The Sandman chronicles

Ernakulam Railway Station, morning 7.30 a.m. I had just landed along with Kissy, A college Mate on another Train! "Hey Rosh! Where is Vipin, Man? He had promised to be here!!" "No Idea Bhai. Let us wait. There's Plenty of Time for the Express" [Since this is a story...names have been changed...Kissy will remain Kissy...no real names given. So, No Fear!] We deposited our luggage in a heap near a bench and sat down to wait for the other college mates to come. We were the students of Regional Engineering College, Durgapur, West Bengal. Kerala had a quota of 6 seats including reservation in REC Durgapur. It was our Summer Vacations and we had all gone home to enjoy and were returning back to College. "Yaar. No Charakks here Man!!" ["Charakk"....in Malaylam means "Goods"...Same as in "Maal" in Hindi] "Saaley...!! There is nothing but charakks in your mind. Remember our picnic to the barrage where you called a couple of aun

It was finally a Saturday Morning. I woke quite late due to the Small Beer Binge in my Flat. Actually it was ' BJ ' himself who troubled my sleep.....BJ....as in ...you know....Black Jack !! Ever since he took the Art of Living Course, He has been a Pain In The Ass!! Gets up early in the morning and wakes up others also , even if we didnt want to wake up too! The Bugger doesn't care whether it is a Saturday or Sunday!! "Hey Machaaaa !! Udd Udd ..Wake Up, Rise n Shine, Udd udddd !!" " Bhaag Saaley ...." " Machaa ...i got some news for you ...Do you remember Anita?? hmmmm ? hmmmmm ? Do you remember her??" "Yeah I remember her. How can i forget her Dude. Now, get to the point!!" "Ab tu Bhaag machha ...Now its time for my Meditation. I need Quite. I need Peace. Now Shoooo . I will tell you later " " Tere to.. Saaley . Theek hai . Let me go and make a cup of Coffee. Take your Own Time" While i was sipping my wa

I dont know when i came across this Poem. I think it was in one of those old Reader's Digests. This Poem has remained in my conscious and sub conscious mind for all the time. When ever i felt lost or felt let down or felt burnt out, i would recall the lines of the Poem and Life began fresh again for me. Before the poem, let me say a few words about Samuel Ullman - Samuel Ullman was a former confedate soldier, businessman, a very religious man and a poet too. At the age of 78 he wrote his most popular and motivating poem "Youth" - An optimistic Celebration of Youth. He wrote: "Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals." With a wave of optimism, the poem became a favorite of General Douglas MacArthur who framed and hung Ullman's words in his offices in Manila and Tokyo. "Whether seventy or sixteen, there is in every being’s heart a love of wonder" Ullman said. Youth was published in the Japanese v

A Few Nights back, on a Thursday, I caught a taxi back from the club where I had been to. The driver was quite talkative on the drive to my apartment. While driving he was like.."Aahh. so you've been to the Dance Bar!! So how are the girls? beautiful?Yeah?" I told him that I had been to the pub as usual on Thursday nights for a few beers and to listen to the live band. Soon his talk veered about the dance girls and suddenly told me - "They are nothing on the girl I married!!" 'So you are a lucky guy to have married a beautiful woman" "Yes, Sir. I am Lucky!! I married one of the most beautiful girls in my illakah. I married her on a 'Zid" and have divorced her too!!" I was surprised to hear that from him and asked him whether I heard him wrong! "No, sir. I married her and then divorced her too!!" "Then what was the use of your marriage?" "I married her on Zid." The word 'Zid' in