Crow

Kaanv kaanv kaanv...... 

The crow would not let me sleep that Sunday afternoon and continued to caw irritatingly. 

It​ was raining incessantly and I had planned to catch up on my sleep as I had a hectic week and my family too was away.

Trying to shoo away the crow, I opened my eyes and felt as if my father was talking to me," this cawing of the crow means that you will get a visitor today, so get up Veenu....."

Good evening toastmasters and guests, 

You won't believe how hard I tried to sleep again, knowing that in this rain, with no one home there will be no guest today but sleep evaded me somehow.

I turned left and saw my father smiling from the photograph.

Don't know whether I slept and was dreaming or it actually happened but in his loud and clear voice he asked - 

"What happened Vinu ? You got up early?"

"Yes papa, but it seems like you did not sleep the whole night"

"Actually, I was trying to build this character for the new script I have in mind but it contradicts with the central theme of my drama"

I turned towards my right and on the other side of the room was Mom's picture, a mix of care, love and pride. 

"Why have you not taken your lunch today" she enquired

"Maa, I am not hungry"

"This is what I don't like about you, so much work pressure and you are so careless for your health" 

"Maa, for heaven's sake, today is Sunday and there is no office"

"I know I know and still you are checking your blackberry every hour, why don't you keep a sleeping bag in your office only, no need to come home"

I angrily turn my face towards her. I feel a stab of pain as I see a garland around her picture. Instantly, reality hits me and I wake up from day dreaming. Now this was real. It had been 11th Dec. 2014 around 3 PM, when I received a call from my daughter "Papa, I have just come back from school and Dadi is lying as if lifeless, she is not moving, Please hurry and come back home"

And in exactly two hours from that call she was declared brought dead on arrival at hospital. The world had come crashing down. I could not believe that my mother had passed away leaving me alone. As I looked towards her body on the pyre before she was engulfed in flames, it seemed that she was still thinking of me and telling me, "Take care of your self" 

A sob escaped from my mouth as the pain and the loss became unbearable. She was still looking at me, not done with her instructions..." Be strong, you have to take care of yourself for others. Your family needs you to be strong

"Maa, Please don't go"

"I have to go to make tea for your papa, its been three hours that he is writing and is not able to find a suitable end to his story" 

Papa, yes, he too left me 25 years back.

As I turn towards him, he is in best of his moods

"Happy birthday to you"

"Happy birthday to you" 

"May gawawd bless you"

Happy birthday to you"

He was recording a message for me on a new second hand tape recorder that he gifted me on my 20th birthday. 

"Is the recording happening or not, I hope I am not blabbering just like that"

"Papa, see the red indicator, it means it is happening"

"OK, happy birthday to you" here's wishing you all the happiness in life. 

Have you seen the birthday card I brought for you? Let me read it out for you. Wishing a you a wonderful future and may your dreams take you as far as you wish to go" 

Tring tring.

I come out of my slumber as finally the door bell rings. I open the door and there is a kid at the door asking for donations for old age home. I come back to the room and open my wallet, unfortunately there is no change. I was going back to the kid to ask him to come some other time when I heard my father say, "No needy should go empty handed, if you have something, give him. Everything good you do will come back to you. 

The kid was not able to control his happiness as I handed over a 500 rupee note to him. His target was achieved. "Thank you Uncle, thank you so much"

After closing the door I realised​ that all these years I have been waiting for my parents to return, while they  had never gone anywhere. They are always in me, with me, we are one. I am their face to the world. I am today what they were. I reflect their upbringing and thoughts

I looked outside the window, the rain had stopped and the dark clouds had disappeared. The sun shone brightly and will set in a short while from now. I could see a rainbow in the horizon. 

I mused over the afternoon and thought, where are the guests? Crow's cawing cannot be wrong. Then who had come?

As I thought, with a shiver of delight, I realised that Yes, the beautiful memories had come, motivating memories, memories that made me realise that even today my parents are one with me.

Horse

Making a horse listen
                      

Good evening to all Toastmasters and Guests.

You can take a horse to a pond but you cannot make it drink water is an old proverb. Don't you feel sometimes that your horse does not listen? Listening is very important but what is more essential is how anything is communicated. Not only words but it is very important to have proper emotion on face so that your thoughts can be conveyed properly. In our daily life too we come across the all such emotions and we come across HORSE too who does not listen to us. The horse in our life is:- 

 

H - Home

O - Office

R - Relatives

S - Seniors, subordinate and spouse

E - External word. 

