As I was rummaging through our drawers at home, I came across a old file. This particular file holds some of my twin sons writings and snippets during their schooling here in Bahrain.
Both my sons, Alok and Ankush are voracious readers as well as good writers (their blog links are given at the end of this post). Pondering over through the file I came across one specific story, which was really well written by my son Alok. This brought back lots of good time memories and it took me way back to the day when it all happened.
Alok was in the 11th grade then. He was all excited as he came back from school and told me.... 'Mom I have a story writing competition in school, should I participate'?
Of course you should I said. You write quite well Alok and you are quite imaginative too. Go ahead and spend some time on it.
I constantly reminded Alok about the competition after that and told him to prepare a story as the competition was open to all students of his school. Hundreds of students would be preparing to compete.
My bickering fell on deaf years for quite some time. 'There is enough time mom, I'll prepare it in time, don't worry' was all he would say.
After awhile I completely forgot about it. Then one fine day Alok came from school and told me that the competition was over and he submitted a story just that day though he had a story in mind since some time.
I was extremely angry and really reprimanded him for not putting some effort when he had all the time in the world.
Alok casually said... 'Yeah, that’s true but I forgot. Today I was in the lab for my physics practical’s when one of the teacher called and asked me for the submission. I just went and wrote something and submitted.'
I was really disturbed at his casual demeanor but then what can a mother do with her teenaged son. I just left it at that.
A week later, Alok came from school pretty excited. 'Guess what mom?' I came first and won the school competition among hundreds of other candidates. I just could not believe it. He further told me that top five stories are being sent for an inter school competition, and the school was sending his story. That was great news at that time.
A week later, we parents were called to attend the award function where Alok once again won the inter school competition in the senior most category. He won the first prize. He had won a huge cup along with a certificate of excellence. He also received a bag full of goodies most of which was coupons for fast food outlets here in Bahrain.
It was a proud moment for all of us. His school in turn had won and most of his teachers were there to congratulate him.
Here is the story…..
Life as we all know is a very fickle term. From the very beginning i.e. birth of a child to the point where the same individual grows up to make mature decisions, we all tend to say that we have made mistakes that given a chance to go back we would do our best to correct or rectify it.
What wouldn’t one do if he or she gets one more chance to start afresh?
Opportunity comes and goes; it is up to us to grab it at its helm. In essaying my thoughts maybe I need to relate my views with the help of a short story.
There was once a balloon, named eddy. He was a character, who placed himself at a higher moral ground than his fellow balloon friends.
Eddy the balloon thought mighty high of his ideas and beliefs, he always thought that he belonged to a special world befitting his ideologies.
Eddy had few friends, who on the contrary to his views didn’t share his unbridled enthusiasm for higher living and purposes; they had but one mission, to have fun.
Also Eddy lived in a box up in the Attic of a modest suburban home, filled with fellow balloons of varying shapes, sizes and colors. In that very house also lived a little girl named Josephine.
One day, there was a lot of excitement amongst all balloons, upon inquiry, Eddy’s close friend Peter mentioned to him that a gala fest was to be organized the following evening and all balloons were going to be used.
All Eddy's fellow balloons were excited and couldn’t wait to be picked up. Eddy didn’t think much of this so called fest. He mentioned to Peter that he wanted to be a balloon who would be used for a really big event and not just for any ordinary festivity.
The next day, Eddy tried to convince his friends that it wasn't worth being used for an event which wasn’t significant. He reminded his friends that he didn’t fancy being burst by those obnoxious little kids.
His friends although a bit frightened, mentioned to him that the whole process of having wind blown through oneself was exhilarating. But Eddy wasn’t to be budged.
Later in the evening as little Josephine blew the balloons, Eddy refused to be blown up leading to him being kept back into the box, much to his happiness.
Eddy congratulated himself late that night to the sounds of balloons bursting. This continued for many years, festivities came and went, but Eddy didn’t change in his ways.
Then one day, there was a great commotion among the balloons, as they had heard that there was to be a huge carnival at the other end of the town.
YES!! Thought Eddy…yes that would be the event he would participate in. He would be the biggest, the best and the most colorful balloon in that carnival parade.
He would be admired by all the kids at the carnival and would be a rage of envy by all the other balloons present.
Eddy could not be more thrilled, he had waited, on wits end, months for this moment to arrive.
The D-day had arrived and all the balloons were thrilled. Josephine took the box to the parade. One by one Eddy’s new friends were taken out and blown. At the end he was the only balloon left.
As she picked Eddy up to fill him, her dad said that Eddy the balloon could not be blown, but little Josephine was adamant to use all the balloons in the box.
As Josephine put Eddy to her lips, he waited to feel the rush of air that was mentioned to him by his friends, but nothing happened. Josephine too wasn’t to be fazed, she had plenty balloons to fill.
Months of just lying in the box had been futile. He had lost the elasticity which he had possessed as a young balloon.
That night as he lay in the waste bin alone, he had an epiphany. All that his friends had ever mentioned hit home. He realized the futility of his decision and cursed his obscure way of looking at life.
He had never got a chance to experience the true joy of being a balloon and specially the true happiness one gets from bringing a moment of joy to others. He had never lived life when he could have caught it at its helm.
Much of our lives go without us having an idea of the opportunities lying before us. It is up to us to peel off the Eddy within us and shed it. Life is only once and we need to find every moment to celebrate it.
We are not fortunate enough to have everything in our lives, but we are all given a blessing of the freedom of choice.
Let us vow to keep feelings of animosity and negativity behind us and look ahead to make our lives along with the others around us happier and more productive.
