God's love is so wonderful ;)

Gods love is so wonderful…

O wonderful love

so high.. you cant get over it

so deep you cant get under it..

so wide, you cant get around it..

O wonderful love !

Reminiscing one of my favourite ‘morning assembly’ songs,  back in school. This morning I heard another one..

‘We are the children of Somerville school.. God bless us and God bless the school’

Remembering God early in the morning is a good thing, our teachers and parents have only taught us good things. But the visuals I captured in this neighbourhood school today were a revelation. On second thoughts, not really ! But we were too busy growing up then and didn’t really notice !

A few young adults had flaked out, others looked traumatised due to the heavy weight (read : school bag) on their back. Some were busy pulling up their skirts while others were playing with strands of hair. The only person singing the song from the depth of his heart was the principal and the few staff members standing closest to him owing to lack of any choice. As I ogled from a distance, I had a burning desire to join them in singing their school anthem.

Sigh ! As school kids, we longed to experiment with the freedom college life brought along. But financial freedom would be so much better is the thought that prevailed when in college. Once we were employed, in the midst of urban frenzy, school memories gave us some solace and today we sooo want to go back !

Hence, living in the moment is not such a bad idea..

But I still want to be a part of this morning assembly in the neighbourhood school and sing along… ‘We are the children of Somerville school.. God bless us and God bless the school’ !

One hell of a bride !!

Marriage ! A sacred event in any man's life.. But at times, it should be confined to being a 'secret' event !

A traditional wedding in the family was in the offing. Excited relatives started pouring into the groom's household a day before the D day. Mehendi wallas arrived with bright ideas and a group of five famished men to decorate the feminine hands while men could be seen greeting each other as they started off a debate on politics, world affairs, professional goals etc. I was invited by the groom and family and the invitation cum instruction compelled me to attend all the functions.

At the mehendi, a live orchestra band was performing for us when all of a sudden, one of our excited relatives jumped on to the stage with his notepad. This notepad is a treasure for uncle ji. It has the lyrics of many famous bollywood melodies. Next, as expected, uncle ji had the microphone in his hand, eyes closed and with a deep meditative look, he took off. One song was followed by the next and the next. The audience looked bored and their voice decibles were now on the rise.

'Dance like no one's watching.. I guess sing like no one's hearing !' said a voice behind me.. Meanwhile, luck favoured us, Uncle ji had to respond to nature's call and I could feel my ear drums jumping in exhilaration.

Shagun ceremony in the evening and we were dolled up for the occasion. Bang at 7 pm, the pandit arrived and the ceremony started. The bride looked distracted though. A south indian bride pouting, laughing hysterically and giving a high five to her would be hubby was quite a sight. The groom's mother looked lost while the god fearing father clad in a white dhoti chose to ignore. The pandit was confused with one eyebrow permanently raised up.
Ceremonies ended, the bride and the groom stood up to acknowledge everybody's blessings.

Lo behold ! The bride started waving to the crowd much like Deepika Padukone in Om shanti Om !
'Thank you so much for coming guys'.. as she screamed out aloud, all expressions changed ! The elderly couldnt fathom what they just saw and the others were now standing in groups. Relatives have the potential to create content and here was a 'ready made breaking news' ! It had to be discussed !

I walked up to the bride and introduced myself. She was literally swinging from one side to the other, as she smiled and responded.. 'Glad you came. Please have dinner and leave' ! This was quite a statement. I guess she intended to suggest that I must not leave without having dinner. Words were not framed correctly and now it was confirmed, that the pretty bride was sloshed !!

A traditional south indian wedding is earmarked by sitar music playing in the background, men clad in bright starched dhotis, women loaded with gold jewellery and neatly draped kanjeevaram sarees, idli dosa sambhar vada in the menu. Alcohol doesn't feature anywhere ! Right.. wrong.. I leave it for you to decide..

But I had a good laugh.. and of course good food  ;)

So.. It's 'Exam Time' !

 'No dear, Maths it is and not English’

My world was shattered. I had dreamt of seizing the moment and doing my parents proud. After all, can you mess with ‘the boards’ ? My entire future was at stake and how could I be careless enough to not recheck the examination schedule ..

Just then, the door bell rang and I woke up in a cold sweat. 

Boards are done with, the nature of exams including the subjects completely differ now. Our exams are certainly less horrendous than the ones many teenagers are facing, the first battle having been fought today.

Infact this morning, I happened to visit a nervous 12^th grader who was trying to fill her ‘Encephalon’ to the hilt , refusing to relish the ‘pao bhaji’ that her father was forcefully feeding into her mouth. The mother looked sombre as she stood in a corner with a bowl of curd and sugar. The grandmother continued sharing words of wisdom as she tried her best to comfort the hassled teenager.

‘I don’t know anything..’ ‘I don’t remember anything’ ‘I am nervouuuusssss’ ‘Nahin aata kuch’ ‘I am sooooo dead’.. This bundle of nervous energy had unnerved the ‘khandaan’ and to feel a shade better, the entire family offered their prayers together. This is the ‘family exam’ , so what if there is only one representative walking into the ‘action room’ with the hall ticket.

I was reminded of my horror days as I walked out of the action packed house. Good luck to all the teenyboppers !

But, to tell you the truth…I did heave a sigh of relief.  Small joys of life J