Short Story 3 : The Black Bear

 The Black Bear

                             - T ABRAHAM

    It was during one of the coldest nights during the summer season. There was a half-dead teddy bear found lying in the corner of the street where only the Eddies lived. The house was the only one that was located in the street and there was a forest nearby. The teddy bear was torn apart and it's stuffing was laid down beside it. It was struggling for life and the sun was slowly coming out. It was a usual day but it was going to become an unusual one soon for the Eddies. Mr. Eddy was heading towards his workplace and when he came to the corner of the Vampire Street he saw this tiny bear lying on the ground which was in it's critical state. He called the ambulance and also called the Tedlin Police Station which was nearby and they all rushed towards the nearby hospital.

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    Then Mr. Eddy after reaching the hospital along with the inspector Mr. Ruddy, Mr. Eddy asked him whether are there any crimes going on in their town. Mr. Ruddy replied, 'It seems like you are unaware of the incidents that has been taking place for quite some time. A psychopath is said to be roaming around the town during the night time who is deceiving the small teddy bears of our town. He appears in front of them to be a friendly being and once they build trust upon his words he takes them to the loneliest part of the town at the night time and stabs them and vanishes away'. They both were talking near the bed where the injured teddy bear was lying down.

    The teddy bear upon hearing the constable's voice started to blurt out, 'It was the huge black bear that lives in the forest near the Vampire Street' and then suddenly more stuffing started to come out and he continued, 'He deceived me and stabbed me with a sharp weapon which he had with him and he is found near the landfill during the daytime'. The nurse rushed in and in a few moments the teddy bear went into a deep sleep and it stopped breathing and they knew that he is no longer alive. Mr. Ruddy has filed a case regarding the psychopath and the words of this teddy bear was something that kept repeatedly ringing inside Mr. Eddy's mind.

    It was already evening and the sun was setting down. Mrs. Eddy noticed that something was worrying Mr. Eddy and she asked him, 'What has been bothering you ? You look so disturbed today and I have never seen you like this before'. Mr. Eddy looking straight into her eyes narrated the whole incident that had taken place and how disturbing it was to know that the black bear was living near their house.

    Then suddenly Mrs. Eddy told, 'Do you think he is roaming in our street once the darkness takes control during the night ? Because Stuffy would be returning back home today at the midnight after his tour with his friends. Will he return back safe ? He would not be accompanied by his friends because they live in the heart of our town. What if the psychopath is roaming around during the darkness of the midnight ?'. Mrs. Eddy looked straight into the eyes of Mr. Eddy and both had a chillness passing through their nerves. Mr. Eddy told that he would wait near their gate with a huge iron rod to hit the psychopath if he is anywhere around. Mrs. Eddy agreed but went to sleep with a heavy heart.

    It was twelve in the night where the darkness had it's full power over everyone's vision. Then Stuffy was seen at the corner of the street and Mr. Eddy was waiting for him inside the gate watching over him. Then suddenly a huge black bear from nowhere approached Stuffy and said, 'Hello, I am ....' and he was hiding a sharp object behind his back. Mr. Eddy rushed with the iron rod and smashed his head and grabbed Stuffy by his hand and ran into their house and locked the doors.

    Then there was a heavy and strong knock on the door which did not stop for a while and Mr. Eddy has called Mr. Ruddy and by the time he was about to reach, the knock on the door stopped and the cops tried to follow the psychopath but he went inside the forest and after this incident he was found nowhere around the town.

Short Story 2 : The Fried Fish

 The Fried Fish

                                - T ABRAHAM

    It was a usual day in summer where the sun shines with it's full radiance and there is an urge to avoid the foods that may cause stomach aches which are quite unbearable during this season of the year. But some teddy bears like to eat hot and spicy foods amidst this season of hotness. One such person is Stuffy. Stuffy was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Eddy of the Smart Lane street which is known for it's delicacies available for the teddy bears. The supermarket which is located in this street is known for it's unique quality of honey and fishes that it sells.

