thecoolreena

Here I was in this small little hospital with my beeji. I was barely 20 years old and trying to take care of my sick beeji who was admitted because she had fever. It was pitch dark and it must have been  2-2:30  at night and I was awake thinking about her. I had always thought that beeji is very strong. She never falls sick- no fever, hypertension or diabetes and was very proud of her. And now she got fever which didn't leave her for 3 days at 83 years of age. At this time when it was pitch dark, I could hear the sound of some patients snoring, distressing sounds of the very sick patients and their relatives and the chirping alarms and the nurses chatting. I could see my beeji's body shivering with fever which I brought to the notice of the nurse and she administered a medicine which I prayed should help her to sleep. It was a very small hospital and there was no place for the relative to rest or sleep. I was sitting on the floor next to beeji holding her hand. Af...

Another Dusshera again.... Time to burn a Raavan once again!!! Here I was dressed in my light green color frock, 8 years old, jumping with a group of 10-15 friends. We were just jumping from one house to another. My aim was to cover as many neighbors houses as possible and to give the “sona” to everyone -the green gold( leaves of Apta tree). Not worried that my dress was all muddy, the body was sweaty, hair in a mess, smelling like a pig holding the green gold with dirty hands. But “looks” were not important,”feelings” were..... I remember holding just 3-4 leaves in my hand and worried about them. And in the time when we moved from one house to another, I would break every single leaf into 4-7 smaller pieces so that I could give it to everyone. And we all would say “Shubh Dusshera” and take blessings from elders. And while giving the small part of the apta leaf, a silent prayer would go into the universe asking for happiness and prosperity for the family. We were so i...

You know when I was very little, I was made to believe by people around me that we were just middle class or so called poor people. I grew up thinking that everyone gets everything in life except me . No one made me believe that but still that's how I grew up. Finally reached my twenties and completed my studies still feeling that "We were poor and everyone gets what they want but I don't. Others are fortunate and I am not"!!! And now when I look back at those years, I see them being so so so rich. I feel that I was bathing in all the richness of the world. Completely soaked and marinated in the richness of unconditional love by my parents, relatives and grandma(my beeji). I don't even know how to measure the love that I received - in kilos, litres, or may be light years .... don't know but it was infinite. It is like mom asking a small child " how much do you love me ?" And the child stretches his arms as far as possible and says ...