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Conspiracy theories 101

We seem to be aware of so many conspiracy theories in the world - the 9/11 attacks were an inside job, the moon landing was fake, Tupac was killed by the government and lately, the earth is flat and that NASA is an organisation whose sole intent is to keep the world brainwashed. I’ve been doing quite some reading into the whole conspiracy theory phenomenon and I think what’s interesting in all of these is a common denominator of mistrust and speculation. Also, funnily enough, most of these theories are based on the affairs and politics of USA. I am unsure of whether I see it this way because: a. A lot of what happens on the internet tends to be what happens in USA b. The conspiracy theorists in this country are louder than the others and hence, drown out the theories arising from other places c. Theirs is the only evil government d. They are the only ones who aren’t misled by the powers operating above them and controlling their lives and beliefs e. Any other explanation tha

Paris, je t'aime mais tu ne m'aime pas

Paris. The city has many flavours they say. I had dreamed of visiting this place ever since I read (more like studied) about it in my French classes. 10 years of studying French and 7 years of forgetting it later, I finally managed to visit la ville d'amour (mais pas avec une amour). The spectrum of opinions about the city varied from "wondrous" to "filthy" but one thing remained constant - it was always touted as a 'must-visit' city. And so when my brother decided he was coming to Europe, I used this as an excuse to throw Paris into the itinerary. When I told my friends (French and otherwise) that I was visiting Paris, I heard, "the people are not nice", "they won't speak to you in English even if they know English", "there's filth, dirt and beggars everywhere", "you can't go there unless you speak French" and the crown jewel of all comments, "any Frenchie not from Paris pretty much hates Paris.&q

Random prompt writing

I go to these writing meetups every Wednesday and this week's session was quite interesting. Dustin had these dice with different pictures on each side and gave one to each of us. The pictures that showed up after all of us had rolled our die were the words we were to use in our 15 minutes of writing (I spent 20 minutes writing though :P) So this is what came up. (I ended up using all but one word) Prompts: Sunflower , rainbow, lightning , flashlight , magnet , key , hand/palm , crescent moon , clock/watch It was a clear night, no clouds in the sky. Constable Marco could clearly see the crescent moon behind the leaves of the giant tree that stood guard outside the cemetery. There was a cool breeze that wafted past and stirred the sunflowers that lay at the head of the gravestone he stood at. He glanced at his watch and grimaced. 28 more minutes. He had another 28 minutes to decide whether he wanted to stay and meet the mysterious person from the online forum or just leav

First 6 months as an NRI

You've been accepted into a prestigious university in "veli naadu" (it was ETH Zürich in Switzerland for me) and after the incredulity of it all has come and gone, you start making preparations to make your move. You don't really know whether you're excited or you're anxious but there is a tinge of foreboding in that impatience, a tinge of worry in the glee, a dab of fright in the excitement. At least that was how it was for me. Now, after having spent 6 months (minus the 3 weeks that I was in Chennai for), I can safely say I am now one of those NRIs. Well, maybe not safely because if I was saying this and not writing it down along with my blog post, I'd be "kalaaichified" for the remainder of my life. But let's face the facts, I am currently a non-resident Indian. Anyway, so your beaming parents and grandparents will announce to all the aunties and uncles that "en payyan Swiss ku poran". Be happy. Not everyone gets this opportun

The difference a letter makes

I've started attending these meetups called Wednesday Writing Sessions. So we basically just write random stuff with a single prompt (the prompt for this session is now the title of this blog post) This is from one such session :) Today, with the advent of rapid means of communication (thanks to the internet), a letter can make all the difference between rearing ducks and rearing fucks. Our communication with friends and family is often riddled with typographical errors galore. The following is a story of one such typographical error that cost a young man his job and his peace of mind for many weeks to follow. There was once an ambitious young man who had all the motivation in the world to see his dreams to fruition but was blessed with nay a morsel of Duck. His frail body often succumbed to the wrath of the diseases swirling about in the Hair around him. His visage hadn't seen the sharp edge of a razor blade for many months and his countenance breathed of homeless.

Pondering in a tram

Forgive the weird poem. I found this in my Evernote notebook now as I was clearing out some stuff. Looks like I've written this on one of those many lonely tram rides :P As the tram snaked it's way through the city, I felt little else but pity, For one with nay a piece of wool, To keep him not lost from the gene pool. As we sing 2016 her swansong, And hope the next ain't so long, I hope we don't forget to mourn, From homes, people torn. We forget the others oft, When our lives go rather soft, But as much as we hate the hate, We do little till it's too late. As I sit in this tram, pondering life, I pity the soul who lost a wife, For we rarely stop and start to think, Of shit that happens within a blink.