Friday, December 27, 2019

Perks of being alone

Solitude.
They call it.
Self discovery.
I call it.

My parents are on a trip to Thailand. Honestly, I thought I’d just sit at home and crib, cause they had gone to a beach. A BEACH! I love beaches. I love the water. I love diving. And I love Thai food.
But I didn’t crib. Instead, I’ve been enjoying myself tons.

And as I lie in my cozy yellow blanket while writing this, I reminisce one amazing experience I had a few evenings back.

I had a super hectic day at college. Running around all day for some documents, studying, finishing off some internship assignments, some applications. It was insane. I had decided to cook that evening and try my hand at making some stir fry. Though I was too tried at the end of it, I decided to still cook.

The vegetables were (thankfully) already chopped. Just put some light music on and cooked the stir fry. It turned out pretty good actually. First off, I was surprised that it was edible! :P

I love vegetables. They just have this charm that no meat can ever have. Their vibrancy, range of flavour, textures are so diverse and delicious! Looking at that brownish paneer, mushroom, green beans, dark caramelized onions and bright yellow bell-pepper just made me so happy! I placed my veggies in my dear Indigo bowl.

And then I just got my next passion- my camera, out of my cupboard. On my favourite Manual mode, I just clicked that tiny bowl from every single angle one could possibly think of.

Then I just poured myself some coke and sat comfortably on my favourite spot.

My favourite spot is the window in my Baba’s room. It has refreshing wind caressing your face, and tress swaying and almost smiling at you. I sat there, with all lights switched off, and my food in my hand. I played a list of my favourite songs, and here’s how few lines just touched me:
1)     Kho gaye hum kahan, rangon sa ye jahan.
(Baar Baar Dekho)
Well, I know that raat mein rang nahi hote. But thats what I saw that day. Raat ke rang. Those lights-yellow, red, white. The black sky, a little less black in some places and darker in some others. Raat bhi rangeeli hoti hai, shayad hum hi use nazarandaaz kar dete hai.

2)     Har saans mein ek alfaaz hai, phir kyu na kaafi ye ehsaas hai.
(Theher, Rahul Bhardwaj)
Every breath we take, every moment we live, says something for us/about us. And if we realize this, then we can speak to ourselves even without uttering words.

3)     Jo khayalon pe pehre daale vo aankhein hai kahan
(Aazadiyan, Udaan)
People may mock us for our decisions, behaviour or for literally anything. But they can’t mock our khwab or dreams. And thats the power of our dreams. Nobody can control them, they don’t have any surveillance. Its just our soul, our rooh which guides us to a better tomorrow.

4)     Jab lage, har ghadi ke ab iss raat ki na hai subah koi, kar yakeen dekh tu ke aaftaab vo haseen hai chupa yahin kahin
(Aaftaab, The Local Train)
When you feel low, when everything is dark, we just need to remember that after every night there is morning. And after dark moments are always the bright ones.

5)     Khwabon ko kyu baandhe naseeb?
(Believe, When Chai Met Toast)
Destiny, they say is what rules our lives. I don’t agree. Our dreams don’t deserve to be bound. Not by destiny, not by people. Not by anything.
And of course….(Niyatee I know u are smiling)

6)     Mai peeli sehar ka nasha hoon.
(Saansein, Karwaan)
This is just my all-time favourite line and just makes me feel good ALWAYS. The writer, Prateek Kuhad calls himself ‘peeli sehar ka nasha’ i.e. that nasha, that euphoria which we experience when we see a sunset. He is that euphoria. And I believe we all are.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

A letter to Bharat


Dear Bharat,
                              Who are you? Where do you reside?

Are you the politician who screams ‘temple’ in every speech, but stays silent when the temple of humanity is demolished? Or are you the celebrity who rants about rape on Twitter but promotes rape culture in his movies? Are you the innocent soul who walks on the road of danger with a burning candle in her hand? Or are you the journalist who is so immersed in his duty towards a political party, that he has forgotten what news is?

The nation wants to know,

Are you the parent who covers up your daughter to protect her? Or are you the one who doesn’t teach your son what it means to respect someone’s integrity? Are you the village elder who screams that rape mein ladki ki bhi utni hi galti hoti hai?

Are you a macho man or a crying woman? Is your forehead painted saffron, rainbow or tricolor? Are you the invisible eyes seeing the length of skirts and sleeves? Or are you the punctured humanity which walks the streets at night?

Oh my dear bharat,

Wake up. Ignite the candle of your thoughts, not of your social media posts.

You are strength. You are power. You are diversity. You are unity.

You are one colour, that is humanity.

Empower yourself. Educate both your sons and daughters.

And do it soon.

For your humanity is being raped, minute by minute, daughter by daughter.


Perks of being alone

Solitude. They call it. Self discovery. I call it. My parents are on a trip to Thailand. Honestly, I thought I’d just sit at hom...