Tag Archives: friends

SHORT STORY: LESSON FROM THE BEST FRIEND

January 1, 2020Uncategorizeddesert, drown, engrave, face, friends, kamlesh tripathi, shravancharitymission, slap, stoneshravancharitymission

Once, two friends were walking through the desert. At some point of the journey they had an argument, and in the heat of the moment one friend slapped the others face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying a word he wrote on the sand. “Today my best friend slapped me on the face.”

Thereafter, they kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath and rest. But by accident the friend who had been slapped got stuck in the wetland and he started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning situation, he wrote on a stone. “Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” The friend replied—“When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when, someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in a stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases especially cancer. Our posts are meant for our readers that includes both children and adults and it has a huge variety in terms of content. We also accept donations for our mission. Should you wish to donate for the cause. The bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(The book is about a young cancer patient. Now archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Is a fiction written around the great city of Nawabs—Lucknow. It describes Lucknow in great detail and also talks about its Hindu-Muslim amity. That happens to be its undying characteristic. The book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival of 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. It was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(Is a story of an Indian salesman who is, humbly qualified. Yet he fights his ways through unceasing uncertainties to reach the top. A good read not only for salesmen. The book was launched on 10^th February, 2018 in Gorakhpur Lit-Fest. Now available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

STORY: LESSON FROM THE BEST FRIEND

July 20, 2019casual causerie, column, fable, moral lesson, parable, short story, snippet, spiritual, story, storytelling, Uncategorizedbest friend, desert, face, friends, kamlesh tripathi, lesson from the best friend, oasis, sand, shravancharitymission, slap, srgument, stone, windshravancharitymission

Once, two friends were walking through the desert. At some point of the journey they had an argument, and in the heat of the moment one friend slapped the other on the face.

The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying a word he wrote on the sand.

“Today my best friend slapped me on the face.”

Thereafter, they kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath and rest. But by accident the one who had been slapped got stuck in the wetland and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone;

“Today my best friend saved my life.”

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him;

“After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”

The friend replied;

“When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

SHORT STORY: TEN FOOLS

April 17, 2019fable, moral lesson, parable, parables, short story, snippet, story, storytelling, Uncategorized10, five, fools, forest, four, friends, kamlesh tripathi, know yourself, moral, mountain, one, parable, river, satire, shravancharitymission, six, ten, three, twoshravancharitymission

We spend a lot of time in knowing about others. But we hardly spend time, in knowing about our own ourselves. The reason is very simple, because we always think we know ourselves inside out. But the reality is quite the reverse. The story below is a satire on this very thought process.

Once there were ten friends who had embarked upon an adventure. They Crossed rivers, scaled mountains, traversed across forests, and finally they arrived in open fields. When suddenly one screamed. ‘O my God, one of us is missing. We started off as ten and now there are only nine.’ They hurriedly sat in a circle, and started counting, and then started crying for the missing tenth. Once again, the first counted each one and wailed loudly as he reached the ninth. Number one was on his left and number nine was on his right. Where was the tenth? The second did the same and so did the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and the ninth … but the tenth was nowhere to be seen. They all kept crying till a wise man pointed out that each one counted everyone, except himself.

The moral of the story is, in this busy and crowded world keep good track of yourself, or you’ll get lost.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

SHORT STORY: FOUR FRIENDS

February 10, 2019casual causerie, causerie, column, fable, moral lesson, parables, SATTIRE, short story, snippet, story, storytelling, Uncategorizeddean, exams, four friends, friends, kamlesh tripathi, lie, name, short story, shravancharitymission, smart, smarter, study, teacher, tyreshravancharitymission

Once, there were four friends who didn’t enjoy studying. They were hard core party buffs. One day they partied all night before their exams and decided to skip the test by lying to the professor. So, they went up to the dean and told him that they had been to a wedding the previous night and on their way back, they had a flat tyre and couldn’t reach for the exam on time. And they continued saying that they had to push the car all the way back, as they didn’t have a spare tyre and hence were extremely tired, and therefore could not write the exam.

The dean listened and agreed to let them take the test on a later date. Happy that they got a second chance, the four friends studied hard and were ready for the exam. On the day of exam, the dean asked the students to sit in separate classrooms, which the students agreed to.

