The First Book of my 10-year-old son
– “My Missions with Valvion”!
A couple of months back.
The pandemic was in peak; lockdown was
going on everywhere. We almost forgot where our door keys were lying.
Kavyanil, my son, was promoted to
Class V in June, this year. His online classes are over by 1:45 PM. Now, the
big question arose those days – What to
do after the classes?
Poor boy! What he would do as none of
his friends in the society came out to play!
Harry Potter, Wimpy Kids, Geronimo Stilton – all books he finished which
were sitting in the book corner of the house.
“Mamma, can I play Roblox now,
please?” a question I had to face in every few hours of interval. He used to
get “Yes” from me two or three times in a day with a disclaimer – “Play! But,
only for one hour!”
Interestingly, whenever he saw me
being busy in my meetings, he never missed those chances. He would stand
silently in front of me with both the hands joint (Namaskar) and make an
innocent face, “Can I play computer games, please, Mamma!” And, I didn’t have
any option or time to argue with him other than saying “Yes!”
Ooh! It was really tough to manage
his time. One thing I started doing, I made him write his diary before going to
bed. I felt good. But, gradually, I observed, he hardly took 5 or 6 mins to
finish his writing.
I wondered and asked him what
actually he used to write. I had to invade his personal stuff. And I found
out that everyday, same sentences were repeated.
Alas! I understood his issue. No new
thing was happening, so the poor diary had to bear the same stuff. So, Kavyanil
happily did the no-brainer work! In computer language, “Copy and Paste”! 😊
I changed my mind. I forced him to
write about his imagination, fantasy. And it worked!
Kavyanil started jotting down his
imaginations in his diary, which eventually turned out to be his first book.
Thanks to @Notionpress which was ready to publish the book.
I am really excited to share this with all
of you! Please do bless him, and wish him luck in his writing journey.
Here are a few reviews from readers:
A review from Akshat Sharma, a student of Class IX :
A review from Zoey, a student of Class VI:
And, a video message from Kavyanil :
You can buy the book at :Amazon.in : https://www.amazon.in/dp/1685383246
Amazon.com : https://www.amazon.com/dp/1685383246
Amazon.co.uk : https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1685383246
Notionpress: https://notionpress.com/read/my-missions-with-valvion
Flipkart.com:https://www.flipkart.com/my-missions-valvion/p/itmda1355d00baf7?pid=9781685383244&affid=editornoti
About the book :
The story is about a boy, Neal, who was out of school and took some time to understand what profession suited him the best. After travelling many places across the globe, Neal joined a secret organization – “Valvion” as a special force official and took up many adventurous missions across different geographies. Being the protagonist, Neal depicted his thrilling experiences how he helped different government organizations and countries in fighting against criminality, fraud & insecurity.
Read how Neal cracked the code of “The Presler” in San Francisco, caught Volta Seers in Dubai, neutralized Dr. James in the Icy Lab in Canada while making harmful potion, hacked intel in Egypt, defused underwater bombs in the Golden Gate Bridge, partnered with ’Cankillian’ to get Robots to fight with a large Spaceship and much more… Also, do you want to know what kind of high-end cars and armory he possessed? Jump into the reading voyage...
Sing with us the slogan of Valvion:
.A
year or two after our wedding. We were invited by one of my
ex-colleagues, Richa for dinner. We were living in a 2bhk flat in crowded South
Delhi and Richa was living in a villa of a posh society at Faridabad.
It was winter
time. The month of February, I think. We went pretty early as we had a plan to
have a good appetizer time with nice chat.
Grand
entrance, greenery surroundings, built in a piece of land with groves of some
fruits and flowers, elegantly crafted landscaping. The villa had a lush green
backyard, and the contemporary interiors were enhanced with refined finishes collected from all over the globe. The house featured superior craftsmanship and
details such as genuine fieldstone foundations, a wood fireplace, an attached
small plunge pool. The location of the society would appeal to anyone seeking
to get away from the hustle and bustle, but maintain easy access to all the
conveniences of urban living.
Richa’s
husband had interest in cooking and so, he kept a huge barbeque maker in the
backyard. The warmth coming from the mild fire, gentle touch of fog, soft Kenny
G music and the hot barbeque with cold wine – all were trying to mesmerize me
totally. Me and my hubby were so impressed with the starter, dinner,
ambience that Richa took us to show the society briefly – the swimming pool,
squash court, club house, waiting lounge etc. The swimming pool was dry though,
because of some repair work.
