The Eternal Optimist!

“… Creative writing will give me an opportunity to revisit my human side.” I wrote in my application to the Department of English when I opted for the creative writing paper. My calculation was simple. Creative writing does not involve any ‘theories’. It was easily manageable. Besides, a wide database of politically correct statements made by cunning chiefs of states and the knowledge of contemporary issues in international relations would give me an edge over the English students who read poems and plays and lived in a world of fantasy and fairytales However the magnitude of my mistake did not strike me till my performance at the Department of English came to resemble a Greek tragedy. Back in the department of political science, there is a department we regard the most dangerous to world peace-the American Department of Defense otherwise known as DOD. The English department posed grave danger to my mental peace. No wonder I referred to it as the formidable D.O.E. In response to my k...

Dear girls, We all are well aware that without you, our life would be a desolate desert. You are the centre of our attention. We, the boys, dress in the most impeccable way, show off the funkiest of hairstyles and sport the coolest cars and bikes just to impress you! But do we think about what you really want? Do we think about what you really feel? If not, it is time we do. You are the patient angels who provide us all the support we need, you become the foundation stones of our success! When a boy is a little child, he stands up taking the hand of his mother. When he goes to college, his ego stands on the silent support of his girlfriend and in his career, his wife. But when that mother becomes old and looks up to us for support, we throw her in an old age home. To that sweet girlfriend and later wife, we behave like an intimidating monster. Do we rally give you the space and the respect you deserve? If not, it is time we do. It is true that we share a major part of the bl...

At the beginning of every new day, people look forward to little pleasures that make their day delightful. Good weather, a comfortable journey to work and so on. I look forward to traveling in a bus. This object has been the butt of public antipathy for its crushing crowds and yelling conductors but I am drawn to a bus like a Russian to Vodka. I am addicted to it. The bus is a goldmine of enriching experiences! It is an interesting movie of which the conductor is the director, the hero and the villain. Even though the driver controls it, it is the conductor who really rules the bus like a king. And he rules in accordance with the principle of equality. Man or woman, rich or poor, dark or fair, he dishes out equal insults to all! In addition to that, if you are lucky enough not to get a seat, congratulations! You become his favorite victim. For those poor standing passengers, the conductor is a jail warden ordering his prisoners around-and he has only one order to give “ Fati Vach...

This is a digital story that I had made for an event named 'Red'. Red was the inaugural event for a week long series of multimedia workshops offered by Monsoon Gray center for design . The inaugural event of the launch was inspired by a novel written by Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, titled ' My Name is Red' . some 40 people were invited to contribute artwork in medium of their choice. The subject was Red. The participants were free to interpret the concept Red in any manner they liked. There were paintings, poems, essays and sculptures. and i guess only one digital story. this one.

With the desperation of an alcoholic searching for a drop of whisky, I searched my peanut sized brain for a drop of information. The instrument of terror they call ‘question paper lay before me. It well deserved its name. It put my very existence in question! The questions posed on international relations started pushing me to the precipice of frustration. Like a pirate looking for the key to his secret treasure, I made some futile attempts at searching that chit I had hidden in my pocket only to find that it was stolen by the guy behind me. One suspicious look from the supervisor foiled my hopes of getting any external help. To regain my composure, I then did that deep breathing exercise Baba Ramdev shows on TV and decided to confront the paper with whatever miniscule knowledge I had. Compare and contrast the Realist and Idealist traditions in the study of international relations. I answered as follows Realism is a peculiar view of the world defined by the assumption that the interna...

I had always thought that studying the Indian defense policy would be great but the reference books brought out the picture of a defense policy in shambles. If we try to point out that the whatever the policy is, is dismal, there has to be some policy to start with. For the first 15 years after independence India had no tactical activity at all and as a result, no defense policy outline. India’s first Prime Minister Mr. Jawaharlal Neharu had a weird logic of his own. Pakistan according to him was a manageable threat and as of China, China and India were both age old civilizations with friendship dating back centuries! He saw no reason for China to attack India. It might be due to the influence of Buddhism or even the Bhakti movement and the likes of it that there was a considerable lack of strategic thought in the Indian culture. The art of warfare was never given the attention and the dignity it truly deserves. The Neharu regime kept up this tradition in its wishful neglect of the mil...

“So how many meters of saffron cloth should I order?” “What? You’re going into Chinmay mission? Did someone ditch you? Are you heart broken? ...” These were the kind of reactions I got from my family and friends when I decided to join a camp organized by Chinmaya Mission at Zambavli in South Goa. People looked at me with sympathy as if I was going to die, go away forever. What was the camp about? I did not really know. Why was I going there? Well, the company of ascetics would certainly be bearable than my mom’s chiding over my addiction to TV and the internet! Eat what they offer, hear out what they have to say and sleep as much as possible. Some minor misunderstanding with my parents had disturbed me a bit and I just wanted to be at peace. The last post I wrote is what I told at the selection interview for the camp. I had no idea that my guesses will come absolutely true! Gautam Buddha once said, “What we are now is the result of what we have thought. What we will become w...