The examination paper had only two questions, for a total of 100 marks. The questions were:

Your name:
Which tyre of the car burst: a) Front left b) Front right c) Rear left d) Rear right

Moral: You may be smart, but there are people smarter than you in this world.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

RHYTHM … in poems

(Published in January 2019. The book contains 50 poems. The poems describe our day to day life. The book is available in Amazon, Flipkart and Onlinegatha)

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

LONELINESS–I’M IN ELECTRONIC COMPANY

January 10, 2019article, article on feedback, articles, casual causerie, causerie, column, fable, parable, short article, snippet, Uncategorizedamitabh bachchan, bollywood, death, electronic, family, friends, god, kamlesh tripathi, life, loneliness, narendra modi, shravancharitymission, signalsshravancharitymission

My home is like a neat diagram of wilderness now. Things are only quiet here. Life’s hullabaloo is over. There aren’t any vital unanswered questions left in my life to be unraveled any more … barring the ultimate one—death. But surprisingly, I have been handed out, some stiff situations in life that I never asked for in the first place, and that of course includes, certain wayward realities … the most striking one being, loneliness. After deep introspection, it appears to me like those divine semaphores. There is a world of emptiness around me. It’s taken me more than sixty years to reach this stage. But I didn’t have to struggle for it, the way I struggled for my career and the upbringing of my family. It came on its own, uninvited. I stay in a megapolis—infested largely by a swarm of people occupying those tall blaring buildings all around me. Yet I’m all alone. And what an irony. For in a jungle, I would have been with, unknown but ferocious animals. But in the megapolis I’m with familiar yet unpredictable human beings. Nonetheless, I really can’t decipher which is more dangerous.

I have a time deprived family. They keep extremely busy. Mostly fire-fighting. So one day I approached God. Thinking he’ll give me company. But then he too has to run the universe, and so, he is very busy in his own world and doesn’t have time for me. Finally, I’ve learnt to live life king size, alone. So I keep busy one way or another. They say life has become easy, yet mind is never at rest. There is always something spooky about life that keeps hovering around me.

No one comes to my house, and when I attempt to visit someone I’m told they are going out. The timidity to interface … thus continues. I’m told this happens with most of us but we rarely speak about it.

But, ever since, flesh and blood averted me. My electronic friends have come to my rescue. I have them in droves, steadying my life. I start my day with them. In the night they take that extra pain to put me off to sleep. The smart phones and TV sets bring, so many of my electronic friends to my home each day.

I now have electronic friends in the likes of Mr Bachchan visiting me all day long showing little gimmicks loaded with huge parables. Where, Arnab Goswami tells me all about the world. Even, Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks into my house in his own electronic attire to tell me how he is serving India and even Rahul Gandhi and Donald Trump are not far away. To top it all, entire Youtube, Bollywood and even Hollywood is at my command.

Loneliness is the biggest scourge of the present day world. Yet life finds solutions for each catastrophe. Just as you can’t think of a life without flesh and blood, you can’t think of a life without your own electronic friends anymore. Can you?

This is to cajole all those who suffer because of loneliness. Rise up … get up … do something to kill it.

***

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share it if you like it

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Is a book on ‘singlehood’ about a Delhi girl now archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture, Delhi)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

TYPICAL TALE OF AN INDIAN SALESMAN

(ALL THE ABOVE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE IN AMAZON, FLIPKART AND OTHER ONLINE STORES OR YOU COULD EVEN WRITE TO US FOR A COPY)

*****

CHANAKYA SAYS-PART 3

March 19, 2017article, beautiful lines, casual causerie, causerie, chanakya, column, interesting facts, politics, Uncategorizedchanakya, chanakya neeti, chandra gupta maurya, chandragupta, flatterers, friends, india, indian machiavelli, kautilya, magadh, maipulator, maurya, niti, patliputra, POLITICSshravancharitymission

CHANAKA SAYS—3

Paroshe karyahantaran pratakshya priyavadinam,

Varjayetadrishyam mitran vishwakumbham payomukham.

A friend, who overtly and flatteringly talks about sweet things. But covertly tries to harm you should be gotten rid of without any delay. He is like a pot that is filled with poison but is topped with cream to deceive.

Na vishwaset kumitre cha mitre chasapi na viswaset,

Kadachit kupitam mitram sarv guham prakashyet.

A friend who is not good shouldn’t be trusted, and a friend who is not proven bad, should also not be trusted with your secrets. Because he too might reveal them, when he is not on good terms with you.

Mansa chintitam karya vacha nev prakashyet,

Mantren rakshayed goonam karya chasapi niyojayet.

