“A good friend is a connection to life – a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.”


When I was a little kid, I was introduced to a man I never met but adored all my life, who in turn introduced me to two friends I never spoke with and they became my best friends for life!! (Stranger things have happened eh?:)

I am talking about my friendship with Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha and the man is the legendary Uncle Pai.

All my life, these two friends have won my unconditional loyalty that I have never felt towards any of today’s comics. What I learnt from my friends:

Knowledge: From “meet the animal series” to “this happened to me” written by readers, to Tinkle tells you why, from learning about the Mughal empire (Believe it or not, I studied for my degree history exams from Amar Chitra Katha –text books be damned!:), to mythology (till date, I can credit my love for indian myth to Amar Chitra Katha), - to take the tag line right from tinkle “Where learning meets fun” - Never has learning been more fun!!.

Journeys: From kings and kingdoms to fairy lands, folk tales across the world, magic and beyond, I have traveled with them all and as a result, a whole new world was born within me.

Traits: about greed, spite, kindness, loyalty, humor, wit n wisdom, persistence compassion jealously, happiness, health – I learnt more than what any human could have ever taught me.

Comfort and support – from Suppandi to Butterfingers to Tenali Rama to Birbal – hours of fun and giggles have never failed to cheer me up. Even today, if I need to change a frown to smile, I know where to look.

Skills: Things to do with from making cards out of dal to science experiments, to contests and many do it yourself activities – million little ways to think, do and made life more interesting. Slowly and surely, these friends have influenced me in more ways than one, like many good friends do over time.

And to top all that, my friends have always been there, cheery, colorful, well within reach, so I can enjoy their company many times over and never get tired of them.

Books have always been my best friends and in the comics category, Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha tops the list!

Can you suggest a title for this story?

As it is with all stories this story also began Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a far off land, there lived a king in a land that was filled with sunflowers. The land was called, the land of ….yes, sunflowers!! You will find sunflowers everywhere, in fields, in the gardens, by the roadside, any patch of land that had some space to offer people grew sunflowers, unlike these days where any space is occupied by buildings.

These sunflowers were no ordinary sunflowers. They were the best in the country, in the whole universe. Their petals were a shining, bright yellow and each sunflower was as big as dinner plates. In fact, if you were a bird and flew overhead, they would look like big golden discs to you. Needless to say, there were lots of birds that used to come and eat the sunflower seeds. Birds love them, you see. The royal garden also had sunflowers amongst other flowers. People loved and cared for every single sunflower that grew in their land.

The people of sunflower land were like sunflowers –bright and cheerful and jolly and did I say it before? They loved sunflowers!!. The king was very jolly person and so was his son, the prince of sunflower land, who was also very jolly. Overall, they were all a very jolly lot. They used to sell sunflower oil, the flowers themselves, cook their food with sunflower oil. The women folk applied them as face packs and no wonder everyone in sunflower land were very healthy and happy.

The sunflowers had a life of their own. After their morning ritual of turning the face to the sun, they used to talk amongst themselves – “good morning, how do you do? Nice weather isn’t it? oooh! I so love the breeze today,” and so on and so forth. When you walk by, it seemed like they are just nodding to the breeze, but actually they were carrying out a conversation.

It so happened, by some oversight, there was a patch of land that didn’t have any plants at all on it. Nobody knows why this happened. One day, some people passing by looked at the dry patch of land and thought, “oh no! This won’t do” and so they immediately rushed and grabbed handfuls of sunflower seeds (they always had loads of seeds handy) and scattered them all over the land.

It rained, first slowly, plop, plop, plop went the drops and then faster and faster and the land became wet. Over time, the seeds sprouted and the stalks began to grow. Soon there was a bright yellow burst of sunflowers all over the patch of land.

And there - Right in the middle of the patch grew a sunflower, which stood taller than the others. When it opened its petals, it was a bright…..GREEN!!!


Now who’s heard of a green sunflower? Not me and bet you didn’t either. The other flowers gossiped amongst themselves. “Just look at greenie here, how different, she’s not one of us, she doesn’t belong, let’s ignore her, she’s so out of place, what an awful color, look at us and look at her and so on and on it went.

