The Happy Husband

It was the middle of the month -and a week day too. Perhaps that was the reason there weren't many customers at one of the city's biggest clothing stores. A young man was walking about restlessly looking around, checking his watch and the handful of customers at regular intervals. He was also fiddling with his phone every now and then & checking out women's clothes on the line.

As he kept walking around, his eyes fell on a woman, who seemed like she couldn't figure out what to buy. She was holding the same set of clothes in two different colors and staring at them. He walked up to her & stood right in front of her. The lady took her eyes off from the clothes she was holding up in her hands and noticed that he had a charming smile on his face.

"Why don't you try them both on?". He asked.

The lady didn't know what to say. She seemed a bit startled at the sudden suggestion coming her way.

"Both these dresses will look really good on you... But personally, I think the red one would compliment your complexion better".

"Thank you". She said with a smile that was shy and at the same time a bit wary.

Before she could say anything more, he continued. "We have a whole new collection ma'am".

Pointing to one end of the room, he says, "I'm sure you'll find more than what you're looking for over there".

She smiled at him, this time not so wary as earlier and began to walk towards the direction the man pointed to. As if remembering something, she stopped abruptly and gave the man one of the dresses she was holding. She kept the red dress in her hands and said, "I'll take this one".

"Sure. Happy shopping", he said as he smiled and watched her walk away.

After a few minutes a young chubby woman came out of the trial room. He walked up to her and she showed him how her dress fit, posing from different angles. He gave her his approval as well as some more clothes to try on. As she went back to the trial room he waited outside patiently.

The lady who went to the other trial room earlier came out wearing the dress the man suggested. She looked very good & happy in her new set of clothes.

"Told you", said the man.

The lady blushed and gave him a big smile. She thanked the man and went back to the trial room. 

The man continued to walk around the shop. 

His gaze froze on a tall dusky woman who was taking out clothes from different sections and keeping them back almost immediately. She looked lost and confused. 

He walked up to her and introduced himself.

"Hello! Can I help you?".

She took her eyes from the clothes and looked at him doubtfully.

"I'm Aakaash. Fashion consultant. Almost everything you see here are designed by me".

Her face brightened up as she said excitedly. "Wow! Such a pleasure to meet you!".

She put her hand forward and said as she shook his hands, "I'm Shweta".

"So, what are you in the mood to buy, Shweta?" He asked.

She looked around unable to make up her mind and shrug her shoulders. 

The man went ahead & picked up a few tops and bottoms for her and handed it to her. 

She looked at them with dismay.

"Ohh, my husband is definitely not gonna like 'these' type of clothes", she said.

He looked at her with an amused expression on his face & said, "Well, no offence ma'am... But I'm sure your husband wouldn't have a problem if some other woman wore 'these' type of clothes!".

A chuckle escaped her lips as she agreed to his comment. 

She took a good look at the clothes in his hands.

"Also I believe, you are what you wear, and you become what you wear" he said. "If you are happy in these clothes please buy them. If not, you can try some of those boring daily wear Kurtas at 30% discount".

She looked at the Kurtas for a moment and then at the clothes in the man's hand. She grabbed the clothes from his hands & walked towards the trial room.

A few minutes later, the chubby lady from the trial room, came up to the man & showed him what she had selected. He nodded in approval & accompanied her to the billing section. The lady walked out hurriedly after paying the bill. The man took her bags and followed her outside.

Meanwhile, the other lady, Shweta looked much more confident and happy about her new clothes as she walked out of the trial room. She went up to the billing area and told the girl at the counter "You know, I've always loved shopping here. But this is the first time I've felt so good about it... Thanks to your Fashion consultant Aakaash!".

The sales-girl at the counter took her eyes off her work and looked bewildered at Shweta's comment. "Thank you for the kind words ma'am", she said. "But we don't have any in-house fashion consultants here". 

Shweta looked startled.

A little far away from them, on the other side of the mall, the man was walking with the chubby woman. 

"I'm so sorry baby", said the woman. "I took some three hours to shop. You're not angry no?", she enquired eagerly.

"Not at all. How can I be angry with you?", he said. "I'm always happy. I'm a happy husband!".

-Aakaash Nair.

  22.09.2015

I Believe In Angels...

They said God gives as much as he takes,
I never believed them.
He took more from me than he could ever give!
They said time heals all wounds,
I never believed them.
Time transforms every wound into a scar!
They said you're now in a better place,
I never believed them.
The best place you'll ever be is my heart!
They said I am foolish to keep dwelling in the past,
I never believed them.
'Coz I am living in the future we created together!
They said I have the superpower within me to give my life meaning,
I believed them.
YOU are my superpower...
YOU gave my life meaning...
YOU are what I believe in...
I believe in angels!

