Let The Life Flow

My parents are ardent supporters of a political party whose ideology is different from what I and my siblings stand for.   So at times a discussion on political scenario in the family gatherings generates heated exchanges. During one such discussion my mother declared that she hates Muslims. It gave me a punch for thought. I stopped for a moment and then asked my 72 year old mother, “Have you been harmed by any Muslim in your life Ma?” And it was her turn for a pause. She finally said, “No”. But her antipathy towards Muslims decides her political perception and may be some other life aspects. And ‘a realization’ knocked me like a bolt. She has not been harmed nor done any good to her by any Muslim. She in fact has interacted with only one Muslim family in her entire life. And I know that interaction was always cordial till it lasted. They were neighbor to her brother’s family. When her brother’s family shifted out to some other place this interaction ceased.   Where from...

Recently I went for a get together of my high school batch mates. Never had thought a possibility of that exists and when it suddenly came to my conscious it was definitely a surprise. But joining and experiencing the high energy of that congregation was a pleasant surprise. I could not recognize most of the male batch mates at the first sight. But it was not awkward as the non recognition of the other was mutual in most cases. And that made the reintroduction process a fun game of guessing and failing and re-guessing and at times failing and at times shouting out their names with sheer pleasure of recollection of their names. What was surprising however to me was towards the end of the day when I looked those faces I felt there was not much change in their facial contours from the memory I had of them. Amazing! My mind had mapped out the new faces with the old ones stored in my subconscious and all the changes that seemed discords had been overlooked…! The impact of more than t...