hmm....

A few days after my third semester exams were over, I met with a girl in a chat room. I had expected it to be nothing more than an inconsequential event. Hardly did I realize at that point in time that this was the prelude to a wonderful relationship.

My exceptionally good marks in the next three semesters and my selection in the campus recruitment process, among other things, were connected in a way. All these events were inextricably linked to my association with that girl.

I don't believe in superstitions. But every single decision of mine preceded by her wish turned out to be a prudent one, every single venture of mine in which she wished me luck turned out to be a success. She was a veritable alter ego to me for those six months. Those were perhaps the best days of my life.

I had a hunch that all this would end one day though it didn't seem possible at that time. It was too good, just too fantastic to be true. The dream ended one fine morning. But I was prepared for it. It's true that the end was painful. I had to stop thinking that I could include her in everything. But there are no regrets. I have moved on. Now I view the memories of my days with her sans the events leading to its end. These thoughts invigorate me when I'm tired, lift me up when I'm down, bring about a smile on my face when I'm depressed. Thank you, dearest, for being a part of my most cherished memories, for being the kind of friend you were. Thank you for everything.

Terror

Shivered limbs, bodies charred beyond recognition, devastated minds and burnt spirits - the hand of terror has painted the capital black. Some would call it the face of Satan. I call it the absence of reason.

Thousands of people get killed every year. But so do terrorists. The people we demonise are matyrs in the eyes of their comrades. The faceless perpetrator of terror is not to be blamed. The people responsible are the ones that invent justifications for these dastardly acts, who fabricate causes to kill and die for. 'Jihad'-that's what they quite ostensibly call it. It is perhaps the most satiric euphemism known to mankind.

Terrorism is not a malady by itself. It is the manifestation of a venereal disease that runs deep in the societal folds. Years of neglect, acute poverty, the agony of not being heard breeds desperation and turns the victims into soft targets of brainwash. Instead of looking for symptomatic relief, there is a need to examine the deeper problems of poverty and unemployment.

It's time we realised that the fight against terror is, in effect, the fight against poverty. It's time we worshipped only one God...and called it Reason.

Every person we lift out of abject poverty amounts to one soldier less in the terror bandwagon. Every single refusal to join in religious jingoism is a tribute to peace. However cliched it might seem, it needs to be reinforced in our mindscape from time to time so that we don't lose any opportunity to contribute in our own way to the cause of eliminating terror.The ability to be rational in the face of reversals is perhaps the ultimate test of toughness.