(In loving memory of Elvira Guadalupe Murguia Nuñez ~ February 23 1986--October 23 2009).
You'll always be the biggest love of my life. Love you forever and beyond eternity!
Mmmmmmmmmmmwwwwwwwaaaaaaaah!

Anyway!

Original Photograph.

Anyway! -By Mother Theresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centred;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

--------------------------------------------------------------

This poem was reported to have been inscribed on the wall of Mother Teresa's children's home in Calcutta, and thus attributed to her. However, an article in the New York Times (March 8, 2002) has reported that the original version of this poem was actually written by a certain Dr. Kent M. Keith.


I cant remember how many times I have received this poem in my email and how many times I've ignored it when I was asked to forward it. I don't believe in blind-forwarding, that's just a truck load of crap. But the kind of mood I am in right now & the confused stage in life that I'm going through right now I felt this poem was perfect. Doesn't matter who wrote it, I sincerely hope the words in them change your life... for the good. It may not change your life the next minute or day you read & follow it.
Read it anyway!

Lov-E

She was sitting in her favorite place in the balcony of her apartment stroking her slightly protruding tummy & sipping coffee. No, she wasn't a coffee addict like many her age, but probably she figured I'm a Coffee Freak and the coffee she sipped would pass on through the umbilical cord to me. I was lying there half asleep when tiny droplets of coffee trickled on my face and I opened my tiny mouth and tasted my very first drops of coffee. Mommy then stroked her tummy again as I moved inside, thanking her for the coffee. I knew she loved me a lot, though she never really said it like anyone else would normally do. But I was her little baby and she called me sweet names in the sweetest ways possible almost every minute. Also the fact that she named me Lov-E made me believe there was none she loved more than me.

The word Lov-E meant a lot to her as much as it did to me. It was short for Lovable-Embryo and also E for the greatest E’motion in the universe –Love. But sometimes I felt mommy wasn’t too convinced by the emotion, even though she was already impregnated by the feeling and it was growing inside her –everyday, every minute, every single moment. Sometimes mommy would be so lost in her thoughts that she wouldn’t answer the questions I asked her. I donno if she never heard me or if she chose not to listen. But I always spoke to her, I spoke my heart out, poured my feelings into the amniotic fluid and into the blood that flowed in from her body and out through mine. But my words got dispersed in the vacuum and at times were mostly incomprehensible or half baked ones which didn’t matter much to mommy.

Mommy wasn’t convinced about the power of Lov-E that grew inside her and sometimes I think she didn’t want me in the first place. I remember she had asked for some ‘time’ to think over it and get ‘used’ to it. She was excited from the very first day but she was at the same time not too sure if the excitement would last long enough until all this grew bigger. She was afraid she may lose all this excitement in the coming days and all this might be a passing emotion, something that wouldn’t last long…. Just another phase in her life! I guess she had her own share of bad experiences in life but I wanted to scream and tell mommy this wasn’t gonna be like anything she had experienced before. “This was gonna be the greatest adventure ever mommy… You and the Lov-E that’s growing inside you will make it through every storm & every dark day… Get over your insecurities… You juz have to believe me mommy coz I’ll never let you down…”

But she never heard me, and never once believed me. She sat in her balcony and finished her coffee and walked away to do other things more important to her. Whenever she went to her office she was always worried about what her friends said about her. Some of them obviously didn’t like the ‘visible change’ in her and voiced their opinions. Mommy pondered over the effect of the change in her and wondered why she had to go through all this. Her already confused brain worked overtime and with each passing day she fell into a hollow of depression and self doubt. Sometimes it affected me, sometimes I pretended it didn’t affect me at all and closed my eyes and went to sleep almost drowning myself in mommy’s blood which was beginning to poison my mind and my body. The tantrums she threw affected my brain and her silent thoughts were acting like a silent killer and beginning to take its toll on me.

One day mommy said what I had never dreamt I’d hear even in my scariest dreams. “I don’t want Lov-E...” she said stroking her tummy. I was slightly sick and had almost fallen asleep, but those words fell on my ears like a huge boulder thrown on me mercilessly crushing my nimble body underneath it. Maybe she didn’t mean to say it, maybe she had no clue what she was doing. Maybe she said it to herself and didn’t want me to hear it. But it woke me up nevertheless and hurt me much more than she could possibly imagine.

