Krishna's Musings on Life

Gianna didn’t believe in the law of attraction . Her life had been too hard-wrought for her to leave anything up to the universe or the fates. Abandoned at the age of two by a drug-addled mother who had simply walked out the front door one rainy afternoon, she had been found by a neighbour late that evening when he walked past and found the door wide open and a hungry, cold Gianna wailing loudly. She’d been handed over to Child Protective Services and her life had become one long foster care-laden drama until the age of 18. At the stroke of midnight, she’d walked out the door without a second look and made her way to the local women’s shelter where she stayed nights until she landed a job as a receptionist at the local law firm. She had no qualifications and had barely scraped through high school but something in her tone and air convinced Mr. Paige of Leslie&Paige that she deserved a chance. Why did Mr. Paige, the founder of the firm, interview her for a lowly receptionist positi...

The single-most challenging thing I’ve ever had to do in my whole life is deciding . Not deciding about any one thing in particular but deciding about anything and everything! Where did we want to go eat? Oh god, too many choices! What did I want to do in life? How should I know? Shouldn’t life show me? What time did I want to go to bed every night? Uhhh… when I’m sleepy? What shampoo did I want for my hair? Scrolling for two hours didn’t help, so I guess I don’t know. Name any aspect of my life and I was indecisive. What does indecisive mean ? It wasn’t that I was just unsure in that moment. It indicated a deeper, more fundamental refusal to commit to living itself. I was wishy-washy about life and it showed in the small decisions I had to make, which I couldn’t. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s this: everything is a habit. And so it was with my indecisiveness too. I had made it a habit to not decide, to either let others decide for me or put off decision-making for as long...

Boredom is one strange phenomenon. Really. Isn’t it incredible that the world is filled with endless options, with countless opportunities and with infinite activities yet all of us, at one time or another, find ourselves afflicted with this dull state of mind called boredom? Everything seems lacklustre. Nothing seems interesting enough, exciting enough, captivating enough. Have you Googled Things to do when bored yet and looked at the numerous ways it provides to tackle boredom? You should try :) It’s quite entertaining and may stave off your boredom for a while. I found myself so bored today that I Googled knock knock jokes. Here’s a good one: Knock knock! Who’s there? Alex. Alex who? Alexplain when you open the door! Funny, right? :) Here’s another that made me laugh out loud: Knock knock! Who’s there? Abby. Abby who? Abby birthday to you! But that was just a few minutes and then, I was back to being bored again. In fact, I found myself ruminating on boredom itself. I convinced my...

Melinda walked into the room nervously. Head down, eyeing the floor, she slowly picked her way over to the clamour she heard coming from the head of the room. She clutched her yoga mat tightly, pressing it against her chest, her sports bra cutting into her ribs. What on earth had she been thinking? She was not cut out for this. At all. She worked in the coal mines back in Australia. She looked petite with her shapely body and blond hair but she’d learnt to brute herself up. It was the only way to survive life down there with guys tough as nails who, more often than not, looked down their large bulbous noses at her. But she’d earned their respect. And hell, she deserved it. So, what was she doing here, at a one-month yoga course in frikkin Bali, of all places? The paradise island, full of trees and beaches and hippies? It was far removed from her stoic one-bedroom place on a littered street lined with warehouses, disgruntled working-class families and walking distance from where she wor...

A few years ago, a Hindi film was all set to release titled Mental Hai Kya? (Are You Mental?) As soon as the trailer of the film came out, there was an uproar. The film showcased a darkly comical approach to a murder with two primary suspects – an urban, charming young man and his mentally unstable neighbour, a young lady. Casting aside the solid filmmaking and script, audiences and celebrities alike paid attention to the name of the film. Naming any part of the film ‘mental’ was absolutely not in keeping with today’s atmosphere and politically correct times. The director and actors were called out, and heavy criticism was doled out. Was it constructive criticism ? Perhaps. But it was lost in the hullabaloo of harsh, blameful words. Eventually, the makers succumbed and changed the name of the film to Judgementall Hai Kya? (Are you Judgmental?) – a tongue-in-cheek retort to the criticism while retaining the original title. And yes, it was judgementall spelt wrongly with two Ls. What fa...

I still remember the first time I saw him. He was still a ‘he’ then. You’ll see what I mean in a bit. It was my first time visiting his place. I entered the room silently, a little nervous, a little eager, a lot apprehensive. I’d have to wait 10 minutes for him to arrive. No problem. I looked around as I waited. There was soft music playing but I didn’t understand the words. It sounded pleasant and lovely – pleasing, like he wanted me to have a good time while I waited. The golden lights in the room were equally lovely. At one end, I saw a statue of him. Hmm. Not sure how I felt about that but I held my judgment. Maybe I didn’t understand it yet. He must have had a reason to install himself there, surely. I looked at the clock. It was nearly time. And almost like he had heard my thought, I felt the air around me shift. Everything felt still, silent. Just like his arrival. (A sidebar: Google the Gayatri Mantra lyrics . Read it. Then Google Gayatri Mantra in English . We carry on now.) ...

You may have come to this post thinking that I’m going to be writing about an abusive romantic partner. You’re wrong. I’m here to write about another man that broke me. My partner will only destroy me emotionally but I don’t know this yet because the future is yet to come. But this man. He broke me physically, emotionally, spiritually and every which way you can think of. Have you ever been raped? I hope to God your answer is no. Ma warned me, you know. She told me it was a broken marriage of broken minds from the beginning. But when you have been starved for love nearly all your life and all of a sudden, you come across a man willing to give it to you, there’s only one natural course of action, isn’t there? Let me be clear. This man was not my husband. He wasn’t my boyfriend. He wasn’t even someone I was attracted to. He was my best friend. And the first male in my life to show me affection because papa, he left when I was 12. We met at swim class. I was 16, shy, nerdy. Typical teena...