Law School

Hello,

It's been a very long time since I posted, and I truly cannot think of any good reason, not that I know of any of you who have actually read my posts, but just in case, apologies for my absence.

Four years of law school seems to be another turning point in my life which has rekindled my love for writing, here is something I wrote quite recently,

WATER
Water never asks to be loved
Yet, no one can live without it
We humans are peculiar
What we have, we take for granted
What we wish for, we dream
What we can't attain, we love
Soon water shall know love

I  am unsure about why this was written, but let's just say it's good to be back.

Alamelu

Strangers

A day can go from ordinary to extraordinary in no time. In my case mostly strangers are involved.

Thought why not make it a phrase to remember.

They

This is my first free verse poem. And it's been a really long  time since I wrote a poem , it just lifted my spirits and reminded me that my life is definitely not tough. 

As they trudge across the rough terrains

We walk along the beach

Their feet bleed with the continuous change

Ours blend with the grains of sand

Every day we wake up knowing

What tomorrow holds

They prefer knowing nothing

As long as there is a future to know

They were one of us

Some thought changed their path

While we are chained to our someday dreams

They dream to never be apart

Saluted , respected and honoured

Their families beam with pride

While our trivial achievements

Receive a million likes

Unlike any other

They fight till the end

While we run from responsibility

They learn to shoulder it since then

I take pride

In knowing they are like no other

They stand ahead of us all firmly

Protecting us from the other
So while they train and train hard

All we can do is pray

Their future lies uncertain

We learn from each day.

Alamelu 

PS: Thanks for a glimpse into their world.

Home

There is this time in everyone's life wherein you don't really know what's home. I think that it usually happens when one goes off to college and stays in a dorm or a hostel only to return in the summer to the actual home he/she grown up in. It's as if the year of college intermixed with short visits back home aren't enough to assimilate the person to this new world.

The basic argument is that once we leave our homes for college we suddenly have the urge to follow our dreams and ambitions but all without the constant supervision of our parents or the society we've grown up in. This gives us the feeling of independence or freedom while staying away from home. We suddenly feel capable of managing our own affairs while at the same time ensuring that we pass all our classes somehow. So by around the end of the 2nd semester we feel invincible. Now thats exactly where we are wrong. Its true that when we are in the hostel there is no one to take care of us , nag us to wash our clothes , to study or the best part and we all know this, go out whenever our mood strikes us ,the issue is the summer vacations which obliterate every kind of privilage that we earn throughout the year at college.

So say good-bye to those nocturnal conversations that last beyond 11pm, lets not even talk about hot shorts in the heat, walks at 3 am can be blackened out with permanent ink and to speak of it would be a sin and last but not the least the ultimate 'Adda' sessions wherein all your hostel friends just gather in this one particular room( room 319)  and then all the craziness within explodes onto the surface(explicit content) .Home is where family, food and old friends are but college is where craziness, a lot of work and independence is. Its a tough choice and sometimes we want both at the same time, well humans have always had utopian notions and this generation is nothing new. But just imagine the pretty picture of good food, family , old friends and new , craziness and independence woah thats any teenager's dream or maybe just mine. But no matter what changes we need to make to return to the 'parental supervision' it's always worth it in the end. And I believe that for every student college is home away from home with all the perks that home is devoid of. But on a serious note I don't think I would ever compare the two but speaking with experience they bring out a completely different person and hell who doesn't want to go on new adventures and relive the old ones.

PS: Written for my first year at Sakorenagar Hostel , Pune, you will miss our craziness. And all the times that I've missed Bombay. God just imagine how brilliant it would be if my two worlds could collide?! ( just for a while)

Alamelu.

Idiosyncrasies of an Indian Society : Part I

Well hello there. The topic for this piece has intrigued me ever since well forever. And I thought it was finally time to pen my thoughts down on the various characterictics which are very peculiar to Indian society and considering the current time frame we are in the first part of this series would constitute what I would sugar coat and call ' The Curious Mind'.

So as we all know the last couple of days have been the time for the declaration of various results. Now, if we look at western culture these results are not benchmarks unlike in the Indian society wherein the 10th grade and 12th grade results are held to be the key to success in one's life. Hence the entire piece revolves around why this happens, the common behavior of parents , students, neightbours and strangers and also it's drastic consequences on the students who's life apparently is decided by the grades attained in these examinations.

