The lost heart

Sick and tired
She rests under the stars
Tears spent
She has no more

Her eyes open
And she breathes deep
A vow
She'll hurt no more

She loves him
Hopes he does too
Leave him
That she'll never do

Hugs and kisses
She does not need
It's love
For which she pleads

Impossible he says
Breaks her even more
Stay strong
That's now her goal

She cannot speak
But she does write
To convey
What she feels right

One more time
She tries to plead
And will
Till he sees
That they are meant to be
That she will not leave

Wake up...it's time

Why do you give up hope, when there is much left in the world of men? Why do you only see battles raging between the government and people? Why do you think it's the end of humanity because a man gunned down children? Because a woman was raped?

We insult our species by even considering these acts to be human, therefore symbolizing the "end" of humanity. And how dare you eve say they behave like animals, and highly insult animals? Maybe the Mayans were right. Maybe the world  might end in 5 minutes. But the world will not end because of 7 people.

No. The world, when it does, will end because of the 7 billion people on planet Earth. 6 men raped an innocent woman. 1 shot innocent children down. What are we, the remaining 6999999993, doing? Posting pictures on Facebook about how we want men castrated. 

Why do you not see that a young woman risked her life to save the lives of her students? Why do you not see the millions of people wanting to help, but not knowing how to?

Stop saying what you want done to those b******s. Start thinking about how you'll ensure that no man thinks that way, forget does. Because no amount of regret,  marching, shouting, protesting is going to help the families of those innocent children gunned down, or the innocent woman. Instead what they would appreciate that no one else went through the same ordeal.

 

Pandora did not just let evil out into the world, she also let out hope. Hope that keeps the world running. The same way, humans do not just let out sick deeds, and torture. They also let good shine out. Don't let the world fool you. Keep believing.

Mysore - in 2 days

Mysore, the city of palaces and gardens. I actually spent 4 days there, but the weekend was my favorite. It started with meeting Sayed, the magician. Find him when you're in Mysore. If you're lucky you'll find him outside the lobby of the hotel Regaalis, and if not then ask the doorman for him. Sayed is a traditional magician, and comes from a family where each generation teaches the next magic.

The Mysore zoo had been strongly recommended to me, and so on Saturday I dragged a friend of mine, who unbelieveably had stayed there for an year without visiting the zoo. It's a big big place, and I had the time of my life. I loved the monkeys and apes (as always), and saw an otter in real life for the first time! :)

The second day is what I'd love to rattle on about. We headed to Coorg in a superb Inova. But better than the town of Coorg is what's on the way. My favorite was the "Golden temple", which is actually the Buddhist Nyingmapa Monastery. This place is a perfect example of don't judge a book by it's cover. A modest entrance, leads to a magnificent steeple, which had my mouth dropping open literally. But that was still nothing. An unassuming doorway with a curtain of beads opens into a huge room where there is a celebration of colours and peace. Whoever would have imagined that red could be peaceful? The tall statues, the paintings and the monks with their calm voices and prayers which commanded attention. I could have sat there for the entire day and maybe a couple of more. The gift shop there is the best! It's full of little trinkets like good luck charms, fans and even tea sets (I bought a cute little green one), all at very very low rates.

After the temple, which I reluctantly left we went on to Cauveri Nisargadham.This was a very typical touristy spot, with the main attractions being the deer park and elephant rides.
The deer were friendly and eating cucumbers right out of the hands of tourists. The mahouts were pretty mean and constantly hitting the elephant on the head with a stick, so that made my first elephant ride not so enjoyable. But the best part for me was the hanging bridge over the Cauveri river, which had a great view, which was also spoiled thanks to too many people chattering.

The Akki falls did not really impress, but maybe that was because you could hardly hear the water over voices. However the "churmuri" a simple snack consisting of puffed rice, tomatoes, onions, coriander and spices is a must try! Lunch in Madikeri also recommended.





However what I'd love to do is go back to the monastery and sit and sketch every single picture there. I guess a year's sabbatical would be enough for that!

Random acts of kindness

Inspired by recent acts of kindness by strangers, I have decided to start a bi-monthly column just for this.
However, the success of this column depends on you, my readers. This is going to be an open column, featuring mostly
(I hope) readers' works. So readers, please feel free to write in your experiences to me at ritealot@gmail.com.

Here's mine to start off with.

One balmy afternoon, a friend, my mother and I started off towards the railway station. My friend was lugging
an enormous bag, which he stubbornly refused to let either of us help him with. After much persuasion, he agreed
to share the load and we each carried one strap of the bag.

