"The Impossible Dream (The Quest)"

To dream the impossible dream,

To fight the unbeatable foe,

To bear with unbearable sorrow,

To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong,

To love pure and chaste from afar,

To try when your arms are too weary,

To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest,

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless,

No matter how far.

To fight for the right

Without question or pause,

To be willing to march

Into hell for a heavenly cause.

And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest

That my heart will be peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,

That one man scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage.

To fight the unbeatable foe.

To reach the unreachable star.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Impossible_Dream_(The_Quest)

I first wrote this piece ages ago. Today, I revisit and repost it—with a little help from Artificial Intelligence! :-)

The coronation moment arrives.

In reverent silence, the empress-in-waiting advances gracefully.

With every measured step, a Crescent Sword is drawn — sharp, unwavering, resolute.

Beneath the shadow of steel, she ascends her throne.

What is defeat? What is retreat? Mere illusions.

Her decree is absolute.

I am the warrior, known by the righteous — I wield no shield of deceit.

Tremble, you feeble-hearted.

For this is the day you were foretold.

Let's go to the movies! :-) I first wrote this piece ages ago. Today, I revisit and repost it—with a little help from Artificial Intelligence! :-)

Love is strength — not defeat. It's fighting through darkness, not giving in to it. It’s choosing life, healing, and hope. That’s what true courage looks like.

Movies that portray suicide as an expression of love send the wrong message. Our youth need stories that inspire resilience, bravery, and emotional courage — stories that remind them that every battle is worth fighting.

Film producers have the power to shape minds. Use that power to build warriors of spirit — not to make them feel helpless. Because love is not surrender. Love is defiance, hope, and the unbreakable will to live.

Unconfessed mortal sins! I first wrote this piece ages ago. Today, I revisit and repost it—with a little help from Artificial Intelligence! :-)

I write for many reasons. My words are a mirror — reflecting not just who I am, but what I’ve become. I write autobiographically. I write to stir, to shift perspectives. My life feels like a game of Snakes and Ladders, though the board seems crowded with more snakes than ladders. Through my writing, I warn my comrades — watch out for the snakes. That’s my way of being a Good Samaritan. A modern-day samurai with a pen for a sword.

I’ve always believed — perhaps foolishly — that there’s no such thing as pure fiction. Every story is reality in disguise, twisted, reshaped, and reborn. In my case, it’s always autobiographical, at least in part. My offbeat poems, my eccentric soliloquies — they’re cathartic. Writing drains the poison, like a medicinal leech. It’s my penance for unconfessed mortal sins. Whether this is a universal phenomenon or merely the quirk of a half-mad, self-proclaimed writer — I can’t say.

Eklavya: The Forgotten Hero! I first wrote this piece ages ago. Today, I revisit and repost it—with a little help from Artificial Intelligence! :-)

Eklavya: The Forgotten Hero

Eklavya stands as one of the most remarkable disciples in Indian lore — a figure often overlooked in mainstream narratives. Unfortunately, a recurring issue among modern Indians is our limited familiarity with our own history and classical texts. Few today truly understand the essence of the gurukul or ashram system. Yet history provides identity, direction, and moral anchoring. Our current cultural disorientation stems from our disconnection with our past, leading us to view the world solely through a Western lens.

India possesses countless heroes, thinkers, and pioneers, but we frequently fail to acknowledge them. While learning foreign languages such as French is admirable, our priority should be to reconnect with Sanskrit — the linguistic and philosophical foundation of our civilization. A society that feels embarrassment toward its own ancestors forfeits both pride and conscience, especially when those ancestors embodied courage and virtue.

History is our guiding star — the light that prevents national darkness. Without it, we drift in confusion, like an oarless boat in turbulent waters, destined to capsize.

Modern education has become mechanistic; we produce memorizing machines rather than creative thinkers. As Azim H. Premji notes in The Weight of Wings, we need an educational reform that encourages free thought, not rote learning.

Our social psyche remains trapped in colonial patterns — driven by fear, conformity, and a narrow obsession with job security. True progress requires embracing innovation, interdisciplinarity, and courage to explore unconventional domains such as robotics and AI.

Sadly, our ideals have shifted from moral leaders like Gandhi Ji to ephemeral celebrities. Eklavya, millennia ago, demonstrated that idealism is the essence of humanity. Reviving this spirit in education and society is not a choice — it is a necessity.

Praise be to God. May He be glorified and exalted.

The greatest speed known to man today is the speed of light; the angels are able to travel much faster than this. Hardly had an enquirer completed a question to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), but Jibreel would bring the answer from Allah.

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One mighty jinn responded, “I can bring it to you before you rise from this council of yours. And I am quite strong and trustworthy for this task.”

But the one who had knowledge of the Scripture said, “I can bring it to you in the blink of an eye.” So when Solomon saw it placed before him, he exclaimed, “This is by the grace of my Lord to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful. And whoever is grateful, it is only for their own good. But whoever is ungrateful, surely my Lord is Self-Sufficient, Most Generous.”

[al-Naml 27:39-40]

Happy Deepavali, folks :-) (Festival of lights)