Nana ki Patang...

Kites have a lot to do with the way our mind works, be it our dreams or imagination. Our imagination tries to soar high, just like kites, but when reality hits hard, they come flying down. Like a Kite goes through multiple owners, in the same way many people share the same dreams , for some they become reality , cutting and reaching above the rest and for others just a short play. Therefore flying kites can contribute towards the over all development of a child. I was unaware of the said fact, till one day, I overheard my nana talking to nani..
We loved to fly kites, my cousin controlling the kite while I was given the duty to hold the manjha..the roles were interchanged for sure!!
Nana(Grandpa): Don't worry about the kids, let them be, what's the harm in flying kites??
Nani(grandma): Don't you see...both the kids go to the terrace and are totally lost in the play, what if they slip and fall...they are so engrossed....
Nana: All of us are engrossed in achieving our goals, those who aren't have never made an attempt to achieve anything..they are happy with being stagnant and I don't want my grandchildren to be like them.
Look at them, they want their kite to fly high, higher than they expect it to go, higher than their dreams and one day when they'd take the kites of their life in their hands, they'll never get tired of trying and achieving the best...I can see two happy souls in the making.
The conversation ended, no one could argue with nana, he was indeed a born winner.
As the wind got high on its spirits, our kite began to give up.....Oh no! what now, It'll get cut and someone else will take it, my cousin cried out.
Nana: It surely will if you give up my boy!
Cousin: But what can I do, I can't control the wind dada!
Nana: The least that you can do is to keep trying....try harder!
"Try Harder", two words and a life long package of strength...
Whenever I am on a verge of giving up, nana's words resound within and I get a grip on the kite of my life....If nothing else the least I do is to try....try harder!

The Princess and Her Moon!

Once there was a little princess, who was a happy soul, as her father catered to every need that her heart could ever hold. Happy she was as she possessed, the choicest of all the things...beautiful gardens, lovely rivers and creatures that could sing.
While looking outside her window one night, she saw a brand new moon, as thin as it could possibly be and as white as the pearl in her room.
The next morning she called for her father and asked him to fulfill her wish, "get me the moon, oh father dear as this is my only wish!"
The king got worried as he very well knew that it's impossible to get what she wanted, he called all the men from the royal court and asked them to think of something!
Then one wise man got up and went straight to the princesses room, he asked her as to how exactly would she describe her moon.
Oh!My moon is a small little thing as big as the nail in my thumb and it has a curve, a nice little curve, like the one you see in my thumb.
The wise man went to a silversmith and asked him to make a new moon, one as big as the princesses nail with a curve that would make it look cool!The silver smith made him a little moon and hung it in a chain. The princesses happiness knew no bounds as she got her moon that day.
The next night, the king got worried as he saw the moon in the sky, the princess came to him and said, "Look dear father, that's a new one up there!"
The king heaved a sign of relief as he was happy that the problem was solved, the princess got her moon as its replica was safe in the sky! ;)

I read this story as a little kid and since then it has become a special part of my memories. Fairy tales have always been a part of every girls dreams. I remember,what nani told me once, fairy tales are not just a part of our imagination, they are a dream that we can make possible through our endeavours. When we read about a good human getting the best in the end, it holds true for our life as well, if we strive to become a good human being, happiness comes to our door, uninformed, as a surprise that colours our life forever.
Fairy tales are not just a story, they are sugarcoated reality, in fairy tales one can witness instant results while reality is a little slow but who says it doesn't have a happy ending!
The king fulfilled an impossible wish since he was determined to make his daughter happy..if we are determined to make our life a success, our wish would definitely be fulfilled, since then we would work hard to succeed!
Don't ever stop dreaming, life may not be a fairy tale but it can definitely have a happy ending leading to a new beginning :)

Nani Ki Beri : The zizyphus tree in nani's courtyard

There was a huge zizyphus tree in my grandma's' courtyard, we used to call it "beri ka ped"!
It had the tastiest ber (zizyphus) hanging from its branches.
The afternoons were mostly deserted as my grandparents took a short afternoon nap....anything that had to happen...be it playing in the sun, or turning on the water hose and playing with water...all the mischievous plans came into action, as the soft rays of the late afternoon sun, sat on the eyelids of our elders, making them sleep like a log ;)
And it was one such afternoon, when me and my cousin who is a year younger, decided to climb on the beri (the zizyphus tree) and relish the fruits to our hearts content.
A great plan as it seemed, needed a lot of preparation for it to be a success....making it come out well, sans thrashing from the elders.
An iron ladder, which often worked as a train when laid down was the first tool that we used to work out the plan....
Cousin: You climb up first and drop as many fruits as you can then I'd take my turn!
Me: Alright, but hold on to the ladder or I'll slip.
Cousin:Ok (quite unsure about his strength)
I climbed on the ladder with an unbeatable zest and............slipped back with even greater force!!
Both of us were in a shock as the broken ankle and the noise of the dropped ladder were enough to wake everyone up!!!
Nana came running out of his room....
Nana: What happened !!! what was that chaos about!!!
Nani: I heard it coming from the Beri (tree) !
Us: Beri !!!!!!!!!!!
We ran as fast as our legs could carry us and hid next to the pile of coal lying in the backyard!
Well, I think what we learnt that day was the fact that it's very difficult to fool your elders....
Caught red handed, with our clothes smeared in coal, we were taken to the courtyard, where the adult team cornered us from every side possible and we what then looked like the emblem of innocence , tried to wear a long face...as long as it could possibly be!
Nana: Do you like that fruit!!
Me:No nana!
Nana: Then what were you doing up there.....dancing on the tree???
Cousin:Aaaaaa, we were trying to collect some fruits for you....it's your birthday!
Nana: There's an year to go!
Me: But this fruit is seasonal isn't it????
Laughter broke out from the vessels full of anger and we like sprinklers of joy, danced ( I with a slight limp) around relieved but not without punishment....
We had to press grandpa's legs until he fell asleep :(
With Iodex smeared on my ankle and a slight limp, I was a centre of some extra care...much to my cousins dismay, who had to hear the advise against climbing trees..repeatedly..for as long as the topic was hot! But not for long, as we were good at giving a new reason everytime ;)
Memories, the piece of our past that lingers on and flashes on the road towards a new tomorrow...giving us light when we need to find our way through darkness!

Travel through ages.....

Certain feelings never leave our mind, once you encounter them in life, they keep sprouting up on different occasions. It can be the feeling of excitement, the feeling of something new, our state of trance so on and so forth. These feeling are in some way connected to our childhood memories....though not always but most of the time..
I still remember the day when I entered the new school..a much bigger version of the one I was used to and had spent quite a few years ..now with a huge building staring straight at me, it was quite a different feeling, the kind I can feel till date when I encounter a change in my life.

I remember the time when I got full marks in second or third standard..it was euphoric..a girl came to me and tallied my paper with her paper, she got back to the teacher and asked her to raise her marks as she had similar answers ...my teacher called me and deducted my marks since I had allowed another person to take my paper and tally it with hers....it was quite a set back.... that was a difficult session for me and it was the first time that I had scored so well...I still remember the girl and can't forgive her till date....today when I meet people who try to cheat on someone to make their way, my patience goes beyond it's limits , giving them a piece of my mind.

Success too has a flavour of its own that clings on us and stays there forever.
I remember the day when I was in K.g. and my painting was chosen to be shown to the principal...it was a great feeling..till date when I succeed in my endeavours the same feeling dances upon my minds eye spreading my lips in a big smile.

Feelings ...they do travel through ages and keep reminding us of certain phases of our life...what's important is to get over the sad ones and take on the best to pump up on our energies for a great journey ahead!