We should NOT FORGET

         The thing about distractions is that they are mortal. Sometimes they have long life, sometimes they last for a very small period of time. 

           The girl who was struggling to survive after the heinous assault which rocked the smug foundations of Indian society, whose each breath was a ripple of hope for the Indian nation, finally succumbed to her injuries. The not-so-subtle diversionary tactic has backfired on the government. So much for giving her, 'all the help she needs'.

             But no, it isn't over yet. Not by a loooong shot. Nothing can appease the livid nation now, not even if the entire Indian cricket team retired together.

             Although the girl has moved on to a better place, the flame that her trauma had ignited still burns in all our hearts and the light from this fire illuminates all the the government has been skating over for years. This is it. A harsh, painful wake-up call. There is no turning back now.
It is time for change; Time for everyone to wake up and smell the stench and actually DO something rather than just sit and shake heads at 'today's generation'.  

         The best part is some people are actually putting the blame on the girl. Apparently getting brutally gang-raped and tortured was her fault as she had been out after 9 pm with a friend and had probably dressed provocatively. 

          These infuriating, baseless and utterly moronic reasonings indicate just how hard it will be to bring about a change in our society.  The ultimate root of the alarming elevation in the number of rape cases comes down to how children are raised and what values are taught to them during their childhood days. They should be brought up in such a way that intermingling between girls and boys will be considered normal. The misogyny that flares deep within Indian culture should be   be extinguished and male and female should be considered as equals.

        While our so-called leaders hasten to somehow gloss over this sticky situation and wait for the public fury to die down as it usually does as Time marches forward, it is perhaps best that, however embarrassing, disgusting and gory the incident may be, we should NOT FORGET. It'll do good for it to hover in the mind of India as a harsh yet strong reminder of the battle for survival of a girl, no, of all girls, who had had a whole life ahead and who had wanted to live. We deserve to live with dignity too.

Morning blues

Disclaimer: The characters, events and places portrayed in this post are purely fictitious. Any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental. None of the matter in this post is to be copied in any way. No ideas are allowed to be stolen from here. If I see any such practice, dire consequences will ensue.

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I pulled my blanket over my head; it was cold in my room and as any cold adolescent, I felt very lazy.
Abruptly, I felt something on my stomach and heard it squawk. Talon, my ‘I-won't-let master-loaf-around’ phoenix. I rolled over in an attempt to get him off, but he seemed to understand my intentions, and in spite, he clawed off my blanket, and jabbed at my head like a woodpecker.
"Ouch!" I pushed him off my bed. "Did it really require that!?" But Talon merely perched proudly on the head end of my bed, and ruffled his feathers.
I slid my legs off the bed and yawned, moving my long, uncombed hair to my back. "Fine, I'm up!"
I opened the window to let the haughty bird out, closed it after him, pulled down the blinds, and habitually knocked on the wall behind my table. No, I wasn't on plate 639 anymore; no longer in a small room, living next door to her. I was at home-where I should have been living since I was eight, but had only been doing so for about a month.
Their memories had been retrieved, and my parents had brought us to our new home. Though this was what we had been fighting so hard for, I still couldn't stomach the fact that it was all over; that I wouldn't have to use my bow and arrows anymore, that we had reached our goal, and parted, never to hear from each other ever again.
I pulled on my jacket, and lit up the fireplace.
"Mark!" it was my sister- Jasmine's voice. "Mother says you should come out quickly and go to bath."
"Alright." I replied, "I'm coming."
A different sight greeted me when I walked out of my room. Mother was dressed up in special attire, and so were Father and Jasmine! "Mark, cousin Aiden's old suit is already in the bathroom. Now be a dear and take a quick bath." Mother then rushed off somewhere else. Then, it hit me. "Father, does this mean that Grandmother and Grandfather are coming?"
"Yes" he answered, "Don't forget, we are to be at our neatest and on our best behaviour when they arrive.’Aven' is what you will be called. Now do hurry to bath and call if you need help with the clothes."
I rushed with my bath as I was told to. Grandmother and Grandfather were the most highly respected in our family, and had been reigning over Plate 371 for several decades. I had only seen them once before- on my uncle's wedding back when I was five. Every member of the family had to wear special attire, and looked like grown-ups and kids going to the same school. Grandmother looked very kind, though I didn't get to spend any time with her. Grandfather looked strict, and scary. Throughout the time, I was cowering behind Mother, hugging her legs, also in that dress code.

