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...

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...