Nakedness

As humans evolved a certain mask came along with it. Not only did they put clothes on themselves, they put a cover on the basics of being human. Along the evolved functioning of the brain, primarily driven by survival instincts came the complexities of society and peaceful living. The survival instincts being pre dominant one needed to outdo the other within the norms of societal rules (and obviously the others exist who care a dam). The cloak was the solution to the evolving human brain. A cloak for everything. Words, expressions, clothes, makeup, societies, clubs.. you name it they built it.

The cloak has been getting thicker ever since and is at it’s concealing best now a days. However, what we tend to forget is that beneath all the cloaks is basically a human being whom we should be able to appreciate. Sometimes I feel if the nakedness could still exist and one could appreciate each other for what they are stripping them of all the cloaks that have been put on, life would begin to be much simpler.    

Just a Thought: Twenty Two

Nostalgia:
Whether it brings a smile or wipes it
Is a matter of relations you've built over the years

Intolerance

Intolerance has been the highlight of the week gone by. Whether it be for artistic freedom or shown by the state by hanging Afzal Guru (as a large section of the society claims it to be). In a democracy where freedom of speech and expression is a basic right, I think our nation is faring pretty poorly.


The administration is very swift, alert and efficient to arrest and lock up citizens who simply express their views (without threatening any individual) on the various social networking platforms, however completely fail to protect talented artists from hooliganism (art exhibition attacked in Kolkatta) , fatwas and social boycott threats (Kashmir’s all girls band).

What’s even more interesting is the hypocritical nature of all these elements who believe that they are the last living saviors of the Indian cultural fabric. They are the epitome of intolerance when it comes to people having a different view point than them but expect the world to turn a blind eye and show tolerance when someone from their region or community has been punished for an act which took the lives of 9 people and had the potential of far greater damage.

I feel it’s important that different sections of society have different points of view and have a right to express and protest. However, the moment it starts infringing on the right of the other person and interfering with the law of the land, we should step back and check where are we headed and do we really want to be so intolerant?

The Human Spirit

An unfortunate and ghastly incident on the night of 16th December has stirred up the entire nation and the angry citizens are out on the roads demanding better social security. More than enough has been said, written, debated since then about what should be done to prevent such incidents from recurring. I don’t want to add to that save that maybe the change begins from us. Rather than looking for the solution from the state, we as citizens should look at ourselves and be less barbaric.


The point that I want to talk about is that somewhere down the line the human spirit in all of us is dying. Incidents like these fortify the thoughts that have been fed in us since childhood about not talking to/trusting strangers and helping someone who might genuinely need help. I don’t blame anyone for having such thoughts as everyone wants to be safe and who knows what resides inside that “normal” looking frame.

So if you see a woman on a chilly winter morning figuring out a way to reach office, would you stop by or drive on or a 50 year old on a windy evening waiting for some sort of transportation to get home. Will you stop or will you think twice. Most of us would drive on because of the aforesaid reasons but just think that those people could genuinely need help. What if your father/ sister/ mother were in a similar situation and a stranger helped them. Wouldn’t you bless them for doing so.

In between all the protests, anger, debates etc. I think we should just step back a bit and not let the human spirit die. I think that’s the biggest need of the hour.

Acceptance

Many a times we struggle in fighting our demons. Our mind plays constant games with us and we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Long hours of introspection, sleepless nights – all for something which might in the end be not worth being so worried about.


I think a lot of us end up taking life too seriously and live in the anticipation of the perfectness of it. The fact is that life will never be perfect and the beauty of it lies in it’s imperfectness. The unknown challenges that it keeps throwing always keeps us on the edge and the hope of a brighter tomorrow fuels our belief to carry on.

The key here is acceptance. We should be able to embrace the good and the not so good aspects of life with open arms. If we are able to do so, we will not get intimidated easily and therefore will have less demons to struggle with.

PS: There are things that we can change, we should have the strength to do it. There are things that we can’t, we should have the humility to accept that. And we should have the good sense to know the difference between the two.

Homecoming

8 years after passing out from school, I relived some of those great moments again at the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations at Welham. Half my batch had made it for the event and it was 4 days of crazy fun, catching up on old times. It seemed we never left.

Though the school has changed immensely since then, the essence still remains the same. No matter what new boundaries or buildings you build, no matter how many principals, teachers and batches come and go, the essence of a Welham manages to remain the same. What more, even the samosa, sandwich, tea and coffee still taste the same as they did 20 years ago.

It was heartening to revisit the hostels where we spent so much time, see our beds, meet the bearers who still managed to remember us even after so many years, be a part of assembly and read the prayer and sing the hymn.

It’s a connect that’ll remain forever and all I wish is if I could go back in time and relive those days.   

Just a Thought: Twenty One

In the balance scale
Faith & belief far outweigh all logics and reasoning