The green sunflower was very sad to hear all this, its petals drooping. “What’s wrong with being green?” she thought, “I am just as jolly as anyone else. I can’t HELP being a different color and said so to the other sunflowers, but nobody cared to listen and none of the other sunflowers would be friends with her.

That didn’t stop the people of sunflower land from caring for the green sunflower. They loved and watered it and cared for it as much as they did to the others, though they did puzzle over its color at times.

There came the next bit of excitement in sunflower land. The sunflower prince was getting married to a beautiful princess of the neighboring kingdom. The neighboring kingdom was called rose land and predictably, they grew roses. They had a king called the rose king and a bee-yoo-ti-ful princess called the rose princess. The princess was not only bee-yoo-ti-ful but reputed to be very jolly. There was a lot of whispering amongst the people and birds and the bees and the animals and the trees. Everyone thought it would be the perfect match. The royal family from rose land came to visit the sunflower land. Amid all the blowing of trumpets and hugs and kisses, the families embraced each other.

The sunflower prince and the rose princess took one look at each other and fell instantly in love.

The fathers had their own issues however. The princess’ father (rose king) wanted to know what the sunflower king had to offer in his kingdom.

Sunflower king: I can give you the best of gold and diamonds.

Rose King: Pooh! We have loads of them already. In fact, the walls of all our houses are studded with them in our land.

Sunflower king: I can give you pearls and silver.

Rose King: Pooh! We have so much silver and pearls that we don’t know where to keep them.

And on and on it went. The sunflower king offered the best of riches but the princess father (rose king) was unimpressed and boasted that whatever sunflower land had, rose kingdom had it too. After a lot of arguing back and forth, the sunflower king began to speak of the land’s rich produce, that they had the reddest of tomatoes, the best of brinjals, the amazing apples and so on. The Rose king just said, you guessed it, pooh! and said that rose kingdom had them too.

Then the king spoke about the beautiful sunflowers, their bright yellow color and how they were the size of dinner plates. The rose king said “Big deal!! What’s so special about your sunflowers? All it takes is a few seeds and we’ll have them too. But the king didn’t stop there. He went on about the beautiful sunflowers, their bright yellow color and how they were the size of dinner plates. The rose king thought for a moment and said, “Okay, this is getting a little silly. Let’s take a tour around your place and see what you have to offer.”


So the royal chariot was brought out and the two kings (sunflower and rose), the princess and the prince (rose and sunflower) all took a tour around the land. They passed through the golden discs of sunflowers. They came to the spot where the green sunflower grew.
All this while, the Prince and the Princess did not utter a word to each other, all they did was to steal glances at each other. Then the rose princess suddenly glanced up and cried out Stop! Stop!! Stop right now!! Stop right here!!

They stopped.

The princess rubbed her eyes and squeaked, “Is that a green sunflower?

Sunflower prince: “yeah, it is…well…”

Rose princess: “Guess what my favorite color is?? Guess? Guess? Its green!!!. I love green. I have loads of green dresses, green jewels, I wear green all the time, my room is painted green, my bedspreads are all green, I eat broccoli for breakfast, I eat spinach…ooh! I sooo love green…

Sunflower prince: “Yeah me too. I love you….I mean I love green too.”

Rose princess: and I’ve never seen such a bee-yoo-ti-ful green sunflower before.

Rose princess then tells the prince: “You know what? Let’s get married right away. Let’s take this bee-yoo-ti-ful green sunflower and plant it in our royal garden, just outside my bedroom window, right away!!.

The sunflower prince couldn’t say anything except nod. He got what he loved the most.

The fathers didn’t have anything much to say after that too, except nod their approval.

So took the green sunflower and planted it in the royal garden. The sunflower prince and the rose princess (now officially called the sunflower princess) had a grand wedding and an even grander honeymoon and like it is with most stories, they all lived happy ever after.

What happened to the other sunflowers?
They had learnt their lesson-never to make fun of anyone different.

