Sora

 I generally try avoiding WWII literature, the burden of the tragedy, especially the Jewish holocaust is something I cannot or would not endure. The collective trauma of those who perished at the hands of the Nazis haunt my sleep and makes me question humanity, God and the very purpose of this universe!   What troubles me is the horrifying reality of a twisted and grotesque idealogy which turns people into monsters.  The more I think about it the more disturbing it gets. And more so now, when I see the spirit of that very ideology  mirrored in different places across the globe, resurrected by obsessed individuals, spreading its tentacles and draining out the lifeblood of sanity and tolerance.  What makes people blindly accept such propoganda and justify what they are doing? Do they not have any moral dilemma? Can they sleep at night knowing what they are doing? Is fear the reason for such obsequience? Or the inner monstrosity finds expression when fed with ...

 Reflections on Women’s day Yesterday was women’s day and I was swamped with loads of good wishes and messages .Last evening, while trying to keep myself afloat through the swampy marshes of work, work and more work, I managed to take out a moment to think about the day. While I don’t want my musings to be a dampener on the overall mood of gaiety and festivity that Women’s day invoke in all of us, this still needs to be said. I am all for celebration and the feel good factor, however as usual my inquiring soul is searching for answers to a number of questions, some not so easy to answer… simply because we so not wish to acknowledge anything unpleasant and would rather  hide behind a façade of All is Well ! So I ask myself this question every year- why do we celebrate women’s day? The most discerning reader will probably be rolling up her eyes and shaking her head – what a rhetorical question!!! Women have come so far, we are celebrating our achievements, our empowerment and em...

As a parent, what I am going to say may or may not resonate with a lot of you.  Being a parent is tremendous joy and tremendous responsibility at the same time. And it is SO very overwhelming too- being answerable for another life is no mean task and at every step a lot of uncertainty and doubt mars us. Loving my two boys is one of the most blissful and wonderful things in my life, yet it has not been an easy journey in some ways. “Am I doing the right thing?”, “Was I too harsh?’, “Am I being too indulgent?”, “Where did I go wrong?” – are just some of the questions I seek answers for almost everyday of my 13 years being a parent.  Trying to find an anchor in the turbulent sea of parenthood, I came across Khalil Gibran’s pertinent musings “On Our Children” and I was enamored the instant I read them. His beautiful words vibrated through my entire being-the much-needed rain sweeping away the dust of dubitābilis that had shrouded my mind. I do not aim to be didactic or preachy in ...

 Letting go… “For in grief nothing "stays put." One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats. Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I am on a spiral? But if a spiral, am I going up or down it? How often -- will it be for always? -- how often will the vast emptiness astonish me like a complete novelty and make me say, "I never realized my loss till this moment"? The same leg is cut off time after time.” ― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed There are no words to describe the feeling of losing a parent or a parent like figure.   Today I write for someone who recently experienced loss - the poignancy of her raw grief over her father’s passing away has been gnawing at me! And I wanted to reach out to her, to assure her that she will be fine, words may not suffice, but I had to make an effort. Somehow, despite being aware of the transience of life, we presume they will be there forever with us. As children, we have a propensity t...