chapter 3:

He had an air of assurance and calmness about him that immediately put me on the edge.....I somehow had the feeling that he knew more about me than i possibly knew..and i found it very uncomfortable. He asked " i gather you have some questions to ask me !"

"well yes " i stammered (how did he know?)
"go on"
" well where is this place and what am i and what are you...and now that i am dead what is going to happen to me....?
" well this is an intermediate world of sorts where people like you and i confer on what our next move is....let me give you a standard explanation....first of all i am sorry to say this but whatever you have been writing in your books is a bunch of lies....( i knew this guy was my nemesis...)....well once you die you dont roam around with nothing to do...haunting mansions and the like...instead you move on to the higher world...."
"hold it.....what higher world?"
"well, there are three worlds ...to be precise three worlds that i know of....your life is a journey of your soul through these worlds....once you die in one world you take birth in the next world....you have currently come from the second world....just like you have me in this world there is another you in the third world ....as soon as you died , he took birth in your older world."

chapter 2:

I am here to do what i couldnt do when i was alive.....answer a few questions on death.....during the course of my narrative you are bound to be overcome with scepticism...but my only assurance is this...you will find it to be true once you die...

After days of pain in the hospital bed , constantly hearing the nurses confer in hushed tones and conclude that they'll lose me....I felt a sudden weightlessness....it just felt like someone had connected a vacuum cleaner to my body and was sucking out whatever was in it at a very high speed......as my vision dimmed i felt like i was travelling through an endless tunnel like a gusty breeze....and there was a blinding light at the end of it ...and i somehow seemed to know that it was there that my destination lay...I was moving up but not exactly moving in the sense that i was so fast that things around me remained stationary....and then the bright hole suddenly popped up on me ...."so this was it ", i thought, " i am going to heaven (naturally i was convinced that the bright light was heaven)...i will see God soon.".....i was sucked out of the hole and emerged into brightness to see me staring at...not God definitely....I stared in stupefaction at myself .....infact i was smiling at me and calmly nodding my head as if asking me to come to me....wait this is confusing ....i ll call the 'me' in heaven 'him'...he was smiling at me and asking me to go to him

story: I am not dead

July 13th, 2009

The famous scientist and writer Mr.Stuart passed away in the morning following a sudden attack....his last words were ...."I have been chasing death in vain all these years , in the hope that I might answer the biggest riddle on earth...now the moment of enlightenment is near...the answer has come to me!".....Mr.Stuart has published various books on the soul after death and was one of the strongest supporters of the theory of life after death.......


You have just read what newspapers published on the eve of my demise...now i'll carry on the story from here....

I'm off again

Maybe due to the proximity or due to the peaceful stay it affords, kanyakumari has become a retreat of sorts for my family. everytime we get three days we drive off to kanyakumari and sink in the serenity of the place.The vivekananda ashram is the best place to stay if you are looking for a quiet holiday. Covering hundreds of acres,it houses numerous tree lined walks , and if you are lucky you might chance on a peacock that has decided to show off its beautiful feathers. The last time we were there we took a superficial view of the area making sure that the next time we go there we know where to head to...... the sunrise at kanyakumari is famous but lucky as i am i coudnt glimpse it. the last time, i woke up early for the express purpose of catching the sun first and walked all the way to the sea side.....there was a slight drizzle and a breeze playing along and the place was very beautiful in the early morning glow.....the blue hue of dawn along with the overcast sky and the tune of the sea playing in my ears gave a dream like experience.......the sun decided not to turn up that day and left a dejected lot at the shore staring haplessly at the skies....silly as it seems the sun didnt rise that day...it just appeared at some place above the horizon.....but i wasnt let down ...i really loved the early morning walk and the dream like quality of the entire image etched an everlasting impression on me.....that evening we went to kanyakumari and again the thunderous clouds and grey sky showcased the sea in all its fury.....that night we had the annual day celebrations of the vivekananda school....all were invited...since there wasnt anything constructive to do my mother sis and i went ......the kids were really good and the simplicity of the programmes struck me.....there was a set of unsophisticated programmes...simple songs ,dances......but the brightly dressed kids doing them made it all the more beautiful.....there were instances when we stared dumbfounded at the stage while a tamil skit progressed......i tried translating the tamil for the first few minutes but it got faster by the minute so i gave up and just stared.....the next day we went for yet another walk and saw peacocks,deers, and heard all kinds of birds signalling their welcome from hidden retreats...... couldnt visit the library but intend to do so this time.....as we depart tomorrow yet another time there are things i want to do which i coudnt do the last time
1.visit meditation centre
2. visit the rock
3.visit the temple
4.visit the library
4.catch the sunrise....(hopefully....its raining again)
5. walk,walk,walk.
bubye!

