A Writing Quill

The man somehow managed to get inside the train and propelled his fragile and old palm to catch hold of his beloved’s hand who was struggling in the crowd to board it. Their son was already making efforts by shoving the few young passengers who were not letting his parents get up on the train. The old couple was going to the lady’s hometown, which would be a three-hour journey by train and almost seven hours by car. They insisted on choosing the train despite several arguments with the son, who strongly opinionated to travel by car because of their advancing age. But after many heated debates, the couple won stating they wanted to relive the past days for the last time as they assumed it would be impossible in the future because of their failing health and that now, they could manage themselves considerably. The worried son waved at his parents as a gesture of a pleasant journey while the gleaming parents reciprocated him with a higher spirit and happiness. Their...

  I was late. The constant fear of missing the train had awakened me till 1 A.M. The train was to leave the station at 6 A.M. I had planned to get up at 4 in the morning, follow my routine morning rituals, and then leave at 5 for the station. But everything reversed when I kept dozing, as I ignored the repeated snoozes of my alarm.   I woke up at 5. I was unable to decide if I wanted to be at the lavatory or should book a cab. My bladder was about to burst and the accumulated waste inside my colon was pressing my rectum hard to be thrown out. I thrust myself into a pair of jeans and a pullover and rushed to the washroom grabbing the mobile phone in one palm. I was multitasking. While I emptied myself in the commode, my left hand was brushing my teeth and my right palm was booking a cab. Relieved. The cab was 2 minutes away, which meant in 120 seconds, I had to clean my teeth and face, also my buttocks, wear shoes, and be at the pick-up point. I stayed on the 2 nd flo...

The road was narrow, and so were the people's perceptions. They would fight physically at the slightest instigation or verbal accusations. There was no law and order. The intellectuals were the decision-makers of the society. They would condemn the common junta when they considered things to be wrong.   In the name of religion and knowledge, the learned philosophers and the clergymen would take advantage of the people. The people were declared bad because they thought so. It was the ‘ moral/religious poaching ’. There were thieves, cheats, and the hypocrites. Besides those belonging to the priority class of the society, the women were treated as commodities. They had no voice and could only follow whatever the male section decided but their toughness was commendable. Their desires, sexual as well as mental and intellectual, not being fulfilled, made them go wild and take certain steps to be regretted later. There were fewer or no male-female interactions thus, leading to secre...

I was shy, timid, and not a wise person. I had seen the tide carrying away my belongings. Still, I sat and wept doing nothing. I knew I had to do something but I didn’t. I was tired. I sat and wept from dawn to dusk and so from dusk to dawn. The stranger asked me one day. ‘Why are you crying?’ ‘The tide took away my possessions.’ ‘Girl, you don’t possess anything here. But you are a giver. Always.’ He was gone. How foolish was he? I thought. Another stranger asked me the same. But he replied, ‘How can you sit and cry when you have lost your things? Get it, girl. Run.’ He was gone. Should I run? Should I let it go? We all carry baggage—a suitcase of attachment, loyalty, love, and understanding. Phew!!! I was happy because it carried away the unnecessary anxieties and fears. But still, I cried. I realized I had lost the love and compassion that belonged to me. The stranger spoke again, inside my mind, ‘Give away.’ The other stranger interrupted, ‘Shu...

  ‘How beautiful a day is when friendship touches it’- Rumi I was thrilled to find myself admitted in a school much larger than my expectations; both in expanse and strength. I was elated and eager to join it soon. But much to my dismay, the first few weeks were unvaried and unstimulating. The same monotony engulfed my days. I would get up in the morning, dragged myself to catch the school bus, spent the day deeply immersed in studies and sports, returned back home; lazily and worn out. My parents would eagerly anticipate a fun filled day from me at the dinner time but would soon be disappointed with my cold and unexcited answers. Unable to judge my quandary, they would suggest me various means to make friendship. Sometimes, they would make up funny stories just to please my dull attitude. I was uninterested at those conjectures. Days passed. I was as uncomfortable as before; until one day, when she arrived. The class teacher introduced her to the entire class. She was plump ...

Anything when acquired in excess is - poison . Denial of uncertainty breeds to - fear. Denial to accept the good in others leads to the - envy. Denial of things which are beyond our control causes - anger. Whereas, When everything is derived in required volume it leads to patience, balance and happiness. Acceptance of uncertainty brings the adventure in one’s life. Acceptance of good in others makes us inspired. Acceptance of the things beyond our self-control bestows us with tolerance to endure anything and everything. But, What if we are unable to accept a person as he is? It creates the ocean of hate and abomination within us and around us for him. We impose stipulations on the person. And so, we judge the person as per the parameters set by our mind. We count his behavioral variables on the list one after the other and when maximum falls negative on the list, we stop masquerading the happiness of being with him. And slowly the curtain raises to show the hatr...

How do we differentiate between inspiration and envy ? Every human is flawed. A mix of the good and the bad. Whereas, it is so easy to deface the shoddy but it becomes slightly arduous to tarnish the decent. But, when some one tries hard to blemish the good, only two conclusions can be drawn out of it – one, either the one who is involved in the wrongdoing is unable to accept the goodness of the person whose image is being besmirched or, second, this individual is unable to achieve the heights of the success of the other empowered person. In both the above conjectures, the former is suffering through the most frightful mental status; envy or jealousy . The individual believes it is okay to be envious and keeps on spreading the bad rumors of any human he or she is jealous of. He is unaware of his personal mental state. Actually, inside the mind, the person is going through an internal comparison of himself and another person. B.C. Forbes has quoted jealousy as a mental cancer....