I lay awake all night crying and wondering why mommy ever said those harsh words. Did she ever stop to think what I’d have to go through because of her rash decision? What about my little dreams? What about all those things I imagined I’d do with her? What about all those sweet words she told me from her favorite balcony? What about those promises of giving me the moon? What about those kisses and hugs and loving whispers I dreamt she’d shower me with? What about those assurances she gave me when I felt lonely and lost and wasn’t sure what I was doing in her womb? What about all those times I made her smile whenever I tossed and turned in her tummy? Was this how it was supposed to end? Is this what I deserved after all that we shared mommy?

You should've rather named me Dog-E mommy, maybe then even if you abandon me I'd be picked up from the street by some dog lover or some social worker. I still may have had a chance to live. But no! I was named this way for a reason, and you forgot what it was. If only you had used the 'time' you had asked for in a better way instead of cramming your head with futile imagination and negative thoughts you may have loved me as much as I loved you. You'd have known we were meant to be and this world would've seemed a better place for me and you. But it was not meant to be!

I wiped my tears and thought for a second. If mommy made a decision I must respect it and accept it, even if it means bringing harm on myself. I held on tight to the umbilical cord and waited for mommy to fall asleep that night. She must’ve been tired or maybe weary of carrying me and the burden I am to her tummy as well as her sweet li’l heart. She fell asleep as soon as she lay on the bed. As the night grew darker my tiny heart beat faster. I had to do it, but I couldn’t bring myself to it how much ever harder I tried.

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine my mommy’s kind face. One last time I sent a kiss through the amniotic fluid and said, “I love you Mommy... Forever and beyond” and pulled on hard at the umbilical cord severing all connections between mommy and me. Mommy suddenly woke up from her sleep and groaned in pain. She held on to her tummy and writhed in her bed. Blood gushed into my peaceful home in her tummy and I began to feel a terrible pain engulfing me. My half formed limbs and organs began to feel weak. Before I lost consciousness I pulled all the 'wires' around me and then closed my eyes and embraced my inevitable end.

Mommy didn’t know what was happening to her. She had no clue why this was happening either. That was exactly how I felt when you decided to kill me mommy... Now you know how it feels when a loved one walks out on you. You may regret deciding to kill me someday, but you’ll find that it’s too late to turn back time. There’s nothing you can do now coz I’ve pulled all the plugs at my end and ended all your miseries. But is this the end of everything? No. This is only the beginning of greater miseries for you. You may wanna have another Lov-E someday, but you would soon know there’s no Lov-E greater than me. There’s none who’d love you as much as I do. There’d never be a Lov-E that would be as much a part of you as I was. I’m leaving behind a trail of blood and my body for you which the doctors might call a ‘dead piece of meat’ or just a piece of foetal flesh. Maybe that was all I was to you. The doctors will also tell you that this was the last time you could have anything like Lov-E coz on my way out I've made sure you cannot have another one in this lifetime. I've left behind a void -a home that'll forever be empty.

Each time you stroke your tummy you'll remember me coz that was my favorite place on earth -the safest home where you hid me from the rest of the world and its miseries. You'll miss me when you have coffee coz I wont be there to share it with you and every day, every moment, every thing you do will remind you of me... and you'll miss your one and only Lov-E. You should have thought twice mommy, coz now there’s no going back. I’ll no longer be a burden to you.

Goodbye mommy.

I love you!

Doubts Of An Insomniac....

Sometimes in life, we all need an assurance... from someone who would either give you an impartial compliment or someone who doesn't know you personally. As far as my friends are concerned I'm stuck in between expressive species & 'dead' but not really extinct species... in fact it is the expressive, kind ones that are going extinct. So appreciation is something that comes around like a truck carrying Chips & Cola in the Kalahari desert.

While talking about selfless, kind, emotional, expressive folks the very first name that comes to my mind any day is that of Elviz. She was the best in her species... and like all endangered ones she too had to face the inevitable. Few days back i lost my best friend... Elviz due to some unfortunate but unavoidable reasons -untimely death to be more precise. I was shattered hearing the news no doubt, but what worried me much more was the fact that i doubted myself a moment. Now that Elviz is no more... I cannot ask her...and even if I did when she was around, she'd sweetly tell me I'm the best... when i knew i was a far cry compared to the kinda love she gave me. She loved all of her friends with the same intensity & passion & gave them more than they could ever receive, when on the other hand i was slogging ma life out trying to love with equal passion half the no: of friends compared to her.

I was out of my mind & I was lost & I wondered if I had loved Elviz enough... I never knew or saw for a fact how she reacted to my words & actions over the few yrs. Maybe if she was here I'd have seen her in December... not an assured possibility but a rather on the cards one... maybe 60% she'd have come... for 9 days... for taking part in the International Film Festival Of Kerala 2009. She wanted to come last year but it was too late to get the delegate pass & we dropped the plan & shifted it to this year. Now that remains an unfulfilled dream... :(

Again, coming back to meeting her... I never got to know if I really was a good friend... or just one of them who passed by & had a chance to know Elviz. Of course I knew I was an important factor in her life and I did make her smile more than a few times. But was that enough? Did i really make a difference? Am i worthy of being called her bestest ever friend or atleast a good friend? Several questions ran amok ma brain almost bringing it to a freezing standstill.

