A call from my friend

   It is a luck to have a good friend. And, in that case, I am a bit more lucky, as I have a good number of  'good friends'. Today, a small incident- a call  from one of  my friends, made me realize that I am lucky enough.

   Today I got a call from 'S'.  He is one of my college friends, who mean a lot to me. But, nowadays, we were not contacting regularly. But, his surprise call really made me happy. As soon as I have attended the call, he asked me " Are you okay dear? is everything going fine?".  I could feel, he is worried, and I wondered why. Then comes the thing behind that;

 I am not a regular person in face book. and I don't have a lot of friends there, only the ones who are so dear, near and important for me.. And, sometimes, when I open my  fb page, I used to share some good quotes or pictures those I came across, which may be posted by my friends or somebody else.The quotes can be inspirational , emotional or philosophical. Actually, some of the emotional wordings were so emotional and sentimental that, any body can come to a conclusion that, I am going through a bad phase of life. or I am passing through any 'break ups'- . but, you know what, nobody else noticed this and not  texted or called me to know if the things are going well or not.

  But, 'S' noticed this, and called me. He wanted to make sure that, I am doing well. I assured him that, I am doing great. Everything is going fine.. I felt so happy for his concern and care. This may be a small incident, but it filled my heart. You made my day. Even though, we were not contacting for a short while, you came when you thought I am in trouble. thank you so.. much my dear friend...
     
   I wish and pray to God that, Please make me capable of keeping all my friends with me forever....

An advice got on time & I needed most...

         I have already told about a friendship that I had lost one day. You might have read it here and here. Today, I came to remember again about her. Two months ago, she got married. Happily got married to a nice guy. I am really happy for her.

          Her marriage... that’s what I want to tell now about. After we had broken our relationship, we didn’t kept any contact to each other. Even though we had some unexpected meetings in between, they were not sufficient to hold back a broken friendship. But, when her marriage came near, she tried to contact me first. Unfortunately, I couldn’t attend her calls as I was at work. And, I couldn’t call her back also. May be it’s my ego. But, I was sure that, this call was for inviting me for marriage. And how can I call her back and ask for the invitation? Let her call again. That was what I have thought that time.

          No any call came, but I got an e-mail from her would- be. That was their wedding invitation card. Oh! Why couldn’t she invite me? And he and me don’t know each other yet.

          There was not at all a thought of, me attending that wedding. When my other friends (who are also invited) called up and asked about how I am supposed to go, and how we can buy gifts (In all weddings, we share and buy a nice gift), I didn't got anything to tell them. Actually except two of them not aware of what happened between us. So, I choose to stay Hmmm...

          When Athi called me up and asked about if I am going or not, I said it. "I am not going da. She hasn’t even invited me properly. And you know all that happened..". She said “It’s okay, if you feel that’s right, then don’t go. I am planning to go by this time and this way.(she mentioned the time and the respective bus).

          Then the day came. I had tuition on the same day. And I was getting ready for going the tuition centre. My students are supposed to come after less than one hour.

          Deep inside, something was disturbing me. Yes, it’s about her. I really felt bad for not wishing her Good Luck. I just typed a greeting to her. Also mentioned that, I won’t be able to attend the wedding – some reasons. This made me feel a bit better, and continued my preparation for the class.

          Everything got changed after I have got the call from my brother Sibi. Not a blood relation, but a stronger bond that made of love. He asked me the same; “you not going?”

Me: (Silence)

He:  Hey, what you are doing? if you don’t want to, then don’t go. But, have you thought about how long you going to keep the distance? Today is her marriage, and after that, she will go her way and you on yours. What if you not attended her wedding? She also won’t attend your’s. And what you both gain from that? Ok listen, whatever have happened between you both, just forget it. Just remember that, you both had a good relation sometime before. and today is a very important day for her. If you don’t attend today, you can’t do it any other day. And every one forget all rivalries when Marriage/ death comes.

Me left blank.... I just  got what I needed most at that time..a perfect advice on correct time. I was totally confused, and now he made everything clear. Yeah, you are right. I don’t like a chance of regretting myself some day, If I didn’t go today. Yes..I have to go. And I will...

          But I had my students waiting for me. When the decision is made, the solutions were coming easily. I had gone to my class, had a one and a half hour class, and gave them a break. Then I rushed to the temple, where the marriage was supposed to be held at. I have reached there on time, had seen my friends. Also him, who made me do this, Who told me what I was supposed to do, who taught me hold back my silly fight and ego and give cheers to one of my best friendship... I could see how he happy he was. Even though he didn’t mention anything I could know that.. Thank you my dearest brother and ever loving friend.. With out you, I couldn't have done it..

          Athi was also happy for my coming. She told me that, you just leave all that bad feelings you had. Just forget about it, and from today, you may not be continuing your relation with her, but you just don’t have to keep the burden of those fights anymore. Keep yourself happy always..

          We enjoyed the wedding celebrations fully. I had greeted her Best wishes. I am sure, she too was so happy on this. My presence. She asked me, “you have messaged me, that you won’t...?”. “ Yeah, but I couldn’t”- was my reply.

