About Bragbook

Not long ago, a baby was born in the Far East.
The publicity-shy, well-heeled, highly-educated parents had decided to keep the baby out of the digital limelight and did not post pictures of their baby on Bragbook.
The baby's enthusiastic aunt, however, did.
The issue somehow got dragged into the media and was blown out of proportion.
Last heard, the aunt and the parents were not on talking terms.

***

The bride's dress was one of the loveliest ever seen.
Her mother's best friend, Auntie Isla, had made it with much care and had meticulously sewn each bead in place. It was a wedding gift.
After the wedding, Auntie Isla requested for pictures of the dress. The bride's mother gave her all the pictures of the wedding.
Auntie Isla posted a picture of the bride in the dress the next day on Bragbook with the comment:
'Gwen Parker on her wedding day!'
When Gwen saw it, she was furious. She did not want her wedding picture paraded on Bragbook. What's more, she did not even want some people to know that she had got married!

***

When Mariam and her family first arrived in U.A.E., they had no friends. Slowly they got to know an elderly couple from their hometown who helped them greatly and guided them. Soon, their friends became Mariam's friends too. They enjoyed dinners and days out together. Social life seemed unbelievably good till Mariam was invited to join their various groups on Bragbook.
She found out that the people who seemed to be friends said mean things about each other in different groups.
"There was so much negativity every time I logged onto Bragbook. I started being sucked into this negativity. So one day, I closed my Bragbook account" Mariam said with determination.

***

Recently, I happened to meet a group of friends who intentionally kept away from Bragbook. Some had never opened Bragbook accounts, some had closed theirs, and others hardly logged into theirs.

"Who needs Bragbook when I have so many people in my real life at present who know what I like and what I don't. I don't need any virtual friends to complicate my life" said Nandan.

Carla cuddled her baby tightly and said, "One day I was so engrossed online that I forgot to feed my little darling. So I decided to stay away."

"None of my immediate family members are on Bragbook. If I fall sick tomorrow, is my friend from Timbuctoo going to feed me soup? No. My sister will feed me and my brother will take me to the clinic. I found out that I wasted too much precious time on Bragbook so I rarely log into my account. I am there for my family when they need me" said Annika.

"My friend died," said Marianne, her eyes welling up with tears, "Her husband found out about her affair on Bragbook so she killed herself."

"My goodness, I just found my ex-boyfriend online. I log on occasionally and find a message from him waiting. Perhaps its best to stay away. He has his family and I have mine" said Robyn.

"I think it is the need to feel appreciated and liked that draws people to Bragbook" I reasoned.

Our old and wise friend, Shakti, was silent all along. At last she said,

"I had heard young people say that Bragbook brought people around the world closer. But from what I have heard today, it seems to have split families apart.
From my experience, I know that Real people don't need Bragbook 'likes' to make them realise their own value. They just know. Also, they do not feel the need to advertise the good times they have had because life is balanced by good and bad times. And it is the bad times that make the good times special."

(Picture courtesy: Google images)

 

A Headache

Much has been made of women's headaches in the media through history.
"That is a proof" the men say, "that you have a head."

So it's a bit embarrassing, you see, to admit that I had bad headaches all of last week.

Yes, I have had headaches before... the one that comes on the night before incomplete homework, the one that comes on when you are out in the mid-day sun for too long, the one that comes on after dehydration, the one that comes on after a heavy dose of anaesthesia during surgery, the one that is triggered by a powerful ray of light or loud music, and so on.

This headache was unlike any other. It came on like a tsunami wave. One moment all was calm and peaceful, and the next thing you know is that you are engulfed by super-high terrifying waves. The pain concentrated on one point in my brain and I felt like my head was going to explode.

No, I did not take any pills. I don't like chemical painkillers.
I tied my head up tightly with a scarf, rolled myself up into a ball, and prayed that it would go away. But it didn't.

The next night, the headache came again. When I refused painkilling pills, my husband offered me a glass of wine. It went straight to my head and I sang old Hindi film songs late into the night in a particularly pathetic voice. Our daughter thought that I had totally lost my marbles.

Well, Amitabh Bachchan singing "Khaike paan Benaraswala, khul jaye band akal ka tala..." is one thing, and someone like me singing it late at night is quite another!

The night after that, the headache came again. I refused painkilling pills and the glass of wine, applied some Tiger Balm on my forehead and fluffed up a soft pillow. I nursed my headache alone.

Last night, I quietly took the pills and slept soundly.

I do have a head, after all!

(Picture courtesy: Clipart)

Testing the Tooth Fairy

(Picture courtesy: Google images)

When Elena's first milk tooth fell out, her parents were proud of their 'big' girl.
Elena hid the pearl-like precious tooth under her pillow at night and waited for the tooth fairy.
The next morning she found some money under her pillow. The tooth fairy must have visited late at night because Elena did not see or hear her.

