In the eyes of the beholder!!!

For those of you who thought i was going to tell you about that Jefferey Archer short story with the same title,well,you are wrong....But the reason why I chose this title is because I want to convey the same thing here.....
A few days back,I was going through an old album of the 1950s... My eyes chanced to see them as I was cleaning out a shelf and what I saw only made me go on from one photo to the next.There my pati and thatha were!Smiling away as newly wedded!Then my thatha's graduation photo...He was extremely smart and looked very young!Just imagine!He was married in a few months after that day!Then my pati...with her traditional looks...Even the other day one of my patti's cousins visited us and he told me..."You know,your pati was the beauty of srirangam those days..."..Yes, I could see that.Her long hair,charming smile,the traditional nose-stud and earrings...slim even after two kids!!Definitely a beauty....(I'll definitely try to scan the photo and put it up here in my blog).My pati was also an AIR artist and lent her voice for tamil dramas...
That left me thinking...Here she was now-weak,unable to move freely,dependent on others to for her every single move!She can't sleep peacefully because she does not feel comfortable in any position and can't turn on her own!She has difficulty in talking,her fingers close on their own,she can't control them as well...they call this the parkinson disease,a problem with the nervous system...But she is no way less to me from what she was a few years back to what she is now!She remains to be the same dear,pati who I can cuddle up to.Her wrinkles have made her softer and more cuddly, her tooth-less(not completely toothless) smile more baby-like,small face making her cuter by the day,and her uncontrollable fingers holding me when i do anything for her..I can feel the trust she has in me as I hold her.She doesn't trust anybody else as much as she trusts me and appa...Ma,you still remain my sweetheart,...I will always come to you for comfort...
The same holds good for my thattha..It's a year since he passed away,but he is always around me...I can literally feel him...when I go to college,when i study and especially when i sing!!He is there...not at all gone... and will remain with me for the years to come...He will live on in the work i do..I will continuously hear him praise me...However,I wish i could remember my healthy thatha...whenever I think about him, only the thatha of his last days-the frail one who can't see me,who can only imagine how i looked,how i was dressed...but he was there,supporting me throughout....
But,beauty definitely lies in the eyes of the beholder!!!They are still beautiful to my eyes....they grow more beautiful day by day with more no. of wrinkles!:)They get older as my grandparents and they are indeed GRAND-PARENTS!!!!

A terrible,terrible day!.

It's been a long day,today-no, not exceeding the 24 hours....but a really really boring day...The past one week hasn't been good at all for me(except the lunch after my last exam at a friend's place....too good...:) )
The same old waking up at 7.45 in the morning because somebody kept calling your name or the knock or sound of the calling bell pushing you out of your dream world into reality.I then spread the newspaper on the floor and squatted, sipping my bournvita...appa was out with some official work.Then I had my bath,watched tv,tried the sudoku and it was finally time for my appointment with the doctor-the monthly check up....All the way i was yapping away to my dad about an exhibition in the city and how i would like to see it...But even as I was narrating it and begging him to take me I was 100% sure that he was not going to and he was making false promises...How well I knew my dad!!
Then I was back home and didn't know what to do...I wanted to make my last day of holidays as eventful as possible,but looking back at the day I could see that i had done nothing exceopt get up,eat and talk...There I was again,watching tv...it wasn't long before my pati complained of a headache and I switched it off with a long face...i sat sulking,hoping that my dad would at least realise how bored i felt...Well,I was right,he did realise, but as usual did nothing about it...Oh,yes...he made one of his Oh!-so-often-heard promises that he would take me out at seven in the evening(and here I am typing away about a uneventful day at eight!).

The horriblest thing(you can see how horrible it is...I can't find a better word!) that can happen to a person is getting bored...in fact,if you wanted to punish a person,you can leave him alone with nothing to do and there he will be,in the verge of tears....well,today I was in tears!

So what am I going to do about it?I can't do anything about today,but definitely I can decide wat i'll do on a later date when i am in a similar situation...what with so many duties to fulfill!so many things to be learnt and so many places to be seen(after all, I am old enough to make my decisions,plan my day and put them in action as well!).... I take it up as a chal;lenge to write about an Oh-so -full-day inthe near future....:)

My pursuit of Jack Higgins books.....lol...really....

These hols i got to read 3 books-one was by James Hadley Chase and the other 2 by Jack higgins....Well,this author was totally unknown to me until I joined the library a few months back and my dad casually asked me what books they had stocked up.....Until then, I was going in for the same Sidney Sheldon,James Chase,Jefferey Archer and the occasional Archie comics..So when my dad asked me about the books I was scratching my chin and tried really hard and said,"Oh!They have magazines like women's era and film fare!!" As you can imagine my father was not very happy with my answer...."What Darshan!!You have joined a library...All you see is a single shelf in that huge library?? See,I don't want you to grow up like me-not knowing anything!!! I learnt many things very late in my life!! So i want you to be perfect and disciplined in whatever you do...",he went on in his usual style of starting a mini-lecture...(oh,it sometimes turns into a maxi-lecture!You never know!!)
And the very next time I went to the library i made it a point to check out what books were available..."There's a whole row of Irving Wallace,Robert Ludlum and they have stocked up P.G.somebody's books......then the usual kid stuff-Enid Blyton,Sweet Valley twins,comics...."With that,I went into a series of old memories...and how I would love to read those books even now,one or two -once in while...
"Ok,check out Jack Higgins...especially The Eagle has Landed and it's sequel...."

So the very next day I returned from the library with a tattered copy(they had only one copy,and that was in the mentioned condition...)of The Eagle has landed and The Eagle has flown.....The titles sounded exciting an that kept me going for a few chapters....The book was on one of my least favorite subjects-WAR...But my dad urged me to go on.The story itself heated up only towards the end-the last 5 or 6 chapters....as soon as I was done with that book,I couldn't keep my hands off its sequel.Then followed two other books....Night of the fox and Cold Harbour.... Now I am successfully 4 books old and I can't wait to read the others...WAR books still remain my least favorite...but i have decided to try anything before I say anything negative...I love the way the author shows both sides of the war...the German side and the British side...His protagonists are all common men who have been dragged into the war...the ironical view they develop towards Life...the end -sufferers....really wonderful!!!
Yes, we should also lean back and give a thought to what a meaningless life we are leading...Life is short,even if it's a hundred years for a happy man,and life is never ending for a man who doesn't enjoy life....The eyes have It!!!(No, I don't want to go into that Ruskin Bond story now...read it for yourself...my blog is long enough!!!:P)

Starting from a library story,I have moved into the plot,the emotions and Life.....Really!I must learn to control my thoughts and focus!!!!!