The Flight of A Butterfly

When you are three, And your dad's friends visit you With their families Your best friends are those With whom you share your favourite toys. And if they're lucky, your chocolate When you are seven, Busy solving your long division, Your best friends are those With whom you share your lunch box. And those whom you invite to your birthday party When you are eleven, Figuring out life outside the cartoon channels Your best friends are those..... Who explain that maths sum to you Who ride on the same bus as you When you are thirteen, You are coming to terms with your body and sexuality; You realise that being an adolescent is never easy Your best friends are those who have the same crush as you, Those who lie so that you can sneak out with your boyfriend. When you are sixteen, You have no idea how your life will span out. The pressure of the boards and entrance is killing you..... Your best friends are those With whom you can have a laugh w...

Those of us who grew up in the early years of the 21st century in India would remember what a joy the kids' programs were during those days. They were so eagerly awaited in the evenings, so passionately debated during the lunch hour at school and so fondly remembered.  I bet everyone would relate to Tom & Jerry, Oswald, Ben 10, Pokemon, Winnie the Pooh, Timon and Pumba......in case you remember anything I may have missed out; feel free to mention it. ;) To be honest, these shows played an integral part in our lives. But today as I was flipping through the cartoon channels, after a very long time, I couldn't connect to the new shows. Somehow all of them seemed strange to me. Somehow Doraemon didn't interest me, and neither did any of those other shows. The use of language and the values being taught caught my attention. Well, put simply there is this cartoon called Oggy and the Cockroaches, and you should just see the tone and the content. I would begin to worry if ...

Hey there! I agree......my last post was a bit all over the place. I tried to write about all my experiences in a single article. Probably not a good idea.  Blame it on my excitement.  The mere thought of writing about an institution with which I grew up proved to be a bit overwhelming and gave me an adrenaline rush. So this time, I'm gonna stick to what I do best- write about little incidents which teach me something. For those of you who don't know this.....broadly there are three rungs of administration.  The lowest, grassroot level is any normal town or place(called SECTION). Then a few sections constitute a DIVISION.   Subsequently a few divisions constitute a ZONE.   I have been fortunate enough to experience all the three levels. At Jharsuguda, which is a small bustling industrial place, mostly the basic level of work is done. Loading and unloading of goods is an example. I feel as if people out there are more comfortable.  You know...

Whenever someone says to you the word 'travel', what comes to your mind? Long train rides? Noisy stations? Or just the fact that you can now relax during the journey? Indian Railways .....  The arteries and veins of India. The lifeline of a billion people . It has been praised worldwide for its efficiency and its sheer amount of work. The surveys know better. I have been fortunate enough to watch it from close quarters. Close enough to say that for people who work in Railways it is not just a job, it is a way of life.  To start the narrative from somewhere, I'll tell you this. Both sets of my grandparents worked in Railways, my parents also do. So we have a closer association than you can imagine. Our house was situated less than 100 meters from the train station. We were so habituated to the horns conking that we actually missed it when we moved out. The Railway station was and still is a very fascinating place for me. I don't know why but I n...

You know the recent polls in Delhi which saw the AAP’s rise to power? Well, being a keen observer of politics, I was writing an article about it. During a lecture. (Trust me…it was a biochemistry lecture....oxidation of fatty acids....and I never liked it!!) And I missed my attendance because of it. Shit!!! What was the point of sitting for an hour then! A friend sitting next to me remarked, “tu likhte reh APP ke baare mein…..”  (You keep on writing about APP).  My attendance being missed didn’t hurt me as much as her comment did. Why this indifference towards your own Government? So much so that you don’t even know the party’s name? More importantly, I was reminded of an incident that happened a few years ago. It was when I was in standard 10 and something that I’ll never forget.   Let me first tell you about my class. We were a class of 43 teens (23 girls and 20 boys) with their ever-effective hormones at work. Rebellious, fun-loving and smart. (Personally...

This is the story of a man and a little girl. A story which is not uncommon yet beautiful.               Let’s get started. This little girl grew up at his place. The ‘home’ was a heaven; tall trees-mango, neem and pomegranate surrounded it. A large courtyard with roses, jasmine, hibiscus and some wild flowers. Inside; bedrooms with beautiful windows.  Every morning sunlight came streaming in, waking everyone up. A big cupboard with books- Dickens, Tolstoy, Twain, The Bronte Sisters and countless other authors. The terrace was always the place for any sleepover.              The school was just a 10 minute walk. After school hours, she would spend the whole day playing with him- he was the student and she was the teacher (with a stick in her hand!!!).  In reality, he taught her. Everything which is immensely useful, practical and enjoyable. He taught her the Indian mythology and how to be polyglot....