To communicate with horse, we have to use all emotions so that we can make sure that whatever we communicate is understood so that HORSE drinks water.  

How many of you heard of Bharat Muni. And how many of you are aware that he has written Natyashastra which includes "Ras theory" in this he talks of nine emotions.

Let us visualise a situation. I have just come back from office and I enter my home, my wife asks me "Hi, how was your day" In response to this question, the answer can be different depending on how the day was:- 

1. Shringar ras - Love, beauty, sentiments. THE DAY HAS STARTED NOW MY DEAR

2. Karuna ras - sadness or sorrow. MY BOSS FIRED ME. 

3. Vir ras - courage or heroism. TODAY, I GAVE IT BACK TO MY BOSS

4. Bhaya ras - Fear, nervousness or anxiety. THOUGH, I GAVE IT BACK TO MY BOSS BUT I FEAR HE WILL SPOIL MY APPRAISALS NOW. WHAT DO I DO???

5. Vibhatsa ras - disgust, hate or depression. MY BOSS HAS SPOLIT MY APPRAISAL AND HE HAS PROMOTED ANOTHER PERSON INSTEAD OF ME.

6. Raudra ras - anger, violence. MY BOSS HAS CHALLENGED ME, HE DOES NOT KNOW HE HAS INVITED MY WRATH.

7. Shant ras - calmness, peace or relaxation. A PERSON CAN DEFEAT ME BUT NOT MY SPIRITS

8. Adbhut ras - wonder, curious or astonished. MY BOSS CALLED ME AND ASKED ME FOR A CUP OF COFFEE IN HIS CABIN. 

9. Hasya ras - humor, laughter, joy. YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TODAY, MY BOSS SLIPPED ON A BANANA PEAL. 

Let's see in a scenario at home how many emotions you can find. 

Trying Tring - Sir, are you Aarav's father.

Yes, I am Aarav's father here. 

Sir, are you Vinay Srivastava

Of course, if I am Aarav's father, I am Vinay Srivastava only; he does not have 2 - 3 fathers.

Sir, please come to school immediately.

What happened ????

Sir please come to school urgently. I think it is very urgent.

What do you mean you think, will you please tell me what exactly has happened.

Sir, at this time all I can say is that you come here fast.

With all kinds of thoughts in my mind I just to my sons school. 

Oye careful man, will you kill us under your car. 

My son is in class 4D, her teacher has called me urgently, Please let me go inside. 

Saar please go and wait there.

(After ten minutes of agonizing wait), her teacher comes to the reception area and declares

Sir, Your son is very depressed. 

Depressed??? Why? How?? When??? I mean how can you say that?

Sirrrr, he was very sad today. His face was down and when I asked him why he was not writing. He looked up and told me that he is missing his grandfather. 

His Grandfather, I said!!!

Yes Sir, please don't worry I have informed other teachers and they have also exempted him from doing any work. 

Aarav was telling all of us that he used to play a lot with his grandfather and he used to buy him ice creams and toffees and he is missing all of it. Sirrrr, please take care of him.

What are you taking of????

Sir, I know I know and I can understand it must be a shock for you. But it happens with kids and us as teachers and parents have to take care and please don't worry, we are with you and we are all sure that he will come out of it. 

Teachers - My father passed away (teary eyed) 26 years ago and even my wife has not seen him. So, how can he possibly be doing all these things with him? 

So, we see that in life we have many types of experiences and we have to deal with each one with a different emotion and make sure that our Horse understands and drinks Water. 

Tiger trail

It had been close to two hours that we were traversing across the forest. With each passing moment the anticipation was becoming more fervent. We could find pug marks of all sizes but  success still eluded us. The vast jungle held unseen beauty amidst its folds. The flora and fauna of Tadoba were mesmerising but my eyes were searching for something else and my mind was tuning itself for an exhilarating experience. The jeep suddenly came to a screeching halt. "Sir, see the footmarks here" all our eyes were expectantly focussed on the muddy path and we could see a big footprint.  We felt adrenaline rush in our bodies as we felt victorious. But was it victory or was it just another false alarm. The guide looked at the mark from all sides and said "it seems P2 is somewhere near".

P2 ??? I looked around amazed.....  Is there a toastmasters club here too??