Note: This story was created by me in a matter of hours as part of an assignment and presented, when I attended an Indo-Swedish workshop at Kathalaya (a story telling organization in Bangalore). After the presentation and the compliments I got on my story and presentation, I felt bee-yoo-ti-ful…just like a certain sunflower :)

Books are Medicine for the soul. ~Inscription over the door of the Library at Thebes

This is not a book review. Rather it is how much a book can leave a mark on you and one such book is Beautiful Child by Torey Hayden - Child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counseling children with special needs.

Have you ever read a book by an author only to find by the end of it craving to read up all books ever written by the author? That’s exactly how I felt when I read a Torey Hayden book. I read just two of them – Beautiful child and Twilight Children. Both the books have made me search frantically for the rest of her books to chew and digest, which unfortunately I have not been able to lay my hands on here in Bangalore, India, but I won’t rest till I get hold of them!.

The books have a dozen reviews all over the internet so I wouldn’t elaborate them here too much. It is the impact of reading such books is what I want to talk about. Also, to come across a person like Torey, even though I haven’t met her and may never will, it's great to know her - even if it is only through words and maybe an occasional picture.

There is a saying that books are extremely dangerous and the BEST books should carry a warning that says, “This book could change your life.” I felt like a totally new person and learned lessons just by reading Torey's books – on patience, on expectations, on children, their endearing spirits, on teaching, on love, on experiences that needs to be read to be understood and on the complexities of human mind. Reading Beautiful Child, I was transported into Torey’s classroom and lived each moment page by page.

Beautiful Child: “Venus never spoke, never listened, and never even acknowledged the presence of another human being in the room with her. Yet an accidental playground "bump" would release a rage frightening to behold, turning the little girl into a whirling dynamo of dangerous malice. Of the five children in Torey's classroom that September, Venus posed the greatest challenge-though the other four had serious problems of their own that could not be overlooked.” Sources http://www.torey-hayden.com/

Torey walked in and worked with all the children, gave them hope and a future when the rest of the world would have walked out on them. In my opinion, if Venus was the beautiful child, I would say Torey is the beautiful woman.

Reading this book not only made me appreciate about how well it was written or how good is Torey’s work with children, it went a lot deeper than that and I found myself really grateful to have a pair of eyes so that I could experience the joy of reading such a wonderful book.

Very few books have the power to sell you a whole new life and Beautiful Child is one of them.

CADE – A BOOK REVIEW

Amid a plethora of 50, 000 plus books in my local library, what made me pick up “Cade” by James Hadley Chase? Is it the author’s reputation for writing thrillers? The short title? The preview of it behind the book? Whatever it was, it was one of the most gripping, “unputdownable” (if you’ll excuse the grammar) book I have ever come across.

Cade is a famous, sought after photographer with a weakness for a drinks and woman. Juana – a beautiful Mexican woman known to be fatal to men. Cade has everything a human would wish for, looks, charm, wealth, talent, fame, friends and a kind nature until one fine day, the gods decided they needed a laugh. Into Cade’s life entered Jauna who stripped him of everything that he had till he was reduced to a mere nothing, to be pitied and eventually ignored.

The author in his own way does a wonderful job of pointing out subtly the human flaws in all of us. Not all of us may possess the same weaknesses that Cade has, but flaws we do have for sure and that makes it so easy to identify with Cade. The mistakes he makes are similar to ours in the sense of its repetition. How many of us actually learn from our mistakes and not tempt fate? How many of us give in to temptation easily enough? How many of us struggle with our own values when it comes to making life or death decisions? How many of us also at sometime or other counted our blessings? How many of us get into a situation knowing fully well that it would lead to trouble, and yet just can’t stay away? Anyone who says he hasn’t been through at least one of the above questions is superhuman. Cade does go through all this and more which makes it easier for the reader to identify with the character though not all of us may meet with the same fate as Cade.

