A Penny

A penny I saw abandoned on my path,

A penny of no worth to me.

The penny I walked past without a second glance

But doubled up at a scream of glee.

I wheeled around in my spot

On hearing a little girl’s delighted cry

And my eyes were wide in surprise

For the valueless penny was the reason why.

Her eyes gleaming, her hands trembling,

She snatched it from the ground.

And, sprinted to her little brother

Teaching a lesson without uttering a sound.

Appreciate your possessions.

Trivial though they may seem.

For in the eyes of another, they are the world.

Cherish them, adore, esteem!

Teachers, Angels Reincarnations: A Tribute

“Don’t you ever get tired of talking?!”

“What is it that you talk?! Don’t you run out of topics?!”

“Is this a fish market or a classroom?!”

“Why do you even come to school/college and waste your parents’ money?! Rot at home, why don’t you?!”

“This is the worst batch I have taught!”

Did any [or all] of these sentences hit your mind with a splash of memories? Are you smiling as you recall the ‘n’ number of times that you heard these sentences/uproars/condemns? Good old days they were, weren’t they?

We were naughty, we were full of energy, we hated school/college point blank, and we hated our teachers the most. I mean, no. We didn’t ‘hate’ hate them. Hate is actually college slang for a competent teacher who grills students down and gets work done without having to even raise his/her voice. So teachers, if you were/are hated, know that you are doing a great job!

We spend most of our time in educational institutes, trying to gather knowledge just for the heck of it and creating a nuisance in the class. If we don’t like someone, we make sure we give him or her hell in one-way or the other.

If a teacher asks questions, he is bad. If he yells, he is bad. If he doesn’t say anything, he doesn’t have the nerve. If he says anything, he is mean. So no matter what the teacher does, he ends up being bad in the eye of the students.

But you know what the great thing about teachers is? They give their everything even though they are aware of the bitter truth. They are so altruistic that they don’t mind being cursed as long as their students do well. No wonder why teaching is the most respected profession.

After our parents, our teachers play the biggest role in molding our lives. We might despise them through our lives but they become an essential part of our memories once we grow up. We look back and smile at the times we were scolded, beaten up, sent out of the class, when we played pranks, got each other into trouble, so on and so forth. We realize only much later that our teachers – no matter how strict, no matter how annoying – are the reason why we are successful today. We may not excel in their subject but hey, teachers teach us much beyond the subject. They incorporate values in us that we take forward in life.

This is to all the teachers out there. You are truly angels reincarnated, sent to the planet to make it a better place to live. I am sure I’ll be speaking for everyone when I say that you are magical; you have been, are, and will always be placed next to God.

We salute you!

A Sweet Request to the Pleasant Weather

Weather, oh weather!

My dear!

Why can’t you be as such

All year?

Hair flying on to her face,

The girl acts coy.

Dancing his heart out

Is every other boy.

Together hand in hand

They walk in your drops of rain,

That very moment they hope

Comes over and over again.

You connect hearts,

You ward off the bad mood

You bring smiles and joy

Bidding goodbye to every feud.

Through the cool breeze,

You kiss away every tear.

Weather oh weather,

Please stay as such all year?

Gems Amidst Stones

“Dunno what I am gonna do tomorrow!”

That is the standard dialogue of every student one day before the exam. No matter how much they study and work hard, the dialogue remains.

“You will do well! Don’t worry so much! Just study well,” replied Gina.

“I am. I have been studying for 2 days for this lousy lab external but I am still not confident,” said Nate.

“That is fine. That feeling comes with the exam tension. You’ll do fine. All the best!”

“Okay.”

- After the exam –

Beep! Gina’s phone said.

She checked who the text was from.

‘Text Message from Nate.’

She opened it apprehensively.

“:(“ showed the text.

“Hey,” she replied. “How did the exam go?” she added even though she had figured it out.

“I’ll be happy if I scrape out a pass. I could only do one program right and the viva was an absolute disaster.”

“Aww! Vivas are meant to go bad. Don’t worry about that. But you had studied the programs well, right? What happened?”

“Remember I told you I wouldn’t study two because I was short on time? Remember I said I’d exchange if either of them came?”

“Yes, I do. You couldn’t exchange?”

“No, we weren’t allowed to this time. My rotten luck!”

 “Oh no! That is awful.”

“Yeah. You know? Everyone copied. Everyone! Except me.”

“You don’t copy?”

“I do at times. But for today I had studied well and worked very hard and I wanted to be honest with myself. Even though I could copy, I didn’t. Everyone else did.”

Gina’s chest swelled with pride. She was so overwhelmed. She was so happy to know that even at such troubled and nasty times there were guys like Nate who chose being truthful over cheating; chose honesty over undeserving marks. It is very easy to get tempted and copy or cheat during exams. But in the long run it is not the marks but the values imbibed in you that matter. However, that seemed like a lost value. That is why, as she heard Nate’s pained voice she felt very proud.

“I am so proud of you,” she told him.

He was befuddled.

