A paradox and a half

Rote learning poetry was a pain back in high school. I did not understand why one must "compare thee to a summer's day" or how "a thing of beauty was joy forever". If only I could talk to my 13 year old self, of how much I crave a good piece of poetry today and how I seek comfort listening to online recitations of Shakespeare and Keats. How it could never beat the feel of the very first time I read it on one of those wooden benches that have witnessed classic poetry recitations, time and again. If only I could relive those moments of live poetry recitations back in class. Funny, how Life's chanced indecisions lie in those semi-precious, self embroiled spaces between "What If" and "If Only" . With all due respect to Shakespeare and Keats, their works never caught my fancy until later. But to the innocent, indecisive, simplicit observer of a school girl, unfazed by the delusions of literary grandeur, Frost came easy. I didn't hav...

So yesterday, I posted this funny meme on my high school whatsapp group. I thought it was hilarious and here's what happened next. There were comments like:  "Land kartey hi detain hogaya",  "Modi can take a load lot than him" . Now, now..don't be all grumpy. Even I have no idea what the second comment meant. Hogi koi angrezi say personal dushmani. Now these would've well been light headed remarks, but it got me thinking about the insensitivity growing among us inspite of what went down yesterday in Gujarat, Delhi, Lucknow. We still continue to live in a bubble where, forgive my ancestors while I try to quote Salman Khan here. "Apna kaam banta, bhaad may jaaye Janta!" How could we tolerate the hooliganism that was at par yesterday in Gujarat?  Giving leverage to hooliganism.  Wasn't that the kind of behaviour that encouraged riots back in 2002?  The moment AK entered there was a  spewn of rowdies raising black flags chanting,...