The Eternal Thing

  The bicycles are disadvantageous on the road when compared to the motored vehicles. They move slow. They can't recover quickly if stopped. The intention is just transport - move from one place to another place. Not to speed. Never to chase anyone or anything. It takes a toll on the driver, who burns one's own body to take the bicycle forward. The knees, the sweat, the discomfort on sunny days - it's unexplainable. We are not sure why the driver ended up with cycle. Maybe there was no other choice. If the driver is hurting by riding the bicycle through ups and downs, sun and rain, well and ill, the first thing to note is that the society has failed to save the driver. The human society is supposed to be equal for all, it should provide justice to all. But aren't we damned that we are seeing the poor driver struggling on the road! The best thing one can hope for is for the driver to upgrade the vehicle. Maybe the driver will choose a scooty, or a moped, or a bike - base...

  Unstable incomes.  Unaffordable prices. Unsustainable living conditions. These are the scenes that run through most of the minds in the city environment. Kids who have to grow up witnessing so much of traffic, pollution and noise. Elders who had to witness the most isolated situations in their lives. Looking at either of them is the average first generation middle-aged middle-class human who takes the biggest hit upon arriving to the city. The human often does not come to the city by choice. The human finds a way to live - or more aptly - the human finds a way to survive. Can't shout at the boss. Can't escape the city. Can't access better living conditions. The human is helpless. As if some harsh punishment is given without any apparent reason. This causes a gradual build up of frustration - the kind that can break even the kindest soul. With time, the symptoms of this will start to surface. Losing patience with people on the road, getting easily triggered with family mem...

  But it seems the answer is- such questions exist, Not sure  how many more  to machines, not people? Why are we reaching out for the elite decisions? Why the commons suffer  Why money decides who gets to live? Why is there inequality? but why people are unemployed? I can't end unemployment, but why are there wars? I don't have power to end the wars, but why I have to afford it? I can't afford world travel, but why it needs saving? I can't save the planet, but why it exists in the first place? I can't solve world hunger, 

The consequences of the special theory of relativity are Time dilation and Length contraction - let us try to understand a bit about them: Time dilation: When a body is traveling from one point to another in space at near light speeds, the body can arrive the destination in lesser time than what we generally (intuitively) expect. This is called time dilation. Below is an example: Assume that we are required to travel a distance of 5 light years. Even if we were to go at light speed, our intuition says it has to take 5 years. So we will be older by 5 light years upon reaching the destination. But it does NOT work that way. In fact, it is completely possible that we cover the distance in 3 years. So we will age 3 years only. Now, if we are covering a 5 light-year distance in 3 years - it may seem like we are traveling at more-than light speed. But this should not be possible right? Is this some kind of violation? No. So what's happening exactly here? Here comes the other consequence:...

  Being a kid, we did not know many things. Nor cared about anything. Life was happening and we just took whatever it was. With adulthood looming, we start to learn. A lot. Even worse is today's age where so much data is being dumped into our faces. Many of us are willing to go back to the phase where we didn't care about stuff. It seems peaceful and calming not to take care of things. True though; But... It will not always work out. Being ignorant may not always be helpful. Sometimes, we have to know about things. We have to understand them. Sit with the disturbance it may bring. When starting learning something very deep, it may challenge our initial assumptions. We wonder what we knew till now is very different. This not at all feels good. You love a person, and you understand that person is not reciprocating your feelings. Being aware of this fact makes you uneasy. Unbelievable. You wonder what's happening. But it's just that. The only way is to accept and move forw...

