Din

I know his name. Not sure if he knows mine.

I don't understand what he speaks except for"xyz Ringitts" and he does not understand anything I speak except for the destination and time.

It is easy to guess now that he is a taxi driver in Kuala Lumpur.

Strange are the ways how humans develop relationships. It does not need a language. All it needs is the connection.

I went for a week there, stayed at a hotel and happened to take his taxi on the very first day. Uncertain about the situations and conditions in a foreign city when you are alone, I asked him a for a daily pick up and drop. He agreed. i had tough time explaining "daily" and had to say something like - Tomorrow, tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow. Funny isn't it? He came daily and had the same smile. We used to just nod to each other instead of a "good morning" or "good evening". I used to use signs to ask questions like - what are the places to see around? How to reach there? " After a point I realized it is the signs I am using more important and not the language I used for myself. So I used to speak in Kannada and show the right signs using hands and face. It worked.

He showed me how to reach Petronas towers. He took me to Putra Lake. Even in a country of nobody for me, I felt i had somebody when I went with him. Strange trust and confidence that surprised me.

On the last day, when I was leaving I felt - "I might not meet him again in life. No mode of contact. Of course there are no signs on telephone. But he has escorted me everywhere. Unknowingly guarded my safety. When I think of all the possibilities and how bad the world can be, I feel a sense of gratitude for him." When I had a tough time asking for places, how would I even talk about such a complex vague feeling. Of course I cannot.

When I got down at the airport, I was short of cash by 10 Ringitts. I said - "Only 180". He just nodded which said -"Its ok". He left after exchange of smiles. I don't know if he figured our I felt grateful. But it is a good feeling to be thankful.

Random Thought # 8

Thought: A friend is someone who can be source of your happiness and sink to your sorrows.

Reason: Blessed with such friends

Explanation: You don't need heat and mass transfer course for this :D

Thank you series - Episode 1

For all those who are reminded of Ekta kapoor as soon as you hear "episode" this will not be a never-ending dramatic soap. If you have read "The touch of gratitude" I had mentioned that I keep a list of all those people who have gone out of their way to help me at any point in my life. So I got this new idea of starting a series of articles where I get an opportunity to let the world know that such kind-hearted people live on this earth and also thank them wholeheartedly. So here goes the first one. Since today is Teacher's day, I can as well start off with my teacher.

Kamal Peter

The whole school would agree with me that there is no student who studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya Malleswaram and does not know her irrespective of whether she taught you in a classroom or not. She is not just a popular person but someone whom you can never ignore. If you happen to be at the same latitude and longitude as her, you would not move without noticing her. If you happen to meet and talk to her, you would never forget her. For any person who knows her, the name itself would ring a bell and bring to memories a beautiful,charming and inspiring lady who commands respect from old and young. I wonder how many people would have gone home and looked at the dictionary whenever they heard her speeches in splendid English. But wait, she was a Science teacher. It does not really matter what you teach if you are an all-rounder like her. All said and done about her success story, she is a really nice person to interact with. She understands you, she encourages you, she leads you and she will make you feel important. She is the only one who calls me "Beta" and she means it. A small incident which brought her into my book would leverage that statement.

It is common for teachers to turn into nutritionists during lunch breaks and walk around in the classrooms to find out what and how the children are eating. It is enough work for the moms to ensure all the different nutrients mentioned in the science book are packed in the lunch box. But my mom was unwell to even enter the kitchen at that point of time. My father did a good job of juggling the responsibilities of a bank officer and a father. Unfortunately one day he too fell sick which made me knock the doors of "Iyer mess" as they called it those days to pack the breakfast idli as lunch for myself. She was a sharp teacher who could look through the curries in various lunch boxes to figure out the proportion of various nutrients. A paper packed lunch would not miss her eye. She took to me to the junior lab (It was something that she started. Otherwise lab would be something we would have experienced only after tenth class). She asked me with concern - "Goda, May I ask you why you have packed lunch from a hotel?" As soon as she learnt the reason, she immediately said - "Tomorrow onwards, I am going to bring lunch for you till your parents are fine"

Packing an extra box of lunch while you do it for yourself and your kids might not be a big deal. The big deal is to have the concern to find out and to offer such a help. It was a big deal for me. Ask someone in the desert how big a deal a drop of water is. This is just one of the most memorable of the innumerable ways in which she has shaped my life. I would like to thank her from the bottom of my heart.

Madam, you are awesome and I love you.

Random Thought # 7

How many parts are simultaneously functioning in our body? I don't want the exact answer except that it is a huge number.
In spite of the innumerate ways in which things can go wrong given the permutations and combinations, I feel damn lucky that it is functioning properly :)

Love-Hate relationship

I love :

• My Family
• Friends and the time with them.
• Humour
  
• Coffee with Newspaper
  
• SRK
• OR
  
• Listening to music in nature
• Dancing to Bollywood songs
• Playing keyboard
• Figuring out constellations standing on the terrace
• Spongebob Squarepants
• Books that make me feel "Oh I know something now"
• Baloons
• Bright evenings
• Compassion
  

I Hate:

• Artificiality
• Sarcasm
• Hypocrisy
• heavy rains and Marshy roads
• Darkness
  
• Money-mindedness
• Loneliness
• Insensitivity