Meena Mangalathil:

              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 frank, I’m not an expert in talking about this, but one thing I know, even I too had a phase when I used to get angry, very fast. For man, there are numerous emotions for

        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 blog and my blog is a place where only my friends who has time to visit, read it. Then I k

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 milestones since we  reached home safely, and what is there to think about? Its not a big deal.  When we were kids we have been

                          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 teachers know, how a child’s mind works? They have experience with only grown up people, they consider persons as a human b

                 We are in an age where we give the children a free hand in selecting their professions, the courses they need to study, the future they plan to select and   the parents just had to open the wallet and pay, nothing more. That was what I was thinking until today, when I met a girl who was studying for the entrance of Civil Services Preliminaries.             I was real awed, because I had spoken and worked with lots of IAS officers and the like but not a fledgling, aspiring civil servant. So I asked her, what made her decide to select this job? She said, "Actually, I didn't  have any idea about my future profession, what I should opt for." So after her degree, she went for a retreat and they guided them to opt for the civil services according to the Intelligent Quotient test conducted. And then too, she didn’t know, what she was involving herself into. But now after studying so much in the coaching centre and being with other students and previous candi

            Its the language of no words, only thoughts, feelings, work in this strata. The first time I heard Silence was when I was in school. But in real life, we don’t have that word in our vocabulary, in short, we have lost the silence. If ever it happens, it is because of natural calamity.             But have we ever thought, about silence? Today, while I was going to church, there was a big noise, the noise of the flight of the pigeons. There is a place near our church, where they feed pigeons and when a car passed by, it took flight together. It was so much noise, that I wondered, how come, it produced so much noise? To have the feeling of noise, it might have been silent before. This place is Delhi, its one of the busiest place and the time was when the vehicles have not yet reached the road in full swing, the shops had not yet opened, children had not yet started to reach schools. So it was silent. Then it came to mind, why noise is so intolerant for us?             Then I

            Be frank, that is a word we hear when, we are asked a question, even if it is to a kid or to a friend or to a colleague. But how much frankness should you be when we have to be frank and how much the listener would expect us to be frank? That has to be looked into.             I had an uncle, who always used to say, “Look, don’t feel bad, eh, I’m always frank.” First time, I didn’t feel anything but years later, I saw him in his house, his state was terrible. The house was dirty, as it had not been painted for sometime and there was nobody to look after him and above all, he was alone and sat either in front of the verandah or in front of the television.             So it was my usual ritual, that when I go nearby his place, I’ll just give a courtesy call, speak for sometime and leave, usually that speech would make me flee, feeling that it is high time, I curtailed my courtesy calls. It usually would be too frank for my taste -   criticism of others. According to him, he

            Just wait a moment! This is a frequent dialogue, we hear this at different stages of life and we do literally wait. This waiting business is not entitled only for the poor but also the rich, not only the young but also the old. Even the just born babies have to wait. Do you know why? Because we feel we have no choice or sometimes, it might be we all are optimistic. Then the next step is we do sit or stand waiting, thinking all sorts of nonsense or sometimes just wait there and watch the passers by. But why wait? Aren’t there any options other than wait? For me, I feel that wait time can be utilized as the time when we can mould ideas, plans and above all a time to take resolutions. When I wait, I have always thought that it was not by choice we have got to wait, but it is part of the master plan written for us. We all know, in this age, we are short of time, a quality time, where we could spend it with our family, friends and above all a time to ourselves and with God. The

          It takes only a moment of decision to turn the tables for man. The first time I had the awareness of it was when I grew real big and mature. One of my friend’s sons had come to meet her and they talked and joked to all of us and she was very proud of them, and I really felt that, she didn’t underestimate their value. They were very good kids, aged 17 and 20. The eldest one was presented with a motor bike on his birthday and they had come in that to see her in her work place. They were planning to go for a vacation from their college, so they had come to do some shopping. The day started thus for all of us,   babbling with words, shuttling all opinions of the advantages and disadvantages of tourist destinations, etc. They went and we were left behind with a smile on our face.   After 30 mts, a phone call, the two kids were met with an accident, one died on the spot and the other in a critical condition in the ICU. It was so shocking, that we couldn’t accept the truth, that, t