Silver Spoon in my handcuffed hands

Hello Readers!

This draft had been lying around for a long time! I had assumed it's fate was sealed like the many others and would get dropped into the Just-Didn't-work out folder. But was able to finish it and have deemed it post worthy :) This explores freedom within a boundary. is that freedom at all? Hope you like it!

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I take a deep breath and gather my hard-to-find-at-the moment courage.. I huff my breath out and launch into the speech I’d been practicing in my room from the past…month!

As I start to speak, it’s as if I can predict my family’s reaction more accurately than an astrologer! Dad gives me a nasty frown, mom gives me the ‘why-me?’ look and my bro! He puts on the holier-than-thou look, shakes his head and goes ‘tsk!tsk!” Grrr! Acting the good son part down to a T!

I start talking and they all start mumbling, grumbling or in my bro’s case smirking!

What could I have possibly said to make my not-so-conservative, living-in-a-metro-city, quite well off  family to become this medieval? Did I come out of the closet? Did I tell them my desire of marrying a marijuana smoking jobless bum who earns his daily bread by singing near the subway? Did I tell them I’d be part of the coming-soon-next-season of BIG BOSS?!

Nope! None of it! All I told them was this……

I want to become an artist…full time…not as a hobby but as a profession

You’d think they’d be a little more supportive as my family! But nope! Not in a million years!

They grounded me! For wanting to do what I love!

But we live in the era of internet…I can connect with anyone..geography no bar!

I got encouragement from one of the communities I was a member of…they taught me the basics..on how to setup a few things, the right equipment, the investments, the training etc…etc..

That would cost a bit…so I’d been saving up from quite some time, as I had a vague Idea on how they’d react and I was right! Damn I was! My family doesn't disappoint!

My dream? To establish myself as a graphic artist! Yeah! To be paid to do something that cool! A dream come true!

Oh! BTW did I mention I am currently a software engineer? It took a lot of thinking, courage and plain guts to take the decision I just announced…I had given 5 years to this profession and was in a good position, pay was great too…only…the job didn't excite me anymore! And what started as a way to while away time during some weekends, became more interesting than my work!

My family thought I was a fool and my mom was cribbing endlessly about my Marriage prospects looking bleak if I went ahead with this insanity!

How do I tell her that my marriage prospect is just fine…..as I have a boyfriend and both of us are pretty serious about our relationship and are planning to be a part of each other’s life forever. How do I tell her he is a techie and an extremely good one at that and is totally in love with his job. That being said, he gave me full support when I voiced my desire on changing my well paying profession  to a not so regular payment of being an artist.. It made me love him more!

Seeing my family react like this made me more determined…

I wanted to follow my dream….do something that I loved…I didn't want to live in a confined space anymore..It’s not that I wanted to break rules…I just want to follow my own….

Over the course of a few weeks..I got a basic grip on graphic designing, I found a decent place to stay which was in my budget..here my bf was a bit miffed that I refused to accept his monetary hand in this matter!

Now came the matter of my moving out of my parents’ home…They were horrified at the very thought!  They expected me to stay with them and get married and move out to his place! End of story…. But unfortunately for them, I had written a different story. They tried everything, blackmailing, crying, threatening,  but they couldn't budge me an inch!

I immediately packed my stuff (which is pretty less!) coz the only things I own other than my clothes and electronic stuff are a bean bag and my desk which would be my dining table/head rest during a snooze/clutter magnet!

I took about a week to settle down in my place. My very own place! It is really great when you live in a place you call your own. Now that I can fully concentrate on my work, I have come up with a new super hero! And a super villain too!  My hero is a lady who wears jeans and Tees, does not fly, does not have super human abilities, does not have a cape…then what makes her a super?

She is a super as she doesn't give a rat’s ass to what the gossip monger, middle aged, walking talking horror of a female thinks. She is a super coz she is the queen of comeback. You jus cant pin this one down. She’s a super coz she does what she thinks is correct and doesn't feel the need to explain the same to anyone. She’s a super coz she doesn't confirm to the rules of society. She’s a super coz she’s multi talented!

And now, coming to the super villain! What do you think of first when I say ‘Super Villain’?? Tall, Pale, Well dressed but entirely so in black (leather maybe!), Kinda Good looking in a sinister way, who happens to be super rich and is out to  destroy the world as we know it?

Well! Lemme tell you, my super villain is none of that! First of all, It’s a SHE! She is middle aged, wears loud jewelry (has an even louder mouth) and dons a crisp cotton salwar, thinks she’s holier-than-everyone (though narrow minded to the core), a narcissist in denial,  the list goes on…..She’s your typical aunty! The one who pokes her nose into everybody’s business! My comic strip was the daily adventures of Hisha, the protagonist against..well..the world! And in particular the super villain aunty!

Once my concept was solid and I had set the main theme of the strip, I came up with a few weeks worth of work and decided to scout for publishers.

These things do take time. I went from publisher to publisher only to have my work rejected, mocked and I even experienced a downright ‘Get her out!’ from an uncouth guy! This was when I really hit a low. I started to question myself and experienced a lot of self-doubts but what kept me from going back was knowing how my family would react and of course the never wavering faith of my man in me!

