Quill & Parchment

The next morning Binoy woke up in the same old ramshackle and dilapidated hut that was home to the four boys. He saw all the other three boys sleeping and didn’t disturb them; it was a li’l too early to start the day. He went through his old morning routine and then went to the shopkeeper who used to give him roses to sell.

“Kaka, Roses?” Binoy asked in an accustomed tone.

The shopkeeper looked up and did a double take. “Binoy??!!! You? Here?” Kaka’s face was like a picture that changed emotions with realisation and Binoy’s head hung.

“What are you doing back here? I was told you had been taken up to live with some rich and educated couple to their home.” Kaka’s tone was part accusatory and part melancholic. He took one glimpse at Binoy’s fallen face and nodded with lowered eyes. “Ohhh!!! So it was the…

“Bhaiya, I want to tell you something.” Binoy bit his lower lip contemplating if to spill the truth or fabricate a new lie. The facts might let Aru Di believe him, but Arnab Bhaiya would surely go back to being dubious and apathetic towards him and that too when they had just bonded. He couldn’t risk it. If he had to leave this place, then he would not be thrown out like a thief but go quietly letting them believe he was just a good-for-nothing boy.

He must have looked silly standing there thinking because Arnab stood up and came to Binoy placing a hand on his shoulder and shaking him hard.

“Binoy! You wanted to me something?” Asked Arnab and Binoy gulped, nodding.

“Three….I…I saw…..” Binoy was sweating now “I saw three rats creating racquet in the kitchen!!!” He lied.

Arunima got up at once, “NO! Not the rats…

Three months, 90 days, they were someone’s vacation, someone’s honeymoon, someone’s first trimester, someone’s school term but for Binoy, the three months on the roads were a harsh teacher, an experience that taught him some hard driven lessons that would stay with him one lifetime. To sleep on an empty stomach, to be towed from one place to another by the police at night, to be shooed away by the people in posh cars like a stray dog and to live alone, all alone, and no one to call his own.

Binoy was not a kid. He was a boy of 14, a teenager as indecisive, rebellious and confused as any other boy of his age. His body was changing, and so were his thought process, his beliefs and his ideals. A time when boys need a mother to help shape her son’s future and a father to guide him…

Tears from laughing until crying

Tears of change

Tears of grief

Tears from onions

Basal tears

Tears of timeless reunion

Tears of ending and beginning

Tears of momentum redirected

Tears of release

Tears of possibility and hope

Tears of elation at a liminal moment

Tears of remembrance

You must be wondering these are sketches done by some brilliant artist who has given a pencil to his imagination of tears of different causes, but that is not what this is. These are microscopic images of tears of different reasons taken by a photographer named Rose-Lynn Fisher. Yes!!! Just like snowflakes, every tear has a different formation. 

Tears are always an emotional thing but if we look at the scientific aspect of tears, we cry three basic type of tears that are, Basal, Psychic and Reflex Tears ranging from one that keeps the eyes lubricated to the ones that are the outcome…

The online world creates a virtual connection between people. It allows us to more efficiently gather news about family, friends, acquaintances, celebrities and so on. The virtual connection inspires many fantasies and fools people into believing they know much more than they know. It provides a way for people to connect with many more people than they can in person.

For shy people, the online world creates a safer way to reach out and get to know more people. It helps find people who appear to be like you much more quickly. It makes a lot of people feel less alone.

The online world makes it a lot easier to gather information that is useful in our lives. We can find the cheapest place to buy something. We can find health information that saves our lives. We can find employment or business opportunities we would probably never find if there…

This time I took long to announce the winner but this time there were 25 entries and it was difficult for me to decide which one was the best. All entries were fabulous and I thank all of you to participate enthusiastically. There were few Biblical metaphors and a Bible verse which can’t be compared with other entries so they are not considered though they were absolutely fitting for the picture.

Following are the captions for the picture:

Ashrita Saran: “Arise and step out from where you are to where you need to be!”

Amiya Kumar: “Arise and awake…Be ready for struggle…But life is not an empty.” dream…make it sublime!

Kalpana Kameshwari Vogeti: “Your cocoon is no doubt comfortable but there’s more to life beyond that!”

Pratikshya Priyadarshini: “Break-through “

Smruti Rekha Patra: “You will never know your real self unless you break through…