A humming word

Recently, I watched the film “Room” inspired by the novel of the same name by Emma Donoghue. It was based on several incidents of captivity and kidnapping from real life. Five-year-old Jack narrates the story from his own perspective.   He is introduced to the world outside through a television set, a skylight and his Ma. Jack doesn’t know anything else. He draws on the walls and is keenly interested in the outer space. Inside the room, Ma and Jack have spent years of their life, held captive by “Old Nick”. Old Nick had kidnapped Ma when she was 19 years old and he regularly sexually abuses her. Jack is the product of this abuse. Old Nick loses his job and worried that he might kill her and Jack, Ma trains Jack with an escape plan. She tells him that the world is much wider outside. Jack is unable to fathom that the television set people live beyond the television too. It takes him days of training to understand the plan. Finally, one fortunate day, Ma executes the...

The snow covered streets Dogs walk with their owners Decorations, unlit and Toys and stuffed mickeys shivering in the balconies Hurried devouts cleaning their snowed up cars Squirrels and Hares still in their hideouts wish each other a Merry Christmas

The needle pierced her body  And his art touched her soul She bore the pain  Like a mother elephant would  The artist etched a baby elephant  The little trunk and the innocent eyes  Before the baby saw the trees fall  and  Deep pits with no food  Was that painful or  the needle that etched the creation ? 

Deers live in our condos now— they don’t pay any rent or maintenance. We froze in the tunnel during our drives; the phone signals gave up on us and then the dogs and the babies chuckled. God hears their voices and used his magic wand to freeze us. He was tired of fulfilling the grownups wishes.

/ode to the Indian revolutionary, Bhagat Singh/ the tree undresses itself, slowly  and prepares to wear a yellow turban  The wind whispers to the tree  that the turban is  of a patriot from Hindostan,  the land of spices. The turban, belonged to an atheist;  he found freedom in a prison and joy in death. the wind sings aloud the praises of a man whose bride was freedom; Just that he never married her 

Hasan Minhaj is the voice of the immigrant child. His anglicized Hindi, funny yet relatable anecdotes, makes you want to watch him, again and again. Watch him in the "Homecoming King" on Netflix where he animatedly narrates about his father, sister, mother and speaks of the uncomfortable truths that made the elders uncomfortable but we all chuckled. When he came to Milwaukee, we could not help but attend his show at the Pabst theater--a space designed for the art lovers. (trivia: Pabst Theater was closed down due to a fire incident and opened again in the late 1800s). The theater had an antiquated look and it was refreshing. With playwrights names engraved and a statue of musicians built at the crown of the stage, it felt regal. The show began with the entry of Azhar Usman, a comedian from Chicago (Indian born). He spoke about various issues including immigrant parents and dealt with the hecklers, well too. And then came: Hasan Minhaj. Hasan Minhaj has a wond...