In Vacant or in Pensive Mood

When he first told me he loved me, I made him a list of all the things I consider as flaws in myself. I had warned him that I am not perfect - that I was probably not who he thought I was. He had a choice to take back what he had told me. His answer was a pleasantly surprising, "I know", amidst contagious laughter. He was going to stay and love me anyway. Even though we ended up laughing off the list, looking back, I think it was important that I set the record straight at that early stage. Because I didn't want him to come with the perception of finding in me a perfect human. Because I'm not. And I know it. What we often see in this world are couples who mask their real selves to win over each other. But alas, for how long can one hide? It is true that some day your partner is going to see you for who you are. Will they continue to love you then? Oh, to be loved for who we are is a wonderful feeling! Simply knowing that someone loves us, despite our sho...

She was uncomfortable, a misfit, and maybe a little quaint. The way she wore her bangs, the way her lips curled when she spoke; all of these were reasons for people to find her weird. She was unfamiliar with the local language, and she spoke English with a foreign accent; yet she looked very South Indian. That was enough for people to think she had an "attitude problem". People said she was a girl who looked down at others, so they stood far from her and judged her. She sat in a quiet forgotten corner of the classroom, right next to the back door that nobody used. It was perhaps her escape route. She had an excuse for not staying back after class like most others did to just "hang out" - a diploma class in the neighbouring college. Everybody called her a loner. For a brief period of time, a friend walked into her life; someone who seemed to understand her. She opened up to this friend like she hadn't to anyone else in the class before,  and they shared c...

It was late August in the year 2014; and 'Catharsis', the inter-collegiate cultural face-off for social work students, was round the corner. Pinky was both officially and undoubtedly in charge, and she excitedly made a list of twenty student names and put down events next to each of them. Before I go on, I will let you in on some background information: one, if our professors at MCCSWD allow us to participate in any cultural event, they expect us to come back winning the overall championship, and two, we won the Catharsis championship the previous year! Catharsis Winners - 2013 As a junior last year, I hadn't felt the pressure to win. I was just excited to be having an excuse to visit Trichy (where the event was organised, by Bishop Heber College) and was looking forward to enjoying myself. This year, as a senior, I felt the pressure. One of our professors was literally breathing down our necks, pushing us to practice over a short span of two days before the event. ...

It was a hot summer afternoon in the early 1990’s. A little girl, about five years old, was playing in her grandparents’ drawing room with her imaginary friends. As she sat playing, she heard the sound of a car stop at the front gate. A few seconds later, she was interrupted by a large beast that came charging into the room! It was black, with shades of grey around its face, and had a long pink tongue that was hanging out of its mouth. It pounced at her, and she fell to the ground in a mixture of shock and surprise. Then, quickly recovering, she got up and climbed up the on the couch, screaming and jumping in utter fear. Her screams brought both her grandparents running into the room with panicked faces. On seeing her jumping and running on the couch, trying to escape being bitten or scratched by the dreadful beast at her feet, her grandmother’s face softened. Her grandfather’s face, on the other hand, became stern. He let out a grunt, and then firmly ordered her to get off the couch...