You must be wondering what I am talking about. Last month when we were embarking on the journey to Nagpur, I was not so  excited to attend a 5 day Outdoor training programme. Little did I know how exciting it was going to be in the end.

After a two hour car drive we arrived at Bamboo Forest Safari Resort near Tadoba Tiger Reserve. I was mesmerised at the artistic depiction of each and every item. We could feel the presence of tiger in each and every article. Be it tiger head shaped door knob or the wash basin embedded in tiger body. As the darkness set in, the eerie silence was frightening. Tigers were the only thoughts I had and was trying to imagine how majestic they would look when we could see them.

Next morning I woke up with dreams of taking selfies with the Royal King. I stepped outside my room to a slight chill in the air. The freshness smelt as if it had been infused with extra oxygen. Sun had just begun it's journey and it's bright and clear orange reflection in the lake ahead made the day double sunny and vibrant. The beauty of the dew drops on the leaves were breathtaking. I was admiring the statue of a lady holding a half tilted pot, pouring water in the fountain, lost in my own thoughts, when someone shouted hey P1 has been sighted today. P1 ? Toastmasters club again? I was perplexed. "Yes, Choti Tara was seen near the lake" It was then that the guide cleared my doubts and explained that here P1 is Choti Tara, P2 is Maya and P3 is Mohan. What a co-incidence with Toastmasters. I was wondering if they also have ACB, ACS and ACGs like us?

The first two days of the training passed in a whirlwind. With each exercise we were told to accomplish, all I could think of was P1, P2 and P3. Finally, on the 3rd day, the moment arrived when a forest safari was planned for us. With a single track aspiration of sighting the beast, we clambered on. Will it be P1 or P2 or P3 which will make us lucky? My heart sank when our guide told us that more than 50% of the tourists were not able to sight the majestic animal even after multiple attempts. I was pondering over this information and analysing the chances of success when suddenly, the jeep came to a screeching halt. There was some movement in the bushes. Everyone was waiting with bated breath when a sloth bear emerged. Unmindful of guests it continued its heavy walk.

We had practically searched every possible nook and corner of the area where Tigers were expected to be but luck evaded us. We came back to our rooms, tired and disappointed.

Next day, we again hit the road early in the morning, and as we were entering the forest, few enthusiastic Monkeys greeted us. A herd of spotted dears was seen rushing near the lake. They stopped and turned their heads anxiously in one direction and suddenly everything went silent. I was smiling at a small baby dear when I noticed the stunning silence. Everyone was looking in the other direction with their jaws dropped, awestruck with magnificent sight ahead. Yes, it was P1, Choti Tara some distance away behind the big blades of grass near the lake. Majestically moving away from the lake towards the trees, her slow but steady strides exuded confidence. In a few moments, she vanished behind the trees and we were left wanting more of her. It felt like a dream as I pinched myself for a reality check. Did I really see her? Or was it my imagination playing tricks? My plans of capturing the moment in my camera were dashed. Though I was happy to have caught a glimpse of Tara, I not satiated, in fact I wanted some more of her presence, to observe and to appreciate the beauty.....

Reliving the discovery channel that we used to see from the luxury of our bedrooms, we resumed our quest with a firm resolve of a better experience. With the passing of time, our energy levels were diminishing as we were loosing hope of sighting the Tiger again. A thick layer of dust had settled on my forehead after 3 and a half hours of traversing across the length and breadth of the forest area. It was time to bid Good Bye to the beautiful civilisation and return to uncivilised cities. We wanted to exit on a happy note. Each one of us was wildly clapping "If you are happy clap your hands, clap, clap,clap" The jeep moved rapidly from the centre of the jungle towards the Kolara Gate. The chanting continued  "If you are happy clap your hands, clap, clap,clap" Screeeeecch...... The Jeep came to a grinding halt once again. Maya was walking majestically on the road. She was hardly ten metres away. The vision was Super High definition. Each step she was taking portrayed Power. She was sheer strength. Then she stopped suddenly and turned to stare at us. I could feel her looking straight into my eyes. Her jaws moved as if in slow motion and she let out a blood curdling roar. It was frightening and we were unsettled. Before we could react to the series of events, she suddenly turned towards us, increased her pace and leapt high. Even as we started screaming, our hearts thumping against our rib cage, she ran past us into the the dense jungle and disappeared. Forever for us.....

Good Bye Maya.