Perspectives and perceptions

My friend said, it doesn't make sense to write and "crib" about the problems that festivals create without offering solutions in return. Justified. So here goes, Festivals in Bombay are definitely many, being a secular city we're bound to celebrate all the festivals associated with the various religions in our city, we'll have Ganesh Utsav, Diwali, Durga Puja, Id, Christmas, and so on... Political parties aiming to be projected as the party for everyone will support these festivals to gain a double whammy, political mileage and votes. People will accept their support because they too have a justifiable desire to celebrate! How do we, ensure that amidst this chaos, we prevent damage to our environment? Let's start with the resources used to erect these festivals, Mandals are created, Idols are sculpted, Flower Garlands are utilised, Colours (or rang /gulal), Crackers, Diyas, Lanterns and now so often used the electric versions of lights and the likes. What does...

have you ever had a pet? I do... I lost my dog today in an accident in the elevator, by the time we rescued her, she had already died... it made me stop and think, about the multitude of things that we do, and the pace at which we work. made me realise the importance of slowing down the pace, because these moments that we live are precious. a beautiful dog she was.. when she was a pup, we'd brought her home from the streets, she was a tiny little thing, only 6 inches long and could barely walk straight.. her eyes hadn't opened yet, obviously the gardener had snatched her away from her mother while she was still weening. when she grew, she loved to sit at our window sill and bark away to glory.. thinking about it, makes me smile now... she was so tiny, she would slip under my divan which was barely 6 inches high, and she'd curl up there and sleep.. the first time she did that, we had no idea where she was, and it was crazy trying to search for her, the small thing that she w...

the ups and downs, the lull after the storm, the wave tha recalcitrates, only to unleash again... the building up tension, and the mounting desire, the subsided understanding, the silent wait... the knowing of the present, the acceptance of the time, the wait to steer the sail, in sight of the wind's tail.. each moment, each day, brings back every second, all those times that went by, and all the times that we will...

Stepping into a new place, be it an institution, a workplace, or just another group of people, we all are very receptive about the perceptions that we create in the minds of people. Most often, the perceptions that people have about us are based on what they feel when they’re around us. Through my school life, I never noticed anything awkward or different about people’s perception towards me. In college, things were different. I still remember the moments when I walked into a class, and introduced myself to everyone, and then slowly got around to knowing people and then becoming close friends with a group of them. After the initial months had passed, when we embarked on a casual conversation about what we all had thought of each other at first, I was surprised to hear, that everyone had perceived that I had lots of “attitude.” Back then, having “attitude” was misconstrued by me as being “bad”. I’m sure many still make that mistake. Let’s define what we mean by attitude ...