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    Mrs. Eddy was getting ready to go for buying the groceries for the day and was heading towards the supermarket. Then to her surprise Mr. Eddy and Stuffy were also there inside the supermarket with a few colleagues who are working with Mr. Eddy. After seeing them both she joined with them and was browsing through the supermarket to buy two bottles of honey and a few spices to prepare peppered honey for the dinner and she also bought six fishes for the night and the teddy bears are said to eat them raw without any boiling or process of cooking being done to the fish.

    Then suddenly Stuffy noticed a new stall being kept inside the store which was selling fried fishes which were hot and spiced with chilies and pepper. Mrs. Eddy was warning him about the prevalent stomach aches which may attack anyone when they eat spiced and fried fishes during the summer. But Stuffy said, 'I want to try it mom. Pleaseee... pleaseee..' and one of Mr. Eddy's friend said to Mr. Eddy, 'Why is she worried about having a fried fish during the summer ? It is so common that we all have it during the summer and stomach aches are just temporary and would just last for a few minutes.' Then hearing this Mr. Eddy told, 'She is just worried about the food being made inside the supermarket and wants Stuffy to have his fish at home. It was more prevalent that stale fishes are being cooked and served at these stalls'. So they all agreed and Mr. and Mrs. Eddy along with Stuffy headed towards their home and Mr. Eddy's colleagues bid them goodbye and went on their way.

    When they all reached home Stuffy was pestering his mother to make fried fish which was there at the supermarket and Mrs. Eddy said, 'Stuffy, are you a good boy my dear ? It is already time for dinner and if I have to make fried fish for you it may cross nine. So, tomorrow we may have it for our lunch'. But Stuffy wanted to have fried fish for his dinner and started to cry, 'I want fried fish.... I want it right now.....' Mrs. Eddy was already tired after her household chores for the day and seeing her son cry made her more tired and finally she said, 'Okay Stuffy... Okay.... stop crying and we can have fried fish'. Then Stuffy stopped crying and Mrs. Eddy started to clean the fish and prepared it in the same way how they have made it at the Supermarket. But since Mrs. Eddy was so tired she had forgotten to remove the sharp and piercing bones of the fish which can only be chewed and broken down by herself and Mr. Eddy but it might cause severe pain and trouble to Stuffy if it get's into his throat.

    Then they all sat down to have their dinner. Mrs. Eddy feeling very tired went and sat down in her chair and Mr. Eddy went to get refreshed after his day's work. It was Stuffy who has started to eat the fish which was fried and suddenly when Stuffy had chewed and swallowed the fish he suddenly began to vomit and was feeling uncomfortable. By this time Mrs. Eddy was asleep in her chair and Mr. Eddy came in to see what was going on. Then he woke up his wife and then without realizing that the pain and vomiting was due to the improper removal of the bones they thought it might have been because of the stomach ache.

    Stuffy suddenly fell down and laid motionless. Then they called for Dr. Delicious to see what was wrong with Stuffy. Then Dr. Delicious told, 'Your son has swallowed the bones which has badly injured his throat. I will prescribe a medicine to get relieved from the pain and he has just fainted due to the pain. Don't be worried. He will be fine'. Then, Mr. Eddy looked suspiciously at Mrs. Eddy and she was sweating profusely with fear conquering her eyes.

Prose 38 : Regression Factor

 Regression Factor

                                 - T ABRAHAM

    In this ever moving world with it's evolving lifestyle patterns we get carried away by many things. The most common things which usually grabs our attention and also deteriorates our physical vision and makes us move away from the natural human relationships are these electronic gadgets which act both as an angel and also as a devil. When we look into their purpose it is basically to make our lives easier and to communicate at a faster rate which is equivalent to the light's speed but we either overuse it or misuse it and we are making them as an object which appears as an angel that contains within itself the nature of a devil. So, here we are going to ponder upon the addiction which most of us acquire due to the usage of mobile phone and other electronic gadgets and how they cause both progression and also regression in one's life.

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    When we want to convey any information to our family and friends we did not have this superfast gadget called as the mobile phone during the days of our grandparents and one cannot convey something in a fraction of seconds to minutes but it takes days to several months for the information to reach them based on whether we are trying to contact them within the country or across the world. These devices are helping us to stay connected even though we are separated by the physical boundaries but emotionally we can connect with them these days.

