Category: English Literature

Paving the path towards practicing Self Love

Alright so here I will be sharing some of my thoughts on how to take those initial steps to embark upon this beautiful journey of practicing self love and compassion on a daily basis.

1)  LET GO OF EXPECTATIONS
I know this can be tricky and quite hard for most of us because everything that we do has the desire of a certain outcome attached to it and if the outcome is not as expected, disappointments follow which lead to anxiety, it anger and the list of the negative feelings just go overboard. Instead you can have standards you like setting standards is what I allow in my life and what I don’t but don’t expect anything from anyone and from life in general. Try to go with the flow and you will soon start accepting the way you are and the way everyone else is and it being so much of peace, trust me. Just do your job letting go of the desire of the fruit- preached the greatest Lord Krishna in Bhagwad Gita.

2) DON’T TOLERATE ANYBODY’S UNNECESSARY SHIT
Now what I actually mean by it is that you are not supposed to bear with anybody projecting their hatred and frustration upon you especially if there are a closed one and if they matter but this just goes out of context if they are just random people on social media or those people whom you don’t considered to be friends. If they talk ill, let them, because their words define them and not who you are. But, on the other hand, if somebody close is treating you badly then you are not supposed to sit quietly and accept it. Rather communicate and gently do that because you don’t want to spoil the relationship, remind yourself that you want to mend the things and yeah thats how it goes. Because your comfort and level of peace has to be your highest priority. And and and, consI just read in a book, sorry can’t recall the name as of now, maybe “Codependent No More”. It said that you only tolerate the level of shit to the extent from others to which you make yourself go through. So be gentle and kind to your own self because if you don’t say anything bad about yourself then you won’t take it from others as well.

3) SETTING AND ENFORCING BOUNDARIES
Now this is again a tricky one. Boundaries are often created by us to protect our inner energy and tranquility. As we all know that we are human beings and we can have bad days too. It’s completely normal. So on those days, we might even act quite cold with our loved ones who genuinely care for us so we should the try and communicate with them that we are not in a position to talk rather than just venting out on them. Also, know that it is completely justified to ignore calls, not answer to texts, not be available for every hangout etc if you don’t feel like. You have to protect your little heart and its wishes but not by being rude and non-compassionate and that’s how self love functions.

This article is inspired by The Self Love Fix podcast on Google, make sure that you give it a try.

Dealing with jealousy

Oh well! So that’s quite a juicy topic and a very interesting one which is I feel is more of a hush-hush topic, for people know that it exists but they don’t want to admit it publicly, considering it might cause them some sort of an embarrassment or is going to tease their ego a bit and that’s the reason why they are busy silently combating with this one but here I am going to talk about it in a more umm, deeper manner or whatever you may call it.

I am pretty sure that all of us must have experienced jealousy at one stage or the other no matter how much we try to get away with it but I think walking through jealousy is only going to be a successful conquest if, we firstly accept and acknowledge that we have been at points, jealous in our life post which almost 70% of the job is already done. It’s absolutely normal, just a part of human mindset but is deeply rooted in fear and in lack and know that, the feeling of lack is rooted in ego.

Sometimes it is important for us to deeply analyse our emotions and go an extra mile to try and heal them cause unless we heal them, they are going to keep causing troubles for us, leading to absence of mental peace. So why not go into deeper insights and try and figure out how jealousy looks like. It is the general idea that can be taken from the help of sentences that people generally use;  I hate that she has those things, Why does she have them? I wish I had them. Why is he with her? I think I look much better than that girl. Look at me, my Life. I don’t have all these things. I don’t have this money. I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t have xyz and the list would go on and on unless we choose to accept it and embrace ourselves and practice more and more self love and compassion. Might sound difficult at first, but is not impossible.

If somebody has something, we need to regard it as a blessing bestowed upon them. For the enormous amounts of hard work that they must have been upto all those years of their life, somewhat like the quote “Work hard in Silence and let your success make the noise”. We don’t know, we aren’t aware how incredibly hard circusmstances they would have endured, how many failures they had to overcome and when the time has come for them to enjoy the reward, the fruit of long years of toiling hard and struggles, what are we doing to them? Are we really being compassionate here? Are we really wishing them luck and positivity. Are we really being good human beings here?No, by being jealous and envious, we arez on top of it, trying to tarnish their success by throwing away negativity and jealousy is a negative vibe. Let’s accept it.