I stepped out of the bathtub, and started getting dry. I wondered what Grandfather and grandmother would think of us. I was still a shy person; would they be alright with that? I hoped so.

The clothes I was to wear looked princely, and probably were. The shoes looked uncomfortable, and had long laces. I managed to get all but the latter on, and had to ask for help. I tied my hair, as neatly as possible, and looked at myself in the mirror. “Dashing.” I laughed, as I picked up the shoes and walked outside to a chair.
“Father! How am I to tie these laces?” I called, practicing that politeness which I had to show them when they came.
He came, helped me out and then left again to help Mother get things ready.

“Aven and Azalea, Don't forget.” Mother reminded us. “Could both of you stand outside to wait for them?”

I gulped. “Y-yes Mother.” Jasmine-I mean, Azalea, and I walked carefully outside, and waited in the courtyard.

After ten minutes, Mother and Father joined us.
“Be careful, kids.” Father warned. “They’ll just appear out of nowhere.”
Out of nowhere indeed, a grand horse-cart trotting to our doorstep wasn't very obvious, was it?”

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This has been lying in the drafts for a long, long time, so I thought I'd just give it a shot and publish it.
I hope you like it :)

Introducing Diversity

     Us mortals being the result of our creators pallete,have been endowed with a plethora  of abilities and weaknesses.The former may or may not enjoy the privilege of being unexampled .If it is the case there exists
a wide scope to garner appreciation.But more often than not the complementary situation prevails.With the incidence of similiar abilities being of accentuating prevalence,ones acheivments are starved of its sole incentive to evolve and develop.Since procuring the assent of ones fellow being has always been the sole motive of the human behaviourism,the absence of it berefts the individual of the imperative motivation.
     And hence the exigency to evolve and change arises,if your current crop of abilities fail to impress or is of
no practical implication by all means innovate.Us humans are a result of millions of years of evolution,our DNA is armed with that ability to adapt.Many may combat my meditations up to this point and may allege

my disloyalty to personal individuality.But to these people I  suggest or rather question ,are you like everybody else?What indeed is the point of being a mere cell in a body,or a unit in a mob?What is the point of existence in mediocrity if you cant stand out?The annals of history offer room not to those who imitate but rather to those who initiate  revolution.Be different DONT blend with the trends!

Celebrating Onam

High-spirited people of Kerala celebrate Onam with happiness. The festival is celebrated for a period of ten days, starting from the first day Atham and continuing till tenth and the biggest day called Thiru Onam.
Celebrations of the first day are marked by intricate floral carpets called Pookalam. More flowers of different colours are added to this pookalam on each passing day. Onam is a ten day festival starting from atham to thiruvonam.On thiruvonam people get up at four o'clock in the morning,cleaning up the house,take an early bath and then go to the temple.
Onam is the greatest festival in Kerala.It is the time for harvest.Children eagerly wait for the festival as it is the time they get new clothes and toys as their uncles,aunts grandmother,grandfather and cousins come together to celebrate this traditional festival.
Onam is celebrated on the first day of malayalam calender called chingam.It is celebrated due to an old legend. According to this legend Lord Vishnu took his fifth avatar as vaamana and appeared in the kingdom of king mahabali and sent him to nether land.Lord Vishnu appeared as a dwarf brahmin came to Mahabali after his morning prayers and asked him for boons.He asked for as much land that could be covered with three steps.The king agreed.Suddenly vaamana incresed in size.With one step he covered the whole sky.With the second step he covered the whole earth.Then he asked for place to put his next step.The king realised that he was no ordinary boy.He asked vaamana to put his third step on his head.Lord Vishnu was pleased with him and granted him a boon.He said that he would want to visit Kerala ever year.This homecoming of King Mahabali is celebrated as onam.
Vibrant and joyous festival of Onam is celebrated with lot of happiness in the state of Kerala. Spirit of harmony and brotherhood prevails in the state all throughout the ten days of Onam.  People of all caste, communities and religions actively participate with same excitement. This enthusiasm was the cause of onam being the national festival of Kerala.

Today I wish all my friends a very very joyful onam. May god bless all of us today.Happy Onam...........