~ Reflections ~

What is fear ? What one feels when faced with a tough situation.. maybe... But more often than not, it appears to be the reaction of the people around you to the current situation..  Often, even if your heart doesn't start palpitating at double speed in a situation, if your friends or loved ones have a drastic reaction, your heart suddenly starts to flutter.. To be fair, it is difficult to look at a situation being faced with detachment or without reaction.. after all that's what family is about.... But wouldn't it be better of we don't make our fears become the other person's fears... Is it not better if each person learns for themselves ?

Life has become a conundrum of sorts... Erratic thoughts Unsettled activities  Distant dreams And hard hitting immediate realities

Most of us are alive most of the time, and honest  (read without any masks) some of the times.. This 'honest' self is often seen only by a chosen few friends/family/spouse, and sometimes to our selves.. Being honest not just means accepting one as they are, but being able to express oneself in true nature, without having to soften the emotion or blow... But what would you do when this true expression ends up violating someone else's space.. What then ? Is your being honest and expressive a sufficient explanation ? Recently watched the movie Thappad , a movie directed by Anubhav Sinha . While I could go on and on about the brilliant performance by not just Kumud Mishra , Taapsee Pannu , Ratna Pathak but by the multiple stars like Naila Grewal , Geetika Vidya Ohlyan and Dia Mirza who have each excelled in their parts in the restricted screen time of just about 10 - 20 minutes.  While Thappad might be called a feminist interpretation of what we face in our day to day lives...

Everyone is talking about Covid, the economic impact (both shot term and long term) and the life changing impact it seems to have on all of us.  Sitting safely in our homes, most of us are as far from reality as one can think. Very few have been able to articulate the situation being faced by individuals who are locked-out (not locked down) by their own states because they were working elsewhere.  Arundhati Roy, in her article in Financial Times , appropriately said,  The Covid crisis is still to come. Or not. We don’t know. If and when it does, we can be sure it will be dealt with, with all the prevailing prejudices of religion, caste and class completely in place.  And that sums up the impact of what this has done to the society at large. While most of us (read netizens) are happily talking about rejuvenation of body, mind and the soul, what we don't understand or appreciate is that we are lucky enough to be able to do so. We are the privileged ...

Cool breeze... Calming silence... Background chorus of chirping birds.... Myriad thoughts... Wandering birds... spotted for the first time... Random thoughts... Circling the mind... I know this silence must end... But I think it is not just nature which needed this reset...

Life seems to have come to a standstill.. or is it the reverse ? An external virus has now ensured that we all stay indoors, and spend more time doing things which we haven't done in the past few decades. While the initial day or two took some adjustment (!?!) to be able to spend more time with our families, ourselves, most of us have now come around the corner have started establishing a schedule around it. To think it took a virus to halt the circus, and ease out the pace... make people do things they haven't dreamt of in the past.. come to terms and appreciate what others have been doing for them, day-in day-out.... hmmm.... While I know the economy is going to suffer and there are lots of issues being faced by different parts of the society, I wonder if this standstill was required, just for us to understand what we are doing with are lives and to introspect if it is all worthwhile !!! PS:  A big salute and standing ovation to all the doctors, pol...

Change is a funny thing.. We realize that life cannot be static - that change is inevitable. Yet, when change actually hits you, you are often caught flummoxed. So how does one react when there is more than one change hitting you... as if suddenly, your mind is the only stationary thing, and all else seems to be in motion. The adjustment of the mind is probably the toughest... adjustment not to The change, but the idea that it is all changing, and will probably change into something totally new !

Every person has a purpose of life. Some recognize the purpose and try to make the most of the opportunity life has presented them with, while some simply fulfill the purpose during the course of their life, without the complete realization of having done it. But every person in our life also has a purpose and meaning, just the way we have a purpose in someone else's life... Often, we don't dwell into the reasons, but more often than not, each person ends up teaching us something about ourselves or the world or life, or maybe they are there just to give us company when we are low....  The intent is not to say that we should rubbish the people in our life, whom we deem have no purpose for us. But that, without realizing, each person has their own purpose... Not just in their own lives, but in our life too... Long story short, every person has their own journeys to chart, but they all have a role in your tiny journey too !

There is nothing as poetic and romantic as unfulfilled unrequited love... Or maybe the idea that someone is still trying to pursue someone, despite knowing that it is probably unattainable... Or is it just the chase.. I guess anything that has been attained looses its charm... Or maybe we work really hard when something is out of reach,  and eventually take it for granted when we have it...

We often say and believe, that we do things that appeal us (read our senses), and more often than not, our eyes. While I was already in disagreement with this philosophy of pleasing the eyes, being choosing partners basis appearance or judging your colleagues basis the way they dress, the latest trend is even more distasteful. Thanks to the advent of smartphones, I find that everything in life seems to revolve around how it can be captured 'beautifully' on the camera.  Don't get me wrong, I am all for photography and capture some priceless moments. But this urge of everyone to capture everything since they now have easy access to a camera on their phone has started to tick me off. This urge to click seems to be irrespective of whether it is a party or a pious moment, or just an emotional ordeal ! And due to this urge, things and moments are arranged to make them look 'more appealing' in a photograph.. without realizing that they are losing the spontane...