Sunday, October 24, 2010

Single-Mingle-Jingle

I have decided to take a bold step forward and write about it. Some of my interesting life experiances.About Something which generally make some people frustrated or in some cases even desperate. The infamous "status"..........Yes you guessed it right. I am going to write about being single!
" Com'on! why is it such a big deal? i am only 25 years old, i am still young, i have a lot of time left to think about relationships or marriage", i told one of persons from the older generation who was extremely concerned about my single status.
" There is a different way of looking at it", she said, "you have completed 25 years and your 26th year is running.Soon you will complete your 26th year and your 27th year will start running.At your age i was married and had two kids and was taking care of the whole family!!!".
" Yea yea. I know. You wasted your life getting married at such a young age. And i decided not to make the same mistake. You should appreciate my wisdom!", i replied back to her. She started grumbling," What is this wisdom i dont understand. When will you think about it? when u get old and all your black hair turns grey?! You are living life like a nomad, travelling from one place to another. I am telling you,settle down in life!!"
Over the years ofcourse i have learnt how to deal with the older generation and their standard advise about "Life settlement". For an average indian girl( belonging to a rather modern family), this topic starts at an age of 23.The simple tactic is to smile to whatever they say and turn a deaf ear to the repeated advise.

But then...the story is not that simple.And life is not that easy, especially if you are a 25 year old indian girl, who is single and not really prepared to "settle down" in life.Infact i have realised that it is much easier to deal with the infamous older generation as compared to your own peers....

" You know what..i am telling you. Its high time you find someone for yourself. How long can you live alone like this?", said one of my close friend.
" Yea. i will see. It will all happen when it has to. I dont want to push it hard", i replied back to him.
" Ok then fine. As long as you dont have someone i have the right to flirt with you........so Honey.. just you, me, a candlelight dinner with some good wine....and ofcourse some good music, What say you???", he asked.
" Whoahhh, i never knew your romantic side!And I am completely flattered by your offer. Sad that you have a girlfriend. Otherwise i would have ofcourse considered accepting this magnanemous heart", i said laughing back.
" You dont worry about my girlfriend. I will take care of her. You just say yes, and i will take of the rest", he said. ( "Yea well, so i have an offer now", i thought.But decided to decline the date offer.)

I met some friends who studied with me after 3 years. I was so happy to meet them and we were catching up the spicy bits about each of our lives from the lost years. So when i told that i finished my masters and plan to start my PhD in another country and that i knew no one over there, my friends started," Are yaar. How long will you keep studying?!! Settle down in life. Get married!"....I was rather dissapointed to hear this from them.
"Hey, this is unfair.", i said, " I can expect to hear this from an elderly person..But you guys are of my age. I was expecting more support from you...".
They replied back," we are just concerned about you yaar. Why do you want to go and live alone in some place you know no one and that too for 3 years! Thats sounds frustrating".
"Dont you think it is exciting. It will be a complete new experiance. New culture, new people, new life. Trust me, its not so bad", i replied back. But somehow they were not so excited of the prospect....

My friend and i were chatting about some new movie releases. He was a huge fan of the bollywood actress Katrina Kaif. " She is so hot. She is the dream girl of every guy. I can watch any of her movies just for her sake!", he said.
" Really?? I find her so annoying. She cannot act for nuts. She and her irritating hindi accent", i replied back. He burst out laughing and i didnt understand why..." what is so funny about what i said?" I asked him.
" Well, from this statement of yours, i have finally confirmed that you are not a lesbian.You dont like Katrina...so its proof enough that you are straight..Hahahaha".
Idiot! i could not believe my ears. He had doubts about my sexual preference since i was still single.." I dont know if it can get worse than this!!!", i thought....

My good friend pinged me after almost two months of no contact.Two months back she had asked me, " So wats new? Found someone? Or thought about marriage?". And i gave the same standard reply..." Nothing new. life is going on as usual. No, no plans of marriage as of now".
After two months, she asked me the same questions. I was amazed how hopeful she was about quick developments in my life in just two months. But to her dissappointment, she got the same reply from me. This time she said, " You know, i heard that people who delay their first pregnancy have a higher chance of having health problems in the future"..
I was puzzled by this sudden gyan from her..." Why are you telling me this now?", i asked her.
" Nothing...i just want you to keep this in mind", she said. ( Well Thankyou. Point noted down!)

