Is your G.E.M under control?

We may envy others who appear to have a perfect life, but who knows what lies beneath the surface! For all you know, that someone may probably envy you for those aspects of your life that you take for granted! Haven't we all come across a situation like that? For instance, a friend or a peer who seems to have everything one would wish for……but the fact of the matter is that while we know the perks, we don’t know the pressure; we only see good days and don’t see the bad days; we only see what that person has gained and not what he or she had to give up! Many a times there's more to what meets the eye and all we see is what we choose to see! :-)

Today we read “G.E.M” by Jane Clarke and illustrated by Garry Parsons, a story revolving around a boy named Royd and his envy quotient called the “G.E.M” meaning the Green Eyed Monster (which is literally a small green object hovering around everyone) Royd thinks his friend Gark has everything – a space pod for a birthday gift, a booster bouncer and a performing magician at his birthday party and best of all a free ride to Mars as and when he pleases!. He doesn’t heed to his mom’s warnings to keep an eye on his G.E.M lest it may gobble him up! But as Royd finds that the party is getting more and more fun, he cannot contain his jealousy and his G.E.M grows twice, ten times and finally a hundred times bigger until it puffs up so much that it gobbles him up! As Royd’s sister drags Royd’s G.E.M back home, his parents sympathise with his state by recollecting their childhood G.E.M experiences and explain that no one has everything. A couple of weeks later, when its Royd’s birthday, Royd’s mom and dad organize a super fun birthday party and Royd’s G.E.M grows back to its normal size. But its Gark turn to check on his G.E.M as he in turn considers Royd to be lucky to be having a little sister and a stay-at-home mom! As Royd’s mom serves some baked goodies, Gark mentions that his mom never gets to bake as she travels a lot on work……and guess who’s G.E.M grows bigger…….Royd’s mom who wishes she were working too! J Abhay was amused that both Royd and Gark were in fact jealous of each other!  So you see…..everyone has their own G.E.M to keep a check on!