Sharayu Jakhotiya

I first read this poetry by Wendell Berry a couple of years ago, but today I decided to revisit his words The Peace of Wild Things When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. As night drew, I sat at my bedside window, hunched over with my head resting on my arms. I gazed out of the window to look for my wood drake but all I heard was honking cars and barking dogs. A jet was ready to take off at the nearby domestic airport and would make a tremendous swooshing sound over my head. I glanced at the skies to check if

The Man walked on the densely wooded road. The cl othes he wore shone with an exuberant light, as if the earth had formed around him a beautiful woven cloak. His head was bent and a sack covered his head and shoulders to protect him from the rain. His eyes were intense and looked at the road with a vehement determination. He knew where he had to reach and looked forward to the road ahead of him. He clutched a cloth bag to his chest. He seemed to be very protective of the bag, clearly not wanting to disclose its contents. The road was empty and cars moved on it infrequently. Puddles of water covered the surface and frogs croaked loudly from the wild grass growing on the sides of the road. The lone Man continued his journey on the rainy path. As he neared the city, the city that was widely known as the ‘City of Dreams’ or Mumbai, no one looked at him. He was a man with no identity. But if anyone had spared a moment for him, they would be taken aback by the tenacity in his stare a

My mom woke me up that morning and while I was peacefully eating my breakfast and smiling over the gossip columns in the BT, she posed the most controversial question to me, ‘Amu, what kind of a boy do you want to marry?’ I decided to ignore her and I continued reading how Kat and Ranbir were secretly engaged to get married. I thought she will leave me alone after realizing my innate unresponsiveness. But alas, that was not to happen! She banged my glass of milk and sat down opposite me. ‘Amruta’, she said. I knew it was serious business when I heard her saying my full name. No one ever calls me by my full name until I have done something horrendously wrong. I stole a glance at her and almost fell off my chair when I saw my entire family standing in front of me. My grandparents were squinting at me through their glasses. My grandmom looked as if she was looking at a lost puppy in the middle of a desert, desperately searching for something. My brother just stood behind my mom, gri

Continued from #CuriousCaseOfChokshi . . . . Many spoke about the murder of Kunal Chokshi, some spoke about Amruta and everyone speculated about the murderer. Neither the police nor the online junta could figure out who the culprit was and what his/her intentions were in the murder. Sameer Reddy, always a silent lover, was disturbed about the country's speculations about him. Most people thought the murderer was some crazy hooligan who had been wronged by Kunal sometime in the past. Sameer wished that he could tell the world why he had killed Kunal. The one and only reason being that he did not deserve to live. Sameer had loved Amruta for all the time they had known each other. After his conversation with Amruta, where she told him about what had happened between her and Kunal, he had moved back to Mumbai immediately. His intention was not to try and win her over, but to be there for her when she needed him the most. Though he knew what kind of a person Kunal was, Sameer ne

Continued from He.... KUNAL CHOKSHI KILLED, REVENGE SUSPECTED: POLICE 26 th November, 2014, Mumbai: The Chokshi household today was filled with mourners and people gathering there to pay their last homage to their only son, Kunal Chokshi. The death of Kunal Chokshi was under mysterious circumstances and the police are still investigating the case details. ‘The Curious Case of Chokshi’ which has taken social media by storm has some very interesting facts. Twitteratis have been discussing whether the death of Kunal Chokshi has been a wicked turn of Karma. Kunal who was studying at National College was known to his classmates as a rich spoilt millionaire kid. This was before he met and started dating one of his fellow classmates, Amruta Naik. Amruta, a meritorious student turned to be a turning point in Kunal’s life. After being together for three years, the couple started facing problems after college. Kunal was warned by the police on several charges of violence and extortion

(continued from She.....) I slouched lower on my couch while the TV blasted a Maroon 5 song. I was oblivious to it. My fingers ran over my iPad as I tried to save myself. I cursed loudly as my Spiderman was killed. I hadn't even beaten my earlier score. I pulled myself up from the couch and dropped my iPad onto it. I thought to myself that I was losing my touch. I was pretty much despondent. We had been best friends since we were in school. I even remember how we used to share our lunch boxes, she would slowly munch on each bite while I would finish my lunch in a hurry and then continue staring at her. While others sometimes called me a loner, she had always been there for me. I walked to the balcony and pulled out a cigarette. The lighter was always on the beach chair we had placed in the small balcony. I lit it and inhaled deeply. I immediately felt my shoulders relaxing. A rickshaw honked incessantly on the street below at a dog which was sprawled on the middle o

I quickened my pace as I reached CST station. It was important that I got a seat, the journey was long and I was laden with bags and books. The train came to a screeching halt at the last station that was CST. I looked around to see only a couple of ladies waiting to board the train. They still managed to scamper and rush inside. I smiled inwardly on our Mumbaiya attitude - Grab what you can get, as fast as you can get. I leisurely climbed and took a seat near the window. I heaved a deep sigh of satisfaction as the train chugged along and the soft breeze took away the day's tiredness. I enjoyed the silence marked by the 'zook zook' sound of the train. The other ladies in the compartment also seemed to be enjoying the rare solitude that we found in the late night journeys. It was exactly 10.22 PM. The last couple of days had been crazy; work had been hectic and I used to just crash on my bed every night. But I wasn't complaining. I needed everything to keep my min