The sister I didn't grow up with

Today is rakshabandhan in India. This is the day sisters tie rakhi around their brothers’ wrists and the brothers vow to be for the sister throughout their life, no matter what. While many of us are fortunate to have a sister born from their parents, some of us aren’t. Those of us who fall under the latter category, though, find sisters, some of us get so lucky that we don’t really see a difference.

The blackboard that helps you learn and unlearn

Ever wondered when was the last time we were completely ourselves? What, does the answer seem too obvious?

I used to think I was always myself no matter what. I thought I had my own thoughts, ideas and opinions. Nobody could influence my character, nobody could influence what I thought, how I behaved, how I walked, how I spoke, how I wrote, how I expressed, how I reacted. Isn’t it true that we’re the sculptors of our character, our mannerisms, our thoughts and ideas?

Believe in destiny? You do if you believe in science.

One of my friends said to me the night before I went for an important exam back in 2009 - “Since you’re a guy who believes in destiny, know that whatever will happen will happen according to your destiny.”

Right. And that’s exactly the reason why I was worried that night. I knew what was destined to happen.

Be a spectator and you’ll never see a fair game.

Well, what is this about? There’s a train service in Chennai that’s called the Mass Rapid Transit System – the train runs on an elevated track and does two things: gives you a spectacular view of the city from a safe distance and saves a lot of your time.

I personally remember travelling from Fort to Triplicane in less than 30 minutes while the ride in a bus would’ve taken me over an hour at midday. The story in the newspaper that I’m talking about here was about how sad the state of MRTS has become.

The Bad Heroes and the Good Villains

Mahatma Gandhi, Krishna, Jesus, Anna, Hussain, Da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Nicola Tesla, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, you name a famous personality who was considered the hero in his time, and you find some disturbing facts about him now; and there’s always an argument where a side states that they were bad and shouldn’t be considered great.

The Masterpiece

I know my life isn’t perfect. I know it’s got all flaws possible. I understand I’ve not done a great job at anything. I know I’m incapable of most things and capable of few. And there’re more things that I dunno about, and I’ve no clue if I’m capable of even one of them. I’m aware that my life is not going as planned, and that I’m not being good to everyone. I can understand that I’ve fallen, and broken my skin many a time. I’ve got scars that’ll never go away. There’re blacks and reds and blues and yellows of all shades. I know I’ve broken promises and that’s resulted in cracks. I know I’m shaky; but that makes me mould-able. I know there have been more troughs than crests with things. I understand the wheel’s spinning and there’s not much time before the clay dries. But…the point is that I was chosen as the one who could be given raw wet clay to create something for myself. I wasn’t born with the skill of a potter and before I could find a tutor, I was told nobody would choose to teach for everyone had to create their piece of work before the clay dries up.

The Dam that Checks

How many of us have answered ‘Will you tell your crush about your feelings if you were told you’d die in another 30 minutes?’ with a ‘Yes, find his/her number!’ Not less than six billion of us would choose a different answer, definitely! If we had one secret to share, no matter if it affected anyone or not, no matter how big or small it is, we’d choose to share it during our last moments, but not now.

As we flow down the stream...

I’ve always wondered how our mind strangely syncs with the surroundings. There are some conditions that awaken certain vibrations – at a particular frequency that really gets close to the Alpha frequency and you suddenly start to feel as if everything is good, the surroundings are warm and as if there’s a silent stream flowing in your mind that soothes everything – all the thoughts, all the hurt and all your worries.

Why aren't we ever satisfied?

Right, why aren’t we ever satisfied?

I just finished uploading some songs onto my Walkman and removed about 60% of the ones that I had. Most of the songs that I now have are new – but I ain’t satisfied.

I was happy travelling standing in a bus all around the city with a 30 bucks pass back in 2010, in Chennai – today, I look for Volvo and still, feel something’s missing.