Cup Of Coffee

We are indeed living in difficult times and the world would no longer be the same place where we lived before. The COVID-19 has demonstrated who true HEROES are, those leading from the front. If you look at it in hindsight the once called ‘Blue collar’ jobs have now become essentials. There are myriad of people working tirelessly to provide what we need ranging from food to medicines in the safe vicinity of our homes, nurses and doctors treating the ill, journalists still delivering the news updates from the ground, police ensuring lockdown and the list of the Super-heroes goes on. Yet there are people who don’t shy away from spreading hatred, playing political cards and what not. And not to mention tablighi jamaat and patiala incident. SHAMEFUL! This also gives us an opportunity to remodel and reshape the world we live in. I strongly advocate few pointers that I would want to see: 1. Peace: I hope the countries would realize the importance of human life and tension between nations

******* ‘Rohan, haath mooh dho kar aa jao, khana ban gaya hai’ maa ne kitchen se awaaz lagaye. Rohan daudta hua aaya, handwash kiya, facewash kiya aur dinning table par aakar baith gaya. ‘kya banaya hai mumma?‘ ‘tere favourite Rajma Chawal banaye hain’ ‘arre wah, Rajma chawal to mere bhi favourite hain’ peeche se aate hua papa ne kaha phir rohan ke sar par haath phera aur pucha ‘aur champ, kaisa raha tumhara cricket match’ Dukaan se wapas aaye papa ko dekh kar rohan ka chehra khil-khila utha. ‘aaj pata hai kya hua papa’ ‘nahi mujhe kaise pata’ papa ne chutki lete hue kaha. Bus phir kya Rohan cricket match ki saari details dene laga ‘phir pata hai kya hua papa, last 2 balls main humme 3 run chahiye the jeetne k liye. aur phir second last ball par Jatin ne square cut karke boundary maar di’ rohan ne khil-khilate hue kaha. Khushi uske chehre par saaf jhalak rahe the.   ‘issi liye to rohan ki favourite kheer banaye hai’ maa ne muskurate hue kaha aur kheer ka bowl dinni

There are some lines which stick with you. You hear them once or you read them once and they have such an everlasting impact on you, you don’t tend to forget it ever. I came across one such line while reading Shantaram and it just stuck on to me. Well, in case you haven’t heard about Shantaram, it’s a story of a Australian guy who ran into exile in India. The story revolves around how a foreigner landed in Bombay to call it home. The protagonist lived and breathed India, learnt the language, the culture, in Bombay’s slum. While there are many incredible scenes and dialogues worth mentioning, however I am sticking on to a particular scene wherein the protagonist is invited by a Bombay mafia. There are almost a dozen criminals along with the protagonist discussing about some killings in the city and then the subject drifted to some philosophical talks. The panel formed of young and old, local and foreign guys from Palestine and some other countries. While the debate is quite intrig

‘Mom, where is papa?’ she asked in her happy, excited voice. ‘In the guest room’, her mother replied shaking her head in disapproval and she rushed towards the guest room. She entered the room to find her father sitting quietly on the sofa and looking blankly at the wall. The room was dimly lit. He wore no expressions on his face. However, his face was calm. She walked towards him, sit beside him and hugged his arm affectionately. He didn’t notice her coming, he was too involved in his thoughts. ‘Come beta’ He hugged her affectionately. ‘Are you fine dad?’ She asked, concerned about her father sitting lonely. ‘I am so happy for you beta’ he assured her. ‘You look stressed’ ‘oh no no no, I am not stressed at all. In fact my stress has been washed out. You were my biggest stress, and you’ll be gone soon.’ Tears rolled down his cheeks. There were myriad expressions on his face. He had a smile of happiness. His face sparkled with pride, the pride of being a father of such amazi