A plan that you’ve thought of in your mind, should not come to your tongue. Contemplate and rethink over it and keep it as a guarded secret. And put the idea or plan into action without voicing it.

Kashtam cha khalu mukhatava kashtam cha khalu yovanam,

Kashtatookasthtaram chaev pargenivasanam.

Stupidity is a woe and where the youthful days are woeful, but living on other’s mercy is an extreme woe.

Shaley shaley na manikayam mokitakam na gaje gaje,

Sadhavo na he sarvatra chandanam na vane vane.

Every hill does not contain gems. Every elephant does not have mani-pearl on its forehead. Every place is not a home of nobles and every forest does not grow sandalwood trees.

Translated by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share if you like it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases. Should you wish to donate for the cause the bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

(Archived in 7 prestigious libraries of the US, including, Harvard University and Library of Congress. It can also be accessed in MIT through Worldcat.org. Besides, it is also available for reading in Libraries and archives of Canada and Cancer Aid and Research Foundation Mumbai)

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

(Archived in Connemara Library, Chennai and Delhi Public Library, GOI, Ministry of Culture)

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

(Launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2014)

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(Co-published by Cankids–Kidscan, a pan India NGO and Shravan Charity Mission, that works for Child cancer in India. The book is endorsed by Ms Preetha Reddy, MD Apollo Hospitals Group. Book was launched in Lucknow International Literary Festival 2016)

(CAN BE BOUGHT FROM ON LINE BOOK STORES OR WRITE TO US FOR COPIES)

*****

BREAKING RELATIONSHIP—LIKE A SUDDEN DEATH

October 18, 2016article, casual causerie, causerie, column, Uncategorizedacquaintance, aunty, country, cousins, death of a relationship, family, friend, friends, journey of life, life, myself, nephew, niece, relationship, relative, short story, spiritual, story, uncleshravancharitymission

In our lives we all are born in a family. Where, we have our parents and our siblings. But as we grow old. We discover, we even have relatives. Where, some are close and some distant and over a period of time. When we grow up, we even make acquaintances and friends. Gradually, some acquaintances turn out to be lifetime friends, and some remain as acquaintances.

As a proclivity in this arduous and long journey of life. Every now and then we keep making acquaintances, friends and even colleagues. Who, remain with us for a period of time and then we lose track of them. Because, we all have defined journeys. Where, destinations are different and paths are therefore varied.

In this ever changing scenario we often lose touch with our old contacts, while we form new associations. But we never really feel sad about it as if we have lost the old ones for forever. Because heart-to-heart we all know they are just round the corner, in some different company or a country or a city or a profession. Where, we can just pick the phone and talk to them whenever we want.

But such is not the case. When any of your close relative, friend, colleague or even an acquaintance tries to sever his or her relationship with you. Or if it’s a vice versa for then. It’ll be like a sudden death of a relationship. And death is a point of no return. So, don’t just head towards the death of a relationship. Even if you’re walking out leave a point for return.

By Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share if you like it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases. Should you wish to donate for the cause the bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(CAN BE BOUGHT FROM ON LINE BOOK STORES OR WRITE TO US FOR COPIES)

*****

SHORT STORY: RELATIONSHIP OF TRUTH AND REALITY

July 26, 2015ARTICLE SPIRITUAL, column, short story, snippet, spiritual, spiritual article, storybarrel, friends, ganga, gangea, indian ling, kashi, king, moon, oil, pundits, reality, ruler, sadhu, sage, scholars, short story, spiritual, story, truth, varanasi, written in gold, yogishravancharitymission

The spiritual Indian city of Kashi is located on the holy banks of river Ganges where an able ruler once ruled. His court was blessed by many renowned scholars who used to have big discussions and debates on ‘truth.’ And in the court, it was inscribed in golden letters, ‘In pursuit of truth.’

One morning a Yogi came to the court and suggested to the ruler, to change the inscription in gold to, ‘In pursuit of reality’ instead of ‘in pursuit of truth.’ And upon hearing this all the scholars in the court of the ruler were rather startled.

To convince the ruler he said, ‘Truth is not like reality. Truth is what we believe in, but reality is the state of things as they actually exist.’ And to prove his point he called for some barrels and got it filled with oil, and on a moonlit night he got the barrels placed in an open field where the reflection of moon was very clearly visible in each barrel of oil.

And then the Yogi said, ‘dear friends when you see the reflection of the moon in these barrels you feel there are so many moons, but when you look up to the sky you come to know of the reality, that there is only one moon.