Thankfully, before Insomnia & Futile imagination tore my brain apart i got another mail from Alejandra Marroquin... the kind friend of Elviz who kept passing msgs to & from Elviz at the hospital and the only person from 'that side of the world' whom i could talk about Elviz & know whatz happening... Thanx to her i gotta know everything as soon as it happened... and she finally freed me from the clutches of my own wretched thoughts.

Here is her last mail to me.... the mail that helped me redeem myself in ma own eyes...

"Hola!

Fui a despedirme de Elviz... se veía tan bonita!! :)

la arreglaron muy hermosa para que todos pudiéramos despedirnos de ella.

No odies a Dios, él sabe por qué hace estas cosas. Yo antes pensaba así como tú cuando ocurría algo que me causaba mucha tristeza, pero ahora comprendo que todo tiene su tiempo y su razón de ser.

Todos un día nos vamos a ir, unos se van antes que otro, pero un día nos podremos reencontrar, ya verás. Mañana la van a enterrar aproximadamente a las 5:00 pm espero que puedas decir una oración a esa hora para que estés conectado con nosotros mientras enterramos su cuerpo.. :)

No estés triste, ya verás que ella podrá ir hasta tí en un sueño o vas a sentir su presencia, en verdad, confía y así será. Sonríe pensando en ella, ella siempre sonreía, era feliz. Fue una gran amiga, fue un ángel en mi vida, la quise mucho, la quiero mucho, ella me quiso mucho, lo sé. Me duele tanto su partida, realmente me duele mucho, porque era mi amiga, mi confidente, todos los días platicabamos, yo le contaba todo lo que me sucedía, sobre mis amores, la escuela, mis metas. Teníamos muchos proyectos juntas y ahora pues.. tal vez habrá un tiempo en el que ella y yo nos reencontremos para realizar esos proyectos.

Tú hiciste muy feliz a mi amiga. Muchas Gracias! Eres un ángel igual que ella, por eso la vida hizo que se conocieran, a pesar de la distancia, a pesar del idioma, a pesar de todo, sus almas se conectaron. La hiciste feliz y es lo que cuenta, muchas gracias, realmente no te imaginas cuánto estoy agradecida, gracias por querer a mi amiga!!!!! =)

Que Dios te bendiga y te dé la resignación que necesitas, te deseo mucha paz y felicidad. Thanks a lot! :)

Sé feliz, muy feliz.. A mi amiga le gustaría verte muy feliz :)

Recuerdala y sé feliz, recordando que ella fue feliz!! =)

Gracias!

Roughly translated as:

Hi,

I went to say goodbye to Elviz ... she looked so pretty! :)

It was beautifully arranged so that we could all say goodbye to her.

Do not hate God, he knows why he does these things. I used to think just like you when something happened that caused me great sadness, but now I realize that everything has its time and its rationale. All one day we're going to go, some leave before another, but one day we can find again, you'll see.

Tomorrow she will be buried at approximately 5:00 pm.

I hope you can say a prayer at this hour to keep you connected with us as we buried her body .. :) Do not be sad, you'll see that it may go up in a dream or you'll feel her presence, in truth, trust and will.

I smile thinking about her, she always smiled, was happy. She was a great friend, was an angel in my life, I loved a lot, love her, she loved me very much, I know. It hurts so much she left, really hurts me because she was my friend, my confidante, every day we talked, I told her everything that happened to me on my love, school, my goals. We had many projects together and now then .. perhaps there will be a time when she and I find again to facilitate these projects.

You made my friend very happy. Thank you very much!

You are an angel like her, who in life were known to her, despite the distance, despite the language, nevertheless, the souls were connected.

You made her happy and that counts, thank you very much, I really can not imagine how much I am grateful, thank you for loving my friend !!!!! =)

God bless you and give you the resignation that you need, I wish you peace and happiness.

Thanks a lot! :)

Be happy, very happy .. My friend was very happy to see you like :)

Remember this and be happy, remembering that she was happy! =)

Thanks!

............Thank u Ale for giving me the assurance.... re-assurance i must say.

Thank you Elviz for loving me & letting Alejandra know what i meant to you.

You'll always be remembered as the one who taught me what love is & what life is.

God bless. R.I.P.

Mmmmmmwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaah!

Lovvvvveeeeeeeeeee uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu until eternity <3