Shades of Life: A Journey Through the Spectrum of Human Experience

    Early morning of 19-Sep-2010: I struggled to open my sleep-deprived eyes. My body felt heavy like a stone; every bone was screaming in pain. On top of me, two piled-up quilts fended off relentlessly, the severe cold at 12,000 ft. altitude. Making the wooden window ajar, I peeped out and the howling wind scared the hell out of me. The tall, snow-clad mountain peaks at a distance were boldly withstanding the onslaught of the stormy weather. All my clothes were completely wet from the previous day's hellish two-hour slow ascent on the back of a mule. Not having any choice, I put them on and came out of the small guest while shivering unremittingly. I bowed in front of the shrine one more time and prayed to Lord Shiva for safe passage, before commencing my journey from Kedarnath to Gaurikund in the Himalayas – a descent of 14 km with an altitude drop of 6,000 ft. The monsoon in the hilly Uttarakhand state was quite severe that year. From Rishikesh to Gaurikund the journey had ...

  The year was 1984; another semester break was over. The boys returned to the hostels at the Indian School of Mines (now IIT Dhanbad) and brought with them fresh and more exciting stories of their romantic escapades with their respective girlfriends in their hometowns. They were agog with curiosity to hear each other's stories and perhaps outsmart others with their own figments of imagination. Thus, the evenings in the hot ISM campus in dusty Dhanbad became filled with chatters in small groups which would last till dinner time. These were the most unendurable moments for me as I had to be a mere audience and listen to all the boisterous claims of my batch-mates. I had no such stories to share and hence was taken for granted. It was not that I believed in all the gossip but I had a self-imposed inferiority complex that would torture my mind repeatedly. I contemplated various strategies, it was about time that I did something to salvage my image, and boost up my sagging ego. I wante...

  I was sitting idle - watching over the never-ending traffic on the road, though it was past midnight. Typical of Mumbai, the city that never sleeps! The cool breeze of the night was enticing enough for me to postpone my retirement to the bedroom. Unknowingly, my mind started jogging in memory lane and went back as far as twenty-eight years and then it paused to reminiscence an incident or rather an encounter. I used to work in the offshore oil platform of the national oil company, ONGC as a new trainee engineer. These platforms are on the high seas, some 130-odd kilometres off the shore, where we had to spend fourteen days at a stretch completely cut off from mankind. A day before my departure which was an off day for me, I hired an auto-rickshaw and rode down to Juhu Beach, a place I was very fond of; because of my attraction to the sea. It was a mild evening of a December month and I was sitting on my handkerchief, spread over the sand. The dance of the waves and the music of t...

  The evening sky was colourful and vibrant. A soft breeze carrying the smell of wet soil freshened the body and the soul. New and fresh green grass offshoots were raising their spirited heads through the cracks of the dry earth softened by the first few showers of pre-monsoon rain. They were playing joyfully with the breeze, giggling at the ticklish feelings when it brushed past them. Rekha looked at them and smiled silently, savouring the magical moment. Her pearl white teeth shone brightly against her dark complexion. The naked mountain ranges a few kilometres away felt uneasy as the setting sun was trying to expose its scars with its orange rays. Rekha heard it mumbling with anger,  let the monsoon come in full swing and I can cover my scars with the green foliage. Then I shall see how you can play these pranks with me anymore!    Rekha smiled silently once more and her beautiful teeth sparkled again. The lifeless river had slowly stirred itself to life at the so...