Memorable Quotes

A 5 years old cousin , got into a scrape , whereupon he received a beating from his mother.
After a while , he came to his mother , busy in work and chided her :

" You did not even tell me 'Sorry!' ! "


During the toddler age of the aforementioned cousin , his favorite phrase on being annoyed was :

" You are not good! "

He went further for higher levels of irritation ; thus remarking to his aunt once :

" You are not good , and your Been ( her husband Mubeen , whose name he preferred cut short ) is also not good! "



On marriage :

(1) "The biggest blunder I made in my life."

- A Physics teacher , whose memory reminds me of 'bubbling with talk , laughter , life'.



(2) "Dear , it is the start of all troubles."

- A History teacher , who would say my 'dear children' to a class of bored 15 year olds.




" I love to come to school in the morning and smile at everyone ....."

- A Chemistry teacher. Her smiles inspired those zestful 'Good Morning(s) , ma'am' !'



During a meal , I was reminding my 5 year old twin cousins about saying their prayer prior to eating (i.e 'In the name Allah , and by the blessings of Allah'). My mother futher commented that if they forgot their prayers , the food would go to the Devil.
The younger of the two girls , paused thoughtfully and asked me with eyes wide with somber curiosity :

" Who is the 'Devil' ? "


One of the twins on being forced to eat her lunch by Nani (maternal grandmother) :

" My mother will come and beat you! You are making me eat so much! "

Snapshots in Writing

Watching the rain fall , alone in the afternoon ;
Listening to the drops slapping on the ground.

Licking ice-creams other than my own ;
Sipping a new juice made by a younger cousin.

Telling stories to the twins ;
Hearing protests on holding one more than the other in my arms.

Playing monopoly , with a ship ;
Sailing stubbornly against hoots claiming my Titanic would sink , as usual ;

Laughing at the banter common to the dinner table ;
Crying at the parting and yet longing for home ;

Gabbling about my love for words to an aunt , busy in the kitchen ;
The milk boiled over -
Apologising for distracting and ruefully commenting on schlimazels and schlemiels ;

Remembering that past vacation , the passionate mourning ;
Rejoicing in the eternal joy that sprung from ephemeral heartbeats.