Saying goodbye

Rock a bye baby on the tree top,
When the wind blows the cradle will rock,When the bough breaks the cradle will fall, And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Birthdays, what do they mean? A record of the day you came into this Earth? Is it a day you cannot recall and a day that your parents can simply never forget? Is it a date on which you buy cakes and throw parties? Are birthdays really that simple?

The answer is a definite NO. It took our mothers nine months (a little less for the more eager kids) to get to that one moment when time froze and our piercing shrieks filled the tense air. It's a day when your father was busy making numerous calls to relatives, buying sweets, talking to doctors, with an empty stomach, restless, tired…yet happy. On that very day, countless happy tears streamed down faces and fell to the ground, along with your own ones.

It's unbelievable, how the years since your existence keep on increasing. Birthdays come and go, you never stop growing up. And it's not until you sit alone to think about it, in complete seclusion, and realize all that you have left behind. All those years that will never come back to visit you again. All the things that you did, all the friends you had and all the love you got.

It all started with diapers, Cerelac and countless long nights crying in your mothers' arms. Next came the years when you had nothing better to do other than play, play and play. Toys were the most important thing on Earth and having your grandparent's chase you around with food was the next exciting activity. Your parents would teach you how to say A B C and 1 2 3, and soon you could say it all.

The first years of school were spent having friends flocked around you, envying you for the brand new sneakers you had: the ones that blinked red light when you walked. Tiffin time was like heaven, a short period of time when you could actually do something worth coming to school for. Exchanging tiffin with friends, talking about the latest games or the car shop you went to with your father the other day, fighting with that boy in your class (the boy you actually like), playing cricket and all those paper games…the list is endless. Then again there were the nerds, who actually went to the teachers to understand exactly why 2 X 2 was equal to 4.

As time flew by, evenings were spent napping or curling into your bed with your favorite Famous Five or Nancy Drew book. Land phones were objects of extreme delight, and you would spend hours talking to your best friends. But when to think about it now, there is a really mystifying question: what on earth did we talk about so much?!

Soon, you met your first crush, fell in love with Backstreet Boys and eventually found your real best friend. Gossiping became the latest discovery and playing sports was the newest found passion. It didn't take much time for things to start getting complicated. O levels seemed to stare down at us with a leer and coaching's opened the doors to a life outside the house. Life began to change…

Its true, growing up is a part of life, nevertheless it is depressing too. By the time the teenage years are crossed, life takes a drastic turn and a brand new chapter begins. I suppose growing up means letting go of all those bittersweet moments and that lost innocence. It means becoming responsible and living your life for just not yourself, but your parents too. It means creating goals, watching friends go abroad and starting off for a journey which has a destiny you are uncertain of. It means saying goodbye to your childhood, saying goodbye to those wonderful years.

By Nayeema Reza

Myth-box

Augostyo's incredible digestive system

Augostyo was a great hrishi [the equivalent I guess is religious scholar, saint]. He is said to be the combined incarnation of both Fire and Wind. He performed quite a few great feats. Here is one of them. There may be difference of opinions as to how the events occurred, but they have been presented in the simplest possible form, so please forgive any unintentional offense caused by the stories.

Part one-
Imbol and Batapi:
Imbol and Batapi were two monsters, who also happened to be brothers. They figured out a rather ingenious way of killing innocent people and hrishis. Imbol could regenerate the dead. So, they would invite people to their homes and Batapi would turn into a sheep and Imbol would cook him and feed him to the guests. After the meal, he would call Batapi by his name and Batapi would come out of the victim's stomach like an Alien.

It came to pass that Augostyo accepted Imbol and Batapi's invitation once. The reasons were something along the lines of girl, money, saving the innocent, etc. So anyway, he sat down to dinner and ate with gusto and finished off all the food. Imbol then put on a gleeful face and called, “Batapi, Batapi.” Augostyo smiled serenely and said, “He isn't coming back. He's already been digested.” In a murderous rage, Imbol raised his sword to kill Augostyo. But Augostyo gave him such a scorching glare that he instantly turned into ashes.
Victory celebrations ensued…we think.

By Kazim Ibne Sadique