I caught up with an old friend after almost 3 years on skype.We went about asking each other watz up in life..I asked him, " So how are your Eena Meena Deeka, all the female fans you had back in college??". He replied back," Dont ask me...its a long story. Right now i am single and am sorry to be one"..
I told him, " Com'on, why should be you be sorry. I am single and i am a happy single. I dont understand this frustration".
He replied back, " You are a girl, i am a guy...its completely different. You wont understand".... (Huh?? I really didnt understand so i just dropped the subject then and there.)

These real-life incidences my friends, are just the tip of the iceberg.There were many many more things i have heard. The latest one being one of the persons i know wanting to click pictures of me and when i asked why said, " You are getting old. Its high time you settle down. I want to click some nice pictures of you which you can put on shaadi.com . Just see, after this you will get confirmed alliances!".. ( Grhrhhhhh!!!).

So if you are a single women, your friends always worry about you, Most guys think it is ideal to flirt with you, the older generation wants you to get married and have a man to take care of you, but worst of all.........The girlfriends of your guy friends hate you!!

But there is a silver-lining to the cloud...When i travelled around to different coutries, i met a few women, in their early or mid-thirties. Single and very happy with their lives. They ofcourse face the very same problems which i face...But they told me how they have learnt to live with it and take life as it comes." Be ready for changes, and be ready to be swept by the wave of love. When the time is ripe, things happen on their own. Until then, enjoy your life, cherish the time you are single. For all you know you might miss this very time you have for yourself when you finally start a family......"


Sunday, July 25, 2010

Lets go with the flow????

I was chatting with one of my friend in India friday night. She was telling me that she has decided to take life as it comes and ended saying, " I have decided to go with the flow".
Have you ever heard of the theory that if you hear or see something new you will definitely come across  it again in some way within the next 36 hours??? From my experiance i will tell you that it is very very true!!! Let me give you an example......

Saturday morning my collegues and i started from Graz, Austria in the car to Krumau in Czech Republic. It was a four hour drive to start our "adventure weekend". I have been having some slipped disc problem and attending physiotherapy sessions. My therapist told me not to go for it. But my collegue promised me that Vltava is a very quiet river and there is nothing dangerous about it, just a relaxing boat trip ( So i decided to go anyway!). But the weather God was against us! From 37 deg C on friday, the temperature sunk to 15-20 deg C on saturday with showers( heavy at times). But after the drive we were all motivated to still go on the boat. 14 adventerous people, five canoos, four Kajaks, a distance of 17 kms with 5 minor water falls to cross to reach our camping place!. I and my collegue decided to take a canoo. Two girls who had near to zero experiance in handling a canoo! We thought, what the heck, it is afterall a quiet river, we can manage...we put our valuebles (purse, cellphone, keys, some food and drinks) in a plastic barrel,closed it and put it into our boats and started the journey.....

The start 
I have never manuveared a boat in my life. The person sitting at the back has to change the direction of the boat..so i told my collegue to sit at the back..It was quite an interesting start..the boat was going round and round....and we had  no idea how to get it straight.....and soon came the first water fall...Ofcourse we were more than confident that we could not manage that with our brilliant canooing skills.We had to park the boat in a bank before the water fall, drag it out of the water and carry it downstream where the fall ends and start rowing again. This time i decided to try my skills at manuvearing the boat, so sat at the back.

