Meena Mangalathil:

I have had many a dreams about missing trains and flights and seen movies, about running to catch it. During those times too the fright really rose from within but when the actual sequel happened in real life, we were laughing.             It happened last week, when my sister came to meet me. She had booked a train ticket for 2 nd A/C from Delhi – Hyderabad. It was a limited stop train and usually, tickets to these types of train has to be booked weeks ahead. Likewise, she booked and got an RAC ticket for Andhra Express, which here is well known as Rajdhani Express. Whenever she had taken train from Delhi, she had only taken it from Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway station in Delhi. So she concluded that this train too departs from there itself. Nobody felt to check the ticket, as she was a seasoned traveller and etiquette called for it that we accept her experience.             We r...

            I have always wondered, why people are not happy. They are always running for something like money, love, luxury, house, car, etc. They get it and still they are unhappy. Today I saw a group of people just living for existence-To Survive.   I was travelling in Dehi, when my vehicle halted in a red signal. Since, it was a junction, I had to wait for sometime there. I looked through the window and saw a spectacle, that really ripped my heart. There was a roundabout in the middle of the road and in it was an open space, just bare ground. And the roundabout was fenced with iron grills. In some places, there were some grills missing, but overall, we don’t find anything odd in the missing grills. But the sight within was unimaginable. For Delhiites winter had already set in, with fogs and mists and cold seeping in to the bones have all started. In this spectacle there where children ranging from 2 ½   ...

Love – Its The Elixir of Life. It might be for a person, for the nation, for mankind. But actually, What is Love? Love, it is a feeling which comes from within, from our Self. Its a feeling believed to cure all ills. It is a feeling  which makes us the perfect human being. It is a feeling which transcends all feelings, all bonds and above all it helps us unite with the Supreme God.   Love is portrayed in many ways. Love of parents, children, friends, spouse, etc... But can we define love? No, we cannot because it is unique in nature. It holds special and different meaning for each person.   By a simple look, a smile, a pat, a gift,   but the end result is indeed worth reviving. The main quality of love is unselfishness. Love humbles the person, he loses his ego, so as to accommodate each and everybody. A mother becomes a mother not only to her child but also to other children too. She with her love conquers the heart of her kids, their friends, their parents and a ch...

            My mother had always been stingy on words. She never used words, more than was necessary but if she Gives a Word. She kept it.   When my dad passed away, my mom had to manage on her own, her trait of keeping word continued. I was used to this type of lifestyle, which I took it for granted. But after my dad’s death, I came out of the cocoon of my family. The outside world was crueler, there, the people were so blatant in using words, for making promises, lying, cheating, God knows, what all additives. It was a gory scene that people made with words. But whatever consequences, I learned one thing in life. The word, which comes from our mouth are more powerful, than actions.             I would like to say an incident, which happened not long back. A teacher promised a 10yr old child in the boarding, that she would allow her to call her parents, during the weekend....

            It was during a marriage ceremony, a miracle happened, for me. It was ages back when marriage feast were not given for caterers. It was my cousin’s marriage and the neighbours, friends, relatives were all pitching in their share of presence in peeling, scraping, cooking and a lot of talks, laughter, shouts and running around. I was 17. I was also there sitting with the bride-to-be, who was also my best friend. She came to me secretly and told, “Our cooking gas is over and we cannot get a single cylinder from anywhere.” The first thought that came to mind was, “Ask Jesus”. And I told her, just give me five minutes, don’t worry, you’ll get your cylinder.” We both sat on the front stairs, where no one was there or was there? I don’t remember, but one thing was sure, no one knew we were praying, we sat there and I asked strongly “Jesus, you should really give us the gas cylinder, which we need it real real badly. And I inclu...

                I have always wondered why Jesus caught hold of mustard or its tree in many of his speeches. I used to wonder, is it really true, that we do not even have an iota of faith? What was He conveying to us? Well, we’ll have to delve into it. For that you should have the sharpest and the thinnest blade.                 I know, you have cut vegetables and fruits into two. Likewise, slowly and very carefully, why don’t you cut the mustard seed into two?                 When you cut an apple, there is a little bit of space somewhere in it, like an air hole. Likewise all other fruits and vegetables have it, but the mustard has not a single pin point of blank space in it. That means, think your heart as a mustard, in that, never ever have even a pin point of d...

              Yesterday, while I was travelling by bus, I saw a barking dog following a rag picker. He was trying to chase it with a stick, but to no avail. The dog barked and barked and the man waved his stick at it. Then the man got so angry, that he threw his stick at the dog so hard that I, seeing the expression on the man’s face and the muscle strength of his hands which was visible, made me flinch involuntarily.             At that moment, there were people around, as it was a bus stop and I could see only a part of the bus stop. So there was a mother and son, who was standing there. They didn’t even know that a scene was going on behind them. I felt I was watching a black and white movie, a movie of contrasts. One side anger and the other side peace.             So what makes anger? Why do we get angry? To be fr...

        Criticism, is the act or an instance of making an unfavourable or severe judgment, comment, etc. It is not a very good experience, to always take the brunt of criticism. When I first heard, that there is a profession to criticize, I was really shocked because when someone was criticized in school, home, within friends circle, I had felt very bad about it. I really didn’t like that situation. So I usually do not get into mischief. But in life we cannot grow, without being criticized because we are not perfect. At that time, I felt very very bad, but later I knew that if I had not been criticized, then I wouldn’t have known, that a flaw really existed in me.             But when I started writing, I really felt, if there was anyone who could help me, by looking my flaws, in my writing, then I could have improved it. But there wasn’t anyone because I had not published it anywhere except my b...

I remember a story about Hansel and Gretel, being lost in the forest, because, they forgot the path they had come, due to darkness. We all at one time or other, do lose our ways, but when we come to know, that we have really lost our way, then the lightning would strike our heart, asking the question, “Now what?”             Usually, kids are guided by elders. When they move around, they hold hands, so that the child doesn’t get lost, in the maze of ways and people. This path gets imprinted in the mind each time they take the same way. Then even if it’s midnight they are not frightened to walk the same way for fear of being lost.             In life too, we have this path. We reach the goal through this path. A path where there were lots of people, lots of mile stones, monuments in life. But when we reached the goal, we forget everything, all these people and mileston...

                          Teachers are the masters, who mould the young minds irrespective of caste, creed, colour and stature. That is a known fact, but I knew the value of being a teacher when a child was scolded in public for his mistake, (which had been repeatedly warned), by a teacher without any inhibition of thinking the child being hurt or what others would think. In that audience, there was an advocate and a social worker, they all sat there thunder struck. The teacher, was just a lower primary teacher and she had only half a year of experience with the teaching profession, she is a very soft spoken personality who has a smiling contour, but when she scolded the child, no wonder, everyone just went dumb. Then I knew, the value of having an experience as a teacher. But how would an advocate or a social worker or people of other professions other than teac...