The enigmatic friends

My mom spent hours looking at and listening to birds...the occasional peacocks, the omnipresent crows, the greater coucals, wagtails, woodpeckers, cuckoos, treepies, parrots, bushchats, black hooded orioles, mynas, babblers, hummingbirds, sunbirds...

She could recognize the birds from their calls and claimed to know their moods. These free spirits gave her comfort and she felt great joy in their beauty.

My mom had formulated her own behavioral theories about them. She said that the greater coucals and the babblers had a pact...the babblers followed the coucals around as they hunted for food and feasted on the leftovers; at times, even demanding a share. And in return, the babblers acted as their security system, raising an alarm at any threat as the coucals are weak fliers.

According to mom, crows saved excess food by hiding them under dry leaves or other places but could never find these due to their poor memory.

...memories carry me further to a past when I enjoyed similar pleasures...I used to enjoy watching the kingfisher hunt, wrestle with, and kill its prey from our house that was right next to the paddy fields. It took 2 or 3 quick knocks on the branch of a tree to kill and de-shell a crab and then, the hurried and awkward gulping.

The hummingbirds, darting from flower to flower continuously flapping their wings, and the woodpeckers, incessantly knocking away on tree trunks, mocked my glorious purposelessness...

Ah...where are all the winged charmers, where is mom, where am I?

Intolerance goes viral

• Cow-dung attack on Malayalam director Priyanandan TR for an FB comment on Sabarimala...
• Attacks on women who entered or attempted to enter Sabarimala...
• 28-year-old Vishnu Dev Radhakrishnan sentenced to 10 years (+28.5 lakh as penalty) in a jail in Saudi for making a religious comment on Twitter...

We seem to be transitioning towards a barbaric age wherein submission and adherence are the only guarantors of survival. Disagreement can be beaten and pulped into agreement or the source of dissent can be eliminated. This modus operandi is definitely not new, but it's the easy and ubiquitous access of this power  to everyone that is new.

Earlier a few powerful people or institutions could wield this power to subjugate people. Today, every person is empowered...thanks to the digital evolution of man. Any person can start a movement of hatred or violence. Each person is a dictator today!

Keeping it simple!

When a friend said 2019 would be the year of abundance for him, I, without much thought, proclaimed it to be a year of frugality for me.
The year started with a (sham) vow to go frugal! I use the word 'frugal' for the effect, what I really mean is to go minimalist.

Frugal or minimalist...easier said than done...it's been a month (almost) and I am staring at the number of totally unessential stuff bought on amazon. Every day, more things enter my space and i feel violated. I feel weighed down by all the things that I call mine. This is not imposed but self-induced anxiety.

So many pairs of jeans, so many tops, footwear...do these really add to the person I am or I aspire to be? Those umpteen number of gadgets, accessories...what do they bring to my life?

To declutter and to make space for the things that bring real value and joy is no easy task... letting go is never simple...
I will take one step at a time...but I will get there...

The real power

Lineman Randall Champion is struck by 4160 volts of electricity at the top of a utility pole and his heart instantly stops. He falls and dangles upside down by his safety harness. J D Thompson, another lineman, climbs the pole, cradles Champion and breathes air into his lungs. He does this till he breathes life back into Champion. 

Champion breathes. Champion survives

  

This amazing story, captured by Rocco Morabito, won the 1968 Pulitzer

New Year, the yearly embarrassment

The first day of the year compounds the embarrassment of ordinary existence.

Perched on the threshold of every new year, I dread to look ahead or back. It's a pointless effort as the scenes on both sides are identical.

Every new year, I drown deeper in inertia, and time, mockingly, whizzes past me. The changing dates and the calendar tell a story of now and here, and I stay stuck to the then and there.

Every new year is an account of gluttony, mediocrity, vanity and frivolity. 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 or 2019…the ‘new’ factor is not in my reach...

Section 144

Dogs looked a little surprised. It didn't deter them from their necessary mafia activities. Mosquitoes seemed to flourish in the quiet, the pitch of their orchestra reaching greater heights. Birds, who have anyways given up on assemblies in the city, went about their business as usual. Trees stood still and solitary. Clouds gathered and spread a dark and sinister shadow.
Imposition of section 144 was declared a partial success!

Loneliness

The death certificate states the date of death as June 26, 2018.
The death certificate states the cause of death as cardiac arrest.
The death certificate states the place of death as hospital.
These official docs get it all wrong!

The artist

I stare at the ugly picture drawn by me