Fall No. 1
Actually it seemed that i was doing a better job at manuvearing the boat than my collegue..Well..almost.......in the process of getting the boat out of water my collegue lost her paddle. I told her that i would manage the boat on my own till the next halt. Suddenly one person from our group shouted out that he found a paddle in the river...My collegue shouted to me, " See there is a tree hanging there...if we go there we could hold on to the tree and get the paddle for him".So we decided to go to the bank of the river to get the paddle from him....Thats when we learnt the Rule no. 1: Avoid the trees which are hanging along the banks of river, they can topple the boat!! And so we banged against the tree and fell into water...a deep sink...but the life jacket brought me back on top...i swam towards the bank and held on to a branch and shouted out to my collegue...She managed to catch the boat and dragged it to the bank...with the help of others we got the boat out of water and emptied the water from it. It seemed that we were not the only ones to fall...few other people fell from their canoos as well...Some of them really panicked when they went under water... 5 out 14 decided to quit at this point and left back to Graz..But we two decided to try it out...."We are wet anyway, lets do it!". And so we got the boat back into water and started rowing again!

Fall No. 2...When I thought i was going to die!
Soon came the third waterfall. It looked terrible...we managed to park the boat before it started and got out...carried the boat downstream along the bank. " Oh my God, look at this waterfall...the currents are so strong here", i said. "Yeah, it looks dangerous. But two more water falls only left. We can do it" told my collegue.. We got the boat into water again and both of us managed to get into it. We just took our paddles in our hands..Suddenly a strong current from the above waterfall rotated our boat and a huge wave crashed into our boat, toppled it and we fell deep into water..i could see nothing but brown water below...my legs hit against the rocks below...the lifejacket brought me up..and before i could try to swim, the current carried me with the flow and i sunk into water again...i managed to come up....My collegue was behind me, she shouted, " Lets try to get to the bank"....I shouted, " I am not able to swim against the current...Out boat and our barrel...we need to catch it...I swam a bit and thankfully i had long arms...i got a hold of the boat.The water filled into it and it was sinking. The barrel being light was floating on water. I caught it with my other hand. But the sinking boat was pulling me down. Like God in disguise, there was a boat in front of us...The people in it rowed towards us. A lady caught me. I shouted, " Take my barrel, i am not able to hold on"..She took my barrel and put it onto her boat. i was catching her boat and holding on the sinking boat with the other hand...Another boat came towards us...A man on it tried to hold on to the boat in my hand. I let go of it and held the lady's boat with both my hands. My collegue caught on to it as well. " Oh my God, this is horrible", i told her. The lady on the boat was stroking my hair from time to time and was saying "Dubri Dubri". I had no idea wat it meant. We were holding on to their boat for nearly 3 kms. Our legs were hitting the rocks underneath. It hurt and we were still under shock. They finally managed to find a bank where they could park the boat. They got there and pulled us out of water. We didnt know wat was going on...They could not speak english or german...They got us into another big boat for 6 people. My collegue was still under shock and the weather was cold and rainy. She was shivering badly.i rubbed her hands to keep it warm and said..." What is happening? and where is our boat and our barrel? i dont know what happened...". In other 500 m they parked the boat and got us out of the boat and the people who rescued us came and hugged us and told something in Czech language. We told them thanks and hugged them back. They brought rum and vodka and asked us to drink it to keep us warm...We took it and drank a few sips..it felt warmer...
They had finally got hold of our boat and drained the water out of it. They had tied our barrel to our boat so that it doesnt fall. They asked us which countries we came from..They were very nice..and at that moment like God to us!

Fall 3 & 4
We were still under shock. But we had come too far...there was no way back...we had to keep going and reach our camping place. We were drenched completely. It was so cold. Finally standing on the bank with the friendly Czech people we saw other people from our group passing by. We thanked them for the last time and bid them Goodbye, got into our boats and started rowing again......Thinking of it now, i am so glad that we could keep our cool and carry on. We were kind of proud of ourselves for this. I shouted out to one of the guys in our group, " We had a major rescue....but please stay with us from now on...if something happens again you have to save us!". Actually we were doing pretty fine..But still we were no experts in steering the boat...The boat was moving left towards the trees on the banks and we tried to steer it to the right, but did not have enough force to do it quick enough...we ran into the bushes and fell into water again. But we had seen worse...this was not so bad...with the help of our other collegues we got the boat upright again and got into it....We proceeded on...and this time we crashed into the bushes in the right hand side of the river. Finally our collegue shouted out the Golden rules of canooing...
Rule no. 2: Try and stay in the middle of the river as much as possible
Rule no.3: If you want to turn left, the person at the back should hold the paddle to the left and for turning right they should hold it to the right without rowing
Rule 4:  Stay on the side of the river which has more water, otherwise there is danger of rocks hitting the boat.
Rule 5: Stay away from any artificial constructions like walls of the bridge in the middle of the river...If you hit against it your boat can topple!

