Hit in the midst of a writer’s block!
He scratched the lines from many a book,
Believed that it will come,
An inspiration
A motivation
A story
A poem
A line
A word!
Something to just jot down again on these pages, blank…
A day went,
A week.
A few months went by,
He still didn’t much of it think.
A year went by
And he still didn’t lose belief…
He breathed down and stuck to the basics,
Avoided blank pages.
Kept his eyes and ears open to spark his brain again;
Kept his mind fresh and kept reading pieces.
Kept meeting interesting people and listened to their stories;
Travelled to various places,
But alas! nothing helped.
Nothing could jog his mind to fill in the blank pages.
A year, turned into years’, and as pages remained blank,
He started doubting, in self that could he ever write again.
Scrolling endlessly over years, down the lines of social media posts,
Seeing what all people around were achieving, while he creatively rots…
He decided to be consumed by the new AI might,
to help him write,
But not without a fight, he thought,
Decided to give it one last try!
Opened his usual app and stared at the page blank,
And it struck him,
He started typing,
And just like in the past
the words started pouring…
Within 10 minutes, he wrote down everything.
When it was done,
he realized,
this post though done in a couple of minutes,
was three years in the making!
It was for naught, his struggle,
he smiled,
even a blank page,
could be inspirational!
India
Why we fight!
Distrubed mind
Broken heart
Tiring limbs
Gloomy soul
Emotionless face;
Look directly into
Innocent ailing eye’s inquiring,
“Can I trust you with my life?”
The warmonger within smiles
Another puzzle to unravel
Another battle to fight.
Flames like Teen Spirit
How difficult it seemed leading life behind veils,
running through chaotic days,
trying to be a part of something unique..
Freedom they shouted from underneath the smoke filled sky of a remote village,
Pelting stones at the government forces,
The fire within couldn’t be extinguished by a bullet, a bomb nor poisonous gasses..
Freedom they shouted as they raged into the polluted night under city lights, spirits were high and so were they,
breaking laws each day
The fire within was the party they dreamt about each morning to have made it successful today
Freedom they shouted from within the gates of their contaminated institutions, their youthful voice rioting against each other from behind banners with political stench all over
The fire within was that of ambition, morality, misplaced loyalty
For them peace a forgotten term, a state of agitation the only way to lead life in circles as if it were an one-act play aimed for famed immortality..
But along came the Reaper and swished its scythe, extinguishing the flames
In that one instant before death blew away their smoke trail to obscurity,
they realized how uncomplicated life really was
how inevitable was mortality
Driverless Taxi
“Where would you like to go?”,
the car questioned him.
As he fed in the location, he remembered them saying,
“Ride hard and Stop conforming”
While they all took paths to different destinations..
He sat here, in a driverless car, taking him to his 10th job interview
Same city,same nation..
Driverless cars! Pfft!!
If only they knew,
how he and his mate, used to design them,
sitting on the back benches
in school..
They were the scientists of tomorrow,
But alas! A jobless man today..
25 year’s!!
He checked the day..25 years since he left school..
When did time go so soon..
A happy kid he was,
who lived in the future.
A hard pill to swallow,
that the future was here,
but the kid was no where near..
“Act your age”, they said
“find a job, marry,settle down”
“forget your childish dreams”
“Travel blogger! Whoever heard of such a thing..”
Heartbroken he conformed
and forgot,
until today
He panicked and suddenly felt alone,
hadn’t he agreed to,
do whatever the society had asked him to,
“Then why do I not feel happy nor free?”
“Guilty? have i wronged the kid inside me?”
“You have arrived at your destination”
the car suddenly spoke..
looking out, at the towering glass-paned building,
dwarfing the world around
He finally questioned himself
“Have I?”
Stolen Kisses
Their eyes meet, as their friends surround,
smiling a smile which no one notices..
It was on one such night,long before, their hearts had met,
Fooling around,
behind the back of their closest of friends..
They loved, living this secret which no one knew about,
Stealing kisses,when no one was around
It felt beautiful..As beautiful, as her smile..
As beautiful, as the curl of her hair, that flirts with her eye..
