IF

Nowadays I’m spending a huge chunk of time with IF.

IF is now a persistent term.

IF refuses to leave us easily.

After the conclusion of every dialogue, we make space for IF.

Ironically IF, UFF and OOPH have started sounding so similar; we don’t try very hard to differentiate.

Everything begins with IF. And everything continues in a sleepy pace; but with a resounding IF.

IF is necessary.

IF is vital.

IF is seen clinging to the rim of a teacup.

IF is seen pasted, posted, painted and plastered on social media.

I wonder why aren’t we repeatedly chanting – No Ifs, No buts.

That is how IF has entered our lives; taken complete control of it.

When we stare out of our windows, an IF waives at us.

When we stare at our own home from somewhere outside, the entire building seems to be painted in the shade of IF.

We are living with IF.

We are sleeping with IF.

We are rising with IF.

We are huffing and puffing IF.

We are exchanging one IF for many Ifs and we are trading back with many Ifs to own one prestigious share of a big IF.

IF I may add; IF doesn’t seem to be in a mood to take up the status of being ‘temporary’.

IF is permanent. IF is adamant. IF is absolutely audacious.

Have you tried switching the television nowadays and tried surfing between channels? IF is trending on every channel.

Prominent news anchors are debating over IF.

Panelists are being appointed to analyze IF.

IF is being weighed across different strata of the society.

IF is being criticized, questioned and at the same time replicated across civilizations.

IF is confident. IF is redundant. IF is with us, for us, by us, of us. IF is seeing us.

Till the time this big, bold, bitter IF continues to plague our lives, we will continue to share IF as our Whatsapp status.

So, till the time IF is here; we will only continue to exist.

IF there is no IF, we may someday step out too.

But till then we need to remember, IF is definitely around.

-Virtuous Vociferous

May: Blog #1/ May 19-2021/ 03.00 PM/ Location: The closest boundary wall of an IF

JUST ANOTHER SUMMER

Before I start putting together the words, which would make this the so called first ever post after a long break (I had posted last on January 13, 2021), I wish to take it forward from where I had left… The title of that blog post was – A Humble Note.

Honestly speaking... I miss my writing too.

I don't write till I feel like writing.

I don't read till I feel like reading.

The numbers of books keep swelling in my library.

The stock of my stationary keeps mounting.

But when will I write next and what am I writing next seem like permanent questions.

Someday I might seriously try seeking answers or answering the many questions of others.

Till then, on a humble note... I shall take your leave till I write to you next.

Therefore, I think I should now once again grow active on the blogging front. I can’t be lazy any further. I can’t be careless any further. If you look at the situation around us, we are all paying a heavy price for being lethargic; for not caring to care about basic safety; for not being what we should be during a global crisis. Have I already started sounding preachy? Then that is not me. I am not a preacher. I am not a promoter. I am an observant. I am a writer. Or I would rather want to call myself and be known as An Observant Writer.

So, as the title of this post suggests, we are experiencing just another summer. How is this summer? It isn’t warm. Summers aren’t warm. Summers are hot. But this season of summer is growing hot for all the wrong reasons as well. If I start listing the wrongs, I might get nothing right. Ironically I have too little to list in the category of being reasonably right. But once again who am I to categorize anything as right or wrong. Let time decide what is right, what is wrong, what is advisable, what is inadvisable.

On a personal front, I enjoy a sugar and salt kind of a relationship with every summer. The heat leaves me exhausted. But the clarity of the skies excites me. The rising temperatures leaves me sweating profusely. But the idea of stepping into my home, switching on the fan and surrendering to airy waves definitely is indisputably a pleasure of its own kind.

If I had been a poet, I would have write about this summer in a manner such as:

Just another summer

To look up to the window

Which has remained closed

In my neighborhood for years

But I remember

The memories which were created

In there

From childhood to my adolescence

And to my adulthood

No matter how many summers

Came my way

But every new year of summer

Will fly away being a memory

Of nothing less

Nothing more than

Just another summer

And as we gear up to experience just another summer, I restart with this post of mine.

And if you really wish to know WHAT AM I WRITING NEXT?

Keep logging into www.virtuousvociferous.blogspot.com

 -Virtuous Vociferous

 April: Blog #1/ April 19-2021/ 07:46 PM/ Location: Same place called Home

A Humble Note

I had wanted to start writing one hour earlier or maybe two hours earlier than this hour. 

But I didn't. 

These minor delays of mine have started taking the shape of an unavoidable habit. 

Since my mind is a wanderer, it is only natural for my thoughts to keep wandering. 

The only problem is; the distance keeps widening between my thoughts and my writing. 

At times I am asked, why am I taking so much time to write something new?

The question sounds so personal and heavy with expectations too. 

But I don't have a specific answer to that. 

