Set free

Volatility makes one feel insecure. Flying with no strings attached is a nightmare. My daughter wants to go abroad for a doctorate, and I’ve spent three sleepless nights in a row. Umbilical cords remain. Relationships become tumultuous if one side holds tighter. Quivering balloons on the bumper of the car driving ahead tell me she … Continue reading Set free

Filters

A photo-app filter can create this effect - slightly better than pixelation. The images are easily identifiable as human, though they look faded and broken. Do I have a right to do this with their spirit? Should I break them before they dare to reach the sky? I wonder if it was a power-hungry maniac … Continue reading Filters

Fashion

“You’ve no clue how demeaning it is. I got chucked out of the show at the last minute…I couldn’t fit in the bandage dress, as I measured half an inch more.” “Couldn’t they alter the dress?” “They hold the power to alter careers and damage egos.” The model’s soul was scarred, which no bandage could … Continue reading Fashion

Time to go

The loudest voices are the ones that speak a different language in different places. The camaraderie is unmistakable, as I see in the backslapping and guffawing. The superior lateral vision I’m born with (some people call it intuition), helps me see the passing empty look on faces as soon as another face turns away. The … Continue reading Time to go

Bonding

I distinctly remember the midnight mass I attended with Aunt Josephine, and the purple frock with golden checks stitched by my mom for Christmas. I was all of five years old. Eid was spent with Uncle Latif and Aunt Mariam. The childless couple doted on me, and cooked vegetarian food for us, respecting my family’s … Continue reading Bonding

Pixels and Petals

“Say what you may, but those forsaken futures at the end of the road live only in your mind. They have found their place somewhere else in the lives of people who walked that road.  Could it have been a swimmingly smooth ride, instead of the sanity-stretching sojourn to glamorous, glossy goals your life has … Continue reading Pixels and Petals

Amoeba

“This is the kind of chase that both enthralls and perplexes me… the criminal is one of a kind who leaves no easy trail”, the lady police officer affectionately called Madam Sir, plonks herself in her chair. “You are in the hot seat, Madam Sir…. the Chief Minister has announced a prize of 5 million … Continue reading Amoeba

Light and Shadow

we’ll meet where magic happens in the eveninglight and shadow both play games astoundingshadow falls when opaque comes in way of lightif there’s darkness behind, is the process right light and shadow both play games astoundingis that a door or a visual perception changing?if there’s darkness behind, is the process righthow can shadows fall on … Continue reading Light and Shadow

Dreams

A question marked Urgent perplexes me. A millennial wants advice if he should opt for a car loan and invest his money in mutual funds to earn higher returns. It takes tough questions and hard calculations to make him see sense. I question his assumptions of the future. The session leaves me with more questions … Continue reading Dreams

Data science

“Maximum data leaks happen from Google Chrome browsers, and rediffmail ids,” says a report about online frauds. “Download Opera browser. My experience has been good”, says my teenage daughter. Data science tells us different stories, and some suffer from the curse of dimensionality. Certain sets of data will accidentally correlate. “Why are you talking about … Continue reading Data science