Sid Balachandran hardly needs an introduction. Chances are, if you are in the market for quality reading and edge-of-the-seat fiction, you’ve come across Sid’s blog I Wrote Those. That he is a core member of the very popular Project 365 team is just the proverbial cherry on top. A few days back Sid asked me […]
Independence
Spaced out!
She had me at hello! Rachna, I mean. She had me at hello, lock stock and barrel. I’ve happily stayed ‘got’ ever since. She ‘gets’ me more and more with every post she writes and every comment of hers that I come across. There is no drama about her. If plain- speak ever wore shoes, […]
The Makers
A close friend shared this video a short while ago. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSVYvUHg4UA&w=560&h=315] The video triggered a few questions within me. I would like to leave them with you. (If I offend you, I apologize in advance. My words are driven by the pain of having to witness the untapped, unrealized and unseen potential of the hundreds […]
Monkey See Monkey Do
Human beings learn vital skills by aping their immediate social group. A large part of our reactions and responses falls under the category of learned behavior. We’ve learned to ape facial expressions, tone of voice, the way we do things like holding our spoon, clipping our nails or tying our shoelaces. We’ve also aped some […]
The Educator
Contrary to common belief, the meaning of the word education is not to ‘give knowledge or wisdom’. Education comes from the base word EDUCE which means- Bring out or develop (something latent or potential). Edutation, therefore, doesn’t refer to a giving of knowledge or wisdom, it refers to drawing out the inner knowledge and wisdom […]
Religion
I don’t believe in religion. There! I said it! I was in ninth grade. There was a moral science class going on. Our regular teacher was absent hence our vice- principal Sr M was conducting the class. It was a combined class with three sections squeezed together. Imagine eighty+ fifteen year old girls packed together […]
Stepping Back
You take out your best formals to wear at a party and find them too tight. Dismayed, you decide to re-start a regular workout regime. You retrieve (read excavate) your walking shoes from never- never- land and dust the entire Harappan civilization off them. The steely glint in your eyes could slice Mt Everest into […]
Freedom
Oppression is intrinsic to mankind; as compelling a force as rebellion. The desire to oppress and the impulse to rebel against it go together, like the two sides of a coin. Whatever its scale- family, community or nation- the core is the same. When an individual or a group wishes to gain advantage at […]
Fenced-in
There is a lot to be said in favor of fences. Fences are put around things one is afraid of losing or damaging. They are a way of protecting things, of containing them so they don’t hurt themselves or be hurt. Fences are a sure way of letting a precious thing know how well it […]