Satendra Nath Prasad

FIRST ONE FROM SATENDRA

Dear All,

Hello to all you lovely persons out there who were out of sight but never, NEVER, out of my mind.

Satendra here................

TIMES

A man stands in the middle of the road with his hand raised to stop the traffic as men march past, a band playing in their midst. Faces with grim expressions, bamboo canes resting on shoulders like guns, swords slinging at a few waists. White shirts and khaki shorts screaming that it was the RSS. RSS here? In Jamshedpur ? Signs of changing times?

I sigh and think about my childhood. Our generation was, perhaps, the last to grow up in relatively peaceful times. Before religious fundamentalism, global terrorism, economic slowdown, financial meltdowns, inflation, scarcity, farmer activism, regional chauvinism, jingoism, technology, convergence, global warming, melting ice caps, ozone depletion etc. ever became everyday words.

Those were THE times I like to remember about warmly. The time spent without a whit of worry with my parents who, I knew, always stood solidly behind me. Their presence a soothing umbrella of protection from the outside world, till one day they left me to face the world alone. I miss them.

The time spent with good friends who have since left for rendezvous with their respective destinies. Today, I often imagine their presence in places they once frequented, calling out to them silently in empty windows of houses they once lived in, making me feel lonelier still.


Sometimes I get this uncanny feeling of being like the small boy who was left behind when the pied piper took the town’s children away.

Those days were so much sunnier, warmer, livelier and…..life rocked.

I remember those times when we would share our lunch at school, the cosmopolitan bunch bringing an assortment of flavours. Each would eagerly trade his food with the other and have a terrific experience. The lunch time was cherished as much as the food was relished. And the memories remain.

Class rooms were order and chaos that made our days. Evenings had another set of players flitting in and out of our lives every day. The guys and gals were all kinds, each distinct, each unique, each lovable as a character, each evokes images and memories, all remembered to this day.

But then slowly, one by one, everyone entered their respective time wraps and zoomed off into unknown dimensions. The cockpit speaker crackles sometimes, remotely familiar voices flit through and rare connections are made, gladdening the heart, warming the soul, making one feel younger, putting a bounce back in the frequently tired steps.

I suddenly realize that I am alone on the road, the drum beats are distant now. My family is waiting for me at home. There are chores to be done. I shake myself out of my reverie.

I wish I will be able to provide my kids a much more beautiful childhood than I spent, a much better life than I have now. I wish that one day they too will look back, when their present becomes past, and cherish their childhood memories. I wish to God that they would have happiness always.

With a small prayer on my lips I head home.

Satendra


How are things with you all. I had the previlege of talking to Malathi and then to Malay. Yes I was elated, or maybe elated does not precisely describe what I felt.... younger, happy, childlike? As if, for sometime, my childhood visited me again. Thanks Malathi, thanks Malay.
Would like to hear from all you guys. And, yes, lets all meet somewhere. It would really be a BIG BANG!
With warm regards,,
Satendra