CHIMI

  Reality defied trust and her extremely subjective sense of logic that she misunderstood as superior for the umpteenth time today. She knew somewhere deep down inside her mind that what happened today, a few minutes ago was bound to happen. But she had chosen to avoid the reality which now lay in broad daylight, dazzling this time in fact that she would not be able to overlook even though every atom in her body chose otherwise. She knew today was the time to recall the hardest night which she wished in vain was a nightmare.  She headed towards the neglected room with no windows. People found it suffocating, but every time she stepped foot inside it she experienced a sense of liberation and heaved a sigh of relief and each time it was different; the rhythm, the tension, and a million other emotions that she knew were beyond expression through a mere couple of words that she had stated for what she could not decipher yet in spite of encountering it, trying to escape it and even...

It was 2:22 in the morning, precisely the time she was born. It took her eighteen years to know that it was an angel number. And just as she had started believing that the supreme had blessed her with the life of an angel intellectually if not materially, everything began to change. The change struck her hard, broke her down, and shattered the intellect that she said she owned. The girl who was once proud of her supremely sorted personality had settled in her soul that she, her mind, and her intellect was the bane of her existence at the precise, rather ungrateful moment of her birth.    She never wished for death but the past eight months put her in a position where she started questioning her birth which was in fact a bazillion times worse than wishing for death.   Things that she said were her proud possessions were nowhere to be found within her and she knew why. The game of survival that she had been playing and the pretentiously hopeful face that she was try...

One Monday morning as I was scrolling through what seemed to me as an endless series of messages, someone gradually raised the question of arranging a get-together for the entire batch. What I believe erupted as a rather impulsive question quickly aroused everyone’s interest. The Monday blues were quick to disappear and everyone engaged in vehement planning. I dismissed it as one of the many hangouts the so-called popular people in our batch would organize. But the number of people who joined the list was quick to increase and in a jiffy, it crossed fifty, which meant more than three-fourths of our batch had decided to show up. An acquaintance of mine who I have had a couple of subject-specific conversations with was kind enough to message me urging me to come. When I said that I wasn’t familiar enough with anyone and hanging out with a bunch of people like that was the last thing I wanted to, he explained to me in great detail how important this event was to get to know people who...

Celebrities and politicians, who are worshiped more than the lord himself, are known to hold the whip in every possible circumstance they are likely to be involved in. From shopping malls that provide secret rooms for known faces with the latest and most sought-after collections to people who derive deep and perverse satisfaction from a meager opportunity to serve them, the examples are many. While the ordinary man in his unending pursuit to make ends meet, has conveniently chosen to ignore these, the situation gains gravitas when the same is displayed in healthcare. Be it in their battle with mental health or rescuing them from the clutches of the deadliest of diseases, the best teams of doctors have always rushed to their assistance. It is perhaps the thought that the society has bestowed upon them, the responsibility to return their ‘gods’ in full health and well-being, that is the single motivating factor to work with utmost devotion.   But it is simply unfortunate to see not...

 Dangling my toes in a night’s hot spring after my eventful eighteenth, little did I imagine that it was going to be such a happening, life-altering year for me. From all the hullabaloo surrounding board exams to the uncertainty that subsequently prevailed about college, I am sure that this year would not have been a cakewalk for many like me. But what was most remarkable was my battle with anxiety and minor episodes of depression and even as it might sound like an exercise in cliché, what they taught me. Long gone are times when mud was slung upon people who suffered from mental health issues and society subsequently deeming them unfit for social life. With masses being educated about mental illness, the misconceptions regarding them are on a terminal decline among certain sections of the population. But the lack of empathy that the large sections of the society possess still seems to be incorrigible. With movie stars, cricketers and, other celebrities coming out with their respec...

 India was and remains a land where multiplicity of religions, ideologies and faith systems have thrived and flourished from time immemorial. Free speech, fair criticisms and arguments are not new to public discourse of this ancient civilization. Article 19 of the constitution which enshrines the principle of free speech and expression has been invoked several times in the period spanning the decades from independence for the most trivial things to the greatest of milestones our country has witnessed.  The historical and cultural moorings of the country are evidence enough to support this. Freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental right has remained intact and untouched for all the years from independence except during emergency when it was struck down by the then government of India. The number of publications that were banned, people jailed and thereby the intellectual freedom of the vast multitude of people that were curbed remains afresh in the memory of Indians. F...

  Argus-eyed women tracing their speedy steps back home while the world rests in the arms of Morpheus is not a novel site to this country. The regular columns of newspapers replete with heinous crimes and brutal assaults committed to such women have become the new normal the country wakes up to every day. From the Nirbhaya case in Delhi, the brutal murder of Soumya in Kerala and the Disha rape case in Hyderabad, cases of rape, assault, and murder of women in India are manifold. What seemed like sporadic events half a century ago are occurring like an avalanche in recrudescence since the past decade or so. The weeks that would follow such events are usually public talks and articles by intellectual minds pontificating about the issue and political parties indulging in the normal blame game. We seldom seem to look beyond these and fathom the reasons for such intolerable crimes recording an upsurge in our country. We often hear people say that changes need to start from the ground; wo...

  Young folks who do not take extensive interest in the lives of feminine and masculine beauties, their skincare routine, what they eat in a day and their workout regimen might be taken by shock if I were to suggest that paradox rules in the virtual beauty world we currently live in. This argument emanates from my rather late discovery of a family that has had a long-running show to their name and has been claimed to set unbreakable records in the glam world. Well, to hit the nail on the head, what caught my attention was an old, more so unnoticed, and most importantly uncontroversial interview of one family member who made a remarkable statement that she hates people who hate themselves and that people should be taught to love themself the way they are. I mentally appreciated her for the grandiose statement she had just made and proceeded to search the web to know more about the respected lady. The images in the search results took me by surprise. She, who had sent out a message f...

  I seldom knew a friendly conversation with an acquaintance of mine would turn into a heated topic of discussion in our circle when I put forth the idea that the internet has become an indispensable part of our daily life. Agreeing with the same, he recounted with wry amusement, how Google, the most familiar version of the web world has become the agony aunt of the millennial era. Everything from the ideal delicacy to serve your guests, to becoming the ultimate grievance redressal system, Google is rather munificent with solutions to sustain a layman’s day-to-day life. A platform with wide-ranging content and a varied set of audiences with everybody having the freedom to create content to endorse their point of view; the internet has become the confidante and deciding voice in many of our lives. When two decades ago the looming usage of the internet warranted greater simplicity in accessing information for the benefit of the common man, today it stands as a presage of the sy...