Confessions of a Writing Freak

When ever the travel bug in me starts biting,the first and foremost place that comes to my mind is 'Rishikesh ',the land of seers, the gateway to Himalayas,the  Yoga capital of world or simply the paradise for adventure junkies ..Infact it s a gigantic buffet of spirituality, adventure,devotion, holistic health..But none of these is my lure..The enthusiasm and enthrall is all about attending the Ganga Maha arti at Triveni Ghat.The most mesmerizing and captivating spectacle which chips away my woes n worries..Which slackens the frayed nerves and uplifts the broken spirits. I have been here many times but this time the trip was with my college bestie Dr Parikh who was equally excited about her first visit to the sacrosanct place.But everytime the experience is more enriching and the quietude more coveted. So amidst the blinding blazing sun,heavy footfall because of chardham yatra,we ruddered past the iconic Ram jhoola,newly built Janki jhoola,treading the congested st...

Once again after a lull period, Kashmir ,once homeland to all Kashmiris and erstwhile paradise is in the news ,for the fresh surge and revival of terror,macabre serial targeted brutal killing of innocent minorities ,creating a threat to the lives of Hindus living there and forcing them to flee,a grisly revisiting of 1990 ,the rancourness for minorities living there is back and seems we are wading into the mayhem of exodus two. This spate of terror killings,profanous desecration of temples ,people fleeing away , clambering and scrambling frantically to any vehicle they get hold of to reach Jammu brings back nightmarish,ghoulish marrow chilling memories of 19th Jan 90.  It's not humble bragging,but a truth that Kashmiri pandits have been a peaceble,erudite  community,genetically programmed and inclined to evade conflicts,aggresion and violence. There have been caustic and sardonic comment's" you should have stayed back and fought for your identity and homeland,why so much br...

The first day of September, it was a lovely day for ducks.,raining in torrents since wee hours. Being a pluveophile,rains instill into me an uncanny quietude and happiness and everything around turns into a soothing paradise. So it was apparently going to be a cheerful drive early morning to my work place.  The pitter - patter of rain ,the splash and slosh of the puddles formed brought a naive and veritable smile on my face. Whole ambience was  teeming with happiness and crackling with exuberance .I  go into a voyage of memories while prominading in my car. In  no time ,I am jolted out of my reverie .The roads getting clogged and chaotic,vehicles turning the roads into a colossal parking lot.In a jiffy, I find myself navigating an unruly,messy and mobbed traffic snarl. I rue the time ,I left my home without checking on the traffic  status because of water logging. The vehicular traffic grows thick and fast,all stranded to a grinding halt. Spiffy,groovy cars chee...

The mayhem of Corona carnage  reminds me of all the books related to world war,holocaust and partition ,that I have read. 'The Book Thief ' is one such book which gave me goose bumps,death is the narrator and devours more and more souls everyday. The vivisection of Partition is another earth shattering event and while reading 'Train to Pakistan' tears rolled on effortlessly till I finished it. Never had we imagined that we would face a similar cataclysm, an invisible enemy bringing down us to knees and leaving us aghast ,watching streams of coffins and macabre of burning pyres. But unlike the past events, the ruthless and callous death picked up people brutally and mercilessly irrespective of age,heath status, gender etc..Precious young lives dropped dead in a jiffy for the want of oxygen and icu beds, gasping and grappling for a breath. Arguably nothing can be more painful for parents outliving their children, watching their buds being crushed before blooming . The hid...

"जीवन में एक सितारा था माना वह बेहद प्यारा था वह डूब गया तो डूब गया अम्बर के आनन को देखो कितने इसके तारे टूटे कितने इसके प्यारे छूटे जो छूट गए फिर कहाँ मिले पर बोलो टूटे तारों पर कब अम्बर शोक मनाता है जो बीत गई सो बात गई" On completion of three months of my existence without you ,I am reminded of this inspirational poem by Harivansh Rai Bachchan. I must have recited it umpteen times in my school days and till date memorize it by heart ,it fetched me awards too.Let Bygones be bygones,is what the poet wants to convey: whatever has happened has happened,pull yourself together, gather yourself ,tame your emotions and maintain your composure ,don't fall apart,get a hold on life and move on without feeling  doleful or remorseful  of the loss and let go............    But I am not yet ready to buy this,I can not come to terms with your absence from my life ,the loss is astronomical. The lonliness and nostalgic memories are gnawing at me like a rodent. I may move on,but alon...

As I scrolled through the opd register,your last day at work was 18th march 20 and the last patient you attended was " Sher Singh". The name is symbolic of the intrepid and bold warrior that you were,and the courage and grit with which you battled the emperor of maladies. What an uncanny observation. We lost the battle but I shall never lose the cherishing memories,infact find comfort in reminiscing our past days, as the future looks dismal without you.    I may sound a bit self-centred and selfish, as I recollect  and savour your memories because I am reminded of all your attributes which made life easy and comfortable for me. Infact I understand now, how much habituated I was to your presence, how much I counted on you. I am really abysmal at any subject involving calculations and numericals . Bank matters,income tax, loans, insurance etc are triggers enough to get my goat and get me into frenzy. How sloppy I am at maintaining official documents, in contrary you were so...

In twinkling of an eye, the world turned upside down in the last few months, an invisible, minute enemy left us watching streams of coffins and stopping the flow of life ,leaving us helplessly  groping for a solution. Wearing our fear on sleeves, masks on the face, alcohol on hands, and a facade of courage, hope, and faith within we have embarked on new norms in the journey of life with a somewhat eerie premonition. No, we have not stopped adorning and preening ourselves, but we are accustoming to new beauty goals. Though masks have made it easy to cloak our inner turmoil but it is possible to remain immaculately charming behind the masks. with more than half of our face covered by it, the onus lies on the eyes. Eyes have to be eloquent and articulate enough to express our multitude of emotions and sentiments like joy, sorrow, shock, and suffering. With brows on fleek, kohl enhanced eyes and raven curled lashes eyes can speak volumes and leave a memorable impression of ...