Silently Loud

Rusiya ran towards the barren farmland calling out Pina’s name. ‘Pina...Where are you? How dare you touch my mangoes kept in the secret location?’ Pina was nowhere to be seen. Rusiya called her again. ‘Pinaaaaa...Pinaaaaa...I will find you.’ The afternoon sun did not spare Rusiya from its scorching heat. Sweat was dripping down his face but that did not stop Rusiya who went frantic searching for his younger sister. He had gone to great heights the day before to hide the mangoes from Pina’s prying eyes. First, he hid them under the half broken bed in the only room of their house. But he decided to hide them under the debris-strewn space at the back of their house, which was once their bedroom. The cyclone last year had washed away the kitchen, flew away the thatched roof and severely damaged the bedroom, leaving behind a single room which was the only roof over their heads. Rusiya lived with his father Natiya, mother Bidulata and sister Pina. ‘I do not know anything about y...

The mammoth Encyclopaedia book left little room for other books & magazines on the table. We were hovering over it from opposite sides of the table in the library of our school. We were searching for Barracuda, a ray-finned fish, for its large size & fearsome appearance. While having fish for dinner the previous day in the school dining hall, three of my friends & I had thought of finding out the fastest fish in the world. So we missed our free period the next day and went to the library. The school library had a few small encyclopaedias and a large one, which was the cynosure of everyone’s eyes.The seniors had lost interest in it long back and had moved on to pastures new like “Reproductive System” or “The Anatomy of Human Body”, specifically females. That period was devoid of Google, Youtube, Wikipedia & Internet was still in its nascent stage. Social networking sites were unheard of. But we used to savour every second of our fact finding mission in the library. The i...

The 500 words of wisdom penned by Joel Stein in Time, forced me out of hibernation. While there was a huge uproar from America to India, some pundits exercised restraint and lectured people on the limitations of a humourless society. Oh yes, humour and its many forms. Though one should have an appetite for humour, it should not be humongous enough to tolerate blasphemy. And above all, the author or the magazine did not apologise and stood firm with its agenda of spreading humour by taking potshots at Hindus in particular & Indians in general. Imagine if Joel Stein had made even a passing reference to Islam or Muhammad. He would have been enjoying the perks of a five star security cordon by now and the magazine would have promptly hosted dinners for Muslim delegations to understand the nuances of Islam, along with a huge apology. Mullahs would have thronged the streets demanding justice, vowing to dislodge the powers that be. But Joel Stein wrote about Hindus. He is indeed very smar...

The recent conviction and sentencing of the guilty executives of the ghoulish Union Carbide company is a slap on the face of a burgeoning democracy, like India. It is an assault on the very tenets of Justice & law enforcement and also on the state’s will to take the case to its logical conclusion. When thousands of people were killed and maimed, the state was busy in scuttling the process under the carpet and helping the high and mighty go scot-free. And when the high and mighty was an American, the cover up process got a fillip under the supervision of the then CM, Arjun Singh.The love affair between Congress party and western figures is nothing new as the Quattrochi episode speaks volumes of it. UC fiasco was not only the worst possible industrial disaster in the world but also the most delayed trial coupled with horrible disaster management and rehabilitation. When more money could have been sought from the parent company in US through lawsuits and fair trials, an out of court s...

On Wednesdays and Fridays the students of SSB spent their early mornings on NCC drills, by marching their way into the heart of Gandhi ground. With shiny black boots and belts, well ironed out khaki clothes, green cap on the head,tilted to the right aka military style and head held high, the future foot soldiers of the Indian army negotiated their way through the moist and dusty ground, by tapping their foot in a synchronous mode. In the middle of the ground was a podium, to hoist flags and to monitor activities of the students. Students who were sick and could not participate in the drills, formed a group called the sick Line to the left of the podium. But before they could join the sick line, they were thoroughly examined briefly, by the expert eyes of Mundas. Now every NCC and PT instructor in SSB was a Munda, meaning tough, in Oriya. Samantaray was in no mood to join the Indian Army or to do the drills. He constantly graced the sick line during NCC and PT days. Being a known face i...

The evening mist outside Gamarpatta city gathered dust due to the heavy traffic. The honking of vehicles was a regular exercise near the intersection that connected Gamarpatta City with the outside world. Cabs, Buses, two-wheelers and all sorts of wheelers made a perfect kaleidoscope of Polluting machines. But the fourth floor at Tower 1 inside the Oxygen Zone of Gamarpatta city was bustling with a different kind of noise. Agents were talking to their customers located in UK. The floors were divided into bays for Healthcare and General Insurance, Pensions and claims for AVIS plc, UK. The voice echoed across one such bay in the left corner of the fourth floor of the building, startling everyone. “All nominations are to be given by the end of November positively. You can send in your names for Dancing, Singing, Ramp walking or as a volunteer.” People taking calls from various quarters struggled to listen to what he had said. Abhi was in a delightful mood while announcing for the annual d...