The old man on the bicycle

I had just pulled out dad's car on the road when an old man crossed me on his bicycle. I caught a glance, enough to put me in doubt that I knew him. I asked myself, "Was it Thomas sir?". The next evening, I saw him again. A midget sized old man with thick grey-black beard, wearing old fashioned carbon rimmed glasses with not so clear glass, riding an old hercules bicyle. Oh yes, it was Thomas sir.

Thomas sir, my favourite teacher, who used to teach us social science in school and I was his favourite student. He used to call me 'Raj'(with a mallu accent) which I found really 'cool' then. I remember visiting his place with Irfan(my best friend in school) and him telling us about his family over tea and banana chips(it was a rare occurance in our town in those days). I didn't like those chips, but still ate it so as not to cease his excitement about his favourite snack that his sister had sent him, and he sacrificed for me. I remember him tellin us that all his siblings were rich, unlike him, and he kept refusing to their calls to come and join them in business.

After all these years, he is still living more or less the same life that he did 13 years ago. He still carries that strange contented look on his face, blended with the weariness of his aged face and his grey-black beard, as if he is watchin the world rushing past him with utter silence, and no willingness to join the rat-race. By the time I gathered my thoughts and turned back to stop him, he was nowhere in sight. That night I told Gourav about him. He asked me if we should pay a visit to some of the teachers, but didn't mention Thomas sir. I denied uninterestingly.

My First Blog

'Garmi ki chuttiyan'...a grin appeared my face everytime someone mentioned those three words. I could not help thinking about the fun I will have when all my cousins come home for vacations, the games we will play, the places we will visit. The school reopening date always seemed to near at greater speed with each passing day and the vacations were never enough.

Ten years later, I have roughly the same length of time entirely at my dispense. Gourav, a friend from those times, mockingly said, "Garmi ki chutti me ghar aaya hai Raja beta?" I would have called this break exactly that had it been anywhere close to those, but it is not. I long for those college days when I had to study for hours at a stretch, sleep for lectures at a stretch or just go lie down at the university cricket ground till the night perms allow me to. I am fed up of swimming, tv, gym...everything for that matter.What sounded like a luxurious life few weeks back has now become an insufferable torment I can blame nobody for. After trying almost anythin I can manage to do at home, I finally found a solution, 'The internet', this wonderful creation of the human race turned out to be my last resort.

The idea of blogging has been wandering inside my head for more than a year now, but for some reason I've never tried it. A friend suggested me to try it, but for some reason I never did. A copy of HT brought 'the blogging fever' to my notice a few weeks back. It said celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan and Amir Khan have started their blogs and are blogging tirelessly. Last night, I googled AB's blogs and went through some of them and 18 hours later I'm writing my first blog. I don't know if the emptiness of my day forced me, reading blogs from my friends inspired me or my likeness for Amitabh has brought me here. Well...now that I am here, I hope this will be a delightful experience for me and my readers.

Love
Raj