Enthralling Trails

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.” Napoléon Bonaparte  The banyan tree and the other large trees were cut down, the tractor and the levelling machines rolled in at a high speed to clear the agricultural land into a residential place. It was technically named NA, a non-agricultural land by the local municipal authorities after authenticating and making it legal on a stamp paper. The grass and the broken stump of the trees, however, tried to regrow after a few days owing to the excessive water supply on the land, but they were slaughtered with the spade and the axe till the last remains of the roots dried in the cemented foundation. The cleared earth was transformed within months into a dwelling area with its peaks growing higher than the nearby independent bungalows. Every bit of the earth was cemented and plastered except a central 100 metre which was raised and filled with sand and mud. It was then lined with palm tr

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.” ― Erma Bombeck   The evening was an epitome of laziness as the roads lay barren edged by the lone factory walls and the dingy independent bungalows. The grass on the pavement was long and silent as it peered at the empty roads for a human touch. The lone daily wages labourer was in no hurry to reach home, he let the speeding car go by. The sisters of the missionaries were peaceful in the solitude as they walked on the long lonely road. The speeding car slowed down to turn to its right and enter the open gates on that sluggish evening at the Missionaries of Charity for the sick and the destitute. Sister Superior Missionaries Of Charity depicts the harsh realities in life as it houses the lonely, sick and the insane people who have lost their ability to get along with the difficulties in life. The security guard

“Yesterday is a pile of rubble. Today is a pile of opportunity. Life takes a new dump each morning” ― Ryan Lilly Troy was aghast to see the car move jerkily and climb up the walkway. The driver was none other than Roan who lived on the second floor. Troy had heard Penny, the neighbour assure that Roan was a careful driver. Troy waited in eagerness to hear Roan's explanation about the incident. Troy was the first to know of all the happenings though it was a mere balcony that jutted out of the wall into the open expanse in Mirraw Street. The colony consisted of independent bungalows, but of late the owners had begun selling their houses to the real estate agents and builders who built beautiful flats.   Penny was a narrow balcony, the French kind of balcony that we normally call a 'Juliet' balcony with a metallic barrier placed in front of a high window. Penny had metallic baluster, spindles between elaborate metallic network. Penny often felt suffocated when

Hiren was six years old when he first came across an earthworm in his garden. It was dark maroon and had a band at the anterior end. Hiren asked his mother, “Is this worm a girl worm, she is wearing a hairband”, Hiren’s mother Neeta looked at Hiren lovingly and said, ‘It is called a clitellum’.  She also read out to him that worms were legless serpents or dragons. She then showed Hiren the animal book and told Hiren the numerous kinds of worms that lived in this world, but this was the earthworm, the most useful one. The slimy creature did not appeal Hiren, but it lived in the large longitudinal pot with the Aloe Vera, the Turmeric and the Ginger Plant. Every day when Neeta poured excess of water in the pot, Wriggly, the earthworm surfaced. Hiren would imagine it choking and coughing. Wriggly was thin dark and just a few centimetres in length. Hiren would sometimes address it as 'baby Wriggly'. He told Neeta, 'Can I tie a thread around its band just as we have a

Let life be like music.  And death a note unsaid.”  ―  Langston Hughes,  The recent Ganesh festival initiated festivities and grandeur in the hearts of people. It also brought back memories of a person dear to us. Each day of the ten-day festival is a special one in Maharashtra with rituals making it even more special. On the third day of Ganesh Chaturthi, a plant of Tulsi is kept in front of the doorstep with tiny footprints drawn towards the doorstep welcoming Lord Ganesha’s sister Gauri. The Hindu mythology marks Gauri as a symbol of health, wealth, happiness, and prosperity. It was exactly at this time last year when my housemaid Sunita asked me for a two day leave. Her sons were newly married and the young girls were ecstatic about the festival. A day before that we had a demise in the building. It was the great-grandmother of a resident where Sunita worked. She was sad but consoled me saying, ‘the lady was old and ailing, she has overcome the pain’. Sunita was