and fell into a nearby river. By the time somebody could hear them in the night and pull them out, all three passed away. I will never forget the expression on my mothers face. She was in tears and kept coaxing my father to verify the news. To which my father said it was his employees who confirmed. Roy Uncle went to his village only to fathom his loss which was of course beyond our thinking. My thoughts wet numb. My mother skipped dinner that night and everybody retired to bed that night with Roy Uncle's thought.

A month later Roy Uncle came to our house on a Sunday morning. We were both surprised and happy to see him but were confused as to how to greet him. But he continued to talk just the way he was used to. After a few minutes my mother started to discuss about what happened in his life. Roy Uncle broke down narrating how his life completely changed after that day. My father tried to console him. Roy Uncle spoke to my parents for hours that day.

Its been more than two decades that Roy Uncles family left him. But he never gave up living his life. He worked more than usual to grow his business. With time everything changes but his values, thoughts haven't.  These days he doesn't visit our house frequently and he stays in the loving company of his employees who treat him as their father. I haven't seen him in the last few years but fondly remember him quite often. How i wish those days to come when he used to visit us and tell us inspiring stories of  Swami Vivekananda and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. I miss you Roy Uncle and see you sometime soon. Till then stay happy and healthy....

Time woes

I miss you so much...Its because of you i am here, because of you we all are here. Its you who controls who comes and goes, who rises and falls, who wakes and who sleeps. Constantly changing is your hallmark but sometimes i find it hard to keep up with you. At times you change so rapidly that i cannot decipher when it all happened and sometimes i forget to breathe. I owe a lot of things to you in my life but a lot needs to be done. Can i trust you? Will you help me or you just favor the handful? Are you same for everyone or you wear masks for different sets of people. I wish to cling you, hug you and tell you that i miss you. But you left so easily and are still on run. You are so demanding that no powerful force of nature can stop you. We all run to match you but you are always ahead of everything. We try to cling you in our photo frames, share those stories which we missed at that very point. Perhaps we did not or do not realize that you are always in hurry.

Dear 'time', nobody has ever been able to tame you. You are the master of your own will and for the nature. At times you rush in so many happiness in people's lives that we are overwhelmed whereas you change so soon. The happy moments soon becomes a treasure of memories adding warmth especially on a cold winter night. My childhood is a story to my nephew and nieces who giggle when i tell them how skilfully i could climb the guava tree who used to be in our front yard. The wide green fields where we used to play for hours, are homes of people whom i barely know. They give me a strange look whenever i visit and try to recollect how we all used to play for hours together. Surely, u changed a lot. The kids of my neighborhood have all grown in to adolescents who hardly know me. They laugh when i tell them how for hours we used to pester our parents for single stick of ice cream from the vendor, who used to visit the our playground regularly, while kids these days go to ice cream parlor. Why are you so cruel time? You force us to change our address, then change the circumstances around us, force us to think and work more and miss you all the time. The school building has changed, a few of teachers have passed away, yet the school corridors speaks volumes of stories it has seen over  a few decades.Change is good only if it works for us. Not all the changes brought by time are enjoyed by us. Some of them are so hard hitting that it completely changes us. Now don't ask me if its for good or bad. We all have our experiences with changes. A lot of my friends have lost their parents or parent, now how good that can be. The closest people to us in this world leave and change our way of looking at the world completely.

There are no clock manufacturing companies in this world who can come up with a watch to stop you or slow you down. We don't know your speed or velocity at which you move, but the universe says that in times of grief you seem to slow down in a persons life. I know its incorrect. You have given me tons of good memories but please allow me to keep my memories safe. Please don't change them. They are like a soft pillow which let me sleep every night. As snow flakes hits my window i smile and look up to the sky for i know that if winter is here, can spring be far behind?

Happy New Year 2015

So another year bites the dust. Yes, as we come close to the end of another year, our minds are full of thoughts about the year that is passing by. Some of have gained while some lost. Well losing is a heavy word and not everyone can take its burden. In the way of losing just lose your hope. Losing takes everything but gives us one big thing; experience. Yes, it leaves behind memories of the failure but gives us a strong lesson of experience which no body else can teach us. Each of our lives are different hence we all have experienced the same year with different extremes.

