Category: Musings

Random thoughts on random subjects

Categories
Musings

WPC: Connected


Earlier we used to write letters on paper. Today, we send instant messages.
Earlier long distance calls were few and far between. Today, it’s cheaper than ever to talk to loved ones.

Earlier media was owned by a few people. While mainstream media is still owned by a few people with vested interests, social sharing and blogging platforms are changing the way we communicate with the outside world.

Today, we no longer just listen, we engage – we connect.

So how do you connect with the outside world?
So how do you connect with the outside world?

To see how bloggers around the world connect with one another and with their environment, be sure to check out the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge – Connected.

Categories
Hobbies Musings

A Rainbow of Memories


Colourful diaries
Colourful keepers of memories – Gifts from my mother, aunt, sister, sister-in-law, friend, a complete stranger (and even myself).

The typewriter and keyboards may keep our memories safe in a digital locker. But they will never be able to replace the smell of paper, the crisp look of bound books and the firm grip of a clasp — reassuring a sentimental fool like me, that her priceless emotions are locked safely.

The Daily Post has a guest this week – ROY G. BIV. Head over and say a big hi!

PS. I always fancied that some day I’d be famous and my journals and sketchbooks might become collectibles — maybe even included in an auction. I know it’s unlikely. But a girl can dream 🙂

Categories
Musings

Resolutions


I was desperate to get some rest, but sleep was the one thing that refused to come. Random thoughts and visions haunted me, interspersed with summons, as they were, directed towards me — by whom, I don’t know. I tossed and turned in the middle of the night, till I could take it no longer. And then I wrote this.

Resolutions
Resolutions

Read: Know and understand other people’s points of view. Interact often with fellow bloggers and chroniclers of the world.

Write: Share your world view. Even if it is going to be just you who reads it.

Draw: Complete the picture and fill it with colours of your choice.

Sing: Find your own voice and express yourself.

Jump: Make decisions and take that leap of faith.

Categories
Musings

Vote’s up!

Voted

This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is Scale. Today, the Capital of India went to polls. My vote—a small drop in the big ocean of voters—is my interpretation of the challenge.

On my way back home after work, a colleague asked me whom I was going to vote for. I thought for a little while, and replied “I don’t know.” And to be honest, I wasn’t sure even at the time I actually pressed the button.

Voted

In the run up to the Delhi Elections, several thoughts—all disconnected, but deeply disturbing—have been going around in my head. Facts and perceptions created by different media, rampant hypocrisy and boot-licking…

One party has ruled for decades and divided the country ruthlessly, making hideous amount of money at the expense of taxpayer’s money. And the other party which has replaced it, drips with arrogance and testosterone (not to mention more criminals).

Indian politics is brutal, and severely patriarchal. Those who work for the welfare of the people often end up being penalised. A Chief Minister who transformed Delhi and was re-elected twice, became a sacrificial lamb as her own party let her down miserably. The mismanagement of the head of the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games was entirely forgotten, as a certain bureaucrat singled out the CM for a smear campaign. In case I haven’t said it before, the Commonwealth Games in 2010 were a huge success—those who focus on scams probably never saw the Opening Ceremony, nor attended any sporting event of the Games. And Delhi is just about as unsafe, as any other part of the country. It’s just that other places don’t get so much media attention. After a 49-day stint, the muffler man hopefully realised that making tall claims and staging protests against corruption is one thing, running a Government is quite another.

Two thousand kilometres away, a similar story unfolded. Within a few months of emerging as the third largest party in the general elections, the party head was handed out an exemplary punishment, effectively ending her political career. Scams and scandals of Members of Parliament of the previous Government, of course, have been completely forgotten.

While the Congress is still living in a son-inherits-father’s-throne mentality, the royal son-in-law’s shady businesses are blindly ignored (anyone else noticing a pattern here?). The BJP, on the other hand, is trying to paint a false reality by glossing over women empowerment to please the American President. Their Chief Ministerial candidate admittedly commands a superstar presence. At least she used to. But by exploiting her popularity for political mileage, her image has probably taken a dip, and I only wonder if she is going to become another sacrificial lamb.

In such a scenario, is there anyone worth voting for? The enthusiasm with which Delhi voted 14 months ago faded by the time the General Elections came. A glimmer of hope vanished within months. And today, it seems, Delhi is back to its old ways, with voters becoming indifferent.

With these thoughts in my head, I went out to vote. Neither this blog post, nor my opinion is probably going to make much of a difference to anyone. And my vote is definitely not going to change Indian politics… But a tiny part of me (0.000001% to be precise) has a little bit of hope. A hope that the collective power of votes may shift attitudes. Whether or not that happens, we will soon find out.

Update: It turns out, I was quite wrong about voter indifference. The people of Delhi came out in large numbers to vote. More than 8.9 million people voted—the largest number of Delhiites to have ever voted for any election in Delhi. And the verdict was an unprecedented sweep by a party wielding a broom!

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are entirely personal. I am not affiliated to any political party, nor is this post intended to spread any form of hatred directed towards any one person/party.

Further reading:
Meet India’s newly elected
Sheila Dixit’s letter to PM
Women’s political representation lagging in India

Categories
Musings

Which colour do you see?

Jigsaw Puzzle
Trying to make sense of it all

There are some who look at the world in black and white.
Others see the world in shades of grey.

Some see bright colours.
And some, muted hues and pastel.

There are few who can see everything.
There are fewer still, who can see the complete picture.

And then there are those rare beings who can comprehend the meaning of it all.

Jigsaw Puzzle
Trying to make sense of it all

The drawing featured here is an old abstract drawing I pulled out of the cupboard recently.

Categories
Musings

The Last Hurrah?


