fresh food

he: "who are you calling?"
me: "no one in particular. just giving a missed call home so that mom knows i will be home in 5 minutes"
he: "and?"
me: "and mom will start making rotis for me so that i dont have to wait and a can finish it off and head back on time"
its nice to have your college so close to your home i thought for the gazillionth time since i joined the god forbidden college of mine.
on my way home i meet some usual people, people who seem to be there just to see me walk past them during the lunch break, some of those dont seem to be around any other time i pass that way. a perfume vendor who lays ground right at the gate of noor masjid, a little further a few taxi wallas at the edge of the road, near the turn, about halfway down the road, a great black dog (forgive me for the lack of knowledge of their breeds) has taken a liking to barking at a hungry stomach (on my way back he behaves like a perfect gentledog).

so i reach home and tune in to nat geo. "so much for national pride" i heard Paul Merton say while getting out for the 24th time in front of the wickets and 1st time without being blindfolded in a game of cricket......of the blind.

Paul Mertons is the only show on nat geo and similar channels about the life in India that i have ever liked. its, in my books, somewhere between 'dogfights' and 'international terrorism since...' on the 'i like it' scale.

In this particular show, Paul Merton is taken for a visit to some place in Rajasthan by an RJ. the peregrination starts from the radio station (where Paul Merton gets a lesson on Hinglish) to a seemingly small place similar in 'the feel' of a hospital. -I HATE HOSPITALS- . its a place where the disabled, particularly those who lost their limb/s or never had them from birth get an artificial one fitted. they say that its among the first places that started work on prosthetic limbs and the cheapest place to get yourself a prosthetic limb. yes. cheapest on earth. its free of cost. and from taking measurements to fabricating the prosthetic limb to fitting the artificial limb, just takes about an hour or so.

so this little boy (probably 9-10 years old by the looks) had a leg less (donno if it was right or left) from birth. got his measurements done and in no time his long lost friend, this one in plastic, was presented to him. he didnt waste a second in strapping it to whatever part of the leg he had in flesh and off he went. i had read in my English text book in school about Sudha Chandran who lost her leg in an accident and later had great difficulty in performing with the prosthetic, mostly because of the pain. and some pain it was. and yet, i saw, the boy did not walk. his firs steps on two feet were a sprint. Usain Bolt wouldnt have felt as happy on his victory, i thought, as that little boy must be feeling now. and yet the boy seemed to carry an expression that said "uh, this? so what? big deal..!!".

but surely he must have been very happy. yeah surely. even i was. and did i feel tears in my eyes? no cant be. i was irritated by the lectures. i was frustrated. "oh, what medicines make me do!". thought i better finish my lunch before i get too late.