All this while we were looking out for rickshaws, and as luck would have it there were none. We started up the road,
a winding one, slightly uphill. A rickshaw came around a bend, and I flagged it, but it was occupied. Surprisingly it
stopped in front of us. A lady got out, holding a toddler close to her.
With a friendly smile she said some of the kindest words I had heard for a while, "Take the auto, my house is right here. I can
walk."

To this day we owe the lady, not just for giving us the auto, but for making out day by this selfless gesture.

So readers, pay silent tributes to strangers, family, friends and maybe yourselves. Write in to me at ritealot@gmail.com...

Chem...again?

One term of a new syllabus was more than enough. I requested that I be allowed to change back to my regular curriculum. With a lot of pomp and splendour (which can be translated as arguments) this was allowed.

Today seemed to be the first day of school all over again. The bafflement, the confusion, the urge to run back home and snuggle down in a soft bed, all the symptoms of a first day were back clearer than ever. Unfortunately today was worse. Yet again, how neglected brilliant subjects are hit me. Hard.  Economics and Biology run parallel so I have to choose between the two and and also take up a third subject since I cannot do both. Telling me this while your eyes are shooting daggers at me was not enough. *You had to make it worse by telling me to take Chemistry as the teacher is qualified yet again. And the worst is that you have done something I believe no teacher should. I now doubt myself and anxiously go through all websites to confirm what I have decided is right. You made me doubt myself. What I've been working towards since probably second grade now seems irrelevant.

Chemistry. Sure I'll do Chem, so you'll get off my back. Do you want that? Because I'll be the only one blamed in the long run if something goes wrong. You'll take the credit, if out of the blue, I realise how wonderful Chemistry is and decide to go win a Nobel Prize.

"Don't do it because you like it," you caution me. Have you taken any effort to find out where I'm going? You feel I want to do Economics because I have a friend doing that subject. Wrong. And as for taking subjects out of the thin air, you have no idea how detailed my study plan is. For the simple reason, you never bothered to find out.

Realise that you're ruining not just my life, but maybe others too. Chemistry I will not do. Nor Math. Not any subject you suggest do I feel like doing now. But know this.
I'm going to study and get into the college of my dreams. And when you go around, feeling that you led to my success, I'll be thanking myself for not listening to you.

*Refer to the article "Can I please study to learn?"

Silent Scream

Listen to me closely

For I cannot speak

As loudly and clearly as you wish me to be

I'm quiet and you wonder why

You believe me not

When I say
I know not what to say

I know not how to say

Hear me when I

Speak with my eyes

Hear me when I

Sob silently in the darkness

Hear me when I

Smile at you

Hear me when I

Bury myself in your warm embrace

But mostly I wish 

You would hear me when

No other does

When by the light

Of the moon

I let forth,a

Silent scream

Can I please study to learn?

So here I am, posting something exactly two months after my last blog post. In this time my exams have been written, (math went quite well, thank you), i have shifted to a new house, and my summer has come to an end. This weekend is the last of freedom.

Yesterday I visited my school to figure out what subjects to take next year. To my undisguised horror, both history and economics, previously offered subjects were no longer available. I have to do 6 subjects, and two I really need are not there. Great. "What to I do now?" I asked my counsellor. "Why don't you take chemistry? It's easy and the kids seem to like it..." was the answer.

Excuse me? Did you just tell me to take chemistry because it's easy? Slow down. When did this start happening?? I didn't know that I was eligible to take a subject because it's easy! Oh, why don't I just take English because it's easy! Seriously, what is the world coming to! I came back home and talked this out with my friends, and they told me this was a similar case in their colleges too. Students being encouraged to take easy subjects so that their marks are great. Because at the end of the day marks are what matter. In this respect, my counsellor was only trying to help.

Should it really be like this? I get terrible marks in physics, but I'm just as interested in the Higgs boson particle as the girl doing research on nano particles. But hey, no marks=you don't know anything in that subject!

I find the education system terrible! I keep thinking about dropping out of school (Bill Gates and Sachin Tendulkar being my role models to do so). But then two things stopped me from thinking this way. One was my mom and my best friend telling me, "Sachin plays cricket, Gates built a multimillion empire. What can you do?' Right now, I have no clue. So that's one option out. The other is something my mom always says. I'm a big fan of Sir Ken Robinson and his ideas. Using this great example my mom tells me, "The only reason people listen to him is because he's been through the system, and he knows what he's talking about."

So there! I have to go through "education". But then it's up to me to make the change. I know that I want to inspire people to stop treating subjects as just a means to get marks. And I'm going to do something about it. Right now, I'm going to study. However there is only so much I can do alone. The only way to get this moving is if everyone I know, tells everyone they know. Therefore this post. Start thinking about it people, because change is inevitable. But, we can be the ones bringing about that change.