Serendipity

Have you ever felt completely liberated, especially recently? Such occasions have become rare in our lives. But they are not impossible. They may not be easy to come, but once you decide, they are very much possible for you. One thing which I can promise you is that the experience you get feeling completely liberated is worth the every effort you have to put in to acquire this experience. Each one of us has a different notion of feeling completely liberated and that’s why it’s important to understand that you may not relate completely to what I am going to share with you now. However I am confident that whatever I share, will make some meaning for you, and it will definitely add some value to your life, be it big or small. Frankly, it will largely depend on what you want to take out of my sharing. It so happened that a few months back I got a chance to create something new, and I liked it so much that I dedicated myself completely to the cause. I immersed myself in it so much

“Ladies & gentlemen, girls & boys, may I have your attention please!” called out my son. While the murmuring died down, my eyes gazed around the hall. I was surrounded by close family members, relatives and friends. The men & boys in tuxedoes and the lovely ladies & girls draped in beautiful saris made no less than a style statement. And then there were those who I didn’t know, but they knew me, to be precise, they knew about me. They were not a few but many and they had chosen to come in large numbers. Many of them loved me, simply adored me. There were also a few who hated me, I could clearly see that in their eyes, and they were wondering how an ordinary man could transform into extraordinary, that too in such a short time. And all of them, without exception, were waiting impatiently for my son to continue. It is indeed once in a lifetime opportunity if you are invited for a book reading by one of the largest bookstores in the country for your very first book,

I love myself more than anyone else. I cannot even stand someone else loving me more than I love myself. I think I’m perfectly normal. I rather think that those who do not think like me are not normal. I am of the opinion that there is something missing in you if you do not love yourself more than others love you, as if there is a void between you and the ‘you’. I am the greatest proponent of the infamous ‘I me myself’ philosophy. I was born in a rich family living in a ravishingly beautiful chateau in Languedoc, a small town in the south of France. My dad was a successful businessman who had wedded the daughter of another very successful businessman, my beautiful mom. I was born after three sisters and so it would have been unusual if I was not the most loved and pampered creature in the house. I call myself a creature because I was treated like one. Nobody treated me normal. If I coughed two doctors were summoned at the same time, if I fell down from the bicycle, it was sold an

She sat in the Starbucks cafe, sipping her coffee and staring out of the window. The blood stained knife lay next to her handbag, covered with her blue silk scarf. She sat alone, shaking. She wished she drank alcohol, it might steady her. A strong Americano was the next best alternative. She struggled not to cry. It all started while her son Amit was in the tenth standard. Being a single parent for the last five years, getting her son admitted in the same school as where she taught was a big relief. It had not been easy for her to convince the principal, who firmly believed that a child would get pampered beyond cure, if he or she studied in a school where his or her mother taught. It was a rare case where he relented; after all her skillset was also rare, a double masters and a doctorate from the Oxford. Only a fool would let her go. At the same time, she was warned to be extra cautious, so as not to allow her son have an unfair advantage of her presence. That day she decided th

When the air hostess announced that our flight would land 20 minutes before time, her voice was like music to my ears. Reaching before time is always a pleasure and this time it was particularly reassuring as I had a connecting train to catch. While being hauled in the airlines bus, I casually gazed at the airport building and couldn’t stop appreciating its swankiness. By normal standards, my luggage also arrived quite quickly, adding to my pleasure. I didn’t mind the old luggage wheel carts still being used, after all some things never change? I was getting more & more impressed with the surroundings and while doing so, joined a small queue to wait for my turn for getting a prepaid taxi ticket to the train station. Since I was well immersed in my thoughts, it took me a while to realize that the queue was not moving. As I looked behind, I found the queue to be growing like a serpent. There were more counters but there was only one queue. A few people, who were reluctant join

South Mumbai has its own air, an air which is hard to define in words and can only be felt by a personal visit. It’s always a treat to visit the far south end of Mumbai once-in-a-while. This is true not only for the far living residents of Thane & Navi Mumbai, but also for those who stay in places like Juhu & Andheri and claim to be staying in the heart of Mumbai. Something changes when you hit the Victoria Terminus (VT) station and move further beyond. Whenever I pass through VT, its palatial heritage beauty reminds me of the interesting as well as scarcely known history of Mumbai, as to how this archipelago of seven islands, then known as Bombay, was placed in possession of the British empire, as a part of dowry during the marriage of a Portuguese princess to a British prince ! Yesterday being the fourth Saturday of the month, when we all had time at our disposal, and also the rain Gods were resting a little bit, we embarked on our sojourn. We had decided to visit the S

Everybody remembers their first year in college. When it comes to first year at the hostel, only one thing comes to my mind, it’s just impossible to forget it. The other day, for some reason, I happened to speak about my engineering college & its hostel with one of my colleagues. Later on that evening, while driving back home from the office, numerous pleasant and some not so pleasant incidents of my college & hostel life crossed my mind. The most surprising part was that the scenes from the first year at the hostel were so vividly clear as compared to the rest; it was as if I’m watching a movie. Later on I was wondering, why this would happen that the incidents of the first year, especially those which occurred at the hostel, would remain etched in my memory and come out sparkling fresh as if they have just happened yesterday. And then I realized that probably it’s because everyone goes thru a metamorphosis in personality in the first year, more so when one resides in a