At times I ask myself, do my words become my thoughts or my thoughts become my words?

Once again I don't have a specific answer to that. 

Does that mean that I have stopped seeking answers to questions?

These questions are sometimes asked by my friends, well-wishers, readers (very few), fans (invisible or just my hallucination), admirers (numbers keep thinning) and strangers (they seem to be the ones who keep high expectations).

Honestly speaking... I miss my writing too. 

I don't write till I feel like writing. 

I don't read till I feel like reading. 

The numbers of books keep swelling in my library. 

The stock of my stationary keeps mounting. 

But when will I write next and what am I writing next seem like permanent questions. 

Someday I might seriously try seeking answers or answering the many questions of others. 

Till then, on a humble note... I shall take your leave till I write to you next.

- Virtuous Vociferous

January: Blog #1/ January 13-2021/ 01:23 AM/ Location: Happy desk at home

SOON

 December 28-2020/ Blog #2

The value of SOON has increased 

by leaps and bounds

As an adverb and as a mere word, SOON stands most underrated; also unstated.

SOON also sounds so obsolete when spoken in the trembling voice of a year as troubled as 2020.

If expressed in the pandemic era, SOON is Hope.

When conveyed in the pre pandemic era, SOON used to be synonymous to happiness.

In the last one month though, the value of SOON has increased by leaps and bounds.

Finally SOON might end up being declared as the frequently uttered/ spoken word of 2020.

Presently we are caught in the carnival of SOON.

The obsession with SOON is understandable.

The rallying around with SOON as the keyword also seems valuable.

SOON started trending when the news came in - There will be a vaccine SOON.

Covid-19/ Corona has left the universe in a state of despair.

Why then the two words of 'VACCINE SOON’ can’t stand eligible to grab global headlines?

Domestic media hasn’t stayed behind.

Just like they reported the fast increasing cases of the pandemic; they are trying to cover as much news, information, rumor and gossip as possible with the hashtag #VaccineSoon.

SOON is a four lettered word. So are LOVE, HOPE, PAIN, HELP and HEAL.

Does that mean SOON is a combination of LOVE, HOPE, PAIN, HELP and HEAL?

Or LOVE, HOPE, PAIN, HELP and HEAL when summed up together is SOON?

I think that will need another round of tireless thinking to establish the connection between both!

But the news of Vaccine Soon sounds good.

But the real journey begins now.

It is important for all of us to remember, the advent of vaccines simply won’t put an end to the drama of a modern day pandemic.

Also the vaccine won’t bring back those who are no more.

The vaccine might help us behave a little responsibly. 

SOON sounds urgent. SOON sounds too important.

At least during the pandemic, SOON is the only ray of possibilities.

SOON might finally make the twain meet between what was, what is and what will be.

The year 2020 seems to be already preparing to pave the way for 2021 SOON.

But will 2021 also emerge as the most opportune time to burn our masks SOON?

None of us can answer that question. But we will find an answer SOON.

-Virtuous Vociferous/ What If/ 2020

 

A Different Form Of Life

 December 14-2020/ Blog #1

Life is at times absolute; 

at times obsolete too.

Life.

So far we know it just by one of its forms.

The form of life, which we are living now.

The one, we say is a Gift of God.

The one, which is given to us by our parents.

Life.

Have we ever thought of it differently?

Have we ever thought of imagining it differently?

No. We haven’t.

There is nor harm in doing that.

Maybe we can discover something which could be better than this form of life.

Life.

I wonder about it often.

Strange questions flood my mind.

Does this LIFE belong to us?

Or

Do we belong to this LIFE?

Life.

I love to imagine it differently.

I often think, life is like a train.

Always in motion.

Travelling from one destination to the other.

And that is where I feel there is a problem.

I wonder what happens to life as a train when it finally reaches a certain destination!

Does it come to a standstill?

Life.

If I say it is like a train; it can be considered an interesting form.

Now consider life being in motion.

A destination; a so-called station is almost round the corner.

Just then someone announces that the so-called station, the train was supposed to stop at doesn’t exist any more!

Or it might happen that someone suddenly reveals - the so-called station has suddenly disappeared!

What will happen to this form of LIFE then?

I meant, what would happen to life, I am imagining in a different form; as a train.

Will Life follow the same?

Life.

I believe it is a strange package of equally strange events and instances.

Life is at times absolute; at times obsolete too. 

Life.

No matter in what form you imagine it as. 

Even if we consider a different form of life.

It will still sound, smell, taste, feel and seem like this LIFE of ours.

Life is life. Nothing else.

-Virtuous Vociferous/ What If/ 2020

The Two Worlds

November 15-2020/ Blog #1

We coexist between 

two worlds. 

We might miss paying attention to one reality.

Or we are aware of it. But we don’t talk much about it.

