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Showing posts from 2014

The human connection

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A long rail bridge across the Ganga separated the city and me from the rest of the world. After a tiring second-class journey, the train dropped me at  this historical city of chaos and colours. Between life and death, this eternal city stood, giving thousands of men and women the promise of solace.  After a quick face wash, I took an early morning stroll towards the river. The mist was still in the air and my watch was showing half past four. The first light of the day slowly appeared on the eastern horizon. Crossing narrow streets and dark corridors I entered an open space; the sandy banks of the Ganga. The air was filled with an unfamiliar and unpleasant odour. Unknown people from unknown places were wandering. Three men were dipping a rat trap in the river, liberating the soul of an unfortunate rat that was fooled by the bait. I walked directionless till something stopped me. Here in front of my eyes lay a human being without the vibrations of life, fully draped i

She had a name

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M ufzina was just three years old when her father left home to look for a job.  No one in the  village ever heard about him after that.  In this land of conflicts, no one was sure about anything? Her young mother may live her entire life waiting for her husband.  How could she marry again without knowing the whereabouts of her husband?  The entire village would damn her if she did that.  Without the death certificate of her husband, she couldn't avail herself of any government welfare.  In between the game of life and death, she became a half-widow. The remote village seemed to be a prison for that young woman and her little daughter. *** A narrow mud path through the middle of an apple orchard led me to a small wooden building. It was a small school. Children were busy with their books.  I was there to know about the children who were adopted by an orphanage.  Children from far-flung villages were being provided free food, accommodation and education by the orphanage.

A noticeboard and a few other thoughts

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I am searching for my name on this old noticeboard. Finding one’s own name on the board seems a difficult task. A cool breeze passes me to flutter a piece of paper pinned to the board. This paper has lost all but just one pin to support its precarious existence on the board. What would happen to the paper when it is finally uprooted? Who would know that this paper once stayed on this board? Unknown numbers of paper have come, stayed and vanished from this board. Does anyone know exactly how many papers has this board hosted till now? Oh! Finally, I find my name on a piece of paper on another corner of the board. This paper is held strongly by the board now. But what if I am not able to find this paper here on another day? The noticeboard is full of pins. Some of them are so rusted while some are about to fall off the board. Most of them have lost their colours. Yes! There are fresh pins too, but all the pins make their own marks on this board. Some marks seem to be so deep while

The man in the corridor

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         “What are these guys learning in a university? They don’t even know how to use the toilets (Sorry...Washroom!),” I have been exclaiming every morning, seeing the ugly state of gents’ toilets here, in J- hostel, University of Hyderabad. But in the evening when I come back, they look so clean. So, here is a man, who has not studied in a university, yet knows how to keep the toilets clean. Sreenivas, 53, lives in Gopanpalli, just outside the campus. Having come from a distant village, he settled in the city several years back. His daily chores start with cleaning the J-hostel, and then he goes to K and L hostels. The job is not as easy as one might imagine. All these hostels have four floors each, with a length of over 100 meters. In addition, each floor has two separate clusters of toilets cum bathrooms. I have seen him cleaning the urinals with a small brush, without even wearing any gloves. Sreenivas talked without any hesitation, smiling quite often. When I asked h

In search of the unseen

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I can't remember when I started... I don't know where I am headed to... But life has been amazingly kindful to me... I was blessed to see beautiful people and things. To feel love... To feel the raindrops... To get lost in  the mist. Sometimes  I feel that there are so many things that we fail to notice, care or admire. I am constantly  reminded that life is a very dynamic process. The next possible moment is an opportunity to explore the unseen world, inside and outside.                                                                                           ❤