MICAtharsis. The Maximum Life.

There are some places where you come to find a living, there are some places you are showered with joy. There are some places where you come to find memories, there are some where you just create them. There are some places where one comes with a baggage to empty, there are some places where you take more souvenirs to carry than you had.

MICA is one place where one comes running away from the outside world, desperately in search of a shelter, a roof, a home. And then there are some who come here just to get out in the sun, taking flight from their nests for the first time. But this all hardly matters once you are here. The sun shines so bright here that it blinds you if you try to look beyond, the moon so bright that it floods the canvas with silver, the walls so high that not even Pandora’s troubles can trespass.

We come here with a bag of our own sorrows, to purge amongst these red bricks. We laugh, we cry, we stifle out tears, we hide our smiles, we become one. We are all generalizations here. How many times have each one of us laughed at one of friend’s jokes through tears? How many times have we laughed in fear and in despair? There is only as much a person can do, but there’s so much this place can do. We all have.

Between classes, assignments, sports, music, somewhere deep down, we drown our sorrows, purge our guilt, shatter our fear and live the dreams and happiness. It is an escapist’s paradise; you can relate to it, the concept of wanting more, of wanting better and then to find solace. You’re not you here, it is always two or more facets living here. Tearing apart and sewing together, you stand there like colossus, while your world is crumbling around you. You pick up the rumble and just start fixing it again as if it was just a small Lego house, because well, this is the Maximum Life. At the end of it all, you and your heart feel so far apart but both dance the same beat, string the same tune, paint the same picture. This is Utopia, this is MICA, this is truly, MICAtharsis.

A Flight...

Unnerving as a road travel experience in Mumbai can be, I was already having the sinking feeling of returning to the same mundane affairs that kept me alive in Chennai. The airport was not quite far from my home by Mumbai standards but the traffic sure made it tiring.

Upon reaching the airport, the Mumbai Indians colors were to be noticed scattered across the entrance instead of the usual blue colors. Adding to the hype already lit up by the media and the hoardings on the side of the road, those uniforms had already sparked a buzz! Everyone was suddenly busy looking for their favorite players, instead of sniffing around paying attention to the security checks.

“Crap!” There it was! The long queue at the check-in kiosk! I was already beginning to lose my patience. After 40 long minutes of eye-straining exercise (only for MI players, don’t get me wrong! :P), I had my turn and I zoomed in to the counter, put the luggage on the conveyor and took the boarding pass and half sprinted to the boarding gate. Adding to my frustrations, He still was nowhere in sight. I had 30 minutes at my disposal and I didn't even have the slightest idea of what I was gonna do.

I am not sure how long it took for the boarding to start but in the meantime I thought of the day I left in Chennai in a hurry, the unexpected break in the midst of a grueling semester, and about the brain splitting two months that were ahead of me. But I thought, who cares, I was already on the sinking boat. I stood in the queue for boarding, and a light murmur behind me grew into a scurry of people in a matter of seconds almost making me jump out of my skin!! I let my gaze follow the people running to some particular direction, and it dawned upon me… it was Him! I ran with those pushing past me, and tried to get into the crowd, but it was impregnable. I just wanted a glimpse of Him. Here He was, in all His grandeur, the Master Himself, calm and composed, flashing that half, almost cynical smile. I devoured that moment when His eyes met mine. I stood there watching Him leading the crowds ahead. I glanced back at the boarding gate, the staff waiting for the thunder to pass, and the passengers to return and board. I went on through the gate, pondering over what had happened. I sat on my seat, still dazed and enthralled. It was amazing how the mood of the passengers had turned to the lighter shade after the boarding being delayed a few minutes. There were smiles and excitement all over.

I sat on my seat, and closed my eyes and recalled the moment. The flight took off from the runway after waiting for another few extra minutes. I looked out of the window, to the amazing glow of lights, to the arterial network of the lights down below, a spectacular art of work by the Man, intermittently given the final touches by the huge forests and lakes sprawled across the giant city. It look like a leaf on a plant, but with a shine so bright even the Sun couldn't resist hiding across the planet.

“Sir, it’s our final boarding call for passengers of flight 6E 191. Are you on that flight?” I saw with my blurry eyes, an airline staff looking at me with a look of disapproval and exasperation on her face. I still hadn't board the flight, but I think I had already taken a flight in my dreams.

