The lane that goes everywhere, the lane that I don't take

The road I take from work is beautiful. Parts of it are cobbled and in some places, crater-sized potholes gape at the sky. They look like mouths of hungry babies, longing to swallow the first sprinkle of evening stars. To the right are bright shops. All these have a vacant-lot feel to them even though people throng there throughout the day. Hasty menus are scribbled on mustard-coloured boards, a big Bata showroom preens in a corner, and plenty of hardware stores with pretzel-like steel grates line up like domino slabs.

The left side, on the other hand, is a charming little escape into the void.

There are lots of little lanes that snake up into the hills. These have shrubberies and flowers. Leaves on some of the trees look waxed and polished. Even the blades of grass are upright, as if they have been grown under laboratory supervision.

The hills they climb up to, though – those hills give a certain wild-child insouciance to the whole scenery. It’s a tumble-down version of innocence. I look at it the way I’d look at an old, weathered doll from long ago. With pretty much the same feelings.

I look for truth in those memories because of the memory of that truth.

At times in the rain, in Pune, you spot...

a pink chrysanthemum dancing away in moist, cool breeze - like a delicate boat floating down the stream of consciousness.

10 things I find true

1. We are territorial. We get possessive of the ruts we are stuck in.

2. Independence is about taking on the freedom to be kind – to anyone, to everyone, to ourselves. Irrespective of external behaviour. Irrespective of internal judgment. 

3. Memories must be good, bad, and selective to be meaningful. 

4. Great wisdom sometimes shines through glitter on bumper stickers. For example, a sticker reads, ‘Best friends never have the same nature, they just have best understanding of their differences.’ And then you decide to have your mind and your heart to be buddies like that. Wisdom!

5. At times, one may think that none of this matters. At times, one may think that all of this matters. Both points of view are right. Simultaneously.

6.’Vision’ gets far more spotlight than ‘Perspective’. But the latter is the race. The former is a photo-finish.

7. Whether blogs or books, it’s always better to read those who you don’t meet face to face.

8. There’s not much point in taking the comment ‘You take things too personally’ to heart. People who tell you to ‘not take things too personally’ have taken your reaction to that comment ‘too personally’ themselves. Nothing right or wrong about this. We are people. We will make things personal. If we are mature people, we will make things personal maturely.

9. Nothing is as more indicative of identity, culture, evolution, mindset, or experiential lineage as a palate. 

10. We are the crowd. Not better. Not worse. Not different. We're it.