Those Old Toys
They were stowed away and forgotten for close to 15 years till we discovered them while clearing the cupboards yesterday. But as I look closely at each one of them, flashes of memories come rushing back.
From the day they came into our house - either bought or gifted, how my kids played with each of them, how many kilometers they traveled with us, what all are the places they visited with us, and how many times they suffered being smeared in Cerelac and how many times they had to suffer the washing machine and the tumble dryer to the mountains of joy they brought into our kids’ lives. They were living beings with individual personalities and identities in the chaotic circus we called home.
Different Strokes
In another few hours, the deadliest train accident of our living memories will be 52 hrs old. Hours will be days, days will become weeks, and weeks will become months.
Life will go on but those gory images of dismembered bodies, strewn body parts, and the sound in our minds of a huge mass of metal hitting another at great speed, wailing of people crushed under the metal carriages crying for help will keep playing in a loop and haunt us a lifetime. As many times its memory would visit us, that many times our hands will rise in prayer for this not to happen again. If the macro picture of this tragedy was unsettling, micro tales of personal tragedies which will roll out one after the other will leave us devastated emotionally in the months to come.
Being Odia
Being an Odia in Odisha whose fate is tied and tightly coupled with the whims and fancies of another Odia would speak of another Odisha which it never was or should be.
For centuries we have proved that we make very good servants, sincere, loyal, and honest; efficiency was not expected from the one who just has to guard the post to protect his master`s interest. From being the Balasore Bearers to a Babu in the highest office and now as waiters and security guards in metros we have done every role because the lure of risk-free, easy, and secure life is hard to resist. It`s time we resurrected that dormant gene that made some of us kings and emperors.
Bhubaneswar – The city which adopted this nomad.
After crossing the last human habitation with some rickety unimpressive houses at Acharya Vihar, we were on the highway towards Khurda. After about a kilometre plus he turned right to a barren geography with no shrub in sight. New roads were being demarcated with mounds of aggregates dotting the sides of stormwater drains. Our Jeep rattled on it and stopped at a point where the road ended and overlooked a valley. We were asked to get down and Baba proudly showed us his first material acquisition after struggling for a decade plus to raise his 4 children.
A father`s letter to his daughter
Dear,
Today is your first day at your office and your first step into the world as a professional. I as a father feel I must tell you certain home truths and things that will help you take on the uncertain water and navigate in the new world filled with unknown people and their unknown interests.
Leap not with romantic hopes but with practical understanding.
Sunday Blues and our perpetual fight with Procrastination
Familiar with it; deep down I know that this will continue till I reach the office and start taking up things. I have lived through this feeling since my adolescence and only recently realized that many adults like me do undergo this feeling routinely and it has a name.
Kutta-Dutta Rigmarole
Yes, that’s how he would have been officially addressed because the spelling of his surname in the official record tells just that - had Sri Srikanti Kutta (Dutta) of Bankura not protested.
Dutta was determined and was made of sterner stuff.
After repeatedly failing to move the authorities to make a valid change of the name on his ration card, he chose to stage a protest in the most non-violent and creative way. He took his appeal to the head of the organization for the fourth time and instead of requesting the authorities with folded hands wearing a hangdog look, he yelped and whined like a snarling dog much to the chagrin of the BDO in the full public view. The video became viral on social media.
The Silence of the Sounds
I could not associate this sound with the industrial situations I had experienced so far. I remained clueless.
Respect – What it means and what we have made of it
A senior retiree who stayed alone in their community with time to spare, came occasionally to that school to help people with their chores. He didn’t mind doing any task – big or small whoever asked for help. He wanted to contribute to the community. He was always punctual, came much earlier to school time; and would invariably park his car at the farthest end of the parking lot.
This habit caught the attention of my cousin who asked him about this quirky habit of parking when there are many vacant slots available closer to the exit. He said, as I come early if I park near the exit, the ones who are unable to reach in time for some reason on that day will be forced to park at the farthest end. That will make them still late to work. As I have time in hand, I choose the distant slot and leave the better ones for others.
BMC and Kishore Bhaina Friction
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Entrepreneur · Researcher · Communicator
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