Vidya Shankar's Blog, page 9
August 3, 2018
The Ubuntu story
Recently when I was asked to deliver an inspiring thought to a group of grown-ups, I narrated the Ubuntu story.
The word 'Ubuntu' is from African culture and it means, 'I am because we are!'
Ever since I read the Ubuntu story, I have made it a point to retell it to all my students, irrespective of their age. I usually begin my narration by asking, "Have you heard of the term 'Ubuntu'?" And every time without fail, the answer I receive is that Ubuntu is an operating system. So I smile one of my special smiles and say that even before the operating system got its name, Ubuntu has had its own unique meaning.
But on that aforementioned occasion, I had a different reason to smile because it was not only the first time I was asking that question to a group of adults but the first instance when the reply to my question was the original 'unique meaning' of Ubuntu.
Which set me thinking. Be it Ubuntu, Kitkat or Marshmallow, for the present generation, those would initially be operating systems before they meant something else which, unfortunately, happens to be their original definitions.
They can't be blamed. One grows up on what one is fed. These days, one is so spoilt for choice when it comes to chocolate bars and candy that taking a Kitkat break or sinking one's teeth into a spongy marshmallow is pretty infrequent. Today's youngsters have more occasion to engage with Kitkat and Marshmallow on their Android phones than with the confectioneries.
I dread to think of an era when doughnuts and laddoos would lose their delicious softness to become software required to run hardware. But in such a digital age will anyone even know what sweetness they are missing out on? Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Aug 4, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/785e8c71-8546-41ae-8c1c-5507360734de.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyam
www.facebook.com
The word 'Ubuntu' is from African culture and it means, 'I am because we are!'
Ever since I read the Ubuntu story, I have made it a point to retell it to all my students, irrespective of their age. I usually begin my narration by asking, "Have you heard of the term 'Ubuntu'?" And every time without fail, the answer I receive is that Ubuntu is an operating system. So I smile one of my special smiles and say that even before the operating system got its name, Ubuntu has had its own unique meaning.
But on that aforementioned occasion, I had a different reason to smile because it was not only the first time I was asking that question to a group of adults but the first instance when the reply to my question was the original 'unique meaning' of Ubuntu.
Which set me thinking. Be it Ubuntu, Kitkat or Marshmallow, for the present generation, those would initially be operating systems before they meant something else which, unfortunately, happens to be their original definitions.
They can't be blamed. One grows up on what one is fed. These days, one is so spoilt for choice when it comes to chocolate bars and candy that taking a Kitkat break or sinking one's teeth into a spongy marshmallow is pretty infrequent. Today's youngsters have more occasion to engage with Kitkat and Marshmallow on their Android phones than with the confectioneries.
I dread to think of an era when doughnuts and laddoos would lose their delicious softness to become software required to run hardware. But in such a digital age will anyone even know what sweetness they are missing out on? Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Aug 4, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/785e8c71-8546-41ae-8c1c-5507360734de.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyam
www.facebook.com
July 28, 2018
Little Love
“Love anyway,” I had written in despair a couple of weeks ago. Little did I realise that soon I would discover I was loved all along.
There was this young lady I had run into at an event who invited my husband and me to her place. It was a long drive but we made it.
As I entered her place I felt an emotional bonding of love emanating from several marvellous little souls we found all over, literally one on top of the other.
For, all they knew was to love you. Unconditionally.
They didn’t discriminate you for your age, gender, abilities or prosperity. If you wanted quiet moments, they knew how to keep the peace. They didn’t grow impatient over long waits at a doctor’s appointment and remained unruffled over bumpy bus rides. Sunny mornings and rainy afternoons were taken with the same composure as did cosy corners or a busy train.
Depressed hearts sought to replace their sorrow with the passions the little ones offered. Philosophers enjoyed remarkable conversations with them, poets went on symbolic explorations in the mundane, and story lovers believed in magic because of their storytelling prowess.
You could seek their solace at all hours of the day, snuggle up against them without arousing anyone’s jealousy and share them with others too. And most importantly, when they went to other places, they didn’t leave you behind; they took you with them.
These little epitomes of love are called ‘books’ and I was in a place called ‘Little Love’, a library that operated out of a small room in an apartment.
‘Little Love’ may be a little place with little things but it had a heart so huge that it could contain all the love in the world.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt July 28, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/f4eb2c10-c400-4f94-8759-b05a260700d1.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
There was this young lady I had run into at an event who invited my husband and me to her place. It was a long drive but we made it.
