life's like that!

Life’s like that … there’s always a sense of anticipation of what’s around the corner, waiting to unleash itself on you ...

So guys, as we start the process of bidding adieu to this roller-coaster ride which has been 2006, I’ve decided to record all the moments, big and small, which take u unawares, but leave u with a smile on your face, and the craving to share the experience with kindred souls ...

*No one can tell it the way it is better than kids, and if they’re special, it’s unadulterated, blunt, in-your-face honesty. So there was this boy in the special care center where I volunteer, distributing chocolates on his birthday. When he came to me, he firmly said, ‘You take only one because you are fat’!!! My wary spouse must be eyeing this specimen of youth with envy for telling the truth … and getting away with it!!!

*Ashok and I met as bright-eyed, eager young officer trainees starting our careers (and lots more which we discovered later!). The first statement Ashok firmly made to me and dozens of others was that he didn’t see marriage in the distant horizon … famous last words considering he was down on his knees proposing a few months later!!!

*But I’m convinced that the foundation to this marriage lies in the laughs we bonded over … there were plenty when we made our joint-sales-calls (I talked about bright-eyed, but conveniently left out the uncomfortable bits like we were cunning, street-smart, and manipulated many cozy market visits together!)

*There we were in this cramped office room of one of the largest, crudest looking men I’ve ever seen. He was a man of few words (I suspect he found it difficult to talk thanx to his heavy jaws and multiple chins!). Ashok launched immediately into a long soliloquy on “Brother Typewriters” which we sold, and I just watched, a fascinated spectator. While we were in the midst of this never-ending-speech (those days young Kaushik-garu was preparing for CAT, so cramming and vomiting out stuff was ‘baayein haath ka khel!!), the client, the incredible hulk, silently and solemnly picked up his shirt, revealed the largest expanse of exposed stomach I have ever had the fortune of witnessing, and started noisily scratching it!!!!!!

*Something in me just snapped and I burst into uncontrollable giggles. But the awesome part is yet to be told. The “Hulk” undeterred by the laughing hyena in front of him, without pausing for a moment, scratched on diligently (if this was an audio-visual communication, would have recorded the amazing sound!!) and Ashok, bless him, spared only a brief second to cast a look of pure horror at my laughing countenance (many years later, that look has been replaced by a weary, resigned one!!) and then continued to belt out his speech!!!

*Just visualize this – the unflappable giant noisily scratching away, Ashok with a fixed, unblinking look bleating on about electronic typewriters and yours truly, shamelessly holding her sides, in hysterical splits, all in the same frame!!

*Oh yeah, we have more than our share of issues, and our mature, lady-like off-spring (How did that happen?! One of life’s mysteries to me!!!) will with disgust, vouch for the fact that we fight like a bunch of kids, and she has to step in as referee! But thank-God for these innumerable moments which we look back upon and still laugh about, which we share with our kids, and hopefully will form the subject of tales to be told to our grand-kids (Is this senility or what but already looking forward to them. My friend’s unkind rejoinder to that is that I probably want to just selfishly enjoy kids without the responsibility of parenting!!) and to white-haired friends in the ultra plush, fun, snazzy retirement home that I dream of ….

*The laughs continue … the other day Ashok and I were driving around when we came across this delivery van with the picture of the scrawniest, most hideous looking hen grinning scarily at us, and the caption proudly read “happy henny, healthy eggs”!!

*I feel like the joker in Batman – so much to do (write about in my case), so little time!!

*So folks, dig into your memory banks and recall and write in about experiences which have kept you smiling till today, when u’re battling with a tough day at work, an impossible deadline, or a dreadful traffic jam … and u’ll count your blessings and realize, hey life ‘aint all dat bad!!

Keep smiling,