Bruce And The Spider

There was once a king of Scotland whose name was Robert Bruce. He had need to be both brave and wise, for the times in which he lived were wild and rude. The King of England was at war with him, and had led a great army into Scotland to drive him out of the land.

Battle after battle had been fought. Six times had Bruce led his brave little army against his foes; and six times had his men been beaten, and driven into flight. At last his army was scattered, and he was forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places among the mountains.

One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed, listening to the patter of the drops on the roof above him. He was tired and sick at heart, and ready to give up all hope. It seemed to him that there was no use for him to try to do anything more.

As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over his head, making ready to weave her web. He watched her as she toiled slowly and with great care. Six times she tried to throw her frail thread from one beam to another, and six times it fell short.

"Poor thing!" said Bruce: "you, too, know what it is to fail."

But the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure. With still more care, she made ready to try for the seventh time. Bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her swing herself out upon the slender line. Would she fail again? No! The thread was carried safely to the beam, and fastened there.

"I, too, will try a seventh time!" cried Bruce.

He arose and called his men together. He told them of his plans, and sent them out with messages of cheer to his disheartened people. Soon there was an army of brave Scotchmen around him. Another battle was fought, and the King of England was glad to go back into his own country.

I have heard it said, that, after that day, no one by the name of Bruce would ever hurt a spider. The lesson which the little creature had taught the king was never forgotten.

The first Chapter.....

Are you the one for me?




