Whispering Shadow

The more I read about the gang rape of the 23 year old student in Delhi, the more I feel helpless about not being able to do anything about it. Having learnt the details of the gruesome crime, I left for work feeling both aghast and extremely angry. I  wondered that in a country where only one in four rape accused gets convicted, what the odds of her getting justice were. And more importantly, I hoped this will be one of the last sacrifices a woman will have to make before our country wakes up to creating a system that is a strong deterrent to such acts - including others such as abduction, dowry harassment, molestation, domestic violence, honour killings, female foeticide, forced prostitution or even verbal harassment and eve teasing. (No wonder India has been ranked as worst country for women of the G20 countries, even behind Saudi Arabia!) I am not going to talk about stuff that we read in the headlines. I will talk about the lives of the ones I know and my own. I ...

A prospect recently mailed one of my friends giving a brief introduction of himself. I couldn't help writing down the probable reply (in italics) she could give to the expressive bloke (names changed for the sake of everyone's privacy). I mean no offence to him, but the world can live with a few more SMILES :-)  Hi Anita, This is Nilesh Piramal. I am pretty sure you might have heard about me from your family. Our parents/relatives are trying to find best companion/life partner for us. You are the first girl that my parents strongly suggested to get in touch with. So, let me take a moment to thank you and your family for sharing your profile with my family. Hi Nilesh, As you already know, I am Anita. I don't introduce myself in third person. I haven't heard anything about you so your mail comes as another shocker. My parents are trying extremely hard to find me a companion (don't know about best) and you will not be glad to know that you are just another...

It is Diwali. I woke up at 7.30 AM today. I woke up not because of my endeavour to see the break of dawn on an auspicious day (anyways, that happens way to early for me). I woke up because of the noise of firecrackers and the blaring sound of my neighbour's speakers. Today, like many other festive days in the past, it was just a question of my sleep, which was far more disturbed anyways due to the allergic sneezing from the smoke of the fireworks. I can live with that as I have in the past. The photography keeps me going, but unfortunately there is far less light and far more noise during Diwali these days. That is my personal regret and not the objective of this post. However,  there could be an old lady suffering from asthma who had an attack that ruined her Diwali. There could be a mother trying to put her baby to sleep, only to find it has woken up yet again to the sound of a chain bomb. All her festive preparations could still be pending. There could be a person d...

The mail subject reads "Congratulations". It is a simple word, of which I heard a lot this week at my engagement. However, it didn't hold as much meaning then as it held now. Then, I was getting a stamp of public approval on my relationship, which would have had no impact on how things would turn out between us in the long run. Now, I was getting a licence to make my dream a reality - a dream that will add meaning to my life, that will allow me to impact the larger problem in my own small way, that will teach me lessons for a lifetime, that will set me free and above all, that will make me a better person, a stronger person. On reading the mail, I ran to the bathroom and screamed. A few tears rolled down my eyes. At the same time, I was also smiling. I wished I had the one person, who had made me believe in the dream, with me. Of the memories that I vividly remember, only one other had managed to bring out such emotions in me - when I had told this same person what she...

Today, I can understand what must be going through Arnold H. Glasow's mind when he quoted the above statement. I took the first step in my journey towards excellence, moving away from mediocrity. I have been excellent in the past - when I have given those speeches in the debates I have won, when I have got my class of novices together to perform and to win a street play competition, when I have accepted nothing less than perfection from my club teams during certain events or when I have deleted 95% of my photographs because they haven't made the cut. My focus on excellence had reduced only recently in the corporate environment, where the means often don't justify the ends. In some way, the mediocre way of thinking had started seeping into the other activities of my life. It felt good to make an attempt at being excellent again today. It  would be over stating my performance, but I would at least take a great deal of pride in saying that "I put in my best." T...

A journey arduously long To begin writing your life’s true song You think you had planned it all Underestimating the height of Murphy’s wall Only a few miles to go But with resources depleting Every mile worth four More uphill the task seeming Many say shortcuts are easier To me, compromise is  a stranger What’s the joy of a journey? If you make satisfaction your enemy A task is meant to be done well Only then can your heart swell The sense of true achievement and pride show On the retrospective road when you go The chosen path you must walk The set objective you must stalk For being a man resourceful Material wealth is less meaningful You draw the power of your will The ability to focus on the path uphill Your creativity is limitless, moral fibre strong Why even think you will go wrong? You won’t if only you know Why you take the path you do For the reason is the source Of the belief – your driving force Believe in y...

Coincidentally, it has so happened that two of my friends, who are completely unrelated to each other, have asked me - Is my blog dead? I would dare say yes but I realize that their fear is not unfounded. The last time I wrote a proper post was probably June . More importantly, the last time I wrote straight from the heart was in December . My blog has not died, but it is surely breathing its last breaths. If it dies, the more appropriate phrase would be "I killed it". From June to September, I have been making different excuses whenever it comes to writing. The most convincing one probably has been the lack of inspiration, ideas and time in that order. The alternate explanation has been having other forms of expressions that have kept my head clear from clutter. To be honest, I know in a deep corner of my heart that both arguments are without basis.  Inspiration and ideas do not come knocking on your door often. Ideas and inspiration are both ephemeral, like a b...