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I am sitting in front of my PC and wondering what to write.  It’s not like I have a shortage of posts to write but what to write on is becoming the difficulty with the hands not making the effort it should.

Somehow today feels to be the day when I break this drought.  The year has been a mixed bag for me.  The first six months were spend thinking about “what” “why” and “what now” and the next six months were about “Oh Shit”, “I did not see this coming”, “I need to get out of this” and yes a lot of praying something that I have not done for ages I believe :)

At the same time, I had experiences that amaze me.  People can be so unpredictable.  It’s like the reality of the life I had never experienced.  Strange how life can make you see a whole new world out there.

I am standing at a crossroad wondering which path to take.  I don’t think in life it matters where you are unless one stops trying on what they want with their life.  Choices can be really tough at times and I seem to making a habit of landing in such situations, may be in a way preparing myself to become a crisis manager.

I am on my way to become an Uncle to two more kids, one coming this year and another in next year.  The last time I did a count of my nieces/nephews they were more than 10 and more seem to be on the way.  Phew!!

This blog would be completing 3 years on 16th Dec.  Never thought I would have such a long stint but enjoyed every bit of it.  Still remember my first post, it was fun.

Keep watching this space for more to come…

Childhood

Dressed in ragged pants and torn shirt, Sheru found himself a place in the shade along the fences of the park. He took out a cloth from his bag and hidden it was zunka bhakar.

As he had the bite of his lunch, he watched the children playing cricket, football and running around in the park. Seeing them reminded him of his childhood days when his heart yearned to play with them but all he could do was see them play as he served tea and washed the cups from the tea stall across the road of the park.

He stared into the park searching for his own image when he felt a tap on his shoulder of another man across the fences who said “Are you going to sit here all day or going to do some work too?”

He got up and put the remaining food covered under the cloth back into his bag and started walking off the park. As he looked back, he knew that the only thing he would never have was a childhood to call his own.

Fate

“I don’t have the change” was Vasu’s reply when the taxi driver asked him for an exact two rupee change.

The driver searched through his pocket and then counted his pennies but he did not had the exact change.  “I don’t have the exact change but here is a lottery ticket of the same price, if you want you can keep it and try your luck said the driver as an unfazed Vasu looked on.

Already late to catch his train back home, he took the lottery in hand, had a look at it and then kept it folded in his wallet.  He walked towards the railway station carrying his suitcase with him.  The lottery ticket had the winning amount of Rs one crore and the result was to be declared three days later.

It was in the middle of the night when Vasu reached his place, traveling through an auto rickshaw.  “How much?” Vasu asked the driver for the fare as he got down.  “It would be forty two rupees” he said.  He took out his wallet and handed him four notes of 10 rupees.  He started searching his wallet for the pennies and then his pockets but could not find any.  “I don’t have the two rupee” he told the driver hoping that he would let that go.  The driver stared at him and said “Sahab, check properly, even a two rupee makes a difference in our life” the driver remarked.  “I don’t’ have any.  I could have brought the change if the shops were open, but its not.  Where should I bring an exact change in the middle of the night?” Vasu flared up.  The driver still did not change his stand.

Standing outside his building, he remembered about the lottery ticket and took it out from his wallet.  “Here is a lottery ticket of the same amount, you can take it and then sell it to someone else or you can try your luck with it” said Vasu handing over the ticket and waiting for the driver to take it.  The driver took the ticket in his hand, looked over it and then said “Kya sahab aap bhi….” made a face and then started his engine and took off.

A couple of days later in the morning when Vasu woke up and took the paper to read.  The headline read “Beggar becomes a Millionaire”.  It made him think about the lottery ticket that he gave to the auto driver and wondered if it was the same lottery ticket.

The news report said that the beggar found the lottery ticket in his begging bowl and decided to keep it to “try out his luck”.  He could not stop thanking the unknown stranger who changed his life by putting the lottery ticket in his bowl.