Khushi was enjoying the most happiest day of her life. She could feel Rohit’s arms wrapped around her as they sat munching on her favorite black forest pastry. They took turns to feed each other as the evening sun spread across the sky above their heads.
‘Khushi, I love you so much,’ said Rohit as he licked the cream off her nose.
‘Ah, Janu I love you too,’ Khushi wanted to melt in his arms.
‘We should come here often so that you can stay in my arms for as long as you like,’ he snuggled beside her on the warm sand. Khushi had always wanted to go to the Goa beach with Rohit ever since the day she met him. She couldn’t believe it was finally happening. She and Rohit in GOA!
‘Oh, Rohit dear… I just want you to go on… on… on’.
Suddenly Khushi felt someone slap on her face very hard. Oh no, Rohit was slapping her. But why? What had she done? It was all very confusing.
‘Idiot, silly cow,’ shouted Rachu, ‘Uh, get off my leg’.
‘What? Where is Rohit?’ Khushi woke up from her dreamland to the reality inside her one bedroom flat.
‘Rohit isn’t here so you’d better you stop seeing silly dreams, ok,’ snapped back Rachu.
‘Silly? My dream will come true one day. Just wait and watch,’ said Khushi in a confident tone. She was sure of more than anything else.
‘Khushi, when will you ever grow up? Don’t you realize that guy doesn’t even care for you,’ Rachu tried to shake some sense into her stupid friend.
‘Of course he does. What makes you think he doesn’t?’ shot back an extremely annoyed Khushi. There was no way you could convince Khushi for something she didn’t want to believe.
‘Do you honestly believe what he says? If he cared for you then why did he dump you thrice earlier? He just comes trotting behind you when he is bored and you always take him back. Don’t you realize you are the one who is being fooled’?
‘Dear Rachu, you don’t know Rohit the way I do. He is just a bit childish sometimes but don’t you worry. He is perfect for me,’ beamed Khushi with a smile plastered on her round face.
Rachu lifted her hands in protest but gave up. She knew it was no use talking to Khushi about it. She had been through the same discussion at least a dozen times in the past two years but Khushi just wouldn’t open her eyes to reality. There were times when she wanted to bash up the rogue for exploiting Khushi’s emotions but there was really nothing she could do.
‘Hi Janu,’ Khushi was on her way to her office in a local train while talking on her mobile.
‘Helooo,’ replied back a sleepy Rohit from his king size bed.
‘You’re still sleeping honey. Wake up, it’s nine o’ clock’.
‘Hmmm, yea... I know’.
‘And do you know what date is it? It’s the 20th of February,’ said an overly excited Khushi which made the onlookers peer at her in curiosity as to what could be so special.
‘So?’ Rohit obviously had no clue what she was talking about.
‘You don’t remember at all, is it?’ It seemed Khushi would burst into tears any moment.
‘Well….’
‘It’s our anniversary dumbo. It’s been two years since we love each other,’ the excitement returned again on her face as she spoke. That was Khushi. She could sulk and laugh in a single minute.
‘Oh, yes. I do remember. It just slipped out of my mind,’ said a least bothered Rohit. He faked the memory, confident that Khushi would blindly believe him. That’s what she’d been doing always.
‘Ok cool, so let me remind you that we are meeting at 8.30 pm at Crowne Plaza. Is that fine janu? I know you are always busy so I’ll call you up and remind you around five’. Busy for Rohit meant clubbing and dancing in the pubs all day with people who were as jobless as him.
‘Hmmm, ok. That’s fine,’ he sounded as though he hadn’t heard a word of what she had just told him.
The truth was that Rohit didn’t give a damn about Khushi. Actually, he didn’t give a damn for anybody on earth. And he was not the only one to be blamed for that. His dad had brought him up with all the riches but failed to teach him the importance of emotions and feelings. Deep inside, he knew no guy on earth could get an understanding girl like Khushi but he never made the effort to make it up to her. He took her for granted because he knew how much she loved him. He knew even if he were to stand up and tell he didn’t care for her, she wouldn’t believe.
That was just Khushi, always in her own dream world unaware of reality. For her, love was the most important feeling on earth, a feeling built upon trust, faith and hope. One that should never be broken. She wanted a long term relationship while Rohit couldn’t stand a girl for more than a month. How Khushi survived with him was a wonder for everybody who knew him. She had the most simplest dreams like any other girl. To live life with someone you loved. Little did she know that life doesn’t work that way always.
Her office usually ended at seven thirty but on that particular day Khushi made an excuse of illness and left office by 6.45 pm. She rushed out of the office to the rest room to change into a top and skirt. There was no way she was meeting Rohit in her boring office clothes. She knew he hated bad dressing sense and so she changed her clothes in the restroom. Re-checking her make up several times to make sure she looked attractive, she picked up her pink purse and walked to the taxi stand.
Crowne Plaza was twenty five minutes away from her office. Honestly speaking, Khushi never preferred to go to the giant hotels. It was just not her style as she loved the simpler smaller ones but then it was Rohit’s style to dine only in grand restaurants where food tasted like shit and the place seemed like a silent bombshell. With Rohit, she had visited almost all of the major big shot restaurants in Delhi. She never understood the need to spend large amount of money to have such rotten food. Nevertheless, if Rohit loved anything; she would love it at any cost.
‘Hey there, it’s nine honey. Are you still on the way?’ poured in Khushi cheerfully on her phone.
‘Yeah, umm… give me few minutes…,’ Rohit sounded as if he were in the middle of something really big.
‘Alright, but don’t forget I am waiting for you’.
Khushi had been waiting for the past twenty five minutes with no sign of Rohit. When she tried calling him again, his phone was switched off. She frowned at first but assumed that it must be low battery. Clutching a heart shaped gift which was wrapped in red, she sat uncomfortably on the couch near the reception area. The hotel was pretty huge but people threw such strange glances towards her side which made her want to scream at them.
Her short skirt made her feel all the more worse. Though she lived in a metro, she never liked wearing revealing clothes but Rohit always wanted her to look sexy no matter what hour of the day it was.
‘Excuse me, could I use the phone please?’ Khushi requested to use the phone as she was running low on balance. If you happen to have a boy friend, running low on balance was evident.
‘Sure ma’am ‘.
With a frustrated look, she dialed the number only to hear an automated female voice on the other end. As she turned around dejectedly, she noticed the guy at the reception was ogling at her. As it is, she was bothered by weird looks and now this man was staring directly at her breasts. Resisting the urge to shout back, she went and sat on the comfy padded couch which failed to comfort her.
In that one hour, she must have glanced at her watch at least a hundred times and dialed Rohit’s number at least a fifty times and she was still waiting in a huge stupid hotel with stupid people who behaved as if they hadn’t seen a girl before. This was sick.
At nine thirty, her phone rang but it still wasn’t him.
‘Hello,’ she croaked into the speaker.
‘Khushi, where are you? Its nine thirty,’ it was Rachu. Rachu hated late night outings. Khushi had already been warned to avoid late night meetings a number of times in the past.
‘I am waiting for Rohit at Crowne Plaza,’ she said in a sad voice.
‘Waiting at this hour? Are you mad?’
‘It’s our second anniversary Rachu. The plan was to celebrate and I guess he must be on his way, ‘ said Khushi unsure if what she said was true.
‘What? That idiot hasn’t reached still. Did you try calling him?’
‘His phone is switched off’.
At ten minutes to ten, Rachu forced her to catch a taxi and return home. As she sat in a black taxi with darkness all around her, Khushi felt thick salty tears streaming down her face. Why didn’t he turn up? How could he possibly forget that she had been waiting for him so long? Could something… could something be wrong with him? The thought scared her.
Suddenly, she asked the driver to change directions and head for Rohit’s flat at ten thirty in the night. Her heart was beating as all the negative thoughts clouded her mind. What if he had met with an accident? What if he had got lost somewhere? What if? What if? The what if’s clogged her mind like the bees which swarmed the honey bag.
She decided to hop into Rohit’s flat to check what could have possibly gone wrong. First it was anger that boiled her blood because he didn’t turn up but now it was worry that made her head ache. She had been to his flat on three occasions earlier as it gave them all the privacy they could ask for.
She took the lift to reach the seventh floor of Prime Apartments, the most posh houses in the city. Khushi knew she would never be able to afford one like that, at least not with the money she was earning. It would probably take aeons but then Khushi never fancied big houses. She always preferred simple living without complications.
She rang the door bell twice waiting for the door to open. Rohit must probably be having a hard day so he must have slept off early, forgetting to inform her. She would sulk at first but then he would promise to make up for the evening and eventually she would forgive him. That was it. That was the way it was supposed to happen. So simple. But no. The door still didn’t open which deepened her worries even more.