“What? Why? My exam sucked!”

“Exams don’t matter, Nate. You are a beautiful person. Don’t let low marks or badly written exams tell you otherwise. Ever. Okay?”

“Okay. But..”

“Shh. No buts. Take some rest and text me once you wake up. You must be tired.”

“Yeah, I am,” he replied, still confused.

She smiled.

“Bye. You are a gem!”

“Bye! I am not.”

“Shh. Sleep.”

Indeed these small things make a person stand out from the crowd. Such small flashes of beautiful character make a person special. The world is not messed up yet. There are still many out there in this bad world that are so tender and pure that they can’t do bad even if they want to. There are so many such people; in fact each of us has one such character that makes us human. One such feeling or emotion that we feel makes us good; it makes us good people. We may have a hundred bads but one such good is enough to overshadow all of them.

Each person is special and ‘good’. You just have to be patient enough to realize it.

Memories

Memories play a game,

n' bring the picture out the frame

They make you laugh and make you cry,

Give you a high and then leave you dry.

Memories play a role

In cleansing your soul.

Yet they hurt, they tear

They pinch and they scare.

Memories in the long run

Become the sole source of fun

When nothing is yours anymore

Memories knock on your door.

With tears streaming down,

Memories make you smile

Memories are beautiful;

They make life worthwhile.

Appreciate.

Days become months

And months make years.

We go down memory lane

And cheeks flood with tears.

Happy days come and go

As do the sad.

Everyone has ‘em all –

The best, the meridian and bad.

Blinking tears away

As we look back now,

We wonder why we lost it all

What went wrong and how.

Never take anyone for granted

Or pay you will, one day.

You may have hundreds now.

But you’ll stand alone on D-day.

When you do the Crime and Someone Else Pays

“Tomorrow, 5 PM. Okay? And I do NOT want procrastination again!” came a strict but sweet voice.

“Okay, okay. No postponement of this meeting. Tomorrow for sure! Did you tell the others?” came the reply through a calm but naughty voice.

“No, that is your job.” She said with a slight laugh. “They are always ready. You are the killjoy, hon.”

“Yeah, yeah. I ruin everything. I know. But I get busy!”

“You aren’t the only one who works round here” now the sweet voice turned threatening.

“I know. I didn’t mean. . I am sorry.” He faltered, not wanting to rile her up again.

“No worries. See you.”

“Bye.”

-------------

He was wearing his shoes when he heard loud banging on his door.

“Open up Busy Bee! It is time to go!!!” Jenny cried in glee. “We even have to pick the others.”

Rohan ran with only one shoe on to open the door because it seemed like Jessica would bang it down if he didn’t. The banging grew louder.

“Wait a second you noisy brat!” he bellowed and pulled the door open. Jessica almost fell on him due to the force because she was still busy knocking with all the ATP she had in her.

She surveyed him from top to bottom and glared.

“You aren’t ready yet? What are you, a girl?”

“Oh shut up.” He replied wearing his shoe and jumping up. “Let’s go!”

She ran behind him and kept chattering away in enthusiasm. “I brought cookies! And, chocolates! And and, chips!”

He smiled at his silly, cute friend and started the car as she wore her seatbelt safely. “Hey! Wear yours too!”

“You know I won’t.”

“You are an ass. Wear it!”

“Stop it!” and with that, he drove out on to the road.

Jenny’s head was moving in sync with the music when the phone beeped with a text.

“cum soon. Whr da hel r u gys?” She boiled looking at the chatspeak but managed to stop herself from retorting, making it a mental note to bonk Nathan’s head when they reached his place to pick him and their other friend Lisa.

“See, he is yelling now.” She said to Rohan as she stuffed her phone back in her pocket after reading the text out loud.

“Oh, he won’t yell, don’t worry. We’ll be there in 5 minutes.”

“5 minutes?!” she spluttered. “He lives at least 30 minutes away!”

“Not when I am in the driving seat.” He replied with an almost insane laugh and pressed hard onto the accelerator.

“Oh no! Oh no! Not so fast.” she realized she had unleashed the speed-freak in him just by reading the text out. He loved speed and he hated being told off. 

Both combined together made him the mad fool he was now.

“Slow down!”

“Shut up. I know you want to be there more than I do. The sooner we reach the resort, the more we’ll party. Plus, I know you like speed. So sit back and enjoy” and he laughed.

Jenny quietened down and distracted herself with the music as he drove fast and furious.

CRASH.

Three bodies lying on the floor; one of an infant held tightly against his dead mother’s chest. A moped broken and destroyed lying a distance away. And blood; innocent blood.

He got so carried away only 2 minutes into driving that he forgot he was on a busy road. He lost control and he drove straight into a young couple on a moped, the lady with their infant in her arms.

Three lives – innocent lives – ended in a second. Blood was shed for no fault of their and the baby died even before he could learn how to speak.

Rohan and Jenny only suffered minute injuries and a dent in their car.

Drive safe.

Give a damn to innocent people at least.