All by myself.

I loved being all by myself.
When my friends would invite me over for lunch I would cancel,
Make an excuse of work;
Try to catch some quality lone time.
I liked being all by myself.

When someone would call me for chit chat,
I would wonder when they would hang up
So that I could finish my favorite book.
And when I put it down, late at night, maa would bring me a cup of coffee and something to eat.
And I would tell her to leave me all by myself.

When I'd see people talking about moving out to a different city for college,
I'd be all excited
To have a house of one's own; Decorate it the way one liked.
One could order pizza every night.
Or sit on your favorite bench in your favorite park until early morning.
And would not have to bother about curfew limits.
All I dreamt was being all by myself.

It's all come true. The house, the new city, the bench in the park, the pizza.
Everyone's on their own, providing for themselves.
Now I pick up the phone and look at the contact list that has just added numbers with time.
And I look at my favorite coffee mug and suddenly crave for mom's homemade pickle.
And I look at the book lying on the floor which has the bookmark my best friend made for me.

I have all the time I need to spend with myself. What else does one need?

But I have to admit: I hate it!
I hate being all by myself.

Inspired by the song: All by myself,by Eric Carmen. 

Photographs by: Shreyanshi Soni, Yoshieta Gupta

What world do we live in?

Which world are we living in?

Every day, while flipping through the newspaper, I come across various headlines in different fonts. And each one of them gets me thinking, which world are we living in?

So a 19-year-old girl gets raped in a minibus in Bangaluru. How it happened? Well, the same old, girl going to work, boards bus, horny driver, gives bus controls to assistant, rapes her for an hour or so, throws her on a deserted road, speeds away. Oh, and also, the writer mentioned another gang-rape incident in the vicinity just a few weeks ago, just for the record, you know.

There’s another small-font news where a man and his father forced the wife into committing suicide. Why? The usual: incompetent man can’t earn enough to support his own family so constantly forces the wife to bring in money from her ‘paraya-ghar’. 

It’s funny though, how the reporter mentioned leniency given to the father and the son on account of various other people they have to take care of, including a three-year-old son from the victim. Thank god it’s a son, though. She might not even live those three extra years if not for that xy chromosome. So usually there is a lifetime imprisonment under section 304-B (Dowry Death) now reduced to a seven year imprisonment for both perpetrators in this case. Also, I am made aware of the presence of a section 498-A of the IPC which designates punishment for subjecting a married woman to cruelty. Did someone mention ‘marital rape’ to me some time ago?

Oh, but what is the law for? What are PILs for? I’ll tell you. This very noble monk named Swami Satyananda Chakradhari plays his role as a politically aware and active citizen by filing a public interest litigation requesting a 10-year-imprisonment for cow slaughter.

Yes! That’s the solution! A ten year imprisonment for cow slaughter. And a leniency-granted seven year for manslaughter.

And what’s on the super-headlines? A debate on whether Chhota Rajan should be retained in Delhi or handed over to Mumbai Police.

This is the world we are living in.

Source: The Hindu, Delhi, Saturday, November 7, 2015