Enthralling Trails

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”     H. Jackson Brown The street lights shimmered ,  the deep red sky was waning into darkness, yet the evening was bright at seven. The  illumination added its glow alleviating everyone to enjoy the lush, cool gentle wind on that hot summer evening. The venue was  the newly built road that would be soon connected to the Mumbai Pune highway, connecting Chinchwad to Mumbai. For now, one of  the four well laid roads was being used by the Pradhikaran  skating club members. There was plastic cone stands kept all around to avoid traffic and driving on that particular wing of the road. The central mounted path had well lit neon street lights glowing in the gently sloping twilight. Children aged between five to twelve skated on the road from one end to the other. The stretch must have been a little more than a kilometer, the boys and girls protected themselves with helmets, knee caps, an...

 Reflect upon your present blessings -- of which every man has many -- not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”   ―   Charles Dickens She stopped, and eyed woefully at the few more soiled clothes that were thrown carelessly into the sparsely grassed ground. There was a granite stone, raised and plastered to a square that was being used to hurl, and  rhythmically beat the soiled clothes to release the dirt from it.  It reminded me of the action of soap, which says that soaking of clothes is a must for the removal of dirt.  The less water used could have never helped in cleaning  There were two plastic buckets left out after  mixing the distemper paints to paint walls. In India, even the disposable are definitely reused. The buckets too, as such landed in the yard after their use in the new multistory complex. While  one  of the buckets contained some water, the other one was being used...

“Do all the good you can while you still have the opportunity.”   ―   Lailah Gifty Akita It was a new dawn, a  scenic morning when people welcomed the year, according to the Hindu Calendar. In Maharashtra there were celebrations correlated to Gudi Padwa, while in Andhra Pradesh it was festivities associated with Ugadi. The Konkanis were going to celebrate their new year, while the people of Karnataka too were carousing. Having my roots in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and having lived in Maharashtra for more than two decades, I felt the best way to celebrate was through an early morning visit to the  Swami Ayyappa temple at Dehu Road . The temple is amidst the sprawling greenery tucked away in the Sahayadri mountains of the western ghats  extending from Lonavala to the cantonment area in Dehu. With the development, we find a few hills, some of them called the Shasta hills that are holy with the Shrine of  Swami Ayyappa .  The trek on the Sasta ...

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts . It is about one life, influencing another.”   ―   John C. Maxwel   Ranbir runs his Tailoring shop at Pradhikaran in Nigdi. I met him  for the first time more than a decade ago, when we were new to Pune. I wanted to alter a dress, and was looking out for a tailor who could do it. 'Prakash Tailors' is a well known tailoring shop in  Pradhikaran. Ranbir was also an employee of Prakash Tailors. The shop is a small one in the hub of Nigdi where one had to wait for a turn during the busy hours. There were three tailors called 'Masters' and many young boys working under these 'Masters'. The 'Master' is the  master brain behind the design, the cutting and stitching of the dress, a few youngsters are given the opportunity to seam the stitches, add buttons and beautify the dress according to the requirement of the customer. Prakash tailors would always delay the customers as they were willing to wa...

“Happiness is not a goal ... it's a by-product of a life well lived.”   ―   Eleanor Roosevelt A reunion of our school batch was planned more than a year ago after we began unearthing each other on the Facebook. A few of my classmates were responsible for weaving the fabric  of friendship all over again. A WhatsApp   group was created by a few more. Technology transported us into the most beautiful phase of childhood, yet again, regardless of our grizzled appearance and responsibilities. We began sharing our joy with a greater maturity and waited for the ‘D’ day with great excitement. There were a few who had booked their tickets well ahead while a few of us joined at the last minute.  Our spouses were more than kind helping us leave the domestic responsibilities at their mercy. It was a three day celebration as we felt a day or a short meet would never be sufficient . The city of Hyderabad was chosen as the meeting place as we were the Alumni of the ...

  Today is a new day! Many will seize this day. Many will live it to the fullest. Why not you?"   —   Steve Maraboli   She looked aside heaving a sigh and told me that this was momentary like others, this would go by like all other moments in life. Her beautiful large eyes were filled with anguish and pain. I was just an empathetic listener, could do nothing for her. When we are cheerful, we find the whole humankind joyful; but when we are miserable, we feel aloof engulfed in our world. I saw her slowly tramp towards the gate and walk away with her painful foot. She has been a friend for a short time, but the plainness in people is something which has always fascinated me. I understood her to be genuine. I heard through others that she is a wonderful writer and orator in Marathi, but my introduction to her was when she came looking out for her class to the second-floor staff room. I spoke to her and as time went by we grew closer as she and  I belong ...

“Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.”   ―   Robert Brault The train zoomed past Vikarabad near Hyderabad . It was a perfect afternoon, sunny and clear. It was a Monday, I felt the crowd in the bogie would be less, but I found there were just a few vacant seats for the travellers from Gulbarga . The Railway station at Begumpet in Hyderabad had borne a deserted look initially. There was an unknown fear amongst people, perhaps it was the advent of  Swine Flu. People feared coughing and looked aside in their blue, green, and white  masks as a preventive measure against Swine Flu. I held a perfect health for the past two years due to the stringent routine, but a sprain in my leg led to a sedentary life making me vulnerable to diseases very soon. It led to a slack in the habit resulting in a low immunity leading to a bad cold as soon as I boarded the train at Pune. However, the journ...