After having
an awesome time, we bid farewell with a promise to meet them soon.
On our way,
we were silent, but had a telepathy. I developed a desire to own such a house.
And, he understood my silent desire. As this kind of house would cost many
crores, it’s just not only out of scope, but not even near to our dream. He
tried his ways, tricks to make me understand that wherever we had been these
years, was not a bad place.
But,
something was cooking in my mind. I found another way to get a bit of this kinda
luxury. I thought - why can’t we atleast take a flat in rent in the same
society! The island kitchen and the library were haunting my husband too as he
loves cooking and reading books. Though he was not in full agreement, couldn’t
say me “No” any more! Yaayyyy!!!
And, next
day, I called up Richa. She was extremely excited and promised me to get a
nice, rented flat for me.
We got one
3bhk with study flat at almost the same rate that we were paying in our current
flat in South Delhi, just few thousands more for amenities and maintenance fee.
I was so
impatient that immediately we shifted, within a month. In few weeks, we threw a
housewarming party. I invited some of our close friends and south Delhi neighbours.
They were awestruck by the facilities and large sized flats available at cheap
rates. You know what? Two of them took the property agents contact number and
shifted within the same month, another two families followed.
Wow! In no
time, we had a good gang in few weeks.
In a month or
so, the Faridabad summer started. It gradually became unbearable. We installed
an AC, but there were long hours of power cut. Generators could not take the
load of ACs. Water pumps stopped working. Slowly, I started realizing that
there was a huge hair loss. I began my investigation and came to know that we
always used to get tanker water and thus, the society service charges were more
in summer. The distance from my home to office almost tripled while we shifted,
earlier it was 8 km and now it was 22 km in one side. Icing on cake was, there
used to be huge traffic jams because of Badarpur border flyover construction.
Come our
anniversary. Month of July. Many of my friends wished to visit us and have a
party. My husband also planned to cook so many dishes. We did all the shopping
the previous day – chicken, mutton, fish, fruits, vegetables, eggs, sweets.
The D Day. We
got up late as we had a disturbed sleep because of intermittent power cuts
throughout the night. I went to the washroom, started brushing my teeth. The
tap poured no water. I went to the kitchen, no water. Thank God, I kept few
bottles of drinking water. Cleaned my tooth-pasted teeth to show my wide smile
to husband while giving this news.
He almost
jumped from the bed, wondered what to do! We decided that in worst
case scenario, we would order food from the nearby restaurant. I just tried to
open the fridge to see from where to start, oh… inside the fridge, it was warm
enough… we understood that because of the fluctuation of power previous night,
some technical failure happened.
"Ting.
Tong."
Our door bell
rang. I knew that Dilruba was on time. I opened the door.
“Happy
Anniversary, Didi!” And, she went straight to kitchen to wash her hand.
“What to do
didi, no water?” I saw one muffled smile in Dilruba’s face.
“Just broom
the house. Rest, I’ll see.”
Dilruba sat
on the floor for half an hour after the dry sweep of the rooms. No TV, no
radio, no water, so, she left promising me to come when I would call her once
the water come in.
There was a
fight between our society and the tanker owners regarding some price increase.
Time was running...... our stress was increasing….
It was noon
time, I opened the freezer, a brown drop of chocolate fell on my hand. Hmmm,
yes, all the icy stuff melted…. I opened other sections; some weird smell started
coming in….
I kept the
brown bread on the island kitchen. Looked at the library which was standing
tall.
I heard my
hubby talking on phone loudly, “Sharma jee, do you have any flat available for
rent, we want to come back…”
Sharma jee is
the owner of our previous flat in South Delhi!
The sophisticated 5 bedroom home was approximately 4,500 square feet, located at one of the most coveted and beautifully tree-lined blocks of the luxurious society. Natural warmth and charm abounded in the light flooded four stories home.
I ranged the doorbell. A huge well-crafted face of a tiger was well embossed on the door to dignify royalty. A well dressed maid opened the grand door. She took me through the garden floor, an entry foyer, into a charming double-roof heighted sitting room. The fragrance of Rajnigandha flowers suddenly hit me sweetly, but severely. I could see an open eat-in country kitchen complete with a wood burning fireplace, featuring sunlight pouring through glass doors which open out onto a beautiful foot landscaped garden. She took me towards a restored and elegant mahogany wood staircase which led to the library in the first floor and upper four floors, while there was a capsule elevator just off the entrance.
