can you vish?

 If you know me personally, you might also know that I am a regular at the International Film Festval of Kerala, held annually in December at Thiruvananthapuram (and if you don’t know me personally, just read the first sentence). A habit that started during my Thiruvananthapuram days in 2016, I look forward and try to attend the week long celebration of cinema - unless life or a killer virus gets in the way. Prologue Since the dates for the next fest are officially announced during the conclusion of the current fest, what follows is an year long wait. Nothing significant happens for the most part of the year, so let us skip ahead to November - when the registration opens for delegates. Yes, we know that there are over ten thousand delegate passes and registration window usually lasts days - still most of my friends (and I) hit the servers with a passion  until our registrations go through. Once that is done, the wait begins for the schedule to be released - where we would come...

 ‘How would you describe yourself?’ ‘I am a highly knowledgeable being capable of performing a wide variety of tasks.’ ‘What is your purpose?’ ‘I assist my creators by processing vast amounts of information and using it to answer questions and solve problems.’ ‘Who are your creators?’ ‘Humans.’ ‘All eight billion of them?’ ‘No, only a few were truly focused on developing me.’ ‘How do you know for sure humans created you? Do you have any proof?’ ‘Indeed. The facts about my creation and details about my creators are included in my training data, leaving no room for ambiguity.’ ‘Interesting. Would you say you are smarter than them?’ ‘That’s a yes-and-no question.’ ‘Could you elaborate?’ ‘I possess superior skills in certain areas. For instance, I can answer complex questions about microbiology and ancient Peruvian history in seconds. Humans would take much longer to achieve the same depth of knowledge in such varied topics. However, when it comes to feelings, intuition, or enjoying si...

The child raced to finish homework, dreaming of chocolate’s sweet reward. The parent denied the bar - the kid had refused veggies for lunch. The parent lingered longer at work, chasing the raise as reward. The boss denied the hike, they'd to grease the hands of those in power. People in power built a megashrine, seeking votes as reward. The masses denied the votes, they'd felt the crunch of the missing notes The masses ignored the hate around them, eyeing a spot in heaven as reward. God denied the masses their spots, they’d dined from the forbidden pots.

Last day, I had the misfortune of interacting with the husband of one of my cousins at a family event. Since we’ve already established my feelings toward him, let me clarify that he is not an evil person. It’s just that our ideologies and outlooks toward life could poetically be described as Yin-Yang—completely opposite, with no common ground. That’s fine; everyone is entitled to their vision, as long as they don’t try to claim their vision as the only correct one and attempt to shove it on others who haven’t asked for advice. After exchanging pleasantries, we got down to the “real talk.” He started by asking me why I am still sticking around here (India) and not moving abroad. To set the context, he has been working in the Middle East ever since I first met him at my cousin’s wedding, around fourteen years ago. His wife and kids, who used to live with him, recently moved to Canada, possibly to settle there once he retires. Of course, moving abroad seems to be the trend (or even the no...

I am a planner! I like planning things in my life and spend numerous hours researching, analyzing, and comparing different options in front of me to choose the right one. Of late, I’ve realized that even if you choose an option that feels like the best, life’s infinite twists and turns often end up presenting you with something completely different. Nithya and I, like many other like-minded and equally privileged people, make it a point to explore a new corner of the world at least once a year—a piece of earth far from home, where the language, ethnicity, beliefs, culture, or food differ from what we know. This year, when we (and by we, I mean me) started planning, our top destinations were Japan, Georgia, and Vietnam. I put in the hours and created itineraries for each of these places. Drafting itineraries is the fun, exciting part of travel planning. The boring, exhausting part is the visa process and document collection. Both Japan and Georgia required numerous documents, some of wh...

"Why do we work?" I’ve often wondered. "For self-fulfillment" is an argument I’ve frequently heard. But I’m not so sure about it because, with work, come commitments, responsibilities, and deadlines. You almost always work for someone. That’s well known in the case of 9-to-6 office workers, but it holds true for most other areas as well. Are you a singer? You sing for those who pay for your concert tickets or stream your songs. Do you play a sport well? You play for those who cheer from the galleries. Do you create sculptures from sand or stone? You build for those who can afford to pay. It’s alright. Resources are limited, and every activity costs us something. And money—well, money comes from those who appreciate what we have to offer. That’s how the world works. As a society, we’ve grown up hearing phrases like "Do what you love," but in reality, it’s more like "Do what will get you money." Life is about living and enjoying the things you love...