The lucky charm!

The sky is still dark, and I give a silent prayer that it should not rain  today, for I have a very important work to do.
I am determined to do it today, after many failed attempts, and even the rain, if it comes, will not stop me today.
I am waiting for her to come out.

The sun has risen now, and it seems to favour me today.

She has come out from her home with all her bags, and she looks left and right before crossing the road. And, at the moment she crosses the road, I cross her path. She looks at me with disgust, and goes back inside her home. After a few minutes, she is back again.

But, this time, I didn't cross her path.

And that was my plan.

When I told you elaborately about the sun and the climate, I didn't want to mention about my actual plan. But, I guess it will not be interesting for you to hear further, if I do not mention a few words about my plan. 
After all, what would a human like you want from me, a simple black cat?

There are a few sentences, i would like to say, before I give away my plan.

I don't know who among you started the theory. Yes, it is just a theory, and I will prove it to you shortly. A theory which developed wildly and made us the symbol of bad luck.

Luck, in itself is something that some of you lazy humans believe in. And you humans were too broad-minded to include the opposite of it too, the bad luck.

And my plan, is to prove that there is nothing in this world as luck - whether you want it to favour you, or go against you.

Follow me with my adventure (yes, I call it an adventure!) if you are open to hearing about some of your foolish beliefs, from the voice of a cat, a black cat at that.

But, if you are a person suffering from the delusion of grandeur, and you believe that you are right in every sense, I hope that this blog has many other articles to flame your fire, especially the one about the mad man.

Now, let me stop with the preaching, and return to the task at hand.
She has come out again, probably sitting for a few minutes and drinking a few sips of water. That is what you humans do, don't you?

She looks wearily at the road, expecting me to come again. But, I won't. If anyone of you are seeing her, tell her that.
She starts walking and she has joined the crowd on the main road.
There are many people walking briskly even though there is still a lot of time for the morning buzz to start.

I follow her, stealthily of course! Don't think of me as a stupid cat. You people boast about the sixth sense, but i don't know what use you all put that to!

She still has a few yards to cover before she can reach her destination. She is working at a place with big computers and all. We call it 'The Big Computer' place.

She has gone in, and I try to follow her. But, a guard with a big stick in his hand chases me away. Why would he chase me away? This world belongs to all, and I belong to this world.

Try hard as I might, but, I can never understand your true intentions. I have given up about all that a long time ago. Now, the only thing I want to prove to my family and friends is that we are not a dose of bad luck, and we are just a normal living being, and we are as fantastic as any other being.

I decide to wait till she comes back. I want to know how her day went.  But, as soon as I find a shelter overlooking the 'Big Computet' place, to rest, she comes out from the office. Her eyes look as if she has cried, a lot. She storms out before I can catch up. I can give credit to humans for this. You all can do anything if you truly wish for. 

And before I can reach her place, she is no where in sight. Did anyone of you see her going somewhere else?

Oh! Thank you!

She has gone into her home.

I climb the pipes and reach the balcony of her second floor home. I can see her now. I request you all not to follow me. You don't have the agility of mine, and do not worry, I will give you the running commentary.

She is sitting in her room, and her mother, and grandmother are beside her. She is crying. I am not able to hear them properly. I open the window a little, and yes, I can hear them clearly now.

She has lost her job due to the cut down by her company! And her grandma is saying that is because of me.
Oh! Come on human grandma! Did I sign the papers?

You see, this is what I have been trying to say. You humans want someone to take the blame for your mistakes, and we were an easy target, weren't we?

I wanted to show a good example. She was a good example of how we are fantastic beings, and not your bad luck charm. She did have her glass of water to wave off the bad omen.
You all do not believe me?

I didn't expect my plan of months to go in dust. But, I am determined, and I will prove it.

I will.

You all are welcomed to be with me in this journey. Also you are free to leave too.

I will wait.

It has been a few weeks now. I have become a little fat with no work. My family physician, Dr.Feline said that those extra fat will become my enemy.

