Rants, Art and Literature

  Prompt: 5) Bipasha Bipasha, you kind soul! You turned your waters into sand, once: To save thrice born Vasistha, Husband of Arundhati; Who tied himself with cords to drown in you. Bipasha, you were named cord breaker. Bipasha, you brave soul! You broke off the conquest of the great conqueror, The one from Macedon. Away from home for eight long years— Perhaps you reminded the soldiers of their homeland! Or perhaps they were scared away by your rebellious waters! Bipasha, you lovely soul! Named after a mighty river, One flowing through the pages of history, Timeless, ageless! Great things are expected from you: Bipasha, make history your own! Author’s thoughts ‘Bipasha’ is a prompt suggested by my friend of the same name (though spelt differently). She reminded me that Bipasha is a river and I found out that it is a great river. I wanted to give the poem a grand tone, keeping the epics in mind, because the river is quite important to Hindu mythology and Indian history. Whether I’ve suc

  Prompt: 4) Perseverance A storm was coming her way, The dark clouds laughed at her: A deep rumbling laughter! The lightning flashes were scary, What light was not supposed to be; She'd been more afraid of the dark. The wind pulled at her hair, And her blue, bright dress, Urging her to stop. You ask, "did she stop?" I dry my drenched hair and blue dress. "No, she persevered." Author’s thoughts ‘Storm’ is a short and simple poem about how the poetic persona persevered through the storm. Association of battling a storm and perseverance is nothing new to the point of being cliche. But it is overused because it is an effective comparison. So, that is what I used to write about today’s prompt. I have a gig on Fiverr where I’ll write a poem for you on any topic you want. You can find that gig  here  if you are interested in availing my service. This prompt is given by Sarajit Sen.

  Prompt: 3) Poetry How do I define poetry? I don't know. How do you define something that swims in your blood, But oozes out in ink, That the heart beats out, But the brain picks the words for, That is bold, yet soft, That is yours, yet mine? Poetry is confusing, Chaos in fixed meters and rhymes, Calm in blank and free verses, Heartbreaks in little haikus, Love stories in melodious sonnets! Poetry is everything you want it to be; Then, how do you define poetry? Author’s thoughts ‘How do I define poetry?’ is a poem on what poetry is to me. I truly believe, “poetry is everything you want it to be;” so, at the end, I pose the question, “how do you define poetry?” I have a gig on Fiverr where I’ll write a poem for you on any topic you want. You can find that gig  here  if you are interested in availing my service. This prompt is given by  Trisha Saha .

Prompt: 2) Glimpse All I caught was a glimpse, today, A glimpse is all I caught— Of the dimpled cheeks, messy hair; Oh! The memories you brought! I caught a glimpse of us, again, From the deeper depths of my brain: We were happy (or so I thought), We giggled, we danced in the rain! And the most dangerous glimpse I caught, Of a future we could've had: I'm glad you got the courage to leave, I'm thankful, from the bottom of my heart! Author’s thoughts ‘Three Glimpses Into Time’ is a poem of heartbreak and moving on from failed love. It is not always possible to understand if one is compatible with the other person. The heart wants what it wants and oftentimes we need our brain to interfere. In this poem, the poetic persona is reminded of their seemingly happy past with their beloved because they catch a glimpse of the beloved in passing. But then, they think of how the future would look like if they’d still be together. They decide, that it was better that the beloved left whe

  Prompt: 1) Silhouette Silhouette in my mirror, Why are you crying? Do you not like the way you're looking? Silhouette in my mirror, Here's a black dress for you. This cinches your waist, scrap pink and blue. Silhouette in my mirror, Aren't you happy yet? I covered your acne up, yes, I did. Silhouette in my mirror, Don't cry, you'll look all puffy. Here, be a good girl, put on a smile for me. Silhouette in my mirror, What do you want? I gave you everything but you still sit and grunt! Silhouette in my mirror, I'm angry, very angry now! I want to shatter you into a million pieces! Ow! Silhouettes in my mirrors, I saw your lips move. "There are a million crying silhouettes, there'll be a million more." Author’s thoughts: ‘Silhouette In My Mirror’ is written about the figure we see in the mirror that is not exactly our reflection. This reflection is fogged up by our own expectations and frustrations at not meeting these expectations on a physical lev

The Play Macbeth  was first performed on stage in the year 1606. It is a play in which Shakespeare wished to get inside the skin of a murderer showing us the psychological effects of committing such crimes as Macbeth and the other characters (specially Lady Macbeth). However, as interesting as the subject of the mind of a murderer is, I find the witches to be equally intriguing on their own. Supernatural in contemporary England Witchcraft was a ‘vogue’ issue in the early reign of James I. Even before he ascended the throne, King James I himself, believed he had been the subject of a plot by three Scottish witches to shipwreck him by stirring up storms. Learned books were also published on the subject such as  A Discourse of the Subtle Practices of Devils  (1587) and King James’ own  Demonology  (1597). Some of the learned works expressed scepticism as to the more far-fetched claims made about witches, like Reginald Scot’s  The Discoverie of Witchcraft  (1584, banned under James I), but

World Environment Day is observed annually on 5th June to raise awareness and action about the protection of the environment. It was first observed in 1974. In the present, 143 countries participate in the global platform for public outreach. Each year, a theme or forum is provided to engage governments, businesses and citizens to address the pressing issues that concern the environment. This year’s theme This year, the theme is  Ecosystem restoration . Ecosystem restoration means helping in the recovery of degraded or destroyed ecosystems. However, it also includes protecting the ecosystems that are still intact. Studies show that every three seconds, the world loses enough forest that can cover a football pitch. Over the last century, 50% of the World’s wetlands have been destroyed. Again, over 50% of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed. By 2050, it is estimated that this number will be 90%. Ecosystem restoration means putting a pause to this damage and rewinding it to provid

Social media As the second wave of the pandemic attacked India, I started to wonder what we'd have done without social media. There was utter chaos in the country owing to the poor management and unpreparedness of the authorities. The oxygen deficiency arised. Absence of vacant beds led patients to run from one hospital to another even when they were so sick they could barely walk. Infection spread everywhere. So many people I know got infected in such a small time frame. I felt so scared and helpless.  Helplessness The influence of friends I felt like crying and complaining all day. But then I remembered, if the authorities have failed us, we should take up the reigns ourselves. I was inspired by some amazing friends who were using social media, their clout and influence to share resources about the pandemic. They shared bed availability status, phone no. of oxygen dealers, food availability and all kinds of help that a good government should have provided.