So try and make a smooth transition from jealousy to being inspired by that someone, to that extent, where you also want to work hard to earn that fruit and for that, know that, you would also have to put in the equal amount of hardwork, absorb in the pressure and only then you will be rewarded because if you want to chill in an air conditioned room, you would first have to know the experience of being burnt under the sun. Because, my dear, nothing in this world is ever free of cost. You have to endure some amount of “pain” in order to get some “gain” and notice that when you channelize your entire energy towards this process of trying to gain something, trying to work work hard and fulfill your dreams & desire post setting up goals and following your passion, you would find yourself engulfed in a bubble of positivity and there would just be no room for negativity and even if there are some other things which make you feel low and jealous and if the self doubt tends to creep in, don’t worry. Just soothe your inner child, comfort it and with a tranquil state of mind, affirm and say that I have been working hard and I am sure if I don’t give up right now, I will also get what I truly deserve. Also, be mindful enough to not say that “I will also get to match up with that someone”. That’s where comparison comes into play and this is what leads to jealousy. So remember, that as long as you hold love and compassion in your heart, nothing negative can impact you. I hope it helped.

(2) 15 Date Ideas that you can do at home

Hope you guys checked out my previous article of the #LockdownDating series where I  listed down four budget-friendly methods of  keeping the spark in your relationship alive during these times of Covid 19. Here are the other few suggestions.

5) A MOVIE DATE
Who said that you need to go to a theatre crowded with 50 other people to celebrate you and your partner’s togetherness when you can do it in the privacy of your room itself. Decorate the room with scented candles, get into your comfy pajamas, snuggle closer to your loved one and boom here goes… Watch your favourite movie or maybe a new one together in the warmth of your home & partner’s arms. Works magically for home theatres.

6) A SPORTY DATE
Backyard is for out-the-room romance. Everyone is well aware of this but have you ever experimented it practically yourself? If not then go dress up and enjoy playing some sport i.e badminton, gully cricket with your beloved partner. This won’t only keep you fit in a gym-free world right now but also rekindle that dying out flame of romance between you two.

7) A NEW HOBBY DATE
No two people are exactly similar no matter how compatible you two are. So why not try and teach other one of your favourite hobbies which your partner admires the most about you. It can be learning to play a guitar, sewing sweaters, baking cookies, lifting weights, trying entangling yoga poses or just anything. Watch how the process of being a mentor to your loved one soon turns into a moment of celebrating love.

8) A CHOP-CHOP DATE
Lockdown has kept us from visiting hair salons and I am sure you must have missed out on so many of your  appointments. So why not let your love experiment with your hair and give it a fresh, new cut? That way, you’ll free yourself off a monotonous look and also sneak in a few moments of marital bliss. Don’t forget to return this hair stylist favour to your partner too.

9) A MORNING DATE
Waking up next to the person you love the most is undoubtedly one of the most calming and grateful feelings ever. Don’t you agree too? Try planting a soft kiss on your partner’s forehead to remind him/her of how serene and blessed you feel to be with him. Go brushing together, snap some cute selfies, have breakfast together and watch your love growing unfathomably.

10) A DRESS-TO-IMPRESS DATE
By now you must have been bored in your daily wears even if they are the most comfortable pyjamas on the planet. I know you desperately want to slip into your sassy outfits that you bought long ago, wear those fancy braids, put on that awe-inspiring makeup and woo your partner just like you used to in the pre lockdown era. So what are you waiting for? Make the use of the golden opportunity when your partner is busy working from home on his laptop and get ready to dress to impress and transform a normal evening into a dazzling date.

P.S~ Stay tuned for the last and final part of this article. I am sure it is going to be an interesting one. Hope you all had a fun time reading.

Frost’s Road!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

The first stanza begins with the poet stating that he had two choices presented metaphorically through the form of two roads diverging in a forest. However, he could only traverse one road. Thus he had to make a conscious decision and he contemplated between the two roads. He thus stood and looked down at one as far as he could to where the road bent in the forest.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

The poet takes the other road, having decided it to just as good as the first road and maybe even better than the first because it was greener and less worn than the other path. However, as he traverses the road the poet thinks maybe both the roads must be worn out equally due to travelling.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

The poet states that in the morning both the roads were equally covered with untrodden leaves which were not yet black which usually happens when someone steps on the leaves.
The poet exclaims that he kept the first road for another day when he would travel the first road. Yet the poet sadly knows that one road leads to another and it is very difficult to find one’s way back. This is a metaphor of the journey of life where one is led from one path to the journey and people rarely come back to where they once started. Thus the poet doubts as to whether he will ever come back to this place.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The poet then envisions himself that somewhere in the future he would be telling with a sigh that two roads diverged in an autumnal wood and he chose and dared to take the one less travelled and that has made all the difference and helped him become the person he is today.