As I entered her place I felt an emotional bonding of love emanating from several marvellous little souls we found all over, literally one on top of the other.
For, all they knew was to love you. Unconditionally.
They didn’t discriminate you for your age, gender, abilities or prosperity. If you wanted quiet moments, they knew how to keep the peace. They didn’t grow impatient over long waits at a doctor’s appointment and remained unruffled over bumpy bus rides. Sunny mornings and rainy afternoons were taken with the same composure as did cosy corners or a busy train.
Depressed hearts sought to replace their sorrow with the passions the little ones offered. Philosophers enjoyed remarkable conversations with them, poets went on symbolic explorations in the mundane, and story lovers believed in magic because of their storytelling prowess.
You could seek their solace at all hours of the day, snuggle up against them without arousing anyone’s jealousy and share them with others too. And most importantly, when they went to other places, they didn’t leave you behind; they took you with them.
These little epitomes of love are called ‘books’ and I was in a place called ‘Little Love’, a library that operated out of a small room in an apartment.
‘Little Love’ may be a little place with little things but it had a heart so huge that it could contain all the love in the world.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt July 28, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/f4eb2c10-c400-4f94-8759-b05a260700d1.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
July 21, 2018
Human Library
I was at a library with a difference. There were five books on loan and about thirty readers assembled in that space to read the books. Each of the five books had a different tale to narrate and in the scheduled three hour session, each reader had to choose any two books.
Once I had made my choice, I joined other ‘readers’ who had opted for the same ‘book’. Our ‘book’ narrated ‘its’ story and we then had a conversation.
I was at a Human Library event. Human Library is ‘a worldwide movement for social change... designed to build a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue’.
What made the library unique, and thereby the ‘reading’ experience, were the ‘books’. The pages of the ‘books’ were not paper, nor were they displayed on digital media. The pages were live narrations by real people of life-changing episodes etched in their memories, to be told and retold to interested ‘readers’.
As with any book, not all stories appeal to all readers. You may ‘read’ an unbelievably extraordinary tale and may also end up being disappointed with an uninterestingly predictable one. What is vital here, though, is not the efficacy of the stories themselves but the fact that this provides a platform for human interactions.
Our lives are made up of several stories but how many of us are willing to come forward and share them with others? Even if someone did, the response would be an emoji, silence or a judgmental comment.
Soulful, heartfelt, honest, candid human interactions have become a rarity these days. Human Library is a great initiative in tackling the growing incapability of simple, non-judgmental conversations. The world needs more of them and I am glad to have been at least a drop in the ocean. Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt July 21, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/d9235ab6-8739-44a0-9607-16ee1fb1f978.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
Once I had made my choice, I joined other ‘readers’ who had opted for the same ‘book’. Our ‘book’ narrated ‘its’ story and we then had a conversation.
I was at a Human Library event. Human Library is ‘a worldwide movement for social change... designed to build a positive framework for conversations that can challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue’.
What made the library unique, and thereby the ‘reading’ experience, were the ‘books’. The pages of the ‘books’ were not paper, nor were they displayed on digital media. The pages were live narrations by real people of life-changing episodes etched in their memories, to be told and retold to interested ‘readers’.
As with any book, not all stories appeal to all readers. You may ‘read’ an unbelievably extraordinary tale and may also end up being disappointed with an uninterestingly predictable one. What is vital here, though, is not the efficacy of the stories themselves but the fact that this provides a platform for human interactions.
Our lives are made up of several stories but how many of us are willing to come forward and share them with others? Even if someone did, the response would be an emoji, silence or a judgmental comment.
Soulful, heartfelt, honest, candid human interactions have become a rarity these days. Human Library is a great initiative in tackling the growing incapability of simple, non-judgmental conversations. The world needs more of them and I am glad to have been at least a drop in the ocean. Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt July 21, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/d9235ab6-8739-44a0-9607-16ee1fb1f978.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
July 14, 2018
Love anyway
A philosopher once stated to a gathering, “Be a reflection of what you’d like to receive. If you want love, give love. If you want truth, be truthful. What you give out will always return.”
A young man who had come seeking solace for his pining heart commented, “Does it? I gave love, but have been misjudged. I trusted, but have been misunderstood. And let down.”
The philosopher smiled and said, “You did receive love. You always do. From the ones who care.”
