Sudha Murthy's The Day I Stopped Drinking Milk

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My daughter happened to buy this book as she is fond of reading Sudha Murthy's writings. I have listened to her opinions on the books she had read but never followed her by taking them up to read myself  as I was more interested in other popular writers.

 On the day it was announced that a cyclone would hit Chennai I was at home and had the urge to read some book and as this one was on the table and I took it up for a casual browsing and soon I became  interested . Sudha  Murthy had narrated various experiences she had had in her life .

The first chapter,  'Bombay to Bangalore', spoke of a personal intervention that rapidly changed the life of a young,bright girl who would have otherwise been like that flower of which Thomas Grey speaks of as having lost its fragrance in desert air. I enjoyed the simple narrative style of  Sudha Murthy and went on to read the full book. The title chapter left an impression of a caring person who did not reveal her multi- lingual capability that she used to understand  and handle the particular situation .I once more applauded her subtle  handling of the situation without much ado . I felt that the remote village in Odisha was her Kasi .

'The three pond' made me think more and I realized for the first time that there are simple village folks who had shown great determination and sacrifice in order to help their progeny in a meaningful manner. "Really great"  and for the first time I felt ashamed as I had always thought that our nation was full of 'good for nothing' ,worthless people and all the great ones had migrated to other countries. 

I was filled with pride and happiness that my country too , had courageous women who have shown immense courage and sacrifice to improve their world in which they were born. From that day on wards, I started to accept  India with all its limitation and shortcomings and an attitudinal correction was made mentally within me.."What have I contributed ?"..I wondered and felt small .The simple village women and men, though illiterate, never faltered in their self less  contributions for the betterment of society.

 For the first time I felt happy that my daughter was hooked to an elegant,inspirational writer.

'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To frisbee

To Young Ones

I am Romey and when I was eight years old, I lived near Dover. As a small boy i loved and still do two things in life- the long beach coast of Dover and my Frisbee.I remember waking up early and would hurry to the beach with my frisbee. Here i must introduce to you a very dear friend, his name was Jack, he loved my frisbee and would always run to catch it, when I threw it.He was so natural in catching it before it landed and I loved his style."Jack", i would shout and he will wag his tail but will never let go my frisbee.I used to run to catch him but he would run faster, so I would sit down and wait for him to drop my frisbee. Jack would get bored and then he would come to give me the frisbee rather reluctantly.

Jack with frisbee.

Growing up

I had to leave mum and dad in order to study and hence I was sent to a boarding school. I was not very happy leaving Jack and missed him. I took the frisbee with me and played with my friends but nobody could substitute Jack for me. The joy and the force of the game was missing. I waited for my vacation to go back and play frisbee with Jack. When i returned home, I noticed many changes in Jack. He got up before me and ran ahead and eagerly played the game and Jack brought the Frisbee back to me without me shouting at him. the vacations made us more close and somehow he knew i would leave again and i think he was greatly disturbed by it..Once I asked him "Jack would you like to come with me ?"he rubbed his body with mine, licked my face and ran away and it appeared that he loved the coast more and I .felt humbled. I was reminded of the famous lyrics of the song , ".how do you solve a problem called Maria, how do you catch a cloud and pin it down." Jack is no more and now I am well settled with my family, in London. I still have the frisbee with me and i have gifted it to my children who play with it but the enjoyment I had shared with Jack was greater and I miss the coast and Jack.