The two roads depict the various choices that are sprung our way and the need to be unconventional at times in our choice. Following the crowd doesn’t always make much of a difference thus in an implicit manner Frost encourages the reader to dare to make choices that differ from the rest, the choices that very few people make, the road less travelled by!


Sushant singh rajput and bollywood

14 June, 2020. I write and underline this date in red.

It’s been a week and a day since we lost the great actor to suicide. While we flood social media with tributes to him and awareness about mental health, Sushant is probably flailing around and looking down at us through the smoky clouds. 

In this post, I’m not going to dove on about mental health, nor I am going lay flowers for him. This post isn’t a rant; this is serious and needs to be more talked about.

On the morning of 14th, the whole nation was left in a state of shock. It was the third death in Bollywood in the past two months, all of which were sudden and unexpected.

Since his death, a lot has been unraveled about the Bollywood, its dark side and the nepotism in the industry.

This is post is not to blame anyone, nor to praise anyone. It is about what we as an audience can do, with a slight concoction about the aforementioned topics.

  1. We need to be a vigilant and responsible audience, we need to watch and like the content, rather than the actors.

We have pedestalizedthe film workers so much that we forgot that they, too, like us are just at a job. A job which is as ordinary as ours, just that everyone and anyone under the sky can have access to it, acknowledge it or reject it.

  • We choose and make someone’s career, we need to watch their work and assess it and not just absorb anything that they show us.
  • While we blame the hierarchical paradigm of Bollywood and lash out the ones who are where they are because of blood, we must not start targeting everyone. Those at fault must be gripped but those who have done nothing wrong, shall not be targeted.
  • Bollywood is the nation’s industry just like BHEL or BSNL. Everyone shall have the opportunity to work in it, and this should not be regulated by the already established workers.

A government regulated systemic processes shall be incorporated that check the industry and recruit the workers.

Bollywood does not belong to star kids; it belongs to us, our nation and its common people.

Raise your voice before it’s too late and we are robbed of our own industry.

Reach out to me @ekanika_shah on instagram.

An Introduction

I don’t know politics but I know the names
Of those in power, and can repeat them like
Days of week, or names of months, beginning with Nehru. I am Indian, very brown, born in Malabar,
I speak three languages, write in
Two, dream in one.
Don’t write in English, they said, English is
Not your mother-tongue. Why not leave
Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins,
Every one of you? Why not let me speak in
Any language I like? The language I speak,
Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses
All mine, mine alone.
It is half English, Half Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest,
It is as human as I am human, don’t
You see? It voices my joys, my longings, my
Hopes, and it is useful to me as cawing
Is to crows or roaring to the lions, it
Is human speech, the speech of the mind that is

The poem “An Introduction” by Kamala Das talks of the desires, the disappointment and the struggles that generally a traditional Indian woman had to face in her time. She says that she doesn’t know politics but can rant the names of all the politicians in the country. She introduces herself as Indian, detailing her skin tone, her place of stay and the language that she prefers to write. She talks of the people that criticize her for using English as a medium to express her thoughts. She says that she knows that her English isn’t perfect but English is able to express her thoughts better than any other language can for it gives voice to her aspirations, her troubles, joys. English is as useful to her as cawing is to crows or roaring is to lions.

Here and not there, a mind that sees and hears and
Is aware. Not the deaf, blind speech
Of trees in storm or of monsoon clouds or of rain or the
Incoherent mutterings of the blazing
Funeral pyre. I was child, and later they
Told me I grew, for I became tall, my limbs
Swelled and one or two places sprouted hair.
When I asked for love, not knowing what else to ask
For, he drew a youth of sixteen into the
Bedroom and closed the door, He did not beat me
But my sad woman-body felt so beaten.
The weight of my breasts and womb crushed me.
I shrank Pitifully.

