Meera was sitting in her room and thinking about the last few days. She had reached the Moon illegally. She had also boarded one of the cargo vessels supplying to the Moon. She had come from Earth. She was given a drug that allowed her body to survive the journey on board a cargo vessel. There were three days that she did not know what happened to her. When she woke up, Gafur was sitting by her. “...
Chintu was thinking back to the time since landing on the Moon. He had to make fast decisions. Not everything worked well for him.The cargo ship that Kavya and Chintu had traveled in from Mars had landed at the US base. Kavya had handed him to Gafur and asked him to take care of Chintu. Gafur was wearing his lunasuit despite being inside the base. He grunted and nodded. Meera hugged Chintu and th...
Mars, 2098Kavya, Chintu’s mother, was looking out of the window. The red color stretched to the horizon. She had gotten used to the color by now. It was her last night on Mars. She saw a grid of robots mining for hematite, which gave Mars its red color. The ore was carried in concealed robotic vehicles to the factories to make steel. The steel would be used to make even more robots and the infrast...
Earth, 2098Mandakini was operating the handloom. She was using her hand. People on Earth had eschewed from getting daemons installed. She had woken up early. She had finished her morning work. She had prepared breakfast for her husband. She was operating the machine out of habit. She had forty years of experience. The sarees she designed were for her daughter and her extended family, and the exces...
[This is my entry for NaNoWriMo 2024 and No Break Novembers.] The Moon, 2098The surface of the Moon was desolate. One observation deck pierced through the surface on the rim of the crater. It seemed empty.She hid behind a rock so no one on the observation deck could see her. Her daemon confirmed what she saw. There was no one on the observation deck. A few moments later, she saw a signal from behi...
Cal Newport, in his podcast \Deep Questions,\ introduces the concept of maintaining a document where one can record multi-scale planning, vision, and mission statements.Oliver Burkeman, in his book \Four Thousand Weeks,\ talks about the concept of finitude, which pertains to the intrinsic limitations or boundaries inherent in human existence. The certainty of mortality serves as the ultimate bound...
Meera walked a step behind Rajeev. She was trying her best to keep up with him. She also held the hand of the boy who had opened the hatch of the pressure chambers. Rajeev walked into a pressure chamber. He waited for a while before the door opened to a room. All three walked into the room.“They destroyed the outpost and the instrumentation deck below it. We will have to replace it. This is Meera....
The Moon, 2098.She was near the top of the crater rim overlooking the lunar base. The lunar base was inside one of the rare lunar lava tubes found on the far side of the Moon. She was wearing her lunasuit. This was a three-layer suit that was built by the early lunar settlers. It provided protection but not speed. That is why she chose the suit. She could not help but peek over the top of the crat...
I first walked up to the door,\r\nSaid I wanted to help,\r\nThey said they needed no help.\r\n\r\nI then walked up to the door,\r\nThe door of the King of the neighbourhood,\r\nHe said he needed no help.\r\n\r\nI then walked up to the door,\r\nThe door of the King,\r\nBut, I went with an army that defeated him.\r\n\r\nColonization comes at your door,\r\nMaking offers like e-commerce sites,\r\nAnd ...
They built a network,\r\nTo share what you're upto,\r\nAt first it was a fun place to be,\r\nYou met other people too.\r\n\r\nSoon the network was used,\r\nTo spill the tea,\r\nAnd other things too.\r\nMore abused than used.\r\n\r\nIt spoilt the milk for one and all,\r\nPeople left it despite FOMO,\r\nBut soon people learnt,\r\nThere was only joy, the JOMO.
Rocket engine roaring to life,\r\nOn the television screen.\r\nSowed the seed that,\r\nBlossomed in my heart.\r\n\r\nSince that day,\r\nI had worked hard,\r\nTo work even for a day,\r\nIn a space company.\r\n\r\nAn offer came and knocked,\r\nAt my door,\r\nI bid it adieu,\r\nAnd said my good byes.\r\n\r\nMy heart was broken,\r\nBy my first love,\r\nIt can be broken only,\r\nBy a lover.
I didn't know what this prompt meant,\r\nSo, I asked ChatGPT.\r\nIt said some interesting things,\r\nBut it wasn't really what the prompt meant.\r\n\r\nI searched on Google, then.\r\nIt was much better and pulled the lines,\r\nfrom some nook of the internet,\r\nthat I had not seen before.\r\n\r\nIt showed me a post from [@alyaza](https://cohost.org/alyaza/post/1562201-ab-yahan-koi-nahi),\r\nShowed...