    It is seen that the functionality of these devices are getting broader upon each passing day to improve upon the standards to give us comforts. These improvements are nothing but the applications which are being developed to connect with the world which is a large ocean in which we all are present as tiny droplets. So, when we open our mobile phones nowadays it is seen that many-a-times we are totally engrossed with these social media sites and apps which are becoming time wasters once when it starts to hinder with our responsibilities and duties to which we are being bound to.

    The electronic devices when used for a productive cause or for organizational purposes and to improve our knowledge and to hone our skills it is an angel which is showering us with the gifts of productive nature and making us into a good individual. But once when we start overusing the entertainment essence of these devices it starts to disturb our daily routine and also it makes us walk away from our responsibilities. The students who are in their schooling days are usually known to fail in their subjects and also to get introduced to inappropriate content because of the overuse of the internet which makes them see the worst part which was lying deep inside themselves and this is the same case amongst the college going teenagers as well.

    When we talk about the regression which is caused due to the overuse or misuse of these devices it mainly makes one feel weary and depressed all the time as it hinders with one's sleep cycle and causes many bodily ailments and also causes one to become unproductive and to fall ill frequently both physically and mentally.

    I would like to mention one of my personal experience or an experiment to test why I feel tired during somedays and feel energetic the other days. I have observed that during the days when I use my mobile phone and computer for a longer duration of time I have seen that my body and mind becomes weary and I sleep for a longer duration of time than usual. When I have checked the other way around I have observed that I had my usual level of energy and enthusiasm and was able to complete many tasks and my sleep cycle was uniform during these days.

    It is an undeniable fact that nowadays everything is becoming electronic and are electronic. So, it is always better to use them only for our productive activities and it is always good to take a break from these screens if you are held up with responsibilities that requires the usage of these screens.

    Hence, it is always good to reduce the screen time to protect ourselves from the avoidable illnesses and we should also be conscious about our sleep cycle which gets affected by the developments of the world. So, it is better to use these objects to become more productive rather than turning them into a regression factor for us and to avoid walking in the path of self-destruction.

Prose 37 : The Time Killer

 The Time Killer

                                    - T ABRAHAM

    It is an inevitable fact that one can work with his full potential only when one has a normal functioning of his body and mind. When one is unable to give his maximum possible input to make a wondrous outcome it is because of the problems faced by him. The problem is nothing but an inevitable one or rather at times one can keep oneself away from it as well, it is none other than a 'disease' which causes either a minor or a major discomfort either to the body or mind or sometimes to both. Here, we are going to ponder upon how illness is consuming our potential and our precious jewel of time in making our progress to retard for quite some duration of time.

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    Many often we get exposed to many entities of nature and also of artificial origin which has got within itself an ability to cause infections, diseases and disorders. It is known that one get's affected or infected by these evil entities only when it is able to intervene with our immune system which serves as a protective shield for all human beings. The level of intervention differs based on many factors upon which both interact with each other. Sometimes, the man is less immune and is bodily weak and is more succumb to the evil entity, even though the entity is weaker the evilness of it has a higher potential to rule over the man's body and mind. There are certain instances where both of them are equally a stronger opponent to one another and the result tends to zero and none is affected and both ignores each other's presence.

    There is a famous saying which describes about the value of one's health and character which make up a man into a wholesome human being. It is said that, 'When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost', which describes about the essential elements that make up the mankind. This quote by Billy Graham makes one realise that there is an innateness present in both health and character and the idea of 'something' and 'everything' is describing the value of each.

    Whenever we fall ill our body and mind retards and pauses us from our daily routine and makes us look tired, weary and lost. It is like a pest that keeps consuming our nutrition and energy in a slow and steady mechanism which makes one's potential to remain dormant or go into the state of hibernation until one gets fully recovered from it. The time lost during an illness seems like many ages being passed and our potential is being made to remain in the state of rest. The battle between our body and the evil is something that drains out our energy to the maximum and it seems to be prolonged sometimes. During this battle we are falling behind many people who were at a slow pace in their life's progress and we have to rush to come back to our own position when we are back into our routine after this battle.

