People Land and Sky

Mother vs Motherland

So this is death, the dying soldier thought.
To avoid this, how my mother had fought!
As she felt her spirit soar,
She faintly heard, her mother's roar.
"You won't live for me, your mother!
But don't mind dying for your motherland! "
"Not everyone dies mom, and life has no guarantees."
she had coolly retorted and even now, she didn't rue her stand.

Owning Land

"Dadi, is the mango from the tree in the Big House really verry tasty?" the ten year old girl asked her grandmother. "Yes." replied the sleepy grandmother.

"How do you know?" asked the girl, unwilling to sleep. "My dadi told me" replied the tired woman.
"How did your dadi, know ?"whispered the persistent girl. "She lived there" her dadi said sadly. "Ma!" the girl's father warned.

Excited the girl asked "She lived in the Big House?"
"No." replied the tired granny."She lived in a small house on that land, but her father had planted those mango trees. Then one day, men came with sticks and knives and told them to leave. And then later those men, sold the land to some other people and then the Big House came up with those Big Gates and Walls."
"Enough. Now go to sleep." chided her mother.
"So the Mangoes are ours?" she asked excited, ignoring her mother.

"No" mourned her granny "Those trees have died, and now, its their fruits that have become trees, and anyway we don't own the land."

"So how can I own a land?" the girl asked after few minutes.

Her granny pretended to snore. But she shook her and repeated the question. "You buy with money" came the curt reply from her father.

"But did the men with sticks give money to your dadi's father, dadi?"
"No but those were different times" sighed the granny and turned the other way and faked sleep.
The girl stared into the darkness,  unable to sleep, inspite of the suggestive snores.

She snaked her arm around her grandmother's waist. Then whispered "Tomorrow I will go with sticks and own the land near the river. Then I will sell it and make money and buy lots of lands. And then we will plant lots and lots of mango trees. And then my grandchildren and their grandchildren will taste the sweetest mango ever."

She expected applause but just got few giggles.

Hiding on the Land

She watched her mother anxiously touch her little brother's forehead and shake her head at her father.
Agitated, he said "I will take her to the doctor". But her mother said it would be risky in the middle of the night. "They might stop you and ask for papers." And continued to sponge her brother with a wet towel.

She stared at them anxiously, hoping she could provide a solution. Her mother had told her, to not talk too much about her father, because he was an illegal immigrant. She wondered if they would allow her to take her little brother to the doctor. She was not sure if she was also illegal but didn't dare to ask her mother that, and add to her distress. She stared at the line of ants, on the wall, and whispered, "How do you find out if you are illegal?"

Territory, Entity and Identity

"I won't tell you, even if you cause me pain." she said defiantly.
Her captor sneered,"Aaah a fighter, lets find out how much pain you can withstand..."
Later, he casually asked, "So how, is the pain?"
She managed to gasp, "Not greater than the pain, of not having a motherland"

"Oh, you will have one, if you stopped resisting and started accepting"  he said, as he searched his tool box.

"Accept!! Accept that your people can do anything to us, because you have firepower? Accept you are mighty and you can strip us of our Identity?" she snarled, before blacking out with pain, from his latest tool.

Free Sky

"Was it me, in all those short stories? "
the soldier's soul wondered,
as towards the sky, it soared.
Did everything happen, to me, in this birth,
or were some from before?"

A Stranger's Sweet

His heart skipped a beat,
When he saw her on the street.
He heard her friends greet
And thought, aah it would be simple and neat.

From twitter to facebook, he followed her on the virtual street.
Flattered and Praised, he easily swept her off her feet.
Eventually, she agreed to meet, that stranger from the street.
She felt with him, she would feel happy and complete.

But Alas! the Stalker had weaved a web of deceit.
His heart was just a piece of concrete.

The Creep hasn't yet beat a retreat,
He plots, hopes and yearns, for a repeat.

After all, though all know the dangers of a Stranger's Sweet
Many trust a stranger, to follow their tweets.

Single Super Mom

The one year old child wailed for attention. Multi-tasking in the kitchen, she too wanted to scream back at him.
"Your food, home,clothes and toys don't appear by magic. I have to work hard for you to have them. Yet you just take them for granted and expect me to take part in your silly games! And is it so tough to not make a mess for me to clean up? I gave birth to you, and will take care of you. Don't make the rules on how I should express my love for you!"

She shouted instead "Oh God! Why can't you, Help!"

God too wanted to scream,
"The planet, sun, gravity and wind don't appear by magic.
You make a mess by inventing money, & polluting products & think your life is tragic.
Why do you constantly for me, yelp?
Don't you realise, I have none for my help?"

Sugar Swami and the Hand that Feeds

She heard her brother advise her son "Yes, target the anxious mothers, who are being constantly told by everyone around them, their child is too thin. If you sell to them, with couple of mumbo jumbo phrases, and assure them, thats enough for their child, it would be an instant hit. Of course for the child to take it, the main ingredient has to be sugar."

Her son added "I think if I say I have added a herbal component, it would be more easier."
Her brother gushed "Brilliant! You are smart my boy!"

She rushed in, and screamed at her brother, "I told you to advise him on career choices and you want him to become a Godman! The media will ridicule him as Sugar Swami and roast him!"

Both burst into laughter. Between his laughter her son said "No ma, the media will not roast me, after all, I will be one of the hands that feeds them."

Her brother cleared her confusion by clarifying "He is not going to be a Godman, just an Entrepreneur, marketing a new beverage for children."

Grudgingly she said "India is the diabetes capital of the world, you are not helping anyone by making the kids have more sugar"

Ignoring her, her son said "In our ads, we should claim it tastes so good, the child will come after you for it, and will lie or steal to have it. That should please the parents..".

Killing Casteism

He came home to find his mother mentioning their caste to a stranger filling a form.

"Ma! I told you to tell we are Indians!" he screamed.

His mother clarified, "But this is for your matrimonial ad not the census."

"But Shaadi before Naukri?" he asked.

His mother took him aside and said smugly, "Your uncle has arranged it. He knows the Sales VP of the company, you wanted to work in. He is from our community. And the VP has said, if its a good boy, we will adjust the criteria.."

They were interrupted with the question "Madam, should I mention "sub-sect no bar?"". The mother and son looked at one another, then he replied "Why waste money over it. Don't mention it".

Wedding Jewellery

She agreed to the wedding, after falling in love with the wedding jewellery.
He agreed to the marry her, after knowing the worth of the wedding jewellery.

Centuries haven't changed the cliches..

Wedding might be a grand party, but Marriage requires love and commitment from both parties. Give it some respect.

Celebrating Rain

Friends18.com
Her boyfriend opened the door with a big grin. "My Rain poem won the Prize!"

She squealed with delight and hugged..

Later she said "ummmm can you smell it? The scent of first rain..Lets get drenched and celebrate.."

He rushed to close the windows and said, "Don't be idiotic. The best way to celebrate rain is to have hot tea and samosas."

After the Sex

Unaware of the opening door, she murmured "That was the best sex ever". Her friend cuddled closer and said "Why didn't we do it earlier?"

He switched on the light shrieked when he saw them and closed the door behind him. Trembling he said "Twwoo of themmm".

His wife sleepily cursed "Damn cockroaches"

Suhaag Raat

The prospects of her parents financial doom were more painful than being raped by the bridegroom.