The Prodigal Son

"As the Sun rises each day so will I rise to show the world that I am not a gas-bag"

These words were written by a really great person. Any guesses? It was by my brother - Gibson. It might have had a taste of corniness to it before but not anymore.

My brother was, in my words, a guy who never liked to be tied down, totally irresponsible, and a free-willed person. I grew up very close to him. We used to be a pair at home during childhood, always against my younger sister (yeah, we do that now too ;) ) However, as years sped I felt that he had an easy life (atleast that's what I thought). He was the apple of the eye to my dad. He had more freedom than me and my sister and I found that very annoying. When we were in our late teens we started having lots of differences and we fought a LOT. Then he left off to Chennai and as usual being a first-timer in Chennai, he had all the fun.

When his exam results came, he had  arrears in almost all subjects. Professors from his college would call home complaining about his laziness and poor attendance. My dad would be irritated and sad at times looking at his progress. Then he moved into his own apartment during second year and he became even worse with his academics. There was even a time when he was about to be debarred but thankfully that did not happen. He hardly came home, not even during Christmas. That was the time I found his diary, usually kept for writing contact numbers and codes. He wrote this line and also a page of how he would keep my dad proud and come out as a graduate. This he wrote when my dad went to Chennai to join him in college. My dad only went for Gibson's admission. Mine and my sister's was done by my mom. Finally, he finished college with 34 arrears.

Then he felt a little remorse so he joined Sutherland and decided to work and study. In the end he had 4 arrears - all maths. He was allergic to maths. That's when my dad fell sick. My brother took care of my dad for a month, washing his wounds and staying in horrid hospitals. He slept on the floor. There was no greater gift for my dad than to see his darling boy take care of him. I never expected that from Gibson. Noone did. In a month  my dad was gone and I still have the image of how my brother cried like a child in front of my eyes. He passed right the next semester becoming an engineer.

I went to Chennai last week, and I saw him in his car. He has an awesome job and with that he got a second hand car. He could get any car asking my mom if he wanted, but he wasn't that brat that was 5 years ago. He took care of us during our stay in Chennai. I was looking at him talk to everyone with such mannerisms. I felt swollen with pride. I can only imagine what my dad would feel at this instant, he would just give the whole world to him. I saw in him care and affection. I saw a responsible, hardworking, loving person in him that day. That's when I saw my dad in him and tears welled up.You are not a gasbag, I think you proved that to us.

Children of Heaven

I absolutely love small children and I have always wanted to do something for orphans. One of my friends told me about a needy orphanage and I recently paid a visit to offer a treat. There were about 20 to 25 children huddled up in one small shelter. These were kids born to people having extramarital relationships, people who did not want to be burdened with the task of having to grow them up and other situations. Most of them were around 5 to 10 yrs old. The girls slept on torn mats on a cement floor and the boys in another building. Looking at all of them actually makes your heart melt, but if you ask them - they are just thankful for the food and shelter. They were real friendly too so if anyone would like to lend a hand - do help them out.

I have a real soft corner towards kids and I really hate to see children suffering in life. I am sure many of you guys read about the brutal murder and sexual assault of 2 small kids from Coimbatore, a few weeks back. I was totally shocked when I read the gory details of the story. The girl probably wouldn't even have known what happened to her. In a land where kids are considered to be blessings from God, I was unable to digest the fact that someone could do something that inhuman to them. The grotesque incident made me boil with rage. When I heard about the encounter (most probably a fake encounter) in which the kidnapper was killed, I was actually happy in a weird way. Believe me, if I had seen him at the scene of crime, I myself would have shot him without a second thought.

Every single day I hear some news or the other about kids being sold into labor, prostitution and drugs. There was a time when kids would be just running around here and there happily. Now parents lock them up at home in fear of kidnappers, child molesters and pedophiles. I cannot imagine how anyone with a sane mind would actually kill an innocent child. Maybe those people never had a good childhood to begin with.I guess that's where the problem lies. A few months back, I read a 11 year old boy raped and killed a 7 year old girl in Chennai. I mean, all I could think of kids at 11 years is playing video games and here's a boy who's on criminal records at that age!


I can't imagine what would happen in future - would a 5 year old smoke pot and go on a rampage killing people? Who am I kidding - there is already a 2 year old kid in Indonesia who's addicted to cigarettes. God save the world!

                "Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.”