It was a new night with the old pain. Jack lay tossing on the bed. Memories that just won’t fade away tormented him in the sleepless hour. How he wished to go and tell Diane that he had at last reconciled. But, would Diane understand?

A silent start to the journey of life begins when a child begins to stand up, walk and run on its own. We start alone, parents’ guide us for the first 10 years, friends shower their care for the next 10, a love that loves more than you do for the next 10, children’s love for the next 10 and once again in life we start walking alone!

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain Sukhwinder Sodhi welcoming you aboard IC 892, bound New York at nine hundred hours. We are all ready to take off.

It’s so hot! I am perspiring. Now my clothes seem to have found an attraction to my body. I am stinking. Oh God! Why am I wearing a veil? Where am I? I wondered.

“Nilima! You forgot your fruit bag!” screamed my local storekeeper Mr. Chand. I had just left the local mart after my customary shopping of groceries and other supplies. This weekly errand at Chand uncle’s shop was not a painstaking task but rather delightful. Shopping in a mall had become a luxury, so even these short trips to my local store satisfied me.

The world that he saw was so big that words always betrayed him to provide any description. He looked at everything in amazement. How things used to take place always seemed a wonder to him. He wished to unlock many questions, but mostly, to no avail. He would be awed by the ridiculously high buildings he saw each time while on his way back home. He never talked to many people, he had his friend circle which was limited to 2 friends, and both of them went back home in a different school bus. So, the time he spent in his school bus was merely spent in observation, and subsequent amazement.

I remember that morning very clearly. I opened my window and saw cattle rushing towards the valley. Then suddenly a loud bang and I saw one cow burst into pieces. Her head was tossed into the air. There were blood droplets all over the place. That day my father told me truth. Every morning the army jawans make cattle run over certain areas to find where mines are hidden.

On a rainy night, it was no less than a miracle. It was supposedly the last day of college, the farewell party. The party was awesome as it always used to be. By the end of the party, nearly everyone was teary eyed, hugging each other and asking to stay in touch forever. The drizzle taking the form of a thunder shower just added to the beauty of the night. And then there was she, wet in the rain. Girls somehow always manage to look so divine, so pure and so beautiful with their hair wet.

Lagta hai jaise iss ek shabd me hi puri dunyia simat jati hai,

Dilati hai humesha sukh ka ehsaas pal me hi dukho ko dur kar jaati hai .

Le leti hai samandar ki tarah mujhe apne aaghosh mein,

Kabhi apne aanchal ki chhao me sulati hai.

Our family had gone through tough times and the five of us hardly talked to each other. Then one day my brother called me outside my hostel. He said it was an emergency and I ran out. And out came from his car a little angel. He was a golden Labrador retriever puppy. He was just a week old then. Adorable he was then and now. We all fell in love with him.