Oh to be alive

He hurriedly packed a sandwich and stuffed it into his bag, threw a quick glance at himself in the dappled mirror, as he rushed out on a cold and windy day, locking the door behind him. Walking with long strides, a little spring in his step, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the biting, but invigorating nip in the air. His mind was at ease, yet excited, a strange sense of warmth enveloped him. He felt a certain connect with the entire universe. He watched the morning rush as people of all colours and sizes scurried around to keep pace with the clock. Time and tide wait for none, was the thought that came to his mind as he stepped on to the bus, with a smile curling at the corner of his mouth. He was twenty five, well-built and extremely attractive or so he had been often told in the last two years in school, when the girls swooned over him. He however, preferred to remain aloof then and even now, not really giving much credence to what they said. Girls were...

Another mindless act of the mind: another suffering human goes on a rampage and killing spree, stabbing his room-mates and then shooting others, causing suffering all around. All in the name of being neglected, bullied or just plain lonely is hard to say. But, the recent incident in Santa Barbara, USA, brings to the fore the warped psyche of youngsters or long ignored issues that society seems to be facing and has been unable to resolve. What is it that seems to be going so wrong to trigger off events that do not seem to have any logical explanation? What is it that seems to be missing in the seemingly secure, reasonably opulent and materialistically well-endowed lives of young people today?   Is it all about the liberal gun laws or is there a huge gap in the lives of children as a whole as they are perhaps shunted from one failed relationship to another, or is it about having been there, done that, a little too soon? These have ceased to be freak cases and seem to be b...

Oblivious to the early morning din, he slept soundly on the pavement of one of the busy city bridges. His worn out shoes tucked under his head served as a pillow, warding off the odious nightmares perhaps. A little further ahead a family of four or was it six, huddled under a bright pink canopy of a mosquito net, tied to a tree, lost in a dream world; the bright neon pink adding some colour to their black and white lives. Still ahead, three people lay on their backs on a threadbare sheet, their bedroom for the night or every night, a tired smile lurking on their lips as they stared up at the star studded sky, the shimmering lights in the distance bringing respite after a very long day.     They had no choice, they rarely complained: once the sun came up their belongings were neatly packed off and strung on to a boundary wall or tree or just packed into a knapsack, as they head off for their daily grind which varies from a grueling shift in a factory to being casual...

Even though every single day is rife with struggles and tribulations beyond normal levels of comprehension, adding to it is a sense of disregard and a huge gaping divide; in spite of a series of events that often push one to become cynical and a non-believer, there is, however, sometimes that one event or a string of incidents that invariably make/s one believe in the goodness of mankind. A brush with a kind and compassionate stranger, who is on the periphery of society himself, trying to eke out a decent living: with meagre means, barely sustaining himself and his family, but with a heart of gold, ready to do a good deed for those less fortunate than him. It warms the heart immensely to see an old woman being fed a hot meal by a road side food vendor: he doesn’t get off a swanky car, wear branded clothes, kick the puppy in the middle of the road, mouth inanities and flash his obscenely opulent hand phone several times in your face, whence you have the terribly primeval urge ...