My Experience with digital books

“Books are my best friends”. How often have you heard people stating this line? And best friends, they evolve with you, adjust to your needs and understand you better. Books have just done that over the years. From being delivered on papyrus to growing on papers and now maturing on the electronic medium, books have moulded themselves to suit our comfort of reading. As mankind’s lifestyle transformed from busy to busier, his best friend mutated to stay along with him forever. Hence the advent of digital books, electronic books or e-books, call it by any name.

HoBbiEs - The accessories that adorn Life

I had actually never perceived hobbies the way I do now after the accidental meet with this idea.

The regular school uniform, the daily formal office/workplace dress or costumes that we wear more often ends to make us look bland. We ignore the characteristic difference each one of us possesses. But when the same person wears some accessories with the regular dresses it adds to the beauty of the person. Accessories enhance the look of a person. As a metaphor hobbies act the same way, I believe.

The RODS of my window !

The electricity is down. There is absolute silence all over. I can hear the drops of water dripping through one of the taps of my neighbour's flat. My eyes catch the sight of the sun rays falling on the floor through my window, in the hot and humid Chennai afternoon. The railings of the window cast their shadow and divide the sun rays on the floor. The innocent sun rays do not protest. I try to remove the rods from my window so that the sun rays get united again. But my strength is not enough to do so. I need tools which I do not have now. And gradually the sun rays get dimmer as the sun starts to leave the evening sky. I look at the floor again. There is darkness, all united. Even the railings could not divide darkness. Next day, early morning,I get the tools and remove the rods on my window.I sit down on the floor beside the window waiting for the sun rays to visit my house again. This time they fall united looking brighter. No rods to divide them.

When shall we get the tools and remove the rods of religion, caste, creed, race, colour, location and many more, that divide us. When shall we understand that every time we divide, darkness gets more united and stronger? I shall continue to wait beside my window looking at hope, in the horizon.

Fasting - a way to protest

[Had written this piece for a discussion few months back, just thought of adding it to my collection]

“To fast or not to fast, is the question?”.. I believe fasting and an era stand independent. Fasting as a protest method  is not a genesis of the 21st century and I am sure all of you would agree with me on this atleast. If we rewind , it was prevalent way back in the spiritual era times also when a common man with uncommon will-power fasted to protest and  woo the GODs in heaven. The only change now is that the protest is against other men – Government or Governing Bodies.

I strongly believe that non-violent protest like fasting so profoundly advocated by Mahatma Gandhi[who fasted in protest and we got an independent India to live] or Nelson Mandela[who fasted for the prisoners rights and got a concession from the South African Government.] and now Anna Hazare[the anti-corruption crusader] has only empowered our society.

 Particularly for increasingly insensitive governments who do not rise from their slumber on hearing the hue and cry of the harassed public due to innumerable menace, violent protest will only stand futile. A fasting protest that gathers and captures the common predicament of the mass invigorates the people and inspires to join the protest. Such non-violent protest methods depicts the sanctity , strength and pure intention of the society to embarrass the other party or make them realize the error in their ways.And when such a protest gets coupled with support of the lakhs and media the impact becomes more powerful. The sheer will of a person to fast for the cause of the masses and die for it in itself becomes the clincher. It forces the sleeping beauties in the Government to do nothing but agree. Channelizing such protest and gathering mass support is essential to make it louder for the deaf ears to hear otherwise cases like Irom Sharmila [fighting to remove the AFSPA act in Manipur] or Swami Nigamanand [Fighting for clean Ganges] would become rampant.

I would like to end my discussion saying that if non-violent fasting methods for the first time could bring all parties in the history of Indian politics together then why be violent.

The Mark of my New Life...

"Just married" and more importantly "Just started to cook". Absent minded , more often my state of mind nowadays and I touched the red hot pan with my naked fingers. The roasting of my skin accompanied by the excruciating pain reminded me of no-one else but my mother. She is the one who has been bearing this for countless years to satiate our taste buds with heavenly manna that she cooks. One thing I realized for sure, in that furtive moment of pain, is that a homemaker's job is truly a thankless job. A job that needs utmost patience, ultimate endurance , absolute perfection and definitely no expectations often goes un-rewarded and unnoticed. Forbearing our endless tantrums in taste she successfully brings on plate the most palatable bite, even today. But how many times do we thank our maa for the food she serves , may be once in infinite times. Subtle or loud, shouldn’t we thank her more often? We don't because her bond does not demand that. 

The burn mark on my finger , is now a vestige of that enlightening moment. And everytime I feel it, I quietly thank my maa in my heart.