Serendipity - Poetry, Articles and Life Stories

Dear JNU,  The Wall art, the posters and the Graffiti all around the campus always fascinated me. All the messages were loud and clear, and of course beautiful to the core. I often saw students painting these huge posters which were spread on the ground and next day saw them pasted on the walls. JNU walls were always magical. So many times I saw foreigners visiting our campus to click pictures of birds, animals, walls, roads and the campus in general and I felt so proud.  . . .  I remember when I joined JNU, I hardly could participate in conversations. I was from an Economics background, that too from Delhi University, where discussions were only about how to mass bunk or get our test postponed. JNU was a different world altogether. It took me a while to understand feminism, Marxism, hegemony, discourses, etc. In the real sense. It took me longer to understand what right, left and centre really meant in the field of academics.  . . . But as time passed I realized tha...

Dear JNU,  This is my Second Letter and trust me I have many more to write. So, continuing from where I left, I learnt a lot in my M.Phil time. Those days I didn't have a hostel so @amrigos being a sweetheart allowed me to stay in her room in Chandrabhaga Hostel, as she lived in Gurgaon.  . . . Before that I was living with @deepicaelizabeth and @mingma25  and oh my God, what mad times they were. I remember there was a pub in Ambience Mall, I'm sure all students of JNU from the 2013-15 know about - Strikers ! They had a "Ladies Night" every Thursday and me, Mingma and Deepica used to go there almost every other Thursday. It was great fun.  . . . Returning back from the mall, around 9-10 PM, crossing that highway before the foot - over bridge was built was no less than a task ! It was crazy and scary both at the same time. But as we entered JNU we felt so safe. JNU has always been our "Safe Space". The Mother Dairy Counter at the Mall Gate was always a Saviou...

Dear JNU,  I am writing this to you because I had made many plans to re-live each bit of you for the last time as this was supposed to be my final semester. But due to Covid 19, everything got postponed and now suddenly I got to know that I can submit my thesis online. There's no clarity about when the campus shall reopen and I guess, this is the end of my JNU journey. . . . This is my first letter to you and I am more than overwhelmed while writing this. I've known you since I was a child and didn't even dream of being a part of you because I always believed that you were too big a dream for me. When I got selected for M.Phil (Cinema Studies) in School of Arts and Aesthetics, I was really happy for two reasons - first being that I was a part of JNU and second being that I was finally doing what I always wanted. . . . The first semester was beautiful because I met some really amazing people @hrishikesharvikar @paramitapragya Geedha, Dipika, @amrigos Matru, @chowdhrytalha @t...

Yeh jo bhi ho raha hai,  Hamare aas paas,  Woh saamne bhi tha,  Par tumne dekha nahin, "Depression" hai hi aisa, Ki aasaani se dikhta nahin.  Meri hansi ke peeche, Chupi thi udaasi meri, Gum hoti thi pehchaan, Jaise har pal halki halki.  Subha bistar se nikalna,  Kisi khabar se khush hona,  Kisi se mil kar baat karna,  Apne mann ke rang ko utaarna,  Mujhe mushkil lagta tha.  Yeh mujhe samajh zara der se aaya, ki mujhmein kuch badal raha tha,  Mujhmein main nahin tha, aur khud ko dhoondhne ki himmat na thi,  Thhe bahut chaahne wale,  Par mere dil ka kamra khaali tha,  Chaar kadam par ek dost tha,  Par dooori meelon si lagti thi Chhillaana tha kayi baar,  Par chuppi maine saadi thi,  Waqt marham hai, suna tha,  Par har guzarta pal jaise meri barbaadi thi... Bas ek din zindagi se mann sa oob gaya,  Sagar jaise mere burre khayaalon mein doob gaya,  Maine khud ko haarte huye,  Apni nazar ...