From My Eyes Only

This post is totally dedicated to my first fiction book which I have successfully finished and published over Kindle. Writing has always been one of my hobbies and I remember scripting plays and writing short stories when I was young. They still remain as a personal collection of mine, yet, to publish a book solely authored by me is like a dream come true. Yes, I am totally new to this field, so I do not expect any miracle to happen with it. Yet, the aim is to start, because many ideas do cross but mostly we keep waiting for them to take a concrete step or we keep waiting for those times when we can actually dedicate time and energy to that what we like. Here, let me tell you that those times rarely come. So, if you really dream of doing something, the least that you can do is to start. Even if it be a small beginning. Everybody is a beginner once and people excel with time and practice, yet, important is to keep trying and keep learning. The right moment is now, and the best strategy is to keep going on with it. Even if it is a few minutes, but, just keep moving in that direction. However slow, a move means someday it will certainly happen.

So, this is about the journey. But, here, I am to speak about the book, a little introduction to it. The book also proceeds in the same manner, slow with small turns, and really turn very interesting. hopefully, if you enjoy fiction, towards the fifth and sixth chapters. The book presents an idea of reincarnation, though it is not supporting any religious idea. Yet, many things, many ideas have remained vague and those who think to keep searching for such ideas and the truth behind them. However, the more you search, you learn that the less you know. So, whether reincarnation is true or false is left up to your own belief. And the journey that the soul makes across lives is really a question to wonder about.

If you are a person who enjoys thrill and suspense this book is for you. 

I hope you enjoy your reading, don't forget to place your reviews.

The Boat

It's the boat in the river

That catches attention

For it's big, beautiful and round

Not to miss a mention

The sail and the air

Makes the land move

But the boat has it's anchor

And it stays bound

Though slowly it will change place

But that will happen with truly slow pace

People dive into and come out

All shining bright without a doubt

The land there is cool

A mix of grey and white

River that was once blue

Now turns black with might

Yet the boat smiles from far

At it's best, at par

For it believes in itself

Whatever may come next

It never fails to inspire

Maybe alone, but always with fire

©Richi Simon

Primitive to Advanced

The way the life has turned has compelled us to keep using social media. The web of people around, maybe in physical sense has reduced, but, the connections over the internet, its usage and requirement to be and stay connected are increasing to a lot extent.

Now, I am a person who likes to keep exploring technology, but, of late, this is seriously becoming tiring yet unstoppable. Know this and that and keep using it. Keep yourself updated, look good, stay positive and keep doing it, irrespective of whether it is making any sense or not, is seriously bothering! Why? What is the damn objective that we are trying to accomplish? Or this is a part of the chaotic now?

Where are we heading? I know certain things are beyond our control, but, the way technology is creeping and digging its roots into our lives make me ponder.

Is it really going to be what we would be doing in the future - whatsapp calls, google meet, zoom, skype, facebook and what not? Will that become the only way to connect? The only way to reach people?

Now even posting seems like, am I trying to get social approval? The Likes? Comments? Do they really change you? No, you still remain the same beautiful you. 

I remember I had seen a short film where the lead character was faking her life to be liked on social media, posting so many photos to attract attention, and now, even when I post anything, I am taken back to the film. I am definitely not seeking anybody's approval. Yet, it comes to my thought that who is in what mental state and what my post may cause them to think? Yet, making me think that I am thinking too much. Still there would be times when my words are questioned and so is my silence.

I have seriously started missing those walks, drives, face to face talks, the warmth and belongingness that those physical moments used to create. When we could talk for hours without worrying over the costs, where we can enjoy the nature, the talks, the silence and the presence of somebody along, irrespective of the silence. That was not for any show, not for any approval, but just because we would enjoy the presence of the other person.

Even those who are not social have experienced this. This I say from some personal associations.

These days, silence is misunderstood, goes unregistered and people feel whether you do bother or not? And of course the issue of the mismanaged time that the work from home schedule has created.

I wonder if any of the reader experienced the same? The way we are connected - for the sake of being in contact and not actually connected.

The days becoming weeks, weeks becoming months and months soon would turn to year. This lockdown has seriously brought changes to the lives. Some of it is beyond understanding as of now.

The race to prove our worth, to be updated, to become advanced, the longed approval from the authoritarian power structures, the dominating technology and the struggles one undergoes. The way projections are made, the issues falling on deaf ears, unreasonable solutions. I wonder where mankind is moving?

Wish there would be a time machine to travel to those times when technology was just an element, not the sole need for life. We are sandwiched between the blessed primitive times of the past and the uncertain advanced future, know that all you have is here and now.

