Prakaasham parathunna penkutti.....

Wars:I used to see them only in newspapers,TV channels
Gulf war,Kargil war,Iraq war,war in the middle east.. They were just news stories for me.
During Gulf war, one of my classmates in school had her parents in Muscat.So she was very upset till they reached India.As her benchmate,I also shared the worry.But I have never been with a person who has experienced a war."Wars,they happen so far away from this Gods own country"
And those wars in text books:First war of Indian independence,1857(had to memorize long essays for my history exam).

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/
serbia/kosovo/index.html

This news piece would just be another news piece for me if I was in India.But my Serbian classmates had experienced it first hand.So I was just listening to them.I was also reading up some stories in internet.

http://www.flashpoints.info/countries-conflicts/Kosovo-Serbia-web/
Kosovo-Serbia_briefing.html


The memories of old civil war were disturbing her.My classmate was born in Bosnia.The civil war going on there when she was in her pre-teens.She has acquired the act of survival.How to live with out electricity for six months?How to keep yourself going in the winter without enough heating material at home?How to eat in small quantities so that you can survive for longer?How to avoid people with guns while going to school?How to avoid eating so that her younger brother can eat enough to keep a full stomach?How to clean the house after coming back from school as her mom was not there to do it?


What was I doing in my pre-teens?Refusing to eat the food prepared on my table,because it didn't have my favourite stuff in it?Crying because I was not allowed to see my favourite TV show during study time?Getting everything on a platter !!!!!!


She went on to join the best mathematics faculty in Belgrade and got a job in one of the best companies.I am really happy that she is my classmate now.She makes me cherish my childhood.
Enjoying each and every moment.She jumps for any trip if she can afford it.She laughs at the slightest thing.May be she is regaining what she lost looong back.

Quote"You know something,I reached my mental puberty much earlier because of the war,sometimes I think I have emotions of a kid.That why I love to collect toys inside kinder eggs now,when I am in my twenties".And that ,loud Serbian laugh follows......
yeah she is the mom for all our classmates....."You cant go out in this weather with out the socks, shawl,thermal wear and with a wet hair"
"Oh dear,you are wearing half sleeves and plain slippers;This is not Indian summer,this is Finnish winter!!!"
"Oh dear,here is a bear hug for you,cmok cmok dear"

"Row row row your boat,gently down the stream
Merrily merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a dream"

NB:Soumya,I wrote this just because you told me and I am not a literary genius;So excuse me :-)