In the same manner if we want we can get so many things made out of wood, but we are well abreast of the fact that all these are made of wood and the wood is the same. In the same manner when you’ll empty the barrels you’ll come to know the moons have vanished but the real moon atop remains.

So also, when the furniture breaks into pieces various furniture items will lose their identity but the identity of wood remains. In the same manner truth might be linked to the environment and times but reality is quite different from all this.

And that is why our efforts and inscription should be in accordance to the directive, ‘In search of reality.’ And every scholar in the court agreed with the logic of the Yogi and the inscription accordingly was changed to, ‘In search of reality.’

After sometime another Yogi came and said, ‘Dear friends there may be a difference between truth and reality but truth has its own importance as we see so many moons in barrels filled with oil so we cannot condone the truth, even when we know that the moon is one. In the same manner we cannot overlook the reality and status of various things with various names. In reality you all are either male or female, but you cannot overlook the fact that you have a name too. The ultimate and complete face of truth is the reality and reality is witnessed in various forms of individual truths.

And that is why my suggestion is to change the inscription to, ‘in pursuit of truth and reality’ to which every scholar gave his approval. But the change of inscription did not last for long as after a while another Yogi came who wanted to change the inscription again. He said, ‘truth cannot become truth unless it is linked to reality.’ He further said, ‘In all the barrels of oil the reflection of moon is linked to one such reality that the moon exists, and had the moon not existed its reflection too would not have been there. In the same manner the wooden furniture is linked to its basic raw material—wood. And. you will have to agree that truth in any form is always connected to the reality and you also can reach the substance if you change the inscription to ‘the relation of truth with reality.’

All scholars had felt the power of real truth in what the yogi had said and therefore the inscription was further changed as per him. But while doing so the ruler felt there is a very thin line between reality and truth, where in life a reality cannot be denied and truth cannot be created without reality.

Posted by Kamlesh Tripathi

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

Share if you like it

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases. Should you wish to donate for the cause the bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(CAN BE BOUGHT FROM ON LINE BOOK STORES OR WRITE TO US FOR COPIES)

*****

POETRY: BAD TIMES A FRIEND OF ALL TIMES

July 7, 2015beautiful lines, column, poem, POETRY, snippet, Uncategorized, versesaeon, bad, bad times, death, elitist, era, friends, god, good, good times, lesson, life, lifetime, poem, poetry, rhymes, shrine, slimy times, teaching, timeshravancharitymission

Copyright@shravancharitymission

BAD TIMES A FRIEND OF ALL TIMES

Pricey and snobby was good times,

Where bad times was a friend of all times,

Choosy and selective was good times,

When cheaply available was bad times.

*

In the skit of life,

Only few had the privilege of good times,

Rest remained in the domain of bad times,

Quite easily the friend of all times.

*

In life where one longs for good times,

Bad time comes uninvited,

Good times chooses where to go,

But bad times hovers every pore.

*

Good times remains a friend of the few,

Where bad times befriends every new,

Good times is elitist,

Where bad times is populist.

*

And in the cage of times,

Only few are having a good time,

And most in general bad times,

That makes me ask,

Who invented these slimy times,

Doesn’t look like the work of a shrine,

*

But does God work through times,

Or time works through God,

The question remains unanswered,

Over a long period of time.

*

Bad times is more laborious than good times,

And it also teaches the lessons of life,

While good times teaches only lessons of rhyme,

And it all happens in the ambit of caged time.

*

And in the frequents of life,

I have dealt more with the wrath of bad times,

Than the rhymes of good times,

And so to me bad times is a friend of all times.

*

By Kamlesh Tripathi

*

https://kamleshsujata.wordpress.com

*

Share if you like it

*

Shravan Charity Mission is an NGO that works for poor children suffering from life threatening diseases. Should you wish to donate for the cause the bank details are given below:

NAME OF ACCOUNT: SHRAVAN CHARITY MISSION

Account no: 680510110004635 (BANK OF INDIA)

IFSC code: BKID0006805

*

Our publications

GLOOM BEHIND THE SMILE

ONE TO TANGO … RIA’S ODYSSEY

AADAB LUCKNOW … FOND MEMORIES

REFRACTIONS … FROM THE PRISM OF GOD

(CAN BE BOUGHT FROM ON LINE BOOK STORES OR WRITE TO US FOR COPIES)

*****

Shravan charity mission

By Kamlesh Tripathi

BAD TIMES A FRIEND OF ALL TIMES

PRICEY AND SNOBBY WAS GOOD TIMES,

WHEN BAD TIMES WAS A FRIEND OF ALL TIMES,

CHOOSY AND SELECTIVE WAS GOOD TIMES,

WHEN CHEAPLY AVAILABLE WAS BAD TIMES.

