When I was in school, we had an essay titled ‘On Doing Nothing’ by J. B. Priestley. The essay discusses the author’s views on idleness : fruitful idleness. Maybe, at that time, I was too young to understand the satirical content and tone of the author. But today, when I reread the essay, I realized the truth Priestley wanted to convey in his essay about not doing anything at some point in our life.
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Stay away
Sit there
Stand at a distance
Sleep on the floor mattress
Clean your plates
Wash your soiled clothes
Wash your blotched bedsheet
Wait for your turn to bathe
Do not touch here and there
Do not touch the cupboard
Do not touch the kitchen
Stay hungry unless you are served food
Stay thirsty unless you are given water
Stay calm even when you are ill-treated
Bear the discomfort
Bear the cramps
Bear all pain
We can’t touch you
We can’t apply balm
We can’t provide you comfort
It’s dirty
It’s a taboo
It’s a religious practice
It’s your fate
You are a girl.
We often say ‘touch wood’ when good things happen to us. But do we all know the origin of this word?
I didn’t know either until I thought of writing this blog. Ya, Google baba has answers to all our queries.
Here’s a brief insight into the origin of the word. (I am sure you do have 3 minutes more to read this short interesting piece of information.)
So, what about it? Why am I giving you unnecessary gyan? (Thinking out loud, hm.)
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Mask a raid of a masquerader
and it creates a new self:
true identity is soundlessly shelved.
Dancing to the tune of
the cacophonic world,
hypocrisy, cunningness and vices alike
lie hidden beneath some anonymous guise:
powerless and voiceless;
incapacitated to rise.
O! Masquerader, wear a mask.
Subconsciously, for you, it shouldn’t be
a herculean task.
When you need to be
cautious and conscious,
you are unconscious
to the maddening hue and cry
and to the deathbeds where
many relationships lie to die.
But you say,
wearing a mask has become
an onerous task for you today.
You feel smothered and suffocated.
You feel dictated:
It’s just a piece of cloth.
Oh! The irony!
In Jainism and Hinduism, Saraswati is revered as the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, art, music and speech, while Laxmi is revered as the goddess of wealth, prosperity, fortune, love, joy and beauty.
In my musings, I imagined what if these two goddesses would have a conversation in contemporary times.
Saraswati :
I pity humankind.
They have eyes, but
still they are blind.
Laxmi :
Are you jealous,
because towards you
they are generally callous?