of cockroaches and humans

So cockroaches descended upon my kitchen almost at the same time as the virus descended upon...well... everything. It was as if they were in a bilateral agreement to bring the humans of this house down to our knees. much like with the virus, we lay down our weapons (nonexistent ones) without a fight. The unilateral battle raged on for weeks...the roaches relentlessly recruiting fresh stock every day till they reduced our territory of operation to literally just the gas burner. I swear if they didn't fear being burnt in the burner fire, they wouldnt spare that too. My enough is enough moment arrived when few cockroaches decided to take a dive into the poha (lockdown special) I was cooking. I looked up the chimney duct and few of them stared back at me. That precise moment made me wonder the point of my birth, graduation, post graduation, fancy clothes, make up, creative meetings, marriage, child, breathing...Before the moment could overwhelm me into thinking that I was born to be subsumed by roaches and viruses, I snapped out.

I called the building management, told him I have a very serious illness which gets triggered by roaches in the kitchen. (A crucial learning of pandemic times- you say the word "ill" and it gets you attention like not even chilled Rooh Afza gets in sweltering summer) The MC got into action, meetings were held, discussions done till at that final divine moment (i swear it was a full moon day), my intercom buzzed. It was the management committee head granting us permission to call in the pest control team. The only humans weaponised to deal with roaches. I danced my way into the kitchen sprinkled some food all around it, announced with banging thalis that the last supper was being served to the damned intruders who thought they could over take my life and its many(??) purposes.

Dear Scotland...after collecting my passport, the fridge magnets and other important things i had thought i was all set to leave you. finally figured that i lost  something more important than all of this to you...my heart! sigh!!

The Main Thing: New Year Resolution

The Main Thing: New Year Resolution: So here goes my resolution...to look for the stars in the sky at the end of a hectic day, to smile at the guy who comes to collect trash eve...

New Year Resolution

So here goes my resolution...to look for the stars in the sky at the end of a hectic day, to smile at the guy who comes to collect trash every morning, appreciate the boss for letting me enjoy a quiet sunday, to read books and watch films that overwhelm, to look out of the window of my room more often, to watch the birds fly, the rain drop, listen to sounds around...sounds of silence and of life, to express my love for those i feel for, to watch the silent sea, watch people on the streets and guess the amazing stories hidden behind anonymous faces, to feel a part of the universe and not separate from it, to look for God in small things, to appreciate the joy of consuming fresh vegetables, feel the sensation of drinking clean cold water, to give, to dance with friends and remind them gently that they are the wisest investment of my time, to feel the cool breeze blowing in my face, to tell my family that i owe it all to them, to notice when did the sky turn from blue to grey, when the green of leaves changed their hue, to show care, to feel the tide, to watch the full moon every month, to do only what i love, to question, to empathize, to watch every sunset i can while i can, to not count losses but add up gains, to remember the face of the pigeon that flies in everyday into my house, to get perspective, to not aspire to conquer the world but belong to it, to always look at the glass half full, to remind myself every day that everyone around, including me is dying...and then to get up every morning and smile at the awesomeness called life.
P.S: "the main thing is to know what is the main thing"

A case against piracy

No matter how much we miss our childhood one reason why all children look forward to growing up is because they presume that in the adult world everyone is free to do what they like. this lure for freedom attracts even the most cared for and pampered child. so what happens when we finally grow up and realise that the freedom for which we undervalued the best part of our lives is getting more and more elusive? we feel frustrated and angry and clamped down and we want to break out...because when we are children we at least have the comfort of knowing that those restricting our freedom know better. but as grown ups when we are told by people who we voted into power that we can no more express, share, bond and communicate with our own free will, then we no longer feel cared for. we feel violated, compromised and robbed of the core reward that growing up was supposed to bring. For expressing a desire to censor internet or any other audio visual content the government must be dealt with in exactly the same manner as those who try to violate the rules of a 'free' market economy. That is use the power of numbers to monopolize the thought that free individuals in a free society have also toiled hard to get the freedom of expression they are laying claims to. it has come after years of accumulating an understanding of the functioning of the world and no one, least of all the state, outside the individual has a right to judge the correctness of. 

Obituary for Death of Remembrance

There are many things that have been written about Steve Jobs. But this post is not about Jobs. This is about how today our capacity to mourn has also gone into the fast food and weekend blockbuster category. So three days following Steve's death there will be an overkill of stories about him...from what his core philosophies were to the turtle neck he wore etc. And then next week the death of the greatest icon we have known will seem as ancient as the tale of Cleopatra's love for Roman generals. So the fuss about leaving a mark in people's minds etc seems a bit of an outdated concept now. Because today our mind space is wiped clean every week. we need new stories to feed on, new icons to follow,new deaths to mourn. The icons we once followed and have now departed can only at best occupy an extensive write up on wikipedia. So the thing that struck me about Steve's death is that today not only is life on a fast freeway lane but so is death and memory. As we are moving towards higher resolutions and greater picture clarity than ever what is going out of focus are events that haven't happened TODAY. Because yesterday like the Trojan war is history. Makes one wonder what mark are we taking about leaving and for whom?

the best city

In yesterday's TOI, I read a statistician's analysis of world's cities and the ranking they enjoy as per the standard of living . I was obviously deeply saddened with the knowledge that Mumbai is among the worst and Melbourne- where a part of my family now lives- the best. I couldnt help thinking why me? why could i have not exchanged places with that part of my family that lives in the best part of the world? but this what i felt in the morning.
In the evening as i navigated through the puddles and potholes and reached my vegetable vendor i came across an elderly woman from high society with a walking stick trying to find a place to park herself while she waited for the auto in the rains. my veg vendor immediately sprung to his feet and offered the woman a chair. another fruit vendor came running and offered her a cup of tea. soon the mundane surroundings turned into a dream sequence where the old woman was playing the lead role with everyone around indulging her, providing whatever they could. i couldnt help but be swamped away by all the bonhomie and i offered hailing an auto for aunty...this, i must confess, was in part motivated by the need to also share that bond that i suddenly saw develop between a set of anonymous people. A bond that i would have envied had i not joined it. Aunty in turn was so overwhelmed with all the spontaneous attention that she got that she held my hand with her trembling grasp and said...beta...everybody is so nice and kind. isnt this a wonderful world?
And that moment i said to myself that i would never trade my place for any amount of lifestyle comforts that maybe Melbourne could offer me. Because when I grow old in Melbourne, i might have a luxurious old age home. But what i wont have is a steaming cup of coffee, a rickety plastic chair under a collapsing parapet and the pleasure of spontaneous companionship with strangers.
Maybe S&P (The agency that assigns 'stars' to world cities) should realise that the main thing is not how many roads a country has. But rather who walks on those roads and with whom?