Philosophical aspects apart, the setting of the story in the Mexican theme makes one want to visit the city itself and witness the bull fighting, so vivid are the descriptions that one can actually visualize the entire scene without ever having been to Mexico. The author also highlights the brutal aspects of racial discrimination and the world’s apathy to it, bringing into focus once again how a human flaw, if not improved upon can eat into a person’s soul so deeply that one loses the ability to discriminate between what is important and what is not, even comprising on values to the lowest possible manner.

One can enjoy Cade as another novel of fiction or make one's own interpretations. It would be apt if the reader can take away subtle learning’s from the book that is not evident overtly. Cade is definitely worth a read for anyone who loves a good book.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST

At the start of 2009, I decided to write on my blog every month, either a story, musing, articles, thoughts whatever, but with one condition that they should all be written by me– either what I had already written but never had the inclination to display it anywhere OR ones that were inspired on the spur of the moment (like the one on walking). Winning the first prize for my essay on my mother (Read it. it's titled "Who is she" elsewhere in the blog), spurred me on to write more.

I am glad that I have stuck to my resolution and diligently posted a write up without fail month after month. It has been a real pleasure to look forward to every month. Looking back, it has been a good year and I have done a lot of things that was stagnating for sometime. Writing was one on that list that I kept putting off. Going ahead, I won’t stop blogging. It may just mean not writing every single month. But write I will.
For as the quotes go, “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection” - Anais Nin AND “For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I'm surprised where the journey takes me. “ Jack Dann.
I am going to break one rule this last month of the year (December) and post two mails that have really inspired me many times over, ones I never get tired of reading, ones I revisit when I feel I need explanations especially when things get complicated with life and people, ones that I draw strength from time and again. I felt that it is only right to post them here to mark an end to 2009. To all those reading this, hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

PART 1:


SEASON, REASON OR LIFETIME – EITHER COPY AND PASTE THE LINK AND READ IT WITH THE GREAT VISUALS AND BEAUTIFUL MUSIC IN THE BACK GROUND OR JUST READ IT HERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLltt5cPDOc&feature=related
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.
When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.
LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.

PART TWO: TAKING A FRESH LOOK AT YOURSELF


The second one is a bit long, but worth reading. I totally loved every word of this and I hope I am getting there…..

There comes a time in your life.....
There comes a time in your life when you finally get it…when, in the midst of all your fears and insanity, you stop dead in your tracks and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out…ENOUGH! Enough fighting and crying, blaming and struggling to hold on. Then, like a child quieting down after a tantrum, you blink back your tears and begin to look at the world through new eyes.

You realize it’s time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change, or for happiness, safety and security to magically appear over the next horizon.

You realize that in the real world there aren’t always fairy tale endings, and that any guarantee of “happily ever after” must begin with you…and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.

You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are…and that’s OK. They are entitled to their own views and opinions.

You learn the importance of loving and championing yourself…and in the process a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.

Your stop complaining and blaming other people for the things they did to you – or didn’t do for you – and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected.

You learn that people don’t always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be there for you and everything isn’t always about you.

So, you learn to stand on your own and to take care of yourself…and in the process a sense of safety and security is born of self-reliance.

You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties…and in the process a sense of peace and contentment is born of forgiveness.

You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. You begin reassessing and redefining who you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you’ve outgrown, or should never have bought into to begin with.

You learn that there is power and glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as a “consumer” looking for your next fix.

You learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of a bygone era, but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.

You learn that you don’t know everything, it’s not your job to save the world and that you can’t teach a pig to sing. You learn the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry.

Then you learn about love. You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be. You learn that alone does not mean lonely.

You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and learning to say NO.

You also stop working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.

You learn that your body really is your temple. You begin to care for it and treat it with respect. You begin to eat a balanced diet, drinking more water, and take more time to exercise.

You learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear, and uncertainty and so you take more time to rest. And, just food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and to play.

You learn that, for the most part, you get in life what you deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something to happen is different than working toward making it happen.

More importantly, you learn that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You learn that no one can do it all alone, and that it’s OK to risk asking for help.

