Brown and Indian

*This article is translated from my Marathi article published in the Tarun Bharat Newspaper on 18th May 2021.* Youth. The most beautiful, adventurous and cathartic time period in a human being's life. Do you remember your youth? How were you? Were you outgoing? Or shy? Or a straight-A student? No matter how you were, those years have greatly contributed to the person that you are today. The memories that we make with our newfound friends during these years seep deep into the corners of our souls. This is the perfect time to explore in the quest to evolve into something wonderful. Here, we are just old enough to take care of our basic needs and at the same time, not old enough to bear the weight of responsibilities on our own. This turbulent yet exhilarating period exists to release us from our parents' shelter and build an existence that makes us distinctive. The opportunities, friends, and experiences that we encounter in this period set the foundation for the years to come. I...

*This article is translated from my Marathi article published in the Tarun Bharat Newspaper on 2nd June 2021.* Ever since the evolution of cultural practices in human society, India has stood out for its diverse lifestyle, ethics and faith. Regardless of the religion, the foundation of the Indian system is generally an amalgamation of science, logic, culture.  Due to its inherently diverse and inclusive nature, one can find people from contrasting communities happily living together as a society.  Although, one thing is stereotyped amongst all this diversity; Superstitions. In fact, the prevalence of belief in superstitions is one of the most debatable topics in the country. Almost everyone, regardless of caste, religion or societal status, believes in some superstition. Unlike science, there is no documentation of the theory behind superstitions. In fact, the origin of the propagation of superstitions was substantially based on human psychology and not religion.  There i...

  परवा, मी नेहमीच्या एका कॅफे मध्ये नेहमीच्या जागेवर एकटी काम करत बसले होते. गुरुवार असूनही कॅफे ची टेबलं तशी भरलेली होती. मी मात्र, कानात earphones घालून, पुस्तकात तोंड खुपसून काहीतरी लिहीत बसलेले. हळूच आजूबाजूला नजर टाकली तर लक्षात आलं कि प्रत्येक जण कोणा- न- कोणाबरोबर आलेला होता; माझ्या शिवाय.  मित्र- मैत्रिणी, प्रियकर, सहकारी, वगैरे. प्रत्येकाची  अद्वितीय परिस्थिती, आणि त्यावरून रंगलेल्या संदिग्ध गप्पा.     मी पुन्हा एकदा पुस्तकात डोकं खुपसलं, पण मन सारखं विचलित होत असल्याने जरा वेळ विश्रांती घ्यायचं ठरवलं. earphones ची बुचं कानातून काढली आणि एक सुस्कारी सोडली. पुस्तक बंद करून बाजूला ठेवलं. शेवटचा पानाची खूण न करता पान बंद केलं आणि ते लक्षात आल्यावर जोरात 'हट्ट यार' असा उद्गार व्यक्त केला. कॅफे मधल्या सगळ्या नजरा आता माझ्याकडे वळल्या आहेत हे बघून परत स्वतःला चार नावं ठेवली; ह्या वेळी, मनातल्या मनात. मग, एव्हाना थंडची गरम झालेली iced कॉफी पीत निवांत बसले.       लहान पणा पासून स्वभाव भिडस्त असल्याने एकट्याने फिरायचा कधीच कंटाळा यायच...

Since we were kids, how many times have we used this line as a witty reply or as a joke; “ ए अस नको बोलुस , त्याचा/तिच्या बाल मनावर परिणाम होईल.” We have generally used this sentence in order to address someone who is naïve, innocent or emotionally weak. Now, you would be wondering, why would someone write a blog on a sentence which is nothing but a clever comment used to evoke laughter? If that question entered your mind, then I would like to give you a different perspective to the same sentence. Since the day we start our lives on this earth, our brain starts absorbing every little detail; sometimes consciously and sometimes sub-consciously.   As it enters the specific channels into the brain according to its context, it starts processing it further into opinions. Then as this information is processing, it is indirectly sent to our soul which is responsible for shaping our personality.  But the problem here is, all of this goes on inside a dark room which is never...

There are some people who, when experiencing a bad break up, will completely devoid themselves from the concept of love and affection. They claim to have turned their hearts to stone because one amongst billions of other people has broken their heart and left it wounded. These people, who once used to give up everything in the world to just spend time with their partner have now given up the idea of love from their life. By doing this, you are not turning your heart into stone, you are just closing it's open door to the world. Inside that door is a soul that craves for attention, for love and respect but you suppress it by making the lock tighter with each heartbreak. I would like to tell these people something. Life, is not meant to be perfect and it sure is not meant to stay with you forever. If you are living on this Earth, you are going to have to leave it at some point, whether you like it or not. In such a case, where our own life is not in our hands, how do we expect som...

I study video and filmmaking which means that I get to see what goes on behind the big white screen and based on whatever I have been learning and experiencing, I can tell you that media plays one of the most important roles in influencing our lives. How many times have we looked at those perfectly fit and flawless actors and wished that we could be like them? How many times have we watched those numerous clichè versions of Romeo and Juliet and wished that our 'Knight in Shining Armour' would come and save us from this cruel world? And how many times have we seen that actor turn his life from rag to riches in 3 hours and have gotten inspired to suddenly change the world? But let me just burst your bubble here and tell you, all of this that you see on the screen is nothing but a big scam. Yes. I said it. It takes several hours to just get the actors' hair to stay in place, let alone make them look 'perfect'. Since media has an access to such a big platform and such...

In this world filled with diversity, war, hatred and division, the only term that is socially acceptable and practiced despite all religions is 'love'. No matter where we go, love is something that we'll find anywhere and everywhere. But even though the term love is accepted world wide, it too has gotten humanized in many ways. When it comes to animals and other spieces, love is  just an emotion, which if they have, they never fail to express and if they don't, they don't even try to. But when it comes to humans, love comes with it's 'terms and conditions applied.' There are different hierarchies and levels of love that humans feel for different people and things. It's not even like there are a universal set of terms and conditions that get applied to the emotion, they differ from person to person and for person to person. I would say that the media industry today is booming because of this emotion 'love'. It's not just an emotion any...