But only few weeks they had left, they knew,
Everything was going to change.
“Is it worth it?”, he thought
The question to which she answered, by walking towards him,
and hugging him silently for the rest of the night..
Memories meant more, than logic!
Rain
As always the train had been late. Heavy rains had hit the city by surprise. Full one week earlier than predicted by our sharp MET dept. As i stood there on the platform, looking around at people trying to find shelter from the heavy downpour, couldn’t help but feel so victorious about carrying my blue umbrella. Better safe than sorry, that’s what dad says.
Just then i felt a tug at my trousers. A kid, no more than 8 years, accompanied by another “blind” girl, of maybe 12 years, were asking for money. I rolled my eyes and ignoring them poured my entire attention into my smartphone.
I had always been skeptical about giving money to the beggars. My dad always said, they are professionals, who would rather beg than work for a living. He would say,if any beggar troubles you, just look at it sternly and tell it to come work at our home instead. This would drive them away everytime.
So i had developed, a cold heart towards beggars.
Over the years of my stay in the city i also realized that not only were these beggars growing in number but that they seemed a part of an organization. You could see the same beggar at the same place begging for hours without getting any alms and still be there the next day. They were everywhere now – traffic signals, train stations, beach, outside restaurants, on streets, etc.. they are like the people who work in shadows. Thus it lead me to even fear them as i grew older..
What if, this organization, they are a part of, in some way tilts the security scales of the city on daily basis.. trading information right from underworld to the police officials.. could be possible!
Such fears develop, when you live in a city with a major terror attack, on frequent occasions. Fear like virus keeps working from the back of your mind, always making you question the motives of everyone around you. In a way maybe killing a part of humanity.
As i was thinking all this, i saw the train had arrived. It was time to set everything in action. Catching a train in the rush hours, was like playing rugby, with everyone against you. Tempers flying high, people catching hold of bars, handles, sometimes people themselves.. anything and everything that will help them stick together till their destination. Very very dangerous. Every time you have to do a risk assessment of Time to reach office and Security of your life.. depending upon this you do, what has to be done.
Today I was really late. I had to board this train, which was already full up to its max point. Quickly i closed the umbrella and jammed myself into the crowd. I got space to place one feet and most of my body in balance. Lucky! More people tried to get in, seems like everyone was late today. I was just glad to have found space. Had held on to inside bar, placed one feet above the other..we tried pushing in.. but everyone on the inside,is a squeezed lemon,pushing outwards for air. So a state of equilibrium has to be adjusted before the train starts.
Just then the train started, a push from inside came outward towards us like a wave..I felt it before anyone else on the boarding rail of the train..i held on tight.. but the man on my left lost his balance and fell..frantically,he tried to hold on to something, and that something turned out to be my umbrella, on the side of my bag..He fell bad on his back just as the train started gaining speed..I saw all this from the corner of my right eye..saw my blue umbrella go with him, left behind.
But I got space to place my second feet now.
Rest of the day in the office went by swiftly. Customers coming in and going,arguments all around, work being stalled due to electricity cuts, puddle of water in and around the office, boss shouting orders, employees screaming at each other..I Hate rains!
I was already dripping wet as I reached, the platform to catch the train back home. The wonderful part was, again it was the rush hour time..the usual crowd going back home. But this time along with all anger and frustration of their day.. so it gets worse. A regular fight or two, of raised voices, can be expected in such times. People venting out their anger, before reaching home.
All you do is stand there like a corpse, waiting for your destination to arrive, and get dragged out with the entire crowd, getting down..That is routine!
And so after 45 min of train journey, I stood on the platform waiting for the heavy downpour to at least reduce a little.. my next task was to get to the rickshaw stand 100 meters away. I tried asking people around, with umbrellas, if I could get cover, till the stand..
No one seemed interested, ignored me and walked by hurriedly.
I was tired and hungry. Longed for a good bath and hot dinner, with nice sleep.. but it was one hurdle away..I Hate rains!
Just then, I felt a tug at my trousers. I looked back and saw it was, the same 8-year-old kid from morning. He held my blue umbrella in his little hands.