“But sir, the ones who let me down were the ones who loved me and cared for me. I just stood there helpless while they refused to hear my plea and instead walked away, shutting the door to my face.”
The philosopher, his smile never waning, asked him, “But why are you looking at a shut door? There are other doors and windows that are open. Love, truth, trust, hate, regret, grief, untruthfulness, everything is energy. It is formless. What you give comes back to you, though not necessarily in the same form you expect.”
“Turn away from the shut door and look towards anything else through which the light of love seeps in. Let go of what is not you anymore and embrace instead the truth and trust that’s making its way towards you. Forgive the hurt and show gratitude to what has come to heal you.”
“You may say that the love you gave only hurt you. But that’s what love is. Love hurts. Otherwise you will never know love.
“But let not the hurt deter you. Love anyway. For what goes around comes around, and who knows, in the same form as you expect it to.” The young man did not know what to make of this discourse. All he felt then was hope. So he loved, anyway.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt July 14, 2018)
www.gulftoday.ae/portal/58d0d65d-ea96-4bfe-a607-135217202292.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
A young man who had come seeking solace for his pining heart commented, “Does it? I gave love, but have been misjudged. I trusted, but have been misunderstood. And let down.”
The philosopher smiled and said, “You did receive love. You always do. From the ones who care.”
“But sir, the ones who let me down were the ones who loved me and cared for me. I just stood there helpless while they refused to hear my plea and instead walked away, shutting the door to my face.”
The philosopher, his smile never waning, asked him, “But why are you looking at a shut door? There are other doors and windows that are open. Love, truth, trust, hate, regret, grief, untruthfulness, everything is energy. It is formless. What you give comes back to you, though not necessarily in the same form you expect.”
“Turn away from the shut door and look towards anything else through which the light of love seeps in. Let go of what is not you anymore and embrace instead the truth and trust that’s making its way towards you. Forgive the hurt and show gratitude to what has come to heal you.”
“You may say that the love you gave only hurt you. But that’s what love is. Love hurts. Otherwise you will never know love.
“But let not the hurt deter you. Love anyway. For what goes around comes around, and who knows, in the same form as you expect it to.” The young man did not know what to make of this discourse. All he felt then was hope. So he loved, anyway.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt July 14, 2018)
www.gulftoday.ae/portal/58d0d65d-ea96-4bfe-a607-135217202292.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
June 23, 2018
Generously blessed
“Happiness is being me, the unconditional me.” This is how I had concluded my Short Take article last week. Quite a number of readers had responded positively to it saying those were true words indeed. And I was elated for writing something that had inspired people.
The elevation of my feelings however, lasted only till a certain thought crossed my mind, “So, did the unconditional me mean my fat self too?” And much as I would have appreciated a no, the answer, sadly, was a yes. If I wanted to be happy, I had to love everything about me, including my fat self.
The thought that followed this was even more threatening, so to speak - did those readers who were motivated by my article realise the full implication of it? It meant that not just the fat ones but my readers of every kind, be they puny or poor, disabled or didactic, hard-of-hearing or hard-of-feeling, all of them had to accept themselves as they were. They had to love those parts of their self that were a displeasure to their senses!
Coming to think of it, it is in loving those unacceptable parts of ourselves that give us our strength because it is those hurt and ugly parts of us that make us who we are, not the beautiful parts. It is our scars that radiate our light to the world and add glamour to our being.
So instead of shaming myself for being fat, I can look upon me as being someone with an engaging presence and being generously blessed.
After all, who wouldn’t want a bountiful? Definitely not me.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt June 23, 2018)
www.gulftoday.ae/portal/61a361bd-b9bd-4768-8c3f-00212e5bfc89.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
The elevation of my feelings however, lasted only till a certain thought crossed my mind, “So, did the unconditional me mean my fat self too?” And much as I would have appreciated a no, the answer, sadly, was a yes. If I wanted to be happy, I had to love everything about me, including my fat self.
The thought that followed this was even more threatening, so to speak - did those readers who were motivated by my article realise the full implication of it? It meant that not just the fat ones but my readers of every kind, be they puny or poor, disabled or didactic, hard-of-hearing or hard-of-feeling, all of them had to accept themselves as they were. They had to love those parts of their self that were a displeasure to their senses!
Coming to think of it, it is in loving those unacceptable parts of ourselves that give us our strength because it is those hurt and ugly parts of us that make us who we are, not the beautiful parts. It is our scars that radiate our light to the world and add glamour to our being.