But whatever have been our experiences we all can unanimously sing and welcome the New Year 2015. Let us wish, pray and hope no child goes hungry to sleep. Nobody leaves the world due to lack of love and care, no mother loses their child. Lets in our own small way try to make the world a better place for ourselves if not for others. Let our children live a healthy life and their laughs be the ultimate music to our souls. Let us all strive to live healthy, think healthy and care for our loved ones and extend our love for the ones who need love the most.

Here's wishing you all a bright, happy, healthy and a prosperous New Year 2015. Stay happy and spread the cheer.....

Its Festive Season...

It's a bright crisp October morning. The leaves have changed color and are all donning a cheerful look. The birds are chirping as though they singing in chorus some song which soothe the human minds. Though I cannot fathom what they are singing yet their chirping is no less than a trip to massage parlor a where we usually go to soothe our senses.

The festive season for Bengalis are almost over. Durga Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Kali Puja or Diwali and Bhai Fota. It's a galore of celebrations for the Bengalis world wide which every single Bengali looks forward to. While the non Bengalis worship Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Ganesh together on Diwali, Bengalis worship Goddess Lakshmi exactly on the seventh day after Durga Puja. On Diwali, Bengali worship Goddess Kali. Festivals are a source of enlightenment of our our cultures and traditions. It binds us all with the power of love, traditions and a sense of faith towards the Almighty.

Coming to the other part of the globe, the fall festival kicks in around the month of September. The leaves adorn different shades of red, green and yellow making themselves a visual treat for the onlookers. The dry leaves strewn all over and gently blown over by the wind gives us a reminder of the winters that's soon to follow. The excited kids have enjoyed their Halloween with or without the candies. While love for candies and chocolates are almost universal, yet there are kids who relish just by looking the pictures of the candies in their books or any print or electronic advertisement. A bagful of candies may not be healthy for the teeth and their gentle tummies, yet the sight of candies surpasses all the resolutions for not to have them. Colorful theme based costumes, spooky make ups, remembering the dead could not have been more colorful. 

Halloween is soon to be followed by the Thanksgiving  and the festive season steps in completely. Well decorated homes with the lights adds fun in the absence of the lush green trees. The naked trees mostly with their trimmed branches gets some make over with those tiny warm bulbs adding light and warmth to the festive season. Christmas and New Year are those time of the year which in my words are basically three things fun, love and enjoyment. Fun with shopping, decorating minds and lives, love to be shared with family and friends, and enjoyment with your dearest ones. It's the power of the festive season which brings everyone on the same platform. Of course there are people who are deprived and denied of all the above mentioned things.

Before you wear a new dress,open your gift and enjoy your meal with your favorite people this festive season, say a silent prayer for those needy ones who spend nights in the cold without a morsel or without any warm clothing. Let this festive season bring a smile on the lips of every child living anywhere on this globe......

A gloomy day

It hasn't been a good way to start the day. The morning started with some depressing news of one of my classmates who called it quits to life.The weather was giving company to my mood as it is a dull boring and at times a rainy day. Brooding over a cup of coffee and wondering what could have possibly went wrong in my friends life, my mother calls up to inform me that one of my cousins met with an accident and is injured. Even though the accident wasn't life taking yet it was enough to perturb my mind. As an allegory to the fact that my mind was submerged in all negativity i overlooked my bread which i had put in the toaster for breakfast. They had burnt beyond recognition perhaps gently reminding me that i am still an amateur in the kitchen.

The day rolls and my mind and brain both travels back to fun filled school days. Limited gadgets, limited source of living and unlimited fun. The nexus we developed as students with each other still grips my mind. But then the question starts rolling, why do everything change? Have we changed, or our circumstances have changed or time has changed everything around us? Where does happiness live? In money, in education, in our mannerisms, in our way of living or in our contentment....It's a general maxim that compromises and sacrifices help to make life easier but what about those souls who try these but failure hits them so hard that they end their lives. What is that force or that tide that erases all the love of their loved ones only to push them to death? Is it any tide or some emotion/s or any adjective of which i am certainly unaware of...They start feeling their life is redundant.

