Through a haze

My favourite park in all of Hong Kong On my first day itself I got to spend some time by myself in the quiet environs of the Lai Chi Kok park. It was an oasis of tranquility in the midst of the bustling area of Mei Foo and contained a Tai Chi Garden, an acupressure stone path, a calm green pond and some beautiful ornate examples of Chinese architecture. Take for example this gazebo in which I sat and watched the sunset through. It was made of dark wood and was intricately carved. The park was popular for photoshoots, as I saw some heavily made-up models posing for pictures in various corners. Thankfully, I got the opportunity to visit Lai Chi Kok park again the next week. I got to see elderly ladies practising Tai-Chi with swords in fluid dance-like movements. This time around, I tried walking the acupressure stone-path and marvelled at how much pain tiny bits of stone can cause. The result of that painful dance that I did was a tremendous feeling of comfort, like a mass...

Ours is a nation beseiged by numerous evils and plagued by unspeakable horrors masquerading in the  name of good governance, industrial growth, religion, quality education and so forth. Historically, we are known to be the country who has never once invaded any other country. But this non-greedy tactic has made us slave to dynasties and even mere merchants and traders for years. Every generation has it's own hurdles to cross and it's own crises points to overcome. For my generation, most of these obstacles are self-created. Wallowing in self-pity and moaning over the myriad ways in which life has chosen to be unfair to us, it is as if we invite mental disorders. Talking to an octogenarian and hearing her recount the horrors of Partition was an experience in itself. How during the Bangladesh War of 1971 she and her friends would sneak off across the border to help people flee and how they would go into the refugee camps to take them rations to survive. She spoke of lying ...

It is no secret that I am a non-believer. I do not believe in a higher power or any creationist ideas. But I am tolerant of others' faiths. I am, however, open to the possibility of changing my mind someday; though, let the record show that I am not in search for said change. It was a strange conversation that I had with someone close to me who is a believer, one fine morning. I call it strange because I felt that I was facing a thick strong wall that was passing judgement on me and my beliefs. The worst of these was pity. She pitied my lack of faith, my inability to see that my life 'has purpose' and is part of the 'bigger picture'. And surprise of all surprises, during a logical debate, where I explained my reasons for aetheism, she shed tears for me. For my ignorance and inability to see the world as she saw it. That was when I felt scared. This surfeit of emotion, this fervour was something I lacked. In my cold detached beliefs regarding the ab...

           It is funny but we have what is called a 'wedding season' annually. It is that time            of year right now and the pins are falling helter-skelter....and no, there aren't just nine! This            year I happen to be in the thick of things as I am in my hometown and the invitations are            literally pouring in. Here are some of my observations from a cousin's wedding that I not only            attended but paid close attention to:-             The comparisons are endless  - It is enough to put any normal right-thinking individual off            their relatives for life, to see them descend like harpies to pass judgement on every aspect            of the wedding. They literally touch the jewellery around the bri...