So instead of shaming myself for being fat, I can look upon me as being someone with an engaging presence and being generously blessed.
After all, who wouldn’t want a bountiful? Definitely not me.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt June 23, 2018)
www.gulftoday.ae/portal/61a361bd-b9bd-4768-8c3f-00212e5bfc89.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
June 15, 2018
Unconditional happiness
“What does happiness mean to you?” asked a friend on Facebook. Pat came the comments - family, friends, pets, career, home, music, books, hot chocolate.
I wasn’t surprised at the volley of answers. What surprised me was my inability to respond, especially because I have been on a conscious happiness journey over the past four years, maintaining a journal of whatever made me happy each day.
This journey has taught me that these are answers to the question, “What makes you happy?” They don’t mean happiness.
Happiness is what we are, the ethereal wholesome essence of our life, not a part or parts of it. It is this misconception that has seen to the rise in depression-related issues in recent times.
So what exactly is happiness? How can we convert these limited happy markers to a more sustainable happiness index?
I asked my husband what happiness meant to him. He pointed to me. I said I was not ever-lasting. I could die. He said it wouldn’t matter. He’s been making the best of our life together, savouring the moments and doing for me whatever best was possible for him given the circumstances.
He may not have been able to follow the societal rule book and he cared little for others’ opinions, including mine but his was a love to give me without expectation and he had no regrets whatsoever. And if he had to live a life without me, he would grieve for sure, yet find happiness in the memories we make.
I understood that while happiness was not the absence of sadness, making your days count, loving without expectation and living without regret, it also meant being the kind of person someone enjoyed making loving memories with.
Happiness is being me, the unconditional me.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt June 16, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/55a689bb-62a9-4bfe-97c9-b6c156d340f0.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
I wasn’t surprised at the volley of answers. What surprised me was my inability to respond, especially because I have been on a conscious happiness journey over the past four years, maintaining a journal of whatever made me happy each day.
This journey has taught me that these are answers to the question, “What makes you happy?” They don’t mean happiness.
Happiness is what we are, the ethereal wholesome essence of our life, not a part or parts of it. It is this misconception that has seen to the rise in depression-related issues in recent times.
So what exactly is happiness? How can we convert these limited happy markers to a more sustainable happiness index?
I asked my husband what happiness meant to him. He pointed to me. I said I was not ever-lasting. I could die. He said it wouldn’t matter. He’s been making the best of our life together, savouring the moments and doing for me whatever best was possible for him given the circumstances.
He may not have been able to follow the societal rule book and he cared little for others’ opinions, including mine but his was a love to give me without expectation and he had no regrets whatsoever. And if he had to live a life without me, he would grieve for sure, yet find happiness in the memories we make.
I understood that while happiness was not the absence of sadness, making your days count, loving without expectation and living without regret, it also meant being the kind of person someone enjoyed making loving memories with.
Happiness is being me, the unconditional me.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt June 16, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/55a689bb-62a9-4bfe-97c9-b6c156d340f0.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
May 26, 2018
Deathly t-shirt
The poster said it was a free decoupage workshop with all materials provided. I was looking to do something different so I went.
I did not know what decoupage meant. I could have done a Google search but why bother when I was going to learn about it in a couple of hours from then? Oh, I did go to YouTube and look up its pronunciation. After all, that was more me, wasn’t it?
The materials consisted of a used bottle, a printed paper napkin, a whitish substance to be used as primer, a glue of some sort and a brush for application. Over the course of an hour, the patterns on the napkin found its way all around the surface of the bottle and when done, the old container which would otherwise have been delegated to the garbage truck had transformed into a piece of art!
My friends who saw pictures of my work showered me with such praises that I was tempted to try out some kind of craft at home all by myself. I found a video of how you could get a design of your choice on a t-shirt. As it had very few requirements, which included liquid bleach, and the procedure too was pretty uncomplicated, I set myself upon the task with my almost new red T-shirt.
The pattern I had wanted was the Deathly Hallows sign from Harry Potter. What I ended up getting was a patch of washed-out surface with blotchy streaks of vivid red in between. Something had gone wrong and the bleach had run all over making it seem as if it was some kind of abstract art.
But I am not giving up yet. What are old T-shirts for but to experiment with?
