KALPANA

"Vivek, I am going to the park for a walk," said Manas.

Manas and Vivek were flatmates. Manas worked for a multinational financial firm and Vivek worked for a media house. It has been a few days Manas was feeling down and so he used to go for a walk at a nearby park.

It was a sunny day. Manas was sitting on a bench. Suddenly at a distance he saw a girl; lush black hair, beautiful round eyes, charming face as if she has directed her route directly from heaven. Unable to settle his curiosity Manas approached her.

"Hi," said Manas.

"Hello," she replied.

"I was looking at you, just could not help but compliment; you are very beautiful," said Manas.

The girl seemed confused and looked at him.

"So sorry if this was inappropriate but i really mean it," said Manas.

She smiled back and got busy in her phone. Feeling she was not interested in the conversation Manas left to where he was previously seated.

After sometime he saw her approaching towards him.

"Hey, I was little busy at that time, thanks for the compliment," she said.

"You are welcome," said Manas,"if it is not rude, may I know your name?"

"Sure, I am Kalpana, and you?" she replied.

"My name is Manas," he said,"please have a seat."

Kalpana sat beside Manas and they started chatting. They were talking as if they had known each other for years. After sometime, as they were about to leave, it started raining.

They ran towards a nearby tea stall and stood under its shade. The downpour started getting heavier.

"Kalpana, lets have some tea, what say?" asked Manas.

"Hmm,  that's a good idea," she said.

They sat on a bench inside the stall, and started enjoying piping hot cup of deliciousness. They continued chatting and also exchanged their phone numbers. The rain stopped, they bade goodbye to each other and left.

Manas entered his house singing," Chandi jaisa rang hai tera, sone jaise baal, ek tu hi..."

"Hey," interrupted Vivek,"You and singing a love song?" Vivek seemed confused.

"Yes my bro, yes" replied Manas happily,"I have an interesting news for you."

"Arey waah! What?" said Vivek.

"Today I met a girl at the park," said Manas.

"Who? What? How?" said Vivek looking extremely confused and in disbelief.

Manas narrated the whole story to him and went away to his room singing. Vivek was still in disbelief and said to himself,"He approached a girl and there was a conversation between them and they exchanged numbers; that's impossible. After his breakup one year ago he has kept himself completely away from girls and always looked lost in himself. Well maybe, time has changed and changed for some good,"

Days passed and Manas' closeness with Kalpana started growing. But it was also affecting his work and his relationship with Vivek, who was always with him through his thick and thin. Manas was taking way too many leave from his work. Moreover he used to lock himself in his room most of the time talking to his Kalpana. Even, Vivek saw him only once or twice in a day.

One day as Manas was getting ready to go out.

"Where are you going?" asked Vivek.

"None of your business," said Manas.

Startled, Vivek asked,"What has happened to you, you were never like this?"
"This Kalpana has made you a mad man."

"Hey, shut up!" shouted Manas,"Not a single word against Kalpana."

Manas slammed the door and went away. It was not the first time, Manas has previously fought with Vivek regarding Kalpana.

Some more days passed and the situation was getting worse. One day while Manas was in the bathroom, Vivek sneaked into his room and stole Kalpana's phone number. He went to his room and tried calling her, but the call said the number did not exist. Vivek smelled something fishy but he left as he was getting late for work.

Later that evening, when Vivek was back from office, he heard a girl's voice in Manas' room. He kept his bag on the couch and went near the door. He heard giggling and whispering. He always doubted everything about Kalpana. He dialled her number again, it said the number did not exist. Not able to control his curiosity he knocked at the door, but it slipped open. He saw no one. As he was cautiously entering the room, a figure jumped at him and stabbed him in the chest by a dagger. He dropped dead on the floor.

"Kalpana, Kalpana! Why did you kill him?" shouted Manas.

Shocked and unable to speak he called the police.

"Sir, sir, my friend is killed, please come fast, please sir," said Manas in a frightened voice.

The police arrived. Manas was standing near the door with the dagger in his hand, blood smeared over his body.

"Sir, please come in, she killed my friend," said Manas pointing towards the chair.

But there was no one in the room. The police insisted that there was no one present there but Manas kept on saying that she was sitting on the chair crying.

But there was no one. There was no Kalpana, she was just in Manas' head. He was suffering from dissociative identity disorder. The girl in the park, in the tea-stall, in his life was just his creation. There was no one there. The girl's voice that Vivek heard was all by Manas' second personality. She was Manas' Kalpana.

Police arrested Manas on the charge of VIvek's murder. As he was being taken away by the police, Manas looked at the Inspector, smiled and said," My Kalpana will come back for me, she will be there for me forever."

THE MORNING WALK

"Looks like it is going to be a gloomy day," murmured Swagatam as he sat on the steps.

As usual he was taking a break from his jog at the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra. The scenic beauty of Ganesh Ghat was always a treat to watch as the rising sun was just a sight out of any fairytale. He liked to sit there and enjoy the mesmerising art of nature.

As he was about to leave a familiar face of a girl struck his eyesight. Unknowingly he smiled at her but the girl looked at him in suspicion. Gathering courage he went to her and asked,"Hey if I am not wrong are you Maya?"

Astonished she replied,"Yes but how do you know me?"

Smiling back he said,"You forgot me, I am Swagatam."

"Swagatam! How are you?" said Maya shockingly,"It has been so long since we met."

