IF

Nowadays I’m spending a huge chunk of time with IF.

IF is now a persistent term.

IF refuses to leave us easily.

After the conclusion of every dialogue, we make space for IF.

Ironically IF, UFF and OOPH have started sounding so similar; we don’t try very hard to differentiate.

Everything begins with IF. And everything continues in a sleepy pace; but with a resounding IF.

IF is necessary.

IF is vital.

IF is seen clinging to the rim of a teacup.

IF is seen pasted, posted, painted and plastered on social media.

I wonder why aren’t we repeatedly chanting – No Ifs, No buts.

That is how IF has entered our lives; taken complete control of it.

When we stare out of our windows, an IF waives at us.

When we stare at our own home from somewhere outside, the entire building seems to be painted in the shade of IF.

We are living with IF.

We are sleeping with IF.

We are rising with IF.

We are huffing and puffing IF.

We are exchanging one IF for many Ifs and we are trading back with many Ifs to own one prestigious share of a big IF.

IF I may add; IF doesn’t seem to be in a mood to take up the status of being ‘temporary’.

IF is permanent. IF is adamant. IF is absolutely audacious.

Have you tried switching the television nowadays and tried surfing between channels? IF is trending on every channel.

Prominent news anchors are debating over IF.

Panelists are being appointed to analyze IF.

IF is being weighed across different strata of the society.

IF is being criticized, questioned and at the same time replicated across civilizations.

IF is confident. IF is redundant. IF is with us, for us, by us, of us. IF is seeing us.

Till the time this big, bold, bitter IF continues to plague our lives, we will continue to share IF as our Whatsapp status.

So, till the time IF is here; we will only continue to exist.

IF there is no IF, we may someday step out too.

But till then we need to remember, IF is definitely around.

-Virtuous Vociferous

May: Blog #1/ May 19-2021/ 03.00 PM/ Location: The closest boundary wall of an IF

JUST ANOTHER SUMMER

Before I start putting together the words, which would make this the so called first ever post after a long break (I had posted last on January 13, 2021), I wish to take it forward from where I had left… The title of that blog post was – A Humble Note.

Honestly speaking... I miss my writing too.

I don't write till I feel like writing.

I don't read till I feel like reading.

The numbers of books keep swelling in my library.

The stock of my stationary keeps mounting.

But when will I write next and what am I writing next seem like permanent questions.

Someday I might seriously try seeking answers or answering the many questions of others.

Till then, on a humble note... I shall take your leave till I write to you next.

Therefore, I think I should now once again grow active on the blogging front. I can’t be lazy any further. I can’t be careless any further. If you look at the situation around us, we are all paying a heavy price for being lethargic; for not caring to care about basic safety; for not being what we should be during a global crisis. Have I already started sounding preachy? Then that is not me. I am not a preacher. I am not a promoter. I am an observant. I am a writer. Or I would rather want to call myself and be known as An Observant Writer.

So, as the title of this post suggests, we are experiencing just another summer. How is this summer? It isn’t warm. Summers aren’t warm. Summers are hot. But this season of summer is growing hot for all the wrong reasons as well. If I start listing the wrongs, I might get nothing right. Ironically I have too little to list in the category of being reasonably right. But once again who am I to categorize anything as right or wrong. Let time decide what is right, what is wrong, what is advisable, what is inadvisable.

On a personal front, I enjoy a sugar and salt kind of a relationship with every summer. The heat leaves me exhausted. But the clarity of the skies excites me. The rising temperatures leaves me sweating profusely. But the idea of stepping into my home, switching on the fan and surrendering to airy waves definitely is indisputably a pleasure of its own kind.

If I had been a poet, I would have write about this summer in a manner such as:

Just another summer

To look up to the window

Which has remained closed

In my neighborhood for years

But I remember

The memories which were created

In there

From childhood to my adolescence

And to my adulthood

No matter how many summers

Came my way

But every new year of summer

Will fly away being a memory

Of nothing less

Nothing more than

Just another summer

And as we gear up to experience just another summer, I restart with this post of mine.

And if you really wish to know WHAT AM I WRITING NEXT?

Keep logging into www.virtuousvociferous.blogspot.com

 -Virtuous Vociferous

 April: Blog #1/ April 19-2021/ 07:46 PM/ Location: Same place called Home

A Humble Note

I had wanted to start writing one hour earlier or maybe two hours earlier than this hour. 

But I didn't. 

These minor delays of mine have started taking the shape of an unavoidable habit. 

Since my mind is a wanderer, it is only natural for my thoughts to keep wandering. 

The only problem is; the distance keeps widening between my thoughts and my writing. 

At times I am asked, why am I taking so much time to write something new?

The question sounds so personal and heavy with expectations too. 

But I don't have a specific answer to that. 

At times I ask myself, do my words become my thoughts or my thoughts become my words?

Once again I don't have a specific answer to that. 

Does that mean that I have stopped seeking answers to questions?

These questions are sometimes asked by my friends, well-wishers, readers (very few), fans (invisible or just my hallucination), admirers (numbers keep thinning) and strangers (they seem to be the ones who keep high expectations).

Honestly speaking... I miss my writing too. 

I don't write till I feel like writing. 

I don't read till I feel like reading. 

The numbers of books keep swelling in my library. 

The stock of my stationary keeps mounting. 

But when will I write next and what am I writing next seem like permanent questions. 

Someday I might seriously try seeking answers or answering the many questions of others. 

Till then, on a humble note... I shall take your leave till I write to you next.

- Virtuous Vociferous

January: Blog #1/ January 13-2021/ 01:23 AM/ Location: Happy desk at home