Desert Rose

21 days. There were countdowns everywhere. Different kinds of them - cooking experiments, art and craft, reading, reviews of contents to watch on digital platforms, ludo tournaments, zoom calls, home work-outs, cleaning and rearranging spaces and so on. The interesting part is that most of us knew that these 21 days will not be the end. In fact we were sure that there will be more to it. But still there was the countdown. There was hope. In a sense, we've lost count of days but countdowns are still on. Quarantine activities and #hashtags are still trending. Economy has collapsed. People around the world are going through all sorts of tough situations. Some people are dying in bits and pieces and so many are just dying. Freedom has now taken a new definition. But we feel hope. We have faith. For many it has been about realizing that while searching all around to experience the profound, it was right there in their homes. For many it has been about re...

She woke up every morning convincing herself that it is a good time to be. After all, most things come to her doorstep without her having to go out and get exhausted; There was enough content to watch on digital platforms – so much that she spent more time on the decision than actually watching; Education was taking interesting turns with alternative learning systems to beat the conventional ones – so now we’d see more kids on the block who crack life better than we did apparently; Innovation in design and technology blew her mind with every aspect of daily life getting so much easier; Equality, empowerment, tolerance and what not – everything is in the air or at least on social media; Medicine is developing at a good pace to deal with all the increasing sickness in this world; Mental health is being taken seriously and therapists are all over the place - so obviously happier people with sorted life; People are making conscious shifts to organic products, sustainab...

Last night I saw Spotlight. I still feel numb!  I don’t always update my blog after a movie but yes, some make exceptions. Spotlight is an American drama film directed by Thomas McCarthy and written by McCarthy and Josh Singer and won the award for the best film at the prestigious Oscars.  The story is about The Boston Globe's "Spotlight" team, a newspaper investigative unit and the real Spotlight Team earned the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The story takes us back to 2001, when a team of journalists from The Boston Globe methodically uncovered a pattern of sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests.  The film was an excellent watch! The journalists’ initial unbelief, the journey to awareness, their commitment and desire to uncover the truth, their sensitivity to the victims, their dedication and persistence, their questioning of established religious systems were all so compelling. I could not help but identify with so...

An encounter : An 8th standard girl who is expected to be all smiles and happy during her evening play hours caught my attention as she wasn’t doing the expected. She sat in a corner, fiddling with something and stared. Something about her disturbed me and I managed to befriend her. One day as I stood up to leave, she told me that her mother was strict and had no time to listen to her. And I smiled and assured her that I would listen whenever she needed. As I walked away, I said a prayer that let her not have anything that I fret to tell me. The very next day, as usual, after my work, I caught up with her. It was always more of a monologue. I kept talking about various things and she continued staring with occasional glances. That day when I stood up to say bye, she held my hand and said “I don’t like my father.” My heart sank because I dreaded something of this sort coming up. I held her close and the story she told me, I’d like to keep to myself. She is taken care of today. Oh,...

For more than a year now, I’ve been travelling by train to my native on a weekly basis and been crossing the vast expanse of land adjoining the Cochin International Airport. Initially, when I saw people at work and panels, I thought it was some airport extension business but now I know that Cochin was prepping to mark its place in the world history, technically. When stray dogs and their ‘rights’ or freedom to kiss in public or a celebrity’s wedding can take up so much attention and writing space, I thought this definitely deserved a little more attention than just a headline - “India’s Cochin is the World’s First Solar-Powered Airport”. If  humanity is to survive , it's going to have to embrace alternative forms of energy and ditch carbon  at  a real fast pace. India's making a pretty big stride in that direction after declaring Cochin International Airport as the world's first facility of its kind that runs entirely on  solar power . So I am jus...

For the first time since the Mumbai terror attacks, I felt that shiver down my spine. Even before I got time to take in the Connecticut school massacre , there comes the next – everyone saying ‘gang rape’ but from what I have been reading, this isn’t rape – it’s far worse!  This is not to say that other tragedies have left me untouched . It’s just that what scares me more than anything else is the inhuman face of terror, brutality and cold blooded cruelty. Even I belong to the student community where travelling through different transportation systems, through all kinds of places and most importantly at very odd timings is a necessity . Whenever I step out, I have this feeling – it is cool. . what can happen .. my friends are also there.. I will be fine etc etc. Probably my mother’s sleepless nights in prayers while am travelling has kept me safe so far – I don’t know! She stepped out that day like always.. Am sure she spend some happy time with her ...