Life Unscripted

 This is it! I said to myself. Growing up in a milieu of knowing that we live to work, earn and have fun, the grown-up me was facing a new meaning to life....MARRAIGE! I never knew or was told that this would eventually happen. But it did, and how!  A 24-year-old me, had no concrete plans charted out, professionally, yet persuasive enough to contribute meaningfully to the world around me and if possible, beyond. And knowing what makes me happy, continue to give time, no matter how much, to my happy space. Life was good, bad, ugly and all of that. Then came the windfall moment. This guy pops up to curtly share his feelings and intention to marry me.  I have been a kind who rarely gets perturbed by romantic approaches. But this was a different kind that intended to directly place me at the altar. I took time, but one chance feeling that having a companion who doesn't want to change me and repeatedly keep my way open to leave him if I ever feel trapped, overpowered my ration...

Nimona  Have just watched the movie Nimona and was quite moved by the out-of-league story, almost disruptive of the present disposition in animated movies around heroes. All through I, as an audience was made to wonder if at all there is anything called a hero or a villain in the story, if at all anyone was right or wrong. Every action of the characters had their own valid reasons, which sounded so real and made me empathise. Apart from the blurry lines of the character sketches, what surprised me more was a deeper message to the children. We live in a make-believe world, bound by a wall of illusion. We need to look beyond the walls to find out the realities of life, as it suits us, and not what others build for us. For a moment, I felt it was too much for a kid to understand all this. But, what if this is the world they only know. One that is free, and built to suit their aspirations and motives.  Movies indeed reflect the societal ethos, if we chose to avoid those that want ...

A turn in life that demands going back to my younger self and asking the question- Where do you want to see yourself 5 years down? This is making me also think - What if I had done things differently? But, I cannot find any answer, as I didn't know how a life different from the one I have lived so far would have been as much worth it.   My first job was as a Direct Dialogue Recruiter, for one of the big names in environmental activism, Greenpeace. My job was to stand on a busy street, approach passersby, talk to them about impending environmental concerns and pitch for a financial contribution. Being a Master in Political Science, this was a job, I was passionate about, as I was applying my learning on the ground. I was able to apply the theories of behavioural sciences to understand my prospective donors. Such was my zeal and passion for the cause, I was soon deemed to be a group leader and sent to Hyderabad and Kolkata for a new office set-up and to build a team. All of 24 y...

 There are times when life suddenly turns around on our face to show the point where it all began. I am at that spot now. As a child, I have seen people strive at all ends- for food, water, shelter and Life at large. Hence the word "struggle" never existed for me. "Struggle"was normal. But today, when I have seen and experienced life, "Struggle" is indeed a very meaningful word. While it still means life at large, it means experiences that has made me wise. I feel at ease with what I am and what I want to be. What shaped my world views is my place of birth and what it had to offer. I, along with my three siblings grew up in one of the most troubled insurgency infested place, Kohima, more so at a time, when it was at its peak. I remember walking to my school with a battery of army black cat personnel armed with a rifle gun standing at every meter all through my way. They would frequently come home late at nights for surprise checks to see if we had hidden a...

There are many moments in life that change our perspectives and the person we are. Growing old is not about the number, but the experiences and such moments. As I inch towards turning 40, I also complete a decade of loss of Baba. It was on this date 10 years back when he decided to just leave.  Life and death are for real. This has been my life lesson. At 30, losing a parent in a blinking moment din't at all seem real. I had spoken to him that morning, as a routine. As I was rushing to punch in to my office on time, he was narrating his peaceful and relaxing morning moments with his newspaper and tea. I had told him, how desperately I was waiting for my retirement. Those last minutes I spoke to him remain so vivid in my minds, that his physical non-existence still feels unbelievable. the next moment I heard about him was from a stranger calling from his number to tell me that he has met with an accident. Since that moment I have been fighting to believe that there is thin line betw...

"Growing up is overrated"- One of my daughter's t-shirts had this written on it. I resonated so much with that. A part of our existence continues to live in childhood. We continue to live and relive it as we age. I have been particularly lucky in having lived a childhood worth creating memories. It has been a desire for the longest times to chronicle that, so that I don't lose that memory in the process of ageing.  Kohima, is the town of my birth as so is of my siblings. The character of this town is so intrinsic in all our personalities, that every tenth word we speak, when we are together, is something around Kohima and our lives lived there. I grew up in Kohima along with my three brothers- Abhijit, Biswajit and Surajit- aged in the same order as mentioned here. While each of us are characteristically different, we perhaps share a similar trait of living in the past. We value our upbringing, yet accept the shortfalls in it, we proclaim our likes and dislikes openly...