Precious Pearls

Calling it a dark Sunday morning wouldn’t be an overstatement. The fire broke out in our residential complex at the darkest hour of night, just before the dawn. A commotion woke me up. When I opened the main door, a cloud of smoke entered catching me unaware. Within a fraction of moments, our ceiling, walls and even our faces gathered thick black layers. Veils of smoke on staircases blocked our exit point and we had to be home-bound for a while, which at that time appeared like eternity. We learnt later that an unidentified man had torched around 90 two-wheelers and some cars in some housing societies and outside a pizza outlet, all within the stretch of five kms. My old bike was one of the victims.  Though a major tragedy was averted and there were no casualties, the extent of damage was huge. Those who were trapped indoors during the arson had breathing problems. No water, electricity and elevator, black layers of smoke all over the building, moving six floors up and down d...

A longtime friend comes over…You see your spouse at the end of the hardworking day…Your child returns from the school…A relative drops in after a long gap…An ex-colleague bumps into you…Talk, we love to, with friends, families and near and dear ones (and perhaps, sometimes with foes too!!). Why just fights, even light talks and friendly banters can go on for hours. Not every time we can walk the talk still there is no denying the fact that talk we must. I don’t like it when the talk between the any two labelled as gossip (even if it is!). After a long phone-chat with friends or cousins, “Who were you talking about?” could be the question confronting us. I too have gone through this situation umpteen times. After a phone call with the best friend, my mother, all ears to our conversation, would ask, “Was it this and this friend you were talking with?” I don’t like every girl-talk being dismissed as ‘gossip’, which often is the case. Of course, gossip is a relative term. Family ...