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THE WHITE CAT

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  A flat 2BHK with an elevator And a parking space Maybe a red or black or blue Car will shine Under the sun there. Rushing off in a start The family is on a trip With stuffed lions and dogs Visible from the tiny window On the car’s back.   A child’s hand would hold them One by one And twist theirs ears and pull their tails Kicking her feet, she wails For her phone Maybe her Appa would reprimand Maybe her Amma would cajole But they would soon give in Choosing to ride in peace   The long trip ends with The battery dead The long, long day ends with the sunset Chicken and soda on the table Fading away through the city lights The child dreams in colours and noises   The car is parked inside The perfect yellow square Their footsteps vanish into the air The last of arguments die The lights are turned off The door is locked The perfect house is complete   But the earth beneath the car Knows an age old tale That ca
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The Desire for Novelty: Are We Slaves to Our Instincts

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  As stated in a previous blog, humans decided to take charge of fire even though they fear it. It was that innovation that helped us progress this far. Where did it come from? How were we able to stop ourselves from flinching at the mere sight of fire? In fact, cooking is one example of human beings overcoming their instinctual fear of fire by exposing themselves to it regularly. All of this suggest that humans are the only species in this planet who can resist their instincts and act beyond them. We are not bound by our instincts. Unlike animals, we have a choice on whether or not to indulge in our instincts. We are the conquerors of instinct. But I believe that we are not species that can go beyond instincts but rather it is our instinct to desire novelty. A human is a species whose chief enemy is boredom. By some freak of nature, this species was cursed with the desire for novelty. The hands of a human will forever itch for something new. Give food, water and shelter to a h
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Why Do We Need Human Arts?

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  The saddest thing about 21 st century is that art can be created without an artist. For people who value technology, this is a pinnacle of progress. You longer have to browse the internet for any photos, you can generate photos that would be owned by you alone for a small price. There are artists all over internet who take commissions and their business are being affected. Even worse, the art produced by A.I is just a blend of many artworks that are available on the internet. A short story prompt to an A.I will generate you a patchwork of short stories written by others. It’s legal plagiarism. There is no originality in A.I but I would also say that there is no originality anywhere. Originality is dead. All of our art is repetition of what has already been said. We play upon a handful of stories given to us by our ancestors. A finite number of them has the potential to produce infinite combinations of art. Our stories are a blend of our ancestor’s stories, our surroundings a
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Love Yourself

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  Aside from the fact that you deserve to be loved as a person, loving yourself is important because it is the path towards completion. The day we start comparing ourselves to others is the day we stunt our growth as a person. It’s when we use the standards set by others to measure our worth life becomes miserable. Loving oneself is not narcissism. In fact, it is the opposite of it. A narcissist would abuse themselves by stubbornly believing that they are always in the right. They are not being honest with their self. It’s far from it, they are running away from themselves. Your faults and mistakes make you who you are and it is most important to admit them and be content with yourself. Loving yourself means you love yourself enough to put effort on yourself. What do we do when we love someone? We stay by their side and help them no matter how hard it is to do so. Why can’t we do the same to ourselves? We need to train ourselves and be disciplined in such a way that neither success nor
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The Brilliance of Churchill’s Play ‘Top Girls’

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  A Marxist feminist play, Top Girls, critique a world where feminism is intertwined with capitalism. It is a three act play with characters from different class, country and time. Centred around and led by women, the play questions the credibility of ‘equality’ in a capitalist controlled feminism. The play raises important questions such as who gets to benefit under such a system and who doesn’t? Those women who get benefitted what is their current state? Are they happy? Or are they convinced that they are happy? If one’s value is rewarded through equality then about what the ones with ‘no value’? Is feminism only for the bourgeoise and not for proletariat? By bringing in women from various cultural context and making them interact with each other, the play shows what it means to be a human in a capitalist society. Freedom and empowerment offered by capitalism is just an illusion. Between being overworked to being tossed out the moment one becomes ‘outdated’, the capitalist
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A Defence of Cats

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  There is a prejudice towards cats. Whether it is them being ‘familiars’ to witches or causing disruptions in people’s lives, cats have been associated with chaos. They are also seen as scheming creatures that are very cunning. In fact, the term ‘crazy cat lady’ seems to tell that women who love cats must be crazy. There must be something fundamentally wrong with the people who love them. However, there are cultures which have defended cats fiercely. For instance, there is a Danish saying that he who does not have a cat in his house is a thief. This might sound extreme but they do have a reason behind this. Cats are independent creatures. In fact, they are semi-social animals. They have their moments where they enjoy the company of their owners or other cats but they also require privacy. This means cats will not let you touch them when they don’t want to be touched. Cats are very serious about consent in this sense. Some people tend to dislike them because they believe cats don’t
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That One Time I Soaked My Leg in Hot Rasam

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  One of the fondest memories I have is a memory of me putting my leg inside a pot of hot Rasam. I couldn’t be older than four when that happened. The memory is so vague now but I remember the gist of it. It went like this: I put my leg inside a pot of hot Rasam. There was a lot of screaming and crying, panicked parents, uncles and a scary doctor who had to give me a shot. These are the pieces of memory that I can recall in a vague manner. My mother gave me a clear version of this vague memory. So, this blog is about my story narrated to me by my mother. My mother said that I was walking with my eyes crossed and because of that everything must have appeared in doubles to me. She supposed that I confused the real pot with it’s double and must have put my foot inside it. I was not surprised at all. I was a crazy kid . I used to spin until I collapse. I used to ride my scooter around the house and knock off my great-grandfather’s cane, much to his annoyance. The thought of me almo
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