Love.

noun
1. a profoundly, tender, passionate affection for another person2. a feeling of warm personal attachment of deep affection

And that is how the dictionary defines love ; simple.

The way I deem love is intricate and complex - something that can't be defined, but felt.

Love is what drives the world today. It's that one emotion that has had everybody under its robe. It's what millions of people around the globe spend thinking about, worrying about and spreading about. It's one of the things that make that smile last, just reminiscing about a few moments or the journey itself.

Love is multifarious and composite, stationing at different forms. Each form is one of its kind - expressed differently, shown differently. But they all stand on the same base and the basic principle of give and take - the code of love.

The mother-daughter bond is probably one of the most strongest forms of love ever to be expressed. From the moment you enter the world till death and beyond, a mother will give love and continue to show it through thick and thin. Even the times when the daughter is completely incorrigible or out of hand, a mother will never leave the grip of her daughters hold. When the time of marriage strikes, she might let go of one hand, but the other one? It'll stay with her forever perpetually.

The six letter word that means so much and something that most people are very fortunate to have is family. Family are those people who understand your true individuality and accept you for who you are, with a few compromises or suggested changes made here and there, for your benefit. They're whom you've lived with, throughout the time you've metamorphed into a mature individual. There may be times you've done things for your family willingly or not, but either way, it's necessary to keep this love everlasting, for the true meaning and connotation of your life.

The different people we spend almost our entire span of life with is whom we relate with to friendship. Friendship is important and plays a major part in all of our lives. They're the people who influence us, good and bad. The people who stand with you from now to forever. The people whom you love and be loved by, standing as an extended family.

And then, of course, the love of the lovers. When time comes, every girl will have their Prince Charming. Somebody who cares for them and loves them deeper than anyone else. Someone who would kiss them goodnight and hug you through the hard times. I haven't been in love so I wouldn't know how it feels like. But from what I've heard, its a great feeling. Something that can't be shared, but felt within. When done right, it's possibly the most strongest feeling ever felt. It's what makes one's life complete.

Believe it or not, love is everywhere. You look down the street and pin around any stranger. And no matter what kind of a person he is, he is bound to love and be loved because love is just that. It's an inevitable feeling that shapes ones life.

It may be infatuation, it may be friendship; but it's still a feeling.

A very strong feeling.

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine and a person cannot live without love.

And this is completely true. 

Our New Beginning

Trouble is only opportunity in work clothes.

The best way out is always through

Is it true that one can always find opportunity even in trouble? In an essay, support your position by discussing an example (or examples) from literature, science, technology, the arts, current events or your own experience/observation.

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It was the winter of 1997, when my father had been faced with a dilemma. Being only two weeks old, I clearly do not remember anything of that stretch, but I have heard this inspirational story couple of times.

Coming from a typical Hindu family, we follow a number of practices and rituals for various occasions and festivals. One such occasion was the time of my birth. We, as Hindus, celebrate the 21^st day after the baby’s birth, as a great celebration and it is the time when the baby is given a name. It’s a time of joy, happiness and a feeling of pride within the family.

As of which, the arrangements for my grand day had started within the first week of my birth. Calling relatives, setting up the venue, arranging the catering for the delicious masala dosas, buying jewelry for my tiny self…you could say, there was as much drama as you’d find during a wedding.

So, everything was going all well until two days before the celebration. My father, who was then working for a local company, had received a call from Qualcomm, head quartered in San Diego. Back then, getting a job offer from America was considered to be very lucky and a rare opportunity. Qualcomm had told him that he had done exceedingly well in the written examination and asked him to Bangalore for the interview…. the day of my celebration.

There was less than 48 hours to go. The invitations were already all sent, the arrangements were almost set up, people had started to arrive and Qualcomm firmly said they wouldn’t reschedule. My family didn’t know what to do. And that’s when my dad laid out his preferences. Either we celebrate or he goes for the interview and if he bags it, we’d settle in a much happier life. After an hours thought, he decided.

He was going for the interview.

Then what about the celebration? After asking our grandfather, the head of our family, and a number of temple pandits, we decided to postpone the celebration to two days later. It was still quite havoc, but it all worked out.

And the epilogue you would ask? The celebration went amazing, with people all over the place blessing me for an amazing future ahead. And my dad got his job, and we were off to San Diego in the next three months, all to start a new beginning…

Sandy Hook Tragedy

The following essay had been written by me around the last week of December 2012, when the Sandy Hook tragedy had took place.

So maybe, the foretold apocalypse that predicted the end of life hadn’t transpired this year; but from the shattering and devastating incidents that have been taking place around the world, it is evidently discernible that the ideals of humanity and morality largely do not subsist anymore.

While praying deep condolences to the beautiful souls of all those who had been shot in the Sandy Hook incident, the entire episode disturbs me and leaves me thinking to multiple questions– Why them? What did the poor children ever do to deserve such a demoralizing end? Why did fate pick those twenty pure souls who hadn’t even seen a bare tenth of what life is?

Some say its written, some say it’s the consequence of the sins you’ve made your previous life, others say its karma.

Karma is like a boomerang that defines your destiny. You do good, and you get equivalently the bad you deserve.

I used to be a believer of karma until I started to wonder.

How did karma decide to take the lives of these children? Why would it lead to these innocent souls to death? Is Karma the real key to the question?

The answer to that? I really don’t know. It’s like a missing piece to a puzzle. It disturbs me to think about the children who had passed away or the teachers who had died protecting their children. The gang rape in Delhi and the slashing of the children in the Shenpeng Village…two more occurrences have taken place the same week of the Sandy Hook tragedy.

The world is such a cruel place. While we think we’re developing into a stronger realm, speaking in terms of mortality, the times we’re living in today have never been worse. Humanity has been fading. Safety is a word desired by people. Society has been trashed. Civilization has been destructed.

Is this really what we’ve turned our world into?

A world where lives are taken as though it’s a simple task?

A world where words like charity and altruism have been replaced with words like vindictive and vicious?

A world where you cannot walk without the fear or thought of a catastrophe?

A world where anybody can do whatever they want and face far less consequences than what they deserve?

If this is really what we made the world we’re living in into, honestly, I’d rather face an apocalypse.