My persistence paid off! No…I didn't get a publisher, I opened a facebook page for my strip and started putting posts on a weekly basis.  It slowly gained momentum and it started attracting a lot a views! This in turn got media attention and my page was featured in one of the fortnightly magazines! I gave a couple of interviews as well. Things are turning for the better, as my parents have reconciled with me and my bro said he’s damn proud of me!! A first! Now that things are bit smooth at the home front, have decided to introduce my BF to the family…Wish me luck..coz I sure as hell need it!

Squeaky Clean Soul Connection

Hello Readers,

The idea for this one was from  a thought on difficult it is to find people compatible with yourself and what if you end up finding someone with just the proper dose of the same kind of weird you are!

Hope you like it! 

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I was walking without really bothering about my surroundings. I was far far away from the familiar road I was walking on, the road I take everyday to office. I knew the road so well, Knew the bumps and rocks and potholes like the back of my hand, that I would freely let me mind dwell on other stuff while my years of practice would be called in to guide me through that road. I came across the junction of main roads and immediately, my autopilot was switched off and I was woken up from my reverie. I dully turned my head to check for traffic on both sides before crossing the road, when my eyes saw the old mechanic shop to my right. There were 4 guys working there and one of them had taken a lunch break. Nothing very interesting but somehow, something was not quite right here. I had already turned away and started crossing the road but there was a nagging in my brain that seems to say something just didn’t fit in the scene that I just saw. IT took my boredom induced befuddled brain all of 5 secs to understand.  When I realized what it was that had somehow been a misfit there, I was so astonished that I came to halt! Right there! In the middle of the road! Stupid move! A car swerved to my right and just missed hitting me! The driver swore horribly and made some rude gestures. I raised my hands in apology and gave him a shamefaced look, that immediately cooled him down and he reprimanded me saying I shouldn’t be day dreaming while crossing the road and drove off.

I turned and walked back to the same footpath again because I wanted to analyze what I had witnessed a few seconds back. I had a look at the garage again. I was taken aback because they were all staring at me. They had just seen the stupid thing I did in the middle of the road. I was so embarrassed, I decided I’ll check this out some other time and again did an about turn. I heard someone laughing behind me which made me walk away faster!

I couldn’t sleep that night. The image of what I had seen kept flashing in my mind’s eye. I was wondering about the ‘whys’ and was coming up with countless possible answers! One weirder than the next! I decided I need to talk to this guy and figure out the answer to the ‘why’ else I shall not know peace!

So, the next day, on my way to office, I had a peek at the garage. Sure enough, they were all working. My brain was in tangles! I was finding it hard to decide whether to go talk to him or make my way to office like a coward….As I was contemplating, He lifted his head and shot me a curious look! That helped me with my decision! Coward it is!

By evening, I had made up my mind…I had to woman up and talk to this guy! I was unable to concentrate at work!

I was on my way home that evening  and as I neared the garage, my feet suddenly had a mind of their own and started walking towards the garage! Before I realized what my stupid feet had done, I was standing there, right in front of him!

I was feeling a bit awkward and was mumbling a bit when he gave me a kind smile and asked me to have a seat! I looked around for a chair and found none. He just chuckled and put one of the drums upside down and what had my heart beating so fast was ..he wiped it clean with a cloth before putting a sheet of clean newspaper on it! He then gestured  me to sit. I think that’s when I fell for him…hard!

He offered me a glass of water (which I accepted owing to the fact that I could see a clean water cooler inside). After I had gulped it down (I didn’t realize I was that thirsty!) I felt a bit at ease and started talking about what I have been planning to from the past 36 Hrs..

I told him that I had watched him eat his lunch the other day and found it surprising that a mechanic would be using a fork and knife to eat rotis! And the way he was using them made it clear that he used them well! He immediately lost his friendly disposition and appeared a bit stand-offish.

I realized I had upset him and in my eagerness to sort things out, I blurted out the first thing that came to my stupid stupid brain! “It’s just that I suffer from a mild case of Mysophobia and nothing turns me on more than a neat freak”

I realized I had said that aloud! My mind short circuited and I ran for it! I sent the empty glass in my hand flying and from the ‘Ouch!’ I heard behind me, I guess it had landed on his head!

But before I could cover some considerable distance, he overtook me and forced me to stop. I was so embarrassed, I started blabbering. He calmly asked me to be silent and inquired whether he could do some talking now. I nodded my head. He gave me a reassuring smile and introduced himself. He was not a mechanic as I had assumed, rather an entrepreneur who owned the garage and many other like them. Mechanical work was a passion he had. Hence, instead of just running the business as white collared entrepreneur, He’d spend most of his time in the garage, working with his mechanics.  He was well educated and was single. (He gave me a wolfish grin when he emphasized that!) and yes..He suffers from the very same illness that she herself had! Though his was limited to food. He just could not eat with dirty hands and he being a mechanic, his hands were bound to get dirty. Hence he had always used cutlery to eat anything and everything! That was the reason he was very particular on the cutlery and had a clean set on him always! To prove his point, he removed a pair of fork and knife from his pocket! They were wrapped in a clean napkin!

That did it! I knew he was the one! When one is berated for a quirk one had, when my family had tried everything they could think of to get rid of this oddity I possess,  when everybody made fun of or ridiculed me for being a freak, I finally meet somebody who would not only tolerate my freakiness but could also understand and relate to it!  The Gods have spoken at last!