He used to announce his presence with a sort of a whistle. And to every parent in the neighbourhood, that was like a medieval battles conch, announcing the commencement of war !
But those days are passe. The modern times that we live in of course have balloons that fly you ! Hot Air balloons they are called. The only heat in the balloons that i am used to is the one coming from my own breath !
There is one memory thought, that is evergreen. It was kindergarten. My class teacher brought a set of balloons to class, and set a raving cat amongst feisty pigeons. A fight ensued over a particular balloon of bright red colour.
And she separeted us saying , ever so sweetly, ‘its not the colour of the balloon that gets you higher. Its whats inside’ ! And was i floored !
I didn’t make much of it back then. But that conversation stayed. And many years later, made much sense. Of course. Of course ! That was a profound statement.
And then, the MBA happened.
On a hot summer day, after a listlessly ‘hot’ case study discussion punctuated with ‘it depends’, the prof remarked,
‘Gas will get you only so far. You need something else to get any further…like some colour ‘ !
I stared at him. And thought of my Kindergarten teacher. Life seemed to have come full circle !
This post concludes the three post series titled ‘On The Tree’ !
17 responses
…a full circle indeed!!
wonderful read this one bro.
🙂
Because, there are more people looking for color, than gas. I am waiting for the day, when Baloons are sold online, Nothing will matter then 🙂
I like these “on the tree” series. Something that we see everyday but pay no attention to. Its amazing how you can weave a post around them 🙂
Hey! I have seen this sign before too. Now that I have a camera phone, I shall click whenever I come across such funny things on trees and mail them to you for your ‘On the Tree’ series..
Great! I always remember one of my birthday we got the baloons in all indian flag color,and put it on our car and roamed in whole city.
Neat 🙂
This get me around my balloon memories too! gas balloons are my favorite, after playing we used to leave to see where it goes. A cool ad.
The Prof said ‘You need something else to get any further…like some colour!’. I think he was right. Your choice of employer seems to be deeply influenced by that statement! 😉
Vivek
Fantastic – you have a way of writing things. I laughed when I read about gas taking us no where. But still such ilk seem to thrive.
Just anything you go with it huh. Good job.
Trust you, with coming up with a full circle! Love the way you tie things up, very deep, yet not too lofty! Wow is, but a word here…
Wow! That’s real food for thought Kavi. So is it the gas or color that makes you fly higher? Found your answer?
Rashmi
Kavi – The binocular man
hugs !!!
Good post, Kavi! Revived some ‘balloon memories’ of my own after reading it.:)
Simple but rich childhood…..our times were wonderful……I feel sorry for our children that I am afraid might not carry such poignant memories from childhood……that is because we had teachers who were dedicated in making our lives better…..and infact had a profound impact on our lives…..
a perfect “Full Circle”, Kavi…..
good one…
nachi : Thank you !
Mduveeran : Balloons online ! Ofcourse. And there is enough gas there too !! Already !!
NM : thank you.. i am that monkey that jumps from tree to tree. With a camera in hand perhaps !!
🙂
G: Ooh. That would be lovely. I will give due credits ! And it can be a truly collaborative effort !! 🙂
Swatantra : ofcourse. Your birthday along with India’s bday is an amazing coincidence !!
Manu : Thanks 🙂
Jeevan : Thanks !
Sir : 😉
Iyer sir : Well, sir, this ilk thriving is ok. They seem to be driving the world ! Now thats a problem ! 🙂
Priya : Yes ma’am ! Anything ! :)Thank you !
Naperville Mom : Thank you ! I will climb many trees for that comment ! 🙂
Rashmi : I still am searching ! 🙂
Hobo : Thanks partner ! I hope the length is ok !
Manju : Thank you !
praveen : Thank you ! child hood holds many balloons right !>?!
Balloons were filled with dreams in the past. Now the balloons belong to the children, and all we have is the deflated ballon-skin. Maybe I need to call the number in the photograph.