Footprints

     I am in the middle of writing an essay for my supervisor when a WhatsApp Group Video Call notification vibrates on my desk. I look up from the randomly splayed, unstapled sheets of paper to see my roommates calling. I pause the Malayalam Lofi playlist I was listening to, remove my earbuds and rush out of the room, unable to contain my excitement. They'd gone home for the weekend celebrations while I had chosen to stay back for work. The next ten minutes zip by fast with the three of them telling me how busy it is with preparations for the mouth-watering sadya of the day and showing how they've successfully managed to create beautiful pookkalams (flower arrangements). They log off one by one and I sit near a plant with a bright red flower, gently stroking its petals - not having the heart to pluck it and make a minimalistic last-minute pookkalam of my own. I am taken back to last year's Onam when it had been a sunny day with the kind of weather perfect for hanging a ...

14.2.2012, 8:45am      From a very young age, he'd learned that princesses never married kitchen boys, and he firmly believed that there was no such thing as love. 'Why?' you may ask; because his mother, the purest form of love he had ever known, loved his father, but that love wasn't enough for him. His father truly loved the other woman, but it wasn't enough for her. Both of them loved him, but it just wasn't enough for them to stay together. The only love he knew was the way his mother sang him to sleep, the way he used to bite her cheeks in return, the way they danced in the rain, and the way he lit a candle in memory of her, every February 14th.  Now, as he hugged his grandmother before leaving for school, as far as he could see, the stores on the street were decked in red. From ribbons to curtains, from banners to tiny heart-shaped stickers stuck on huge glass windows, and from gift hampers to chocolate wrappers. 'What is with the whole Valentine's...

  The clanging of a bell woke me up with a start. Sitting up hurriedly, it took a second for me to register that it wasn’t the prayer bell that usually rang at 5:45am; it was the campus bell that rang at 5:00am. Breathing in, I picked up my phone off the floor and pushed the power button – it didn’t light up. I blinked twice and tried again to no avail. Trying not to think of it too much, I plugged in the charger into the C-port and waited, yawning. A few seconds later, the image of a battery with green bars slowly rising to its top popped up on the screen. Shaking my head, I realized that I hadn’t charged my phone the previous day; and if it wasn’t for the bell that had made me get up half an hour early, I would’ve overslept and gotten late. I murmured a ‘thank you’ and grabbed my toothbrush.   Two hours later, I was at my desk in my room, clad in my Wednesday-best, jotting down the tasks I had to finish before 5:00pm that day. The unexpected pats on the back and greetin...

   I had heard them the night before on the roof and they were loud, unmistakable cries. I thought I’d pay the munchkins a visit – you know, to be a responsible citizen; also, mostly because I can’t just keep away from kittens. I climbed the metal stairs onto the cemented terrace and all I could think was about how quiet it was. Almost too quiet… call it spidey-sense if you want to, but my gut was telling me NOT to go further . Only, I wasn’t going to let my gut talk me into going back down. Taking guarded steps, I peered around the landing on top of the mini-terrace – nothing. No sudden blasts of color, no sudden movements and definitely no fur-balls.  “Hiss!” I froze. The sound was coming from behind me and I could tell by its intensity that I had hit the jackpot – sort of. I turned to see the origin of the deadly voice and I was five feet apart from the Mama Cat herself. Black coat glistening, lime green eyes burning, crouching in an attacking posture – she was the ep...

  (Click Here for the above Image's Source Link)     I recently watched this film that had released in 2017 and was directed by Neil Burger, entailing ‘a comedic outlook at the relationship between a quadriplegic wealthy man and an unemployed man with a criminal record who is hired to help him’ (IMDb, 2019). This movie, that was itself a remake of a 2011 French film, has since then been remade into South Indian Films as well. It brings together the primary fact that humans need each other to function irrespective of one’s physical, social or economic status. It outlines the journeys of two human beings who have all-but-given-up on life but who also just need that ‘little push’ to bring them back from the edge of despair. It also teaches us that it’s easy to blame the World for our problems but the hard part is realizing that we ourselves are letting the problems get the better of us.  There’s a lot of mental health awareness that’s going on now, and it’s great! We ...

  This has always been a frequent question in our household. Be it a piece of cake, caramelized fried banana pieces, halwas or the simple chocolate chip ‘Hide and Seek’, we loved to indulge our sweet teeth. I guess you can say it runs in the family – ofcourse, so does diabetes but, no this isn’t about ‘that group of diseases that result from too much sugar in blood’ – relax.      Mid-morning      “What’s for sweet today?” asked Abu.  “Well, if we hadn’t gobbled up that cream bun yesterday, we could’ve had it for today.” Anu scowled at him. “Okay,  do not  tell me that you  did not  want a bite of that awesome snack last night,” he smirked at her. “Fine; never mind,” she said, trying not to give her brother the satisfaction of her being his partner-in-crime again. “Let’s just think about today. What do you want?” “I’m craving chocolate cake – the real kind and not the one with the curd and stuff,” warned Abu, “t...