Know Why The Caged Bird Sings!

A lot of Questions!

And I try walking backwards.

Fresh smile at the table,
Dressed for work,
Knots at the right place,
And you feel I slept sound.

And I try walking backwards.

No frown on my lips,
Greetings with a warm face,
Words sweet and tender,
And you feel I held up.

And I try walking backwards.

No tears from my eyes,
Nor twitching of the lashes,
Nor moistness at the corners,
And you feel I have not cried.

And I try walking backwards.

For you have not seen my wet eyes,
Nor faltering lips or spasmodic nights,
Caged am I still! You now know!
Know why the caged bird sings.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index

It’s modern age, and one fine morning. (Sounds like cliche – dont mind, even well known authors use the phrase.) I lay on my back pondering over the recent Mr. Detained Khan case. The fan whirls away slowly. The pale yellow coloured walls stare back at me. Mr. Khan, not so unknown character, was supposedly detained, at a foreign airport. So, what the hell!! Why should all of India, be bothered? Why should the government take up the case to its foreign counterparts? He is like any of the other twenty person held back with him. Is he someone special, any PM or GM? Look at him…Look at him crying. “I want to go back to my country.” Dont cry beta. Dont cry. You are like any other Khan who has been detained. According to Salman, Mr. Khan “may be known in India, but to America, he is just a visitor.”  Agreed Sallu.

But, why should Khans be detained? America glitters, but all that glitters is not gold. Fear of another 9/11 should not be the cause of creating such a “surname-dependent” security check. One famous Khan stirred up the debate, but what about the countless Khans detained daily at the foreign airports. Allowed into the society but after such a harrasment in the hands of the security officials. Why cant Asians be let in just as they are? Why should surnames be a parameter of judgement of your ‘cleanliness’. Remember the formula for refractive index. µ = sin (i) / sin (r). Shouldn’t Americans allow Asians in with normal security check — with i = r, with µ = 1 ? Why bend the ‘light’ relationship between Asians and USA? Why should Americans have a high refractive index and flex the light ray ( with i > r) ? Why can’t our wavelengths match with theirs? Can’t we have Aristotle’s luminiferous Ether pervade the globe and bring everything down to a common wavelength?

All that glitters has a high refractive index. Do you agree?