A Brighter World

 

The world today has reached to the state where one keeps speaking. The practice of listening is becoming extinct. The tunnel view syndrome is something that I had read in the books of Human Resource Management and now it is becoming such a live example. People have their problems and then nobody wants to actually do something about the problems of others. As if it is all falling on deaf ears. Everybody has turned out to be 'लकीर के फकीर'

Whatever is decided by them is to be followed and pronounced as for the greater good of the mankind. It all sounds so much absurd now. If really there is a greater good why the ground realities are kept hidden and not shown?

Why the problems of those who have lost jobs, receiving no pay, less pay, having no homes, street children, problems of health risk for those who are having no water, no place to rest etc. even shown? Where the so called relief fund is used?

No, I am not supporting the negative news, but, at least the reality be known and the blind faith be broken.

I remember the famous poem

Inspiring, yet, thought provoking.. Where is it? Where is the action? Till when we will be waiting for someone else to come forward and let our foot rest back? Till when? And whether such administration is needed at all? When welfare is the least thought.

I wish to see the words of Marx coming to life - "...You have nothing to lose but your chains"

Yet I strongly also believe that

Wanting for the good people not outside, but, the one inside of you!

Most Beautiful

Such a beautiful place to be

In somebody's thoughts

In somebody's heart

In somebody's eyes

In somebody's smile

In somebody's arms

In somebody's strength

In somebody's prayers

In somebody's now

In somebody's heaven

In somebody's infinity

©Richi Simon

Free...

The vision out there is not constrained

Or maybe because it is I who see

Freedom out there when the wind blows free

No walls in atmosphere, no sir

It is all so fresh and liberal, the air

The raindrops falling down teaching courage

The earthly smell connects you to the virgin soil

Face is wet, hairs spoil

Yet all you feel is like a sage

Disconnected from the physical sounds

Disconnected from the killing silence

Disconnected from the known strange humans

Disconnected from mind wounds

Connected to the bigger self, with no boundaries

That is where the heart is just so merry

©Richi Simon

Phoenix?? Why and till When???

They say I am a Phoenix

Subject to self fix

But I do cry

Parts in me do die

With every dent that I fix

New me and old me mix

Lessons are learnt

Feelings are hurt

Emotional me now trying to be still

Surviving sometimes against my will

Trying to enter that void

Where nothing is felt

So there be no pain

So there be nothing of me to melt

So that the complete me, for once and all be dead

The New World... Unexplored

Ocean of clouds

Realm of soft white waves

Making me to crave

All so much to write it out loud

The moment turns frozen

While time still flies

All white, grey and blue is what turns the skies

Into layers with some more colors added

It waits for more and more gaze

More and more depth

All turning a new set

With more and more fillers of shows and imagination padded

The sail of the clouds making a totally new invasion

A new exploration, a new discovery

Where ships and waves all made of the same matter

Understandings and meanings all awaiting to scatter

A new world where rain showers upward

The green plants blowing with winds

So fragile, so beautiful

The frozen moment is all so soulful

So new, undiscovered

The ocean held strongly by G

While everything else is as inverted as it can be

Beyond horizon, you feel and cast

New world into new understandings

And new understandings into whole new words

©Richi Simon

The dialogues in the rain

She stood there without realising the time

And so also did he
The moment was in flow
The dialogues were in songs and rhyme
Time was stuck as one could see
The rain drops fell and the wind blew
Wetting them but all they knew
Was this was their most beautiful view
When white appeared so graceful in the shining moonlight
And both waited until the other vanished from the sight
Drenched all wet they stood still
For none wanted to leave
It became the last of their will
God had given all that he had to give
The conversations were in silence but not in vain

Those beautiful dialogues had happened in the rain

COVID19 Stories #3

Today, despite of all the unpleasant experiences that COVID-19 has caused, there is one thing that I really feel grateful about - I am not graduating in 2020. Yes, I really feel great about this one fact. Yes, it was long back that I had graduated and yes, still, I am a student. But, one thing that I am really, really thankful is that I am not graduating in 2020. And there are obvious reasons for it. First, I got a real graduation ceremony, where I received the certificate in reality, in reality, because it was not the virtual reality, but, a deep deep real reality. Secondly, because I got to write my exams and prove my worth. Yes, the system of examination was really questionable then. With no autonomy the exams were inconsistent, sometimes they'd be declared just a week prior to the exam, creating a panic situation, while at other times, the exams would be postponed indefinitely (perhaps more definite from the current times, because it was certain that in a span of 3 months, it will happen for sure). And yes, there were instances when the new semester will reach half way with no knowledge about the results of last semester. Yes, there were a lot of inconsistencies then. Instances from paper settings, to buying degrees and improper checking which I acknowledge, just with a certainty that such practices will exist for longer and creep in many other so called newly established systems as well. These are perhaps the inconsistencies of the education system itself, for we cannot walk back to the times of Socrates, those thoughts of learning have disappeared from long. The system of education is a becoming a business now. Anyways, that is not the point of discussion here.