IN THE SKIT OF LIFE,

FEW HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF GOOD TIMES,

REST REMAINED IN THE DOMAIN OF BAD TIMES,

QUITE EASILY A FRIEND OF ALL TIMES.

WHERE ONE LONGS FOR GOOD TIMES,

BAD TIME COMES UNINVITED,

GOOD TIMES CHOOSES WHERE TO GO,

BUT BAD TIMES HOVERS EVERY PORE.

GOOD TIMES IS A FRIEND OF THE FEW,

WHERE BAD TIMES IS A FRIEND OF MANY,

GOOD TIMES IS ELITIST,

WHERE BAD TIMES IS POPULIST.

AND IN THE CAGE OF TIMES,

ONLY FEW ARE HAVING A GOOD TIME,

AND IN GENERAL BAD TIMES,

AND THAT MAKES ME ASK,

WHO INVENTED THESE SLIMY TIMES,

DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A WORK OF…

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VIGNETTE: #SABHARWAL LEAVES #SWAMI BEHIND IN #KAROLBAGH

April 3, 2015casual causerie, causerie, column, short story, snippet, spiritual, story, tributes, vignettecolleague, friends, jeewan deep building, karolbagh, north indian, office, parliament street, remember, sabharwal, scooter, south indian, swami, two wheeler, udyog bhawan, vespa scooter, vignetteshravancharitymission

Both Sabharwal and Swami were very senior to me both in age and seniority. Our office those days was in the sprawling boulevard of Parliament Street in New Delhi. Just opposite to the VIP police station, and not very far from the point where it embraced the ever famous Connaught circus. The pride of New Delhi and even India.

Sabharwal, a Punjabi Khatri used to reside in Kirti Nagar. While, Swami a Tamil Brahmin in Karol Bagh. That happened to be the nerve center of the huge South Indian population, residing in Delhi then. Sabharwal and Swami (S&S) made an interesting duo. One being the likes of a carefree, lively and mast Punjabi. The other, a conservative and ritualistic Brahmin from the South. Sabharwal then was the liaison manager and Swami the admin manager of the company.

While Sabharwal truly believed in YOLO (You only live once) and often basked in the theory of carpe diem. Swami prescribed to the simple Brahmin culture of south. And he made it more evident by sporting the famous horizontal chandan tilak on his forehead. Which noticeably, by the time he use to reach office used to dry up and change its colour.

But even with all the asymmetry between them in terms of their origin, habits, language and gait, I still found S&S to be the toast of office. I guess, the combination was explosive and somewhat different. Apparently, they were very good friends. They used to come to office together in the morning and even leave together in the evening. In Sabharwal’s faded, yet rugged Vespa scooter.

Once, like every other morning. Sabharwal, with his helmet tied to his chin. That reduced his audibility anyway, in the crowded traffic of Karol Bagh. Reached the usual spot, from where Swami use to hop on to his scooter. He saw Swami standing there. And as usual he halted for a moment and moved on. Thinking, Swami is well perched behind him. In about half an hour he reached office. As traffic used to be much less those days. Only to realise Swami was there. Most likely he was left behind.

Sabharwal, perplexed to this very unexpected one waited for some moments at the car park for him. Then slowly walked up to the office in the second floor. And following him soon. In Rambo style entered Swami, fuming. Mobiles were not invented then.

‘Arrey Baba, kya hua? Before, I could even sit. You moved the scooter, when my leg was midair.’

‘Arrey Swami, sorry yaar! I just don’t know what happened to me. I was in deep thoughts. Thinking, how to tackle that idiot in Udyog Bhawan. I stopped and moved, thinking you were on board, and since I was in deep thoughts. I never spoke to you and for some strange reason. I thought even you are quiet today. It was only when I was nearing Patel Chowk. I realised the scooter was feeling very light. Is when I turned around and you were not there.’

Out of breath Swami was slowly coming to terms with Sabharwal’s gross error. Is when we all had a hearty laugh followed by a cup of tea.

Today, Mr Sabharwal is not with us. To laugh and remember about this endearing and hearty episode. But we all have cherished memories of him. And this is what life is all about. My tributes to him, and may, he rest in peace.

*****