2nd May 2019

Here's to the strongest woman I know.

Happy Birthday Ma 😊

Dear Ma,

                       At first I thought of creating a website of your name as a part of your birthday gift as I believed that in today's world having a digital presence is the greatest gift one can give. However, it was later that I realized, you probably won't like the idea. As a kid I often used to gift you hand written letters on your birthday and now since I've grown up and am equipped with technology, why not make a better use of the social media.

I just wanted to say thank you for all the sacrifices, compromises and pain you have gone through to raise me.I know, living in a patriarchal society it is obvious that child bearing isn't a matter of choice. Even then you chose to cherish and raise me with so much love and compassion. I also know that handling me is not a cake walk. I can be the most annoying and cruel daughter at times. I can't even realize the number of times I would've hurt you unknowingly. For all that I'm extremely sorry.

I don't know if I've told you this before but I want to be with you in your struggles. I can't solve problems, but at least I hope that you can have the relief of having someone by your side. Now, you might be thinking that these are just good words. But, let me tell you this, I've always aspired to become a stronger version of you and be with you whenever you need me.

The freedom to think for oneself, is not something easily available in today's world. And I'm so grateful and proud that you gave me that freedom. The first sign of an open-minded individual is to respect everyone's thoughts and perspectives. Thank you so much for being that.

For the whole world I might be the critical, headstrong girl, but on the inside I'm the most gullible. You know this very well 😁. And this why it is better to have you as my mother than my best friend.

There are so many things I wanted to say but.... somehow I just can't right now. Anyways, a very happy birthday once again. Love you.

                                                                                                                  Yours Lovingly
                                                                                                                    Prakruti

14th September 2018

Goodnight,

Sweet dreams,

Jay Shri Krishna

When I hear these words I realize that now it's time to sleep. And it has been such a habit to hear them that I still, even after growing up, feel weird when I can't.

The person to whom this blog is dedicated, will quickly identify the purpose of writing it. By the way there's an addition to the goodnight wishes for me, and that is a careful warning "Prakruti sui jaa". 

Happy Birthday Papa 😊

How does a girl feel when her father turns 50? May be she becomes a bit more careful for his health, maybe she too would aspire to lessen his burden of responsibilities (both financial and social). Well, these are my speculations. One thing I know for sure is that I'm not an ideal child, neither a papa ki pari (and would not want to be either, as obedience restricts the possibilities for free thinking) but well, no one is perfect, and if every individual was perfect, the world would be boring 😅 It's a common practice for children to write cheesy lines about their parents, on their birthdays and anniversaries, and I must admit, that as a kid, I too was involved in doing so. It's a sad thing that the right reasons for loving and respecting our parents, are realized quite late. If you ask me, I love my father not just because I am his daughter and therefore I must, but because he has never stopped me from thinking, which is in my opinion, my greatest faculty. Neither has he ever stopped me from reading, or has restricted my reading to certain genres or topics. Being an educator himself, he knows the importance of this habit.   

It is often seen in families, even after so many reformation movements, that a father is an authoritative figure, someone to be afraid of, and someone from whom we usually don't converse or act freely. But I consider myself lucky, that, though I have so many heated arguments with him, I can speak my heart out before him. I can argue with him for hours, which he dislikes a lot, but well, sorry, can't help it.😅 However, this can't hide the fact that, he was the one to help me form my opinions by myself and also the strength to hold on to them as well as withstand their consequences.

Conclusively, today, on your birthday, I am truly grateful to you for being my first motivator for education, for thinking, for open mindedness, and a lot more things. By the way, I still can't figure out certain habits of yours, which you, not as a person holding a powerful position, but as my father, often do.😂

 Love you 😘

Bucket list

Those who would be expecting to read what constitutes my bucket list might be greatly disappointed by this post. For, this  post is about the 'word' or the 'concept' of bucket list in general.

So, recently, in one of our language classes we were asked to write a few lines about any one of the following topics:
1) my school life
2) nature (beautiful or dangerous)
3) my bucket list

Now, for people who can read, write, and understand English and also know the updates of the English vocabulary, might think this task a cake walk. However, for people who aren't capable enough to use English proficienctly or are not the native speakers of the language or are learning it for the first time, this is the most difficult task. And I think everyone can imagine which word caught all of our attention. Yes, the word was 'bucket list'.

As for me, it was nothing new. I heard about it a lot many times, used it for many times more and was fully acquainted with its usage. But, this wasn't about me. Almost four to five people asked the same question, 'what does bucket list mean? ' Obviously the teacher explained it to them, later on. But I decided to look into it a bit more.

So, here's what I found. When I searched on Google, it said, 'a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime.' A pretty good definition, something which we all know about. However, when I searched for its etymology, I came to know about one more phrase which was 'to kick the bucket' and which simply means to die. The phrase itself was coined to describe how while committing suicide, a person kicks the bucket, while he or she has tied their head in a slip noose. It was also linked with the Christian ceremony of sprinkling the Holy Water on a dead body. Well, there are many interpretations. But the basic meaning is to die.

Justin Zackham, the American and British screenwriter, coined the term bucket list for his own list of things he wanted to do before he kicked the bucket.

What I want to draw your attention to is the fact that how the term about life originated from the one about life. A positivist observation but an observation at least.

Please let me know if you have any more interesting observations about this in the comment section.

Post truth

Certain words like discipline, morality, truth, etc are highly subjective in my opinion. Especially, the word truth, which has remained highly ambiguous even for the greatest thinkers. And let me remind you that this ambiguity has resulted into horrifying circumstances at times as well.

The reason for this sudden highly philosophical speculation is the fact that often what is considered as the universal or general truth is not the actual reality. Most of the times in today's world the general or universal truth is a 'make believe '. The concept or meaning of the word post truth is, in my opinion related to this idea.

What I really found interesting while reading about post truth is the fact that not only has the word truth gone through huge changes in interpretation but also the prefix 'post', as is explained in this line : "Rather than simply referring to the time after a specified situation or event – as in post-war or post-match – the prefix in post-truth has a meaning more like ‘belonging to a time in which the specified concept has become unimportant or irrelevant."

One example of this concept can be the recent events of the murders of journalists. Or the kind of restrictions the media has to face now and then to telecast news about a person in power or an age old tradition.

Post truth, as far as I've known, is mostly related to the concepts like politics or journalism, considered as important pillars on which a society or culture sustains. How interesting!