My dear old wife Lynx, and my twin children, Jaguar and Kitty, want me to forget all this, and go back to my routine. They are even taking care of the shop I have left. But, I am fighting for a greater cause, and nothing great is lightly won.

And I also want to fight for the poor souls who lost their life at The Grimalkin Institute of Mental Health, because of depression, mainly from their personal belief that they were destined to be souls with bad luck. I will change it all. All it takes is a little patience, and I am full of it.

It has been 3 months exactly, and I see her coming out. She has a blue file with her, and I wait till she reaches the bus station. I make a quick decision, and i cross her. She looks aghast. But, she doesn't go back to her home for a glass of water, because her bus has arrived. She gets onto the overly crowded bus.

I walk fast, and climb the ladder at the back of the bus. I stop climbing at the exact level, where I could see her. She is struggling to maintain balance, and I grip the ladder tightly with my paws. My paw nails strike against the cold metal and emits a screeching sound, which I admit is not so pleasant to hear. I struggle against the ladder. The potholes in this way are more than any place I have ever been, and you humans do not even care about it! After many life taking attempts done by the human behind the wheel, she gets down from the bus.

I get down after her, and I maintain a good distance behind her. She enters a place, and the building looks bigger than the 'Big Computer' place.

And as i expected, the security guard there with the big white mustache, waves me off. I try other means of following her.
After many failed attempts, I climb the wall. I could not see her, and so I decide to wait.

Near to where I am standing is a thing, which I could not describe exactly. It is rotating smoothly by itself, and I could see something like the lens my daughter's photo machine used to have. It must be a human photo machine. It is funny how you humans want to take photos of the road and the gate!

I am so tired, and hungry. Today morning I decided to go on a diet, and skipped the breakfast of two dry fishes my wife placed on my plate. Now, my hunger is killing me, and only if I could have some tasty milk to quench my hunger!

I am still waiting, and what is she doing inside that building for the past 4 hours.
This little adventure is taking a toll on me, but I am as resilient as I look. I wait for her without my lunch and my evening milk, and she is yet to come.

The sky has turned the darkest black. There are no stars to be found, and I am little afraid of getting caught in the rain. I am suddenly afraid that the big building might have a different way out. I do not want to take a chance, and leave this place, in case she comes out.

I wait, and wait.

Finally, she comes out carrying the same blue file. Her face doesn't show any emotion, and she looks as tired as me.
I get down from the wall, and I follow her.
She looks back at me. She stands there for a moment, and she starts coming in my direction.

My heart is thumping, and I stand rooted to the ground. She bends down, and stroks my fur. She give a little pat on my head, and gently lifts me.

She carries me all the way to her place.

I don't resist, because I want to know what really happened. Also, I am so tired!
She places me near her sofa, and gives me a plate of lukewarm milk. How did she know that milk was my favourite! You humans even started reading minds now? We should be more careful than ever!

I slowly lick the milk, and it tastes heavenly. When I am about to immerse myself in the pleasantness that the milk offered, her grandma comes. She shouts at her granddaughter for taking me inside her home, and also about how i will bring all the bad luck in the world to them.

We are back to the beginning!

But, she smiles at me, and says, 'It brought me good luck today. I got a job, better than the previous one. So, grandma, let the cat have its milk'
Her grandma mutters something about 'new age' and 'mistakes'.
But, she keeps smiling at me.
I finish my milk, and I go back to my home.

A huge crowd gathers at my home, as soon as I return. Lynx stand beside me and I tell them my adventure.
'We are not the carriers of bad luck. We are indeed carriers of good luck. We are better than humans, and we are fantastic beings!"

The crowd cheer for me, and we all take a photo from Kitty's photo machine.
I tell Lynx that I have to go somewhere, and I leave our place.
Outside, the alley looks deserted, and the light from the street light emits a faint yellowish glow. I look at that human's place, and the events of the past few months come to my mind.

I have proved to my society that we are a fantastic creature. But, I also wanted them to understand that we are normal and luck is just a matter of thought.
It doesn't exist.

