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Un Dia

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  It was on a random day of Delhi monsoon that I had decided to wear a new kurta stolen from the closet of mother dear. The day begins with a speeding auto splashing filthy roadside puddle water onto said kurta.  It was a minor splash, I proceeded with my day only to take a test which went so bad that I just wanted to run back home regardless of the incessant drizzle. The Metro was a mere 8 minute walk away and two batchmates of mine were destination bound alike with umbrellas. Now, with absolutely no patience to wait for the drizzle to stop and longing to be in the comfort of sweet home, I took refugee under the rather huge umbrella. As expected, within the matter of minutes the drizzle turned to a full fledged cats, dogs, mice pouring rain in all its glory and might with a long jam of cars to accompany the same. Dodging cars and trying to stay under the paltry refuge of the umbrella was cumbersome. One of us had given up on this futile endeavor and embraced his fate of getti...

Her Majesty

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Why does school feel like prison? Perhaps because everyone is dressed in uniform inmate cloths? Need to give a headcount every hour? Don't even have the liberty to use the restroom at their own convenience?  Few of these inmates are provided with differentiating blazers for cramming propaganda infused syllabi enough to fall into an arbitrarily imposed quantitative criteria. In the setting of a supposed classroom, a tyrant exercises their arbitrary prerogative over the bodily functions of lowly miniscule creatures. Seniority justifies abnormal behaviours of hurling abuses and baseless allegations towards younger individuals. If they dare to retaliate, they are deemed a clear case of insubordination. The miniscule creature's futile effort to safeguard whatever little sense of dignity they have acquired are labelled instances of indiscipline. While some experienced players in this regard shrug it off, others are scarred for life post public humiliation.  The tyrant at this point ...

Consolidated Refunds of India

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दार-उल-कोहला

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  This music I once dreaded and it's glottal lyrics have gradually made their way into my heart. This wholesome dusk, spent deciphering a capricious assembly of couplets by Farida Khanum is a reminder of my latent appreciation for an elevated poetic form. 

Ladder of Abstraction in IR

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Minimal Apricity

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I gauge the jitters in the hall, rendering all my attention to this exam for the next 3 hours, regardless of whether I cruise through it or struggle with it. Every passing minute makes my hand cramp into an undecipherable writing, switching between a fogging brain to going 7K RPM. I outpour this piling anxiety by restlessly moving my feet while being at war. Sweating in the minimal apricity falling through the window, I rest my hands once they go numb and observe how calm everything on the outside looks while I sit in this chamber of distress. Nothing seems more tempting than leaving the exam hall at the moment. For a second, I compare being at the mercy of a pouring hourglass to everything outside these four walls. As I delve on this floating thought in my head I reach a conclusion that being at the mercy of a ticking clock implies the end of distress and misery once the time is up. Likewise, all misery is at the mercy of a ticking clock, bound to fade away. If not completely, then to...

Morning Mist

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The morning today has a certain charm of hustle yet tranquility. I pull my diary out to capture this moment, not through the lens of my camera but through the lens of my eyes, my mind. I read the newspaper about halfway, I'll save the rest for later. As I sip my warm coffee, I gaze out the misty windows of the bus. The city is awake, headed downtown in the peak morning hours. Slow moving cars make way for my bus like a shoal of fish on the arrival of a whale in the sea traffic.  The streets, damp from the drizzle last night and still trees watch us go by to the office buildings waiting for it's dwellers. The floors of skyscrapers slowly lighting up for another busy morning. Yet I find a certain comfort amidst this hustle, which perhaps city rats are bound to.