The Finish
After learning and applying the golden rules, we actually did quite a good job..Well we were not the fastest...But for the last 6-7 kms, we did not bang against any trees or bushes on the bank of the river...We were wet, cold and further drenched in the heavy rain...But we just thought to keep going on and reach our destination. We managed the rest of the two waterfalls well. Then finally came our camping site. We rowed towards it. Two guys from our group were already there...We threw out our rope to them. They caught it and tied it to the bank. We finally parked the boat and got out!!! It was a feeling of content... "Wir haben geschafft!" (We have done it!)...

Now do you believe in the theory that if you hear or see something new...you will definitely come across it some way within the next 36 hours??? If you still dont believe it, observe it keenly yourself the next time!...Its true!!!!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Thanks.....But i am a vegetarian.....

Today, sitting in the Cafeteria, staring at my plate with "Gemuese ravioli mit tomaten Sosse", i suddenly got inspired to write. Why exactly??....Because it tasted terrible. But ofcourse i didnt have a choice, it was after all the only vegetarian dish in the menu! Thank God there was one! i started gulping it down my throat.This is the sad life of a vegetarian.....to make things even worse, An "Indian vegetarian" when they travel around the world!..

My mind wandered to India. The vegetarian friendly country, where there are always so many many options to choose from even if you dont eat meat. Where there is a sign on the product saying whether it is veg or non-veg. Where there exists the only vegetarian Mc Donalds!...And where it is normal to be a "vegetarian".....

It all started with my trip to Germany, where i went to pursue a higher education, my idea of starting to explore the world. My first flatmate was a latin-american girl. She and her friends were cooking together once..i didnt exactly know what, but it was a smell which choked me...i knew it should be meat. When i passed through the kitchen i saw some red meat being chopped....absolutely not a sight i was used to. It didnt feel good. I rushed to the toilet and was sprinting back to my room..her friend called out to me.."Hey Asharita, do you want to join us for dinner?". He was smiling pleasantly. I feld bad but then i had to say, " Thanks a lot...but i am a vegetarian". Then followed a set of questions. I didnt know these questions were going to haunt me over and over again. Let me give you some examples of the questions and comments i have faced in these three years in Europe:

Non-Indians
  • Vegetarian? Is it because of your religion?...Oh btw is it true that you can find cows on the roads in India?
  • So in India people dont eat cows?why?
  • You have never eaten meat in your life? Never??
  • So you dont eat any meat?? What about birds?
  • Sorry we dont have any vegetarian dish in our menu..But we have fish?....You also dont eat fish??
  • Vegetarian......oh ok, sure, we have boiled potatoes.
  • Oh you are vegetarian...see there is also cheese on the plate next to the meat. You can take that. You eat cheese right? ( Err...Thanks...but it is touching the meat. I find it hard to eat it. But its fine..i am not that hungry.)
  • Ok,that day i observed that it was not ok for you if the meat was touching the vegetables and cheese, is it ok if the vegetarian dish is also cooked in the same pan as the meat ??( My boss asked me this, as he wanted to invite the international students for lunch to his home...i felt odd...i just smiled).
  • Ok then it is not really ok...But is it ok if the meat and vegetarian dish are cooked in different pans, but they are standing next to each other while cooking? ( Actually it was not ok when i was in India...But Europe changed me. As long as it does not have any contact with the meat, i still eat it.)
  • Vegetarian?...Oh..I dont know what you could eat when you come to Latin America..We just eat lots and lots of of meat there. But hey, you could get lots of fruits and vegetables. ( Thanks...thats good for health. Maybe i could lose a few kilos as well!).
  • You know in our country they discourage children from being vegetarian. It is believed it is not good..But obviously it is ok i guess.
Indians
  • So tell me...are you really still a vegetarian?? Tell me the truth!
  • How do you survive in Europe yaar?!
  • You are really missing something in life...start eating non-veg.
  • Eating chicken is like eating paneer you know, just try it once
  • Arey what is this! you people think too much of yourself...You treat meat like it is an untouchable!!
  • You know meat is a rich source of protein. Vegetarian food hardly has any nutrition...what is your protein source?