There was a library in the corner with built-in bookshelves and few cosy chairs. Southern light poured in through floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the garden.
The maid asked me to sit on a comfy chair near the bookshelf. I thought of on-looking at the books beautifully stacked in the shelves.
The maid brought a glass of smoothie along with a few delicious cookies.
“Ma’am will take a few more mins to come. Please feel home.” The maid stated with a nice smile.
“What’s your name?” I could not help asking her.
“Rameen!”
“Such a lovely name…You look like from North eastern states! Are you by any chance?”
“Yes Ma’am, I am from Assam.”
I just saw Lalitha coming from the opposite side.
“Heyyyyy Zitaa….the charming lady! How are you? Thanks for coming……Sooo happy to see you!!” Lalitha hugged me softly.
Lalitha was wearing a light pink lenin saree and a big bindi, opening her straight hair to the back. I thought how lucky she was, possessing such a beautiful house in the prime location of Bangalore.
We had met in a Social Media conference a few weeks back and then onwards talked on phone and on whatsapp a few times. She told me that she had a beautiful terrace above her house, which she wanted to rent for some cultural programs. She was in search of an interior decorator. While she came to know that I had an experience of ten years in interior designing, she asked me if I could give it a try.
Lalitha took me to the terrace. Quite a wide space! In a corner, there was a small garden with a green cloth roof, having few outdoor cosy chairs, hanging lanterns, terracotta decoratives etc. I was quite excited to see the space, so much could be done.
“Lalitha….I can’t find any reason to say ‘No’ to decorate this space. I would love to start the work ASAP. I am really excited now, looking at the place.” I instantly said.
“Awesome dear……. So great to feel that you will be doing the space. Now we have another reason to be connected.” Laitha’s bright words…
We came down to the leisure room. With a 75 inches TV, home theatre and a low height 6 seater warm sofa made me feel almost sleepy. We had coffee and started discussing what could be done. We planned for the base design and post that, discussed how to do marketing about the space.
Almost an hour and half flew away so quickly. Lalitha’s 8 yrs. son – Niyor was back from his Piano class.
“Ma’am, food is ready.” Rameen came and invited us for brunch.
It was almost 11:30 AM, on a Sunday.
We went to the dining hall. Wow! Such a gorgeous dining hall. Beautiful fresh red roses and a big bunch of Rajnigandha flowers were increasing the beauty and elegance of the eight-sitter dining table.
I have a different connection with the Rajnigandha flowers… it makes me nostalgic for a while whenever I see or smell it, takes me to the days when Shyamal used to send me Rajnigandha bunches regularly as teens.
“I can see Rajnigandha flowers all over your home. The fragrance is really mesmerizing….” I just wanted to appreciate.
“It’s my hubby’s favourite flower. He loves the fragrance. Along with him, we are also falling in love with this flower.” Lalitha replied with a beautiful smile.
Requesting me to sit for a while, Lalitha went inside a room to call her husband. She wanted me to introduce with her husband, though I was a bit hesitant, shy, but anxious about how he would be…. how he would behave, being such a rich person, top-notch entrepreneur. I missed enquiring about him in social media, nor I asked Lalitha his name.
I was talking to Niyor, telling him about my 5 yrs. old son. He was quite excited to meet my son. Niyor was asking me many questions regarding my son’s choice about legos, hotwheels etc. etc.
Lalitha was back. A tall man with kurti was following her.
But, why my eyes suddenly started blinking faster, sight became blurry…..My nerves became weak…. I stood somehow….
I could not believe my eyes. Yes! He looked almost the same, might be,he gained some extra kilos. I felt like as if he still has some questions in his eyes….Yes! He was Shyamal.
I heard from someone long back that he became a big business man, started his own technology company. He was my first boyfriend in college and university for 4 years. I dumped him for Rahul. I still remember the day when he came and cried in front of me that he won’t be alive without me. But, I was not listening to him. I was firm and clear that we won’t be able to carry forward the relationship. Rahul was far more energetic, naughty, vibrant than Shyamal. He was carrying a bunch of Rajnigandha that day too…
“Meet my husband – Shyamal.” I was back to reality with Lalitha’s words.
