The SpooKEYS

My eyeballs have leapt right out of their sockets,
My finger bones have frozen in my back pockets.
My mouth hangs open, out lolls my tongue,
I appear to have only one functioning lung.
My heart tries to work me out of the shock,
But my feet stay rooted and my legs stay locked,
When others ask me what's wrong, I'll tell them the tale,
A story that will make them go deathly pale,
Of how when I was in a room, I'd seen a menacing flash,
They were fingers, and into something black and white they smashed,
No, I realized, it was NOT my face,
These fingers were attacking another place
And they created sounds so real, so intense,
They threatened to cut off my every sense,
I needed to hold it together, I could not lose it,
With a shock, I realized I was listening to music,
The melodies changed, up and down I heard them go,
So smoothly, so swiftly, the tunes just flowed!
As the music ebbed away, I came back in a daze,
I blinked a few times, feeling amazed.
Of a thick silence, I was suddenly aware,
In front of me was a grand piano... with nobody there...

To Sum It all up....

Earlier this morning, I sat with my dad trying to solve a mental ability question. Yes, you read that right. I’m studying during the holidays. But the fact is that everyone else is, as well. They’re all going for ACE or BASE. I (foolishly) told my parents, resolutely, that I had no plans to go for such coaching institutions. So here I am sitting at home, while all my friends are off learning about complex topics involving math, chemistry, and physics. Great...>.<

Anyway, with all the coaxing and encouragement, topped with my own guilt, I started looking through the questions. Some (ok…most) problems were not that easy for me. So naturally, my dad started helping. He is, in short, my personal math tutor and physics guru (I just like that word). And then he started explaining somewhat tougher concepts to me. And then I saw it.... This one expression on his face, which was the inspiration for this whole article. It was a wild thrill of happiness, my dad’s face was glowing, and he was very excited. All of a sudden, we’d switched roles; he was the young student exploring the world for the first time and I was the wise sage (who lacked a beard). That’s when I knew, I knew it, that no matter whatever else he is, he is a teacher. It’s not just what he actually does; it’s what he wants to do. And it’s also perfect for him. Math and Physics are, no doubt, his strong points. And we've discovered that he’s got a teacher’s heart. A man – a natural instructor- teaching what he loves, what could possibly be better?

And to be very honest, I, at least, am in great need of my dad and his mathiness. Math has never been my strong point. OK, it’s more than that, some of my mistakes are so atrocious that they make him and my mom gag. My mom. Another math buff. I remember one day, she’d been combing my hair when she asked me suddenly, “Which school assignment makes you excited?” I answered pretty quickly, “Creative writing assignments. Especially the ones which start with a sentence and we have to carry on. Why? What about you?” My mom looked at me and smiled, “Then that’s your future, Priya. For me it’s a tough math problem.” Then she got all dreamy, and probably started going over some complex geometry problems in her head. Being an architect, geometry is definitely her strong suit, which is good, since I have so much trouble sometimes. But even that slowly started to change.

In seventh grade, I had trouble with math. In the Asset Tests, my math score was always the lowest; it was usually English which saved me. For me it was simple, me and numbers weren't meant to be. But my dad had different ideas. “Change your attitude” he said. It was incredible what a difference this made. I did change my outlook towards math. I opened my mind and started enjoying math, not all topics, but it was definitely a change, and a good one.

I will probably never give the love and attention I have for words to numbers, but it doesn't matter. Math is important, and well…fun. The story of math in my life is more than just about solving problems. There’s a lot more to the equation. In the end, it was about subtracting negative thoughts, and adding a positive interest.  Simple, but it made all the difference. 

Picture Perfect

In my third and fourth grade in the US, we’d received yearbooks at the end of school, which contained photos of all the students and teachers of that year. Lately, I’ve been taking out these slim books, and I’ve been almost…well, studying them. I’ve been matching names to pictures, trying to find out the origin and culture of each student, finding resemblances between siblings, saying out loud unusual names I find there, over and over to myself – tasting and rolling them in my mouth as though they were gumballs, and generally just wondering what these people – half of whom I didn’t even know – are doing now. But these yearbooks have only two years worth of memories, and I wanted to go back. That’s why I ended up looking at my kindergarten, first grade, and second grade class pictures. I realized that I had had many classmates with whom I had later become friendly, but that year I had barely known them.
After examining these pictures, I took out two calendars which had been made with my baby photos. One thing led to another, and soon Amma, Sachin, and I were poring over a thick photo album that contained many of Sachin’s baby pictures. We saw my brother at birth and a few weeks later – a little infant with unblinking eyes and extreme expressions - shock, anger, or others of that sort! And I, as a jealous 3 year old, had invariably crept into each of his photos, either looking grumpy myself, or trying to cradle a grouchy brother. Sifting through the pages, we saw Sachin transform from a bald baby to the unforgettable, odd, but cute toddler.  I turned 5 and started going to school, which resulted in my old friends popping up more and more in the pictures.

Looking through photo albums is like looking at stills of a movie you’ve seen before, but have forgotten. You must rely on those single moments to be able to string them together to form the whole story.

