Teenage Conundrum

The grey lines on the tar road whizzed while racing along with darker grey wheels of the college bus. We were travelling on a flyover, in a giant metal contraption controlled by a circle and a few foot buttons. Approximately fourty odd lives at the mercy of one bus driver.   There was a brief talk about a change of principal. A buzz that surfaces every now and then only to be doused by the perpetual presence of that short , skinny man in an ill fitted suit  ( my friends like to call him Rat – Face) . He was appointed  princi during the inception of our great institution (or so some would claim ) in 2001.  15 years a Principal. 15 years a dictator. See what I did there ? :p Noo? Poor joke? Okay. Anyway , I stayed immune to all this seated by a window. Immersed in the last few pages of The God of Small Things by Arundathi Roy. We are all gods, clinging to the small things. And the big things as the narrator says ‘ever lurked inside’ I reached the last ...

Our brain, it is this amusing, beautiful , complex organ. You are looking at your mobile or laptop screens and are able to read this text. Not just that you are able to comprehend what you are reading. None of this would be possible if not for our brains sending and receiving signals. The brain functions as a coordinating centre…of sensation , intellectual and nervous activity. Do you ever wonder if the brain gets tired ? Or think “Is my brain healthy?” That is where mental health comes into the picture. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well being. It affects the way we think , feel and act. It also determines how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. When I see a bird gliding in the clear blue skies, I wish that I could fly too. Someone else may take a picture of that bird and instagram it. If it were Newton observing the bird, he probably would ‘ve thought “Why is the bird not falling down due to gravity?” We are se...

I waded through corridors looking for signposts to somewhere I belong. You held the one directing me back to myself. And there I found my peace. On one of those days when nothing made sense, the pettiness and futility of it all threatening to pull me down, You held me up. Plead with me to hold it together. And there I found my strength. With the lights turned off My thoughts turned on You lie next to me singing lullabies. And here I fall asleep. Through the fleeting glances and blurring images, You are a mosaic I always see. And here I paint my beautiful smile. You are Confidence. You are that part of me I confide in. Confide in confidence.

Feet buried in prickly sand, he sat. Waters of the sea stared back at him. They were his oldest friend, his warm comfort of familiarity. Until one day came the floods, wrecking his house to a pile of rubble, tearing apart his family. He returned of course, to meet again; Grey net held in a tight clasp. Being a fisherman was all he knew. It was all he was. Books with thick spine and emptied refills. For the longest time, her grades were how she measured herself. Today, she can’t help but laugh at herself. She looked up earnestly at the countless stars twinkling above. This new year she longed to wish her father first. ‘Martyred’ is the word they used. An eight year old might not have known what sense to make of it. And yet, as the tricolor wrapped coffin was lowered, the girl stood in front, tears rolling down soft cheeks, at attention, hands folded in a stiff salute. Cackling in merry, the baby held his finger, with two delicate hands. What mo...

The illusion of the sun setting on a summer evening became the character of a canvas mounted on a stand by his window. Rohan had a room with quite the view. There was something about today’s sunset that aroused our abstract artist’s deep rooted passion. He got to work. Each stroke of his brush infusing colours (be it dull , be it vibrant ) onto the woven fabric as his skilled hands moved in harmony with his thoughts.                                                      ***** The old man sat on a park bench after walking five rounds along the circumference of the park’s circle of grass ; outlined by a bed of flowers, its centre was marked by a tall tree standing sturdily in solitude. Lasya occupied the only bench th...

On rare evenings of fervent flamboyance, Sun shines oblique. Divides leaves in dark, in light, into patches, in green. A plane flies in the skies, that the bird glides... Feathers of black and, white dabbed at the tip of its wings. As music shuts out all noise, I see. Your eyes searching when am swaying, in directions unknown. The sands levitate as I touch ground. I can see you, wondering and then, you smile. Feel my presence, Oh ! My presence... stronger now than ever. Remarking your opposition, for I feed your rebellion. I do hear...hear things you never said, my love. I could read you stories,real. Of people, living, amusing. Better even than your fictional tale or a fairy tale. For, I know. Yes ! I know the faces you see in the clouds of clarity. O Humanity, destruction you wrought upon yourself. For your insecurities hidden, your strength you 've proven. I can see right through you, my friend. I 've been there in your deepest co...

Sit back, look back. Oh my friend, Do you remember? First day you stepped into college. The nervous glances, awkward intro's, seeking comfort ,finding friends, blending in. Do you ? Do you? Don't you remember? That girl with the strange name, And that guy with the goofy laugh. That hot senior your friend couldn't take her eyes off. That lame teacher whose pj's you couldn't get over and, That adorable teacher whom you couldn't help but swoon over. Don't you? Don't you? The despicable internals, the long list of assignments, those class tests, those semester exams... them cake fights, the lectures we bunked, the inside jokes we cracked, the code names we created. All the things we did together, All the situations we faced together, All these experiences build up like a sand castle, streaked by glittering colors, adorned by sea shells. A gigantic wave from the ocean so vast... may hit the shore and return our castle to...