Hi Googlies, 13/4/10
PTL!
Things are looking up with Herald. They are still allowing my poems and today my debut short story was published in Junior Herald. But I miss my ‘middles’. I’ve done so many and really feel stifled not to display them if you get my drift. Some have such important messages, others are for fun but with a meaning. The bottom line is light-hearted humor but there are serious people out there who misunderstand and I hope God will vindicate my cause for I work for Him alone.
Posting the story; only part 1 as part 2 will come next week. Also the poems.
Hols are in full swing and boys are driving me nuts. So I resort to my favorite pastime- reading and eating chocs. Bet I’ll cross 75 kgs this summer. I do the ‘middles’ writing as and when a topic excites me so now it’s done for me alone and I’m Lovin It!
Glenn is hooked onto Radio Mirchi these days so we are enjoying all the Hindi oldies in the nights. Aaron began his summer camp today; basketball coaching completes a week. Nathan longs to go but he’s too small. Maybe next year. Baby is my main problem right now; she makes me carry her and it’s terrible climbing slopes with her. In another two years, all this will be over and I can go for walks with her.
Gilroy, your pics of the kids were super! They are such cute babies. Say hi to Ruby and Mum.
Saju, I know you read so Hi to you too. Did Sahir love seeing his name in the papers?
You’ve been a great support to me these awful awful days. God bless you, dearest.
Anyone else out there, Hi to you and do post mail so I can respond. I can’t do Facebook because Glenn does all my emailing. You can email to him at glenn@microngold.com Just type ‘AurielBlog’ in the subject slot, ok?
Chalo, bye for now.
From the heart.
Auriel.


THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE- PART I

Sahir woke up early, jumped out of his bed and ran down the stairs. “Mama, Mama” he shrieked, running to hug his mother in the kitchen. “It’s my birthday today, today. Yipeee!” His mother looked down at him, ruffled his hair and smiled. “Yes, I know, beta. And you must be wondering what present you are going to get from us, hah?” Grinning sheepishly, Sahir acknowledged her query with an excited nod.
After breakfast, she took him to her bedroom and rummaged through her pile of clothes. There, nestled under her huge mound of saris, was a rectangular package all dressed up in attractive shiny wrapping with a huge bow around it. She gave the package to Sahir with a “Happy Birthday, sweetheart” and a kiss on his forehead.
Sahir ran up the stairs to his room, hoping against hope that it was the gift he had been praying for. Of course, he had hinted to his parents many days before that he hoped for an Optomus Prime but knowing that his parents were short of money, he was not sure that they would buy it for him. Still, one never knew! Mum was persuasive; maybe Dad had relented to her pleas after all.
With trembling fingers, he opened the wrapping, carefully saving the bow to use later for his craftwork. As he opened the box, his face fell. It was not the toy he had hoped for after all; it was just a jigsaw puzzle. He looked at it with disappointment, tears trickling slowly down his face. The puzzle was that of the map of India. A puzzle- and a map at that! What was his mother thinking of? “It must have been Dad’s choice.” he mused, grumpily.
Sahir tossed the box and its contents in disdain onto the bed and went out to sulk in the balcony. He could see the children going by on their way to school. He decided he was not going to go, just to spite his parents. Engrossed with his plan for revenge, he did not hear his mother come until she whispered, “Sahir, are you still angry?” Then he remembered the gift and, with a grimace, he turned to his mother, sighing, “Mama, you know how much I wanted the Transformer toy. Just this once couldn’t you have bought me something I wanted?”
His mother didn’t know how to pacify the distressed boy so she hugged him to her bosom soothing him with gentle caresses instead. Then, taking his hand, she guided him slowly back inside and sat him down besides her on the bed. She opened the box and laid out the pieces of the puzzle on the Micky Mouse bedsheet.
“See, Beta, this is our state.” she pointed as she picked up Goa and placed it in the centre. “And this is Kashmir, right on top, close to Pakistan.” Sahir did not bother to look. Instead, he folded his hands across his chest and stuck his chin into his neck in rebellion. Realising that she had a battle ahead of her, Sahir’s mother continued to place the pieces on the sheet so that the whole map was in position. She then said “Come down soon” and walked away.
Sahir looked up after she had left, at the door, and then at the pieces of the puzzle on the bed. He felt like throwing them into the wastepaper basket. But he knew his father would throw a fit if he did that so he began to pick the pieces up one by one to put them back into the box.
Suddenly, he spotted a familiar name. “Delhi”, he said, as he looked closely at the piece. “Why, that’s where Nani lives.” In bold letters across the piece were the words “HARYANA”. He quickly ran to get his Geography text book and learnt that Delhi was the capital of India and that it was in Haryana. The puzzle suddenly became exciting for the little boy and he began to piece it together, checking with his book all the time. “Here goes Jammu & Kashmir, just above Himachal Pradesh.” He checked with the picture on the box, then searched for Punjab. “There it goes. Now to find Rajasthan.” Sahir thus grouped the pieces into North, South, East and West. Then, beginning with the four Southern states, he placed the Western ones above them and finally the Northern states right on top. Next he did the Eastern side and, putting Madhya Pradesh last, he finally completed the map. He counted the number of states; 28 in all. WOW! He dismantled the puzzle, put the pieces back into the box and glanced at the clock on his study table. It was time to get ready to go to school. Quickly donning his uniform, he grabbed his satchel and the box, carrying both down with him. (To be Continued)

The first part was published on 12 April 2010 in Herald on page 17.

MY SEARCH

The world is going, going berserk
With all its toil and hard work
There seems no time for leisure
For little joy, a simple pleasure
Life is, oh, so machine-like
Every hour, every day seems alike
The futility of living bores me
Its importance I just cannot see
Where can I find the kind of life
That’s free from every war and strife
My soul longs for that inner peace
From pain and sorrow final release
Worries will haunt me not
When I have found what I have sought.


COMMUTING

The mad, mad rush
To catch a train, a bus.

The jostling, pushing, pulling claws,
The spewed venom, the fight of jaws.
The cackling, chattering, bickering mob.
The utter indifference to an unheard sob.

Litter litters around the floor,
Heavy luggage blocks the door.
Beggars, fishers, eunuchs enter,
Hawkers pile on, right, left and centre.

Uncensored displays, perverted lines,
Juvenile feelings and lovers’pines.
Fetid smells - they often appear
Warning people to steer clear.

Warning signs, the signal light
Don’t come within the focus of sight
People walk and talk and sing
The cacophony is shattering.

A sudden halt; a thousand curses,
A shroud is brought and nurses.
Blood shed all in vain
A reckless man dies in pain.

Crowds gather; a splendid hall
Papers read; policies passed
Applauses; great speeches heard.
Its all finalized in written word.

Tea served; gossip spread
Praises sung of the Head.
Then in pomp they all file out
The path with paper strewn about.

A silver dawn; new hope is born
The railway starts another day
Alas! But just like yesterday.

These poems were published on 11 April 2010 in Sunday Mirror