The Taste of Ignorance

A sound broke the silence of the neighbourhood. Arav fumbled with a rectangular gadget. A press on the button to its left, the noise stopped. Precisely after nine minutes the noise called in again, but this time Arav was on his feet.

He had woken up.

It had been a month long of arduous advice by his parents. "Do something, kid", his father used to cringe. "Why don't you take a look in the mirror?"

"It’s not about looks", his mother reflected. "Its about health!!"

"I am trying!” was his usual involuntarised reply.

Arav, still in his boyhood always dreamt to put his desires into actions but procrastination as always had been a thief of his time. But today was not going to be 'those' days. He was hell-bent to put things to work.

‘A Perfect day for Showtime.’ he whiffed the beautiful morning's air. It was not easy to wake up in the early hours of today's morning when sleep came more with an emotional ease, but Arav’s nonchalance was simply imperturbable. After all today was his day. He had gone to sleep with repeated 'wake up at 6' chants to ensure it was executed to perfection. This was a hypothetical psychology of motivation that he believed, things work when yearned repeatedly. 'Who cares about psychology', Arav thought. He had woke up, and that's what mattered.

His head held high, he walked to brush his teeth. A small glance from his parents, Arav understood that Pop was surprised, his Mom satisfied. The flow continued until he was dressed up in trax and t-shirt with a newly bought Reebok shoes especially for today's morning.

"Coffee!" he called to his Mom. She came with a glass of Milk.

"I hate Milk", he winced looking into the glass.

"You must have bought powder yesterday?” his Mom questioned.

Arav looked on with a feeling of guilt.

“Drink!” the expression sterned on his Mom’s face.

He gulped the milk with hardened eyes and thumped the glass on the table. It was still half-full.

“What’s with the other half?” his Mom questioned.

“I don’t like it!” he refused flatly.

“You can’t go with an empty stomach!” she warned.

“I know to take care of myself!” he antagonized and munched into him chips and biscuits from the kitchen.

She stared at him with angry eyes. The house-keeper was ordered to take the rest of the milk to the backyard.

His father peeked out of his Newspaper with a sarcastic smile, but Arav put it away.

He was not willing to look bowed down. It was an eerie atmosphere of unwarranted heroism.

And all for a day's Morning walk!

*****************

He walked through the gates - mobile in his hand and an 'Adidas' cap fitted perfectly on his head. "Walk comes so easily in the mornings", he said to himself. He smiled with inner triumph at his mother who closed the gates behind him. His slow walk steadied at the thought of Kkrish who had promised to accompany him, waiting at the stadium. He took the foggy road to reach the stadium. The place had a serene ambience with trees adorned on either side of the walk-path. He looked at people who paced through the walk-path with fiery thrust. They seemed so enthusiastic about a walk which they had been doing their entire lives. But now with his obese body, it seemed all the more essential to him.

He surveyed the area for his friend, but there was no sign of Kkrish. He sat on a bench moist with dew, the chillness of which put in a new energy into him. With Kkrish still not making it, he stood and decided to start on his own. He put his foot into the mechanical motion along his unknown colleagues. A few minutes later his body seemed to respond. He was feeling heavy. Trinkets of sweat emerged from his forehead and made its way to the neck. Calories started to burn, the fresh air bared its heat. He started feeling the stickiness of his shirt. But Arav had decided. With desire to reduce fuelling his actions, at the forte of determination he walked. Kkrish seemed to be the last thing in his mind.

For 10 minutes, Arav had walked in perfect circles. When he stopped he could feel his consciousness drifting into the continuum. He panted, and sat down on a Stonehenge. Legs were starting to ache. The weight of his body seemed to find rest on his poor two pillars of balance. His inner organs cluttered into a state of discomposure. His head hung down into tiredness. As he glanced into the walk-path the 'walkers' poked a feeling of defeat into him. He did not want to give up easily. His favourite theory of psychology hit him again.

"Walk", he said and stood up.

"Walk", he said and paced.

"Walk....Walk....Walk....", it seemed to work...he was back into action.

The first lap seemed the easy way. He strode it with his 40 inch hip swaying gracefully to the viewer behind. The Walk was almost getting into the groove of expertise when a glint from the sun created a flurry in his eyes and he went blacked-out for a couple of seconds.

"First-Timer", he consoled himself.

A deep sensation of nausea hurt his wind-pipe. He choked for a second and water moistened his eyeball. He considered.

"Walk...Walk...Walk...” he chanted.

But things seemed not to improve.

"What’s happening?!” frustration overwhelmed, as he saw a 100 kg man striding past him with zeal.

Suddenly 'Morning walk' seemed to be the most demanding job in the world. He began to feel the pain, from his shoulders to his calf. The developments confused him. Eyes were getting drowsy. The mind was getting topsy-turvy. He found it hard to complete the lap. However, he continued.

Within a hundred yards he stopped, mouth twitched and he vomited. He flipped onto the sideway and hit on a stone. The pain seared to his eyes. A hassled rainbow faded as he closed his eyes.

*****************

"Ouch!” Arav yelled at the top of his voice in the soft couch he was laid on.

"Don't worry, it’s just a swollen Bone", consoled his Mom

"Not the Bone", he heaved a heavy breath "My tummy's hurting like hell"

"Probably you over-exerted!” said Kkrish standing nearby.

'Is 10 minutes an exertion?!!’ Arav reflected.

"Hmmm….", he said with weak anger "You people forced me for walks and now, it’s me with all the agony!"

"Walks don’t cause stomach aches, son", chipped in his father. Arav stared weakly.

“Didn’t listen to Mom... Went with an empty stomach…” he continued

“I didn’t”, justified Arav.