We shook hands, neither he nor me revealed that we knew each other. We talked little. But, I came to know that Lalitha used to work in Shyamal’s company before their wedding.
I came back home with a mixed bag of feelings, confusion whether I should proceed with the project. But, I was in need. I decided to be realistic and practical. I decided to carry on my project.
I was lying on my bed in the evening. My son was still playing with his friends in the field. Rahul became very different. He was yet to return from his regular weekend party. Probably, he was a bit frustrated as he was still struggling to accelerate his corporate career.
Time was running fast. I started thinking about what to cook for dinner.
Suddenly my phone rang. Probably, it would be a phone call from the Pub manager or Rahul’s friend, saying that someone needed to pick Rahul as he was fully drunk.
Oops! It was an unknown number.
“Hey Zitaa! It’s Shyamal.”
I was speechless. I didn’t know what to reply…..
“So nice to see you today at my home….. Sorry! I could not talk to you in my wife’s presence.”
“That’s okey Shyam!”
“I stole your number from Lalitha. Please don’t let her know…. And I just wanted to compliment you, you still looked the same Zitaa, my Zitaa. Hope to meet you soon.”
I felt like I was falling deep through a dark tunnel…..didn’t know what was waiting on the other side – darkness or brightness.
4
PM. 28th July, 2008. I was in a mood to finish my work very rapidly.
My colleagues, Arathi, Ritika, Subha, Amit, Aaraj, all were puzzled what
happened to me that day….wondered who had pushed on my SMART BUTTON.
At
4:30 PM, I rushed to New Friends’ colony flower market, straight from the
office. I was at max speed at shops. Could not accelerate more than this, no
space to waste even 5 mins. Quickly bought a cake… pineapple cake, his
favourite.
Picked
up a few colourful papers and chocolates from nearby stationary shop. I already
had bought a Titan Watch last week from South Ex.
My
unconscious mind was continuously ringing a bell that I would have to reach
home by 6:30 PM at least, as he might come home anytime after 7 PM.
But,
oh…suddenly, it started lightening, and I could sense as if there would be a
heavy thunderstorm… Gradually, the sky became murky, dark, and the wind
eventually taking its speed to be stormy…
Luckily,
I reached home exactly at 6:28 PM. Took all the stuff carefully from my car and
kept all of them at my secret corners.
In
few minutes, it started pouring cats and dogs. For few minutes, there was a
hailstorm too. I dialed his number. He was still in office, could not talk to
me; Disconnected the phone after conveying the message that he was busy in a
meeting and would be little late.
Finally,
most important task remained, was to copy the long poem on a colourful paper, which
I had written for the special occasion. I penned it down quickly, put it in a
lovely envelop and kept under the mattress. I kept the Titan watch, wrapped in
a glittered box, under the bed. The cake, I put inside the wardrobe very
carefully, along with abeautiful candle
and a match box. Two red roses in a flower vase, I kept behind the dressing
table.
It
was 8 PM. The kitchen time for the belly service for the special dinner! I
bought Cheetol Maas while coming back from New Friends’ colony community
centre. And, food was ready by 9 PM.
All
set as per plan. Everything, I was doing sooo fast….Thank God, it was Friday!
It
was still raining heavily. I switched on the TV. NDTV, Zee News, Aaj Tak, all
were showing that there were heavy traffic jam everywhere in Delhi because of
the rain.
9:30
PM. I called him up. He told me that he had just started from Connaught Place.
11
PM. The calling bell rang. I opened the door. He took almost two hours to travel
just a 10 km distance.
“It
was heavy traffic jam! Hey….I am extremely tired and hungry…..Is dinner ready?”
“Yep….everything….
I mean, all set…”
Quickly,
I set up the dining table. He freshened up and started grabbing the dinner as
if he was hungry for many days…..
“How
is the Cheetol maas?” I had to ask as it was his favourite fish.
“Oh…was
it Cheetol maas? Sorry, I didn’t realise..” Aaah!!!...My effort went in vain…But, I
wondered being a Bong and a pro in recognizing fishes, what happened to him. I
tasted the fish once again, it was fine and tasty.
He
quickly finished his food and in no time reached the bed. It’s really an unusual
scenario, as he always helped me in settling the kitchen after dinner.
I
finished my kitchen chores and went to the bed room, where I could see him
snoring…..
