Category: Rants
-
Hubris Lost
I remember looking into the mirror, Gazing at giant black-brown eyes With little flecks on them. My button nose came in the way as I leaned in And misted over all details. Without these fragile pieces of glass I wear everyday, I am but a blurred man In the mirror And without; And…
-
Vegetarianism is good for you
Personal choice. It’s a good phrase. Rolls nicely off the tongue. Fills you with positive energy. Makes you feel empowered. In a ‘free’, ‘civilised’ society, most things in everyday life are a personal choice. Or so they say. Vegetarianism. Yoga in the morning. Celebrating Diwali. Living far from work so that you can save some…
-
Reflections on the accident of birth
My mother pointed me to a recent article in The Hindu about a study done on the nature of domestic help. And it got me thinking about some things that had lain buried for a while. I have had an extremely privileged upbringing. I was the eldest born of my generation, a boy with all his digits…
-
After 10 years
There is something Mumbai has against wall paint. There is something we like about the concept of letting layer upon layer of grime, fungus and disease accumulate on the walls of our homes, offices, shops and establishments. We always hear about Indian streets and stairwells. How both are lined first with dirt, and then with…
-
The Biggest Problem with the Gaming Industry (amongst others)
Let me begin with a parallel. Ms. Rowling wrote 7 Harry Potter books. Their popularity made her one of the richest people in the UK. But that’s the aside. The real story is how she made a mockery of every pundit predicting that the age for children and adults consuming printed books and literature is…
-
Not another Kolkata ode.
In this country, it is so easy to idealise the past and our agrarian roots. I grew up with this rhetoric, being a Bengali. Of the greatness of Tagore, of the days of the Bengali freedom struggle, of the days when the bhadralok learned English and became a barrister, but also wore the dhuti, ate…
-
Outside the bubble
Maybe all of go through this at some point in their life. Except that I used to pride myself in not being one of these people. I thought that if I listened and read enough, without changing my actual physical co-ordinates, it would mean I was still taking journeys. Well, maybe when I was younger,…
-
The difference between bombs and bombs.
I’m not sure about you, but I am really tired of this sentence being callously thrown around these days: “It doesn’t make any difference who drops them. They do the same thing.” Not true. Bombs kill, maim and destroy. They are amongst the most terrible thing Man invented (along with water torture). But more people…
-
The Rat Race
This post is dedicated to my father and the millions like him who slept one night, to awake and find themselves lost. I took my love, And took it down. Climbed a mountain and turned around, And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills ‘Till the landslide brought me down. – Fleetwood Mac…
-
Of neuroses and saving graces
Have you ever wondered how apparent failure can sometimes be liberating? It makes you sit back and wonder what you were chasing in the first place. It fills you with a cold anger, and recharges you for the next surge. And this time, maybe you learn to adapt, to not rush headlong, or simply to…
Between 2 Sips 