She then moves to talk about puberty and the changes that took place in her physically and later emotionally. She talks of the disappointment she faced in love when she asked for love and was violated. She talks of the pregnancy that followed it when the weight of her breasts and womb crushed her.

Then … I wore a shirt and my
Brother’s trousers, cut my hair short and ignored
My womanliness. Dress in sarees, be girl
Be wife, they said. Be embroiderer, be cook,
Be a quarreller with servants. Fit in. Oh,
Belong, cried the categorizers. Don’t sit
On walls or peep in through our lace-draped windows.
Be Amy, or be Kamala. Or, better
Still, be Madhavikutty. It is time to
Choose a name, a role. Don’t play pretending games.
Don’t play at schizophrenia or be a
Nympho. Don’t cry embarrassingly loud when
Jilted in love …

She then proceeds to tell the consequences of her physical violation at the age of 16. She started to crossdress by wearing a shirt and her brother’s trousers. She cut her hair short and ignored her womanliness which was a rebellion against her own sex. People then started to advise her to be a woman, dress in women clothing such as sarees, cook and be a wife. She was asked to quarrel with servants and fit in with the rest of the world. She was asked to fit in with the rest of the society and not bawl when left disappointment.

I met a man, loved him. Call
Him not by any name, he is every man
Who wants. a woman, just as I am every
Woman who seeks love. In him . . . the hungry haste
Of rivers, in me . . . the oceans’ tireless
Waiting. Who are you, I ask each and everyone,
The answer is, it is I. Anywhere and,
Everywhere, I see the one who calls himself I
In this world, he is tightly packed like the
Sword in its sheath. It is I who drink lonely
Drinks at twelve, midnight, in hotels of strange towns,
It is I who laugh, it is I who make love
And then, feel shame, it is I who lie dying
With a rattle in my throat. I am sinner,
I am saint. I am the beloved and the
Betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no
Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I.

She then proceeds to talk of a man she met and fell in love with. She then talks of how her lover was every man who sought a woman, “the hungry haste of rivers” just like she was every woman who seeks love. She talks of how her lover was impatient in love and she had all the patient in the world such as the “the oceans’ tireless waiting” She talks of the un-deluded freedom that a free woman or any soul for the matter could cherish, the various experiences that life has to offer.

The Nine Hearts Of Gold

The athletes had come from so many countries
To run for the gold and the silver and bronze
Many weeks and months in training
All building up to the games

The poem written by David Roth focusses on the athletes who have come from different parts of the world to compete and win either gold, silver or bronze medals. They have trained for months to participate in the events with the hopes of winning.

All round the field spectators were gathered
Cheering on all the young women and men
Then the final event of the day was approaching
The last race about to begin

People had gathered to watch and cheer the young men and women. The final event of the day was approaching and the final race was about to begin.

The loudspeakers called out the names of the runners
The one hundred metres the race to be run
And nine young athletes stood there determined
And poised for the sound of the gun

The names of the runners who would be taking part in the race was announced. The nine participants were determined to win the competition and poised themselves at the starting point, waiting for the sound of the gun to signal the start of the race.

The signal was given, the pistol exploded
And so did the runners on hearing the sound
But the youngest among them stumbled and staggered
And he fell on his knees to the ground

The pistol was fired and the race began. The runners charged ahead but one of the runners who was the youngest of the lot stumbled and fell to his knees the ground.

He gave out a cry of frustration and anguish
His dreams and his efforts dashed in the dirt
But as sure as I’m standing here telling the story
Now it’s a strange one, but here’s what occurred

The fallen athlete cried out in anguish and disappointment. His dreams had come to an end. However, something occurred which was quite strange.

The eight other athletes stopped in their tracks
The ones who had trained for so long to compete
One by one they turned round and came back to help him
And lifted the lad to his feet

The eight other athletes who were ahead of him stopped to help him back to his feet.
The other runners who had trained so hard and so long to compete for turned back to help the fallen athlete. This shows their unselfish selves and their compassion for a fellow competitor.

Then all nine runners joined hands and continued
The one hundred metres reduced to a walk
And the banner above that said “Special Olympics”
Could not have been nearer the mark

The hundred-metre race was reduced to a walk as the nine competitors joined hands to cross the finishing line together. The banner which showed that it was special Olympics couldn’t have been more accurate for it eas indeed a special gesture by all the competitors of that race.