School days are the best time of any child's life. My memories are colorful that i can dream my entire life of my school and school buddies. But certainly you can have an opinion and a different story to share. It's that that part of our life which should be enjoyed, dreamt, laughed, played only to be cherished for the rest of our lives. With due course of time we grow and develop according to our skill set and talents. But sometimes we tend to be rebellious and do not accept what life has destined for us. We fractiously try to carve our own path, but in that process we meet lot of repudiations. Its almost like going uphill and losing balance and treading downhill.

Some things in life are destined my friends, please do not try to change. It takes extreme courage to change them and needs applause if successful, but if at any point of time you face dejections, please do not take any extreme step. It leaves many loved ones hurt and wondering as to why such a wonderful life had to end so soon. May you find peace and the angels shower their endless love on you.

Keepsake Memories....

Everything around me is looking bright and green. The soft green grass, the luscious pink flowers which refuses to look dull despite the bright sunshine, the mellow yellow flowers, the lilies dancing to the soft winds, the winds blowing my hair across my face. My sun kissed face, the babies dancing and rolling with their footballs, girls giggling with their buddies and my mind is clicking these images so that when winter creeps in my life these memories will provide me the softest cushion.

Memories these indeed are in the making in the coming grueling winter months. These soft images will provide the warmth when half of the world outside the house will be almost frozen and lifeless. We all love our memories, cling them to our hearts, remember them over a cup of coffee, shed tears over them, laugh at those long lost moments. Ever wondered why are memories so special? Despite everything changing around us, they 'never' change. We always want to get lost in the world of memories where there is no time change, no weather affects them, nothing is queer, nothing is chucked out of brain and heart.

My palanquin of memories has travelled far and wide and it is still making memories. Memories with my loved ones. The elders of my family have mostly left for their heavenly abode where i am sure they are enjoying the moments that the they could not in their earthly life. We have their memories which makes our life richer with happiness. Such is the strength of memories that they still mellow the hearts and make eyes mushy.

Memories are a synchrony of happiness and bond. The bond we share/shared with our closest family, friends or relatives or sometimes with a stranger. With the passage of time they bloom in strong or weak relationships depending on how we nurture them. The nexus goes on to create some everlasting memories which even the tide of time finds hard to erase. They are never svelte or bulky. They occupy a special place in our hearts which never runs out of space. Such sweet things...

But is it wise enough to cling to our memories? Of course, if it is about school and the wonderful friends we make who sometimes continue to be our lifelong friends. But not everybody is fortunate enough to get lifelong friends. People change with circumstances but yes, those memories remain the same leaving us wondering why have they changed with time. Memories of failed relationships should not be held too tight  to our hearts. They often reside in our hearts occupying maximum space and making the situations ameliorating. But who wants to drown in sorrow? Its better to get rid of them at the earliest.

Enjoy the memories, but most importantly make good ones. They should be pristine, enjoyable and worthy enough to be shared with people. Making some exemplary moments gives us the ambit to enrich our minds and souls when we are looking for happiness outside the heart..........

Zohra Sehgal

The infectious laugh, the zest for life, living every moment of the wonderful gift of God, legendary Indian actress Zohra Sehgal has lived every second of it. With a career ranging over a few decades, this lady has proved time and again that age is just a number and cannot bow you down unless you want to bow down before it. The gusto, the enthusiasm, that this lady projected on screen even in her nineties just left her audience spell bound. Nearly flawless pronunciation in Urdu, and her crisp Hindi Zohra Sehgal has a special place in her audiences heart.

Life has its own route of ascending and descending. This lady had her moments of pain and pleasure but that could perhaps snatch her smile which dominated over all her griefs. The result was a long hearty life full of adventures. As life unfolded over the years, Zohra Sehgal met life smilingly. Now wonder after her demise her fans still wished if she had lived a few more years. The warmth of her smile still touches some chords of heart.

Zohra Sehgal's work cannot be fathomed. Its spread over years and most importantly they are just not in films and television series, they are permanently in her audiences mind and heart. Her witty performances in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Cheeni Kum still sets her way apart beyond comparison.

People have tons of reasons to grieve, to cry, to fuss over, to lament but this wonderful lady smiled almost through everything. Lets all take a leaf from her happiness book and imbibe it in our lives.

Keep smiling Zohra Sehgal wherever you are. May you spread your smile and live in peace. Meanwhile just in case you reading this post, start or end your day with a hearty smile. It will certainly make everything beautiful....