Z,he,a log of wood and me:

Its always a nice feeling for me to hear a familiar sound or to see familiar face. When i got a call from the old vodafone number i didnt hesitate to pic, because i was sure it's not a call to tell me about a new defect in my module. He sounded calm and asked me whether i was free. He was in trouble, 3-4 kilometers from my place he is stuck somewhere and he want me to pic him up along with a log of wood. It was twenty two thirty railway time. I went to pic him up and the scene was terrible, he was in a bike and log was too big for both of us to manage. We need a 3 plus wheeler. Friends and phone contacts are used only when there is a need, otherwise very less phone calls and forwards. He tried a couple of numbers including his room mates, i was surprised nobody was ready to help us. Upon this we started to talk a bit of philosophy-"We can't blame them, they are never used to such stuff, how can a software engineer carry a log of wood."- etc etc.

Later when we checked the phone book towards the end of the list we found a name and called him. He was ready to help but he work in an owl village, can't come out before 12. So we have one hour left to gossip around many things, mainly girls, girl friends, girls getting married, girl trends, girl....One hour went like 1 minute, and we saw a big round head light, it seemed like somebody responded to our SOS message. The person who came , lets call him Z. We were expecting two head lights instead of one but Z is a capable guy, with lots of experiance in carrying big and nasty logs. Z single handedly managed the situation and soon they started the bike keeping the log between the rider and the pillion. And they successfully delivered the big log.

What surprised me is the patience of my friend and the humane nature of Z. Both of them are my friends and i am proud of them. The wood log* was hardly an aquaintance of any of us, my friend know him thats all. If you help a friend its ordinary but if you help a stranger then its extra-ordinary. When myself and Z went back to take our bike from the spot after taking the drunk guy to his home, Z even made sure he found the lost shoe of the drunk guy. A kind and helping heart is very hard to find now a days.

Note:

* I don't know who he is and i dont think i will be able to recognise him now. I sincerly apologize calling him a log of wood. But i couldnt find any other name. Sorry dude.

My God & My Prayers

I can't remember when was the last time I attended a religious retreat, atleast 6 years. The year 2010 blessed me with one. When i sit down to write this after the second day of retreat many faces came to my mind. Actually these days the urge to write something is so intense that, at the time of attending the retreat itself i started thinking of what to write. Fr.James' calm voice was not enough to make me concentrate, just like the lectures at college, mind wandered but never slept(But Fr.James was an experiance, no compulsion to praise the lord in 100decibels, no heavy speakers and orchestra, it was more or less like looking into an answer paper, helping me understand my problem, simple talk). So while thinking about what to write, the first thing that came to my mind was how I am attending this, why suddenly i became god fearing and pious than the usual sunday mass.

Answers to the question stood in a line,

ONE: since i left college the hole in my heart started growing and its almost empty now, very less friends and that joy of friendship is very low, so was planning to attend one but never thought of this yearly retreat at my very own church.

TWO: one fine day i suddenly realised that i am not a boy anymore and i stood responsible for my words and deeds.It hurt me a lot.I don't know whether it will hurt anyone of you. This part is kind of difficult to explain. I am trying to explain it just to get salvation and bliss.A few years back if somebody says "Njagal hindukkal okke chathu odughiyiitu kanda kristhyani okke avale nokkiyal mathi" was a funny film dialog, but it seems at 24 and a half most people don't take it lightly. Otherwise an accidental overhearing wouldn't have stopped me from going to a temple. It was the 20 year old guy who decided to go to temple to respect my friends' favourite god, but sadly 25 year old man couldn't go there hurting someone else's feelings. A christian MAN going to a hindu temple is not acceptable eventhough with all those lenting, the vice versa also stands. This thought is throughly disturbing in secular India. Anyway this was the second answer.

Whatever be the reasons, i attended it. And it was good and gave me some peace. Some wonderfull thoughts came up during the 3 hours, of which one in particular caught my attention, reason being many of my friends getting married and most of them anxious about married life, so when Fr.James said this it caught my attention. Once a couple came to father, the guy is working in infosys and girl in some other IT firm, they are married for almost 12 years and there are some problems in their life so that they can't adjust. The main complaint was he/she still dont know me even after 12 years. The part I liked is his answer. Father said to the couple,

You might be 40 and 38 years old, but your marriage is still young just 12 years. How can you expect a 12 year old to be mature enough and understand everything....

He didnt say whether the problem with the couple was solved. But the advice sounded too good. So this is to all my friends who are getting married - one toaster, one saree, one shirt and a couple of happy married life wishes is all we can manage during your marriages. It's your responsibility to take care of your new born's(New born i refer to is Marriage ;-))

See how unfocussed i am, started writing with god and ended up in marriages. I am writing for the urge so let it be a mess. But i can't forget to thank somebody for some words i used in here.Hope he reads and acknowledges my thanks...Signing off....