A month later, one of Elena's tooth became so wobbly that she couldn't eat properly. At school, Miss Hanneke yanked it out and gave it to Elena in a tissue paper. Elena placed it under her pillow and found some money the next morning. 
She felt very rich.

The third wobbly tooth didn't fall out or got yanked out.
Elena swallowed it!
Oh dear! Although she had lost her tooth, Elena couldn't keep it under the pillow for the tooth fairy. Oh, what was she to do!
Elena's mum came up with an idea that she had read about in a 'Charlie and Lola' book. She told Elena to go to sleep with a wide smile. Then, when the tooth fairy hovered above Elena at night, she would notice her 'gappy' smile. This idea did work. The tooth fairy left some money under her pillow that night.

Well, and the same story continued till Elena turned ten.

Just before Elena turned ten, she heard someone on the playground say that tooth fairies are not real. She found this hard to believe so she decided to test the tooth fairy.

On her tenth birthday, one of Elena's tooth fell out. This time she did not announce it to anyone. She quietly hid it under her pillow at night and tried not to go to sleep.
The tooth fairy did not visit that night.
No fairy, no money.
Elena was disappointed.

"Did you know that Elena's tooth fell out yesterday?" blurted out Elena's best friend, Daisy, as she entered Elena's house the next day for a play date.
"Really?" said Elena's parents.
"Yes, and she didn't tell anybody. She wanted to see whether the tooth fairy is real" said Daisy while Elena tried to 'shush' her.

That night, Elena asked her parents, "Do you think tooth fairies are real?"
Dad said, "If you believe in them, they are real."
"Then why didn't the tooth fairy visit me yesterday?"
Mum said, "That is because you tried to test her."
Dad said, "And I doubt if she will come to visit you anymore."

Christmas was around the corner.
Elena wrote a letter to Santa and gave it to her Mum.
"Mum, do you think Santa will visit me?"
"Yes, my love, if you believe in him, surely he will" answered Mum as she cuddled her little girl who was soon growing up.



 

Golo's Library Books

Every Monday, the children from Miss Nadia's class brought their blue library bags to school.
All except Golo.
 
The librarian had warned Golo that he could not borrow books till he had returned the ones he had borrowed last year. She had already sent two notes to his parents - one was a notice about the late books and the other was a refund note. But neither the books nor the money was sent to the library.
On Mondays, the children looked forward excitedly to borrowing books with lots of colourful pictures and nice stories.
All except Golo.

While his friends pointed at Elmer - the patchwork elephant, the very hungry caterpillar, and the fairies in the books, Golo simply looked on.

After they had chosen their books, the children made a neat line at the librarian's desk to have their books 'beeped' into the computer. The librarian let them cuddle the soft toys that dangled from her table.
"Can I take him home with me for one day?" asked Shanti as she held Elmer - the patchwork toy elephant.
The librarian smiled.
"Elmer goes home with me everyday" she said. "He has a little bed in my house where he likes to sleep" she added with a wink.
Golo sat on the cushions in the library and listened. How he wished he could take an Elmer book home!
He had nothing to do so he just hung his head low and waited to leave the library.

When the librarian had 'beeped' all their books, the children lined up at the door to go to their classroom. Each of them had a library bag in their hands. They were happy to take the books home to read with their parents and brothers and sisters.
All except poor Golo. He was very sad.
"I'm sorry, Golo. You cannot borrow any books this week" said the librarian as she waved goodbye to all the children.
Miss Nadia requested the librarian to send a 'strong' letter to Golo's parents.  The librarian wrote a letter and put it in an important-looking envelope and gave it to Miss Nadia who put it in Golo's school bag.

The next day, Miss Nadia danced into the library and deposited some money on the librarian's desk.
"Oh, what a day! Golo brought the money to pay for his lost books!" she said breathlessly.
The librarian's eyes sparkled behind her spectacles.
"Wow... that is great news!" she exclaimed.
The next Monday, Golo proudly marched into the library with his blue library bag. He knew exactly where the Elmer books were kept. He smiled to himself as he chose two of them. Then, along with his friends, he stood in the line at the librarian's desk.

When his turn came, he put his books on the librarian's desk and waited.
The librarian smiled and said, "Golo, I am going to give you a little gift today."
She reached into one of the drawers of her table and found a bookmark.
It had the picture of Elmer - the patchwork elephant.

It said:
Return your books on time
Don't pay any fine.

The librarian gave the bookmark to Golo and reminded him to keep his library books in the blue bag after he had read them.
"Yes, I will do that" said Golo "Only thing is I have to find a way to keep them away from my Dad!"