To start off with an anecdote, around a week back when I was travelling with my mom back home after packing up my luggage from hostel towards home she asked me a question which left me inspired to finally write this piece. The conversation went as such:
Me: Ah the results for ISC have been declared and the poor students are losing their heads.
Mom: Well I hope they all get good marks.
Me: Yeah well not everyone can excel at academics.
Mom: They have to...... I wonder how much X got in the exam.
Me: You mean my childhood friend whom we meet once a year maybe?
Mom: Yes who else. I'll get to know soon from the people in the same building.
Me: Why does it matter to you?
Mom: I don't know I'm just curious.

It's as if it has been inbuilt in the parents that they must know every student's marks in these supposedly benchmark years and keep a database in their brilliant minds because even though they are never going to need such information they must at all costs build an arsenal just in case they were under attack by the child's parents. They have to judge they have to compare and they definitely have to ensure that their daughter or son got more than the person in question , should've got  more than them or will have to get more than him/her. The sense of competition is much appreciated but the extent to which it has been taken is condemnable. There are parents who regardless of the child's overall development have put him/her into classes that leave little or no time to socialise. They believe that if this is not done what will the neighbour say or to quote the popular yet cliche line ' you will get less than Sharmaji's daughter !'. Another hilarious story that I heard online was wherein a distant relative who hadn't called in years called up to know the JEE results of a friend of mine only to discover that she was a commerce student who was about to complete her first year in DU.

The consequences that this has on students lives is drastic. This is because there are some students who are interested in academics and hence this routine suits them greatly but what about the others is the question? What about the students who are great at dramatics, sports or other extra curricular activities? Just because this is not taken into consideration in their final report or percentage they are thoroughly undermined by the society as the people who opt for the easy way out. This pressurizes the student beyond limits at times due to which he/she succumbs to pressure and is hence is direly affected through drugs, alcohol, attempts to suicide etc. They start to believe that those digits or grades are what define them, it's all that there is to life and we can't blame them because we are part of the elaborate system that makes them believe it. Even yesterday when I ran into a junior from school after exchanging pleasantaries I couldn't stop myself from enquiring who topped the school.

Lastly , I do see changes albeit small , they are what one calls stepping stones. The new generation parents are realizing that academic success is not the only form of success and that the student must be guided to excel in what he/she is interested in. This has been taken a huge step forward by science which has led to gene testing to see if the child has the sports gene , the creative gene etc.
I believe that parents should encourage the child to do whatever he/she like and they will surely succeed in life and that's why I can't thank my parents enough because no matter how bad or good I did they were happy that I gave it my best and thats all that they could hope for.

ps: Keep your eye out for the next one ' The education system dilemma'

Alamelu

Pps: congratulations to all my juniors for the amazing results! You've made the school proud.

Musings of yet another blogger

I really want to get back to blogging once more. It's as if the minute I stepped into college I became too busy to care about my teenage hobbies and unfortunately I sacrificed writing along with it. There is nothing and I mean absolutely nothing in this world that should stop someone from writing. It is one of the few activities that not only makes you think but also clears the writers head at the same time. Like now I started writing to talk about why I could not write but now I know that such trivial reasons should never stop me again.

Writing gives me an outlet of a manner in which I can express myself like no other. The only form which like me prefers to be blunt than subtle, which prefers to be bold than shy but at the same time can always choose the latter. The beauty of writing is never underestimated. But what is underestimated is the effect it has on the writer. People believe that great writers are born , well they are wrong , great writers are created through the lives they lead and the people who lead their lives with them. I think this applies to anyone. An artist of any form always presents some part of themselves in their expression of the art. How many times have we come across artists and writers in particular who's life story bleeds into their novels or plays. It's as if God intended the soul to be dispersed. Ever piece I write I leave behind a piece of my soul which felt what I felt. Does this mean we are losing parts of our soul when we write or that an artists souls is never ending?

I am intrigued by the train of thought that has brought me to this juncture. Did I stop writing because my soul no longer wished to part with my physical form the body or was there none left? These musings I have at1:47 am can never be predicted much less analyzed so I am going to leave it at this, except by thanking a new friend without whom I probably would'nt have considered writing when I actually did not feel like writing. Also here is to more posts and uniterrupted trains of thought.

Alamelu 

Frost

Everything that you did.
All that you didn't.
My heart had bid,
Yours wouldn't.

Winter's cool air,
Keeps the calm within.
You say you're there.
The layer of frost is thin.

Your words,
Like daggers to my heart.
The ice deep inside
Enough, to keep us apart.

Alamelu.