But, I finally understand something. Everyone wants to believe in something for their life to be complete. They want to believe in either the good or the bad. If my fellows don't want to be bad, they want to be good.

I remember the late Mr.Jaguar, after whom I have named my son. I met him before he died, and he wanted to prove the same thing to our communty. He warned me that it will not be an easy task.
Now, my family and friends believe that they are a good luck charm.
It is for their own good.
We are fantastic creatures, and I know it.

I sense someone coming behind, and it is Lynx. She smiles at me, and we decide to take a stroll.
We are two fantastic creatures taking a stroll in the fantastic climate, in this fantastic world.
Everyone and everything around you is fantastic when you see it.
Even the rain coming down now, and having us stranded under a tree is fantastic.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Books and only books. Blog Marathon #4

Books.
Books.
Books.
Three words. Same meaning.
But each time I utter it, I think about a different book, a different genre, a different character.
Sometimes it is the lovely Miss.Emma and sometimes it is the brave little Potter.

Who wouldn't love books?

Am I a bookworm?
Yes, I am! And I am proud to be one!

Am I guilty of hoarding?
No! (Yes, I am!)

Even if u ask a million questions related to books, my answer would be just yes. A plain yes. You don't have to expect an exaggerated version which will finally lead to a simple affirmative response. I will just answer in a single word, because a simple answer holds the plentiful meaning and a real bookworm who would lovingly appreciate the simple response, will have lots and lots to imagine, and as a true believer in the goodness of all books, I will leave it to their imagination. (And I will always pray to God for rich imagination and heavenly portrayals)

So, having clearly (I hope so!) explained the goodness of the black and white letters printed on a subdued white paper, I will explain further and will try to bring you, the reader, into the world of unrealistic expectations that will surely be fulfilled!

What do you think when you see a book?

Imagine a scenario.

You are walking along a pavement, trying to cover yourself from the heavenly pour that decided to come down at the exact time you leave your office. You decide to stop at a small store and you look sadly at the sky, which looks like as if it is glowering down at you. You can't help but feel threatened by the dark grey clouds. You look back at the store. It is a small second hand book store.
Let me pass at this second. You come back from your imagination! (though it may be tough, because of my superb hypnotic powers)

Now, I can't help but tell a few words or rather push towards you a few sentences about second hand book shops, even though it is highly inappropriate! Second hand book shops are histories that are waiting to be explored and read.

Just take a book. It has been already owned by a person or two or more persons. It could have been a first gift to a shy bride from her groom. She could have cherished it, until her grandson decided to sell it to make space for his new home theatre stereo speakers. 

Or it could have been a proposal gift by an unrequited lover trying to propose by gifting the book. How wonderful it would be to open a book and find a lovely proposal written in a page corner, still waiting for that response. You could feel the emotions coursing through you. Each page has a different story to tell apart from the one the author has intended for the readers.

So, going back to the imagination, you look at the bookstore. You are tempted to go in and get into a new world. You go inside, and your wet trail follows you. You explore different racks and finally select a book, which you have been wanting to read for ages. 

You buy it and finally when you reach home, you recline back and start reading. When you have completed it, you feel something has been lit up in your mind. Something that has been wanting to escape from a cage and finally it has.
And that feeling is 'fantastic'.
#fantastico

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Outing! Blog Marathon #3

Life can be real hard sometimes. That too, life of an intern is something beyond ordinary.

There are days when you don't feel like eating and just go to sleep. There are days when you don't have time to brush your teeth. And also sometimes, there are days when you have to go sleepless for days together. Not to mention the mental strain that sucks out the remaining little bit of energy.

But these are also the days, when you get to learn, if u really want to learn.
Now, leaving the serious part aside, I am going to talk about a wonderful and fantastic outing trip I had.

When you are an intern, it is tough finding time to go out, especially if your friends are in different batches.

So, it was very difficult organizing the schedule and after many promises of double the time work, some cajoling, we were ready to take our well planned trip.
Well planned always doesn't mean well executed. It was true for us too and we ended up starting an hour late than the planned one.

