Skip to main content

The strangest of times

We live in strange, strange times. Dichotomies rule, paradoxes abound. 

Nothing makes sense really.

Our home - the earth, is nearing extinction in a few years, yet we are busy fighting wars, hoarding and selling weapons.

Air, water, souls, conscience, ethics, standards, all are on sale.

Those who can afford it, buy bottled water and clean air. Those who can't live off drain water. 

Food is wasted at parties and celebrations, while a third of the world's population doesn't get one square meal a day.

People go to bed hungry, while some people get killed for eating beef or pork.

A virus destroys a huge chunk of the population. After a year, everyone forgets it like a bad dream. Zero lessons learnt.

The people who build our roads, bridges, factories and mansions, have nowhere to call their own. When cities go into lockdown, the very malls and high-rises they built mock them in the eye.

Children are taught to obey rules, while adults break them with impunity.

Criminals and politicians are the new idols. A simpleton needs to be jailed.

Attire worth the price of small estates are bought and flaunted for one evening, never to be worn again. Some people carry accessories/shoes/bags that can pay for an entire year's food for the population of a town. 

We look through people when we meet them in person, while gushing over their picture on social media. 

We are connected 24/7, yet fully disconnected from reality. Active on social media, recluses in real life.

Space missions are sent to other planets. Life is cloned. Speed and time are conquered. Yet, people get killed for drinking water from a well they weren't supposed to touch. 

Diseases are concocted in labs, since medicine has cured most of them, except corruption of the soul.

Am I being too pessimistic? But if this is the norm, we are better off extinct.

BTW, I am hoping this world does get back a semblance of its humanity.


#strangesttimes

#injusticeeverywhere

#unkindworld

#noplacetolive



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Enough! No more rape!

The recent horrifying, stomach-churning incident in Kolkata is not a one-time aberration. It keeps occuring in our country. And we women are also responsible for this stinking rot in society. Ask yourself these uncomfortable questions. How many of you protest when a girl wearing "revealing clothes" is cat-called?  Did you show your support for our wrestlers protesting against a habitual offender? Did your blood boil when you saw pictures of our sisters in Manipur paraded naked?  When rapists are released from prison or routinely escape punishment, do you raise your voice? How many of you have tolerated violence or even casual sexism in your own home? Do you turn the other way when transgenders are leered at? Do you grin and bear it when the men in your family crack obscene jokes? Do Kathua and Hathras ring a bell? And lastly, how many of you thronged cinema halls to make misogynistic horrors like Animal and Kabir Singh blockbusters? I have asked myself and am distinctly feeli...
Post a Comment
Read more

All We Imagine as Light- Lyricism on Celluloid

When an Indian film makes it the prestigious Cannes film festival, the world sits up and takes notice! And the lovely ladies swinging on the stage is a recent memory that brings a sense of pride. I had the good fortune to catch this film on screen recently. A review of such work is unnecessary, but still am bursting to say a few words. Right from the scintillating background score, to the events that unfold like pages fluttering in an open book, to the effortless performances, it's a masterpiece all right! The first half romances Mumbai- in the rains, at night, in the bazaars, in dingy rooms, in the local trains. Image source: Wikipedia  The second half shows what light truly is, brilliant sunshine, crashing waves and salty air in a small coastal village in Maharashtra. You can feel the taste of salt, the breeze in your hair and the touch of sand under your feet, the cinematography is so real. Payal Kapadia masters the art of holding back, of showing beauty in the mundane. The hosp...
Post a Comment
Read more

Laapataa Ladies - the Unfortunate Story of Lost Women

Laapataa Ladies is a deceptively simple, yet extremely thought-provoking satire couched in a simple story of exchanged brides. Image Source: IMdB This is the unfortunate story of countless ordinary women living under the veil, in the shadow of uncaring men. Who can't remember any details of their husband or the sasural they are married into. Who are trained only to obey their husband, do their duty in the kitchen, and follow orders of in-laws. Who don't have the liberty to study or do something for their own betterment. What can we expect for such women, except a lifetime of slavery? If the husband happens to be good, then there's some ray of hope. If he's a rascal, then God save her. Thanks to Kiran Rao for addressing the woes of 80% of Indian women living in nameless villages. And thanks for calling out the "greatest fraud" - the fraud of getting ready for marriage and domesticity. Where you can make the perfect kalakand, but you can't find your way...
Post a Comment
Read more