Roger Federer
Roger Federer (Image by Squeaky Knees)

It’s well past 10:00 pm. I have to get up early tomorrow morning to get to work. My father nudges me more than a few times. I need to rest my weary eyes.

Roger Federer is struggling in his quarterfinal match against Stanislas Wawrinka.

‘Not again!’ I say to myself. Is he going to miss this one too? Both of us are on the edge of our seats, hoping we weren’t watching yet another upset.

I had missed every single match he had played in the tournament. With the newspapers focusing on the football extravaganza, Federer had slipped under the radar of most news reports, becoming only a one-line announcement in articles dedicated to other flamboyant players.

I followed as closely as I could; half expecting a line saying he’d been knocked out; and at the same time, hoping he was still playing competitively.

Playing in his quarterfinal match against his compatriot, Wawrinka, I couldn’t help but think his campaign was going to end. And like all those other matches, I’d end up watching the only match he lost. The past few years I had stopped watching his matches for this very reason. It’s hard to think that my watching television could have an impact on the result, but that’s how it invariably was.

Later today, Roger plays his semi-final. Many people have written him off. His run this Wimbledon may well be attributed to the ‘easy’ draw he’s been given. It’s very tempting for me to skip the match. It can be painful to watch him lose on the court he used to own not so long ago.

But I will still stay up tonight. I won’t bother about the result.  His best days may have passed him by and it is very possible he may not win another match*. But I do not want to regret missing a match, when I am lucky to be part of the generation which get’s to watch, arguably, one of the greatest grass court players of all time, play live.

* Federer, please prove me wrong.

Image Credit: Roger Federer (26 June 2009, Wimbledon) by Squeaky Knees CC-BY-2.0

Categories
Musings

It’s a Good Day


Leaving the crowded station, I hesitantly climb into the bus. The tattered seats look familiar. I get a seat next to the window. There is no glass to protect me from my thoughts.

Through the journey, the cool wind runs his reassuring hand against my hair.

Entangled in my own thoughts, I limp off the bus and wait at the crossroads.

Traffic comes to a standstill, telling me I own the road ahead.

I struggle to breathe as the air chokes my lungs. The little old black bird swirls around me. Its white tipped feathers exude an infectious energy.

I enter the half-open gates, and the watchman smiles his best. Even as nostalgia fills my eyes, ‘Welcome home!’ he says.

Categories
Musings

The Slate


The beginning of a new year in school was something I looked forward to.

Leave the old imperfections behind and start a new quest towards perfection. Torn notebooks, lost textbooks, unfinished assignments, silly classmates, demanding teachers and scarier mathematics, none of these would matter in the new year.

New books, new subjects, new teachers, and at times, new classmates as well. A fresh start. At least that’s what I believed.

But the older I grew, the more difficult it became to get a clean slate. I have come to believe that life gives you just one slate. And even though you believed you had new slates every year of your life, it’s just that the chalk was lighter, and it was easier to erase. As you go through life, new lines appear, most of which cannot be erased. You write over the slate over and over again – a hundred, thousand, or a million times.

Sometimes the lines complement each other. The new lines working in harmony with the underlying lines, completing the picture forming something meaningful, or beautiful, or perhaps both.

But sometimes, the lines fight against each other, creating a mismatched random scratch, and creating something that looks terribly ugly. Or is it?

Maybe the random lines are just an incomplete picture. All that is needed is a little patience – it will be completed in due course. Perhaps there are hidden patterns in what seems random. All that is required is closer examination.

Perhaps the lines will all eventually cover the whole slate. Turning black to absolute white. A wholesomeness, completeness or utter transformation. Or perhaps a new white slate to start afresh …

What do you think? Do you have a slate? How many? What does your slate look like?

Categories
Musings

What if?


Have you ever had those moments, when everything is absolutely crystal clear? When every haze of your life is cleared and you can see yourself, your opinions, your life even, in a way that only someone absolutely sure of herself can see? Someone whose self-assured demeanour you have admired, and perhaps even envied at some point of time in your life. What if that someone is now you?

Categories
Musings

The Big Blue


fb_drawingFor years I resisted every blow that the monster threw at me – luring me through its minions who had already strayed into its territory. But I was a minority. A proud minority – one who was applauded for resisting the urge.

But alas, my love for my blog made me miss a turn. I lost the battle against it. And I decided it was time to take the great plunge – the things love can make you do!

You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life. Oh, I know it doesn’t feel like that. You feel like a big fat failure now. But you’re not. You are marching into the unknown armed with… Nothing.**

With no knowledge about my new surroundings, I stumbled and fumbled, and somehow managed to create a small advertisement for my blog. And left – emotionally scarred, but still alive.

It was just under a month after I entered the big bad world of Facebook*. I kept wondering if it was the right thing to do. I bumped into the Daily Post, and she asked me “Should Your Blog Be on Facebook?”

I am still contemplating if it was a wise decision – since my primary audience is through WordPress. I stared at the number zero for a few weeks, and as I write this, there are three ‘likes’ – all by WordPress Bloggers themselves. So all that that button does is reaffirm how many people actually read this stuff, and an unnecessary duplication of follows! The key to using the the fan page is to share it and spread the word among FaceBook users – and since I have better things to do than venturing into the blue abyss, I don’t think the FaceBook Page would make much difference to me.

But hey, its there on the sidebar, and I’m too lazy to do anything more! So if you like anything here, go ahead and share it. We’re all in this big bad world together after all – I think.

What do you think? Since I don’t promote the blog on FaceBook, is there really any point of having a page at all? Would you stick you neck out and share this with your friends?

* * *

* Don’t pretend you don’t know it – it is the blue lonely monster that feeds (pun very much intended) off your privacy.
** Birdie gives advice to Katheryn Kelly in ‘You’ve Got Mail‘
Featured Image Credit : Jurgen Appelo, CC-BY-2.0