Tales from a twisted mind

“The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.”   -           Kurt Cobain  The late Kurt Cobain will remain an icon for ages to come. Outspoken, misunderstood and an enigmatic personality, his words and thoughts will continue to inspire people forever. While browsing idly, I stumbled upon this quote from him on a Facebook page. Once again, by this quote, he has proved to be far wise for his age. From our country’s total population of 1.25 billion, 65% of the total population consists of people up to the age of 35. This staggering youth demographic is unrivalled in the whole world!! India is set to become the youngest country by 2020 according to an article in ‘The Hindu’.   This is an unbeatable fact that India has great potential if the energy of the youth is properly harnessed. And yet, India is at a not-so-surprising rank of 94 in a list of 177 nations in corruption. Corruption, like a parasite, is paral...

A chapter from my north India trip which took me across the beautiful states of Kashmir, Jammu and Punjab. Below is an account of my experience at the retreat ceremony at Wagah border. On that Hallowed Ground If you approach any Indian and ask them the first thing that came to their mind when you say the word ‘Jallianwala’, the first thought that would pop up, would be the word ‘Massacre’ – that fateful day  when hundreds of Sikh people were killed on the orders of General Dyer. I felt a little uncertainty as I stepped in. The area behind the gate was a small rectangular area where people milled around, standing against the brick walls and clicking their pictures. The original entrance of the Bagh was now re-constructed in order to avoid the crumbling structure from collapsing. Next to the entrance, a two storeyed building was constructed which served as a museum. I made a mental note to get a detour before I leave. The original entrance to the Bagh (gar...

      As a child, I was always fascinated by the rainbow. I always used to think what created those visual delights. The Holy Bible stated that God sent a rainbow in the sky as a promise that there won't be any devastating floods to destroy the Earth. So, the rainbow thus became a symbol of hope for me, similar to a silver lining, after the storm.    But then school happened and the magic of the rainbow lost its meaning. Science proved that the rainbow is no more nature's phenomenon.    Until, I met two people who re-created the magic in my life.     Francis         I met Francis in the year 2005. We both were enrolled in St. Domini Savio Boys Home. He had been there for the last three years whereas it was just my first year. But this barrier would not have affected us.    We hit it off instantly! Our friendship grew thick and we became inseparable. One couldn't be seen without the ...

A chapter from my north India trip which took me across the beautiful states of Kashmir, Jammu and Punjab. Below is an account of my experience at the retreat ceremony at Wagah border. The Retreat Ceremony I have never been to a sports arena in my life. All those matches and football finals – I‘ve always caught it on TV. The thrill of watching the game live, the thunder of the spectators as their chant reverberates throughout makes one hair stand on end. A similar experience was in store for me at Wagah. Pradip and I had ascended to the topmost tier of the amphitheatre. This had both its advantage as well as a disadvantage. Being at the top gave as a bird’s eye view of the entire area. But we were so far away that the gate looked very minuscule. I had to be on my toes, the whole time, for a better view. The amphitheatre quickly filled up with people. The men were seated on one side while the ladies were separated by a barricaded pathway in the middle. The crowd we...