The questions, comments and criticism we the vegetarians face....Life is not that easy. Initially i was defending my stand, then started explaining to people about the psychology of vegetarians....But finally i got immune to all the reactions i received. Now i just say...I am a vegetarian because i chose to be, and i dont have a problem about being one.

So this is what it boils down to....

(a) If you feel like eating something spicy and yummy, cook it yourself !( or wait for invitation from other Indians for lunch or dinner).

(b) If you are too lazy, then there is always bread and cheese, Yogurt, Pizza Margerita (frozen ones mostly), salads ( a healthier option) or Pommes!....

(c) and for extreme laziness, there is Vegetarian Doener, falafel............and the single vegetarian dish in the Cafeteria menu -The tasteless Gemuese Ravioli mit tomaten So
sse today!!

So i finally finished my lunch and left to continue with my work....

Monday, February 22, 2010

Can you predict my future? - continued...(an interview)

Me:  What do you have to say about my education?

astrologer:  You will study a lot. There is still lot of education left for you. You will also soon get a chance to go abroad for education. (That was indeed true, i thought.)

Me:  Money in my life??.

astrologer: You will not have finacial problems in your life.Money will keep coming.You will have the financial backup of your father and also from your husband. You will also earn on your own. Money wont be a problem. However you might have some health problems every now and then.

Me:  I want to ask you some other questions too.

astrologer: Please go ahead and ask.

Me:  You have a stick in your hand, shells and idols of some deity's. What are the significance of these things?

astrologer:
Women like me have got the blessings of our deity "Jakkamma". It is inherited from my maternal side. When the women in my family are around 14 or 15 years, old, we get the word of jakkamma. The elders give us the stick in our hand and we do a pooja.After that we become an astrologer. It is just a plain wooden stick, but we decorate it with strips of silver.

Me: How do you predict about people? How do you give details about the person?

astrologer: As i told you, we get the word of Jakkamma. We have her blessings.When you tell your name or someother details,we suddenly get her word. We tell things which comes to us naturally in a flow because she instructs us.It comes automatically to us. I have got this power since the age of 15. Some men who are not married at the age of 35 or more would be having some marriage oriented defects in their horoscope(thirumangalyam dosham). In case of women, some might have some problems in their horoscope because the time they came of age was not good (poothagraham dosham).Some dont have kids also because of defective horoscope.So when we meet such people, we know about these defects and we know what can be done to rectify it.Jakkamma tells us.

Me: Is it that only women get this power, as i have seen only women in several public places who have the similar stick in their hands and do palm reading?

astrologer: yes, only women get these powers.It passes on from the mother to the daughters. Every women in our family will have these powers. But the girls these days dont want to take up astrology. They want to study and go for other jobs. So they dont take up the stick. But they will also have the powers. Once we have taken this stick in our hand, we cannot do anything else. We cannot take up any other proffession.

Me: In several public places i have seen women with similar stick in their hands. They call out to you and ask you to show your hand to them.  They say they can predict your future. It is quite common in several public places in Tamil Nadu. How do we know whether they are genuine astrologers? Can we take their word?

astrologer:
Nowadays, people from many caste's claim that they can read your hand. Some can be genuine, but some just observe people like me and think they can also do the same. Not all can be trusted. Not everyone will have the word of Jakkamma. For instance, Powers i have are inherited. Women in my family have this power for generations. I am 69 now. I have been an astrologer and a palm reader since the age of 15.This is what i do.

Me: Does what you predict involve face reading?

astrologer: No, we dont read faces. We have the grace of God. When you tell your name and age, we tell you the things which come to our mind. It is more like a sixth sense. We can say, because it comes automatically to us because of God.

