Virginity

When in school, I did a play on the birth of Christ. It started with my dialogue about Mary, “How can she do this to me? How can she ‘abandon’ me?”. Years later, I understood that by ‘abandon’ I was referring to Mary’s adultery or crudely, “VIRGINITY”... Now that’s a big issue. Recently, an Australian website auctioned a virgin girl and a boy. The girl fetched $780,000 in 15 bids... (The third highest bidder was an Indian named Rudra Chatterjee, btw). Private clinics in Dubai are abetting unmarried girls to restore virginity by illegally performing hymen restoration or reconstruction surgeries... When Lady Diana was engaged to marry Prince Charles, British royals and advisers expected her to be a virgin which prompted her uncle Lord Fermoy to publicly announce she was a “bonafide” virgin. Societal double standards never demanded Prince Charles to be a virgin. Lord Shiva granted a boon to Queen Draupadi that she would be born a virgin every year and was thus considered an eternal Kanya (virgin)... In western mythology, vestal virgin Rhea Silvia, raped by the God Mars, gave birth to Remus and Romulus, founders of Rome. The city’s fate was linked to virginity. If any virgin broke her virginity vows, wars or natural disasters would befall Rome. So transgressors were punished by death, the last recorded was buried alive in 150 AD... Obsession with virginity is another blown-out-of-proportion factor that demeans women. Our age-old culture has conditioned young girls to prize their virginity without realising they are buttressing male egos by doing so... The presence or absence of a small mucus membrane is no insinuation to what a woman is or can be!!! Give it a thought...

Radha... a character sketch!!!

For Radha, the last couple of years have witnessed a sea change. As she sat in this genteel restaurant named Olive Beach off Brigade Road in Bangalore with its blue-cushioned, white straw chairs, pebble covered floor, lit candles and even a few trees inside, she all of a sudden remembered her first date in her sleepy hometown of North Lakhimpur. The contrast was stark. She still remembers the tartan table-cloth which had food stains from the previous patrons or the aluminium foil wrapped glass tumbler with a few plastic flowers thrown in to serve as the only embellishment to the ambience. As she started her dinner with the fig and orange salad and the meze, her mind unpredictably meandered. She remembered ordering butter naan and kadai chicken on her first date which she found more appetising than the beef risotto or the crostini that was being served presently. Two years back she never imagined she would consume beef, but today, if she made apparent her reservations, her acquaintances would tag her ‘old school’ or ‘conservative’, she knew. Her pretty face, well endowed body and probable small-town virginity gained her much popularity in the hushed conversations of the boys of her college and earned her a nippy well-off boyfriend even while she was ‘committed’ to this guy from her hometown, who, on getting the news over the phone, did little but surrender to the inevitable and to his helplessness. Her present boyfriend bestowed her with label dresses, shoes and posh dinners. She warmed his bed in return, without any qualms. This was in utter difference from her previous boyfriend who was content with a few smooches and an occasional fondling of her breasts. It is always give and take, she told herself, many times over. However, she was certain about one thing. She might not remember today’s dinner few years hence, but she will never forget the first date she had when she was truly full and essentially burped after dining out...

Some day… Some day my mirror will not be shattered glass. Some day my pillow will not be wet. Some day the sky will bend before me. Some day I will touch the stars and enclose them in my palm. Some day … Some day my parents will realize that my attitude was a facade I hid behind. One day they will understand my restlessness, my addiction, my passion. One day they will understand me. One day, some day........ One day my spirit will transcend all physical boundaries. One day I will ride chariots of moonlight, I will cross kingdom of gold. For there is something in me. Something that won't fade through a hundred births. One day people who have hurt me will ask to be forgiven. Some day I will change the world. Some day I will stop losing. And start winning. And winning will become the rule rather than exception. One day I will become a favorite. One day someone will love me, One day my heart will sing. One day I will start keeping promises. One day I will start living. One day life will call out to me in a voice that is stronger than the fiercest gate. Some day my friends will welcome me back. One day, I will think about all the people I have lost touch with...and cry... Some day, I will actually read those letters and smile. One day I will take a piece of the moon back home. Some day, I will merge into the streets of the city and no one will know. One day I will disappear into the cadences of melodies And no one will bother. One day my heart will stop beating. One day I will go to hell. Some day I will learn to play the guitar. One day, I will dazzle everyone with my brilliance.. One day I will learn how to speak Japanese. One day ..... Some day I will do a lot of things. One day I will realize that Great men are but small people. One day I will realize that not everyone should be taken at face value. One day I will understand everyone and everyone will understand me. And that day, the world will fit into my fist. That day I will not give up. That day, I will smile and cry.. Some day ......... One day.........

