She said,” I am so afraid. and i asked, “Why?”, and she said, “because i am profoundly happy. Happiness like this is frightening.”
Kite runner, Khalid Hosseini
Ammu said that human beings were creatures of habit, and it was amazing the kind of things they could get used to. You only had to look around you, Ammu said, to see that beatings with brass vases were the least of them.
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.
In the evening he went to the cinema to see ‘The Lord of the Rings’, which he had never before had time to see. He thought that orcs, unlike human beings, were simple and uncomplicated creatures.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Some days are going to be difficult. Some mornings are going to be those where you feel it’s going to be the end of the world. Some nights all you want to do is curl up like a ball and cry yourself to sleep. And what I want to tell you is its perfectly normal. It’s okay for you to have a bad day. It’s okay for to mess up things. It’s okay for you to not be perfect. It is fine break down and cry for soul out once in a while. But never blame yourself for how things go down. If you tried your level best, if you gave it your biggest try, then let it be. Don’t go hard on yourself. Because everything doesn’t have to go as you wish. I mean, if you had everything go according to your line etched by you then what fun would it be. How are you gonna appreciate the good times and count your blessings? Look up at the blue blue sky with the white fluffy clouds. That, over there is your limit. Look around you at the faces that surround you everywhere. Their worried glances at you. When you think you have no one and nothing, remember those faces and glances. Remember just when the caterpillar thought it was going to be last day of its life, it became the most beautiful creature on Earth- the butterfly. So stay strong. Be patient. Hold your breath. Hope. Because your life is just about to change.
Beneath a Thousand Masks
Look at people around you. Not a glance through, but try to look a little deeper. And if you still think you know that person there, then you are wrong. Those are masks at least that is what most of them wear.
My friends, pretending is an art that is second nature to humans. And please don’t be fooled by the smooth surface. They might give you an impression that confidence is their middle name and coolness is their surname. But I am sure beneath those layers there lies fear and hesitation of being discovered and not accepted. Most people are other people. Altogether if we glue up pieces, we can say that most people’s life are just a mimicry of another. Now don’t you blame the person for the falsehood she/he creates. Instead, love, respect and accept her, as it may be the only thing that liberate her from chains. It may be the only hope she has that she is truly worth living her true self.
Rub away her tears, listen to her and cast the magic of humanity into her soul. And, slowly, as each day passes when you are kind, encouraging and patient, you will slowly see those wings grow out of the person; illuminated like those of dragon flies- growing to blow out the candles of hesitation and fear. I believe every boy and girl, every man and woman, each one of you is affected in the remote corners of your heart by the doubts, confusion and hesitation of being yourself. And to those I only have one thing to say- if God had wanted you otherwise, he would have definitely created you otherwise. And please don’t die a copy of someone else’s
I hope no one who reads this book has been quite as miserable as Susan and Lucy were that night; but if you have been – if you’ve been up all night and cried till you have no more tears left in you – you will know that there comes in the end a sort of quietness. You feel as if nothing is ever going to happen again.
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.
Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
Kanhaiyya, Azadi and the Melodrama
Kanhaiyya Kumar, the current icon of Indian Politics went from ‘Whose that boy?’ to a leader overnight. What began as a bunch of hooligans screaming on top of the voice questioning the sovereignty and integrity of India has been idolized as freedom of speech and the law of the land and government proceedings as an attack on freedom of speech. In February 2016, he was arrested for shouting anti-Indian slogans against the hanging of Afzal Guru who was a Kashmiri separatist convicted for the bombing of the Indian Parliament in 2001.
Most of us have the tendency to latch onto personalities that promise leaders and attribute them with larger than life qualities and a halo. I do not blame you for that. Such is our country’s political situation. I would be lying if a say that iwasnt swayed myself by such people before reason and logic dawns on me. But it has been a month since all this hungama has started with the pessimists, pseudo liberals and Communists. I mean seriously have we really turned this blind? There are a few personalities starting from Rahul Gandhi who have led their hands to making this is a magnificent manipulated act of a big drama.
My dear Kanhaiyya Kumar, you might be basking in the overnight limelight shining over you, but make no mistake. You are absolutely no national hero and neither will the public remain blind for long. You are a just a puppet of certain political hands who struggling to breathe in the political waters of India. You were not granted bail to go against the system and twist the turn of recent events as a cry for Azadi from country’s inherent evil. Seriously? Do realize that you are the citizen of India first. And wake your soul to the brutal truth that JNU is not a country separate from India or your own little kingdom where you have been crowned as the rule. before I forget to remind you, do honor the all so devoted and loyal presstitues who stood behind your back all through the play. They were hell-bent on making you the icon of the century but mark my words. Do not take the public to be puppets. I mean you stood there shouting words that screamed hippocracy from start till end for almost an hour and a half and then you have the nerve to say there’s no freedom of speech in the country.
As an average Indian I will let you know what we truly need. I want Azadi from all the wannabes of Indian politics. From hoax Aam Admis, from Kanhaiyyas, Azadi from terrorists sympathizers, Azadi from people bent on destroying the very essence of Communism, Azadi from people asking for an Azad Kashmir, Azadi from presstitudes and the list goes on and on.
But I must appreciate the magnificent orator in you. consider putting it into good use. And thank you for adding a new dimension to the word Azadi which otherwise seemed a word threatening the unity of the country. Please Instead of making a fool of yourself and a puppet in the hands of people misusing you. You will soon realize that your JNUSU comrades will soon wake up from the dream, return to reality and go on their way to live life by finding jobs and starting family. You will realize how you sent a wrong message to youngsters with blood boiling in their veins to scream slogans in the college instead if sitting in classes. You will soon see the halo disappearin around your head. Cause sweetheart, it is always good and truth that triumphs.
Whether or not you believe in fate comes down to one thing: who you blame when something goes wrong. Do you think it’s your fault – that if you’d tried better, worked harder, it wouldn’t have happened? Or do you just chalk it up to circumstance?
Jodi Picoult, Nineteen minutes
meraki 