A Dream that is filled with books

This is an idea. A dream. Remember all that noise about child welfare and anti child labor protests and demos. Instead, here's an alternative. Identify children and set up community reading rooms or libraries. The library will be funded by books given by various people of the city. No monetary contributions accepted. But, just a book. Used, new, in any form. The libray will not have to worry about building a collection, but might have to worry about storage. Different people, different interests, different genres and different collections. The end - A library that has it all.

The library's reading room will become a fun centre for children in the neighbourhood. Book readings, word games, story telling sessions and lot of fun.

Oh Tiger!

The mood was just fine. You could whistle and walk the lush green lands. A friend and me off to visit another. The setting could not have been better. The light was just warm and friendly. Great for outdoor photography, I thought. The trees, mild breeze surrounded us until we reached a particular spot. Ahead, in front of us was this house on a mound draped in green. That was the place. This is where we were going to visit our friend. I dont know what this place was called and where it was. I only guess it was still on the same planet that i belong to.

My friend and me have made ourselves comfortable on the couch. Our friend, the occupant who we were visiting was there, but in a peculiar manner. Peculiar, because he could not be seen, but only be heard. His voice walked all over the house. Besides the couch where we had made ourselves comfortable, was a Tiger. A pet Tiger. Ha had a rather strangely elongated body. I was never comfortable with his presence. But, we all know how the masters of pets react "Oh, he's a pet. He doesn't harm anyone and hasn't till date." Yes, we all know that. He hasn't harmed you, his master; and thats no guarantee he wont harm me. And, I don't like the look from the corner of his eyes directed at me. My friend who is on the couch is all too relaxed to be bothered and instead he is petting the Tiger. The voice continues to wander around the house. My minds racing ahead of me evaluating exit options, aniticpating the Tiger's next move.

Suddenly, i felt all alone. The voice stopped. There's no one next to me on the couch. It was only me and the Tiger and nothing in between us. I sat there exchanging glances with the Tiger and anticipating his next move. The Tiger did the same. A slight movement at my end got the Tiger alert. I muscle all my courage and get on my feet. The Tiger is now standing on all fours. I move only to be followed like a shadow. We go circling. First the couch, then the entire house. I am looking at the door each time I pass it and carefully observing the status of the bolts. The next minute, I know I could make it out. I did. Once out, I am trying to pull the door and lock it from the outside. The Tiger's paw is in between and not letting the door to be closed. I fight harder and manage to get his paw out of the way. I manage to lock the door from the outside and the next minute I am running as far as I could. After a while I stop to regain my breathe. I turn around curiously. There is no sign of the Tiger or the house or my friends.

once you touch your dreams,
everything is pointless.
including your dream.

Seasons of Mists

In which a family reunion occassions certain personal recrimnations; assorted events are set in motion; and a relationship thought long done with proves to have much relevance today.

Episode 0

a walk on the beach

It was deserted. The beach. I was walking all alone as the early evening sun shone. The sand glowed in all its purity reflecting the mellow gold of the sun. I looked around. All around and it was miles and miles of nothingness. I looked down for a moment; and then held my head up straight and started walking towards no particular direction. Soon, I realized that there was someone or something approaching me. I paused. I looked intently to see what was coming ahead of me. I could only feel it. A few seconds passed. I knew there were many. Not knowing whether to move or not, I stood still until the sight of the unknown became clearer. It was a group of cyclists. They were many and from nowhere. Their features were oriental; distinctly. They cycled around me obliviously. No words or glances exchanged. Baffled, as I stood there, I noticed one of the cyclists had an extra cycle with no rider. We exchanged glances. He wanted me to hop on. I did. No questions asked. No explanations sought. I hopped on to the empty cycle which rode on as it had found its rider. I just had to be part of this party. Hardly a few minutes and I saw the cyclists following the leader into the sea. My anxiety began to grow. I looked around hopelessly to find an answer. I pedaled along. The next minute, I was riding in the sea. The water rose gradually engulfing my lower torso completely. There was a strange kind of joy on my face as I realized I was pedaling effortlessly. And so did the others. The water rose. Immersed me till my chest. The party rode on. The skies grew grey with every passing second. There was a huge boulder comfortably sunk. The water level rose. I was neck deep. The pack turned around the boulder as the sky turned darker. I followed. Continuing to pedal effortlessly and feeling the water level rise again. I rode on.

Dreams are for real.
They are made of viewpoints,
of images, of memories
and puns and lost hopes...