Both my sons, Alok and Ankush are voracious readers as well as good writers (their blog links are given at the end of this post). Pondering over through the file I came across one specific story, which was really well written by my son Alok. This brought back lots of good time memories and it took me way back to the day when it all happened.
Alok was in the 11th grade then. He was all excited as he came back from school and told me.... 'Mom I have a story writing competition in school, should I participate'?
Of course you should I said. You write quite well Alok and you are quite imaginative too. Go ahead and spend some time on it.
I constantly reminded Alok about the competition after that and told him to prepare a story as the competition was open to all students of his school. Hundreds of students would be preparing to compete.
My bickering fell on deaf years for quite some time. 'There is enough time mom, I'll prepare it in time, don't worry' was all he would say.
After awhile I completely forgot about it. Then one fine day Alok came from school and told me that the competition was over and he submitted a story just that day though he had a story in mind since some time.
I was extremely angry and really reprimanded him for not putting some effort when he had all the time in the world.
Alok casually said... 'Yeah, that’s true but I forgot. Today I was in the lab for my physics practical’s when one of the teacher called and asked me for the submission. I just went and wrote something and submitted.'
I was really disturbed at his casual demeanor but then what can a mother do with her teenaged son. I just left it at that.
A week later, Alok came from school pretty excited. 'Guess what mom?' I came first and won the school competition among hundreds of other candidates. I just could not believe it. He further told me that top five stories are being sent for an inter school competition, and the school was sending his story. That was great news at that time.
A week later, we parents were called to attend the award function where Alok once again won the inter school competition in the senior most category. He won the first prize. He had won a huge cup along with a certificate of excellence. He also received a bag full of goodies most of which was coupons for fast food outlets here in Bahrain.It was a proud moment for all of us. His school in turn had won and most of his teachers were there to congratulate him.
Here is the story…..
Life as we all know is a very fickle term. From the very beginning i.e. birth of a child to the point where the same individual grows up to make mature decisions, we all tend to say that we have made mistakes that given a chance to go back we would do our best to correct or rectify it.
What wouldn’t one do if he or she gets one more chance to start afresh?
Opportunity comes and goes; it is up to us to grab it at its helm. In essaying my thoughts maybe I need to relate my views with the help of a short story.
There was once a balloon, named eddy. He was a character, who placed himself at a higher moral ground than his fellow balloon friends.
Eddy the balloon thought mighty high of his ideas and beliefs, he always thought that he belonged to a special world befitting his ideologies.
Eddy had few friends, who on the contrary to his views didn’t share his unbridled enthusiasm for higher living and purposes; they had but one mission, to have fun.
Also Eddy lived in a box up in the Attic of a modest suburban home, filled with fellow balloons of varying shapes, sizes and colors. In that very house also lived a little girl named Josephine.
One day, there was a lot of excitement amongst all balloons, upon inquiry, Eddy’s close friend Peter mentioned to him that a gala fest was to be organized the following evening and all balloons were going to be used.
All Eddy's fellow balloons were excited and couldn’t wait to be picked up. Eddy didn’t think much of this so called fest. He mentioned to Peter that he wanted to be a balloon who would be used for a really big event and not just for any ordinary festivity.
The next day, Eddy tried to convince his friends that it wasn't worth being used for an event which wasn’t significant. He reminded his friends that he didn’t fancy being burst by those obnoxious little kids.
His friends although a bit frightened, mentioned to him that the whole process of having wind blown through oneself was exhilarating. But Eddy wasn’t to be budged.
Later in the evening as little Josephine blew the balloons, Eddy refused to be blown up leading to him being kept back into the box, much to his happiness.
Eddy congratulated himself late that night to the sounds of balloons bursting. This continued for many years, festivities came and went, but Eddy didn’t change in his ways.
Then one day, there was a great commotion among the balloons, as they had heard that there was to be a huge carnival at the other end of the town.
YES!! Thought Eddy…yes that would be the event he would participate in. He would be the biggest, the best and the most colorful balloon in that carnival parade.
He would be admired by all the kids at the carnival and would be a rage of envy by all the other balloons present.
Eddy could not be more thrilled, he had waited, on wits end, months for this moment to arrive.
The D-day had arrived and all the balloons were thrilled. Josephine took the box to the parade. One by one Eddy’s new friends were taken out and blown. At the end he was the only balloon left.
As she picked Eddy up to fill him, her dad said that Eddy the balloon could not be blown, but little Josephine was adamant to use all the balloons in the box.
As Josephine put Eddy to her lips, he waited to feel the rush of air that was mentioned to him by his friends, but nothing happened. Josephine too wasn’t to be fazed, she had plenty balloons to fill.
Months of just lying in the box had been futile. He had lost the elasticity which he had possessed as a young balloon.
That night as he lay in the waste bin alone, he had an epiphany. All that his friends had ever mentioned hit home. He realized the futility of his decision and cursed his obscure way of looking at life.
He had never got a chance to experience the true joy of being a balloon and specially the true happiness one gets from bringing a moment of joy to others. He had never lived life when he could have caught it at its helm.
Much of our lives go without us having an idea of the opportunities lying before us. It is up to us to peel off the Eddy within us and shed it. Life is only once and we need to find every moment to celebrate it.
We are not fortunate enough to have everything in our lives, but we are all given a blessing of the freedom of choice.
Let us vow to keep feelings of animosity and negativity behind us and look ahead to make our lives along with the others around us happier and more productive.
************************
nice post mom!! :) keep it up!!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. Keep it up...
ReplyDeleteOh what a nice heart warming story and that too from one so tender in age kudos Mom! and lots and lots of blessings to your son. Loved the story and all that the story had to say.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Shivani.
ReplyDelete