Shades of Life: A Journey Through the Spectrum of Human Experience

 Telemarketing has become a major source of exasperation for the common public in India. The amount of pestering done by telemarketers is way above the acceptable limit. Though we hear about various measures initiated by authorities to curb these pesky calls, there has been hardly any reprieve. Someone wants to offer you a loan because of your good track record in repaying credit card dues. You politely say that you are not interested as you have no such requirement. But the call does not end there. There will be more push and prod from the other side, more questions like ‘Why don’t you avail such great offers?’, ‘Don’t you plan to buy some gift for your family members?’ This continues to a point where you perhaps disconnect your phone with a strong ‘NO’. Your costly and new smartphone is lucky to escape the fury, escape getting smashed and shattered into thousand pieces. Photo Credit: https://pixabay.com/  You had a very busy and tiring week and badly needed some good re...

  ‘ Y es, what do you want?’ The irritated Station Master at Nagpur railway station questioned in Hindi, finding me standing at his office door. My appearance was no better than a tea-stall vendor with soiled clothes, dishevelled hair and a haggard look. It was quite natural, having travelled for two and half days in the second class withstanding the onslaught of the peak summer heat of May....the year was 1987. Speaking in English to impress upon him, I introduced myself and shared my plight. 'Sir, I have lost my valuables and ran out of money while travelling from Guwahati. I don’t have any means to buy a ticket to journey further to Bombay.’ ‘So, what do you want me to do? Give you a free ride in the first-class compartment, ask my peon to escort you and make you sit comfortably on the next available train and see you off?’ Came the angry retort. ‘No sir. I am a graduate engineer and a government employee, here is my ID card - I work for Oil & Natural Gas Corporation. Sir, I...

Of late, something strange has been happening to me. At first, I was intrigued by it, but as it continued, doubts and confusion started to set in. It's something I can't easily explain, something others might scoff at or dismiss as a figment of my imagination. They might even question my mental balance, suggesting I visit a psychiatrist. Yet, if I were to narrate how an unknown child has been appearing before me, time and time again, their judgment would only deepen. No, this child isn't a ghost or a lost soul. Nor is he a child separated from his parents. He is innocent, yes, but there's an indescribable quality about him that fills me with restlessness and unease. Whenever I manage to steal a moment of respite from my hectic and stressful life, hoping to relax, he materializes out of thin air. I'm left wondering how he finds me wherever I am and who informs him of my whereabouts. His forlorn gaze pierces through me, tears cascading down his cheeks. The weight of m...

  Life  is a struggle for each one of us. A struggle on many fronts but most of these struggles are towards achieving a better life. A cushy job or a robust business, a fat salary, an apartment in a metropolis, a good car and a few lakhs of rupees in fixed deposits are the minimum expectations or goals that we strive hard to achieve in order to get the much-desired financial security and comfort in life. But do we really get it? Yes and no. As a progressive-minded, ambitious generation of young and educated people, we raise our bars and levels of expectations every time we achieve our goals, especially in the matter of financial security and comfort. We start feeling insecure every time we reach the goal we had set earlier. Hence, we continue to slog harder to achieve the next higher goal and the next and the next. So the process continues till we become incapacitated to earn further and pass on the baton to the next generation. The rat race continues with the same fervor. Do ...

  Some incidents you simply cannot put away from the mind. They keep coming back frequently to tickle your funny bones. I am narrating here 3 such incidents that make me laugh whenever I think about them. Incident 1: Fifteen years ago! I was travelling in Kolkata by tram. It was jam-packed with people and I somehow managed to grab a handle to keep myself steady. The tram was trudging along at a snail’s pace halting at numerous stations where scores of people were alighting or boarding. It was a hot and humid summer day, typical of Kolkata. The sweat and body odours of different varieties were aplenty. One short little gentleman boarded the tram, managed to squeeze through small gaps between people, and finally stood before me. He looked irritated and annoyed with the whole environment and appeared completely frustrated, frequently wiping his forehead with his dirty handkerchief. After travelling for some time, he got restless and kept staring at me repeatedly. I couldn't ...