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Weird times we live in . Everything has a price, everyone is on sale. Values, morals, principles, characters, relationships, spines - you can buy anything if you have the means. What does love or any close relationship mean in such times? Transaction, calculated risk, give and take? Imtiaz Ali's film, Main Vaapas Aaunga gives you something else. It gives you the idea of a love that survives distance, loss of contact, loss of hope. A love that was once born in hearts full of innocence and ideals of a better world. When the tsunami of hatred and divisive forces tore a nation into two, even then that love, that idea of pure human connection survived. Beyond the unspeakable horrors of India's partition. Beyond appearances, beyond lived reality, the love endured. Human connection is like that - pure,eternal. The film is at once heartbreaking and poignant, and full of hope for jaded souls like us. Those of us who saw a different India had a chance to glimpse that love in spurts. If ...

Who said you need to be alone to feel lonely? The most painful, excruciating loneliness emerges when you are in a crowd of people. When you want to feel, but are numb. When you try to blend in, but jut out like an outsider. And being in a close relationship is no guarantee against loneliness. If anything, it sharpens the feeling. Together, but Lonely How many times have you felt isolated within your own family? That you don't fit in? That no one really gets you?  Modern families are fraught with isolation and loneliness, not in a small measure due to s0ocial media. When we are glued to our devices, who looks around? Maybe you shed a tear silently, or sigh in frustration. Who notices? With people chasing individual goals more than shared ones, each person is an island.  And then there are identity issues, gender gaps, generational gaps. Young people feel walled in their world of diminishing opportunities, shrinking friendships and fluid identity. How can parents understand them...

I feel, Therefore, I am I bleed, I weep When your skin burns, I feel singed Your home blows up, I feel bereaved Your child goes hungry to sleep, how can I digest dinner? Your limbs torn, eyes gouged, body lying bloodied I sleep in my room, dreaming of wars fought elsewhere When I wake up, my clothes drip blood My soul burns, limbs hurt Has the war come home when I was asleep? #War #SayNoToWar #HumanityFirst #PeaceOnEarth

We humans have managed to make our lives so complicated that unless we take a breather every now and then, its impossible to keep our sanity. City life keeps piling on stress and chronic anxiety till we sigh - its time for a break! I spent a couple of days away from the city's drill with my family in a seaside town - Bakkhali, situated about 135 kms away from Kolkata.  Luckily, we had planned the trip in such a manner, we could avoid the noisy Holi crowd in Kolkata and spend the festival of colours amid the splendour of nature and the sea. Slightly offbeat, very soothing Situated in South 24 Parganas, Bakkhali isn't as famous as the beach towns of Digha or Mandarmani. The reason maybe the receding and tame waves of the sea here. The beach is moon-shaped, undulating, and the waters follow the movement of the tides rather diligently. So, one day you will find the waves lapping at your feet on entering the beach, while on others, you have to walk a mile through the sands to wet y...

 A man bonds with his son over a plate of chhole bhature from a street-side stall. He jokes his wife/son's mother can cook mostly all dishes except this particular favourite. of theirs So it is a given that father and son will have it outside. For that matter, some things taste better from roadside stalls, like momos, chowmein, chaat etc. That man is the father of a boy who has been an accomplice in a gang-rape. Son has learnt from childhood - for change of taste in food or sex, you sample it outside. When you don't get it readily, you snatch it. No qualms, no guilt. Women outside are ready meat for satisfying your cravings. The survivor is questioned about discrepancies in her statement. She says brokenly - yes there have been discrepancies. She doesn't recognize herself anymore, though outwardly she's the same. She used to love flowers, now she associates them with that terrible night. Her students who were like her children are now asking to be invited to the "e...

Now seems to be the worst of times to be alive in. Is anything going well at all in the world? All kinds of wrong people are in the news for all the stupid reasons. Stupidity, greed and selfishness have reached incredible heights. Like a needle in a haystack, positive news is almost invisible. Thankfully, its not non-existent. So, I will focus on what warmed my battered heart a bit: People aren't stopping protesting against atrocities. The Grammy, Bafta and Emmy awards are strewn with A-listers displaying their resistance to injustice and xenophobia.  More and more people are coming out of the stigma of mental illness, owning their vulnerabilities and their demons Common people are rebuilding forests, restoring greenery and fighting for their need for a healthy environment   A teenage boy in Australia swims two hours without a life jacket, fighting strong waves, steeling himself to bring help to his stranded family A Hindu gym owner in India calls himself Mohd. Deepak and...