In the beholder’s eye

  Reena didi Watching  my 6 month old money plant getting drenched in the occasional winter rains of December reminds me of the beautiful place I got it from.In the rainy season of July of 2021, I stumbled upon this beautiful nursery called Sanjay nursery in Katara hills, Bhopal. It's huge in comparison to other private  nurseries  and has over 150 varieties of plants including a great collection of the smaller one's  suitable to be kept on shelf. One can see about 4 to 5 people toiling in the soil, moving matures and potting mixtures on trollies and arranging the potting bags in order. It much like any well managed nursery.  But what one cannot miss is that it is being managed by a woman named Reena Didi. Reena didi, a 5 ft 3 inches slim woman, in her early 30s, clad in a mud-stained bright pink salwar kameez and floaters, wearing only a silver colored anklet and toe rings in her feet as her only jwellery, holding an umbrella, bending  over the hedge  to strained the potting b

  To dream the impossible dream To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow And to run where The brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong And to love, pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star This is my quest, t o follow that star No matter how hopeless,n o matter how far To fight for the right,w ithout question or pause To be willing to march  into hell f or that heavenly cause And I know if  I'll only be true To this glorious quest  t hat my heart w ill lie peaceful and calm When I'm laid to my rest And the world will be b etter for this That one man, scorned a nd covered with scars Still strove with his last o unce of courage To reach the unreachable star!

 No matter what we do in life we always need allies. Be it finding that one confidant on the first day of school or a travel buddy who saves seat on the bus ride or a group of friends, didi, bahiyas and other who would cheer the loudest in times whiling performing 1st time in front of an audience.  Allies are those who support even if they do not completely understand. They cheer for us, turn up for random half planned-events and give us a thumbs up of anything that we put up. In short they are the support system that facilitate acceptance in this complex world. While some allies are easy to find the rest have to be wooed. Wooing is an art in itself. To get people on board is so tough.  I remember what a challenge it was to get my whole class ready for an Industrial visit and what across the aisle effort it took to get different groups to agree to it.   Yet allies are so useful in life. It's always a relief to look at a crowd and find familiar faces. Faces that may not clap for a p

It is often said that if you put a bunch of women together they will end up chattering no matter what.  So one expects that when one invites women to speak, specially, about themselves and their issues , they would seize the occasion and come rushing on a beacon call. But only if one has tried to do so , one will know that how hard it is to get women to speak. May be it is because, like all humans ,women have their reservations too. Those who are called otherwise empowerment feel wary of speaking something that may invite judgement, those who are unfortunately voiceless don't know what to say , many others are feel like imposters in  voicing their challenges and they are often dismissed as trivial and the rest are nonchalant about it. Thus, to assemble women who would agree to speak is a challenge. It is only the few daring ones who risk taking the judgment and derogatory monikers speak up. No matter what people say, those are brave women. They are ready to be disliked, to be displ

After a long time when all is said and done what is left is you.  You, at the core, is all that you have lived and all that you believe in . All that you think is true and just and deserve a chance. When you are lose some part of the above , you lose a part of potential you. This loss brings pain and drudgery. It bring doubts and anxiety.      Sometimes, this triggers the quest for a path of peace, a path for solace , a path for comfort. Many times in  as a different being where your realities leave you.  The decisions are trivial and not weighted. A life of the alternate, a life of lie. A life of an imposter. A dead survivor, a resignation to fate and what the world chooses for you. Other times, it takes you to a dark and dingy road of  regret, self loathing and blame gaming. A road which is perhaps the hardest, as it questions the purpose of your existence in the most obvious ways. It questions your wisdom in the most fundamental way. It feels like a million needles together,  punctu

What hurts is not the difference of opinion, But the mode chosen to express it. What hurts is the fixation on proving one is right and one is wrong,  The essential polarization. What hurts is the loss of mutual respect  And the zeal of maligning other. What hurts is the loss of sight That on either side we all are essentially brothers. United in spirit and different in every other way is our dna Most proud of this fact we breathed through all the tumultuous time together Reassuring ourselves that when all is done we will have each other forever. We will grow together no matter how much this world questions our identity. If that pride is killed then what are we? Just a bunch of assorted beings  struggling for existence?  United in want of economic pleasures divergent in every other way?  This describes the jungle law or a fish market  none of which can excite us all. For no matter how hard we want to fight we want a place to rest in peace. No