Special relativity states that the light speed is always fixed. This was (and is) very counter intuitive to understand, but it is what it is.  For example, if you are going at a speed of 0.8c (c = speed of light) along the direction of light,  then the conventional (newtonian) physics says that the relative velocity between you and the light is 0.2c only! That light appears to go slower if you are travelling faster.  But special relativity says NO! Irrespective of our speed, we always measure the speed of light as 'c'. It's just that. Light speed never gonna change (in this universe). Also it's the maximum limit of anything that can move. Especially, if any particle has a mass (or to be more specific, rest-mass), then they can never reach speed of light. Now, see it in the other way around. If anything is going at less than speed of light, it should have a mass (again, rest mass) right? How about when light itself is slowing down?? Yes. Refraction. Does light gain mass ...

  Maybe when we were asked to pay for drinking water - we should have known.  That something was going wrong. It was not all right. When they were demanding money (or) selling it as a feature - the things that are supposed to be basic, we should have given it a thought.  We were too busy. We ignored many things. Maybe that was the cause for the today's effects.  NOTE: Thanks ChatGPT for producing this piece- We drank from rivers without fear, Now we sip from plastic, year by year. The water flows behind a brand— And thirst obeys a bottled stand. The wind was once a mother's balm, Now sold in purifiers, stripped of calm. Air itself wears price tags now, And forests bow to urban vow. The night once wrapped us in soft sleep, Now screens invade, and silence weep. We pop a pill to close our eyes, While time slips past in lullaby. The sun was free to touch our skin, Now we chase it in capsules thin. Vitamin D in boxes sold— A warmth we traded, cheap and cold...

  On the occasion of Teacher's day, I wanted to remember my fav teachers in school/teacher and their quotes that stayed fresh in my mind after many years. NOTE: I may not remember the exact words. These are just from my memory. Anyway, who cares?   From my social sir in school:- When does a revolt rise? When people lose their patience. From my Sanskrit sir in jr. college:- There is no edge for knowledge. From my chemistry sir in jr. college:- No one wants to return from the death. Maybe death is very beautiful. Also from the same sir:- When you comb your hair, your focus should be on completely on your hair and the comb. Also from the same sir:- In a forest, the tallest animal is Giraffe. The wisest animal is fox. The largest animal is Elephant. Lion is none of them. But still he is king of the jungle. From my maths sir in jr. college:- (he said in a form of poem which his teacher told) I am going through a forest,  On the way there was beautiful trees,  with bloomin...

I’ve thought about it more than once — what I’d do if I ever got a raise. People say, “Don’t settle. Ask for more. You’re worth more.” It’s become a mantra in today’s world, especially in the corporate space. Negotiation is considered self-respect. Hustle is a badge. More money means more success. But I don’t feel proud thinking about it. I feel something else. I feel uneasy. It’s not that I lack ambition. It’s not that I don’t want comfort. It’s that, somewhere deep inside, a question keeps echoing: “Why am I earning this much when so many others earn nothing at all?” And if I ask for more — if I negotiate — what am I doing, really? I know it’s not wrong to want fair pay.  But what is fair in a world that’s anything but? I see delivery workers biking through heat and rain, risking their lives just to deliver my food. I see sanitation workers cleaning up after us while we barely offer them a glance. I see parents in villages sending their kids to school with half-f...

  One pays EMI for a second car, One prays their rent doesn’t go too far. One signs deals in air-conditioned towers, One stands in queue for overtime hours. One upgrades leather seats with ease, One eats last night’s rice and peas. One clicks “Buy” with a platinum card, One skips meals, life running hard. One posts pics of home by the lake, One breaks their back for a one-room stake. One books retreats to cleanse the soul, One counts coins to meet the toll. Two EMIs. One for comfort. One for breath. Two EMIs. One chases luxury, One escapes death. One frets about taxes and stocks that dip, One clutches loan papers with a bleeding grip. One complains about fuel price hikes, One walks five miles on broken bikes. One buys homes for a future unborn, One begs the landlord to stretch the month long. One has a spare room just for art, One has three jobs and a heavy heart. Two EMIs. One for granite floors and view, One for leaking roofs and school dues. Two EMIs. One cushions dreams, One bu...

