Yours half'ly'..

    I am sharing a Half relationship story at BlogAdda in association with #HalfGirlfriend

                     How does it feel to be half committed? It seems strange and absurd at the same time. Such was the story of Rakesh and Priya who were neither into a relationship nor could remain friends. It all started when they met in a camp in Kashmir trapped by their captivators. They had been told that they have limited time till the government met their demands and would later be slaughtered mercilessly. Priya was a happy go-lucky type while Rakesh was a serious guy. Their hands were tied around the same pillar in that area. As Priya was blabbering some words, Rakesh grew curious and heard this, "I have so many unfulfilled wishes to travel around the world, to meet new people and enjoy life". This caught Rakesh's attention and he asked facing the other side, "What is your name, you seem to be more worried about fulfilling your wishes than about an instant death that awaits us". Rakesh was unable to see her face but he fell in love with the girl's attitude and voice.             

             Fortunately, the government and the captivators reached an agreement and they were released. Rakesh, being an enthusiastic person decided to take the conversation forward and asked her phone number, residence and broached up a casual conversation. To Rakesh's pleasure, Priya and he lived in the same locality just a few kilometers away. They started talking and Priya too started liking Rakesh for some of qualities like immense caring, respect for women and they had a common interest; travelling. 

                 Their conversations would endlessly continue crossing barriers of time and it seemed like this relationship was to be shaped like no other. Not that Priya did not know that Rakesh was to ask her out one day; it only struck her mind that her family would never accept Rakesh because he belonged to a different caste. Priya knew that her family would be unaccepting to Rakesh's proposal. Keeping this in mind, after intense talks for about 2 months, Priya one day showed the red flag to Rakesh. Rakesh was stumped and was curious to know about the reason. Priya simply started ignoring him thinking that this will absolve her of hurting his expectations. Little did she know that this was killing her from inside too.         

                Finally one fine day, after desperate attempts by Rakesh to get in touch with her, she picked up the call much to Rakesh's surprise. There was a surge of emotions for Rakesh who was left in the dark about her sudden ignorance of his presence. The first lines he asked were, "What do I mean to you? Tell me if you can live peacefully in my absence? Why are you ignoring me?" His sincere attempts solicited some sincere response from her too. She replied, "Look Rakesh, I too feel for you and these days have been very difficult for me. I never have felt so vulnerable in life from anyone. But you should know that my folks at home here wont accept our relationship. Its not just a bond between you and me but also between families and I, for one, cannot afford to go against their wishes completely. I think we should call it off." Rakesh said, " What is this unnamed relationship we shared, we were never committed nor just friends, i think it was more than that". Priya replied, " I was yours at one point of time, only restricted by societal norms and an urge to not hurt my parents. We are breaking off a relationship in which I was your half girlfriend, you can say."

           What happened later on is a different story altogether. Priya got married to a boy of her caste and Rakesh to another girl of his choice. Their conversations would continue though and this unnamed relationship made its presence felt later on too. Although not bound by any formal relationship in the past, Priya and Rakesh had something in their heart for each other, a brewing unrealized relationship started complicating each other's life. Finally, they mutually decided to stop talking too for the betterment of their lives with respective spouses. Their half-girlfriend-half-boyfriend relationship was definitely troubling them constantly but they learnt to suppress it and live in their present life. It remained an unrealized dream for both; perhaps to be realised in the next life?

The fault in the Stars

  [Despite the light around us in cities, we cannot see the most beautiful wonders of all- A glittered night sky. What are your views on light pollution, and memories of those wonderful starry nights? #DarknessForStars ]


              Yes, it's the fault in the stars for them to not attract our attention. Quite truly, in this hustle-bustle, the simple things which attracted us once upon a time are no longer attractive. Perhaps, it is our cell phones and i-pods and so many other indispensable gadgets which have taken over from a simplistic thing such as the night sky. Sitting in a room lit by artificial bulbs and being happy by the flickering screen is all the more attractive.

                The stars cannot form the queen's necklace type of arrangement in Mumbai, for that matter the stars in the sky isn't fanciful at all. Why will then we be attracted to something that's so random, which doesn't entertain us or is pleasant looking. We are so used to observing a set pattern like the city lights. A set pattern makes us feel comfortable because they don't change. The stars on the other hand represent randomness and irregularity. The current times are so stressful that we love a set pattern be it a 9 to 5 job or something which is constant as it gives an apparent sense of stability. Everybody wants to settle down and have a stable life except a few who go against a wind.  The stars represent curiosity regarding the unknown while the city lights represents stability using the known. Seeing the same thing again and again majority of us feel that we are where we belong and we know where we are heading. This is the sense of security most of us need these days and the city lights represent this.

        The reason why we no longer even think of seeing the stars is because we have become what the stars do not represent. We have become like those beings who cling to the known for security, those who fear the unknown, fear randomness and also fear the uncertain. How can we, with these attributes then peacefully see the stars above which portray a different message altogether?



In response to Indispire Edition #164. Topic suggested by Shantanu Ashima Gaur .

Wings of destruction

         While we humans are born with a pair of hands and legs for living our life, wings develop later on when a man understands just more than what he/she deserves. These are the wings which causes the descent of the person, a descent from the imaginary world he/she lives in. While whatever I stated might be a bit confusing, it is clear nevertheless; talking about a person who is staring an imaginary world which his imaginary wings developed to satisfy his greed for success take him in. What is this 'success' which makes you develop imaginary wings?

         In the recent wake of events around me, this question kept me pondering and I decided to dig deeper. The taste of success is so sweet that one keeps craving for even more. Let me ask you one question, what happens to your body when you increase sugar intake and don't exercise? Your body is unable to metabolize the excess sugar. Blood sugar increases which is very unhealthy. Similarly, when this thirst for success/material things never end and surpasses one's capacity to achieve, a pair of wings are developed. These wings represent deceit, treachery and blatant disregard for relationships(especially the ones who helped the person succeed).  So, the person becomes an iconoclast not because he was always like that but because he/she wants to disregard the ones in power to claim his own. Going against the higher echelon then becomes his/her identity but on what basis is quite questionable. He/She then tries to clip the hands of those who made him/her to surpass them.

        When does this all end? It all ends when he/she is stopped being given undue importance and is left for retrospection and void of support.  This bird which has developed imaginary wings to fly then becomes a bird with no base, nowhere to land and finally realizes the mistake it made. The point I make is that there are a group of humble people who are responsible for the ascent of a person. These people should always be respected as they have been your base/nest from where you flew.  This self realization brings a person back on track by clipping the imaginary wings. The signature of success is humbleness and often it is those who fail to succeed make more noise. This is to fill the gap between their ambition and shortcomings in a way convincing not to oneself but to others. Such people often seek the approval of others for their existence. Happiness and other positive emotions for them are in the hands of some other person who provides approval(second-hand person). When they don't get this approval, they start making noise and then the imaginary wings are developed to claim their supremacy.

       Next question is how to prevent someone from developing the wings of destruction? It is by avoiding a fundamental mistake made by humble and successful people. They exaggerate the other persons importance and skills and make him/her feel very special. These people then develop an air of over-confidence followed by developing wings of destruction. They then try to clip the hands which made them and taught them to stand on their own feet. Over-praising any person does more harm than good.

What do you think?