    The battle during our initial days of our lives seems to be quite hard to combat but we always win irrespective of the abundant loss of time which we have to undergo. The later part of our life or especially during our early stages of adulthood we are quite familiarised with these battles because of the earlier battles fought in which we have tasted the victory and it's fruits. When we are moving forward in time and we reach our later part of the adulthood we find the warfare to be a quite tiresome one because our energetic self is slowly ebbing away with time.

    It is seen that most of the times our tastes becomes bitter due to the bitterness of the strict and stringent medicines ruling over our body to heal us from our illness. One has to sacrifice the sweetness and coolness of delicacies and foods to win the battle. A great amount of sacrifice is needed to win the battle in a few days and if one is ready only for a little amount of sacrifice the war is prolonged.

    Hence, it becomes one's choice either to give way for the battle and prolong it for a longer duration of time or to end it up in a few days. The disease and illness as a time killer is something that should be taken seriously as we are losing a lot of opportunities and experiences of life which is made possible to cherish and witness only in the presence of a sound body and mind.

A Journey Back To Home From Hometown - 30/05/24

 A Journey Back To Home From Hometown - 30/05/24

                                                                            - T ABRAHAM

    Whenever we get some time to get away from our daily routine we have many things to do. One of the essential one is to visit one's hometown where one belongs to. It is always preferred by many of us to be somewhere around where one get's the feeling of belongingness rather than being somewhere around this vast world where one feels alienated sometimes. Here, I am going to share with you all some of the video clippings which I had managed to shoot from my train which was bringing me back home from my beautiful and peaceful hometown of Nagercoil.

    So, I went to my hometown this year and had a nice time of relaxation with the place where I belonged to or it is a place for recreation and rejuvenation. Hometown is a place where one's body and mind naturally belongs to and finds an abundance of comfort and happiness when one lands in it's soil.

    This time during my visit to Nagercoil I got familiarised with certain places and was getting aware about the locality where my grandparents lived. Since, the climatic conditions this year ranged from light to heavy showers of rainfall we did not visit many places. It was not something for which we went for the stay at the town but to have a nice time and space for healing after the tiresome everyday schedule which happens once the holidays are over.

    The departure from the land filled with nature's presence and nature in all it's physical forms was something heartbreaking for me. So, while travelling back to home from my hometown I got a chance to take a few clippings of the Aralvaimozhi's windmills which were perfectly captured during the journey. These windmills are in constant rotation and provides us with the electricity which we require for our day-to-day activities. The rotation of the windmills keeps the human life cycle's comfort in rotation and when these move gently our lives also moves on gently but once there is a disturbance caused in these inventions there is a disruption in our everyday routine as well.

    Hence, the journey ends with the sun falling asleep and the night sky coming into the scene and during the darkest time in the morning we reached Chennai. The separation is quite hard to accept but our homes are separated from our hometown.

Prose 36 : A Visit to an Ancient Architecture - 27/05/2023

A Visit to an Ancient Architecture - 27/05/2023

                                                               - T ABRAHAM 

    These days when we look around us we usually witness a sight which usually has buildings of fancy designs and architecture. It's really very rare to see houses, especially independent houses as many areas are getting converted into an apartment complex.

     So, getting a sight of an individual house is really very rare and that too if it has to be an older one it is something impossible. Many of us either go for the new and developed architectural designs and demolish the old structure completely or else we renovate our houses. But, when we think of the age old adage which says, 'Old is Gold', it's true in almost all cases except for a few instances. This adage stands good especially for the buildings and houses constructed these days.

    The ancient building about which we are going to compare our modern architecture is the great palace named 'The Padmanabhapuram Palace' which is located at Kanyakumari near Thuckalay.

Entrance of the Padmanabhapuram Palace 

    The Padmanabhapuram Palace is a great example for the ancient architecture which was in the Kingdom of Travancore (the present day Kerala and the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu). This palace even though present in Tamil Nadu is being maintained by the Government of Kerala.

