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“To reinvent oneself, any place can be home. Pack your bags, follow life as it is calling you right now. Who knows what is in store?” A short story.
Here is the fifth winner of our November 2016 Muse of the Month contest, Priya Tallanje.
The cue was: “When one was reinventing oneself, anywhere could be home.” ― Manju Kapur, The Immigrant
As it always happened in times of joblessness, when there was not enough work to keep the mind busy, fantasy came and occupied his head.
‘Move, move, move’ shouted Fantasy. ‘Pull up your shallow roots, find an outlet for your passion, you need to reinvent yourself!’
Yes, he would reinvent himself. His photographs would appear on all international magazines; he would feature in one of those ‘I-threw-everything-to-follow-my-dreams’ kind of stories.
Encouraged by this rosy picture, he clicked on the ‘New Memo’ icon in his mailbox and typed in ‘Resignation’ in the subject line.
‘Bah’ exclaimed Reasoning, interrupting his sweet daydream, ‘A rolling stone gathers no moss. Stick to one place, one profession, that is how you grow a career. What do you need? A career or a job? Every other person on the road has a DSLR camera. And just because they like clicking photos, they don’t quit their jobs. Get up you fool, get real, this is just a whim, nothing else’. Unlike Fantasy, Reasoning was a resident in his head, hibernating most of the times, waking up when required.
With his ego deflated, he erased the subject line and sat still in front of the computer.
‘How long do you want to stagnate like this? How long will you tolerate meaningless meetings, appraisals which serve as an eyewash? Do what you love, follow your heart, believe in your dreams. Life is not always about following predefined templates, take a risk, get going’ cried Fantasy.
Buoyed on, he again entered ‘Resignation’ in the subject line. The thought of not seeing his manager day after day, the thought of not having to talk to the client at unearthly hours gave him a strange sensual joy.
He hit the send button. Fantasy smiled at Reasoning with glee.
‘Can you come to the conference room, I wanted to discuss a few things with you’. He looked up at the source of this sudden interruption and found himself staring at his manager.
‘Sure’. His heart skipped a beat.
The conference room, usually reserved for large meetings of 30 people or more seemed eerie with just two people.
‘There is an immediate opening in Santa Clara for a .NET developer in our project. The onsite coordinator wanted to know if we have any travel ready resources. I thought of checking with you first before suggesting your name. This is for a period of 18 months. Would you be interested?’
He blinked. The mail he had sent a minute ago, this unexpected offer out of the blue, everything added to his speechlessness.
Reasoning took over. ‘Sure’ he replied.
‘Fine’ replied the manager. ‘I will talk to onsite and initiate the process for your travel’.
Reasoning wasn’t done yet. There was still a loose end to be tied up. ‘Err, I had sent a resignation email a couple of minutes ago. You can just ignore it. I… I…was in a different frame of mind. Work pressure and all that.’ He left the sentence unfinished and gave a sheepish grin. The manager just nodded his head.
On his way, back to his cubicle, Fantasy again tried clamouring for his attention.
‘This is like a quagmire. Do not get into it. You will never be able to come out. Say no, take a risk, reinvent yourself’.
‘Bah’ said Reasoning. ‘To reinvent oneself, any place can be home. Pack your bags, follow life as it is calling you right now. Who knows what is in store?’
Fantasy muttered silently and disappeared. Reasoning heaved a sigh of relief.
Priya Tallanje wins a Rs 250 Flipkart voucher, as well as a chance to be picked one among the 10 top winners at the end of 2016. Congratulations!
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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