A Bowl of Elusive

"Why are you on T****r?" Mirza asked himself. The dating/hookup app had brought him nothing but pain and heartbreak in the past and he had sworn off it. Yet, reading one of those sarcastic answers on Quora to the question, "What was your experience with T****r in India?", Mirza felt this need to explore the app one last time. He was visiting a small town for a project and by installing the app, he was scratching an itch more than anything else. Like always, he didn't expect to match with anyone, especially since the nearest girl showing up on the app was from forty kilometers away, which meant from the neighboring more prosperous district. Yet, like millions of men before him, he swiped away till he ran out of profiles to swipe on. The app suggested that he should relax the parameters he had set for potential matches - Age: 28 to 37 & Range: Within 40 km. "Why not!" Mirza exclaimed to himself and dragged the bars to make the age range - 18 to 99 an...

Children always have a lot to say. So did I. And it is because they feel like whatever is new and exciting for them is also new and exciting for everyone else. I feel like adulthood sets in for a person the moment he realizes that most things he wants to say have already been said, most ideas already discovered and most conversations already had. My uncle used to describe this moment as the death of the child within oneself - when you stop enjoying cartoons and an irreversible cynicism sets in. For me, the cynicism and the realization that I have nothing new to contribute set in pretty early on. When I moved to college, I had had years of knowing that the more I talked, the less seriously people took me - so I became quieter. The quieter I became, the more cynical I got. And very soon, I was known as a jerk by almost everyone who wasn't close enough to me to realize who I really was. Before that, I remember always having stories in my mind, and even poems. I often wrote them and pe...

In one of Shah Rukh Khan's older interviews, he said, "I am Allah's chosen one." Was that arrogance? Or was it just confidence? He did go on to become a star. I am not sure how important a role the fact that he considered himself special played in his stardom, but I'd like to believe that it was one of the factors. When I was five years old, I was admitted to a nursery near our place. I was named Abhishek initially. During the roll call, I realized that I was the eighth Abhishek in my class. The obscurity didn't sit well with me. So, I threw a hissy fit when I got home and forced my father to get my name changed to Ian (which was my nickname) on the school register. Ever since, that was something I felt special about, my name, which isn't very common in India. I also felt special about my height because all through school, I was the tallest kid in class. Even with the various hardships that I faced in my young life, I never stopped believing that I ...

Teri har khoobsurat jhooth ko sach maan loon, aisi maasomiyat dhoondhta hoon, Bas tera chehra dekhta hoon aur usmein aage ka rasta dhoondta hoon. Toot ke bikharna to sikha hi diya zindagi ne, ab zara simatke jeene ka hausla dhoondta hoon. Tere baahon mein aisi bhi raatein guzri ki bas sab bhula diya, main ab unmein agli subah ka sooraj bhi dhoondta hoon. Tum nibhaa na paaye rishta uska ghum nahi kiya maine, tere diye huye har jawaabon ke ab main sawaal dhoondta hoon. Thodi der ka jo saath raha tumhara, usimein khudko kho diya hai maine...ab bas tumhari ghair maujoodgi mein apni aks-e-rooh dhoondta hoon. Ye khoj, ye talaash kab khatm hogi meri, jis jheel ke saamne khada hoon, uski paani ke liye main zubaan pe apni pyaas dhoondta hoon. Jo mil jaaye aaj manzil bhi, to shaayad rukna manzoor na hoga mujhe, ab kisi aur sheher mein, koi aur hi thikana dhoondta hoon. Note - I don't usually write in Hindi but this one just wrote itself. I would have preferred...