    So, to talk about my visit to this palace and it's beauty, it's actually a place where you need to pay for taking photographs and videos. There is a place where we have to leave our footwear outside and we are supposed to walk inside the palace barefooted. Since, it was May month at the time of my visit this place was quite hot and it was quite challenging to walk on the sand barefooted. To describe about the beauty of this palace it was purely a building which did not undergo any change and is being preserved to witness an ancient architecture. The rooms of this palace are being beautifully ventilated enough for us to have a good air-circulation inside the building, so there is no need for us to have ceiling fans and air-conditioners to keep us cool during the summers. The roof is made up of clay tiles which has a specialty of keeping the palace cool. There are very few furnitures in each room and these are usually made up of natural materials such as wood, stones or medicinal plants. Since there are very few furniture kept in each room there is more space for moving around freely. The stairs which are present inside the palace is a classic example for the ancient architecture. The stairs inside the palace are very much distant from each other and one has to be careful while climbing them. The palace has many plants and are well maintained by the ones who takes care of them.

Plants at the Padmanabhapuram Palace

    But, nowadays when we see there are houses which have large rooms but are congested with furniture and things which we do not really need and there is not much of space for a free movement. The roofs of the houses being built these days are done either by using the fancy ceiling or is being built using the cement and we need a ceiling fan to keep us cool and especially during the summers we need an air-conditioner. Then, it is also very rare to see people having a garden at their house these days and we are either cutting down all the trees to increase the size of our house, else we cover all the ground area with cement and we do not even make an attempt to have potted plants at our houses.

    Due to the lack of plants and trees in the houses being built these days it can be seen that there are certain disorderliness becoming prevalent on our healthy natural spaces. It is clearly visible that our locale is moving away from nature when we are unable to witness the nature with it's elements. When we say the elements of nature it is not just the plants, soil, water and air but also the insects that dwell in the nature. Nowadays it is seen that there are no butterflies, dragonflies and birds seen in the locale where our house is being built due to the lack or due to the absence of plants. The potted plants and a small garden might bring a few insects inside our locale but having a few trees would bring them in abundance.

    When the growth in nature is being suppressed by terminating the goodness it is providing us with, it is seen that the process of regression is on it's way. When these insects of pleasant nature are not allowed to thrive among us we can see that there is an increase in the number of pests that causes diseases and harm to the human race. Once the progression is being rejected the process of regression starts rapidly with these insects such as mosquitoes and spiders that can thrive in polluted spaces. When we get into this situation it is quite hard to bring back the nature and make it prosper on it's own because a natural process is more effective than a man-made one or an artificial one.

    It can be seen that our ancestors have lived in buildings which kept them close with the nature and all the things they got were directly from nature and were not man-made. We usually know that the things which we get from the nature gives us more benefits and helps anything to sustain for a longer duration of time when compared to the artificial ones or the man-made things.

    Thus, this palace not only stands as an example for an ancient architecture but also as an example for how our ancestors utilised the natural resources and lived a healthy and a happy life. It is seen that progress and development is making us move away from the environment but when one realises the comfort that nature showers upon us we would turn away from all the artificiality surrounding us and would never return from our mother nature's place.

Nature's Influence On Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

Nature's Influence On Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice

                                                                     - T ABRAHAM

    Whenever we read anything we are usually taken up by the earlier thoughts, descriptions and ideas being presented to us. We usually try to go along with the existing ideas about a work of art and we find ease in understanding it the way it is. But many-a-times some of us feel something unique being present inside the art that none other than our mind can sense. So, one among them in which I felt nature to be a minor theme yet a significant one is in Jane Austen's novel titled Pride and Prejudice and it turned out to be my first article to be published by the IJRAR journal.

    So, in Jane Austen's novels we usually come across the themes of marriage, love, gender and sexuality. It is always very clear that when we start reading any of Jane Austen's novels, we automatically start to connect it with the dominant themes and the crisis which these characters undergo. So rather than confining ourselves with these themes which are always dominant in the works of fiction during this time period of 1790-1830, we can also view nature being described by Jane Austen in her novels. Here, we are going to focus upon the description about nature and it's influence on Elizabeth Bennet given by Jane Austen and how it is clearly reflected in her first novel titled 'Pride and Prejudice (1813)'.

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