Kalpak's Diary

He never liked the Rainy season very much. Always used to be upset of wet clothes, mud on the street which sprinkles when bicycle or a vehicle running ahead of you runs all over you. Often his important plans were screwed up because on untimely rains. Still all his primary school days teachers used to force him to write "Rainy season" as the topic for essay writing.

Living in Central India summers were always agonizing and to heal all pain came rain followed by the lovely winter. He loved winters the most. It was unlike all other kids. Although he was above average in studies his grades used to change drastically in all tests during and after winter. He used to do excellent in second half of the educational year. It used to start with biggest festival for Indians "Diwali" then came X-Mas followed by new year. Everything taught to be optimistic and be hopeful and so was he in his life. At least he use to tell himself always to be hopeful and good will follow.

That day the sun started its walk from the east it was yet another lovely day for him. He was all excited about his elder sister's marriage. He had lot of things on his agenda to do. He had to find a good marriage hall, pick up all invitation cards and in the end pick up new mattress for guests coming for the marriage. They had already started arriving and with each arrival there was jubilation. Everyone was hugging each other and dancing with joy.
All the relatives used to ask--

"Where is your son ?
How old is he?
Is he like his father ?
Self made man? "

It is always difficult to reach the top but to stay there is more difficult. Similarly to be a star is difficult but be a star son is more difficult. He was affected by the same syndrome. His parents were very kind and supportive who allowed him to be himself but anything he used to do would be taken as his parents must have told him hence he did that. Oh! his elder sister is matured and she must have suggested him. Let us see how he fares in the long run, will he remember the sacrifices his parents did for him ? Will he give them a good and healthy life when they grow old ? on and on and on .. he was grown all the way till now listening and facing these questions.

With all these questions at back of his mind he started his day looking for marriage hall. He narrowed down to couple of them and was going to discuss with his parents to select one of them. It was almost dusk time when he marched towards old part of the city with narrow lanes and bazaar area to pick all printed invitation cards. He scrutinized each and every card and diligently counted both numbers of Marathi and English cards. He came back home with them and everyone got busy writing address and posting them as soon as possible.

"Do carry your jacket, its pretty cold outside" shouted his mom as he was marching to complete his final task of the day. He unwillingly took his jacket, kick started his scooter and drove towards the mattress store. It was dark and winter was gearing up to play yet another innings. It was pretty cold and he was feeling its severity. It was difficult to breathe while driving when wind was directly hitting your face. He took 3 stops in a journey of hardly 5 kms to gasp up some deep breaths. There was hardly anyone on the road that day. He picked up the mattress and started looking for a tempo for a delivery. No luck ! even after waiting for 30 mins there was no sign of any conveyance.

Just then he saw a overly old aged man may be in his late 50's on his cycle rickshaw trying to cover his entire body with a simple scarf,through which you could see the entire sky. No way the intensity of this winter was going to be countered with that scarf but still he was holding onto it yet shivering. Momentarily a thought popped his mind bout asking that man to rent his rickshaw but then he walked without disturbing him. A voice came from behind.



"beta, rickshaw chahiye ?" (Do you want me to drop you ?) "Yes", he said.

He loaded the mattress in the cart and asked the old man to follow him while he will be driving at a slow pace parallel to him. All different thoughts came to his mind about that poor rickshaw puller.

"How hard is he trying to earn his living and support his family.
He must be having a family at-least, yes he must be !
He must be doing for his kids so they get food and good education, else who would work in this killing weather."

He saw the rickshaw puller pedaling his way through, taking breaks for a moment at times and continuing to complete the task he had undertaken.
They reached his home, where he quickly unloaded the mattress and his uncle came to help. He was thinking twice how could he help the poor old rickshaw puller and say thanks for dedication and devotion to his work.

"Bhaiya, yeh rahe appke paise... " he paid the rickshaw puller the decided fare.
"betaji, Rs. 10 jyade ho gaye, wapis le lo" He was amazed, he had hardly seen this honesty from anyone in recent past. He had purposefully give him more money to compensate all extra he had to go through in this bad weather.

He was watching old rickshaw puller walk back with his cart, when he shouted, "Bhaiya !!"

"yeh jacket rakh lo, bahut thand hai.." (keep this jacket, it pretty cold out). He sensed denial from the old man and before that guy said anything he said,
"aapke bete ke liye.. " (for your son)

That old guy immediately looked up and tears rolled down from his eyes....
Rolling his hand over his forehead said, "jiyo betaji, bahut bada naam kamana" ( long live son, earn fame for yourself).

His uncle was watching him from the courtyard and quickly went inside before letting him know he saw it.

As he entered, he heard his uncle telling his parents his uncle said,"Your teachings will pay you one day, you are lucky to have a good kid". It was smiles all across.

He pretended as if he did not hear that came back whistling a good old melody.

"What happened ?" asked his mom.