You learn the only thing you must truly fear is fear itself. You learn to step right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your own terms.

You learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom.

You learn that life isn’t always fair, you don’t always get what you think you deserve and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people…and you learn not to always take it personally.

You learn that nobody’s punishing you and everything isn’t always somebody’s fault. It’s just life happening. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that surrounds you.

You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

Then, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself a promise to never betray yourself and to never, ever settle for less than you heart’s desire.

You make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting, and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

You hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind.

Finally, with courage in you heart, you take a stand, you take a deep breath, and you begin to design the life you want to live as best as you can.

What a gift!
Author Unknown.

APPU & BILLI - A TV SCRIPT

I was given the assignment once to write a TV script, for 10-12 year old kids and the topic was “The merits of keeping physically fit for children.” Given that I haven’t watched TV for over a decade, I didn’t have a clue as to how to proceed. What the trends are, what may appeal to kids, sequencing of a script, how to get a message across without sounding preachy… Nor do I know much about exercise. So here goes, my first effort at writing a script ever. By the end of it, I could actually visualize myself watching this in an animated version, in any language. I quite liked the ending after all the gyan that Billi gives.

APPU & BILLI.

Scene 1 shows a little boy sleeping on a bed.

(Excited high pitched voice) Wake up! Wake up! It’s time for a walk.

Appu opened his eyes, rubs them and looked sleepily around his room, a rather messy room at that. Appu is a plump, lazy 10 year old and Billi is his dog, a brown mongrel with a melting eyes and a tail that wouldn’t stop wagging.

Appu: Who’s that? Who spoke (He looks around and could not see anyone except Billi, his dog, near his bed).

Billi (Appu’s dog speaking in a high “dog voice”): It’s me, Billi, your dog speaking. What an awful name you’ve chosen for me. Don’t you know cats and dogs have been enemies for ages?

Appu (thinking aloud in a surprised voice): I’ve had Billi since I was a pup, but this is the first time he’s spoken to me and demanding a walk too. I must be dreaming.

Billi (in an impatient tone): Well! What made you give me a cat’s name?

Appu: (slowly getting used to this crazy situation and answers in a lazy voice): umm... I was too lazy to think of a proper, appropriate “doggie” name for you.

Billi: That’s the problem with you. You’ve always been too lazy for words. It’s time to change all that.

Appu: But I like being lazy. I like sleeping and simply lying still. What is wrong with that?

Billi: Shame on you! A young child like you! Nothing wrong with sleeping and eating well, but one must also exercise to keep fit.

Appu (in a horrified tone): EXERCISE? ME? I have never done it and I am not sure I want to start now.

Billi: Like I said, it’s time to change all that. Go on! Get dressed and let’s go to the park opposite your house and I’ll show you how to have a good time.

Appu (in a reluctant tone): Okay.

(Appu gets dressed, grumbling all the way, moving sluggishly with Billi romping around him and encouraging him to hurry up. )

Scene 2 – Park Scene.

They walk out of the house and reach the park.

Billi: Now let’s both run from one end of the park to another.

Appu (sarcastically): Whatever you say, my lord!

(Appu and Billi start to run. The cool, green grass beneath their feet, the wind blowing in their faces. They stop when they reach the end of the park).

Billi: How do you feel now?

Appu (panting): My heart is beating so fast.

Billi: Good! You got the blood pumping. Regular activity and exercise make for a healthier heart. A healthy heart is a strong heart that works efficiently and is able to easily supply the body with blood. (This piece of information is accompanied by animated visuals with Billi’s voice in the background).

Appu: I could do with that. I get tired so easily.

(Appu and Billi run around the park again, more slowly this time. Appu take off his shoes to feel the grass beneath his feet and runs bare feet).

Appu: Looks like I can do this better as it goes along.

Billi: Endurance or stamina refers to a person’s ability to continue doing a strenuous activity for extended periods of time, meaning a person with good stamina can bike, jog, play or run for a long time without getting tired easily. This comes from regular physical activity. The body also gets a boost from exercise that helps it to fight colds and diseases. (This is explained with animated visuals supporting the sentences in Billi’s voice).