Me: I have heard that the lines in our hands keep changing with time. Is that true?

astrologer: Yes it is true. It changes once in six months or once a year. But it is the small small lines in our hands which change. The three main lines will be the same. The heart line, the head line and the life line. It is something which forms when we are born itself. The rest of the lines surrounding it will keep changing. There are specialist palm readers. We are not palm readers, but we also know palmistry.We also read palms a bit while predicting.


Me: Which is your native place? Who is your family deity?

astrologer: My native place is Panchalankurichi. Do you know the freedom fighter Veerapandia Kattabomman?

Me: Yes, ofcourse.

astrologer: He was from Panchalankurichi. And his deity was Jakkamma. Same as ours.

Me: You asked me to tell a number in the beginning. After that you shook the shells and threw it and got a number. What is the significance of this?

astrologer: The 12 shells represent the 12 zodiac signs. What we do is match the number you say with the number we get after throwing the shells. If the number you say and the number you get are the same, then that number will basically be good for you. We ask this to tell you which number will be lucky for you.

Me: You said that if people have some defects in their horoscope, you know the means to rectify it. Either by some pooja or doing some deeds.How much can one rely on it?

astrology: Belief is the key for anything you do. If one has belief in the things we tell them.If they truly have faith in our word, then they will definitely have their benefit. If you follow something without truly believing in it, then it wont have any effect. I was living in Bombay for 20 years. People who believe in our word call us. There has been times when some people have come searching for us to gift us something, because what we predicted happened. It depends on the trust and the faith. If you dont believe in this kind of astrology, you should not follow it half heartedly.

Me: That is basically the questions i wanted to ask you. Thanks a lot for answering my questions patiently. I do believe in God, but i am not a very religious person. But the way you predict things and your profession intrigued me. I wanted to find out more about you. I believe some people have sixth sense.Some of the things you told about my family and about my character surprised me. Once you also told me what i had in my mind.I was shocked.If i ever get belief in the religious rituals you ask people to perform, i will definitely come to you. Till then i will live life as i believe it, Do good, be good. Live and let live.

astrologer: Sure, i would never force anyone to believe in things. You are welcome to come back when you believe. You will have God's grace. Do well!

Me: Thankyou!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Can you predict my future??

"You should have been born as a male, but were born as a female", she said." If you had been born a male, you would have been living life like a king. But you were born as a female, hence you will bring luck to the place you were born and the place you marry into".

This was the first statement the women told me when i told her what my name was. I was wandering around in a tourist place when i first saw her. she was seated in a shaded place in the entrace of the house which was a reconstruction of a traditional Chettinad house of Tamil Nadu. She had a short wooden stick in her hand decorated with strips of silver on the borders. She also had 12 small shells in her hand and a box with small gold idols of some Gods with her. The board read that she is an astrologer.She was a stout, short women with heavy diamond nose studs on either side of her nose and a big red cicular blotch of kumkum on the center of her forehead. I was intrigued by her very appearance and curious to know what she would tell about me.She asked me to tell a number and a name of a flower. She then shook the shells in her hand and threw it on the floor.

"You said 7. the number you have got is 6 which represents the astrological sign of virgo.You have also the luck, good will etc associated with that sign. Wherever you go, you will do well. You will generally never give a word to anyone. But if you do, you will make sure that you keep it. You will travel a lot. Wherever you go you will have good money and property. You will get wealth from the family of your birth as well as the family you marry into. But you will still want to stand on your own legs and earn.Moreover you have interest in one art. In the future you will get a lot of recognition because of that.It will not be your livelihood, but will make you popular.".... Wow i thought. life suddenly seemed so good.

