"Yes Mas'r "

Recently i read a book that did something to me that had never happened while reading a book before.Many of you will have read "Uncle Tom's Cabin- Harriet Beecher Stowe" .For the last couple of days i have been carefully reading and re reading this beautiful book.

Never before has a book had this effect on me.Never before has a book evoked so many emotions.Never before has a book made me feel so depressed and yet so hopeful. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom's_Cabin

The best part about this book is its characters, that are so strong and well crafted that mid-book they've become you're friends and family.The characters Uncle Tom,Eliza,George Harris,Mr.Shelby,St.Clare,Eva,Cassy have made me laugh,cry,cringe,and hope at the same time.These world famous characters have such extreme lives and such strong opinions.

To illustrate a bit the book is about African American slaves when each slave was owned by the master.The slave was the property of the master and the master was permitted by law to do as he pleases with his slave.Be it marry "it" off, tear apart a family of slaves piece by piece and sell off the kids to all different parts of the country,make the slave work as field hands all night and all day or be it whip the slave to death.It was believed that these Negroes were no better than dogs and were treated like them.Or maybe if possible worse. They were agreed to have no feelings towards their family and they were not permitted to love.Even if they did love, it was considered meaningless.

In such a terrible and miserable climate Uncle Tom is one such slave known to be infinitely faithful and pious.He is the epitome of trust and loyalty.His two greatest joys are his family and a tattered copy of his bible.Our Uncle Tom is sold off to a St. Clare.His new master is someone who particularly never liked owning slaves and treated them extremely well and with proper respect.He despised the slavery system and is found to meddle with the idea of slave freedom.His relationship with his slaves is amusing and Uncle Tom's concern and care for him is touching.St. Clare has a daughter Eva, who Uncle Tom perceives as no less than the Lord's Angel.She is kind,patient,generous and a thoughtful child who embraces her Negro friends and loves each and every one of them with a heart melting sincerity.Uncle Tom's relation with her is most extra ordinary.Instances where both of them recite verses of the bible from Uncle Tom's copy are extremely memorable.

Another story is of the magnificent escape of Eliza, beautiful and strong and her husband George with their child to freedom.

Uncle Tom is tested and treated by the Lord's ways towards the end of his life and his firm belief in God and his undying hope breaks your heart.

The biggest irony of the book is the struggle of the slaves and the masters to live with each other.It is said in the book,often,that the slaves are better off living with their masters.Its is also said that this burden on the conscience of the master is much more than any human should handle. 

         This book signifies so much more than oppressed labour.It symbolizes freedom,courage,strength and the will to live and hope - seen in the eyes of the most ill-treated human race in history.

Just when you think you've seen enough..

Maybe this is getting too repetitive.When things keep happening its because no one does anything about it.

Today i'm writing about something that I've already spoken about before.

Outside a popular eatery today ,I saw a very old man. He was in rags, barefoot and bent.Age along with poverty..not the nicest combination.Clap it up with loneliness and no family,and you've got yourself the man i'm talking about.

As usual he was going about his work.Limping around,going to these loaded and hip youngsters,who came out of the eatery haven individually spent at least fifty bucks.Today, he limped towards these two young boys,roughly fifteen-sixteen in age.You know the ones i'm talking about..just out of school.Newest phones in their hands,dressed in their evening casuals ,all complete with a smile on their faces that usually reflects youth.Those kind of people. Like you and me to be honest.

Well,anyway, so this very old man limped towards them and extended his hand towards them.They placed something in his hand.After which this man, of around seventy years of age,having lived most of his life  on the streets,going from one meal to the next(or probably not),probably never having had a life where he didn't have to struggle everyday,or face humiliation or disappointment..this very old man..bent down and touched the feet of those two boys.

What happened after that was just too blurry for me.