          Just after the function, I left there to continue my class. I want to thank my students also. They completely agreed to adjust.

          Thus, it ended like this.. as I had said in one of my previous post, ‘that may be because of the warmth of a good relation which we had once....’

Good Spirit, please come..

            In our hostel days, we used to talk about anything in the world. It was just like another day, busy with chatting. We were in our room. There were some other friends from the nearby room. We neighbours are having a group chat.. the topics were vast and wide, no limits..Then, somebody told about a new thing, that we have seen in a movie, but neither discussed about it, nor experienced..

It was “OJOBOARD”.. The game with the spirits...!!!

            In that movie named ‘ Aparichithan’ ,the heroine and friends got an ojoboard, from a witch’s place. They had seen her calling spirits of dead persons and talking to them . One night, they had stolen the ojoboard and tried to play the game in their place. The only light was provided by a candle.Placing the ojoboard coin at the centre of the board, they called out a spirit. To be safe, they called out a good spirit ,who won’t make any harm. “Good spirit please come.. Good spirit please come.. Good spirit please come.. Good spirit please come.. Good spirit please come............”  They felt a change in the surroundings .But, they continued,..they continued, till the coin started moving itself. Yes!! The spirit had come. They asked it whether it is dead or alive, and man or a woman, and name.. The spirit’s name was said as ‘Ram’. Then one of the girls got scared and disturbed all the arrangements. And the surroundings got changed in to normal. But, they didn’t know, the spirit they called couldn’t return from where he came. He was with them, till  the end, having a purpose..rest the story of movie..

            So, coming back to our chatting in the hostel room... When we started discussing about the movie, the topic changed to ojoboard only. “is it a real thing” was our doubt. To my surprise, the girls in the next room had more knowledge about this. They had told us many real stories (they claimed them as real) regarding this, and two of them told, they had experienced that. And, told us, how to try this in our way, as we don’t have the real ojoboard.

            At last, came the idea of trying it.. “just try it”..said some, who considered themselves brave and like to do risky adventures [they think themselves like that! It’s their first adventure any way ): ], “yeah, let’s try it”, said some who don’t believe in such things, and need to prove that, that was a fake idea and won’t work. But, there are the rest of the girls..” Oh no..Please don’t do this, we don’t have to try this. What if the spirit really came? What if it is not a good spirit? We don’t have to risk our lives”. There were some other people who don’t have any particular opinion. They think “let it be”, whether the decision is ‘to go for a try’ or ‘the deal is over(“we can stop this nonsense)”.

            And, finally it is decided that, its a “No Deal”. We don’t have to risk other’s life, though we are ready to put risk to our lives. And the meeting ( chatting), dispersed as it was time for the dinner.

            Everything was normal, from then. We all had our dinner, our usual things before going to bed. Some have assignments to do, two of them reading some novels or something, some were in the study hall, as they have a test on the next day. And, among the rest, one went to bed already, and a group of four was discussing something. ‘Ojoboard’?? Hey, no.. Me  went back to my assignment. It was almost 12.00 am , when everything  got settled and everybody on their beds.

            Me always have some problem with sleep. The sleep won’t bless me as soon as I get  my bed. I need to wait, sometimes with some books, or some music.. but, as the lights were already switched off by our hostel warden, no more deal with books. So, I closed my eyes and waited for sleep......

            “Hey, make your sound low, they will wake up”- a husky sound heard. And that followed some other sounds also. “bring that candle, oh..and the steel glass too..” the conversation was between more than two “yeah, everything is ready” some other’s voice. ‘what is happening’ I couldn’t figure out first, whether I was seeing a dream. But, it was sure, I was not blessed then..

            Okay, then some thing is there. I just turned the other side slowly and , watched out..There were 4 of my roommates, they are doing something in the dark, in candle light. “Oh..No!!” they were trying to play ojoboard!!.. ‘What should I do? Shall I stop them?  Or silently watch this? And if the spirit come, what if it caught me first?” .. “ Oh, what am I thinking? There is no such spirits or something. We are engineers, believe in science and technology. Don’t be stupid”,  I scolded myself.

            I wake up, making them notice . They all got startled, seeing me. But, when I neared them, I was also in the group, trying to arrange the settings. A small candle, a steel cup, a sheet of paper, on which all the alphabets and numerals are written on periphery and at the centre there was a circle, to place the coin, and on two sides, written ‘YES’ and ‘NO’ . The ojoboard got ready to play. It was like, we play this every night. Everybody seemed so confident and brave (what about me..? ). Then, one of us explained the rules on ‘how to call a spirit’. That was Sari, the bravest one among us. So, everything was ready..it was set..and we went for it..

            We sat down on the floor making a circle.  Then we lighted the candle,  a small candle as  we have to cover the candle using the steel cup, as per the rules. The candle was placed on a coin . These all, the coin, candle, the s teel cup, all on the sheet of paper , which we have converted in to an ojoboard not any less than the real one.

            12.30 am. The silence of night..we have done everything as per the plan. Now, its time for calling the spirit. Remember, ‘ Good spirit’..   We have hold our hands stretched, with the forefinger pointing to the steel cup. We repeated the words from the movie “Good spirit please come.. Good spirit please come.. Good spirit please come..”...And........

