17th July 2014. It was the day Delhi witnessed its first serious monsoon outing. I stepped out as usual on my way to the office in the morning. Dark clouds at once threatened me with their domineering tactics. They would engulf the sun, growl thunderously and even lighten up the sky with pesky exchanges with neighboring cloud bullies. I stepped back for a while, thinking whether I should take the bait. The clouds were battle-ready; they kept swooping on our skies. They were foreigners with booty collected from the Arabian Sea. With their ranks swelling with each passing minute, and their armaments trained at my head, I decided to stand up to their intimidation and dashed to my nearest metro station. I saw people scurrying back and forth like frightened squirrels. A man wearing a white vest courageously ferried his two kids dressed in similar white vests in a handcart. The metro station seemed like a fort, with pandemonium everywhere. I braved irate security guards and caught a train t...
I was nineteen, oh what an age! Soon college would begin. I was ensconced in a chair on the rooftop. The late spring afternoon had a fierce glow, which we called 'loo' in the local vernacular. A kite encircled a distant carrion in the azure sky. The kite was intent on the present, and I was thinking about the future that beckoned. Doubts nagged my conscience. Uncertainties clouded my sky. My failures haunted my present. Will I ever be good enough? Suddenly I lost the train of my thoughts. For a few moments I could not comprehend what my eyes recorded. A single thought overran everything else: who was I? After I regained myself from this brief escape, the kite's repartee with the descending sun seemed far away. The hot cemented rooftop seemed aloof. The searing, barren air seemed powerless. I felt a stark confidence coming to my rescue like an old friend. A tremendous calm had filled my being. After a very long time, I felt lucid. I realized the immense capacity for joy t...