Smiles exchanged, they started walking towards the road leading to Agnigarh. "So, when did you arrive?" asked Swagatam.

"Yesterday afternoon," she replied.

Maya after completing her masters in Tezpur University went to New York for her PhD. They were in the same class and were good friends back then. It was 5 years since they last saw each other.

"How have been life after masters?" she asked.

"Ahh! tough quite tough, it is very hard to get a job nowadays." he said,"I had to wait for 2 years and then finally, it has been 3 years now since I joined INFC, by the way how's your life going?"

 "After I reached US, it was tough at the beginning for me to settle there but gradually things fell in place. Scholarship helped me in my educational expenses and to pay my bills and house rent I worked as a faculty member under an online coaching centre." said Maya

After chatting and walking for sometime they reached the road behind the DC's bunglow.

"Hey, do you remember this road?" asked Swagatam sheepishly.

Taken aback by the question Maya replied,"No, why?"

Really, don't you remember?" he kept on asking.

Swagatam's constant urge and endless questioning irritated Maya and made her uncomfortable. She said,"Swagat, it's 7:00 AM now, I should leave. It was good meeting you after so long."

As she was leaving she looked back, smiled and said,"Swagat, I forgot to say I came back to Tezpur for my wedding and yes, I remember this road. Everything does not happen as one wishes for. Hope you understand. Take care. Bye."

Swagat looked back at her with a smile, opened the cover of his mobile, took out her 5 years old photo. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he remembered the day he proposed Maya on the very same place and how he kept waiting for her answer. Then, now and forever.

It was that day and it is today. Years passed, days changed but fate and his love for Maya remained the same. Yet another Swagatam welcomed sacrifice for his love Maya.

"Kuch mein naa hua, kuch tum naa hue
Yoon hi hum, hum naa hue"

 

Importance of mental and emotional health towards being healthy

          In today's world unhealthy lifestyle is one of the key factors which leads to the deterioration of our health. This kind of lifestyle makes us vulnerable to various diseases which affects our day to day activities to a great extent. Therefore following a healthy daily routine will decrease the negative effects of our unhealthy lifestyle. Before discussing further, we should first know what being healthy actually means?

          

          By being healthy we mean the well being of physical, mental and emotional health. Very often we see that people give a lot of attention to physical health but ignore the equally precious mental and emotional health. We see a lot of people going for daily walks, practicing yoga or hitting the gym. Most of them look physically fit but they may not be completely healthy. Many of them may be suffering from a range of mild anxiety to even life threatening depression.

          There are many factors which contribute to the deterioration of mental and emotional health; getting bullied at school, being compared to other children, physical and sexual abuse, job pressure, unhappy relationship, death of near and dear ones, poverty etc. The symptoms are not so hard to recognize but sometimes they are so minor and common that we tend to overlook them. Some of the common symptoms which may be a signal of being mentally unwell are sudden change in behaviour, continuous sleepless nights, sudden rise in the heart rate, always feeling lonely among people, always haunted by negative thoughts, always having a gloomy mood etc. If we suffer from these or see others suffering we must approach an expert. Being mentally ill is never a matter of shame. There is still a stigma which stops us from getting expert help and latter the little anxiety we suffer develops into heavy depression which eventually leads into attempting suicide.

          There is always a question that arises i.e. apart from detecting the symptoms and asking for expert help, what can we general people do to help the sufferers? First and most importantly we should try to overcome this stigma as soon as possible. If we suffer from a liver or a kidney disease we do not hesitate to approach a doctor, in the same way a brain is also an organ so why do we hesitate to visit an expert if we suffer from a mental illness. Secondly, we should always try to listen what the sufferers have to say. If they try to hide their feelings, we should encourage them to share. We may not have the solutions to their problems but even if we listen it may help them to  open up. We must  also encourage them to practice healthy habits such as meditation, breathing exercises etc. Thirdly, we must strongly oppose and act against the incidents of bullying, ragging, abuses etc. which are many of the leading causes of depression. I would also like to include what i feel is the most important factor which effects the mental health of a child is their parents not supporting them, comparing them with others and also putting performance pressure on them. When we go through a problem the first person we look upon are our parents and if they do not support us it is hard for a child to remain stable and motivated. So i would urge all the parents to not put any kind of pressure on your child and support them.

          Last but not the least i would like to end it by saying let us learn to cry. Crying helps us release all our prisoned emotions and makes us feel better. Let us cry to laugh heartily and live fully.

The Exam Stress

                 As we all know that the season of board exams has arrived and it is obvious that the appearing candidates are under lots of stress. Being only a graduate I have a little experience about life but a lot about the board exams. I may not be the best person to speak about it but I can surely assure all the examinees that this feeling of stress is only momentary and it will die out very soon.

         I would like to highlight a very important point i.e. never give up your confidence under any circumstances. Exams are important but they are not the end of the world. They are just the indicators of your learning not your knowledge. In search of overrated excellence, never let your passion die out. You should also choose the stream that is convenient to you, the stream that allows you to explore your field of interest and makes you happy. There is no such thing called secondary career. Every option available out there in the world have equal importance.

                 And a small piece of suggestion for the parents: be your child's best friend so that he/she does not need to go out in search of a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Let them choose their own path, never impose them your dream instead be a wonderful guiding light. At last I would like to wish every examinees all the very best .Give your best and leave the rest in the hands of destiny.