My Car, My Friend

                         

 " How much does your car/bike (or an auto-mobile) mean to you ?"

Did you know by the end of 2013, we have completed 127 years in relationship with the auto-mobile. That is a ridiculously long time, it is almost like being in marriage for generations. In that time we both have grown as drivers/passengers and cars. It seems that cars have grown above and beyond from being just an engine in a metal carriage which is used to carry us along for long distances. It has evolved into almost a self-identity, statuses are attached to cars much like shoes. People form close bonds with their cars, they become their mates.

I always felt that there was so much more going on in the relationship between man and machine especially when it comes to their cars or bikes. Many films/tv often very comically portray husbands who are working on a car in the basement garage for days while her wife will be having an affair up-top. Though thoroughly amusing, it gives a very nice insight into the man's love for his car, he would probably give up his house rather than his ride. My father has owned quite a number of cars and whether it be a matchbox-small Maruti 800 hatchback or an enormous Jeep, you could be assured that it got better care than me. And I think that is what makes this bond special, the feeling of responsibility towards a car, like a baby or a small puppy(just to be cute). And you could say the best part is, the auto-mobile always rewards you for all the care you gave to it, by making you look good as you drive, giving you the drive of your life and so on so forth (I think that's why many men prefer cars over girlfriends). And I am certainly no stranger to this fact, my family has a Jeep which is officially one of the coolest in my town and whenever it rolls down in front of the school gates, everybody is jaw-dropped, every time. I am known in school by my Jeep, its like my identity in school, its more famous than my name. Though this reason may seem to be selfish, it is still true. Such instances stand testament to the evolution of auto-mobile in general. We expect more out of transportation, we want it to be exciting and eventful, and that is the thing that many forms of public transport don't provide. This is why we cherish of possessing a car or bike, the feeling of freedom to go anywhere at your own pace, without any constraints of fixed routes. So again in turn for all our care we give to our cars, the cars always reward it back to us tenfold.

People love their cars even if it is a sad little bucket-of-bolts that breaks down every day on the side of the street, or a blood red Ferrari. Cars would be littered with stale food and empty bottles, but the same cars have names given by their owners because the feeling of freedom and the sense of adventure it provides is unparalleled and utterly 'fun'. 

A Tribute to Nuggets and Fries

" dedicated to fries and nuggets, my mother and all my loyal customers"

If you came and told me five years ago, that a couple of frozen fast food commodities will change my life. I would have ignored you, but ever since French fries and chicken nuggets came into my life, they really turned me around.

Some of you who may be reading this may remember me as that shy little kid in class who did not have that many friends. But all changed in eighth grade, when a desperation of eating fast foods at home came into me. I constantly nagged and god knows we tried to exactly replicate what we ate at the restaurant at home, but it never quite lived up to our expectations. So one can imagine what happiness i felt when I first ate the newly discovered Mccain  French fries and nuggets (BTW free publicity Mccain). It was not long when i started to bring them to school, everyone ate it, i felt sad first but then before I knew I started to meet all these new people i never even knew existed, though they were in the adjacent class and some even in the same class! And that was beginning of a tradition I started for myself in school and you can say business was booming. Whether be seniors or juniors everyone came from the word-to-mouth by who ate before. "Its just like McDonald's" everyone said (BTW free publicity McDonald's, not that you need it) and that was the exact reason i loved it in the first place. And after time my mother perfected the recipe and even more people started to eat and those who ate before like it even more, it was heading a business, students became fans of my mother despite of the fact they haven't even see her face. In the coming years I met so many random people who came, dug their hands into my tiffin and take a mouthful, and eventually there came a time when there was actually a queue for my food! It was one of one of the first times I ever felt truly happy, like it was a community service. All my so-called ex-bullies turned into good friends and in a blink of an eye I actually started to socialise and become they person i am now

