Importance of irreverence: Decoding India's sense of humour

As the debate heats up on whether or not Tanmay Bhat's jokes were in bad taste, I have a different question. What is India's sense of humour? India as a country has to have a sense of humour, right? You can't be a vibrant democracy and not have a good sense of humour about things.

Talking Crap- Ritesh and Abhyudaya

The Unequal Love Story

He used to walk down the street every day and wait in a queue for the bus. A pair of eyes followed him almost every day. From a window on the second floor of a building almost in the middle of that street, she would watch him. It wasn't attraction or obsession. He just seemed like a curious case to her. She didn't abandon her daily chores to just sit and wait for him, watch him make his way through the traffic. It just happened that every afternoon, she had nothing else to do. He would skillfully evade the unruly cycle rickshaws, touch every cow sitting on the road and bring his palm to his forehead as a mark of respect. She smiled when the cow would try to shoo him away with its tail. He had learned how to evade the tail too.

What fathers do

It is a hot summer afternoon, a family of three is traveling in a state transport run, rickety, dingy bus. The father sits on the alley seat and the mother on the window. The son sits in father's lap lazily. The paint on the bus is falling apart and its grumpy inner grey is showing through. The passengers keep pouring in and the bus keeps accommodating them. It is going to be an eight hour journey and some people are going to stand for those eight straight hours.

Could have been

Every day is full of so many possibilities. Possibilities brewing, spilling over like boiling milk. You could begin a startup, you can begin a novel, you can get to meet someone who would change your life. Or you can just sit at home and watch the latest episode of Game of Thrones.

हलकी जलन

तू गुड़िया सुनेहरी, मैं काग़ज़ का पुतला,
तू झोंका हवा का, मैं बारिश का पत्ता.

तू नाव बड़ी सी, मैं नादिया का गोता,
मैं बच्चा अकेला, तू तूफान का झोंका.

मैं तेरी पनाहों का प्यासा मुसाफिर,
तू पलटे, यूँ देखे, औ हंस दे ज़रा फिर.

मैं पीछे हूँ तेरे, तू जाए है आगे,
है मन भी मेरा ये,  हवा जैसे भागे.

एक आँधी की आहट मेरे सामने है,
ये तूफान, ये बादल, तुझे जानते हैं.

मैं नाज़ुक ज़रा हूँ, बिखर जाऊँगा,
तू हंसती रहेगी, दहल जाऊँगा।

तेरे सामने झुकते सारे यहाँ हैं,
मेरे प्यार की उतनी कीमत कहाँ है.

तू आगे बढ़ेगी, मैं खुश हूँ उसी में,
तेरे रास्ते पे मैं घुल के बह जाऊँगा.

तू चूमेगी जब अपने जैसे किसी को,
एक हल्का ज़रा सा मैं जल जाऊँगा.

जलूँगा ज़रा सा, सुलगे बिना पर,
मेरी रौशनी में तू दिखेगी चमकती.

बरस के गिरेंगे तेरे नूर पे सब,
बहूँगा अलग से मैं, बन काग़ज़ की कश्ती. 

So little reward

It gets me how there are so many things in life that aren't rewarding. Politeness has no direct benefits. No benefits are there if your are extremely sincere or honest. Willingness to accept differences, gentle conduct are all reward-less. I don't think virtues make life easier. Conscience is cleaner but, that is one technicality. Conscience can be a bitch sometimes. It just keeps setting the bar higher.

Annoyingly Preachy Rant

Have you ever hit rock bottom? In the folklore, it is an unhappy place. A dungeon with chains and dragons spitting fire! We are all driven by goals and also the fear of failure. But, what if someone whispered in our ears that there is no such thing as a complete failure and it is okay to fail.