She ordered sushi,\r\nIn a store meant for Chinese food. \r\nIt wasn't meant for Japanese,\r\nNor even Indian food.\r\n\r\nThe waiter looked at me,\r\nAsking me to rescue him.\r\nI looked non-plussed,\r\nAnd asked me to rescue him.\r\n\r\nWhile she didn't seem to care,\r\nI told her,\r\nIn no uncertain terms,\r\nSushi is meant to be shared.\r\n\r\n
I did not fit in,\r\nWith the strong guys who played Sports,\r\nOr the small guys who played\r\nComputer games.\r\n\r\nI belonged to that long tail,\r\nOf kids,\r\nWho spent their time reading,\r\nOr drawing, or making.\r\nCreating.\r\n\r\nI did not fit in.\r\nAnd so it was during forced games,\r\nI was picked in diplomat roles,\r\nTo keep the peace of the games\r\n\r\nI did not fit in,\r\nAnd so ...
History keeps me awake at night,\r\nWas a commemorative they did,\r\nOf David,\r\nWho I had not heard of before tonight.\r\n\r\nHis self-portraits spoke of time,\r\nThat the world dealt with AIDS,\r\nHe dealt it in his own sweet way,\r\nAnd by it in the end he passed away.\r\n\r\nProtest is a form,\r\nThat is not easy to adopt.\r\nBut, in such times,\r\nIt is what makes us stand and stare.
Depression meals,\r\nStops you from moving.\r\nBecause movement,\r\nMakes you feel less heavy.\r\n\r\nInstant noodles,\r\nMay feed romantic notions.\r\nBut doesn't,\r\nNourish your soul as needed.\r\n\r\nUnhealthy meals,\r\nThat people resort to.\r\nTo get,\r\nOut that gunk that sticks.\r\n\r\nDifficult choices,\r\nAn easy fix for that,\r\nIs to,\r\nMove.\r\n\r\n\r\n
People go away from their homes,\r\nBecause they can't manage to stay,\r\nAt home on those holy holidays,\r\nBecause of the noise.\r\n\r\nTimes for contemplation and learning,\r\nIs broken by the loud song singing, And competitions which seek whose,\r\nMusic system can play louder.\r\n\r\nTimes for meeting friends and relatives,\r\nIs broken by the messages and forwards,\r\nSent on WhatsApp and Te...
Tell me about despair, yours, and I\r\nWill tell you mine.\r\nIn the shared story of our despairs,\r\nI may find some connection.\r\n\r\nI've had enough despairs to,\r\nLast a lifetime.\r\nBut the connection can be one,\r\nThat ends my despair.
Someone posted a clip,\r\nAsking Jackie Shroff a recipe,\r\nThat he could make easily.\r\n\r\nI tried his recipe,\r\nBut gave up midway\r\nB'coz I don't like curry patta.
Can self-care exist without community care?Everything is broken,\r\nAt each perspective,\r\nSelf, Community, and the Universe.\r\n\r\nA yellow notepad,\r\nAny useful pen,\r\nAnd a vital question.\r\n\r\nA curious mind,\r\nSome mental models,\r\nAnd a very patient ear.\r\n\r\nAre these tools,\r\nEnough to treat the Self?\r\nIsn't something missing?\r\n\r\nOnce the Self is cared,\r\nThen Community c...
I am envious,\r\nOf the woman in the Morning Sun,\r\nShe is able,\r\nTo sit on a bed without a phone.\r\n\r\nSome people say, \r\nThat she was the painters wife,\r\nSitting in bed,\r\nContemplating her lonely life in an industrial suburb.\r\n\r\nAt a time,\r\nWe can log off from in real life,\r\nAnd log into,\r\nA world where we peep into other's lies.\r\n\r\nI am envious,\r\nThat the woman thinks...
Eating some food is good,\r\nEating others is bad,\r\nSome food we've had for centuries,\r\nAnd some just before twas had.\r\n\r\nSuperfoods made an entry,\r\nPromising a quick fix cure.\r\nIt asked we keep aside,\r\nThe food we've had for centuries.\r\n\r\nTo promise this claims were made,\r\nWith conviction and pseudoscience,\r\nOr with some silly industry,\r\nMaybe even some stupid doctors.\r\n...
In the town of Delhuva,\r\nWas brought a police dog Melhuva,\r\nWho hailed from the village of Gelhuva,\r\nTo bring some order and peace.\r\n\r\nDark and ferocious features,\r\nLike it there weren't many creatures,\r\nIt went around with preachers,\r\nSaying it sought to maintain the peace.\r\n\r\nWhile at first the people were happy,\r\nTo see their 'hoods were no longer scrappy,\r\nThat in peace...
