Meraki

I'm fascinated by people who've got themselves all figured out. With cemented opinions and fixed fashion tastes, they seem so...complete? Like polished furniture, lofty in it's purpose with it's position nailed into the floorboard. Me? I'm more freshly-cut wood, still piled up in a cart, undecided and covered in splinters. I could be a table, I daydream. Balanced, standing strong on my own legs. Or the support for a lamp shade, bathed in the soft glow.                                                                                          But I don't know, you know? I'm yet to live more of life, stumble into mistakes, meet people of every race and shake hands with dark fates. I see all these beautiful people. They all look different, but they all have breath-taking beauty and I question what is it about their poems that seem so poetic and what is it about their voice that drowns out my monkey mind. And I realise. I love them because they  love them. I

The Ancient Egyptian Tomb of Sheikh Abd el- Qurna cache holds riches of information for  archaeologists. Among the mess of the  mummies, it holds wooden pieces with names  of Princesses inscribed. Except that’s not what  they were called. “King’s Daughter” was the royal title of some  princesses, as though her identity was built by  using bricks of paternal power. Nebetia was one such daughter, born to  Prince Siatum. He was the son of Thutmose  IV, who remains preserved in the Valley of the  Kings. Her father has scarce documentation. And  yet, she carries a title derived from him. While  the endlessly captivating time of Ancient  Egypt was just to women for their time, this  nickname for a princess is a subtle head  turner. Maybe this concept is relevant even in today’s  world. Younger siblings scoff at being called  by their sister’s name because the teacher has  that child imprinted in t

Board results out. College hunting in season. Future freshers stuck in line. Chaos at the counters. Authorities annoyed. "Below 95 at the back", she said."My daughter has gotten 94.6 %", parents beg. Shoved and sandwiched, organizing their documents, the students understood one another's ailment. The three Priya's bond over their common name, another friendship buds over their shirts that are the same. The miserable crowd lasts hours through the day, but this miserable crowd comes together in their pain. Seniors now, the girls' smile at the new batch, chatting instead of having a row.

A  peculiar place lies in a space unseen by mankind. Floating in between waves of sand is a dome of water. A reversed island. Within it exists a species called ‘Buzos’, evolved from humans. It had been their ancestors’ deep love for scuba diving that led them to adapt to the water over generations. They’d unleashed their inner merselves, surrendering to the calm of the water world. A discovery marks this deviation in homo sapiens. “I can’t breathe”, a Buzo forefather had choked on sticking his head out after a particularly soothing dive. Only ducking underwater relaxed his lungs. Equipment set aside, he’d rushed to his wife to inform her about this breathlessly. The bathtub became his bedroom. Their child was born with this fishy tendency as well. She only ate duckweed and never left her kiddie pool. The family broke into a massive aquarium when normal conditions weren’t cushioning their survival anymore. The employees, of course, had a mighty scare upon the sigh

Nalsar recently held a Literary Fest, giving me the opportunity to send in a creative work as part of the writing competition. I poured my whole heart into writing a story; did so with meraki. It was a 'Miss India' moment when I found out my story won me the first prize. As an aspiring writer, it was sweet reassurance. Here is the story,'Enlightenment of Enigmas' based on the theme of 'Boundaries': Yugen truly understood his name as he watched the stars. It was a Japanese word, capturing a profound sense of the universe in its meaning. “A sight like this really stirs your thoughts”, he said out loud to himself. Small baskets of plants dangled from the balcony ceiling, underneath which he stood. Vines were intertwined with its curved railing. Fresh raindrops awoke their green scent. He was intrigued by how a mere look at the marvels of nature made us question so much. The indescribable feeling a clear night sky could trigger or the grand aura t