A new phase

As days got closer and closer, the once excited boy started getting nervous. Stepping into a new place, towards a new beginning was exciting as well as nerve racking.

A week back my brother, Beartil got a call from college regarding the beginning of his new semester. Initially he was very excited as he had nothing special to do apart from his routine of playing game on the phone or editing videos. Most of his friends have already started going to college and having asking about his progress which made him uncomfortable and upset, leading him wanting to start his classes early.

Finally after a long wait the call has arrived requesting him to be present at the end of the month. He started his packing which contained all his necessities required while his stay at the hostel. Being a hostel resident is new to him so he would be asking about my first few days far from home. Now those are wonderful stories that I would like to recall. Initial days made me feel out of place but later it was wonderful as there were activities that kept me busy preventing any idle thoughts that might have led to homesickness.

The tiny dot of fear within the large circle of excitement increases as days go by. This would be his first time staying far from home so its natural to feel anxious. 

After another short week it was finally the day to board the train and all of us went to drop him to the railway station. He was unusually silent the entire ride towards Nizamuddin railway station. It was early morning even before  the darkness fades away the roads were empty with few vehicles, so we reached faster than rush hours.

The train was already at the station so we helped his arrange the luggage and settle down. It wasn't in a hurry-burry as we were twenty minutes earlier. My brother was attached to mom and dad the entire time. It's a two day long journey to Trichy, completely a different atmosphere from here. 

The thrill of the unknown and the expectations of the ahead leads him to move forward towards a new beginning.

Emergence

 In the garden at the end of the street lived a lot of insects. All were busy in search of food for their next meal. Among the busy crowd there were two particular friends one was a caterpillar named Luka and the other was a grasshopper named Timy. Both of them spent most of their time together as they were neighbours. 

One day the gardener while checking his plants stepped unknowingly onto their homes making all of them homeless. Timy found a new companion and shared a room with them. Luka wandered all around not knowing what to do and there appeared a dragonfly named Coco, the saviour. Coco invited Luka to his house to dine with his friends. Luka was awkward not knowing what to do but still went ahead clinging onto Coco. 

Luka started living there in his cocoon not willing to come out or interact with anyone. As days passed on Coco was worried and tried to reassure him that everything was alright and sometimes it's difficult to accept the outcome but it's not the end there is yet more to come. Coco spends days together with Luka by walking all the places, meeting other insects and looking through a different perspective. 

A few more days later Coco noticed a small crack in Luka's cocoon and after a few minutes the cocoon opened and a beautifully coloured butterfly came out. Luka was very excited and showed his new beautiful wings to Coco who also was very excited. 

Later Luka and Coco decided to fly and explore the remaining beautiful sites that are yet to be discovered. 

                                  A story by Beera Rajan

Celebration of the freedom

Today being Independence day decided to visit my school . Today as I was walking to school my brother was telling about his school days. Lots of my teachers have been retired and now only few old faces are left. The gate towards the entrance has changed and its much more longer than the previous path. The roads have talls trees on the right side and the left side has buildings.

As I walked along the path with a slight drizzle making the ground sparkling with tiny droplets of rain. The muddy path was completely damped and brown splashing droplets on the clothes as a I walked forward. Far away I could hear music being played with a patriotic atmosphere lingering in the air.

At around 8:00 a.m. the program started with flag hoisted by principal and the chief guest who was an alumina of the school. There were a lot of other programs like group song, mime, dance etc. There was a group of students who stood holding flags the entire time. It was difficult standing there but they still made it till the end of the program. Then we had a choir opening the main program schedule followed by a mime providing a brief history of how our country got independence. The students performed very well giving an insight based on their understanding of our historical roots.

Next we had another group song where nine students sang "Maa Tujhe Salaam" in their melodious voice. It was further followed by a traditional dance performance were students were dressed traditionally to represent different states. They looked so beautiful dress up in traditional wears.

After the colourful performance there was a short speech by chief guest and principle. The program ended with a finale performance all dressed up in white, moving to the rhythm of the music.

As we walked back home, the entire performance displayed in our mind with the joy of familiarity.

A Rose for Emily

 

"A Rose for Emily" is a gothic short story that deals with loneliness and death. The short story starts with Emily an old lady well known in the neighborhood and all her neighbours being curious about her house in the guise of meeting her. This detachment from the neighbours lead to alienation for someone who lived in the same town for her whole life.

The flashback of her life as a young lady provides us much more details about our protagonist. Her major years of life was dominated by her father who even refused potential marriage alliances. She was confined within her premise not knowing anything about the exterior world. Her extreme dependency on the father caused to break down at the death of her father when she was thirty years old. She even refused to cremate her father by making herself believe that her was still alive but at the end she had to accept his death. As soon at the pillar is broken the walls also starts to fall.

As days go by she has her eyes set on a young man named Homer Barron who did not reciprocate her feelings. She starts to create a world of fantasy with Homer. One fine day the neighbours see Homer entering the house but never exiting giving them an illusion of their potential marriage. After her death neighbours find his rotten body in one of the bedroom with signs of her sharing the same bed with the body.

The story portrays a bridge between an aristocratic world and a common man's world. She was once a rich lady who lost their fortune over the years. When the family was rich they were envied but when the fortune was lost isolation began.

Emily was very pitiful and she was also mentally disturbed. Her life was smooth as ignorant as she was but her father's death was a huge blow for her as she had to suddenly step towards the world of the adults. Her loneliness led her to create an imaginary world with Homer and it's not difficult to understand that she might have killed him so they can be together.

The title itself is very ironic as we do not find a single rose mentioned in the entire story. It may symbolise her young beauty has hidden thorns beneath the superficiality.

Friendship day

A day authentically to celebrate friendship. I forgot about this day and had to be reminded by a school kid. When I was scrolling through the WhatsApp status I came across, a lot of status that gave heart warming quotes about friendship day.

I remember Friendship Day being celebrated during my school days. Girls would be more excited about this particular day than Valentine's Day. The wishes and anticipation starts days before the final day. Everyone would be buying friendship bands and bracelets to exchange to each others. Some even spend time to make one by hand.

On the day they would exchange so many bands. Some get a lot and some none. Some who gave me bands do not even have any contacts with me anymore so, how much value does this bands exist.

Today a little girl was very excited about the number of friendship bands she got. She was proudly telling the stories about her day at school when the bands were exchanged. Some schools do not allow accessories but this rule does not stop them from their little celebrations.

These days just may be another ordinary day but the little celebration and enjoyment of the present does not let us remember its actual meaning and how a healthy friendships and relationships need to be.

I have come across many friends in these short years. Some I believed to be close turned out to be opportunist and other whom I believe to be distant turn out to be a genuine friend. Most of us judge and decide very quickly and live in denial before it has a strong impact. Over the years I made some healthy friends. We talk and meet rarely but they are always just a call away. Hope this friendship day creates a different meaning and a memorable for each of one of us.