Prospect of an exciting trip

Water had always been a problem in the village. Because of the government guidelines, the local water-board authorities allowed water supply to each village in the taluk for only a couple of hours, that too two days a week. It was more of a routine chore for the people in the village to collect water (in vessels with different shapes and colours!) for the remaining days of the week. For the villagers, this was a way of life...

Though Shankar lived in a joint family, his grandpa usually took up this routine task. He would always go along with his grandpa and stand in the long queues in front of the government tap across the road. He loved the colourful sight! He would look at all the people standing in the queue in front of him and wonder as to why people braved the hot sun for a couple of buckets of water. At least he never had any problems in getting water. Whenever he wanted some, he'd just cry out loud and his mother would get him a nice cup of water, even buttermilk sometimes! He didn't like milk much though...

There was an hand-pump which tapped the underground water, but this was almost 10 Kms from the village. There were hardly any buses to get there and walking there in the burning sun was out of question. To get water from the hand-pump was an expensive proposition and was rarely used by the villagers.

It was the middle of the week. Even at noon, the market was bustling with activity. Shankar had come with his two elder cousins and grandpa to buy the vegetables for the coming week. There were vendors selling water and ice-gola (a type of ice candy which people of all age groups and especially kids relish!). Shankar wanted an ice gola at any cost and threw up a rant till his grandpa gave in. He was half way through eating it when he noticed that a it was melting away. He began to wonder as to how the drops were formed from solid ice. He stopped eating the gola and watched the rest of it melt away!

Shankar returned from the market. His mom told grandpa that there was hardly any water left at home and would not last more than a day. Even the govt supply could not be relied upon. There had been rumours going on in the village that the neighboring villages were receiving water only once in ten days.

Grandpa decided to get water all the way from the hand-pump. He took one of Shankar's cousins and was about to set out on the moped. Shankar loved moped rides and definitely did not want to miss this one. Grandpa was definitely not in a mood to tolerate more bad behaviour from Shankar, so he decided to take Shankar along.

Finally, they got going.

The Chronicles 2

[this is a continuation from chronicles....1]
....shankar was lost completely....he simply couldn't remember as to how he had gotten there...he tried to be brave but was almost in tears...he began walkin in the direction his grandpa had gone sometime ago on the moped....he came across a flour mill n that caught his attention....he began to see the huge machines at work with awe....shankar had always been highly fascinated with machines....he momentarily forgot about his dilemma....

shankars mom in the meantime came back with more breakfast for him and called out his name....she began to worry since there was no response from shankar.....shankar usually never played any pranks....so his absence was worrying....she told about his absence to his aunt....both of them began to search for shankar frantically in the house....but to no avail....

meanwhile a lady picked up shankar n started walkin away carrying him....shankar was too confused and he wasn't sure if he had to scream out loudly....

shankars mom n aunt were now lookin for shankar outside the house....the roadside tea stall guy told them that he had seen a little guy running behind a moped....both shankars mom n aunt immediately guessed that it must have been shankar following his grandpa...they too set out in the direction as pointed out by the tea stall guy....after sometime they could see a lady having a chat with someone carrying a kid with her....when they reached a bit closer.....it was shankar in her arms....shankars mom was overjoyed and went and hugged shankar and kissed him.....

( shankars mom n aunt had learnt from the lady that she was shankars grandma's friend..... she had recognised shankar and was on her way to dropping him back to his place....)

it had been an adventure alright.....but it doesnt end here....!!!

The Gladiator

Riding on our horses,
we swept through the battlefield,
Thinking of the causes
this battle would yield.

With each slash of the blade,
ripping apart the enemy.
Why did the idea fade
that mercy could be shown upon any?

With victory in our sight
It made me wonder
If we were the wrong or the right,
the life we had plundered

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemsipmatt/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

It dawned upon me bright -
Above the conflicts of the mind
It mattered not, to be wrong or right.
All that had to be left behind.

The battle won, we fight for the war.
A war that takes place not on the field,
but in hearts of the people set afar.
So as to overcome what their minds shield.

The day the war is won
everything would be bright.
Because what we had now done
would be right...