That’s how the race ended, with nine gold medals
They came to the finish line holding hands still
Thus the race ended with nine athletes holding their hands right to the finishing mark. They won nine gold medals – one for each — very deservingly.

And the banner above and nine smiling faces
Said more than these words ever will
Said more than these words ever will

All the nine runners won the gold medal as all of them finished the race together and they stood smiling under the banner that rightly declared it as  ‘Special Olympics’.

This poem showcases the need to be compassionate towards the less fortunate and those who struggle and fall down.

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

“I know why the caged bird sings” or “Caged Bird” is a poem about social disparity and injustice. Maya Angelou uses the metaphor of birds to represent her contemporary society wherein discrimination was widely prevalent. The African-American community was marginalised by the White Americans. She juxtaposes between the bird in captivity and the free bird soaring and claiming the sky. The free bird is free to do whatever it wants and soars in the free sky while the caged bird can only imagine doing so.

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind  
and floats downstream  
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

The free bird soars the sky with the wind on its back to help it along and floats downstream till the current ends. This shows that it can traverse any amount of distance without any restriction. It is free to dip his sings in the orange rays of the sun and claim that the sky is his own.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and  
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

In contrast, the caged bird lies helpless, ignored and desperate. He stalks down his narrow cage which suggests that in contrast to the bountiful endless sky, the caged bird is suffocating for lack of space. The clear disparity and duality of freedom are explicit in the first two stanzas. The caged bird can hardly and seldom see through the bars of his cage. There isn’t much to see when one is caged and the lack of freedom fills him with rage at the injustice. The bars of rage can also be a metaphor of the social discrimination where the Afro-Americans were treated with contempt and disgust and they moulded the cage with hatred in their hearts and rage. The caged bird’s wings are clipped and his feet are tied, suggestive of the inhumanity and actions which go against nature. Bereft of flight and the ability to walk, the caged bird is only left with the option to sing.

The caged bird sings  
with a fearful trill  
of things unknown  
but longed for still  
and his tune is heard  
on the distant hill  
for the caged bird  
sings of freedom.

The caged bird is even afraid to sing. The lack of freedom and fear of punishment has left it scarred and it sings feebly and fearfully of things unknown. The bird sings of the things that he wanted to see but was unable to. The song and the tune of the caged bird are heard at a distance on the hill. The song manages to traverse and travel to the distant hill because the bird cries and sings of freedom that he was being unable to attain.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own

The free bird thinks of another breeze, another place where it could visit. The free bird thinks of the trade winds blowing through the trees and the fat worms that it could enjoy on a dawn bright lawn. The free birds name the sky his own as he is free to do whatever it wants and thus thinks of himself as the master of the sky.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams  
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream  
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied  
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird, however, doesn’t have the freedom to think of the “trade winds” and the worms on a “dawn bright lawn” because his dreams have been snatched away. The bird has been caged, his power of flight has been snatched away and his feet have been tied. The bird is a prisoner and thus his dreams are good as dead in a grave. Through the repetition of the line, “his wings are clipped and his feet are tied” in the fourth stanza, Maya Angelou stresses the lack of freedom of the caged bird. Maya Angelou through the metaphor of the caged bird tells us that the Afro-Americans didn’t have much of a choice than to be mere prisoners in the hands of the cruel discriminatory White Americans.

The caged bird sings  
with a fearful trill  
of things unknown  
but longed for still  
and his tune is heard  
on the distant hill  
for the caged bird  
sings of freedom.

The refrain (3rd and 6th stanza) highlights the bird’s determination to keep singing despite the adverse circumstances. This poem can be a representation of the poet’s own cry and expression of freedom. Maya Angelou can well be regarded as the caged bird in the poem. Through the use of the metaphor, the poem compares caged birds to the African Americans fighting for equality during the civil rights movement.





Simple Joys Of Life: Shoaib Ibrahim & Dipika Kakar Ibrahim

Firstly, a very happy birthday to Shoaib! May Allah bless you with good health!

Now, this article is a result of the “loads of appreciation” embodied within me since long which just kind of overflowed after I saw this video titled as Shoaika Se Sawal on YouTube.

