Conflicting Minds

I remember Martin Luther’s famous speech of “I have a dream…” - was the hope to freedom for America. Today, when I look back on how our nation India fought for freedom, it reminds me of a united India – a country who really wanted slavery, casteism to end. The question is: Are we really free today? And we think and debate on this every year on Independence Day. Surprisingly, we have fallen not risen to the freedom we fought for. There is nothing impossible, we have the best of resources, be it agriculture or industries or even people for that matter, talented and prosperous. Indeed! We have no dearth of people. It’s ‘WE’ who can make it work. We have so many opportunities to prove that we can stand tall neck to neck with other nations. Faith as little as a mustard seed, when sown right, it will grow and bear fruit. It will bring harvest and joy to our Mother Land, to make our country proud! Driving away all negative forces and winning against all odds, be it our national games or a...

Girls are taught to speak, dress and behave sensibly and decently, Even decent Maria Gorretti wasn’t spared by lust, she chose to not give in rather die bravely! She’s meant for managing the house, why send her to school, Dressing like men, earning more than them, is not so cool! Burden to families, get the girls married; Why isn’t she conceiving, she must be barren! Give on the myth: If there’s an accident, it must be a woman driving the car, When she was burnt alive by her in laws, did we notice those scars! Times today have turned turbulent with kidnapping, rape, murders and sexual molestations, Vultures are out on their prey, little girls you better watch out! …is what the elders mention!

The world is in love with this word called ‘perfect’ It’s applicable to us imperfect humans… Expected to be perfect, born to be perfect, Life partner to be perfect, employee to be perfect. Are really families, marriages perfect? Are really jobs and ideals perfect? Perfection doesn’t drive excellence… It leads to frustration and sadness, It discourages and breaks you, It drives you up the wall, To the one, you’re not perfect at all… We have our worth, and we rarely see, To be perfect is always complete. Our appraisals ask us to improve, Our teachers focus on our weaknesses, Our partners accuse us of not being true, Our society compares whatever we do. We plan, we try hard, we give our best… We make our compromises and adjustments… We realise our faults and look to amend… We are given no chances, we fail to commend, So competitive, we push harder… In the bargain, we try to be someone else to just get to the ‘perfect’ stage We lose our ourselves, we lose who we real...