And Suddenly I Was World Famous!

I was born in a story telling family!

When I was two I would  go to my brother who was four years older than me and ask him to tell me a story. He would ask me to name some objects. My eyes would scan the room ..CHAIR …SWITCH…BOOK...TOY-TRAIN and off he would go spinning a tale for me with those objects! Once I started school my favourite time of the day was when on my return my mother would sit with a cup of tea and some biscuits and I would sit with her nibbling really tiny bites of the biscuits to prolong our mother-daughter chats during which  she would share with me stories from her childhood or a story she had read recently in some magazine. Vacations meant visiting grandparents. Then it was endless days of story marathons...they were the master story-tellers! My maternal grandfather told  me stories for children ...paternal grandfather told  me stories from history…maternal grandmother told  me tales of her youth and paternal grandmother told me folk tales! How I looked forward to my vacations!

With so much story-telling in my genes I also without realising joined in the family tradition! It started when I was around six years old and became a movie fan. In those days watching a movie in a cinema hall was a very special occasion and the tickets were expensive. We  had a young helper  who helped my mother with the cooking and also loved movies like me but couldn’t afford to see so many movies. So there I was following her around on weekends telling her a movie story scene by scene with details of background, characters and dialogue! Once I started reading books on my own I became a story-teller myself. In the evenings often the little kids in my lane would gather around me to listen to a story, either read by me or written by me.  In school once in the last class of the day I stood telling a story to my class with such intensity that the bell rang but no one neither the teachers nor the students moved, all  insisting that I finish my story!

Years passed by. I got sucked into the rat race! Intense studies...job...household chores...bringing up children, time just flew by!

And then it happened! One day I was walking and saw a squirrel pass me, so I took my phone and clicked a picture. Next I clicked a picture of a magnolia tree in full bloom. An old woman passed me giving me a smile which lightened up her wrinkled face. A fire engine then went followed by a police car making loud noises to clear the way. My rusty brain started connecting the events and thinking of a story…

“Mrs. Johnson checked on Mr.Johnson. He was fast asleep. As much as she loved him with her heart and soul looking after an Alzeiheimer’s patient meant being on 24/7 support. She smiled to herself, was this what life was preparing her for she wondered! She softly chuckled to herself, no wonder her career was also as an IT support helpdesk agent. Those were the days when she dressed up everyday and stepped out to go to work. All the neighbours in the lane took the same bus. Bus no 44! She was a friendly person and people confided in  her easily. Often its easier to confide in a stranger who has no common friends with you than your own friend! She had a busy social life on the bus. They would joke and twist the famous Las Vegas saying “What happens on bus number 44 remains on bus number 44!" People often complain about commuting but for her the bus journey was a favourite part of her day! Days she did not meet anyone she knew she looked out of the window in silence as the bus rode over the bridge. Staring at the still waters gave her a chance to contemplate on life peacefully. This was her own time away from any call of duty or responsibility. She cherished those quiet moments in her otherwise busy day! She looked out of the window. The grass was glistening with dew. There was a squirrel running up and down the tree. Her favorite magnolia tree in full bloom, signalling the beginning of spring at last. It was a bright sunny morning! “I will just go out for a quick walk”, she said to herself.  She stepped out and took a whiff of the fresh air. As she walked by the park she saw a young lady clicking pictures of a squirrel. Mrs.Johnson smiled and greeted her a good morning. It felt good to see another person. She felt so lonely at times! Just then a fire engine and police car went screaming by with sirens on, tearing through the peace and silence of the early morning. “Oh no! They are entering my lane! Did he wake up? “ She turned her direction of walk and started walking hurriedly towards her home…”

 I went home all excited! I took out my big yellow pad and started writing the story . The words just poured out. In a creative mood and being in software field I found some good software to write my story with animations. Showed it to my daughter and she said why don’t you upload it to Youtube! You always wanted to be a writer and people to read your work, this is the fastest way to do it! So, we worked together whole weekend excited and completed my story presentation and uploaded it. That night I could not sleep! In the morning we opened the video and saw it had 2 views and both had left positive comments! Next day it was difficult to focus at work. I watched in amazement as the number of viewers and comments grew! People not just from my suburb or city or country, people from all over the world were looking at my work. Suddenly I was world famous! The video had gone viral!

So I continue my family tradition once again…telling stories …but in my case not just to my family but to the whole world!

************************************************************