Still Waters Run Deep....

“Oh, you got leave for 4 weeks? That’s too much!” She blurted. She was slightly annoyed at this news from her friend and co-worker. The leave meant she would have to mentor someone as replacement and take additional work load for herself. She knew it was coming anyway- her co-worker had been planning her wedding from a long time now. She sighed and looked out of the window of her 4th floor office. The coconut tree leaves were swaying lazily in the breeze- without a care in the world.  She was mesmerized by the rhythmic dance of the leaves and stood transfixed. Her mind went to a day in her childhood vacation in Chennai. She was 6 years old and was playing in the thread and plank swing. Despite numerous requests from her grandparents to be careful, she was doing acrobatics. She took off the plank and started climbing the rope. Halfway through, she lost her grip and fell. She was hurt, but didn’t care. But her grandpa, known for his quick temper, came running and shouted,”E valav ...

I first wrote this article when I was 15.. on a paper with a pen (ah.. those days!). I re-wrote this when I was 20. So the target audience is of a similar age group- but, age no bar! Hope you enjoy this! --- Ramya I was watching the news when suddenly my neighbourhood flashed on TV. The news reader was reporting: "In yet another series of leopard-spotting, a leopard was today spotted at Raheja Estate in a suburb Borivali, in Mumbai. The forest officials were called immediately from the National Park which adjoins the area. The leopard was caught by the forest officials. We, at NDTV have filmed the entire capture and will be airing it shortly. Meanwhile, this has sparked a debate on………." Wow, a leopard in my colony. And I being in Chennai for vacation missed the entire thing. It would have been so much fun! Then I would have watched the whole episode live. The vacation soon got over and I was back home. College started soon and the whole boring routine started agai...

The cab arrived. We loaded the luggage into it, and after saying fond goodbyes left for the airport. I and two of my classmates were flying back to Mumbai from Dubai for our mini vacation. After an uneventful cab ride, we reached the airport. At the check in counter, I offered a smile to the Chinese guy and asked for a window seat. He smiled back and said, “I will do much better than that ma’am. Our Economy class is full and we’re identifying passengers for upgrading to Business Class. I am putting you in the priority list for upgrading. This boarding pass is for economy class, but just ask the personnel at the boarding counter, he will upgrade it”. I thanked him and left the counter happily. My two friends also got the same priority listing. After this, we finished all the formalities and went towards the Duty Free shopping area. I enjoyed whiffing the various perfume brands- which were beyond my liquidity at the moment and then went to the chocolates and nuts section. I got separate...

“Oh Damn” I cried out in frustration as soon as I saw the email. Nothing could ever go right.  I had had a good night’s sleep and woken up at leisure at 11 am. The next day was to be communication skills assessment on self – introduction. I settled down at 12:30 and started preparing for it. Just when I started, the mail which made me curse came. We were to have the assessment on the same day.. And not the next as originally scheduled. I immediately went into a spate of negativity- why did things always get messed up this way? Muttering to myself, I ordered food and started getting ready for college. The bell rang- and my food came. I paid the money and opened the parcel. I had ordered one stuff paratha which usually came in four pieces. But the parcel was bulky- on counting I found that there were actually eight pieces- two stuff parathas instead of one!! I mentioned this to my room mate. Her spontaneous reaction was, “Wow… you are so lucky- all such good things happen to you...

I was watching a cute song from Little Mermaid the other day- in which Ariel, the mermaid is struggling to learn dining etiquette to be a princess. She innocently picks up a fork and brushes her hair in the dining table! This took me down the memory lane and I remembered experiences that I had, just like Ariel. When I think fork and knives, there is one painful incident that is ingrained in my mind. I still cringe with embarrassment when I think of it... And being embarrassed is one of the most painful things a human can go through…Yes, even more painful than a broken heart! This incident happened around seven years ago. My relatives had come to our place in Mumbai, and we were all invited to dinner at Cricket Club of India. I was cricket-crazy at that point in my life and was very excited at the prospect of eating at the CCI and was already imagining the expression on my friends faces when I would tell them. Little did I know that this experience would be a disaster which would ha...

This was an article i wrote around 4-5 years back... which was published in Women's Era... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I’ve always had this cool “vision” of myself- at the driver’s seat, cruising on the highway. There was only one problem- I couldn’t drive. So when I turned 19 (yeah, I know the law says 18, but I’m an engineering student, I’m hard pressed for time), I decided it was high time I learnt driving. “Dad, I want to learn driving.” I declared. “What’s the hurry? You can learn later”, Dad replied. “Well, if I learn now, I can drive too, when we go long distances.” Well, this incentive worked. “Ok. We’ll start from Sunday”. Sunday came and found me very excited. I was gonna drive!!! Step one towards my vision!! “Well, I already know the theory so you can skip that”, I said. “That’s the clutch and brake…..” Dad continued as if he never heard what I said. Oh well. “So now you can start the car and dr...