Thoughts, expanded

In spontaneity, in merriment, I rejoice. In fulfillment, in self-delusion, I take solace. In ignorance, in avoidance of pain, I forget reality. Like a river, flow, my emotions. Like an uncontrollable violent storm do they take form. The storm subsides when I release myself. For I was the originator of it and its maintainer too. People ask, "Is being emotionless even human?" "No" would be the answer. But investing one's emotion in trustworthy objects is human. Being transcendent to the ephemeral is human. And so too is being swayed away by the ephemeral. As sways the mind by the ephemeral, so too sways the poor life that follows the mind. But breaks free the soul from its shackles, when it finds itself shackled. Ah, how do we long for that moment of discovery for all that lives on the earth! But nay, discovery is the first step. Will the soul give up its attachment to the shackles that bound it for so long? Will it be able to give up the n...

The 1980's: A cultural climate where the concept of love between a couple was a far-fetched idea, and where the themes of caste, religion and gender had strong holdings in any discussion. More so was it in South India, where the families revered purity and self-image. My beautiful mother hailed from a brahmin family and worked in the same office as my intelligent father, from a Naidu family. Then, my mother was proposed to by my father. Both, in maturity, decided that they will live their entire lives together. There was a period of bliss when they were together. But then there was the stormy period filled with repeated thundering and intolerable heavy rains. They could not convince either of their families. Rather, they had met with intense  opposition. The one you may imagine from a movie. Mom and dad decided to get married on their own and then approach their families, so that they will be accepted! To narrate a few salient things on what happened next: my dad was...