I stared blankly. I was confused. He smiled and offered it to me.. all i could do was, with some sense of guilt take the umbrella from the kids hand. He blinked twice as we had our last eye contact and I turned into the rain to cross the hurdle to reach my home..
But something in me didn’t feel right. I couldn’t take another step.. I stood there, few meters from the waiting rickshaw. Looked back to see the kid still there.. taking shelter under a small shade, with the blind girl by his side. I walked back. I had to.
I gave the kid my blue umbrella and a 50 rupee note. I still felt guilty, since all this felt not enough..
But the kid. He looked up and smiled with bright eyes..
.. That was all it took..I turned around and walked back, getting drenched in the rain.
But this time with a smile.
I realized, I do love rain..
THE ART OF CYBER MANIPULATION
“India is an intolerant country”
There, that was easy. One simple line, repeat it often, across all forms of media and watch it become the truth.
Reminds me of the scene from HOUSE OF CARDS, when Frank (politician) plants a story with Zoe, (newbie news reporter) suggesting a cabinet appointment, he tells her to- “say that name.. say it over and over. Tomorrow afternoon, write it down, then watch that name come out the mouth of the President of the United States. This is where we get to create.” and no wonder what follows is a ‘domino effect‘.
That is when you realize –
“ A pen is mightier than a sword.“
We have been reading about this since our school days; but never before, have we been able to experience it first hand.
Our brain is a stone and our five senses the chisel, that give a shape to it. What we feed our brain via these senses mainly contributes to the outcome.
Intolerance has been repeated so often now that our brain has taken it up as the truth, waving a red flag as soon as it sees a pattern matching the same..
But, how many of us actually face intolerance on a day-to-day basis? is the real question.
My life, personally is free of such, so called rising intolerance. And if i look out of my window i cannot see it. For miles arround me, each and every person is living his life, going about doing his or her work..
.. but all that changes, as soon as i switch on the news or go on twitter or Facebook or whatsapp. It is as if, the whole world is exploding with riots and end of humanity.
That is where the problem lies..
Dumbing down our brain, to such a level that, unknowingly we have been manipulated by the social media is not a new concept. We have been been brain washed over ages with speeches, newspapers, radio,movies, music,TV, videos etc etc, for good or bad.
But that was nothing, compared to the means available now. In these past few years with advancement of technology, the world has just become too close for comfort.
And this online life has started creeping into our actual offline life..
Ever wondered what our life would be if, we had no government or rules and regulations. If we were allowed to self govern our thoughts and actions?
well, THAT is the online virtual world, that you and i have surrounded ourself with,
and
“Chaos”
is the word to describe it.
The problem is, people have got an easy access, to excess amounts of the virtual stage.
Everyone has an opinion, and uncensored can telecast it to the entire world,
and with every “like” every “retweet” every “forward“, it becomes a positive reinforcement for the brain to stick to that kind of thinking.
It is like telling a joke which everyone laughs at and then you keep repeating it. But it is only funny once or twice, after that you need a new joke or a new audience.. And that is where our virtual world steps in.. endless supply of new people. Some you have never or will never meet..
I have always believed that Human greed for power, money and fame will lead to our ultimate doom.. and now the power to control the people has never been easier. Isolated events happening across the world, play right into the hands of those, who do not want me and you to live in peace for their own greed.
My country has been the same. I do not believe, it to have become intolerant suddenly (if it was; riots would have been going around as you read)
..only there is a “fish market” online which needs to turn down its volume a bit!
That said; are you willing to disconnect yourself from this virtual world (including tv and other forms of media) completely?
I think not.
Who would want to feel left out??
(remember groupism?, peer pressure from school and college days? , herd mentality?)
We have become a bunch of unruly immature kids running wild on the Internet..and that is the truth!
In the end all i want to say is-
Be careful what you feed your brain,
because it is highly impressionable.
You and I have the power to ignore it and stop letting the negativity affect us, and do what really matters to us.
25th Nov 2015.
“Keep a check on your digital diet, cause it might be making you terribly sick.”
Vrushank Naik 