Bite The Apple

It was unusually foggy and quiet here today morning in Mumbai. I sat on the window sill taking a big bite of an apple.  Well, I thought, obviously the late night parties might have taken the ‘Hangover’ way for most of the folks. And quite more unusually, my New Year eve was also somber. No, it wasn’t in protest or in the mourning of one Damini! Frankly I don’t believe that not partying or changing your wallpapers will be taken as a protest by the criminals or the officials. What is needed is action, real protests is what I am talking about. Maybe the candle light marches all over the country are a step, though just primary. The devil is in us and its time to purge. It’s time we look at the fairer sex, fairly.

As more and more rape and sexual assault cases keep coming up from the states of Haryana, Punjab and U.P., an engineering student was arrested for raping a classmate in Haryana, a woman was immolated after resisting sexual assault in U.P., and it could go on and on. Horrid how the minds of common people, like you and me, can even conceive such an idea after the Delhi incident. Shouldn't we look into ourselves and seek to get hold of the ideas that give birth to such evil. But no, Common Man says the government and law enforcement officials should take action. Surely the Common Man is an honorable man and what he says is right.

Damini, after being raped brutally, was thrown off the bus and there she lay for another one and half hour, half naked and bleeding. Onlookers went past ignoring her, trying not to get into legal troubles.  There must have been a soul whose heart was moved! But no, Common Man says the government and law enforcement officials should take action. Surely the Common Man is an honorable man and what he says is right.

The air turned thin and icy cold, darkness fell upon the city of Delhi, the capital of Mighty India, the black waters of Ganga and Yamuna took to rage and overflowed and for once it seemed that God himself pitied the state of Damini, or did he pity the cruelty and evil in those wicked men, or did he pity the whole hypocritical human race? But no, the Common Man says the government and law enforcement officials should take action. Surely the Common Man is an honorable man and what he says is right.

For how long will men look down upon women as just a means of sexual pleasure! For how long will women not be given equality on every basis, be it education or respect or employment! For how long will we ask for special quota for women and not understand that is the precise cause for the downtrodden state of women in India! Asking for special rights and benefits is suitable only to weaker sections of the society and women are not. Then why these impractical demands? But no, the Common Man says the government and law enforcement officials should take action. Surely the Common Man is an honorable man and what he says is right.

Shantaram Naik, an MP of the Indian National Congress, occasioned widespread disapproval on another rape case, when he said, "...an alleged rape of a lady who moves with strangers for days together even beyond middle of the night is to be treated on a different footing." Mamata Banerji stated that free interaction between men and women today has led to these crimes. Haryana khap panchayats oppose death penalty for the rapists citing its possible misuse. How could they even think that a woman could lie about being sexually harassed? These same panchayats instead suggest lowering the marriage age of women as a solution. In Mumbai, police officials cracked down on couples sitting in a garden in Malad late last night on account of ‘indecent behavior’. The term’s definition has been left to the interpretation of law enforcers. These aren’t just the political leaders’ views, these are the views of the public, us. We need to broaden our mind and thoughts. But no, the Common Man says the government and law enforcement officials should take action. Surely the Common Man is an honorable man and what he says is right.

The century enters its teens on a rather dull note; maybe even she is wary of the vulnerable situation young girls are in. The New Year spirit has been dampened by the tears of the numerous victims’ families and in fact, the whole nation. But what should not be forgotten is that Damini is just one victim of these horrible crimes that continue to be committed against our women. A rape is committed every hour in India but not every case catches media’s attention. Candle-light marches and protests, and not celebrating New Year won’t do, neither will banning Honey Singh’s songs help but those will insult the sufferings of numerous other girls who have undergone similar experiences. It’s time we broaden our horizons and bridge the gap between the two sexes. Open your eyes from the deep slumber. It was Eve who bit the Apple and not the Indian Govt., so stop making it the scapegoat. I think the times call for rational thinking and a confession. Each and every person is guilty for these crimes not just Sheila Dixit! “It is the confession and not the priest that gives us absolution”.  Calls for chemical castration of the perpetrators are a just demand. Death penalty would only give them what they deserve, but the crimes shall only be revenged when the weapon used in the crime shall be destroyed. The media has a role to play in this act and it better act responsible, for of late, the popular notion that “the only thing true in media are the advertisements” has been quite correct. Maybe, its the turn of  the social media to step up and up the ante.

It’s time this nation addresses some concerns. And it’s time we open the Pandora’s box and let our conservative, narrow-minded vision be given a new eyesight of equality, rights, justice and more importantly, awakening! It’s time we bite our Apples, I just did...