Dhwani

Now that Dhwani has come and gone it is time to let down ones hair and relax.........the participation was very less as by the purest luck,we seemed to have hit the date for a fest at the best possible time...when every other college had some exam or another....still it was better than what my worst fears predicted.....and from my side i loved it......there was little or no crisis and time management was very easy for we had enough time in our hands.....this sort of unrushed ease is what i prefer and what i got.......regarding the preparation for dhwani...it involved bunking a lot of classes ...84 hours to be precise ,so my entry to the next semester hangs on to the possibility of successfully getting through the duty leave ordeal. For the first few days we were walking a lot ....to every department ,meeting teachers to have a know on how well the money collection was proceeding.....to be frank it was more walking than i would like (though walking is my passion) and the blazing sum did little to help us.....we soon became the patrons of chechi kada and civil canteen....frequently dropping in for a glass of lime which was nothing short of an elixir in the scorching conditions...the next few days saw us huddled in front of the laptop trying in vain to make 'The Final Schedule'.......every day evening i leave hoping that we have hit on the final one and next day i return to find that there are going to be drastic changes...after much of scheduling and rescheduling we were left with a laptop full of final schedules but no real final schedule.....my classmates would have forgotten me by then if i hadnt made brief appearances during lunch break and free hours....i gradually became a complaint box making frequent ejaculations about how hungry i was and my friends ,hungry as they were, had to bear the brunt. In the evenings deepa and I spent quality time together,sipping lime(the third or fourth one of the day), while we waited for the 'kannammoola ' bus to bless us......my house ,which seems to be on the opposite part of the world from college, could be reached only by that sacred bus and i would wait for it patiently...and once it does come we hop on and try to plant both feet firmly on the floor and brace ourselves for the ride ahead....... all the passengers intend to accompany the bus to its final destination so that leaves me standing all through the half hour journey....once at home i have tea ,tire my parents with the days news and flop down to bed.....but it certainly wasnt all work and no play....infact jack had more play than work....one saturday saw us laughing our hearts out while tom and jerry featured in jerry's laptop....the next day was LH day....feast to eyes and stomach!....and there was enough time and enough people to chat to your hearts desire.......and then dhwani came and my time was my own yet again....i really liked choreonite,rocknite,unplugged and the final night........I'm not one to dance so i enjoyed the proshow rooted to my chair while the entire college danced away!if i had thrived on lime pre dhwani .....icecream was my staple diet during dhwani...the other items in the food court failed to impress so lords and canteen served the purpose.....since my family members cant sleep a single day without my constant chatter in their ears i returned home every day (although at wierd hours) to snuggle to sleep .......and then dhwani was over and things were normal again...classes had to be attended and the glaring concern over duty leave stands first in the to-do list.....
Result: I know a lot more people in my college, I love college all the more and I am no longer bored!!!!....thankfully!

Summer Showers

Atlast the curse has lifted.....as rain drops pelt down onto the burning ground all the pent up heat is released..... as the chill descends on me I coudnt help but smile......Things had been very gruesome for the past few days....with us toiling under the scorching sun...living off cooled lime that dries up inside us the instant we gulp it down......even at home the heat continues to frustrate......every day i meet people on the roads squinting under the sun ,cursing the heat and i join them whole heartedly in wishing that an end would come soon to this torture.....and today as the clouds gathered in the sky and the wind began to pick up pace...i ran to the terrace to catch the first drops...the purest ones...and what a relief when they did come....."the intoxicating smell of rain falling on earth" and the sight of the trees swaying in the chilly wind with an overcast sky in the backdrop shooed away the perpetual frown from my face.......and rain as always brings out the best in things ....nature sports brighter shades and rain drops stick to leaves like jewels.....This was one welcome rain and couldnt have come at a better time .....

The Lost Reins

If only I could gain control
of the horse of time ,that surges ahead,
I ride on its back ,blindly taken forward
like a rider who has lost his reins

Sun shines,decking me with jewels
rain washes them away,leaving me drained
there are paths I wanted to take
but the horse was its own master.
I lost things as I stumbled ahead
but couldnt stop to pick them up.

First I didnt mind the awry ride
I enjoyed the sights that bordered the path
the smell of flowers,the feel of the sun
and the wind whipping at my face.

Then I thought of the way ahead
guessing the paths,anxious of its falls,
iI ve seen danger looming ahead
but the horse had steered me clear.

Then I thought of the things I lost
and looked at them to mourne their loss
with every loss the horse sped up
as I moved ,my tears were wiped dry.

Later I lost all my thoughts on the way
only the journey's end seemed to matter
and when atlast I reached the end
the horse stopped and I found the whip.