Many people removed their masks,\r\nWhen there was no one there to ask.\r\nBut a few people with masks remained,\r\nBecause of a knowledge they gained.\r\n\r\nThey tried very hard to convey,\r\nTo the fellow humans they loved.\r\nFifteen days passed,\r\nThe unmasked among us passed.\r\n\r\n\r\n
Zomato is as Zomato does,\r\nThat's what the prompt said.\r\nLife is as life does,\r\nThat's how I've heard it said.\r\n\r\nZomato is an Indian app,\r\nThat keeps you well fed,\r\nFrom a hotel or a restaurant,\r\nOr even a road side shed.\r\n\r\nTheir delivery guys on motorbikes,\r\nBring the food to your doorstep,\r\nIf you fancy yourself as a chef,\r\nThey bring you groceries instead.
He was sitting in front of a 3D printing machine that was reading a design and transforming it from bits to atoms. He suddenly got thoughtful.It is when you name a thing that it becomes a thing. Before that, it is a mixture of other things. It is a material - plastic, metal, or wood. It is a set of things put together in a way that it does something different than what it did on its own.Naming is ...
A recipe for biriyani,\r\nCame to me from Di,\r\nShe told me that it would help,\r\nTo impress my wife to be.\r\n\r\nI tried it once to make at home,\r\nFollowing the words to the T.\r\nIt came out wrong and was so bad,\r\nIt didn't even impress me.\r\n\r\nDistraught and blaming my bad luck,\r\nI went running back to Di.\r\nReclaim Saffron, make Biriyani,\r\nWas all she said to me.\r\n\r\n
As a young child,\r\nI always went looking,\r\nIn books and in elders,\r\nThe instructions for living a life.\r\n\r\nAs a teenager,\r\nI went looking,\r\nFor the instructions of living a life,\r\nSo I could break them as I please.\r\n\r\nAs a young adult,\r\nI went looking,\r\nThe search got me a job, a wife, and children.\r\nBut no instructions for living a life.\r\n\r\nAs an adult,\r\nI realised...
I thought of going vegan,\r\nSo I wrote the pros and cons,\r\nMaybe people call me pagan,\r\nOr maybe they don't mind.\r\n\r\nNutritional deficiency,\r\nSocial Challenges,\r\nFinancial deficiency,\r\nPractical challenges.\r\n\r\nAfter I wrote the pros and cons,\r\nI asked my wife.\r\nShe said it doesn't matter,\r\n'coz in two days, I'll be back to What I am.
Today I am angry.\r\nI don't know anything,\r\nBut of the little that I know,\r\nI don't know nothing.\r\n\r\nToday I am hopeful,\r\nI know what I don't know,\r\nThat's the first step of learning.\r\n\r\n
Looking at the night sky,\r\nI'm quiet.\r\nI ponder about the depths \r\nof the universe.\r\nIts planets, stars, and galaxies.\r\n\r\nLooking at the world go by,\r\nI'm quiet.\r\nI ponder about the depths,\r\nOf the people.\r\nTheir joys, wishes, and sorrows.\r\n\r\nLooking at my mobile screen,\r\nI'm quiet.\r\nI ponder about the depths,\r\nOf the apps.\r\nTheir colors, swipe, and scroll.\r\n\r\nL...
A place to talk,\r\nDeep, important things,\r\nA place to keep,\r\nSilly and important things.\r\n\r\nThe daughter's doodles,\r\nThe son eating noodles,\r\nThe positive pregnancy test,\r\nOr even just a place to rest.\r\n\r\nFrom silent prayers,\r\nHugs and kisses, \r\nTo loud fights,\r\nIn silent nights.\r\n\r\nIt need not always be,\r\nA real table you see,\r\nIt could just be,\r\nAny corner or ...
Atomic clocks,\r\nForgotten dogs,\r\nPhilosophy rocks.\r\nScroll down.\r\n\r\nGetting a car,\r\nLosing a job,\r\nGoing away for.\r\nScroll on down.\r\n\r\nGot my heart broken,\r\nMy money got stolen,\r\nCalled me a fool,\r\nI scroll on down.\r\n\r\nMy wife and children sleep,\r\nThey don't get time with me,\r\n('coz I'm)\r\nLate at night scrolling my Twitter feed.\r\n\r\n
April is National Poetry Writing Month. Using a series of prompts to write poetries this month. The title of the post is the prompt.I had a dream,\r\nBut didn't want to work for it.\r\nI wanted the fame,\r\nBut didn't want to sweat for it.\r\n\r\nI had a passion,\r\nBut didn't want to strive for it.\r\nI wanted the life,\r\nBut didn't want to struggle for it.\r\n\r\nI had a love,\r\nBut didn't wan...