            We were reciting those words with full concentration...suddenly....” Stop this nonsense..” somebody screamed..and put down the cup, tore the paper..the candle was already turned off. One of us switched on the lights. Thank God, nobody wake up from sleep. And, we were looking each other ,’what happened’ ‘who screamed?’  ..you know, who was that? It was Sari, the bravest girl among us.  She looked so frightened, looking on something on the floor. We couldn’t find anything there. We were still sitting on the floor. We called her ,shaking her body? We all were scared..then she said “ Something is rotten somewhere....”  .... “WHAT??????”  We all asked in unison and burst in to a laughter.. What does it mean..? .

            After we settled from the laugh, we asked her, what actually happened to our ‘Brave little woman’? . As we laughed, on her that strange wordings, the situation got loosened. She was feeling a little shame, and said that, she felt something strange that time, felt the steel cup moving itself and don’t know how that words came to her mind...

            We told her, there was nothing like that, and we didn’t feel anything strange.. and assured her that, may be someone among us had touched the cup, and made it move.. We finally managed to get in to the normal. And, it was already late, and we went to sleep....

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The next day, the girls in the other room had asked us whether we tried ojoboard ,last night. And told us that, they expected that. But, we told them..” No, and never..”..and we looked for Sari..She was there , busy in something..

Flash of Memories

 Memories are part of our lives...Good or bad ones. Sometimes, a flash of some incidents in the past will reach us without any intimation....and we loose in thoughts.....

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   It was a day during my project... I was very busy all day the day, reading papers, research journals, come to my own conclusions, new ideas, trying new designs, and a lot more..There was not a single time left for any entertainment, as it was the peak time of the project. The thing, I do to relax was talking to jasna, my friend, my class mate, who is doing project at the same centre..We used to talk about anything around us, thus get relaxed from the work, and these little conversations make our mind fresh and clear, and we ready for doing the work that left to do. We both think in the same way. I wonder, how can we agree in everything, with the same mind..But, it was true...

     One day, she was not there, and I missed our daily talk, and was fully engaged in work. When I felt a bit tired, I put the head phone, and started playing some music in my mobile phone. I was listening to that, trying to relax, stretched my body and lay on my cushioned seat...Then came that...a sudden but gentle flash of something.......

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            It was during my college days, my graduation..I was staying in a hostel. There were 10 inmates in my room. I got a mobile phone for me in the 2^nd year. It was not a difficult task to get one from my parents, as I am away from home, and they can call me, anytime they wish to, most importantly, during the weekend journey’s between home and hostel. It was an ordinary colour handset, not having an MP3 player or camera. But, we listened to the radio daily..

            It was during the next year, some of my friends got mobiles having camera, video and mp3 players. One of my room mates, Sree also got one. She considered me as a kid sometimes, some feeling she didn’t show for other inmates.Our beds were near, and we managed to place them close and used as a double bed.  In our free time, in  holidays, after breakfast or lunch or the evening snacks, She used to play music, sometimes in the loudspeaker, if  everyone wants to hear, otherwise using head phone...

            She may be taking a rest on our bed, when she call me for a company. Then me too lie by her side, and she will put one earplug in to mine, and we enjoy the music. She was so cared about, and check whether I enjoy the music, and like the song, which was playing. I liked her loving ways, and always liked the songs, she played. We enjoyed our company...

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            I was in the lab, taking a rest in between my work..I missed her..I felt to call her, and tell her, how I remembered those days. I have decided to make the call or write to her, after reaching home. Two reasons for making it at home. She may be not available at that time, or busy with her work. Me too don’t make personal calls at my work place.

            I was thinking, why had this happened only then? It is not the first time, I am listening to music. Yeah, it is the first time at work place, but I used to do it during my long travels between the research centre and my home. Then why that time only..?

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      Things come to happen in our lives, creating memories, sweet or sour.. We don’t know, when they are created and when they come back to make us remember something...

“BAVRANS”

  The word meaning of BAVRANS is ‘butterflies’…and I am going to talk about some butterflies, who were brought together at the same place by destiny. I am happy to say that me also belongs to this ‘family’.

   When I got admission in a college far from my home, the only thing that I felt as a problem was.. i have to stay in a hostel. Until  then, I never had a chance to stay away from my family. So it was a new experience for me to be in a hostel…and it was thrilling too, to meet new faces, to have new friends, and to be in a new atmosphere..

  

  Then I got admission in a hostel very near to my college… our college. There was 9 friends waiting for me in the room which was  numbered as 408. Some of us were very much home sick, but just after a few days, everyone got adapted to our new world, and started living as a single family under the same roof..

  

    One day one of us came with an idea of giving a name to our room (may be we are not satisfied with just a number), and every one agreed to that. We got a nice name also.. ”DOVECOT”- which means dove’s nest..

  

  It was  a  holiday-  we have nothing to do and we were just talking and discussing on a lot of topics ,then came the idea of making a new word joining the first alphabets of our names. We are in search of not just a word ,but a meaningful word.. Then by avoiding the repetitions of some letters finally we got the name “BAVRANS”, which means ‘butterflies’…