learning and growing

Poverty? Once when Maugham said that Charlie Chaplin suffers from a nostalgia of the slums, Chaplin stated, ' I have yet to know a poor man who has nostalgia for poverty, or who finds freedom in it'.So you see it is all about the writer and what he has in his mind. But about feeling nostalgic for poverty?! Well I certainly know a man who feels it that way. According to him, now that he has got all that a bourgeois man can aspire for, his enthusiasm towards his work has decreased and he often complains for being blessed with everything he had ever worked for. Yes, there are people who take success this way.My views are different from this man's, very different. Initially I felt that this man must be mad, but there are times when one is bound to respect madness too. This reminds me of another incident. There is this mad man in my present locality who quotes Shakespeare all the time. I say so out of the little knowledge that I have of Shakespeare. It is like if you ask him to ...

So a year back when I wrote about Zhijia and her experience in Kolkata, there were people who told me that only foreigners face such things in Kolkata, but not Indians. This post today is to contradict such people. One of my classmates is from Assam and her initial journey in Kolkata is not very different from Zhijia's. She too was treated indifferently and was made to feel that she knows nothing. She was narrating us one incident where she was inside a bus and was asked for help by a woman from a different college who thought that she( my friend) was from the same college as hers. Hence the woman asked for the bus fare from my friend but immediately withdrew, when she came to know that my friend was from a different college. But my friend helped her with the money that was needed to buy the bus ticket, and also helped her with some extra money, in case an emergency arose. On doing so my friend was told by the other woman ' You are definitely not a resident of Kolkata '. In...

Hardships are so many yet people try to find bliss in the very nature of their hardships. The street children near my college get their breakfast for a twelve rupee in exchange. A very little amount of 'ghugni' in a small paper plate. Something that cannot suffice one stomach but they share it with two more people and feel happy- and they smile. They abuse, they love, they cry- they do it all together.It is a curse and a blessing to be in their shoes.But oh! a day for that Bliss, for that joy, for those bright eyes devoid of worries. An old bent down man crossing the street and walking the local lanes of my place is a regular sight to my eyes. He is far more active than us to do all that he does, being what he is. He sips his tea in a 'sroop' way, exclaiming 'aah' and there I see the smile on his lips, the visible pain of exhaustion vanishing from his eyes and he is in bliss, the bliss that comes from hardships, a hard day of toil. The old Summer days, come back...

The most illusional concept or theory of the present generation is 'Egalitarianism'. The world never tries to give an equal status to all humans materialistically. It just pretends, because it is obliged to do that. Times when I feel that even the world is bound by certain rules and norms, I feel good. But that is another issue altogether. When I talk about 'Egalitarianism', I must also refer to the fact that this concept does not provide equality on grounds of moral status either. There is no mental peace when everyone is trying to show everyone,how infinitely superior they are in their thoughts and actions and that their bank balance becomes the ground for distinguishing people. So we have the horrible rich section and the pitiful poor section who in turn become a part of the horrible section to the pitiful section they have at their disposal. I might have mentioned this earlier that labours who work regularly to construct a building never get rich, it is always the p...

Do you know how people misinterpret Women's Day? By simply assuming that it is a day for strong women! Don't we already subdue our passion for this day by distinguishing between a 'strong' and a 'weak' woman? Don't we forget that 'strong' and 'weak' are very relative terms? Can't we just pause for a while and think of a day when we cared for someone 'weak' and felt 'strong'? Or a day when were 'weak' and how that very moment made strength a necessity for us? Did we think about the word 'strong' as an epithet then? Once Alice Walker said that " For in the end, freedom is a personal and lonely battle; and one faces down fears of today so that those of tomorrow might be engaged'. So let us all promise ourselves that we shall celebrate the 8th of March for all. We shall celebrate Women's Day without judging.

It does not really surprise me now when I think that some older folks just hate our generation. It is hard to accept that things have really degraded. Most people of my age like chaos and they happily create it. They find it easy and normal to drag a street child shamelessly. They don't care for the child getting hurt. They drag them because they say that they want to educate them on streets. Educate- huh? Where is your education when you use force? Where is your education when you show no manners? Where is your education and what is it that stops you from realizing or seeing that you hurt a child, while you drag him? I hate to be a part of a generation who thinks it to be cliché to show respect to elders. Who is asking you to be humble and polite always? But surely nothing can stop you from showing elders politely, how and where they are wrong.And one evening was enough for me to not regret a decision that I made some four years ago. I am happy that I did not choose you Scottish C...

One of my friends that I know, goes on nagging about how girls should not be married at an early age. According to her things have changed, and marrying at an early age does not work towards empowering women. A very vague concept for one who claims to be a feminist. I too believe personally that marriage of girls can be avoided at an early age, but I have reasons very different from my friend. To this friend I would say, that marrying at an early age does not always mean bondage. If someone wishes to and is pretty confident and adamant about getting married at 21 or 22, then why stop that woman? How can someone claim oneself to be a feminist and do exactly what Patriarchy does to the women population. Have I not discussed this before? By burdening someone with your opinions and what what you think is right make you what you don't want to be. A woman can be an excellent housewife and that does not always mean that she is less ambitious. Her decision to marry at an early age, does no...