We reached the nearby city where our outing was supposed to take place. At first, we all decided to go for our breakfast.

I still could not decide whether I enjoyed our food or not. But I what I am so sure about is that I enjoyed the events that followed our food.

It is the era of selfies. And if you are a bog gang, taking selfie takes some time, since all people should fit in and look good too! But in each selfie, there is one person who will look a little serious than others and it will be the one taking it!
We had planned shopping from a well known shopping street until lunch.

But we ended up posing and pouting for hours together and finally when we looked at our watches, it was time for lunch.

With all the adrenaline pumping in out bodies, we rushed to the shopping place.
Being a weekend, the place was packed. We were new to it and we could hardly move together. So, we decided to split ways and we explored a lot of cloth shops, shoe shops.

When I entered the place, a few book shops fell on my eyes and for the life of me, I could not concentrate on the shoes that the shopkeeper were showing. My mind was fully on the racks of books.
So, I called my mini gang to the book shop. Since no one were interested, I decided to go on my own.

Before that, I have never ever shopped alone in my life. May be, except for online. But that is entirely different. You don't have an old man with a long beard and a Gandhi spectacles trying to sell you his wares.

I went to a book shop and got some second hand books for dirt cheap prices.
I went to other shops too and finally when I left the building with my friends, my shopping bags had only books. But, the most important thing was, I was happy having made the purchase.

It was nearly evening and we decided to skip our other plans and go to the beach.

It took almost an hour for us to reach the destination.

The sky was turning red. The sun was ready to sink itself into the ocean.
We played with the waves; bought food to eat, and finally, we sat together and enjoyed watching the sun set.

We had gone out together after nearly an year and though the upcoming end of this life was on everybody's mind, we decided not to think about it and concentrated on the scene before us and the friends beside us.

It was fantastic.

#Fantastico

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

The Opportunity. Blog Marathon#5

"We do not get unlimited chances to have the things we want. Nothing is worse than missing an opportunity, that could have changed our life"

Opportunities never knock twice.
Even while knocking once, it doesn't knock hard. It knocks so feebly and if you are too distracted to listen to its soft calling, you are doomed. You are doomed in such a way that you will not even know that an opportunity had knocked at your door and tried to get your attention, even though it was not a well attempted one.

We have to look out for it with our eyes wide open. And when it shows its face, grab it with your hands, with all your might and put it in your safe locker and don't say the lock code to anyone!

So, as a normal mortal human being, I am here to talk about a fantastic opportunity that came my way.

"When opportunity knocks, don't let fear hold you back. Open the door and embrace the opportunity that has come forth"

College life is a wonderful one. But, it would have been better if the nearby place was a city!

So, when we were posted for two weeks in the biggest possible city, the opportunity knocked at my door.
It was very feeble, but consistent and the consistency made me turn my head and look into its eyes.

Book exhibition is always a great pleasure to be at. It comes only once a year or so. From my childhood, i had been eyeing big book fairs. My bookish soul was never able to attain satiety with the small book exhibitions, it had the opportunity to attend. It always dreamed of big ones, where it took you two days just to go through the shops and two more to purchase all your favourite ones and twenty hands to carry all the books bought!

Though the usual January book fair was postponed because of many reasons, one being the floods, there was another one with 200 stalls, to satisfy the burning desire of all the book lovers out there!

And what i am telling you all, when i originally intended to talk about opportunities!

You could be living next door to the place of the exhibit, and even then you could miss going it. That is where the opportunity part comes in.

The exhibit happened exactly at the time when I had the posting in the city!

And I was incredibly lucky to have it happen that way and I used the opportunity to the fullest!

I was glad to go to the exhibit which had over 200 stalls. Many shops sold second hand books too and I bought a lot!

Many books which I have been postponing because their fresh copies cost a lot! And finally they found way to the shelf of a book hoarder! The whole world will help you, if you wish it with all your heart! (To quote Paulo Coelho, but not word to word)

Now, that is making use of a fantastic opportunity that comes your way!

#fantastico

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.