They were like pocket soldiers in my tiffin box, who held me up high, supported me and in many times saved my life out of near relationship crises and though it may be a bit selfish, gave access to other people's food.Who knows if i didn't bring French fries and nuggets, i wouldn't even know more than half the people i know today. Food is important to everybody and everyone like good food, this experience taught me to share, make friends, have fun. It is almost unbelievable that food could teach things to you. I am convinced now that fries and nuggets have enough power to solve the global crisis, diplomats should be using these, As a wise person said "All debts are solved with Chicken Nuggets" .They truly are one of the unsung heroes of my life and this note is a tribute to all those moments when a person came and downright stole my food from me and of course to all those fries and nuggets that were eaten by them.

 

A Roller-Coaster Ride Called Friendship

"Friendship, as defined in the Oxford Dictionary, refers to 'the emotions or conduct of friends or the state of being friends'. Special emphasis should be given to the words conduct and emotions, because in the end I believe that makes all the difference."

Friendship or any relationship in the whole wide world has its ups and downs, exactly like a roller-coaster:

It ascends in the beginning to great heights; there is an air of excitement, and people are eager to see the events unfold as they look towards the sky. Then it drops and thus the journey begins. At the start, everything is a blur as this ride whizzes past, everyone is having a great time. Then it gets all topsy-turvy with horizontal loops, vertical loops and loops of all shapes and sizes that are designed to test this roller-coaster's limits. Many people stay strong, others pray to god for dear life and then there are some who just outright vomit and make a mess of everything. After that, things settle down a bit and people think about what happened and make the decision to prepare to face the worst the ride could offer but little do they know what it has in store. And the roller-coaster comes to a corkscrew, spiralling down to the ground, the passengers, open-eyed, are scared and face the final challenge. They fall, down and down and down. People are on the edge of their seats, fearful of each other and what will happen to them, crying and praying to let it all end. And then as if He heard their prayers, in a blink of the eye, they are on the ground, stable and peaceful. Their hearts are in their throats. In that roller-coaster, there will be people who will be frightful to go through it again; but they will also be others who had a blast, appreciated the time they spent and will cherish it for all their lives.

Who knew ? 

Significance of Stories

"In a bedroom near midnight, there was a little child tucked in his bed by his mother, his face glowing in excitement as it were morning, “mummy please tell me a story”, he said. So the mother takes a book from the shelf, ‘Little Red Riding Hood’. The boy listened, mesmerised by the story of her adventure.  At ten past midnight, he went to his slumber, the window through which he will meet the Red Riding Hood and the Wolf in his Forest of Dreams"

                                                              

Stories are fascinating things; they are limitless and unbound to any medium.  At the surface they may look like a bunch of words on a paper or pictorial scribbling on a cave wall, but in actuality they are much more. They represent adventures, emotions and dreams, to take you on a journey you will never forget, to the lands of ancient Egypt or to a little island in the sea on a hunt for gold. They transcend they medium and become much more, filling our heads with all sorts of ideas and inspirations they pave path to the future of mankind. Where would space travel be if there wasn't  an Isaac Asimov, or an H.G Wells. Millions of scientists grew up watching Star Trek and now look where we are in telecommunications and aeronautics.  Stories not only is a provider of information but is also a critic in itself, analysing and commenting on today’s scenarios and the world on general inspiring future leaders in the hope of forming a better future. Stories comfort us, making us believe that there is still hope in this world and that we are not worthless as we think we are. They make us laugh and cry and take us on a trip to worlds that we have never seen before that it almost becomes a bit outlandish. Stories immortalise great people to create greater people . And it is quite amusing to know that stories often always inspire other stories giving way to whole new range of emotions and scenarios.  Stories are special because of their ability to tap into our most innate and advanced abilities, imagination, fuelling it and making us think and realise about the world around us, to take something from it, whether be a message or a sense of gratification. They inspire us, make us dream and force us to act. Stories are for everybody and everybody has a story to share.