Father of the Nation!

This post has also been published at YouthKiAwaaz and The Speaking Tree.

Once upon a time, there was a man. 

Father of the Nation and his "Experiments with Truth" - A reflection!

This post has also been published at YouthKiAwaaz and The Speaking Tree.

Once upon a time, there was a man. 

Dissent (Deepak Kaul)

A commissioned review -

An anthology is a strange thing. An anthology is stranger, if it follows no rule. An anthology, probably, is strangest when it does not even tie down its stories to a certain genre.

ও মেয়ে, জলকে চল!

গর্ভিণী মেঘ হাওয়ায় ভাসে

আকাশপথের যান -

বাস্প চিরে বজ্র ডাকে,

তাও - অটুট অভিমান!

আকাশ জোড়া আলোর হদিশ,

নিরুদ্দেশে প্রাণ।

একূল ওকূল ছাপিয়ে পড়ে,

ঝাঁপিয়ে পড়ে বান!

সুখী গৃহকোণ!

A small step "Together"

It had all began with a rather morbid news, that a 4 year old was sexually assaulted. I was not too surprised that it happened, to be honest. I was shocked, rather, to imagine how many must be happening behind the curtain, unnoticed, unreported, unacknowledged just so that one piece among them could surface up to grab half a column on the daily news. The groups on social media were flooding with demands and disputes around school's intervention in matters of CCTV, female attendant, while I was cringing to think how the 4 year old never came back home to tell it to her mother, because she was either scared or didn't even know it was wrong...

I had put forward an outcry which was more at spur of moment than was purposeful. I had asked if we could arrange a workshop to tell kids and parents what they should know! But they gave me hope, and shoulders. The enthusiasm since last week was absolutely heartening. What was just a musing became an idea, and then a purpose. We formed a team, and we named ourselves "Together". We stole our kids crayon boxes and made posters while they were away at school. We painted the mailboxes and WhatsApp groups red... 

Dreams!

Here’s a thing about... “moral values” – if I may! Well, foremost, Moral values are not easy to define. They are indeed a matter of discretion. Moral values are not what the aunt next door imposes on you. Moral values are what you trust, where your intuition talks, what your conscience leads you to. They are about your very own ways of living life, your personal belief systems, and your self-imposed principles. Moral values can only be inspired, not preached. And talking of it, well then, can moral values also not be to hope, to imagine, to reach out?

Right, Dreams!

"Stories of Work, Life & Balance in Between" by Tomson Robert

Time again, for a commissioned review! This time, it is a simple, easy read of a book named as above, holding between its two covers a host of continuing short stories.