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Friday, September 27, 2013

Cry, the beloved country.

My daughter lives alone in Bangalore.
And she survives one day at a time.
And I die every day!
Come to think of it, even if she were to stay with us, we would still die every day!
How much can she be on guard? Thanks to the enviable connect that we have established she is quite blunt in narrating her daily routine.
Of the virtual disrobing!
Of the blatant stares, filled with lust, often bordering on the ridicule but equally scary at times.
The thrust of the change into her palm by the bus conductor.
The usual, how obscene it sounds to even qualify this as “usual”, rubbing, groping and all other activities through which a male tries to get his body in contact with her for a few minutes!
Horror! Horror! A case of an erection rubbed against her in a crowded bus!
As she recounts all such travails, she ends up travelling back in time, revisits those unpleasant memories. Her whole body goes into a spasm, her fists clench, lips tremble and all of a sudden she stops. It is easy to understand why.
What is not easy to understand is why this happens?
Theories abound!
·                       We are a sex starved society!
·                       We do not discuss sex
·                       We are a hypocrite society.
·                       We are still a patriarchal society
More an excuse than a theory.
I am not here to recommend cures because I do not have a single damn clue. Also I am likely to be biased being father of a daughter.
My colleague, himself a father to two daughters, went livid when the minor of the heartrending Delhi case was tried in a juvenile court and was let off with a three year sentence. His reaction, I quote,
“I shall wait outside the prison and shoot that son of a bitch when he walks out”
This coming from a docile man who rarely, if ever, raises his voice!
I have a son too!
How do I prepare him to become a person with a character?
I do all the usual things that I know best.
I show him films that I hope helps a man to value character.
To Sir with Love.
Scent of a woman.
Judgment at Nuremberg.
Dead Poets Society
The lingering fear is he may end up watching Irreversible on the sly!
I try to revisit my childhood and strain to recollect what my father did!
Zilch!
Still I turned out OK. As a matter of fact I do not recall having a conversation with him that lasted more than 80 seconds.
As I said earlier, I am clueless.
And I am worried.
Midst all this mental soliloquy, another day comes to an end.
My daughter comes on Skype to say good night.
She survived yet another day.
Not without scars, certainly. She stopped sharing all her tribulations.
My son is trying to figure out if Benzene molecule should be a hexagonal structure or a circle!
Wife dearest is juggling adroitly her endless commitments with an ease that continues to amaze me.
And I go to bed.
And stay awake the whole night.
Shit scared.








Thursday, July 25, 2013

Ameya / Arjun Makes me gasp !

Was listening to "Maria" and thinking about the boys
Result was this song 


He takes a pen and fakes a grin
His face has got a frown
He munches through his cereal
And his sketches are too grim
And just beside his sketchbook
He has crayons in a bag
I often heard him cursing his syllabi

He’s always late for every meal
But his hunger pang is real
He’s always late for every class
Except for Art n Craft
I love to have to say it
But I very firmly feel
Ameya/Arjun ‘s not an ordinary baby

I’d like to say a word in his behalf
Arjun/Ameya will make you gasp!

How do you solve a problem like A/A
How do you snare an eagle in a cage?
How do you find a word that means A/A?
An iconoclast! A rebel! A Sage!

Many a thing you know you’d like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a spell within the wand!

Oh, how do you solve a problem like A/A?
How do you hold a stallion by a strand!


When I’m with him I’m impressed
Out of my depth and intrigued
And I never know exactly what he is
Grossly talented as ever
His talent is forever
He’s a batman! He’s a Stark! He’s a hulk!

He’d outsmart any geek
While staying really meek
He could draw a stunning pattern in his stride
He’s quiet!  He’s a storm!
He’s a demon! He’s a beast!
He’s a Thorn! He’s a rose!
He’s a boy!!!!!

How do you solve a problem like A/A
How do you snare an eagle in a cage?
How do you find a word that means A/A?
An iconoclast! A rebel! A Sage!

Many a thing you know you’d like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a spell within the wand!

Oh, how do you solve a problem like A/A?

How do you hold a stallion by a strand!