There are days I wish I could just leave my job. But I don’t do it. Because I need to pay my rent. I need to eat. I don’t have any other income. I am afraid that I am not alone in this. I see people who are smart and talented - doing things they don’t love. They settle. Not out of choice, but out of fear. The fear of being homeless, being hungry. They live in a world that demands payment of bills more than anything. That brings a simple, maybe naive thought: What if food and shelter were guaranteed for everyone? What if one need not be working just to survive? Is it wild to wish for these? Are these not the basic human rights… If the basic needs were covered, what could we become? Artists, teachers, thinkers, healers - they are made out of passion. People can volunteer more, care for the elderly, innovate better, or take time and get a chance to do things slower… The working class would not have to burn themselves to keep the lights on. The poor wouldn’t have to beg.  What if peopl...

 The healthcare - which is supposed to be a basic human right, is no longer one?  If someone falls sick, the system would hold them and restore their health - it should be that simple. It seems that it’s not that simple. Getting treated, now a days, feels like entering a marketplace. It’s as if, staying alive is something tougher than death. TV commercials, Hospital posters, insurance agents and social media-they all scream the same thing: “Thank God he took insurance.” But the question is: “Why he had to take the insurance in the first place?” The fear of being sick is not easy to deal with. Reading stories about families who lost their lifetime savings overnight. Hearing people who ended up in debt trap for getting treatment. Combined with the altogether different story of many people living too remote places to even access to the basic health care. Then comes the insurance. Even if we have insurance, will it be enough? What if the bill crosses the coverage limit? What if th...

  There are things that I wanted in life - deeply, silently and stubbornly. An elder sister. Not too old. Just someone a little ahead of me. Someone who'd guide me. Who'd fight me. Laugh with me. Pull me up when I slipped. But I was born a single child. And for years, I searched for that sister elsewhere. In friendships. In passing bonds. Hoping someone would see me that way - and stay. But it did not happen like that. I think now... that it's time to let that dream go. Not with anger. Just with a kind of tired sadness. And it's not just this. There are more. I wanted to study further. To sit in a quiet library again, surrounded by notebooks and possibility. To feel like life hadn't already passed me by. But life had other plans. I once thought I'd marry the girl I loved. The one who felt like home. But she did not choose me. And that chapter closed - silently, painfully - while my heart was still wide open. And so many dreams - of a sportsperson, activist, lawy...

 I don’t want to have kids. And I don’t say that with hate, but with a quiet thought. When I look around - especially in cities -  I wonder what kind of world children are being born into. There’s pollution in the air before they even learn to breathe deeply. Noise in their ears before they learn what silence feels like. Screens in front of their eyes before they can see a full sky. What kind of childhood is this? It’s more like - something they never deserved it. Parents are expected to give everything. The extent they had to go to give a good future for their kid. Or kids. The school fees? They’re so high that it feels nonsense and unreal. Entire salaries vanish just for access to education that may not even teach them to be kind. Meanwhile, the planet is getting hotter. Water is becoming rarer. Cities are suffocating. Why would I bring a child into this? I am not exactly afraid of commitment. I am afraid of watching someone I love suffer in a world that’s already too hard. ...

Many people believe in God - and idea that the God shall protect the good, punish the wrong and guide the lost. For many, God is the foundation, support. It’s the guiding spirit. Or anything. The idea of God is not something explainable in such a simple terms. But my belief of God, being someone who is watching and all powerful is beginning to deteriorate. The planet is burning. Our children are starving. People are sleeping hungry while food is thrown away. Wars. Floods. Abuse. Injustice. Still, we are praying? The thing is - everything I see - good and bad - is stemming from humans. People are saving each other. People are hurting each other. God.. is just there watching? Can we say “God will help?” I wonder at people who ask “How will you explain this miracle?” I want to ask them - Even if that is God, why only that miracle?  Why not stop countless tragedies happening round the clock? Why not use power to feed every child, bring water and end the pointless suffering? If the God ...