I
consoled myself ….”No worry, Madhu…. you got good amount of time to arrange
everything. He might had a bad and busy day, and the heavy traffic made him
extremely tired….. Madhu, Empathy! Empathy! Sympathy!”
I put one
bright table-cloth on a movable table.
Suddenly,
the calling bell rang. I looked at the wall clock – It was 12 Mid-night!
Another
bell!!!
I maintained
silence…
Another
bell…
He got up
from the bed, an expression of wrath was clearly visible in his face…
Went to
the living room, opened the door without peeping through the door hole.
“Are you
Mr. Das?”
“Yes,
tell me..”
“This
bouquet is for you”
“No, no,
I didn’t order any bouquet… Sorry! Wrong address.”
Mr. Das
was almost to close the door…
“No Sir,
this is for you… from your wife, Happy Anniversary, Sir!”
“OK…” He
took the bunch of 100 roses from the guy, closed the door, kept it on the
dining table and came back to the bed room with empty hands…
“Happy
Anniversaryyyyyyy!!!!!” I wished him with my 32 teeth smile… with full excitement.
I was ready with the Cake and had lit the candle too. I thought to give the
gifts one after another after cutting the cake….
I could
see his red eyes…undoubtedly, even in the candle light…
He
somehow managed to stand for a while, he hold the knife and was in hurry to cut
the cake. I hold his hand, we hastily cut the cake, and I put one piece into
his mouth. He took the bite and fell on the bed immediately….restarted his
snoring within half a minute.
I ate one
piece by myself….kept the cake in the refrigerator. Didn’t find anything to do
other than sleeping.
Next
morning.
He woke
me up. I saw him sitting next to me with a euphoric smile, holding a tray with
two cups of tea, two pieces of cake and the bouquet of 100 roses which he had received
from me last night.
My eyes
fell down on those 2 roses I kept on the table while cutting the cake previous
night, as if they were giving a sarcastic smile on me…..
Now, it
was my turn- THE DRAMA QUEEN, closed my eyes again to show as if I still felt
sleepy, actually tried to figure out…… what should be my next reactions and
actions…..
To be
continued in my next wedding anniversary…… ;)
“Arre!
Get up! It’s already 9 am. Who might be sleeping at this hour, really wonder!!!! Go and check with
Reena, Meena, Leena…! I have never seen such lazy girl like you in my life….
(pause
for 1 or 2 mins) ….Have
you seen Pinky? She gets up at 6 am, such an expert girl she is!!! Go, and see
Dimpi, how she might be helping her mom in household chores….
…And
look at you…
(another
pause of few seconds) God
knows who is going to have you as the wife, God bless that guy…”
An everyday sermon during my teenage, regular
few lines in the morning which used to hit my ears like arrows, getting released
from my Mom’s bow.
“Plzzzzz
Mom! Plzzz! Let me sleep for another 10 mins ….plz! plz! plz!” Saying that I used to hold the
pillow on my ears tightly….trying to dream those ‘sweet dreams’ once again…
After
a gap of 10 mins, the similar sentences would be repeated….and the arrows of
the sharper words would invade the soft, fluffy cotton of my pillow and hit the
ears so hard that there would be no way left other than getting up from the bed. Lo and behold, the clock was still stuck at 8 am, and she was shouting -- it's already past 9.
“I hate you Mom! I hate you!” I used to become furious, irritated….but, get
to see “No Reaction” on my Mom’s face….and she would continue her chores...
While I lazily dragged myself to look for the tooth brush, the breakfast would be ready in the dining table by that time……with a lovely smile awaiting me.
It’s
just a slice of uncountable similar circumstances ….But, I wonder, what
material Mom’s mind is made of!!!No matter, how badly your kid reacts or say something to you, you still love them the same way!!! How come mother can have so much selfless
love for the child?
And…..now,
I think you are not exceptional, Mom!
’Coz, since the ‘Mom’ was born in me, I have started feeling, doing the
similar stuff…..
Only
a Mother can have Arms of Everlasting Love… Only
she can have an Unconditional Love beyond compare….Love which can never Die.., Only a Mother can have shoulders on which you can lean on in any trouble She
is the one who really cares, always there.. You are always special for
your mom, no matter why or how!! Mom! I just want you to
know how special and fortunate I feel myself, to be blessed with a mother as
loving, caring and wonderful as you.