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 26, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/0096f1cd-2284-4e35-b364-ef2d7c5e290e.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
I did not know what decoupage meant. I could have done a Google search but why bother when I was going to learn about it in a couple of hours from then? Oh, I did go to YouTube and look up its pronunciation. After all, that was more me, wasn’t it?
The materials consisted of a used bottle, a printed paper napkin, a whitish substance to be used as primer, a glue of some sort and a brush for application. Over the course of an hour, the patterns on the napkin found its way all around the surface of the bottle and when done, the old container which would otherwise have been delegated to the garbage truck had transformed into a piece of art!
My friends who saw pictures of my work showered me with such praises that I was tempted to try out some kind of craft at home all by myself. I found a video of how you could get a design of your choice on a t-shirt. As it had very few requirements, which included liquid bleach, and the procedure too was pretty uncomplicated, I set myself upon the task with my almost new red T-shirt.
The pattern I had wanted was the Deathly Hallows sign from Harry Potter. What I ended up getting was a patch of washed-out surface with blotchy streaks of vivid red in between. Something had gone wrong and the bleach had run all over making it seem as if it was some kind of abstract art.
But I am not giving up yet. What are old T-shirts for but to experiment with?
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 26, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/0096f1cd-2284-4e35-b364-ef2d7c5e290e.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
May 18, 2018
Matrimonial fields
My husband and I were spring cleaning our house when we found a stack of wedding invitation cards. Looking through the cards we found that most of those marriages were already finished or were on the rocks. Ironically, most of the cards still looked as good as new.
It’s a sad state of affairs, all these break-ups. It’s not just a couple that gets divorced or goes on in an unhappy marriage. These conflicts also affect the families and friends of the two people involved in all this drama.
Marriage is a “contract” in which two individuals live together, sharing and caring. For compatible habitation, it is necessary for each individual in the marriage to don a different cap depending on the phase they are going through which means one has to be a companion, a friend, a parent, a child, a domestic help and sometimes just an onlooker.
What makes most marriages go sour are trust issues. Simple mistakes are often blown out of proportion which then accumulate and ultimately wreck the relationship. Another common factor is possessiveness. Just because you share a life doesn’t mean you become his or her property and his or her life ought to be dictated by the other.
A lot of matrimonial dissensions can be avoided when the partners learn to respect each other’s intentions and give each other their space. Like two oxen pulling a plough through a field. There may be tough patches in the field that can cause the balance to topple. But if that can be handled with patience then the field of life is theirs.
However, in spite of patient handling, if the disrupted harmony continues to create discord then the best option is to separate the two before the field is nothing but a mess.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 19, 2018)
gulftoday.ae/portal/27ccfbd4-3c2d-4d6b-8868-72882ae0d4ee.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyam
www.facebook.com
It’s a sad state of affairs, all these break-ups. It’s not just a couple that gets divorced or goes on in an unhappy marriage. These conflicts also affect the families and friends of the two people involved in all this drama.
Marriage is a “contract” in which two individuals live together, sharing and caring. For compatible habitation, it is necessary for each individual in the marriage to don a different cap depending on the phase they are going through which means one has to be a companion, a friend, a parent, a child, a domestic help and sometimes just an onlooker.
What makes most marriages go sour are trust issues. Simple mistakes are often blown out of proportion which then accumulate and ultimately wreck the relationship. Another common factor is possessiveness. Just because you share a life doesn’t mean you become his or her property and his or her life ought to be dictated by the other.
A lot of matrimonial dissensions can be avoided when the partners learn to respect each other’s intentions and give each other their space. Like two oxen pulling a plough through a field. There may be tough patches in the field that can cause the balance to topple. But if that can be handled with patience then the field of life is theirs.
However, in spite of patient handling, if the disrupted harmony continues to create discord then the best option is to separate the two before the field is nothing but a mess.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 19, 2018)
gulftoday.ae/portal/27ccfbd4-3c2d-4d6b-8868-72882ae0d4ee.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyam
www.facebook.com
May 11, 2018
At the movies
There was this challenge I had undertaken on Facebook some three years ago that required the participants to share every day over 100 days, an experience we were happy or grateful for.
It was indeed quite a task as one day is never the same as another and while some days had sufficient joyous situations to choose from, on other days, finding even a simple happy moment was difficult.
But the 100-day journey was a learning experience as it taught us to look at situations from different perspectives. So, while the saying goes that every coin has two sides, we learnt that every experience has several sides.
