The Unabridged Version of a Rational Emotional Mind

Where do lonely hearts go? The ones surrounded by love By nature, and all the care in the world And yet Trapped inside the labyrinth of their own minds They seek not the solitude that finds them And yet No matter how much they try That’s where they are forever stuck   All attempts to break lose feel like Trying to escape from quicksand Every little move drawing one Deeper and deeper into the deep end   The only escape then is silent acceptance Immobility Chaotic Nonchalance An understanding of self That in our solitude there is peace That no one can hurt us in our mind castles But ourselves   But then A thousand self-inflicted whiplashes are better than Paper cuts from the ones we love...   Where do lonely hearts go? But to the labyrinth of their own minds Forever stuck To the symphony of their own sighs

The last time I saw my grandmother, I was in a hurry to catch a train. Meeting her was a quick detour, unplanned, swiftly executed. I was returning from a wedding. I had come home just for that. I was with her two weeks before. Mum and I had come from different corners of the country to reunite with her, the final Kaakurumbil women’s reunion, as destiny, would have it. The visit before was easy-going. I had the time in the world to sit and chat with her, which I did. But I also remember whiling away time looking at my phone, mindlessly scrolling through social media. Blissfully unaware that precious time was passing by. One of the last core memories I have with ammachi was her secretly coming to my room, as I went through my phone. She handed me a hefty bundle of crumpled notes. They would add up to a couple thousand. She has always done this, secretly giving money to her first granddaughter. This time it was different. She was giving me more money than usual. She knew my uncle had...

I am a firm believer in receiving blessings beyond one’s dreams. My life is a testimony of that. But often it is in the wait for these miracles that I fall short. That is until last week when I went for my field visit and came across something ostensibly so simple but that taught me a very important life lesson. And that is the lesson I want to share with you today. You see, I was gallivanting in the sun on a bike, peak afternoon time, trying to get from the town to the remote villages where the communities we work with stay. For those who know small towns and their general structure, there is almost always a railway crossing somewhere in its boundaries. I have only experienced a railway crossing sitting in a train, never from the road…until that day. We reached the crossing, both metal gates shut, and people on both sides of the track, waiting for the train to pass. Two minutes turned to twelve, no sign of the train yet. The signal turned amber to red and then I heard, the distant...