" The current period is not a very good period for you. There will be some hindrances and issues till the month of april. But you have a strong will and mind to live through the period and face the problems which you encounter. Right now you have the ill sight, jealousy and resistance of some people, which will combine with some hindrances in your horoscope to give you problems. If these issues can be solved then life will be better and prosperous for you. Do not say what you have in your mind to anybody. They will steal your idea and benefit from it while you will be at loss."
"But like oasis in a desert, there will be an outsider who will come forward to help you without any fear or hesitation when you have problems. You might be confused whether to believe in him or not. You should believe in him as he will genuinely help you. But till april the time is not very good for you.", she said. Life is afterall not so rosy!

Suddenly she took the topic of my marriage. She said," You should have been married by the age of 26. But because of some hindrances in your horoscope and some bad times, it did not take place.You will get married between the age of 27 and 29.You are confused whether you want to marry a guy chosen by your parents or to find someone yourself. Whichever way, He will be an outsider". "Outsider? what does that mean?", i interrupted her.  "It means that you will not marry someone related either to your mother's side or your father's side of the family. He will not be related to you. Outsider can mean anything.", she said and continued, " You will have a good marriage. You will be well respected in the family you go into. Your word will be valued there. You will bring luck and wealth into the family you marry into. You can have three kids, two girls and one boy. Depends on how many you want to have".

" You will do good for everyone, but would not gain fame from it.Even people who generally dont trust anyone will trust you. People who dont mix too well with anyone will really like your company. You have such a horoscope.But right now the time is such that people whom you trust will break your trust. You will have some mental tensions and losses due to this. Dont give anything from your hands on tuesdays and fridays. If you do, the people who take from you will benefit while you will be at loss. You can lend money or help to people on the rest of the days."

" You have good grace of God.You have extreme belief in God at some times and at times you think 'What has he done for me? should i really believe in him?'. You are confused about to what extent you can have faith in him. But dont worry you will have the blessings of God always.You think good and do good for people. You will have God's grace to have a prosperous life. But currently it is not the best of times. Let it pass. You will do well." she completed what she had to say." If you have any other questions in mind you can ask me", she ended...........(Click her for the continuation.. http://i-believe-in-simplicity.blogspot.in/2010/02/can-you-predict-my-future-continuedan.html)

Friday, January 1, 2010

Characters you meet in Life(2)

Trial-2

"Niki, i need your help in this matter.It is getting out of control!", Dhisha said anxiously." But it is not right.We dont have any proof. How can you put the blame on her. I am not able to believe this myself", retorted Nikita.

 Sometime earlier Dhisha had come to Nikita's room asking her for a favour.They were in the college girl's hostel. For the past 10 days many of Dhisha's posessions were going missing from her shelve. Her favourite pair of earings, body loofah set, gifts she received from her friends etc. It was a while before she realized that it indeed was missing and not displaced in her room by carelessness.One day she suddenly found one her body loofah's hanging from her roomates bucket after she had returned from her shower.And her previous suspicion on her increased.She wanted to confront her roomate regarding this issue and came to seek Nikita's help for the same.Nikita and Dhisha's roomate were classmates in college and good friends as well.

" Niki, i am sure i am not imagining it. For long i thought it was my carelessness and that i would find it somewhere in my suitcase. But it should be more than coincidence that the loofah which was hanging out of her bucket looked exactly likt the one i lost. She immediately claimed that she had also bought the same type only sometime back", Dhisha said. "Besides, she broke her leg 10 days back and has been sitting in the room while the rest of us had gone for classes. I do not have doubt on anyone else.Only Chitra" she argued.

"But how can you go and ask a person if she has stolen your things. What if she hasnt? And you want to drag me into this matter. I am not involved in any way. She is my classmate and a friend.She would not be able to take it if i also confront her along with you!", said Nikita. " Please Niki. You are her good friend. I need some support for doing this.And i think you are the best person for this situation. I need you. Please once come with me. You dont have to talk. I will. But i need your support.Please!" pleaded Dhisha.

Nikita finally gave in and accompanied Dhisha to Chitra." Chitra, can you come out for sometime. We need to talk to you", Dhisha called out. The puzzled Chita came out and sat with the other two."Wassup?", Chitra smiled. " Chitra, i need to ask you something quite frankly. I think i cannot wait any longer as it is going out of hands", started Dhisha. Chitra looked puzzled.