The reality is, we coexist between two worlds.

Yes, you read it right.

Rather than saying we live in two worlds; I am trying to say - We coexist between two worlds.

Which are these two worlds?

The first world is the tangible world.

Besides being only tangible, this world also serves as home to us.

This home is beautiful.

We have built this home or bought this home with great hope.

We eat, we pray, we love in this home.

We share a warm coexistence with its residents (mostly family).

The other world is the intangible world. 

This is the most interesting one. 

It doesn’t have a shape, a form of its own. 

This world is found stuck between two drawers. 

This world is found trying to release itself from the dog-eared pages of a book.

This is that world, which is privy to everything we do; we don’t do; we try to hide from others.

This is that world, which allows a spider to crawl over it and leave a legacy of cobwebs behind.

This legacy then gets transferred to spiders of new generation, who waste no time to take this legacy to a new level. 

Do you know when our frequency of  visit to this intangible world increases?

Mostly during festive occasions or a special moment in the household. 

Because that is when we take a broom or a piece of cloth in our hand to get rid of the first layer of dust, which hides this intangible world.

Interestingly the tangible and the intangible worlds are never caught in a conflict. 

They know their space, their purpose in this universe. 

Remember, they are these two worlds. They exist. They have been existing. 

It is we who are coexisting between them.

-Virtuous Vociferous/ What If/ 2020

Our Own Biographies

The opening lines of my autobiography

October 19-2020/ Blog #2

Discover ourselves first.
Then rediscover ourselves.

Who am I? Who are you? Who is she? Who is him? Who are they? Who are we? These questions have been within our minds for a long time. But we never set time aside to introspect. But in the past seven months, that we have been living indoors; working from our homes, achieving and failing from the comfort of four walls; starting new things and stopping doing old things; listening and muting conversations; seeing something and then choosing to turn blind; seeking a hug and suddenly acting indifferent; we aren’t realizing that time has been setting us aside to help us introspect. 

No one in this entire world is denying the reality - enough of this; enough of that; enough of me; enough of you; enough of him; enough of them; enough of us. Enough. Yes enough. But just screaming ‘Enough’ at the peak of our voices is not going to push those thoughts in the abyss. In there; in the abyss; down there; many reasons, many more reasons of screaming ‘Enough’ have been choking to death for the past seven months. But is ‘Enough’ the ultimate action and the reaction? What will happen to the questions we had started asking - Who am I? Who are you? Who is she? Who is him? Who are they? Who are we? Don’t these questions deserve answers. Or we leave these questions somewhere; ask others; waste time over them and then one day, we will again scream ‘Enough’ and stop thinking about them!

But think about them? Aren’t these questions important? What if I tell you that every question is biographical. Every question is hinting at something very personal, very intimidating. Why can’t we treat these questions as research material to write our personal biographies? Who knows us better than we ourselves? Has anybody ever known about the rare passion, immense love you harbor for your Sundays? Has anybody ever seen the sketches you draw of the person, you had loved more than your life? Does anybody know that when you release the shutter of your camera, you create magic with your third eye? Nobody knows anything about you. Somebody might claim to know you. But how much of you is known to anyone else? Too little. 

I wish to make a confession. In the past seven months, I have been asking the same questions - Who am I? Who are you? Who is she? Who is him? Who are they? Who are we? But as a human being, I too have been procrastinating. I feel I had seven fruitful months. These seven fruitful months are not going to return to me or us ever. Maybe we have got a few more months with us to ask those questions again! Perhaps try seeking answers again! Because if we don’t seek these answers now, we will never discover ourselves. In a world where we speak proudly about rediscovering life; rediscovering who we are; rediscovering our childhood; rediscovering our passion; rediscovering our love; we never ever talk about merely discovering ourselves. Maybe we should make that effort to discover ourselves first and then continue with our personal journeys to rediscover ourselves. 

Trust me, we aren’t alone in this journey. The time is with us. The situation is with us. Terms like lockdown, social distancing, precaution, sanitization, hygiene are with us. Every breathing being, living being and struggling being is with us to ask and repeat the same questions - Who am I? Who are you? Who is she? Who is him? Who are they? Who are we? Let’s try seeking answers. Let’s have our own biographies. Let these biographies be not verbose but introspective. I have decided. When I write my biography; I will begin with the line - My is is my was and my was is my is…

Maybe by the time, I am done writing my biography, this line; this statement; these words will get stolen. Because we might be maintaining social distancing. But we aren’t going to distance ourselves from the overpowering impact of social media. Because if we aren’t trending, we aren’t living. But we are still being followed; (sometimes) liked; (most of the times) disliked, trolled, threatened, traumatized, chased, etc. But again, with that whatever little we have left with us, let us have our own biography in place.

-Virtuous Vociferous/ What If/ 2020