The first thing that happens when there is violence or rioting is to shut down the internet.

Why?

In the good old days when kings sat in their castles and sent their men into battle, quite often, guards from his fort watchtowers would shout, “Lone horseman riding to the fort!” And soon, they would identify him through his banner as one of their own, coming from the battlefield and let him in, where tired and exhausted he would be led directly to the king.

Today, in our country, everybody wants reservations, even some leaders in the country who have divided the people saying that our beloved country should only be reserved for those who worship in one particular way!

And as the word, ‘reservation’ gets bandied about, my thoughts go to ‘reservations’ on a train. It means a secure, safe and stress-free journey. No fights, no adjustments, no hassles. The reserved seat is yours from the place you board to your destination.

“Our engineers burned the midnight oil to produce this car,” said the MD as he showed me into his factory in the outskirts of the city, “and after the lockdown, we thought this was just the car for your highly strained pocket!”

“And this car will cost less than a lakh?” I asked surprised.

I watched as my wife trudged across the living room with a bucket of clothes to be washed. I watched again as my younger daughter also trudged across with a bucket of water to water the plants. “Hey,” I shouted, putting down my newspaper. “What’s happened to our maid?”

“She left,” said my wife, bitterly.

“Oh Lord,” I prayed this morning when I woke, “Give me a path of ease!”

I had slept badly last night, thinking of a meeting I had with troublemakers who were bent on creating a disturbance at an AGM, and I longed for ease and calm, till I remembered the eagle and it’s nest:

The eagle finds the tallest tree or highest mountain ledge to build its nest. It lays the first layer of the nest with sharp objects such as thorns and stones. Next it covers the layer of sharp objects with soft material, such as wood, feathers and animal fur.