Confessions of a Twenty Year Old

The alarm clock on the phone rings.A hand reaches out and hits snooze.Rings again. A groan and another five minute snooze.Finally the third time a groggy guy gets up and switches it off.There's only time to sigh,stretch and get going.The day has just begun.Its six am.its time for the first class of the day.After a hasty breakfast its time to go.

The first class gets over in two hours after which there's not much time to waste.The guys' day  is so far going okay.He had a very productive morning.And his energy levels are pretty high so far.He gets ready for the second part of his day which is college.A two hour lecture later he has a long practical.Its not going so well.The experiment to be carried out is long and is ticking away his precious patience.Finally his patience runs out and the experiment is unfinished to be continued next time.His lunch hour runs late and his Professor asks him not to enter late in the class.So he is stuck out of the class.He decides to get some work done in the library and on his way there runs into the HOD of his dept who tells him off for not being in class.And then goes away by murmuring'i will remember this young man'.By now our hero is feeling pretty agitated and depressed.He struggles through college and has a trifle misunderstanding argument with his friend.his friend says to him 'don't be stupid..i swear these days you've become so thick'.
Ordinarily this will not insult him,but today it just sounds mean.
A little hurt and tired (its been twelve hours since he got up) he returns home and calls up his buddies to hang around someplace where he can de-stress a bit.His mother hears this and says ' didn't you just get home?can you stay put for even a sec? ' .  He was really looking forward to this.It was his best friends birthday but he feels guilty and cancels his plan only to find his mother not in one of her best moods.She's had a long day too( but of course thats a different story altogether).She grumbles about how he's not behaving well at home these days,how he should start studying,and how he just doesn't these days.The guy has just planned to revise a topic tonight but is hurt that his mother really thinks he wasn't going to study.So now angry,depressed and very tired after sixteen hours he decides to indulge in his only passion,playing the guitar.He tunes it and one of the string breaks.Dejected yet again,he collapses on his study table and makes a 'to-do' list which runs down to 15 things.Money.He's out of money.And he tries to figure how to ask his mother for money to fill in some fuel in his bike.Specially when she was angry at him this night.
He turns the computer on and logs on to his account just to check his mail when his Father storms in and just says "you're online whenever see you aren't you?" .
He gives up the idea of studying knowing that in a few hours he'll have to wake up again,and tries to get some sleep.He makes a mental note of the pen drive he has to give to his friend tomorrow and the practical that he left today that he will have to finish in his lunch hour tomorrow.
What feels like a few minutes later,the alarm clock on his phone rings.

its in the eyes.

Once I was on my way to college listening to some fast happy song on my iPod and feeling exceedingly happy. As I waited on a red light I looked around (singing in my head) and I saw an old man sitting on the street. It's not that he was old. It's that he was very old. It's not that he was thin, he was sickly thin. His legs resembled two long thin sticks. His hair was all over the place. On this very cold morning he was wearing two small pieces of clothing, barely concealing his dignity, forget saving him from the cold. He was frail, tiny and sidelined. His hands were the thickness of my fingers.

But interestingly these were not the most noticeable things about him. He was slowly peeling a banana and his eyes had the simple and easy hunger of a morning breakfast.

 I was transfixed. The health, the clothing and the cold did not affect me much. But the fact that he was eating a simple banana had tears in my eyes.

On another day I was standing in front of a MC Donald’s. I had a big fight with my friend and we were standing there fighting. Suddenly next to me I noticed a lady sitting there respectably in her clean red Saree. She had a little girl in her lap who was chuckling to something her mother had just said, and an older boy of five running around the both of them.

 He was laughing and running around his family when all of a sudden he saw his 'customer' approach. still giggling he ran to him and begged for money, still not able to control his laughter over the little joke he has shared with his mother. The 'customer' then said something like “chalo chalo age jao"  and shoved the kid aside. The boy still chortling shrugged, and ran back to his mother and said shook his head. His mother patted his head and gave him a little kiss and sent him off again. He ran around looking for more people happily.