A Conversation

"Why do you live so far away from the city?," she asked her grandfather who was keenly observing the dog drive away the band of monkeys which had sneaked into the farm.

"Because, my darling, home is where the heart is."

"But, why is your heart here? The city is the epitome of human civilization. Such harmonious living together of diverse cultures built on the unconscious cooperation of invisible strangers, Infinite opportunities - to learn, to explore and to express. Despite the one in thousand instants of tumult or insensitivity, I love the city for its magic."

"When you were a child, you used to tell me that you loved the city for its lights and colors. Nice to see your tastes evolving. Lucky that you have your home in the city, which you love and hopefully where your heart is. You too will over time understand that we can simultaneously love multiple things, sometimes even contradictory ones and one's heart need not necessarily be with what one loves."

"The more older you get, the more disagreeable you seem! What are you doing here? What meaning does your life have in rearing these dogs and chasing those monkeys?"

"Whatever meaning human existence has, if any. I sometimes wonder if we are like the dogs here. Assuming the boundary of a piece of land to be the territory to guard and chase monkeys there. If suppose we happen to catch a monkey, then not finding in it what we are looking for, we chase the other monkeys all over again. Maybe we are not looking for anything in the monkeys but it is simply in our nature to chase them."

"Despite the thoughts being intriguing, I can't agree with them Grandpa. "

"Then, my love, maybe we can agree to disagree."

Wish of Women's Day!

PC: http://gallerianews.com/uxx/2014/11/woman-in-shadow-pun.jpg

(On a day of wishes, I hate to be realistic. Wishes are largely Utopian and they compel us to introspect the reality. I am trying to look from a women's perspective below. No offence intended.)

       Dear father, before you wish me a Happy Women's Day and start boasting of how intelligent your grand daughter is with your acquaintances, why don't you accept me for what I am? I am a housewife who was married off in grandeur to suit your status unlike my brother who studied to be a doctor. And now that I enjoy the chores of being a housewife, do not let your modern liberal views look down on me.

      Dear husband, before you wish me a Happy Women's Day and get on your wishing spree on social media, why don't you help yourself to serve the breakfast which is all laid out on the table? Doesn't the irony cause any guilt in you that while you pose as a modern liberal accommodative of feminist views on Facebook at the dining table, I am asked to serve food in your plate? Small gestures of sharing the burden of our home could bring me a better cheer than your wish.

     Dear daughter, before you wish me a Happy Women's Day and drown yourself in celebration, why don't you pause and savour the womanhood in my company too for a couple of minutes? Why are all your intellectual ideas only for the crowds that clap and elite friends who admire? Is your concern and love only for victims of domestic violence and rape? What of women like me raped by subtle unconscious indifference? My freedom of choice governed by the interests of my family which at times are invisibly dictated to me.