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Degree- the killer word

Does it really take a degree to get high in life? Yeah, most of us would agree giving an explanation that a degree behind your name is what identifies you. Should I tell you a secret on that?

The answer is No. You do not need a degree to make your dreams come true. Yes, you can now breathe a sigh of relief. If this is true, then why is there such a hungama over a degree. Right from our childhood, we have been asked to enter school so that one day when we reach our teenage, we would come out with a degree. And is that the sign of success? Sadly, a degree is just not everything.
We are just doing it because ages ago, someone decided that a degree is what it takes. Someone decided that only be going to college and getting a degree, you can become a person.

I can boldly say that it isn't true because I have seen people achieving great heights even without a degree. Of course, you can argue back with the statement that some careers depend on a degree because you cannot learn basics by yourself.
Point agreed.

If there is something you want to specialize in, you can very well get a degree. Thanks to the education system, we now get degrees for every topic like catering, fisheries, shipping and the list goes on.

I wouldn't say that a degree is not needed but it is wrong to blindly believe that a degree is what makes you as a person.

People should not be judged with the degrees that they tag behind their names for it is the stuff inside them that really matters. The zeal, the faith and the hope is what really takes you high. Degree is just a stepping stone towards what you really want.

Learning doesn't stop with college because Life itself is a learning process throughout.

Note: Connect the dots is a book by Rashmi Bansal which talks about the lives of 20 ordinary people.

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The Novel: Are you the one for me?

Having lived in a dream world where everything seems perfect, Khushi is heart broken when Rohit, her boyfriend of two years dumps her for another blonde. Since then, she resolves to seal her heart for love convinced that she would never fall in love ever.

Just when she moves on with her life surrounded by friends who help her out to mend her broken heart, she meets Jai, Mr. Perfect - her boss. At least, that’s what Khushi thought about him. Despite her initial resistance, she falls in love with him.

Disaster hits her again when she learns that he doesn’t feel the same way about her. This time, Khushi decides on a stronger note that love was just not meant for her. And then, Manav, a carefree guy, steps into her life who promises to love her in every possible way.

After being heartbroken twice, which still hurts, will Khushi give love another chance knowing that it could be risking her heart again for the third time?


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Death- The most important Lesson

Well, I don't know why I felt like writing about Death but it's one of those things that has always made me wonder. Death is always a topic which people talk about as if it were the most terrible thing to think about. And there can't be denying; death is always terrible.
We hear that if life is born, death is inevitable. It isn't easy to accept death no matter what. To be frank, I am just 24, not a person who knows much about death. But I do know a thing or two that has been lingering on my mind for a long time.
There are two incidents that have made me think more about death. A couple of months ago, in a local train near Palghat, a 24 year old girl was raped and murdered by a handicap guy. A week ago, a bus that was carrying passengers burnt to death because of the driver's mistake.
One can see the way death comes in different forms. I kept thinking about those people who died, about the moments before their death, the terrible expressions they must have had on their faces when death came to snatch them.
Sad. I know that's the only word we can use to describe it. Worse for those people who must have lose their loved ones. It is not easy to reconcile with loss, specially when it is human loss. For days, I felt angry with death deciding to snatch away loves without a warning and sometimes making the departure very painful.
And after all this, we are told that time will heal and that things move on. Life goes on. Yes, it does. The dead are remembered by their loved ones and forgotten by the others as times moves.
Later, to calm myself I tell that this is how life works. Death cannot be controlled no matter how rich or poor or good or bad we are. But Life, the alter of death can be controlled.
Life is in our hands. When we are alive, it does matter if we are good or bad; if we are sweet or rude; if we are selfish or open hearted; if we are sad or happy. While death is anyway going to run it's hands over us, we might as well make the most of it from life. The good and the best things from life. We don't have a choice when death comes, but we do have a choice when there is life.

Dreams are precious

Well, I haven't written much in my blogs since long mostly because I think I had very less to say. Today, as I sit in my room with my laptop poised on my lap, I would like to talk about Dreams. I think most of us dream, not the dreams that come at night when we are fast asleep, but those that come when we are wide awake with open eyes. Those are the dreams that are for real.

Why do we Dream? I have asked that question to myself from time to time. And I did get some answers. We all have a purpose in life which may not be revealed at the moment but it comes to us when the time is right. And it's not the same for each one of us. The purpose is showed to us through a dream, through a desire that takes birth in our hearts.

Then, no matter how hard you try to abandon it, the dream never leaves. Those who abandon and convince themselves that dreams are just illusions, will lead a joyless life.

Dreams are the stuff that show what we really want from life. And you should have the courage to follow you dream no matter what. All the tools will be given by God once you decide to follow your dreams.

As Paulo Coelho says, "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it" It holds true.

So do not disregard your dreams, even though people around might think it's worthless. In your heart, you should know that it's precious. Dreams are precious. Do not let them die away.

Follow them for one day you will know that it made all the difference.