The point is though I belong to those times, I feel grateful. Whatever were the inconsistencies and the rotting system that continues. At least we were clear with what is happening. The way the exams are to take place now? Oh, I mean are they to take place? Because a few days back, they were not to. Then comes a new guideline that exams for final years should take place. The way these decisions are inconsistent makes me feel happy about those inconsistencies and inconveniences that I had faced as quite small in magnitude. The way these decisions are changing day and night are creating havoc in the lives of some really good students who are hopeful about their future. I wish the different ministries also realise the anxiety of the students of the graduating batch. Whether they have to prepare for entrance? Or their exams which will or will not happen? The kind of chaos that is reflected in the system makes me reach only to one conclusion - 'Learning is never waste' So, if you are also in the same group of graduating students of 2020, my advice is prioritize it according to your own decisions. Be prepared for the exam, so if it happens, you get to excel, and if it does not takes place, you still know. Now it is the time to materialize - 'Chase Excellence, Success will then Definitely follow back' (3 idiots) Another one... It is a free advice, you may accept or reject. 🙂🙃😜

Have a happy life!!!

Random Stories - COVID19 Pandemic

Again as I travelled, I recalled the news reporting of community transmission of the COVID19 pandemic. I saw, some people on the streets, perhaps they were the labours who had returned back, or maybe some poor people. Definitely, they were daily wage earners. They drank water from a can which was accompanied by two mugs. Don't know from where the water was filled? Was it even filtered? I wonder. Then, was it their thirst which was vital or the purity of water which made sense? My focus shifted to the three boys who were drinking tea at the same stall. No mask, no gloves, no safety. Is their life not worth? Or are they making their today worth? Survival for today, risking the survival for tomorrow? Or just thinking that tomorrow will come only if we survive today. They had no frowns on their forehead, as if they were ignorant of COVID19 transmission. Now who is helping them? That became the next question. With the bare clothes on their body, did they had a chance to tie something as a mask? Another girl, passes from the street, again no safety measures at all. Maybe she was a beggar. So would she beg for one time meal, limiting to her today? Or beg for mask, thinking of some future? Are their lives that trivial? If so much of relief work is going on, as claimed, why the evidences are contrasting? If we have the right leaders who care, then why does it appears like who cares? Yes, the India of the Rich and Powerful Vs Poor and Powerless was very much visible, one more time... Today!

Make the best of every opportunity: Learning from the exams in Covid19 pandemic (Case of M.P.)

The new decision of the Madhya Pradesh Government seems to be in the favor of the health of the students, promotion on the basis of past performance. So of you have performed good in the earlier semesters/ years, and considered every opportunity to be equally important then definitely your result is going to be good enough, but, if your plans were to work in the final year or semester, you probably are in a difficult situation. Moreover, it turns to be an extremely happy situation for those who did not prepare at all for their exams, who were missing the classes, missing the coaching and wondering what the life will be once they pass from the college. So, now the suspense ends to some extent, at least in terms of exams. No exams for any of the years / semesters and promotions would be given on the basis of past performances. Yeah, a little disappointing for those sincere students who really were studying hard for their exams considering this lock down to be an opportunity to prepare really well. A little disappointing for those who kept preparing for conduction of exams again and again, maybe rework is what they had to do, maybe they enjoyed doing it, and if not, definitely they will enjoy it now. Utmost chaos of exams taking place or not taking place and when and how and where and why were really some of the most disturbing questions creating an atmosphere of anxiety among students. And I do consider this decision to be in the favor of the students, one, because they can now feel safe, two, because their anxiety is relieved to some extent (to some extent, because, you never know what may happen tomorrow, this also being a reason for me to write today itself, before the decision changes again and I get no chance to express), and, three, the most important reason, because majority of the student community, I guess would have been avoiding reading and preparation. It would only be a handful of those intelligent guys and girls who would have been really working on in this lockdown, and I am really sorry for their l

Beautiful Life

Weak Vs Wise