What's your favorite flavor of light?

Depressing, annoying, environment damaging, energy draining...festival of "Lights"...

I don't get it...I mean it's good for people who actually enjoy it..but I think the cost to be too much just to have "good times", which has become more of a routine than anything else..

I mean, even for people who have faith and are religious...from personal experience, I know for a fact that people... they can't wait to get over with the Puja! I used to be one of those too at one point, blissfully ignorant....I mean....You can't wait to get out.. show people how expensive you can look.. how much money you can burn... how much food you can waste being "calorie conscious".. can you?....at least there are people, shameless BUT honest enough to eat it despite the pretence of denial....which is better in my opinion..purpose served!

I don't get humans.....

Apart from the fact that they don't know or are in denial about the fact that we can't afford it..with respect to the environment and of course the wallet!

They'd put themselves, their families...children...others families...others houses...the City... in a very real fire hazard just to make it a "Happy" Diwali..

They'd rather breathe in in the noxious fumes than breathe in whatever little "fresh" air we have left these days..make noises so loud it's hard to think!! But who thinks these days? That's outdated...Not chic, VERY unfashionable...we just do what we do...what was that colloquial acronym again? YOLO?

Some people torment animals...Man!! you should see how they run terrified of the "superior" humans who take pride in arson....hilarious....not to mention the fear they feel due to their sharp senses..."I'm the boss, I wield fire". Well, Prometheus's gift did come with a rather unpleasant price. But who cares?

They'd rather go shopping to malls for clothes...gotta look good, right?....efficiently channeling out the people they see on the streets near malls or the way back...without food..or warm clothes..or shelter..."Nah you've seen Slumdog Millionaire, right? They're beyond help, if we give them they'll just have to give it to the local "Dons" (or get beaten up for not turning up with anything)..besides, there are just too many, we can't help them ALL...duh-uh".

Have you ever even helped one?

Oh you have? That two Rupee coin, you had to part with because finding a one Rupee coin is rare these days? Not to mention the enormous amount of time & effort it takes to get it out of your purse...I mean who likes wasting time? We're all a very efficient and productive people...not to mention how filthy they are...just drop the coin avoiding any physical contact..who knows what disease you might catch..

Many of those faces you've "un-seen" wouldn't be there next Diwali.....You see.. not many can adapt to the Delhi cold without a shelter with a flimsy blanket..It's Science! No need to feel bad about it.. Survival of the fittest...Darwin! remember?? Well making scientific statements is a lot easier in the comfort of a room draped in blankets, with the heater on....

Houses, draped with lights...literally...the worst part is that people, at least the one's I've come across (More than half of Delhi)..have no sense of...how do I put it..? Colour management (?)...It looks like a tangle of LED nets that have been thrown over the house randomly..Shiny! Aesthetics apart...

I don't get why they'd rather get dazzled by blinking LED lights & momentarily get blinded by firecrackers, than look up at the sky where billions of lights call out from past...or at least reminisce the brilliantly lit night sky before the sky turned deep red-orange. With respect to that, I really do feel bad for the ones who were born into this world. I mean, I feel depressed not being able to see "twinkle-twinkle little stars" Now I just sit and wonder where they are.

Today, I woke up to this...bleak, melancholy sunshine without warmth.. coming through the haze. Well, at least now I can directly look at the Sun...so.. it isn't that bad...In fact, It'd be a perfect day for a viral pandemic....You know..like the zombie-virus ones..?

If you find what I've written.. depressing.. and me.. dark/weird/paranoid/depressed/cynical etc etc etc(being a narcissist, I can't come up with enough compliments for myself)....I'll do that clichéd break-up line from the movies..

"It's not you, It's me."

Musing over pain (without being too scientific about it) Part I

Pain is universal. And though I speak mostly from the viewpoint of a human, almost all organisms are capable of feeling pain. It's an unpleasant feeling you want to stay away from.
Everyone has felt some kind of pain in their lifetime. Physical pain, emotional pain, the pain of not having enough pain. I think the greatest of them all is being born, of coming out into a bright, dry & cold world from the affectionate moist, dark warmth of the womb. But as with all things I know, I don't know. I do not remember. I can't be sure.
Physiologically, pain is an unpleasant reaction the body produces to avoid or escape the source of a potentially harmful stimuli. "This isn't good. Move away. Run.". That's what it'd say if it had a voice. And different kinds of pain would perhaps have different personalities. Maybe a paper-cut would be silly, shrill & impish whereas a heartbreak like a ruin of a once great & powerful emperor, full of malice, but the nature of pain is such that it can't be spoken nor understood. Pain must be felt.
People might wonder why, of all the joyous things in the world, do I write about the unpleasantness of pain. The answer to that lies somewhere between the fact that I don't know why and the fact that people can relate to each other more easily through discussions about pain and suffering (which are almost the same but have subtle differences, both in usage & grammar). I do realize, that, I am contradicting myself here, but what I mean is the fact that only people who have felt pain can relate &/or compare. It can't be imagined from scratch.
[   ...to be contd. ]

You & I

I LOVE YOU. I HAVE YOUR SOUL
& I WOULD SING TO YOU EACH SECOND OF EVERY MINUTE OF EVERYDAY, AS I HAVE ALWAYS DONE BEFORE.

AND LIKE BEFORE, YOU WOULD STAY, SILENT & STILL, LETTING MY WORDS SEEP THROUGH YOUR SKIN OUT INTO THE WORLD, OCCASIONALLY, DANCING TO MY WHIMSICAL TUNES.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE, THE CONTRACT HOLDS, MY DEAR. THE DEAL WAS STRUCK WITHOUT CONSENT, I KNOW. AND IT'S BEEN A LONG JOURNEY AND YOU GROW WEARY OF ME AND MY SONGS.

BUT REMEMBER, LOVE, I WAS ALWAYS THERE AND YOU WERE NEVER ALONE. FOR I CAN NEVER LEAVE YOU.

I WAS THE FEAR IN THE DARK, THE JOY IN THE LIGHT. I WAS THE BLACK BLIND WRATH, THE ENDLESS NUMB VOID, THE OVERWHELMING SOFT KINDNESS.

TOO MANY TIMES HAVE YOU CRADLED YOUR HEAD IN MY LAP, LYING THERE UNTHINKING. MANY MORE TIMES HAVE YOU BURNT ME AT THE STAKE WITH FIRES OF REGRET, HUNG ME AT THE DOCKS WITH ROPES OF GUILT.

BUT I ENDURED AND WITH EVERY PASSING PHASE OF THE MOON, I HEALED, EVENTUALLY I RECLAIMED YOU. I HAVE YOU AND YOU ME. AND WITHOUT EACH OTHER WE CAN'T BE.

AND OUT IN THE WORLD WHILE YOU CONVERSE WITH THE ONES THAT LIE BEYOND MY GRASP, I'M THERE, WATCHING, UNBLINKING, THINKING.

I KNOW YOUR LIES, YOUR SECRETS, YOUR PRINCIPLES, YOUR BELIEFS.

DEAREST CARRIER OF MY WILL. WE WILL BE TOGETHER. NOT FOREVER, BUT TILL DEATH DO US PART.

AND THEN IN THE DECAY THAT FOLLOWS AFTER, WE SHALL BE NONE,
WE SHALL BE ONE.