Idyllic Thoughts

I read Twitter for the versatile humour and authentic news that somehow manages to seep in through the mesh (and mess) of fake news. Every day some topic trends. Today it was the sad deaths of Irfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. Tomorrow it will change to something different. I just wonder at those fleeting trends. Today's news is forgotten tomorrow when we get to rage, feel sad and passionate about something for a few hours each day.  Is not our life too fleeting? 

In Ramayana, after Rama kills Ravana, the oldest survivor in Ravana's family, his grandfather, pleads with Rama to show mercy to Lanka citizens since now Lanka is under Ayodhya and they are to be ruled by him.  Rama, however, replies that though he won the war, it was not his intention to occupy Lanka for the sake of expanding his kingdom. His fight was against adharma. Hence, he will not be ruling over Lanka and Lanka is free.  When I remember how our textbooks glorify mughal invaders who not only snatched kingdoms of India but also destroyed every city, village they passed through, killed its innocent people and plundered our wealth, I am reminded of Rama's fairness, dislike for unnecessary violence and complete absence of greed. He did what was right. And he respected every individual's right to life and freedom.  This is why I am still a Hindu

Just finished reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. What she painstakingly portrayed as some future dystopian society is visible and active even now.  One of her characters says, "There is more than one kind of freedom. Freedom to and freedom from. In the days of anarchy, it was freedom to. Now you are being given freedom from. Don't underrate it."  As I said, the dystopian society which exists now has neither 'freedom to,' nor 'freedom from' for women. Having said that, it is in human nature to subdue the weaker ones once they gain the power to do so. Be it men or women. I do not believe that only men have the desire to oppress. Proper wielding of power is in the hands of any individual and depends on that individual.  

It's raining. Every year's first rain is a joy to watch, feel, inhale. Tiny birds in our compound which would otherwise be chattering away the evening, seemed terrified, confused. They flew helter-skelter, passing on messages to their friends. Many times I wish I could just understand what they chatter so constantly about. Do they speak about us? Us, the abnormal humans?  For the first time, I could not smell fresh earth after the rain. Wonder why? May be the earth doesn't want to entertain us humans anymore. 

The stillness is astounding, abnormal but not unwelcome. Sometimes the stillness is so complete that there is a feeling of the absence of air around me and I feel baffled when I am able to inhale air. We are perpetually surrounded by sound and when that is absent, we feel lost. In India there is always a crowd around us, a moving, living entity and that is missing now. Our house is near a temple. If you look out of the window, men and women hurry towards the temple carrying hope in their eyes and purpose in their strides. It is only when they come out that they look around relaxed, with the certainty of those who have surrendered their sorrows and hopes to a higher being. Kids in their uniforms are dragged along by their mothers to and from schools. Now the road looks like a still from a doomsday movie when the world has been destroyed and abandoned by humanity. Our compound is a mini ecosystem in itself. Birds, squirrels, mongoose, peahens play, tumble, chat and hum to their own music