"I just lived moment of my life" he replied..

-- Cheers
Kalps

Evening walk was favorite pass time for my grandpa. His style of living and personality was nothing less than a class act. It was perfection personified.
Nice and clean white dhoti with no wrinkles, shining white plain kurta accompanied by Maharashtrian cap, nice carved tilak on his forehead, wonderful smile on his face with a walking stick in his hand and way he use to go for an evening walk everyday without fail.

His path never changed starting from our house it was the temple then the garden and back home again. He used to take me with him I became a bit old to skip walk and go for more exciting stuff like playing in the sand with other kids and race with each other to decide who can quickly climb a tree. We walked alongside the road with these huge trees sometimes healthy and rich and sometimes weak and poor. We used to reach the temple where he met his friends, and they use to have fun talking about all boring things like pensions, government policies, weather and trying to look for bride and groom for people who are of age to get married. I used to be like how can a person talk about same things for so many days ?

It was yet another day when I came back from school and off with my uniform plus school shoes ran into grandpa's room and told him this very nice story I heard.

"It was summer and everybody were happy, dancing and playing and so was the grasshopper. While playing his favorite tune on the violin he came down near a group of ants where he saw them working, gathering food, wood for fire and some wool for warm clothes. He laughed at them saying this is waste. Then came winter and grasshopper was nearly dying, when ants gave him food which they saved during summer. Moral of the story "it is always wise to plan ahead".



He was listening to me carefully probably was amazed by my expressions and twinkle in the eyes of small children because they don't have to try hard to be innocent. We went for a walk that day and looking at the trees I said to him, "Are they alive ?", "Yes" he said. "Why don't they save leaves from the time when they have plenty ? Are they grasshoppers ? Can' they plan for future ?".


His answer was the best one can ever imagine or think of saying, " No, they are not grasshoppers they are smarter than anyone. They are proving a point."

"What point ?" I asked.

He said, "One day everyone asked the trees what do you like doing the most ?" and trees replied, "We like to grow flowers and fruits for all animals and birds. Everyone said they could not do it forever and will never succeed in their task. Some went ahead challenged them saying they are no good and what they are doing is not correct, suggesting to get cut off and at-least be a log in the fireplace where they can be more effective. Some weak trees fell down to these constant biting but the one who were strong stood their ground and trusted their instincts and continued to believe in what they like. Then came spring and these trees had flowers, leaves and fruits. They reached their goal. Every year they are proving a point to themselves all those people who are biting them. In the end strong ones always succeed."

I was always attracted by the temple, river flowing alongside it and then the garden while I use to walk with my grandpa. But that walk taught me something special which I overheard in that age.
Probably I am getting exact meaning of his words now..

I should wait for my spring to come ....... :)



Cheers
- Kalps.

Parties are fun when we have good gathering of people and they enjoy each others company. This party was once again of same kind. Away from family and your home town we have our office and friends who all meet each other outside office to have fun.

This party started all together on a different note. Topics were not like other gatherings. It was someone's birthday approaching soon and we all were discussing about each others age and what dreams does everyone have. Surprisingly everyone said their dreams changed as they grew up and now they are restricted to good house, food and education for their children. Almost everyone lost track of promises they made to themselves in college like to conquer the world, to be an icon or a star in some or the other way. When asked question about the same JB came up with an interesting point. He read it somewhere on internet.

"You have birthday every year, Does it mean that you grow by an year on that day ? One day I am 17 and suddenly next day I become 18, is this transition that smooth ? No, it is not like that. Your mental age leaps while numbers follow sequential order. I may be 25 today but be thinking still like 23. after few years I jump to 27 and thinking also leaps onto 27 where it stays for a while whereas numbers keep on moving."

Interesting one ! I kinda agree too. People often say, 'Yesterday was past, Tomorrow is mystery and today is a gift hence called as present' Enjoy our gift and all...... but we can do so only if we are living in present.Above age theory does not allow us to do that, it either makes you live in past or in future.
Is it the reason for most people to loose focus from their dreams and end up not fulfilling them ? Will we all be sailing in the same boat? What is our actual age ? Are we running out of time ?

I was deep sunk into these thought when I realized everyone has left and I was in front of my computer where screensaver was flashing "Together, free your energies".
I smiled.



- Kalps

On that Sunday morning we all were having fun and I volunteered to cook for all of us. I was the head chef and mom was assisting me overall.
Amazingly food was great ! We all liked it, my mom got a break from her daily routine and I enjoyed the opportunity to explore my cooking skills.
Few days later I had to travel and landed in a situation where I had no choice other than cooking myself daily. No hotels nearby to get vegetarian food. Food was good for first few days and later I started messing up when I was multitasking (Cooking and working at the same time).
I wondered, "was that Sunday just a fluke ?" might be.. but after giving more thought I realized one off day you might be excellent but to be consistent you must be an expert.

