The No Nonsense Blogger

Ravi looked very worried and anxious. As I watched him pace up and down the neighbourhood park, I couldn't help but ask "What's wrong Ravi? Why do you look so worried?" He looked up at me and replied "Nandu, you know na that the Neighbourhood Under 14 Football tournament is starting next week?" I shook my head to confirm I knew  it. Ravi continued, "We have a major issue. Govind and Irfan will not be playing for us this year." I froze for a couple of minutes on hearing this. The annual Under 14 Neighbourhood Football tournament was the most important event in the society calendar. Each year it was organised in the month of December during the school winter break. Around 16 teams from different societies in our neighbourhood participated in it. Slowly, it had gained in popularity and winning the tournament had become a matter of prestige for the participating societies. Our Society team had also been trying to win the tournament for last couple o...

Suman was very excited since morning. It was her tenth birthday and there was a grand party arranged by her parents that evening. They had moved to Delhi from Mumbai recently and she was looking forward to celebrating her birthday that evening with her new friends from school and her housing society. "Mummy, we are getting late. We have to go to the market to buy my birthday dress. What is taking you so long?" Suman called out to her mother anxiously. Sakshi was at the kitchen preparing lunch and replied back to her daughter, "Suman, don't worry. We have enough time with us. All arrangements for the evening party are complete and the only thing pending is your dress. I am just waiting for your Papa to send over the car after he reaches office. We can then leave for the market to get your dress. So, don't be impatient and just inform me when Ramdin uncle comes back." Ramdin was their driver. He had been working for them for last eight months since ...

7th July 2005 Rohan was very excited. The long summer holidays were ending and school would be reopening the next day. He never liked these summer holidays and always wondered why these needed to be so long. He just couldn't wait for the school to reopen so that he could meet all his friends again. But this year there was one more reason for his excitement. Rohan never liked the fact that they were made to stand height-wise during the school morning assembly with the shortest student taking up the first spot in the line. And as luck would have it, Rohan had to occupy that much hated position! He despised the fact that even his friends would make fun of him for his short height. But Rohan knew that this year it was going to different. He had miraculously gained height during the two month long summer break and he just couldn't wait to see how far back in the line he would be standing now. 8th July 2005 It was the first day of the school after the summer holidays and R...

"Mom, can you please stop pestering me with these questions?" Rajesh could hear Mehak say to Nirmala even as he was catching up on his Sunday reading list. It was not uncommon to hear squabbles between mother and daughter and Rajesh more often than not preferred to keep out of it. But today was a bit different. Mehak's tone made him look up and take notice. She seemed a bit agitated and though she did have differences in opinion with Nirmala, it was unlike her to speak rudely. Rajesh walked up to the bedroom to find Mehak gesticulating and trying to put across her point to Nirmala. As soon as she saw him come in, Mehak fell silent and both the ladies turned to look at Rajesh. "Can you please tell me what's happening here Mehak beta? Why are you so agitated and surprisingly rude to your mom?" Rajesh asked Mehak. She looked at him sheepishly but did not say anything. Seeing her silence, Nirmala spoke out, "You know, she has blown away five thousand ...

I was literally running to keep pace with Dada. Dada was how I addressed my grandfather. This was the most precious part of my day. I had Dada all for myself this time of the day. It was a daily ritual for him to go out for a morning walk at the break of dawn with me clutching his dhoti tight and trying to keep pace with him. “Why are you so slow Nandu?”, he asked out loud. Slow? This was the fastest I could walk. I was sure that if I participated in the Walking race at school and could maintain this speed, no one could even come close to me!  “Dada, I am literally running! Can’t move faster”, I blurted out, completely short of breath.  “Alright, let’s take a ten minute break then”, he said smilingly.  As I sat down on the park bench with him, I could not help but admire him, my idol. He was close to seventy five, but had the energy and vigour that would put young lads to shame. All of ten years, I was completely in awe of his personality. His towering physique, the...

Examination - the word itself drives a chill down the spines of most students. Unarguably, the two most dreaded months in a school student's calendar in India are March and April, which are traditionally the months in which most schools conduct the final examinations across all classes for promotion to the next higher class. Although there are class tests and semester exams throughout the year but the final examinations in March-April are the most important. This is a testing time not only for the students but also for their parents, for whom it is like revisiting their school days all over again! Same was the case with most of my friends' parents and I somehow found it a bit funny to see that the parents were more worried and anxious than their children. "Nandu, have you finished your studies beta?" Ragini aunty asked even as she opened the door for me. I had come to my friend Ashwin's house to call him out for our evening football game in the neighbourhoo...

‘Dream Girl’ – I was only 10 when this movie was released and the audience lapped it up like crazy. The movie went on to become one of the biggest grosser of its time. I distinctly remember the mass hysteria this movie generated and how its tickets were sold in black for weeks together. Baba was totally against purchasing tickets in black and it was a good three weeks after its release that he was able to get tickets for the entire family! Going out for movies was the most awaited family event during those times as that was one of the main sources of entertainment for most families and it was the same for us. I distinctly remember all 15 of us walking down to the neighbourhood cinema hall just 10 minutes away from our house and occupying an entire row in the Balcony area of the theater to watch the movie. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie whose main story-line revolved around its lead heroine playing five different characters with the intention of stealing money so that she could ma...

Carrom for me was one sport which could be played by almost anyone and everyone. It didn't distinguish between age, sex, strength, brain, brawn or speed. All it needed was some amount of skill, patience and concentration. You didn't need too much of space for the carrom-board and it was easy to set up. You could place it over a table, a stool and if you didn't find anything, you could simply plonk it on the ground. This story dates to the golden age when there was no internet or mobile to spoil the kids; or adults for that matter. Outdoor and indoor games and activities held sway, people loved to interact more with each other than with stupid screens of various shapes and sizes. Ludo, Chess, Bagatelle, Snakes & Ladder, Scrabble, Uno etc were few popular indoor games. But my favourite game was Carrom. Our home was a mecca for many Carrom players in the neighborhood and beyond. We were a large joint family and most of the family members were excellent Carrom p...

Bully - '(noun) a person who uses strength or influence to harm or intimidate those who are weaker' - that is the dictionary meaning of the word bully we were taught in school. So when Deepika mam asked me the meaning of the word in class, she was pretty sure that I would answer it correctly. Apparently 'Joginder' was not the right answer! "Nandu," she asked in a perplexed voice, "don't you remember the meaning of the word bully?" "Yes Ma'am, I do. And that's why I said Joginder because I couldn't think of a better way to substantiate my answer with an example as you always ask for." I replied even as I tried catching Joginder's reaction from the corner of my eyes. I could feel him fuming away in anger, ready to break my bones at the first chance he got. Describing Joginder is a little difficult. He belonged to that extra special breed of homo sapiens for whom brawn and brain had the same meaning! All of 12, he...