A WHISPER IN YOUR HEAD

             Growing up, you truly realize the depth of classics that you have read when you were a child, and although it might not have stuck with you back then, memories and certain lines of the story pop out of the attic of some corner of your head when you are least expecting. I am talking here about Hemingway’s 1952 classic, ‘Old Man and the Sea’.        It was summer vacation of early 2010s when I was enjoying one of those lovely cold evenings at my mother’s place in Wayanad, I came across a copy of Old Man and The Sea at a local bookstore in the town of (I still have the book!). At the time it seemed an easy read, just a hundred pages, a man trying catch a big fish and no major mind boggling twists or revelations. It sure was a good read. I had also watched the 1958 movie adaption of the novel during that time on the computer. Sure, a gripping tale, high stakes and battle against sharks, pretty decent stuf...

Dear reader,      I would like to attempt a translation of the poem 'Mambazham' that translates to 'Mango' written Vailoppilli Sreedharan Menon in the year 1936 first published in Mathrubhumi's Onam Edition newspaper. The poet considers the loss of his brother, four years prior as the primary inspiration for this poem.     As for me I first read this poem in from my Malayalam textbook back in school. Reading it again today for some reason it made me love the poem even more. However I realised that there isn't a translated version of the poem on the internet. I would like to share this poem to you, dear reader.     I do apologise in advance as my words would never do justice to the great depth and tone to the original language and context to which the poem has written. I shall try my best to recreate the emotions of this poem while trying to stay true to the material. Mango As the first mango fell from the tree in the cou...

   Two soldiers are at a standoff, two men enlisted to the army since they had no work, two souls with a life on the trigger finger of the other.  Reading this poem for the first time in eighth grade really hit hard when I realised how we are merely holding on by a thin strand of 'humanity'. It's funny how even this dissappears under some great notions of patriotism where human lives are merely reduced to a number of collateral damage.     What makes the poem all the more memorable for me is how the poet speaks about his enemy. If it were not for the war he would have met him at a pub, talk about good times and get merry. Or perhaps he would have even helped him out for a crown or two, but then, he couldn't.    If you notice the third stanza you realise the poem desperately trying to defend his actions. He was a human, but he was the enemy, right? The poet did not have a choice, he would have been dead otherwise if he hadn't pulled the...

"To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears."     - Wordsworth, Ode: Intimations of Immortality       O meanest flower, you are not what you seem. When ol' Wordsworth called you mean, would it have hurt your feelings? Yet here you here, purely because he called you so.  As I looked at the little mean flower, I had a cynical approach to what Wordsworth said. Feelings too deep for tears? I don't think so. But feelings nevertheless.  So here we are, jus the two of us, little flower.  As the little flower looked at me, I started to feel threatened! Threatened I say. Jus a miniscule of a life yet so mean! Is it your happiness that is mocking my pessimism? What would Wordsworth would have thought that made him write so? Was it the flower he gifted to his lady love which she denied? Or perhaps he could see between the little colored petals into its heart? Speak to me flower! I demanded Sile...

     With the thought of returning my slightly overdue book to the library I reached the college gate when I saw a message from my classmate, Alan inviting us to visit the student’s science fair happening inside campus. Since it had been ages since I’ve had any contact with science, I decided to give it a shot.    Personally, I had not taken part in any science fairs at all. However back in school, once our teacher requested students to come up with ideas since she was hosting one in our sports room. Me, who just had the most stupendous idea suggested that I figure out something to deal with radioactive waste. Although I did not plot a working plan yet it seemed like an idea that soars above all ideas. Either way after a stunned response that showed that something like uranium can’t be brough to school, I duly resigned from scientific ideas.      As I met my friend, I came across the group of ninth graders he had helped 3D print a working orga...

       One of my professors in class was talking about remote areas in India, those villages that have been geographically cut off from the cities and towns, where life moves a bit slower. He proceeded to speak about the similar strangeness that one feels in the suburban areas of the cities, especially at night. Although full of people, he hinted at the uncanny character of suburbs at night. Being a night owl, I decided to get on my bicycle and experience it myself. So, after it turned dark, I stepped out.   While I was thinking for a proper introduction to the blog, almost immediately I was intimidated by this peculiar feeling. I have been out late at night, even alone, but for some reason this time it felt different. It was quiet, but not the kind of quiet you would experience on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but a different kind of quiet. It reminded me of the times when I used to be scared to go upstairs by myself back home at night. The sound of the bicycle ti...

  After dozens of reels on Instagram, I finally decided to watch the movie “Kingdom of Heaven” directors cut. I had formerly watched the official version, but there’s something about medieval age war movies that pulls me back. The iron swords, chainmail armor, silky capes, bravery and bloodshed amidst epic music and whatnot. (a quick plot synopsis is jotted at the end, if you would like to know the story. In short, it is an epic historical drama under the premise of the Holy Crusades, narrating the tale of blacksmith Balian as he goes to Jerusalem to undergo his path to redemption) I don’t know where to start with this film. Not being a movie just about the siege of the city of Jerusalem, it dives deep into the politics associated within the Holy Kingdom itself. A topic as delicate as the conflict between religions is portrayed so efficiently that rooting for any side is just a matter of preference. Unlike the film “300” where the Spartans are shown as brave warriors who were a...