In dodo's head

the mind is a strange thing, needing to be replenished every now and then with fresh sprinkles of hope and sparks of passion in order to survive. bleak hopelessness overpowers souls with every passing wave of time. I have become a grave of my once youthful energetic self- there was a time when I felt invincible, overflowing with ideas and illusions of how I would shine. and now all that is left are doubts. strangers look to me, polite smiles in place, and ask about life plans and goals. I fear my own answer, and have chosen the path of 'figuring out life' with a silly smile to numb the overwhelming feeling of failure. time races past my struggling self, with each passing tide I struggle to make sense of all that I am and all that I wish to be. there's still a flickering warmth inside, awakened once a while by well wishers who see me as more that what I seem, they once saw the light in me, and even now strain their eyes to catch a glimpse again. I flip t...

Unseen scars scatter on blemished skin, Each a infliction of unkind words spoken. It is so cruel, so very cruel, How easily words can be hurled at people, With no care about the consequences.

Perhaps it is because I am a simpleton at heart that I have failed to comprehend the heartlessness of human beings. There is something so wretched about a handful of gun wielding 'humans' showering bullets, with no remorse at all, on innocent souls just going about their daily routine. It seems to me that we have failed as a species to grasp the very essence of life. It has become an entity, cheaply bartered among various man-made compartmentalizations.

This Dussehra/ Durga Puja break found me, with my mother and two friends in the city of Agartala to visit my dad's friend's parents. The visit left quite an impression on me, inducing me to type furiously on this fine wintery Sunday morning. This trip had been long due. They had made my mother promise to visit them atleast once. And while we youngsters were not keen on a place like Agartala for a break, finally the stars aligned for it all to happen, and how glad am I that it did. The sight of them at the airport, tears in their eyes as they waved goodbye left a choke in my throat, tears threatening to well up. Their loneliness and readiness to accept us all as their own leaves me with a rather strong sense of frustration. It just seems so wrong, that in the pursuit of all there is in the world, their kin has left them in an isolated house near the airport to fend for themselves. At some point my mother remarked to them how amazing it was that their kids were so accomplish...

"I am convinced that the deepest desire within each of us is to be  liberated from the controlling influences of our own psychic madness or patterns of fear.  All other things—the disdain of ordinary life, the need to control  others rather than be controlled, the craving for material goods as a  means of security and protection against the winds of chaos—are  external props that serve as substitutes for the real battle, which is  the one waged within the individual soul."  -  Caroline Myss Reading quotes posted by artsy pages on Facebook have a way of awakening the sleeping thinker within, and shaking up its befuddled state. As we go about our passing lives, dodging obstacles and often succumbing to our mortal weaknesses, we pause once a while, and look up- we question our very existence and the causes for the actions we take and the actions others take connected to us. What I am writing at this moment may have nothing to do wit...

There's something wrong with the society we live in today. We have been poisoned by ugly hatred and intolerance to such an extent that we act out in beastly ways. We spew out our anger at those who can do nothing to defend themselves. Surely this intolerance has stemmed from someplace. Are people born intolerant? Are they induced to become intolerant due to something which happened to them. Solzhenitsyn was rather blunt about the root cause of it. He said- " It's an universal law-- intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education. An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility.” True, perhaps. We see its manifestations almost everywhere now. In the mainland, the ban on beef has showed its ugly side, and the ugly truth that for some hypocrites of the world, the life of a cow is far more costly than that of human beings. The killing of an old man on the suspicion of beef consumption by beating him to dea...

I have always wanted to attend cultural events in Manipur. It saddens me so that I know almost nothing about my home-state and its very rich culture and heritage.  It was therefore no surprise to anyone that I jumped at the opportunity to attend the World Tourism day event at Andro. My mother was rather finicky about sending me to a music festival considering the fondness some Manipuris have for booze, and their inability to act civil after downing gallons of it. But the desperation I displayed paid off its dividend and finally with my father's stamp of approval (with the condition that I am accompanied by a hockey-team sized squad), I found myself sardine tin-packed in our car heading to Andro. Of course, the sheer size of the squad brought with it its own problems. The day was rather filled with a lot of waiting- for food, for people to get ready, for people to come out, etc. But none of it could dampen our spirits. The venue in itself was breathtaking; in the Santhe...