" Some of my things have been going missing from my shelf and i have a feeling that you have been taking them", Dhisha said bluntly. Nikita sat there like a horror show had began, feeling extremely uncomfortable already. " What!! Dhisha this is a completely baseless allegation. I cannot believe you just did what you did", said Chitra firmly. " I did not suspect you initially.But your activities were extremely doubtful and i still think you have taken my things. I dont care for the food items. Not even for the body loofah or soaps and stuff. But please give me back those gifts you took from me. They are very precious to me. Especially those earings which you said looked lovely and which dissappeared from my shelf soon after", said Dhisha.

"Dhisha, this is the limit. What in the world made you think i would do such a thing?!! For heaven's sake i did not take anything from you!!", snarled Chitra. She was getting angry. " Listen, i may be spending money on really fancy stuff, but my dad is really not rich. I am from a normal family and i am taking a loan for paying my fees. So please return my things back to me.Please", continued Dhisha. " And my family is well-to-do. My dad sends me enough money and i dont need to do some petty stuff. Please know that.", said Chitra. She looked as though she could not believe what was going on. Nikita was even more convinced of Chitra's innocence. They have been together in class as well and she could not in the world believe that Chitra could be even capable of stealing. She was also getting a angry at Dhisha for dragging her into this and thought about the humiliation Chitra was facing.

" I beg you Chitra", cried Dhisha. "Please return my things and i promise that neither i or Niki will let this matter out. I assure it will stay between us".
Chitra fumed now. "What is wrong with you?!!! I did not take your stuff. And the loofah was mine. I bought it. It is unfortunate that it looked similar to the ones you had.Stop making a scene here", scowled Chitra. Now Nikita had no doubt that Chitra was not involved in the theft.
"Thats it Chitra! This is the last chance. I was very patient with you and also pleaded to you. I asked that we could finish this properly, if you just handed over my things silently and be done with it. But now i have to go the next level. Open your bag and show it to us.Today, i saw something of mine hanging loosely out of it. Do it now!", said Dhisha firmly.

"This is ridiculous. What is wrong with you Dhisha?!!You are really insulting me and crossing the limits. I DID NOT TAKE YOUR STUFF",yelled Chitra. Nikita felt really bad for her.She interrupted, " She says she hasnt taken it Dhisha. Maybe she hasnt". " If she hasnt, then what is her problem in opening it to us?! Chitra, Now!! You do it now or i will report you to the warden. Then there will be an official enquiry. Now!Do it", yelled Dhisha. " Dhisha i cant believe you are doing this", said Chitra. "Come in now. I am opening your bag and you cannot stop it. Niki come with me!", Dhisha marched towards her room. Nikita followed reluctantly, feeling terrible for Chitra. Chitra was angry and she went running behind her as well.Dhisha took out Chitra's blue bag from under her bed and despite protests from Chitra, unzipped it.

Nikita's jaws dropped as she saw the contents.Dhisha was right. There were several packets of maggi, a bottle of honey, The remaining loofah's from Dhisha's set, three pairs of earings, small dolls, greeting cards, bracelets,a watch and so many other things which belonged to Dhisha. Nikita could not believe to what level Chitra had stooped down to. There was absolutely no necessity of any of those things for her. Nikita could not believe her eyes. Looked at Chitra, who looked at Nikita and put her head down. " I am so ashamed of myself that i believed in you Chitra", Nikita said shocked and walked out of the room..

Sometimes there are no logical reasons for people's action. Chitra did suffer from some kind of sickness one could presume. She could not control herself when she saw pretty things. She took it when the owner was not there and did not feel guilty about it.She also denied it when people suspected her or caught her red handed. Nikita had encountered the first Kleptomaniac in her life. " I didnt know people like this existed", she told Dhisha." I still have not recovered from the truth...not yet".

Dhisha did not report Chitra to the warden on Nikita's request. Chitra later came to Nikita and cried to her and tried to give her some stories why she became like this and pleaded her not to tell any of their classmates about this. Nikita did not speak a word about it to anyone but she knew that she had nothing to do with Chitra anymore...