It was on one of those days that some of us friends decided to catch up for a movie. I volunteered to make the ticket bookings. Since it was a sudden decision and we were meeting up the following day, I found that most of the good movies were sold out. But there was one movie that was just released and had plenty of tickets available so I made the bookings.
I guess we were all excited about seeing each other after a long time that we didn’t think how come we got tickets so easily for a new movie. It was only on the following day when we were about fifteen minutes into the movie that we realised our, or rather, my folly.
All through the two hours or so, we spent our time passing humorous comments and having great laughs shredding the logic behind the scenes.
When the movie was done, my friends came upon me for bringing them all to such a disaster of a movie.
“But we had fun nevertheless, didn’t we?” I said.
They couldn’t see the point.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 12, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/c255bedb-9666-4477-b7e1-ae1e5b4aa344.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
It was indeed quite a task as one day is never the same as another and while some days had sufficient joyous situations to choose from, on other days, finding even a simple happy moment was difficult.
But the 100-day journey was a learning experience as it taught us to look at situations from different perspectives. So, while the saying goes that every coin has two sides, we learnt that every experience has several sides.
It was on one of those days that some of us friends decided to catch up for a movie. I volunteered to make the ticket bookings. Since it was a sudden decision and we were meeting up the following day, I found that most of the good movies were sold out. But there was one movie that was just released and had plenty of tickets available so I made the bookings.
I guess we were all excited about seeing each other after a long time that we didn’t think how come we got tickets so easily for a new movie. It was only on the following day when we were about fifteen minutes into the movie that we realised our, or rather, my folly.
All through the two hours or so, we spent our time passing humorous comments and having great laughs shredding the logic behind the scenes.
When the movie was done, my friends came upon me for bringing them all to such a disaster of a movie.
“But we had fun nevertheless, didn’t we?” I said.
They couldn’t see the point.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 12, 2018)
http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/c255bedb-9666-4477-b7e1-ae1e5b4aa344.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
May 4, 2018
A free elf
It’s that time of the year when JK Rowling apologises to her fans for yet another death in the Harry Potter series.
May 2nd marks the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts and while every year she expresses grief over the death of someone who lost their life in the battle, this year she moved away from tradition and apologised for the death of Dobby.
It was a well-deserved apology because if it weren’t for Dobby, the people who would win the Battle of Hogwarts would never have been alive.
Dobby who gets introduced to us in Book 2 is quirky and oftentimes irritating too, but that is only because of his deep sense of loyalty to Harry. On several situations in the books when Harry is stuck, unexpected help has come to him in the form of Dobby.
While Harry does a great service to Dobby by cleverly giving him a sock to free him, yet there are occasions when I have felt Harry should have been a little more expressive of his thanks to Dobby. Not that the elf expected it.
But for all those omissions, Harry makes it up in a most beautifully touching manner by honouring his death by manually digging a grave for Dobby. That is one of the most heart-rending scenes of the book.
Dobby was an elf who understood the dignity of labour. While he cherished his freedom and was proud to receive wages for his work, he also respected the fact that his fellow elves did not share his sentiments about freedom.
So, here’s to Dobby, the little free elf who in death takes a large part of our heart with him!
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 5, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/92853c3b-9d56-43ba-a63e-e76cf33a29e7.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
May 2nd marks the anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts and while every year she expresses grief over the death of someone who lost their life in the battle, this year she moved away from tradition and apologised for the death of Dobby.
It was a well-deserved apology because if it weren’t for Dobby, the people who would win the Battle of Hogwarts would never have been alive.
Dobby who gets introduced to us in Book 2 is quirky and oftentimes irritating too, but that is only because of his deep sense of loyalty to Harry. On several situations in the books when Harry is stuck, unexpected help has come to him in the form of Dobby.
While Harry does a great service to Dobby by cleverly giving him a sock to free him, yet there are occasions when I have felt Harry should have been a little more expressive of his thanks to Dobby. Not that the elf expected it.
But for all those omissions, Harry makes it up in a most beautifully touching manner by honouring his death by manually digging a grave for Dobby. That is one of the most heart-rending scenes of the book.
Dobby was an elf who understood the dignity of labour. While he cherished his freedom and was proud to receive wages for his work, he also respected the fact that his fellow elves did not share his sentiments about freedom.
So, here’s to Dobby, the little free elf who in death takes a large part of our heart with him!
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt May 5, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/92853c3b-9d56-43ba-a63e-e76cf33a29e7.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
