PURNAMIDAM - mindlessly mindful

Every parent needs to put this notice outside their door. Don’t ask my child what do they want to be when they grow up. Who said they can only be one thing? Don’t tell them experiencing things is less important than achieving things. Ask them what new they learned, not just in school but even otherwise.   Don't ask them what is their favourite subject. Ask them what they enjoy doing. Don't say things like 'you are too small for this' or 'you are too old for that.' Don't start conversations with ‘you can't, you won't, you shouldn't.’ Ask them why they want to do what they want to do, instead.   Don't tell them you are very pretty. Tell them exactly what about them you find beautiful, instead. Don’t forget to mention it’s your individual opinion and not everyone may agree.   Don't keep smiling at them, like a retard or psycho-killer for longer than 5 secs. You can stare blankly at them, smile, laugh, frown, make funny faces even cry if you...

Today i met a nomadic lady  at a farm while buying goat dung. She must have been my age and had a 2 yr old daughter. She was dark, bright eyes, forehead smeared with kumkum, hair matted in dreadlocks and with a piercing gaze. The 1st thing she asked me was 'do you have a sister?' Which ofcorse i found quite strange for the first most thing to say to  a person you just met. i nodded yes. 'And brother?' i nodded no. Then she started asking me lot of questions that i found invasive like was my sister married, was i married , where do i hail from what would i do with goat dung and where i got vegetables saplings from. I decided to answer all her questions with a smile instead of the initial hesitation. At that point i got a bit comfortable and started asking her some questions too. I realized how much we city folks are always on our gaurds, doubting everything and everyone's motives. The only thing we end up gaurding is our ignorance.  Very often i have had these vis...

1 He: wont you fall in love with me? She: do you want me to? He: yes She:okay, then i will fall in love with you...just like i fell in love with the rest of them, and when the time comes i will get over you...just like i got over the rest of them. He: why will you get over me? She: what do you do with people who leave? ......No, I dont hate them. You cant really hate someone you have once loved. You can only love the next one a bit less. 2 A peck on the lips in a hall full of people He: hey may be you shouldnt kiss me in front of so many people She: why are you shy? He: no its just...am sorry but i cant stay She: don't worry, won't keep you He: hm She: you're the one i would rather live than live with. A kiss on the lips in a heart full of dreams 3 He: I really like spending time with you. I did rather just waste all my time with you  than anything else. She: It is really sweet of you to say such things! You are always saying nice things. He: but you nev...

When you are girl in your late twenties born to a set of middle class Indian parents, the only "important discussions" that happen for the lavish 4 -5 hours that you are awake at home is "marriage". In your early twenties, finding a match is like some Olympic championship for your parents, there is a routine to their efforts, rhythm to their practice. But by late twenties even your parents hope you had a boyfriend. "Why can’t you make our work easy" they say, especially for someone like me whose, neither job profile nor personal profile can be defined by understandable standards of the majority. I quit my job as a copywriter to become a writer, a farmer, a doodler, a brand ambassador of sustainable naturalist lifestyle. I haven’t made good money for long but I have big plans (as always). I can and have lived 5star and roughed it out with same ease. I can be ambitious and lazy with same diligence. I want to live the rest of my life in my private farm (read ...

You will meet a million people who will tell you they are nature lovers, they enjoy being surrounded by nature. But what they really say is I enjoy sitting in veranda of a cemented house full of conveniences and a butler who brings me my tea and be surrounded by lawn, a few plants that i can't name, a mountain in far off view and just the right amount of rain falling through the sunlit skies.  Very few love it like a mad lover dying to fall into its deep muddy pits, trace its gaigantic curves and fall into its darkest valleys, be swept of their feet by the angry rivers, brush their fingers through its thorny bushes and touch their lips over its bitter most fruits. And these will never tell you they are nature lovers. The mere mention of it make their eyes twinkle with tears that only separated lovers cry. 

I am the girl learning to walk alone, be alone. I am the girl who is a little blind, deaf and mute. Cause I fail to see the way you stare at me, hear the words you throw at me or speak the words you want me to. I am the girl who never quite grew up, who denies to be a woman to a man, cause in this world if you are not a woman to a man, you are not a woman at all.  So I'd rather be the little girl who's told not to talk to strangers, than a women who is told to cook and dress well for strangers. I'd rather be the little girl who is encouraged to study well and compet to be 1st in a class full of girls and boys! than a women who is encouraged to marry a boy earning more than her. I'd rather be the little girl who can sit, walk or run as she pleases, than a woman who can as the man pleases. I'd rather be the little girl who can talk, sing or howl as she fancies than woman who is told to shut up to the fancy of the man. And just when you think am the little girl...