Sharayu Jakhotiya

Today, I thought I need to do something more than telling myself to calm down and count till ten just so that I don’t lose my cool in the city of dreams. I decided to come with terms with the fact that our city is full of idiots and it is time we take giant leaps of faith to make our city idiot-proof. There are a variety of them and we shall see some examples here. If you find yourself in one of these categories, it is time you took a hard look at yourself! 1.  Stopping your car at a turn to take a phone call or to drop someone off. (May be that makes you feel like a super hero, but you are only being a prick)                     2.  Walking on the crowded city street while incessantly typing on your phone. (Yes, there is a real world outside which has no time or patience for your histrionics. Pay attention!)           3.  Eating that bag of chips and uncerem...

The day before the trek, I planned to get a good night's sleep. The night was going to be long and the day longer still as the Rajmachi trek was to begin at 3 AM! The usual excitement made me restless and I kept checking my bag to see if I had everything I needed for the trek. We were going to depart from Vile Parle at 11PM by bus to reach Lonavala which was our starting point. Mumbai was cast with heavy black clouds and the rain had been pounding the city the entire day. The temperature had dropped considerably and I wondered if I should carry a sweater with me to keep me warm. I recalled my Kalsubai trek and I remembered by chattering teeth and cold hands. But I decided against carrying it, there was no point is increasing the load in my bag. We waited near the domestic airport to board our bus which was coming from Borivali. We chatted excitedly about the trek and debated if there would be enough rain or not. Heavy rainfall was going to make our trek even more difficul...

Words can heal, though I could never really depict the love that she was. There are very few people in this world who get to experience the love of their great grandmother and I was one of the luckiest few. For the past twenty six years, she has been a constant presence, a wall of support and love in my life. Every time I visited her, I was greeted with the warmest and most heartfelt hugs. She would then look at me from top to bottom and announce that I was too thin to survive in this world. Oh, the love of great grandmothers! I knew in my heart that even if I turned out to be a baby elephant, she would be pronouncing me as the thinnest elephant she had come across. Most times, our hugs and kisses would be followed by her taking me to her room. The room was exclusively hers, everyone referred to it as ‘Kaku Aaji’s’ room. Even outsiders knew it. But she welcomed one and all in her homely abode. As we would sit down on her bed to talk about my life, she would happily pull o...

I first read this poetry by Wendell Berry a couple of years ago, but today I decided to revisit his words The Peace of Wild Things When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. As night drew, I sat at my bedside window, hunched over with my head resting on my arms. I gazed out of the window to look for my wood drake but all I heard was honking cars and barking dogs. A jet was ready to take off at the nearby domestic airport and would make a tremendous swooshing sound over my head. I glanced at the skies to check if...

The Man walked on the densely wooded road. The cl othes he wore shone with an exuberant light, as if the earth had formed around him a beautiful woven cloak. His head was bent and a sack covered his head and shoulders to protect him from the rain. His eyes were intense and looked at the road with a vehement determination. He knew where he had to reach and looked forward to the road ahead of him. He clutched a cloth bag to his chest. He seemed to be very protective of the bag, clearly not wanting to disclose its contents. The road was empty and cars moved on it infrequently. Puddles of water covered the surface and frogs croaked loudly from the wild grass growing on the sides of the road. The lone Man continued his journey on the rainy path. As he neared the city, the city that was widely known as the ‘City of Dreams’ or Mumbai, no one looked at him. He was a man with no identity. But if anyone had spared a moment for him, they would be taken aback by the tenacity in his stare a...

My mom woke me up that morning and while I was peacefully eating my breakfast and smiling over the gossip columns in the BT, she posed the most controversial question to me, ‘Amu, what kind of a boy do you want to marry?’ I decided to ignore her and I continued reading how Kat and Ranbir were secretly engaged to get married. I thought she will leave me alone after realizing my innate unresponsiveness. But alas, that was not to happen! She banged my glass of milk and sat down opposite me. ‘Amruta’, she said. I knew it was serious business when I heard her saying my full name. No one ever calls me by my full name until I have done something horrendously wrong. I stole a glance at her and almost fell off my chair when I saw my entire family standing in front of me. My grandparents were squinting at me through their glasses. My grandmom looked as if she was looking at a lost puppy in the middle of a desert, desperately searching for something. My brother just stood behind my mom, gri...

Continued from #CuriousCaseOfChokshi . . . . Many spoke about the murder of Kunal Chokshi, some spoke about Amruta and everyone speculated about the murderer. Neither the police nor the online junta could figure out who the culprit was and what his/her intentions were in the murder. Sameer Reddy, always a silent lover, was disturbed about the country's speculations about him. Most people thought the murderer was some crazy hooligan who had been wronged by Kunal sometime in the past. Sameer wished that he could tell the world why he had killed Kunal. The one and only reason being that he did not deserve to live. Sameer had loved Amruta for all the time they had known each other. After his conversation with Amruta, where she told him about what had happened between her and Kunal, he had moved back to Mumbai immediately. His intention was not to try and win her over, but to be there for her when she needed him the most. Though he knew what kind of a person Kunal was, Sameer ne...

Continued from He.... KUNAL CHOKSHI KILLED, REVENGE SUSPECTED: POLICE 26 th November, 2014, Mumbai: The Chokshi household today was filled with mourners and people gathering there to pay their last homage to their only son, Kunal Chokshi. The death of Kunal Chokshi was under mysterious circumstances and the police are still investigating the case details. ‘The Curious Case of Chokshi’ which has taken social media by storm has some very interesting facts. Twitteratis have been discussing whether the death of Kunal Chokshi has been a wicked turn of Karma. Kunal who was studying at National College was known to his classmates as a rich spoilt millionaire kid. This was before he met and started dating one of his fellow classmates, Amruta Naik. Amruta, a meritorious student turned to be a turning point in Kunal’s life. After being together for three years, the couple started facing problems after college. Kunal was warned by the police on several charges of violence and extortion...