I can sing "Raat kali ek khawab mai aayi" wonderfully on a day but not everyday. It is Kishore Kumar who will be always heard without any doubt.
Expert's job has to be done by expert and an individual must identify his area of expertise.

How often we see people saying they are not happy with their job. The reason is simple they are not up to their area of interests. They are at wrong place at wrong time.

Hats off to the one who made this add.

Kalpak what is the plan ? What are your areas of interest ?
"I want to learn guitar, but you know no time at all :( ".
"I want to watch that movie with my friends, but no time at all :( "
"I want to learn something new, but no time at all :( ".
"I want to visit new places, but no time at all :( ".
" I want to study, but no time at all :( "

"but, no time at all :( " is it true ? really ! we do not have time ?

Everyone say there is so much to do for us but you know no time at all.
Was God so miser to keep only 365 days in a year? Are 24 hours insufficient for us to complete our tasks in a day?

I saw this catchy line the other day "Wonder how all the news across the world exactly fits in the Newspaper".
Really why don't these people say, "So much to write , but no space at all :( "
They plan things to get it done.

We have enough time if we plan things accordingly.
Tag line should be ... So much to do and So much time!!

Cheers-
Kalps

Often journey in the train becomes boring and especially when you are not in a mood of reading and listening music.

Same happened with me the other day on my journey back home. It was 40 mins to reach my destination and I was already done with my iPod and the only book which I had that time wasn't exciting me.
Was wondering won't it be great that I blink my eyes and here comes my station. But damn murphy's law this never comes true. This journey was not going to finish so soon and believe me had there been a beautiful girl alongside me my station would have arrived in 5 mins.

Anyways not a beautiful girl but a young college going lad jumped and grabbed a seat along side me. He was writing on his notepad which looked like some mathematics equation. He scribbled through those papers again and again, biting his pencil, thinking while looking outside the window. He showed all signs of a disturbed mind.

Finally I asked him, " How are you ?" he replied with a half smile and nodding his head. I took it as fine. Again after some time I asked him, "Working on your maths ?" he replied, "Wondering whether I fared well in my exams or not ?" Oh! so he was verifying his answers. After few more minutes of silence I again decided to throw the dice and continue the game. "So, How did you do "? he said, "You know, my scholarship depends on this exams and there are 8 tests in total, today was the first one and I think I have screwed up big time hence a little bit worried". After a while my station arrived and I stepped down and forgot about that guy.

Few weeks later it was the same train, same boring journey and in comes this boy searching for a place to rest. "Hey, here is one for you" I pulled my jacket and offered him a seat alongside me. He grabbed it gracefully and replied back with a hello. "So, What happened to your test ?"
He replied, "I did well, and got my scholarship."
"Congrats" said me. "So, you did not screw your maths ha! :)"
"No, I did. Actually very much and much more than I thought. But then I thought anyways as I have screwed my one test let me enjoy the rest. I decided to move on. I did good in coming one's and bingo I got my rewards."

This guy reminded me basic rules of life which I almost forgot. "Move On and be patient, everything else will follow". How often have we seen an excellent start responsible for a sweet end ?
Life is a project and we all are here to execute and enjoy.
It is not the start which matters or dictates the outcome of the project but conviction, sticking to our plan, holding on it, keeping our faith when the chips are down or trusting our instincts are the things which does. Hence they teach us be patient and move on, don't sit on past laurels or get depressed by defeats either.

Isn't it that lake water always gets dirty and river water is clean and sweet, and we know the reason. "It moves on!!".

Worth a train journey second time.


- Kalps

Hello Dear bro,

Howz you ? you might be wondering what's this now ? What is this crazy idea?
But you know entire week you wait for this saturday and on the very same day you feel so bored. Isn't it weird ? I thought why not enjoy spending time on something which is now a lost art. Yes, Letter writing. It gives lot of pleasure to both writer and reader and is something which everyone enjoys.

Coming back to the original point of getting bored on this saturday, I was visiting couple of social networking sites, surfing and chatting with old and new friends.
Questions and answers were almost common in all the chats.
Like, "Hey !! How are you ?" answer goes.. "I am good, How are you ?" chat continues..."I am good too. So tell me Howz life ?" reply comes "Same old stuff.. Life is going on".

Did you observe the same ? so many people in the world, many of them active on social networking sites and for 90% of them life is same old stuff. "Nothing new ya!!!" These answers portray some sense of sadness.

If it is a rainy day, it is same for 2 people but one feel's it as a day spoiling plans whereas other feel's relief from heat. It's all in our vision.
If these answers are part of standard questions and their replies in the social networking world then no worries, but if really life for everyone is same old stuff then guess our vision is not 6/6 and its time for contact lens buddy.

Anyways, hope everything is fine at your end and you come with better answer next time other than ... "Life is same old stuff.. nothing new ya..."
Hahaha :)

Take Care..
Your loving bro.