“Must have had the milk fully”

“I did have some chips instead”

“Chips!?...You’ve got a wonderful sense of Diet control!!” his voice toiled in sarcasm.

"He's already hurt. Is this the time for arguments?” Mom cut in the rebuke.

"Actually...” Pop hesitated.

"The sun might have caused him!"

"It could not have hurt an ant!!”

She looked at him undecided what to speak.

“It’ll be ‘Food on Time-Table’ hereafter”, he said glancing at Arav.

"Fine!” she conceded, “Let him rest. I've given him a pain-killer. We'll go check up with the doctor later this evening”

His father nodded stoically.

"And one more thing...” she added "Don’t force him on walks again!!".

His father looked on, bowled over.

*****************

Arav lay on the couch, hand over his tummy. The pain was slowly subsiding. The drowsiness was taking over. A hazy draft of today having him sleeping cozily on the bed and waking at the late hours of the fore-noon with breakfast ready on the table swept his thoughts.

‘Morning walks are healthy?’ he asked himself.

“Not for me!!” he decided.

The untouched taste of ‘eggs and soup’ vibrating his taste buds watered his eyes.

“I'd rather burst like a balloon than stepping foot into the act of exercise again!” he cursed with anguish. He stared at the ceiling for sometime, and then shrugged.

“Sleep....Sleep....Sleep”, he repeated as he drifted into peace.

As he passed into relief a cat in his backyard lay sprawled to the ground writhing its body in agony. It wabbled its tongue in a sensation of Nausea and was fighting hard to overcome the seizure. The morning breakfast had caused it some adverse effects. The creature jerked with uneasiness. As it turned its torso the paws struck on its feeding bowl spilling white traces of Milk!


- TIPU U V

'JUST' A WALK

I walked a Lonely road, or was it a Road that was walked by a lonely Me.....two sides of a coin i guess. But then i was looking onto only one side, ignorant of the other. Not long away, the presence of another side was intimated to me by a total stanger with whom i had this apprehensive-encounter of meeting once but comes repercussing to my mind for all times to come.

So as a lonely Me walked through the street also lonely as I, a distant energy hit on me. I wasn't lonely afterall(neither was the street) and my eyes prodded to focus on a relatively (compared to me) small brute transfixed with his glazzies(eyes) on me. First shot, ran through my nerves clanging the alarm tone in my heart. Next 2 seconds, the apprehensiveness created a sort of paralysis and i stood like a statue. As the shock died down and a few milliseconds of involuntarily searching my built-in encyclopedia i came to know that the person staring so hard at me was a Dog!.....Of Course, what else could live by the roadside having four legs, with a long pointed head, sharp teeth and most distinctively a curved tail!. But then he seemed to look virtually gigantic. (I wonder how just a distinctive stare could kindle so many emotions!!)

So, is this guy gonna attack me?....He was staring at me so hard, it just paralysed me as if caught in a spider's web. Racking my mind, time running out(i was so goddamn scared) i had to decide...Run! or Retaliate!. Run would have been the move, but then luckily my receptors being quite strong brought in loads of 'Never run in front of a Dog!' stuff. So i did not run, but Stood, rooted.

What was this guy upto?...I went searching for, When i had caused harm to such a fellow-ecological friend. I found None. The heavy adrenaline that ran through that column subsided..I was relieved. This wasn't about Revenge. However the Coup was still on and i had to find the problem. Funny! that at times problems seem more important than solutions. But there was my head, suddenly more hot than the sun itself. What should i do now?... All my thoughts were running helter-skelter except one perceivable enough to understand, Escape!. But how?
Retaliate!...someone was telling from inside my ears. Bend down to pick a stone?....I didn't. Not that i was a fan of the Mahatma, (I would have made HITLER sound kind instance) i didn't know how this psycho would react to such an overwhelm of emotion. So i took the safer side...I stood still, rooted.

Desperation was at its forte...'React you monster!' i shouted in the vaacum within me. I rationalised and decided to act, I wanted to take the upper-edge, I wanted to intimidate. So there came my first act of bravery. I closened my brows faking angry eyes and looked directly into the eyes of my adversary. Futile!!!. A grumpy sound that followed vibrated my eardrum and shook the nuts out of me. My faithful encyclopedia immediately decoded this to be the 'bark' with a detailed explanation of it symbolising Anger!. However there was my proud self still standing like Alexander, rooted.

'Help Me', I thought. 'Damn', I said....A couple of calm moments. 'Face it', I decided. Then came the history of my redemption, I took the first step....with my right leg. A pretty short one i guess, about half a foot in distance.

No reaction from my opponent!.

Then came the second step, my left seemed to co-ordinate. Good!

Still No reaction!. I refused to look.

Now the right came more easily. The left followed, then the right and left alternatively.

Within 10 seconds i reached the adjoining street, bustling with activity a long way from my resister. I saw him turn back, walk and take a place at the mound of sand that lay alongside the pavement. I walked my road - embarassed, shaken and relived.

'What a damned escape!', I thought. I was ashamed of having been beaten by a passive intimidator. "Sixth Sense!!", I confounded myself, "No idea where that useless fellow of mine had gone. I was there competing with a dog with no use of my most valuble sense standing undecided what to do. The final way for my escape being a simple straight-forward Walk!. I smirked, irritated by my incompetence.

I took the stairs that led me to my destination. I pulled open the gates and entered the safe boundaries of my house. As i opened the door, my sister came running towards me.

"Did you see?", she asked. I made a questioning look.

"The dog!..", she said. "...down the road. Its gone berserk. Bit two men from the corporation who tried to capture it and even a kid who tried to run away from it."

"Oh!.. ", I reflected "...I avoided it!"

"How?", she asked with curious eyes.

I paused. A smile evaporated my lips.

"Not bothered", I guessed.