Shoaib Ibrahim and Dipika Kakar Ibrahim need no introduction for they have been the loved faces in one of the highest rated TV shows of that time Sasural Simar Ka and are known for their notable performances in many popular daily soaps. But still, for first time readers, let me start with a brief recap. Dipika was a divorcee. Shoaib and his family whole-heartedly accepted her which should not even raise a question of surprise. I mean, it isn’t fair to judge people based on their past right? What matters is that she is such a loving soul. All of us know this well but not many of us are able to truly implement.

Dipika, despite of being brought up in a contrasting family background (as compared to Shoaib’s), she adjusted herself and became domesticated, living in a joint family, binding the whole family together and mind it, she did not do any of it compromisingly but she says she’s living her dream of being a full-time housewife. And she didn’t do anything special for it is the duty of every wedded woman to spread happiness wherever she goes. Why does it have to be too hard to nurture a bond with in-laws? It’s very simple and should be like that only, Dipika is a living testament to this. How organically she adjusted herself in an environment which could have otherwise been so non-negotiable, all because of her husband’s love and support. That’s how marriage works.

How humble is that of her? She won Bigg Boss 12 (though I didn’t follow the season) but ofcourse have heard things about her journey growing by leaps and bounds. And also, how “some’ people found it difficult to resonate with her because she was too kind or seemed too gentle and “perfect”. Haha! Who is to blame here? None obviously, because those people are embedded in deep roots of darkness (negativity) that their eyes hurt when exposed to the light (positivity) and they yell hard in pain. They deserve compassion not outrage. Says the Greatest, Lord Krishna in Shrimad Bhagwad Gita.

And #Shoaika, the power couple knows this well. Shoaib himself hails from a very humble background and is wary of the struggling days. And what amazes me rather pacifies my heart is that how grounded these two individuals are. I haven’t been following them since forever but I can say that they have always been living a life full of genuine simplicity. They live for just those pure moments of joy and bliss with family. I relate to mammoth extents to this couple and there’s a lot to learn from them. How do they manage to strike a work-life balance almost so effortlessly. Sometimes Shoaib isn’t working but Dipika is but should that make him an object to attract trolls? Well, sadly it happens. “Biwi ki kha raha hai”.

We talk of mental health so openly or rather we have started to talk of it post Sushant’s demise. But these social media bullies are the true culprits taking potshots at someone just because they find others’ happiness too hard to digest. Shoaika talk so wonderfully about this and how they have been dealing with the constant negativity.

But amidst all of this, I’d make a confession here that they have become my “feel good” people especially after Shoaib’s sister chose to upload that video. Watch it here: Shoaika Se Sawal . They radiate so many shades of being amazing human beings. Vitality, Respect for elders, Prioritising Family, Finding happiness in simple joys of life, Keeping the ego at bay, striking a work-life balance, staying motivated and passionate to work ( Dipika reluctantly agreed to do Bigg Boss because HER family, yes, Shoaib’s family was in need) and Shoaib works out so relentlessly hard so that whenever an opportunity strikes his door, he doesn’t lose it, because of being out of shape. You see, how challenging can Entertainment industry be. They aren’t two massively successful people but what matters is that they are happy, at peace, satisfied, guided by mutual love & respect and forever grateful to the almighty and living their life with grace, dignity and LOVE. It just feels nice to see that humans like these exist witnessing all the negativity around. But I was wrong, and I am happy to be proved https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt29ygThSRs/?igshid=cuf4q8jqxzzo wrong.https://www.instagram.com/p/By0Xkxol10L/?igshid=91lcrpsiani9

Nobody’s perfect and so aren’t they but what matters is that they never give up on trying to become better human beings and “effort” is all that matters. My heart feels happy seeing people stay grounded, honest and true to themselves in the warmth & comfort of their loved ones’ embrace. Because Family is where life bgins and love never ends.

For george floYd

How is it I trigger your vision so much

That you become a thunderstorm 

And press against my chest until I can’t breathe.

I dismantle into the soil 

and you rain upon me 

suffocating my pores.

I am not fierce but 

I resent with the subtle smell of petrichor.

Why is it you want me to dilute my skin

and pour myself into your white ceramic cups

when my earthen pots are just decorated enough.

How is it I am not a ‘ray’ of hope

But a tunnel of darkness.

I am the metaphors that rest upon your tongue

I want to be more— more than your diction

I want to be a human. 

Why is it you want me to become you

And forget everything we’ve been through.

I am the prequel, the story and the sequel

I was exhaled by the cosmos, 

I refuse to be altered by an inch.

–ekanika shah.

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