Jimmy... a character sketch!!!

It was in a night club in suburban Juhu where Jimmy, a Gujarati guy, first met his future-wife, Nandini, a Marathi, 2 years back. She was with a friend whose name he doesn’t remember, except that she had a flower of life tattooed on her lower back. Jimmy was accompanied by his German distant cousin who was crashing in with him at his 2BHK Vile Parle flat. They met, they talked and at 2am all four of them left for his flat. They didn’t stop for ice-cream. When home, they didn’t sit on the bean bags and watch TV. His distant cousin and he left for their respective rooms with their ladies in tow, undressing each other as they did. And that was the first time Jimmy and Nandini spent a night under one roof... but in different rooms!!!

A Son's predicament.

A few days back, a middle-aged lady got admitted in the neuro-ICU after suffering from an attack of a hypertensive massive CVA. CT-scan revealed Intraventricular bleed with obstructive hydrocephalus with central herniation. She was operated upon and later put on the ventilator. She had minimum spontaneous respiratory effort and no brain-stem reflexes. There was little hope of her coming back to normality. As the ICU resident, I had to talk to her attendants, the patient’s husband and her two sons, who were about 18 and 14 years old, from time to time. Like most cases of CVA, the attack was sudden and it took the family by surprise. I interacted mostly with the elder son who always had tears in his eyes and never failed to tell me how much he loved his mother and wanted her back at all costs. Today, as I was sitting in the doctors’ room, the ward-boy came and told me that a strange thing is happening in the ICU and that I better go and see it myself. I went inside the neuro ICU and saw that the elder son was dressed in a white kurta and dhoti with a gamosa around his neck. Beside him was a young girl dressed in a simple mekhela-chadar. As the son saw me enter, he rushed towards me and told me that he got married today. I was astounded and didn’t know how to react. He then continued that his mother always used to playfully complain the lack of another woman in the house and kept saying that she wanted to find a suitable daughter-in-law, get them married and teach her all the household chores before she died. He added that it was a unanimous decision from all family and relatives that her last wish be fulfilled. The father then asked for a neighbour’s daughter’s hand in marriage for his son and married them off today. He told me that his mother knew the girl and liked her very much and now they had come to seek her blessings. Saying this, he suddenly bent down to touch my feet. I stopped him and embraced him. My eyes were getting moist as I felt his pain, his effort, his surrender...

my sister...

It was the peak of summer and about the time when I was in class IV or V... I was back from school and Dibrugarh was bearing testimony to a 3-day power-cut. Though tired, I could not sleep due to the heat. I lay on the floor of our bedroom trying to catch some sleep, in vain. Just then my sister arrived from school and seeing me thus, told me, “Don’t worry. When I will start earning, I will get you an A/C and a generator so that you can sleep well”... Well that’s my sister who was more like an elder brother to me. Always shielding and always caring. Maybe that’s why I don’t remember us fighting or quarrelling over any issue unlike other siblings. Touchwood! Usually, I am more prevailing and she would listen to everything I say, but it would not be fictitious if I said that she is the toughest woman I have come across. If I need my licence done, ticket done, passport done, money transferred, dropped at the airport or whatever it might be, I know my sister can get it done. I have seen her gone through the worst of times in her personal life. But she never shed a tear. She stood like a mountain and faced situations hands on. It was not surprising when other women would tell me that in similar circumstances, they would simply break down. Today’s Raksha Bandhan. And though I don’t have a Raakhi tied to my wrist, yet I promise to be the best brother a sister may have. After my Ma and Baba, Lipba is all I have. And I pray to the Almighty that not a bit of trouble may ever fall on her and she be happy and safe always!!! Amen.

veronica

VERONICA


They say true love is the paradox u never find
In this mortal verve, I failed to make you mine
They say after death, the cry is often heard
No please don’t leave me here, I’m so damn tired
Please stay…

As you lie on your death bed
Cold as stone and so blue
I make this promise now
I’m soon gonna join you
Please stay…


They say time heals, and makes you forget things
You know Veronica, you were the one for me
They say all the good things come for a short time
No way out of this hell that I see is made for me
Please stay…

Wait for me on the other side
The promise I’m gonna keep
Just let the sun down for today
Tomorrow we are sure to meet
Please stay…