I don’t remember much about my days back then. All I can say is that, looking at those wondrous eyes and real smiles, has left me with the feeling that life had been great then, maybe even picture perfect…..

The Watermelon Ways

Summer heat has a way of getting to you. Everything is so sticky, sweaty, so suffocating. It's almost impossible to go 5 minutes without the fan. The heat brings about irritation, frustration, and an incapacitation - it's too hot to do anything. Fortunately, Nature has brought about a balance during summer - a few delicacies which neutralize the heat, if only for a while. The best one, no doubt, is the watermelon. Hard as a coconut, flesh so light, it seems hollow, and that impossible, impossible green - a rain-forest tree's leaf-green. These are the key features of summer's best-loved fruit. Yet, even the exquisite exterior is nothing compared to what lies inside. A flash of a long, silver knife, and you are exposed to the best part of the fruit. Slices are made semi-circular, thin, but large. Every bite into the diluted red flesh is bliss. It's like being surrounded by water. Sweet, sticky, and cool, the red liquid floods your mouth with every bite and the flesh disintegrates immediately. There's never enough watermelon in the world, to satisfy our cravings during summer. After eating (well, it's more liking scraping clean, honestly) away the juicy insides, we are left with a smile-shaped shell, one, that honestly, only widens our own. 

Travelling...

Lately I've realised what an impact travelling has had on me. Not even travelling, but just the fact that we're going out of the country, leaves me with an excitement and anticipation like nothing else. New experiences have changed the way I look at countries; now, it feels as though every place is a new world – different cultures, different languages, and different people.

I think the best example of my feelings would be my emotions after the Singapore – Kuala Lampur trip that we took last October. To be honest, one place has merged with the other and I have lost sense of what actually happened where. Yet, this journey acted as a trigger and opened me up to a whole new part of the world. Suddenly, I have an irrational desire to know everything, everything, about the cultures of the countries which can be called 'Oriental'. China, Japan, Korea, there's not one place I don't want to learn about. Watching movies like The Karate Kid has only strengthened my wish. It's funny how two of my English chapters – one about Sadako Sasaki and the other about an old Chinese women – brought back a flood of memories of the trip (though somewhat jumbled). I've realised that small things around you – how the sky looks, or a topic you are learning about in school – can immediately transport you to a country you have previously visited (if only for a moment).

Now, almost four years after moving to India, and two years after our last trip, we are going back to the US again. Having lived there, that country crops up more in my thoughts and dreams than any other place. But the knowledge that we are going back, for two blissful weeks, is something I'm savoring. It has surprised even me, how much I have missed the US. Like how I always feel before a trip, my thirst for adventure has increased. Yet going back to the US is unlike visiting any other country, where most things remain unknown. There's a draw to my beloved America, a single, strong thread in my heart which connects me to the country halfway across the world. There are random times when I become nostalgic for all the friends and experiences I had ever had there. Like I have said before, that large country, those experiences and people are a part of me and always will be, though they may not be thought of everyday.

One thing that I have realised is that before any trip, my imagination starts running. My brain builds stories on stories, creating fantasies which I enjoy for days together. Of course, the trip is often nothing like my stories (which involve adventure and magic), but it manages to surprise me nonetheless. And after all, what's the harm in dreaming?

Summer Serenade

Music's the start,

To a whole new day,

It opens my heart,

In a whole new way,

For one long hour, we get the chance,

To soar, to glide, to flow, to dance.

My heart's a thrummer,

To the beat of the summer

Heaven, means the enticing pool,

Reflecting the sky so blue,

I'm engulfed by water cool,

Takes me to a world so new.

Being in water, is being with a friend,

Once the fun starts, the joy never ends.

My heart's a thrummer,

To the beat of summer

Sticky and sweet,

The ice cream drips,

A flavorful sheet,

Upon my lips,

Coolness under the sun so bright,

Small and sweet, the season's delights.

My heart's a thrummer,

To the beat of summer

No more cares, no more worries, for once,

It's time to be happy and free,

A bliss that lasts for two long months,

To enjoy being you and me,

Come join me, come taste a slice,

Of heaven on earth, it's paradise.

And I guarantee that your heart, like mine....

Will become a thrummer...

To the beat of summer

Testing Times

"Get to the books!" The teachers say,
"Study! Study!" They chant all day.
"Don't waste time, go do some work!"
My! All this talk drives me berserk!
"Do some yoga, it'll relieve the stress,
But remember, 12th grade is harder than the rest!"
Great. We're getting lectures, warnings, threats.
The pressure's building, and it's makin' us sweat!
Let's get serious! Stop acting cheesy!
Let me remind you, exams won't be easy!
Oh, dratted exams! Why are they there?
They make us study so hard, so much to prepare!
Moments of peace no longer exist,
Academics will hit you as hard as a fist.
Not the exam, but studying before,
Leaves me hating it more and more.
The greatest part of it all, when the exams are done and away...
That blissful, lazy holiday,
And we're back with a grin, feeling like the best,
When all of a sudden, oh no! Another surprise test!