Billi: Now. Let’s both roll over on the grass and then you can try and catch me.

(Appu and Billi do roll over and over on the grass. Then they both play “run and tag”. This continues for a while with peppy music in the background.)

Appu (laughing): This is so much fun! I never knew I could enjoy myself so much.

(Appu’s skin is no longer dull. It is glowing. He is able to breathe easy and no longer moving slowly and sluggishly).

Billi: Do you know, Individuals who are physically active on a regular basis don’t get sick as much as those who are inactive? Physical activity not only builds muscles, it builds stronger bones too, which in turn goes hand in hand with healthy joints. As the body builds muscles, it tends to lose fat which results in a leaner, healthier body. (Again, all this is accompanied by visuals in Billi’s voice in the background).

Appu: I definitely feel good. I am no longer sleepy like as if there is a fog in my brain.

Billi: Exercise also benefits the mind. When a person is physically active, the body releases what is called endorphins – a substance in the body that act as the body’s natural pain reliever. When endorphins are released, a person may experience a rush of happiness. Many people enjoy this feeling and look forward to it the natural high they get from keeping physically active (Billi’s voice explaining all this with animated visuals).

Appu: You are right Billi. I should make this a part of my daily routine. Now can we go home? I feel I need to rest.

Billi: While physical activity and exercise can make people feel more alert, they also allow people to feel calmer and sleep better.

Scene 3 – Back in Appu’s house.

(Appu and Billi walk with a bounce in their step back to home. Appu is tired but is feeling good and as soon as he sees his bed, takes off his shoes, changes into comfy home clothes and flops on the bed. He falls asleep in minutes. Sometime later, he wakes up and yawns.)

Appu: Was that all a dream? He looks around. He can see his muddy shoes and the shirt he wore to the park has grass and mud stains on it.

Billi who is sleeping near Appu’s bed stirs and looks at Appu.

Appu: Thank you Billi for making the whole exercise experience very enjoyable. I feel great and I promise to exercise everyday, now that I know about its benefits.

Billi: Woof!

Happy is the man (in this case, woman) who has acquired the love of walking for its own sake! - W.J. Holland

I did it! I walked all the way from Indiranagar to Jayanagar shopping complex, which is about 14 Kms. I did this on September 12th, my birthday, reached there with sore feet and thoroughly exhausted and I loved every minute of it.

Regular walkers may pooh-pooh the effort and say it isn’t much, but for someone whose only exercise for years involved just pushing my luck, this felt quite liberating. I must say that the walk lasted for about four hours and I can’t really explain what happened in between, but I felt like a different person at the end of the day. Here is my top five lessons learnt that day:

5) To let go of my regular purse. Now, I am used to carrying a mini home in my bag which has everything from common stuff (money) to the not-so-common (like magnets and no, don’t ask me why). It usually weighs a couple of kilos. Walking that far meant carrying a little excuse of a bag slung across my shoulder. Boy! Did I feel like a part of me has been amputated.

4) To not give in to temptation to stop, come what may and especially when auto drivers were falling over themselves every 10 minutes or so, willing to take me wherever I want. WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY WHEN THEY ARE NEEDED THE MOST?

3) To finally understand what it means when people say the last lap is the toughest in a race. I was sooo tempted to take an auto from 3rd block to 4th block which is like, a blink away. Looking back, its quite a strange feeling that I made it so far, yet found it a struggle to walk about five more minutes.

2) To find out that food tastes so much nicer after a long, long, long, long, walk. I have been eating chaat in Jayanagar complex for years, that day it tasted so much more dee-li-cious.

1) To put your finger on what is the one thing that makes the walk really good…. Some may say good company to walk with, some may say good shoes, some may say to have something to munch along, some may say the path that you take, some may say wear comfortable clothing but in my opinion, its great weather that keeps you going. If the weather had played spoilsport, too hot or if it was raining, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it all that much

That day, the weather was gloriously perfect. I mean it when I say, I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday gift!!:)